Judges and senates have been bought for gold;
Esteem and love were never to be sold.

Judges and senates have been bought for gold;
Esteem and love were never to be sold.

Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune,
He had not the method of making a fortune.

Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune,
He had not the method of making a fortune.

By gold all good faith has been banished; by gold our rights are
abused; the law itself is influenced read more

By gold all good faith has been banished; by gold our rights are
abused; the law itself is influenced by gold, and soon there will
be an end of every modest restraint.
[Lat., Auro pulsa fides. auro venalia jura,
Aurum lex sequitur, mox sine lege pudor.]

Every man has his price.

Every man has his price.

There is thy gold--worse poison to men's souls,
Doing more murder in this loathsome world,
Than these read more

There is thy gold--worse poison to men's souls,
Doing more murder in this loathsome world,
Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell.
I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none
Farewell. Buy food and get thyself in flesh.

What, shall one of us,
That struck for the foremost man of all this world
But for read more

What, shall one of us,
That struck for the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers--shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
And sell the mighty space of our large honors
For so much trash as may be grasped thus?

There is gold for you. Sell me your good report.

There is gold for you. Sell me your good report.

Flowery oratory he [Walpole] despised. He ascribed to the
interested views of themselves or their relatives the
declarations read more

Flowery oratory he [Walpole] despised. He ascribed to the
interested views of themselves or their relatives the
declarations of pretended patriots, of whom he said, "All those
men have their price."

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.