Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 3.djvu/148

140 have my vote to be a secretary. Another may have wit and learning, in a post, where honesty with plain common sense are of much more use. You may praise a soldier for his skill at chess, because it is said to be a military game, and the emblem of drawing up an army; but this to a treasurer would be no more a compliment, than if you called him a gamester or a jockey.

F we examine what societies of men are in closest union among themselves, we shall find them either to be those who are engaged in some evil design, or who labour under one common misfortune. Thus the troops of banditti in several countries abroad, the knots of highwaymen in our own nation, the several tribes of sharpers, thieves, and pickpockets, with many