The Fable of the Bees: Or Private Vices, Publick Benefits

And, while these holy drudges starved,
The lazy ones, whom they served,
Indulged their ease, with all the graces
Of health and plenty in their faces.

Soldiers

((C)) THE soldiers, who were forced to fight,
If they survived, gained honor by it;
Though some, who shunned the bloody fray,
Had limbs shot off as they ran away:
Some valiant generals fought the foe;
Others took bribes to let them go:
Some always ventured where the fighting was hot,
Losing now a leg, and then an arm;
Until quite disabled, and set aside,
They lived on half their salary;
While others never saw action,
And stayed at home for double pay.

Courtiers, bribes, and others

THEIR kings were served, but knavishly
Cheated by their own ministers;
Many, who slaved for the crown's welfare,
Robbed the very crown they saved:
Pensions were small, and they lived high,
Yet boasted of their honesty.
Calling, whenever they overstepped their rights,
The slippery trick a "perquisite";
And when people understood their jargon,
They changed that word for "emolument";
Unwilling to be brief or plain,
In anything concerning profit;
((D.)) For there was not a bee who would not
Take more—I won't say than he should;
But more than he dared to let those know
((E.)) Who paid for it; just like gamblers,
Who, even in a fair game, will never admit
Before the losers how much they have won.

Dung sellers

But who can repeat all their frauds?
The very stuff, which in the street
They sold as manure to enrich the ground,
Was often found by the buyers