The Eagerness of a Knave maketh him often as catchable, as Ignorance maketh a Fool. No Man is so much a Fool as not to have Wit enough sometimes to be a Knave; nor any so cunning a Knave, as not to have the Weakness sometimes to play the Fool. The Mixture of Fool and Knave, maketh up the parti-coloured Creatures that make all the Bustle in the World. There is not so pleasant a Quarry, as a Knave taken in a Net of his own making. A Knave leaneth sometimes _so hard_ upon his Impudence, that it breaketh and lets him fall. Knavery is in such _perpetual Motion_, that it hath not always Leisure to look to its own Steps; 'tis like sliding upon Scates, no Motion so smooth or swift, but none gives so terrible a _Fall_. A Knave loveth _Self_ so heartily, that he is apt to overstrain it: by never thinking he can get enough, he gets so much less. His thought is like Wine that fretteth with too much fermenting. The Knaves in every Government are a kind of Corporation; and though they fall out with one another, like all Beasts of Prey, yet upon occasion they unite to support the common Cause. It cannot be said to be such a Corporation as the Bank of _England_, but they are a numerous and formidable Body, scarce to be resisted; but the Point is, they can never rely upon one another. Knaves go chain'd to one another like Slaves in the Gallies, and cannot easily untie themselves from their Company. Their Promises and Honour indeed do not hinder them, but other intangling Circumstances keep 'em from breaking loose. If Knaves had not foolish Memories, they would never trust one another so often as they do. Present Interest, like present Love, maketh all other Friendship look cold to it, but it faileth in the holding. When one Knave betrayeth another, the one is not to be blamed, nor the other to be pitied. When they complain of one another as if they were honest Men, they ought to be laugh'd at as if they were Fools. There are some Cunning-men who yet can scarce be called Rational Creatures; yet they are often more successful than Men of Sense, because those they have to deal with are upon a looser Guard; and their Simplicity maketh their Knavery unsuspected. There is no such thing as a venial Sin against Morality, no such thing as a small Knavery: He that carries a small Crime easily, will carry it on when it grows to be an Ox. But the little Knaves are the greater of the two, because they have less the Excuse of Temptation. Knavery is so humble, and Merit so proud, that the latter is thrown down because it cannot stoop. _Of_ FOLLY _and_ FOOLS. There are five Orders of Fools, as of Building: 1. The Blockhead, 2. Coxcomb, 3. Vain Blockhead, 4. Grave Coxcomb, and 5. The Half-witted Fellow; this last is of the Composite Order. The Follies of grave Men have the Precedence of all others, a ridiculous Dignity, that gives them a Right to be laughed at in the first place.