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Ri + A D, upon FOLLY. Title of Sophifts ; the Task of thefe was tc Celebrate the Worth of Gods and Heroes. Prepare therefore to be entertained with a . Panegyrick, yet not upon Hercules, Solon, or ‘any other Grandee, but on my felf, that is, upon Folly. È An here I value not their Cenfure that pretend it is foppifh and affeéted for any Pe: fon to praife himfelf > Yet let ît be as filly as ‘they pleafe, if they will but allow it needful: And indeed what is more befitting than-thar Folly ſhould be the Trumpet of her own Praiſe, and Dance after her own Pipe ? For who can fet me forth better than my if ? Or who can pretend to be fo well acquainted with my Condition ? A n yet farther I may ſafely urbe, that all this is no more than the ſame with what is done by ſeveral ſeemingly Great and Wiſe Men, who with a new faſkion’d Modeſty employ ſome paltry Oraror ‘or’ ſcribbling Poct, whom they Bribe to fatter them with fome Highflowa Character, that fhall confiff of meer Lies jand Shams : And yet the Perfons thus extoll’d fhall briftle up; and Peacock-like befpread their Plumes, while the impudent Parafite magnifies the poor Wretch to the Skies, ‘and propofes him as a compleat Pattern of all Virtues, from each of which he is yet as far iftant as Heaven itſelf from Hell: Whats 11 this in the mean while, but the tricking jup a Daw in ftoln Feathers, a iabouring Ito change the Plack-mcor’s Hue, end the draw© | a. Giant. t B 2 LASTLY,
