_ vii. 16).
O ye wha are sae guid yoursel, [so good]
Sae pious and sae holy,
Ye've nought to do but mark and tell
Your neibour's fauts and folly! [faults]
Whase life is like a weel-gaun mill, [well-going]
Supplied wi' store o' water:
The heapet happer's ebbing still, [hopper]
An' still the clap plays clatter! [clapper]
Hear me, ye venerable core, [company]
As counsel for poor mortals
That frequent pass douce Wisdom's door, [sedate]
For glaikit Folly's portals; [giddy]
I, for their thoughtless, careless sakes,
Would here propone defences,-- [put forth]
Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes, [restive]
Their failings and mischances.
Ye see your state wi' theirs compar'd,
And shudder at the niffer; [exchange]
But cast a moment's fair regard--
What makes the mighty differ? [difference]
Discount what scant occasion gave,
That purity ye pride in,
And (what's aft mair than a' the lave) [rest]
Your better art o' hidin'.
Think, when your castigated pulse
Gies now and then a wallop, [Gives]
What ragings must his veins convulse,
That still eternal gallop!
Wi' wind and tide fair i' your tail,
Right on ye scud your sea-way;
But in the teeth o' baith to sail,
It makes an unco leeway.
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