But, on my honour, all th' expence
(Though vaft) was for the fwarm's defence.
They pafs'd the account as fair and juft, And voted him implicit truft.
Next year again the gran'ry drain'd, He thus his innocence maintain'd.
Think how our present matters ftand,
What dangers threat from ev'ry hand;
What hofts of turkeys ftroll for food,
No farmer's wife but hath her brood.
Confider, when invafion's near,
Intelligence muft coft us dear;;
And, in this ticklish situation,
A fecret told betrays the nation.
But, on my honour, all th' expence
(Though vaft) was for the fwarm's defence.
Again, without examination,
They thank'd his fage administration.
The year revolves. The treasure spent,
Again in fecret service went.
His honour too again was pledg'd,
To fatisfy the charge alledg'd.
When thus, with panic fhame poffefs'd,
An auditor his friends addrefs'd.
What are we? Minifterial tools:
We little knaves are greater fools.
At last this fecret is explor'd ;
'Tis our corruption thins the hoard.
For ev'ry grain, we touch'd, at leaft
A thousand his own heaps increas'd.
Then, for his kin and fav'rite fpies,
A hundred hardly could fuffice.
Thus, for a paltry sneaking bribe,
We cheat ourselves, and all the tribe;
For all the magazine contains,
Grows from our annual toil and pains.
They vote th' account fhall be inspected;
The cunning plund'rer is detected;
The fraud is fentenc'd; and his hoard,
As due, to public ufe reftor'd.
HAT man muft daily wifer grow,
Whofe fearch is bent himself to know;
Impartially he weighs his scope,
And on firm reafon founds his hope.;
He tries his ftrength before the race,
And never feeks his own difgrace;
He knows the compafs, fail, and oar,
Or never launches from the fhore;
Before he builds, computes the cost;
And in no proud purfuit is loft:
He learns the bounds of human sense,
And fafely walks within the fence.
Thus, confcious of his own defect,
Are pride and felf-importance check'd.
If, then, felf knowledge to purfue,
Direct our life in ev'ry view,
Of all the fools that pride can boast,
A Coxcomb claims diftinction.most.
Coxcombs are of all ranks and kind;
They're not to fex or age confin'd,
Or rich, or poor, or great, or small;
And vanity befets 'em all.
By ignorance is pride increas'd:
Those most affume who know the leaft;
Their own falfe balance gives 'em weight,
But ev'ry other finds 'em light.
Not that all Coxcombs follies ftrike,
And draw our ridicule alike ;
To diff'rent merits each pretends.
This in love-vanity tranfcends;
That fmitten with his face and shape,
By drefs diftinguishes the ape;
T'other with learning crams his shelf,
Knows books, and all things but himself.
All these are fools of low condition,
Compar'd with Coxcombs of ambition.
For thofe, puff'd up with flatt'ry, dare
Affume a nation's various care.
They ne'er the groffeft praise mistrust,
Their fycophants feem hardly juft;
For thefe, in part alone, attest
The flatt'ry their own thoughts fuggeft.
In this wide fphere a coxcomb's fhown
In other realms befide his own:
The felf-deem'd MACHIAVEL at large
By turns controuls in ev'ry charge.
Does commerce fuffer in her rights?
'Tis he directs the naval flights.
What failor dares difpute his skill?
He'll be an adm'ral when he will.
Now meddling in the foldier's trade,
Troops must be hir'd, and levies made.
He gives ambassadors their cue,
His cobbled treaties to renew:
And annual taxes muft fuffice
The current blunders to disguise.
When his crude. fchemes in air are loft,
And millions fcarce defray the coft,,
His arrogance (nought undismay'd)
Trufting in felf-fufficient aid,
On other rocks mifguides the realm,
And thinks a pilot at the helm.
He ne'er fufpects his want of fkill,
But blunders on from ill to ill;
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