Friend, quoth the Cur, I meant no harm:
Then why fo captious? why fo warm?
My words, in common acceptation,
Could never give this provocation.
No lamb (for ought I ever knew)
May be more innocent than you.

At this, gall'd Reynard winch'd, and fwore
Such language ne'er was giv'n before.
What's lamb to me? The faucy hint
Shews me, bafe knave, which way you fquint.
If t'other night your mafter loft

Three lambs, am I to pay the coft?
Your vile reflections would imply
That I'm a thief. You Dog, you lie.
Thou knave, thou fool, (the Dog reply'd),
The name is juft, take either fide

;

Thy guilt thefe applications fpeak:
Sirrah, 'tis confcience makes you fqueak.
So faying, on the Fox he flies.

The felf-convicted felon dies.

The

BEAR

in A a

BOAT.

T

TO A сохсом в.

A FABLE. [GAY.]

HAT man muft daily wifer grow,
Whofe fearch is bent himself to know;
Impartially he weighs his fcope,

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 shore
Before he builds, computes the coft,
And in no proud purfuit is loft:
He learns the bounds of human fenfe,
And fafely walks within the fence.
Thus confcious of his own defect,

Are pride and felf-importance check'd. A
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 moft.

Coxcombs

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 befots 'em all.

;

By ignorance is pride increas'd;
Thofe moft affume who know the least
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 praife miftruft,
Their fycophants feem hardly just ;
For thefe, in part alone, atteft
The flatt'ry their own thoughts fuggeft.
In this wide fphere a Coxcomb's fhown
In other realms befides 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 fkill?
He'll be an adm'ral when he will.
Now medd'ling in the foldier's trade,
Troops must be hir'd, and levies made.
He gives ambaffadors their cue,
His cobbled treaties 'to renew;
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 undifmay'd)
Trufting in felf-fufficient aid,
On other rocks mifguides the realm,
And thinks a pilot at the helm.

He

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 mistake 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 too the butcher's larger fees.
And now his over-weening pride
In ev'ry province will prefide.

No talk too difficult was found:
His blund'ring nofe mifleads the hound.
In ftratagem and fubtle arts,
He over-rules the fox's parts.

It chanc'd as, on a certain day,
Along the bank he took his way,
A boat, with rudder, fail, and oar,
At anchor floated near the shore.
He ftopt, and turning to his train,
Thus pertly vents his vaunting ftrain.
What blund'ring puppies are mankind,
In ev'ry fcience always blind!

I mock

I mock the pedantry of schools.
What are their compaffes and rules?
From me that helm fhall conduct learn,
And man his ignorance difcern.

So faying, with audacious pride,
He gains the boat, and climbs the fide.
The beafts aftonifh'd line the strand;
The anchor's weigh'd, he drives from land:
The flack fail fhifts from fide to fide;
The boat untrimm'd admits the tide.
Borne down, adrift, at random toft,
His oar breaks fhort, the rudder's loft.
The Bear, prefuming on his skill,
Is here and there officious ftill;
Till, ftriking on the dang'rous fands,
A-ground the fhatter'd veffel ftands.
To fee the bungler thus diftreft,
The very fishes fneer and jeft.
Ev'n gudgeons join in ridicule,
To mortify the meddling fool.

The clam'rous watermen appear;

Threats, curfes, oaths, infult his ear:

Seiz'd, threfh'd, and chain'd, he's dragg'd to land;
Derifion fhouts along the strand.

The MAN, the CAT, the DOG, and the FLY.

HA

TO MY NATIVE COUNTRY.

AIL, happy land! whofe fertile grounds
The liquid fence of NEPTUNE bounds;

By bounteous nature fet apart,

The feat of induftry and art,

O BRITAIN! chofen port of trade,
May lux'ry ne'er thy fons invade;
May never minifter (intent
His private treasures to augment)
Corrupt thy ftate. If jealous foes
Thy rights of commerce dare oppofe,
Shall not thy fleets their rapine awe?
Who is't prescribes the ocean law?
Whenever neighb'ring ftates contend,
'Tis thine to be the gen'ral friend.

What

What is't, who rules in other lands?
On trade alone thy glory ftands.
That benefit is unconfin'd,
Diffufing good among mankind:
That firit gave luftre to thy reigns,
And scatter'd plenty o'er thy plains:
'Tis that alone thy wealth fupplies,
And draws all EUROPE's envious eyes.
Be commerce then thy fole defign;
Keep that, and all the world is thine.
When naval traffic plows the main,
Who fhares not in the merchant's gain?
'Tis that fupports the regal ftate,
And makes the farmer's heart elate:
The num'rous flocks, that clothe the land,
Can fcarce fupply the loom's demand;
Prolific culture glads the fields,

And the bare heath a harveft yields.

Nature expects mankind fhould fhare 'The duties of the public care.

Who's born for floth? To fome we find
The plow-fhare's annual toil affign'd.
Some at the founding anvil glow;
Some the swift-fliding fhuttle throw:
Some, ftudious of the wind and tide,
From pole to pole our commerce guide:
Some (taught by induftry) impart

With hands and feet the works of art:
While fome, of genius more refin'd,
With head and tongue affift mankind:
Each, aiming at one common end,
Proves to the whole a needful friend.
Thus, born each other's ufeful aid,
By turns are obligations paid.

The monarch, when his table's fpread,
Is to the clown oblig'd for bread;
And when in all his glory dreft,
Owes to the loom his royal veft.
Do not the mafon's toil and care
Protect him from th' inclement air?
Does not the cutler's art fupply
The ornament that guards his thigh?
All thefe, in duty to the throne,
Their common obligations own.

BARROW.

'Tis