As there is always one[167] in every town

Who prattles much and takes transactions down,

Who smears the placard, then besmears the wall;

So there’s in villages—however small—

A man whose wisdom he, perchance, conceives

Excels his neighbours’, but himself deceives,—

A fellow who detests hard healthful work,

(By birth a Jew, or it may be—a Turk,)

Existing on his wit or tortuous brains,

Perhaps dishonest; and who takes sad pains