X. the Double Mistake

' TIS better to be good, tho' ill esteem'd, And have the light, tho' others lack the skill To know what should or good or bad be deem'd, Or take for good what reason takes for ill. Must I cry lame because the cripple halt, Or feign me blind because the lame wou'd lead? Must I be senseless held for others fault, Or hold me dumb because the deaf not heed? Yet true it is, too cheaply have I sold That which to me has ever been most dear, And better had to better hearts been told, Than turn'd to falshood in a foolish ear: To some too freely would I truth have shewn, Their fraud unknowing, I to them unknown.