A MASK.--(an Incrustation--a Relique.) A shallow brain behind a serious mask, An oracle within an empty cask, A solemn fop.-- --A sooty Film. Cowper. ----------The Thing on Earth Least qualified in honour, learning, worth, To occupy a sacred, awful post, In which the best and worthiest tremble most. The royal letters are a thing of course, A King, that would, might recommend his horse; And deans, no doubt, and chapters, with one voice, As bound in duty, would confirm the choice. **** A piece of mere Church-furniture at best. {097} [Illustration: 105] THE LOCUST. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Locust is a destructive insect, of the Grillus tribe. They are so numerous, and so rapacious, that they may be compared to an army, pursuing its march to devour the fruits of the earth, as an instrument of _divine displeasure_ towards a devoted country. They have leaders, who direct their motions in preying on the labours of man _in fertile regions_. No insect is more formidable in places where they breed: for they _wither_ whatever they _touch_. It is impossible to recount the _terrible devastations_ which historians and travellers relate that they have committed at different times, in various parts of the world. Many are so _venomous_, that persons _handling_ them are immediately stung, and seized with shivering and trembling; but it has been discovered that, in most cases, their hateful qualities are completely assuaged by _palm_ oil.* * Goldsmith, vi. 21. {096} [Illustration: 104] A SCORPION. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Scorpion is a reptile that resembles the _common lobster_, but is much more hideous. They are very terrible to mankind, on account of their size and malignity, and their large _crooked stings_. They often assault and kill people in their houses. In Italy, and some other parts of Europe, they are the greatest pests of mankind; but their venom is most dreadful in the _East_. An inferior species sally forth at certain seasons, in battalions;--scale houses that stand in the way of their march;--wind along the course of rivers;--and on their retreat entrench themselves. Scorpions are so irascible, that they will attempt to sting a _constable's staff_; yet even a harmless little mouse * destroyed three of them, _one after the other_, by acting on the _defensive_, survived their venomous wounds, and seemed pleased with its victory. When in a confined space, they exert all their rage against each other, and there is nothing to be seen but universal carnage. If this mutual destruction did not prevail, they would multiply so fast as to render some countries uninhabitable. ** * Confined for the sake of experiment in a vessel, by Maupertuis. ** Goldsmith, v. 428. {097} THE LOBSTER.