Shall I not cenfure breach of trust,
Because knaves know themselves unjuft?
That fteward, whofe account is clear,
Demands his honour may appear;
His actions never fhun the light;
He is, and would be prov'd upright.
But then you think my fable bears
Allufion too to state affairs

I grant it does; and who's fo great,
That has the privilege to cheat ?
If then in any future reign

(For minifters may thirst for gain)
Corrupted hands defraud the nation,
I bar no reader's application.

An Ant there was, whofe forward prate,
Control'd all matters in debate ;
Whether he knew the thing or no,
His tongue eternally would go;
For he had impudence at will,
And boafted univerfal skill.
Ambition was his point in view.
Thus by degrees to pow'r he grew.
Behold him now his drift attain:
He's made chief treasurer of the grain.
But as their ancient laws are just,
And punish breach of public trust,
'Tis order'd (left wrong application
Should ftarve that wife industrious nation)
That all accounts be stated clear,
Their ftock, and what defray'd the year;
The auditors fhall thefe infpect,

And public rapine thus be check'd:
For this the folemn day, was fet;
The auditors in council met.
The gran'ry keeper muft explain,
And balance his account of grain:

He brought (fince he could not refufe 'em)
Some fcraps of paper to amuse 'em.

*An

An honeft Pifmire, warm with zeal,
In juftice to the public weal,

Thus fpoke: The nation's hoard is low:
From whence does this profufion flow?
I know your annual fund's amount:
Why fuch expence? and where's th' account?
With wonted arrogance and pride,
The Ant in Office thus reply'd :
Confider, Sirs, were fecrets told,
How could the beft-fchem'd projects hold?
Should we ftate myfteries difclote,
"Twould lay us open to our foes ;
My duty and my well-known zeal
Bid me our prefent fchemes conceal:
But, on my honour, all th' expence
(Tho' vaft) was for the fwarm's defence.
They pafs'd th' 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 prefent 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 ticklith fituation,
A fecret told betrays the nation."
But, on my honour, all th' expence
(ho' vaft) was for the fwarm's defence.
Again, without examination,

They thank'd his fage administration.
The year revolves. The treafure fpent,

Again in fecret fervice went.

His honour too again was pledg'd, To fatisfy the charge alledg'd.

When thus, with panic thame poffeft, An auditor his friends addreft:

What are we? minifterial tools;
We little knaves are greater fools.
At laft this fecret is explor'd,
'Tis our corruption thins the hoard.
For ev'ry grain we touch'd, at least
A thoufand his own heaps increas'd.
Then, for his kin and fav'rite spies,
A hundred hardly could fuffice.
7 hus for a paltry, fneaking bribe,
We cheat ourfelves 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 use, reftor'd.

LVI. The BEAR in a BOAT.
То а Сохсом в.

HAT man muft daily wifer grow,
Whofe fearch is bent himfelf to know;
Impartially he weighs his fcope,
And on firm reafon founds his hope;
He tries his frength before the race,
And never feeks his own difgrace;
He knows the compals, fail, and oar,
Or never launches from the fhore;
Eefore he builds, computes the colt,
And in no proud purfuit is loft: -
He learns the bounds of human fenfe,
An fafely walks within the fence:
Thus, conscious of his own defect,
Ar pride and felf-importance check'd.
If then, felf-knowledge to purfue
Direct our life in ev'ry view,

Of

Of all the fools that pride can boast,
A Coxcomb claims diftinction moft.
Coxcombs are of all ranks and kind,
They're not to fex or age confin'd,
Or rich or poor, or great or finall;
And vanity befots 'em all.

By ignorance is pride increas'd,

Those most affume who know the least;
Their own falfe balance gives 'em weight,
But ev'ry other finds them light.

Not that all Coxcombs follies ftrike,
And draw our ridicule alike;
To diff'rent merit 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 fhelf,
Knows books and all things but himself.
All thefe 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, atteft
The flatt'ry their own thoughts fuggeft.
In this wide fphere a Coxcomb's shown
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 ambaffadors their cue
His cobbled treaties to renew,
R 2

-And

And annual taxes muft fuffice

The current blunders to difguife.
When his crude fchemes in air are loft,
And millions fcarce defray the coft,
His arrogance (nought difmay'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;
And, when he fails of all intent,
Blames only unforeseen event.
Left you miftake the application,
The Fable calls me to relation.

A Bear, of fhag and manners rough,
At climbing trees expert enough,
For dext'roufly, and fafe from harm,
Year after year he robb'd the fwarm.
Thus, thriving on induftrious toil,
He glory'd in his pilfer'd fpoil.

This trick fo fwell'd him with conceit,
He thought no enterprize too great.
Alike in fciences and arts,

He boafted univerfal parts;
Pragmatic, bufy, bustling, bold,
His arrogance was uncontroul'd:
And thus he made his party good,
And grew dictator of the wood.

The beafts, with admiration, ftare,
And think him a prodigious Bear.
Were any common booty got,
'Twas his each portion to allot;
For why, he found there might be picking,
Ev'n in the carving of a chicken.
Intruding thus, he by degrees
Claim'd to the butcher's larger fees.
And now his over-weening pride
In ev'ry province will prefide.

No