Fables of Æsop and other eminent mythologists

The Moralists will have Wisdom and Virtue to be meant by the Diamond; the World and the Pleasures of it, by the Dunghill; and by the Cock, a Voluptuous Man, that Abandons himself to his Lusts, without any regard, either to the Study, the Practice, or the Excellency of better Things.

Now, with favour of the Ancients, this Fable seems to me, rather to hold forth an Emblem of Industry and Moderation. The Cock lives by his honest Labour, and maintains his Family out of it; His Scraping upon the Dunghill, is but Working in his Calling: The precious Stone is only a gawdy Temptation that Fortune throws in his way to divert him from his Business and his Duty. He would have been glad, he says, of a Barley Corn instead on’t; and so casts it aside as a thing not worth the heeding. What is all this now, but the passing of a true Estimate upon the Matter in question, in preferring that which Providence has made and pronounc’d to be the Staff of Life, before a glittering Gew-Gaw, that has no other Value, than what Vanity, Pride and Luxury have set upon’t? The Price of the Market to a Jeweller in his Trade, is one thing, but the intrinsick Worth of a thing to a Man of Sense, and Judgment, is another. Nay, that very Lapidary himself, with a coming Stomach, and in the Cock’s place, would have made the Cock’s Choice. The Doctrin, in short, may be this; That we are to prefer things necessary, before things superfluous; the Comforts and the Blessing of Providence, before the dazling and the splendid Curiosities of Mode and Imagination: And finally, that we are not to govern our Lives by Fancy, but by Reason.

Pride and Cruelty never want a Pretence to do Mischief. The Plea of Not Guilty goes for Nothing against Power: For Accusing is Proving, where Malice and Force are Joyn’d in the Prosecution.

When Innocence is to be oppress’d by Might, Arguments are foolish things; nay the very Merits, Virtues, and good Offices of the Person accus’d, are Emprov’d to his Condemnation: As the Industry and Watchfulness of the Cock here, in the calling of People out of their Beds to work when ’tis time to rise, is turn’d upon him as a Crime. Nay, such is the Confidence of a spightful Cruelty, that People shall be charg’d (rather then fail) with things utterly impossible, and wholly foreign to the Matter in question. The Lamb it self shall be made malicious. And what is this now, but the lively Image of a perverse Reason of State, set up in opposition to Truth and Justice; but under the August Name and Pretence, however of Both? As Loyalty, for the purpose, shall be call’d Rebellion, and the Exercise of the most necessary Powers of Government, shall pass for Tyranny and oppression. Decency of Religious Worship shall be made Superstition; Tenderness of Conscience shall be call’d Phanaticism, Singularity and Faction; and the very Articles of the Christian Faith shall be condemn’d for Heresie. Villanies have not the same Countenance, when there are Great Interests, Potent Meditations, Presents, Friends, Advocates, Plausible Colours, and Flourishes of Wit, and Rhetorique, Interpos’d betwixt the Sight and the Object. There are ways of Deceiving the Eyes, as well as of Blinding them; so that the Cause of the Innocent must be Remitted at last to that Great and Final Decision, where there is no longer any Place for Passion, Partiality, Corruption, or Error. But as to the Business of this World, when the Cocks and the Lambs lie at the Mercy of Cats and Wolves, they must never expect better Quarter; especially where the Hearts Blood of the One, is the Nourishment and Entertainment of the Other.

Saving the Incongruity of making the Ass a Beast of Prey, we are to learn from hence the danger of Unequal Alliances; where the Poor and the Weak lye at the Mercy of the Rich and the Powerful; and no Remedy but Patience and Resignation.

People should have a care how they Engage themselves in Partnerships with Men that are too Mighty for them, whether it be in Mony, Pleasure, or Bus’ness. Find out something, says a Court-Minion, and then upon the Discovery, he lays hands on’t for himself. So Says, and so Does the Lion here to the Ass and his Companions. Now this is only a State-way of Fishing with Cormorants. Men in Power, Plunge their Clients into the Mud, with a Ring about their Necks; So that let them bring up what they will, nothing goes down with them that they shall be ever the Better for. And when they come in Conclusion to Cast up the Profit and Loss of the Purchase, or the Project; what betwixt Force, Interest, and Good Manners, the Adventurer scapes well if he can but get off at last with his Labour for his Pains.

Ambition, and the Insatiable Thirst of Mony, Greatness, and Glory, know no other Bonds of Justice or Conscience, then the Measures of a Corrupt Appetite. Services are paid with Smoak and Fair Words; and there goes a World of Unprofitable Ceremony to the Mortifying of an Honest Man. Promises and Protestations are only Passages of Course, and meer Expletives; that in the Construction of Civility, and Good Breeding, signifie no more then [Your Humble Servant Sir.] All, in short, that the Lion says and does, in this Instance, is but according to the Practice of Men in Power in a Thousand other Cases.

This Fable will bear Divers Morals; as First, That it is but Due Gratitude to be Thankful to our Preservers. Secondly, The Crane’s Good Fortune can hardly Excuse his Facility. And then the Crane did Ill again, to Insist upon a Reward; for a Good Office pays it self; neither was he reasonably to Expect that so Perfidious a Creature should keep Touch with him. Thirdly, Though the Wolf was to blame for not making Good his Promise, there is yet in Equity, a kind of Reward, in not Chopping off his Head when he had it at Mercy.

The Case of the Crane here, is a Case of Conscience; for ’tis a Nice Business to Determine, how far Wicked Men in their Distresses May be Reliev’d; How far they Ought to be Reliev’d; and to what Degree of Loss, Labor, and Difficulty, a Sober, a Wise, and a Good Man may Interpose to their Redress. He may Give; he may Lend, he may Venture, so far as Generosity and Good Nature shall prompt him; provided always that he go no farther than the Conscience of the Cause, or of the Action will Warrant him. A Man is at Liberty, ’tis true, to do many Kind and Brave Offices, which he is not Bound to do: And if the Largeness of his Heart shall carry him beyond the Line of Necessary Prudence, we may only reckon upon it as a more Illustrious Weakness.

Here is a Fiction of One Crane that scap’d, that there might not want One Instance of an Encouragement to a Dangerous Act of Charity: But this One Instance is not yet sufficient to justifie the making a Common Practice of it, upon the same Terms. ’Tis possible for One Blot not to be Hit; or to be Over-seen perhaps. And so ’tis as possible for One Ill Man, either not to think of the Mischief he could do, or to slip the Occasion of it; but such a Deliverance however, is a Thing to Thank Providence for, without standing upon a Reward for the Service. The Bone in the Throat of the Wolf, may be Understood of any sort of Pinch, or Calamity either in Body, Liberty, or Fortune. How many do we see Daily, Gaping and Struggling with Bones in their Throats, that when they have gotten them drawn out, have Attempted the Ruin of their Deliverers! The World, in short, is full of Practices and Examples to Answer the Intent of this Fable; and there are Thousands of Consciences that will be Touch’d with the Reading of it, whose Names are not written in their Foreheads.

He that takes an Ungrateful Man into his Bosom, is well nigh sure to be Betray’d; and it is no longer Charity, but Folly, to think of Obliging the Common Enemies of Mankind. But ’tis no New thing for good Natur’d Men to meet with Ungrateful Returns. Wherefore Friendships, Charities, and Kindnesses, should be well Weigh’d and Examin’d, as to the Circumstances of Time, Place, Manner, Person, and Proportion, before we Sign and Seal. A Man had much better take a Tyger into his Grounds, then a Snake into his Bosom. How many Examples have we seen with our own Eyes, of Men that have been pick’d up, and Reliev’d out of Starving Necessities, without either Spirit, or Strength to do Mischief, who in requital have afterwards conspir’d against the Life, Honour, and Fortune of their Patrons and Redeemers. Did ever any of these Human Snakes lose their Venom for lying under some Temporary Incapacity of Using it? Will they be ever the less Dangerous and Malicious, when Warmth shall bring them to themselves again; because they were once Frozen and Benumm’d with Cold? The very Credulity Encourages an Abuse, where the Will to do Mischief only waits for the Power, and Opportunity of putting it in Execution. Facility makes the Innocent a Prey to the Crafty: The Snake, after his Recovery, is the very same Snake still, that he was at first. How many People have we read of in Story, that after a Pardon for One Rebellion, have been taken in Another with that very Pardon in their Pockets, and the Ink scarce Dry upon the Parchment? Now all this is no more then the Proverb in a Fable: Save a Thief from the Gallows, and he’ll Cut your Throat.

Scoundrels are apt to be Insolent toward their Superiours; but it does not yet become a Man of Honour and Wisdom, to Contest with Mean Rascals; and to Answer Every Fool in his Folly. One Indignity is not to be Reveng’d by Another.

The very Contest sets the Master and the Man upon the Same Level; and the Lion was in the Right, not to Cast away his Displeasure upon an Asse, where there was only Reputation to be Lost, and None to be Gotten. The very Beasts of the Forrest will Rise up in Judgment against such men. Contempt in such a Case as This, is the only Honorable Revenge.

The Design of This Fable is to set forth the Advantages of a Private Life, above those of a Publick; which are certainly very Great, if the Blessings of Innocence, Security, Meditation, Good Air, Health, and Sound Sleeps, without the Rages of Wine, and Lust, or the Contagion of Idle Examples, can make them so: For every Thing there, is Natural and Gracious. There’s the Diversion of All Healthful Exercises for the Body; The Entertainment of the Place, and of the Rivers, without any base Interest to Corrupt, either the Virtue, or the Peace of our Lives. He that’s a Slave in the Town is a kind of a Petty Prince in the Country. He loves his Neighbours, without Pride, and lives in Charity with the Whole World. All that he sees is his Own, as to the Delight of it, without Envying the Prosperity. His Doors are not troubled with either Dunns, or Fools, and he has the Sages of All Times in his Cabinet for his Companions. He lives to Himself as well as to the World, without Brawles or Quarrels, of any sort whatsoever. He sees no Bloody Murders; He hears No Blasphemous Execrations; He Lives Free from the Plagues of Jealousie and Envy: And This is the Life in fine, that the Greatest, and the Wisest Men in the World, Have, or would have made Choice of, if Cares and Business had not Hinder’d them from so Great a Blessing.

’Tis against Common Justice to pass Sentence without hearing Both sides: And the Only way to come to a True Estimate upon the Odds betwixt a Publick and a Private Life, is to Try Both. Virtue is only Glorious in the Native Simplicity of it, and while it holds no Communication with Interest, Fancy, Sense, or Ornament: Wherefore Æsop has done Wisely to cast the Issue of the Question upon the Experiment, Far from Jupiter (says the Adage) far from the Thunder. What signifies the Splendor, and the Luxury of Courts, considering the Slavish Attendances, the Invidious Competitions, and the Mortal Disappointments that go along with it. The Frowns of Princes, and the Envy of those that Judge by Hearsay, or Appearance; without either Reason, or Truth! To say nothing of the Innumerable Temptations, Vices, and Excesses, of a Life of Pomp, and Pleasure. Let a man but set the Pleasing of his Palate against the Surfeits of Gluttony and Excess, The Starving of his Mind against a Pamper’d Carcase; The Restless Importunities of Tale-bearers and Back Friends, against Fair Words and Professions only from the Teeth outward: Let him, I say, but set the One in Ballance against the Other, and he shall find himself Miserable, even in the very Glutt of his Delights. To say All in a Word; Let him but set the Comforts of a Life spent in Noise, Formality, and Tumult, against the Blessings of a Retreat with Competency and Freedom, and then Cast up his Account.

What Man then, that is not stark Mad, will Voluntarily Expose himself to the Imperious Brow-beatings and Scorns of Great Men! to have a Dagger struck to his Heart in an Embrace; To be torn to pieces by Calumny, nay to be a Knave in his own Defence! for the Honester the Worse, in a Vicious Age, and where ’tis a Crime not to be like the Company. Men of that Character are not to be Read, and Understood by their Words, but by their Interests; their Promises and Protestations are no longer Binding then while they are Profitable. But Baudoin has done so well upon this Fable, that there needs no more to be said to’t.

It is no longer an Amity of Virtue, but of Design, when we seek our Own Interest, under Colour of obliging Others; and men of Frankness and Simplicity, are the most easily Impos’d upon, where they have Craft and Treachery to deal withal. The Imposture, in Truth, can hardly Miscarry, where there is a full Confidence on the One side, and a Plausible Address and Disposition on the Other; wherefore ’tis good to be Wary, but so as not to be Inexorable, where there is but any place for Charity it self to hope for better Things; Not but that a Supine, Credulous Facility exposes a man to be both a Prey, and a Laughing-stock, at once. ’Tis not for us to judg of the good Faith of mens Intentions, but by the Light we receive from their Works. We may set up this for a Rule however, that where the Adviser is to be evidently the Better for the Council, and the Advised, in Manifest Danger to be the worse for’t, there’s no Medling. The Crow’s Counsel was good enough in it self; but it was given with a fraudulent Intention.

This Fable shews us the Danger and the Nature of Flattery. It calls Good Things by Ill Names, and Ill by Good; but it will never be out of Credit, so long as there are Knaves to Give it, and Fools to Take it. It is never more Pernicious then in the Courts of Great Princes, because a good deal of it looks like Duty; as in private Cases, it carries a face of Friendship. The way to Rise is to Please, and whatever is gotten by’t, comes by Treachery. ’Tis a Design that endangers both Body, Soul, and Estate; and not One man of a Million that’s Proof against it. But Great and Good Men will rather look for their Character in the Writings and Precepts of the Philosophers, then in the Hyperboles of their Flatteries. For they know very well that Wise Books are the Only True Friends.

There’s a Fawning, Crafty Knave, and a Vain Easie Fool, well met, in this Fable of the Fox and the Raven; which is no more at last, then One sort of Rascal Cajoling Another; And then to shew us, both that Impudence will stick at nothing, and that a Self-Conceited Fop will swallow Any thing, the Raven’s Beauty forsooth, and his Voice are the Topiques, that Reynard has made choice of to Dilate upon. The two main Ends of Flattery, are Profit, or Safety, though there are many others too that are less Principal; but in some respect or other, Reducible to these Heads. The One is too Mercenary, and the other too Servile, for a man of Worth. There are also several sorts and degrees of it under this Division; and divers ways of Address and Application. But Flattery is Flattery still, and the Moral extends to All.

’Tis in it self an Unmanly, Slavish Vice; but it is much Worse yet for the Alliance it has to Hypocrisie: for while we make other people think Better of themselves then they Deserve, we make them think Better of Us too then We Deserve: For Self-love and Vanity on the One hand, Assists the Falseness and Confidence on the Other, while it serves to confirm weak Minds in the Opinion they had of Themselves before; and makes them Parties, effectually, in a Conspiracy, to their Own Ruin. The Measures, and the Artifices of it are Many, and in divers Cases so like Sincerity, that what betwixt Custom, and the Nature of the Thing, it looks, in truth, like a Virtue, and a Duty; that is to say, where it is so manag’d, as to be rather Instructive then puffing up. As for Example, for a body to say, [This or That was Wisely foreseen,] Or [You intend, I presume, to go This or That Way to Work:] and the like. Such an Insinuation as this is, carries the Force in it of a Tacite, and a prudent Advice; for it both serves to point out the Reason of the thing, and it preserves the Decency of that Respect which ought to go along with it. ’Tis a good Hint, the very suggesting of such or such a Precaution, though the consideration perhaps never came near the t’others Thoughts. But there is a certain Habitual Meanness of Soul, which has so far prevail’d in the World, that Common Civility is no less tainted by Course and Custom, then Friendship and Conversation is by Corruption.

It is the Parasites Art to cast himself into all Shapes that may sort with the Figure of his Patron, in what Post, Function, or Administration soever; and to frame the Air and Countenance of his Words, Looks, and Actions accordingly, with a respect to his Power, Wisdom, Conduct, Bravery, Generosity, Justice, or what other Subject he thinks fit to treat upon. So that let him be never so Perfidious, Shallow, Rash, Timorous, Envious, Malicious, Proud, Covetous, &c. a Little Court Holy Water Washes off all Stains. And what is this upon the Main now, but an Exchange of Air for Substance, and parting with All that either is, or ought to be Dear to us, for a Song? The Flatterer, first Counsels his Patron to his Loss; and then betrays him into the making himself Ridiculous; as what can be more so, then for a Raven to Value Himself upon his Croaking, or an Asse upon his Braying? The only Benefit, or Good of Flattery is this; that by Hearing what we are Not, we may be Instructed what we Ought to be.

This may serve for a Lesson to men in Power, that they Treasure up Friends in their Prosperity, against a time of Need; for He that does not Secure himself of a stock of Reputation in his Greatness, shall most Certainly fall Unpity’d in his Adversity: And the Baser his Enemies are, the more insupportable is the Insolence, and the forwarder will they be to Trample upon him.

The Case of this Miserable Old Lion may serve to put Great Men in mind, that the Wheel of Time, and of Fortune is still Rolling, and that they themselves are to lie down at last in the Grave with Common Dust; And without anything to support them in their Age, but the Reputation, Virtue and Conscience of a well-spent Youth. Nay Age it self, is well-nigh sufficient to Deface every Letter and Action in the History of a Meritorious Life. For Old Services are Bury’d under the Ruins of an Old Carcass: but there are None yet that fall so Unpitied; so Just, so Necessary, and so Grateful a Sacrifice to the Rage and Scorn of common People, as those that have rais’d themselves upon the Spoils of the Publick: Especially when that Oppression is Aggravated with a Wanton Cruelty, and with Blood and Rapine, for the very love of Wickedness. It is a kind of Arrogance, in such a case, to be Honest, where ’tis both a Fashion, and a Credit to be the contrary.

The Lion is here upon his Death Bead; Not a Friend left him, nor so much as an Enemy, with either Fangs or Claws, that does not stand Gaping and Waiting for a Collop of him. Here he lies, Faint, Poor, and Defenceless, under the Judgment of Divine Vengeance, and the Animadversion of Humane Justice, both at once; stung in his own Thoughts with the guilty Remembrance of the Pride and Riot of his Youth, Abandon’d and Despis’d, by the Righteous Retaliation of Heaven it self: All his Sins, as well as all his Adversaries; his Frauds, and Cruelties; Broken Vows, Promises and Contracts, his Tyranny and Hypocrisie, and the Iniquity, in fine, of all his Councels, and Practices, for the Ruine of the Guiltless flying in the Face of him.

Under the Allegory of the Asse, is Insinuated the Licence of a Buffon. There’s Mischief and Scandal in the very Sport, and Humour of it. There are some men that seem to have Brutal Minds wrapt up in Humane Shapes, Their very Caresses are Rude and Importune, and with Æsop’s Asse here, their very Complements deserve a Correction, rather then an Encouragement, or a Reward.

All Creatures have somewhat in them peculiar to their Several Species; and that Practice is still the Best which is most Consonant to the Nature of them, by a Common Instinct. The Fawnings of an Asse are as Unnatural as the Brayings would be of a Dog, and a man would as soon Chuse him for his Bed-fellow as for his Play-fellow. He that follows Nature is never out of his Way; and that which is Best for every Man is Fittest for him too. He does it with Ease and Success, whereas all Imitation is Puti’d, and Servile.

There is nothing so Little, but Greatness may come to Stand in need on’t, and therefore Prudence and Discretion ought to have a place in Clemency, as well as in Piety and Justice. ’Tis Doing as we would be done by; and the Obligation is yet stronger, when there is Gratitude, as well as Honour and Good Nature in the Case. The Generosity of the Lion, and the Gratitude of the Mouse; The Power, the Dignity, and the Eminence of the One, and the Meanness of the Other; do all Concur to the making of this a very Instructive Fable. Who would have thought that Providence should ever have laid the Life of a Lion at the Mercy of a Mouse? But the Divine Wisdom that brings the greatest Ends to pass by the most Despicable Means, Orders the Reward of Virtue, and the punishment of Vice, by Ways only known to it self, in token of an Approbation of the One and a Dislike of the Other.

Here’s a Recommendation of Clemency and Wisdom, Both in One; for the Lion, in sparing the Life of the Mouse, sav’d his Own; and has left us in this Fable, an Instance of a Grateful Beast, that will stand upon Record to the Confusion of many an Ungrateful Man; that is to say, against those that in their Prosperity forget their Friends, that to their Loss and Hazard, stood by and succour’d them in their Adversity. This is a Sin of so odious and Dangerous an Example, that it puts even Piety, and Gratitude it self out of Countenance. And then the Tenderness on the other side, is Matter of Interest, and ordinary Prudence, as well as of Virtue. If this Lion had kill’d the Mouse, what would the other Mice have said or Done afterwards, when they should have found the same Lion in the Toil? [Have a care Good People; for this is he that killed our Sister, and we cannot save His Life, without Hazarding our Own. If the Huntsman Kill Him, we are sure he will never Kill Us; Beside that we shall have one Enemy the fewer for’t, when he’s gone.] Now the Reason of Æsops Mouse here, works quite Another way. This Lion, (says he) gave Me my Life, when he had it at Mercy, and it is now My Turn, and Duty, to do what I can to preserve His. No Flesh, in fine, can be so Great, as not to tremble under the Force, and Consequences of this President.

The Kite’s Death-bed Devotion and Repentance works like the Charity and Piety of a great many Penitents we meet with in the World; that after the Robbing of Temples, the prophaning of Altars, and other Violences of Rapine and Oppression, Build an Hospital perhaps, or some little Alms-House, out of the Ruins of the Church, and the spoils of Widows and Orphans; put up a Bill for the Prayers of the Congregation; Wipe their Mouths, and All’s well again. But ’tis not for a Wicked Life to trust to the Hazzards of an Uncertain State, and Disposition at the Point of Death. When Men come to that Last Extremity once, by Languor, Pain, or Sickness; and to lie Agonizing betwixt Heaven and Hell, under the stroke either of a Divine Judgment, or of Human Frailty, they are not commonly to sensible of their Wickedness, or so Effectually touch’d with the remorse of a true Repentance, as they are Distracted with the terrors of Death, and the Dark Visionary Apprehensions of what’s to come. People in that Condition do but discharge themselves of Burdensom Reflexions, as they do of the Cargo of a Ship at Sea that has sprung a Leak: Every thing is done in a Hurry, and men only part with their Sins in the one Case, as they do with their Goods in the other; to Fish them up again, so soon as the Storm is over. Grace must be very strong in these Conflicts, wholly to Vanquish the weaknesses of Distressed Nature. That certainly is none of the time to make Choice of for the Great Work of reconciling our selves to Heaven, when we are divided, and confounded betwixt an Anguish of Body, and of Mind: And the Man is worse then Mad that Ventures his Salvation upon that Desperate Issue. We have abundance of these Sick Kites in the World, that after a Sacrilegious Life, spent in the Robbing of the Church, would willingly be thought to Die in the Bosom of it.

Many and Many a time has this been our own Case, both publick and private, when we would not Believe the Danger of things ’till the Evil was come upon us: But Good Counsel is cast away, upon the Arrogant, and Self conceited, or the stupid, who are either too Proud to take it, or too Heavy to Understand it.

The Sowing of Hemp-Seed, and of Plot-seed is much at one. The Design, and the End are Destruction, Both Alike. The Swallow proposes the Preventing of ill Consequences in their Causes, and Obviating the Mischief betimes: But that Counsel is either thrown off with a Raillery, or not minded at all: Governours would have enough to do, they Cry, to trouble their Heads with the Politiques of every Medling Officious Impertinent. Well, It takes Root; shews it self in the Blade, Advances, and Ripens: And still the Swallow is but the same Fool over again, for continuing the same Advice. The Hemp comes at last to be pluckt up, Pill’d, Dress’d, and Spun; The Nets and Snares made and laid; and yet all this while the Birds could never find a time to Bethink themselves, till they came to be Hamper’d, and Ruined past Recovery.

What is all this but a perfect Emblem of the Method of Destroying Kingdoms and States. Cautions, or the common Ways of Anticipating, or Defeating Conspiracies, are below the Wisdom of men of Intrigue, and Cabal; till at last, a Faction comes to be too hard for the Government. Now whether this befals a Kingdom by Envy, Ignorance, Conspiracy, Treachery, or Presumption, it comes all to a case, so long as it does the Work. It is the Bane of Society, and in truth, even of particular Persons too, when betwixt Laziness and Neglect, men slip all the Opportunities, with the Birds here in the Fable, of a Safe, and of a Happy Life.

This Fable, under the Emblem of the Frogs, sets forth the Murmuring and the Unsteadiness of the Common People; that in a State of Liberty will have a King: They do not like him when they have him, and so Change again, and grow Sicker of the Next, then they were of the Former. Now the Bus’ness is only this: They are never satisfy’d with their present Condition; but their Governours are still either too Dull, or too Rigid. ’Tis a Madness for Him that’s Free, to put himself into a state of Bondage, and rather then bear a Less Misfortune to Hazzard a Greater.

This Allusion of the Frogs runs upon All Four (as they say) in the Resemblance of the Multitude, both for the Humour, the Murmur, the Importunity, and the subject matter of the Petition. Redress of Grievances is the Question, and the Devil of it is, that the Petitioners are never to be pleas’d. In one Fit they cannot be Without Government: In Another they cannot bear the Yoke on’t. They find Absolute Freedom to be a Direct State of War; for where there’s no Means of either preventing Strife, or Ending it, the Weaker are still a Prey to the Stronger. One King is too Soft, and Easie for them; Another too Fiery! And then a Third Change would do better they think. Now ’tis Impossible to satisfie people that would have they know not what. They Beg and Wrangle, and Appeal, and their Answer is at last, that if they shift again, they shall be still Worse; By which, the Frogs are given to Understand the very truth of the Matter, as we find it in the World, both in the Nature, and Reason of the Thing, and in Policy and Religion; which is, That Kings are from God, and that it is a Sin, a Folly, and a Madness, to struggle with his Appointments.

It is Highly Dangerous, and Imprudent, for a People in War to call in an Enemy-Prince to their Defence. There’s no Trusting a Perfidious Man, nor any Enmity like the Pretended Protection of a Treacherous Friend.

There is no Living in this World without Inconveniences, and therefore People should have the Wit, or the Honesty, to take up with the Least, and to bear the Lot, which is not to be Avoided, with Honour, and Patience. How many Experiments have been made in the Memory of Man, both in Religion, and in State, to mend Matters, upon pretence that they were Uneasie, by making them Intolerable. And whence is This, but from a Mistaken Opinion of the Present, and as False a Judgment of the Future! And all for want of Rightly Understanding the Nature and the Condition of Things, and for want of Foresight into Events. But we are Mad upon Variety, and so Sick of the Present, (how much soever Without, or Against Reason) that we Abandon the Wisdom, and the Providence of Heaven, and Fly from the Grievances of God’s Appointment, to Blind Chance for a Remedy. This Fable in One Word was never more Exactly Moralized then in our Broils of Famous Memory.

The Kite was the Evil Councellor; The Free-Born People that Complain’d of them were Pigeons; The Hawk was the Power or Authority that they Appeal’d to for Protection. And what did all this come to at Last? The very Guardians that took upon them to Rescue the Pigeons from the Kite, destroy’d the Whole Dove-House, devour’d the Birds, and shar’d the Spoil amongst Themselves.

All Men are to be Believ’d, or Trusted in All Cases; for People, Generally Speaking, are kind to their Neighbours for their Own Sakes. [Timeo Danaos, & Dona Ferentes] A Wise Man will keep himself upon his Guard against the whole World, and more Especially, against a Known Enemy; but most of All, against that Enemy in the Shape of a Friend. As the Sow had more Wit then to Entertain a Wolf for her Nurse.

What are All the Extravagant Attempts and Enterprizes of Vain Men in the World, but Morals, more or less of this Fable? What are Mighty Pretences without Consideration, or Effect; but the Vapours of a Distemper, that like Sickly Dreams, have neither Issue nor Connexion; And the Disappointment is not all neither; for Men make themselves Ridiculous, instead of Terrible, when this Tympany shall come to End in a Blast: and a Mountain to bring forth a Mouse.

These Fables are a Reproof to the Ungrateful Cruelty of those, that will neither forgive One Slip, nor Reward a Thousand Services, but take more Notice of a Particular Unlucky Accident, then of a General Laudable Practice. But One Stumble is enough to Deface the Character of an Honourable Life. It is a Barbarous Inhumanity in Great Men to Old Servants, to make the Failings of Age to be a Crime, without allowing the Past Services of Their Strength and Youth, to have been a Virtue. And this is found in Governments, as well as in Courts, and Private Families; with Masters and Mistresses, as well as in States.

’Tis a miserable Thing, when Faithful Servants fall into the hands of Insensible, and Unthankful Masters; Such as Value Services only by the Profit they bring them, without any regard to the Zeal, Faith, and Affections, of the Heart, and pay them with Blows, and Reproches in their Age, for the Use, Strength and Industry of their Youth. Nay Humane Frailty it self is Imputed to them for a Crime, and they are Treated Worse then Beasts, for not being More then Men. Here’s an Old Drudging Curr turn’d off to Shift for Himself, for want of the very Teeth and Heels that he had lost in his Masters Service. Nay, if he can but come off for Starving too, it passes for an Act of Mercy. Under These Circumstances, the Bare Sense of a Calamity is call’d Grumbling, and if a man does but make a Face upon the Boot, he’s presently a Male-Content. It may be a Question now whether the Wickedness, or the Imprudence of this Iniquity be the more Pernicious; for over and above the Inhumanity, ’tis a Doctrine of Ill Consequence to the Master Himself, to shew the World how Impossible a Thing it is for a Servant to Oblige and Please him: Nay, it is some sort of Temptation also to Impiety and Injustice, when Virtue and Duty came to be made Dangerous.

And yet it is not One Master perhaps of Twenty, all this while, that either directs, or takes notice of These Indignities. It goes a Great Way, ’tis true, Barely to Permit them. One while perchance the Master is not Aware of what is done, and then in Other Cases, it may fall out Effectually to be his Own Act, even against his Own Will: That is to say, when the Passions of Imperious, and Ill-Natur’d Servants are Cover’d with the Name and Authority of their Patrons, in the Abuse of a trust that was Plac’d in ’em for Honester, and for Nobler Ends. It is Congruous enough yet to Apply the Moral of This Fiction, rather to the Driver of the Asse, and to the Huntsman that Manag’d the Chase, then to the Master Himself: But the Asse and the Dog were beaten however, for being Old, and spent in Despite of All the Bonds and Instincts of Honour, Piety, and Good Nature.

’Tis the Intent of These Two Fables, to shew, that no People are so Miserable but that at some Time or Other, in some Things or Other they have Reason to Account themselves Happy. And if they would but duly consider, how it is with many of their Neighbours, they would find it their Duty to be Thankful, that it is no Worse with Themselves. It is some Relief to the Miserable to shew them that there are Others yet more Miserable, and there is not any thing so Timerous, but something else is afraid of It. There are Those, ’tis True, that Die for the very Fear of Death, and Plunge themselves into Certain Misery, upon the Bare Apprehension of it: But this comes rather from the Spleen, then their Misfortune.

Since so it is, that Nature Provides for the Necessities of All Creatures, and for the Well Being of Every One in it’s kind: And since it is not in the Power of any Creature to make it self Other then what by Providence it was Design’d to be; what a Madness is it to Wish our selves Other then what we Are, and what we Must continue to Be: Since the Thing is Bounded, and the whole Matter Pre-determin’d! Every Atome of the Creation has its Place Assign’d: Every Creature has its proper Figure, and there is no Disputing with him that made it so. Why have not I This? and why have not I that? are Questions for a Philosopher of Bedlam to ask; and we may as well Cavil at the Motions of the Heavens, the Vicissitude of Day and Night, and the Succession of the Seasons, as Expostulate with Providence upon any of the rest of Gods Works. The Asse would have Horns, and the Tinker would fain be in Bed with my Lady. The Ape would have a Tail; and why should not a Mountebank Complain that he is not a Minister of State or Justice? But in short, the Poor, Wretched, Blind Mole puts in with her Doctrine to take up the Quarrel.

And what’s the Case of the Hares now, but an Instance to Fortifie us against Panick Frights and Terrors, for Trivial Causes; where the Fears are a great deal more Terrible then the Dangers? In All these Cases, we fancy our selves much more Miserable then we Are, for want of taking a True Estimate of Things. We fly into Transports without Reason, and Judge of the Happiness, or Calamity, of Humane Life, by False Lights. A Strict Enquiry into the Truth of Matters will Help us in the One, and Comparison will set us Right in the Other. The Dogs and the Eagles Frighted the Hares; The Hares Frighted the Frogs, and the Frogs, Twenty to One, Frighted something else. This is according to the Course of the World, One Fears Another, and some body else is afraid of Him.

It may seem to be a kind of a Malicious Satisfaction, that One Man derives from the Misfortunes of Another. But the Philosophy of This Reflexion stands upon Another Ground; for our Comfort does not Arise from Other Peoples being Miserable, but from this Inference upon the Ballance, That we suffer only the Lot of Humane Nature: And as we are Happy or Miserable, compar’d with others, So Other People are Miserable or Happy Compar’d with Us: By which Justice of Providence, we come to be Convinc’d of the Sin, and the Mistake of our Ingratitude. What would not a man give to be Eas’d of the Gout or the Stone? Or supposing an Incurable Poverty on the One Hand, and an Incurable Malady on the Other, Why should not the Poor Man think himself Happier in his Rags, then the Other in his Purple? But the Rich Man Envies the Poor Mans Health, without considering his Want; and the Poor Man Envies the Others Treasure without considering his Diseases. What’s an Ill Name in the World to a Good Conscience within Ones self? And how much less Miserable upon the Wheel, is One man that is Innocent, then Another under the Same Torture that’s Guilty? The Only Way for Hares and Asses, is to be Thankful for what they Are, and what they Have, and not to Grumble at the Lot that they must bear in spite of their Teeth.

Here is Prudence, Caution, and Obedience, recommended to us in the Kids refusal to Open the Door; and here is likewise set forth in the Wolf, the Practice of a Fraudulent, and a Bloody Impostor. This Moral runs through the Whole Business of Humane Life, for so much as the Plot is carry’d on against the Simple and the Innocent, under False Colours, and Feigned Pretences. There are Wolves, in Policy, as well as in Mythology; and if the Kids Obedience had not been more then her Sagacity, she would have found, to her Cost, the Teeth of a Wolf, in the mouth of a Goat; and the malice of an Enemy cover’d under the Voice and Pretence of a Parent.

No Innocence can be Safe, where Power and Malice are in Confederacy against it. There’s No Fence against Subornation, and False Evidence. What Greater Judgment can befall a Nation then for Sheep to be made Trespassers, and Wolves Kites, and Vultures to set up for Witnesses! This is a large Field, if a body would Amplifie upon it: But the History of the Age in Memory will be the Best Moral of This Fable. There’s No Living however without Law: and there’s no Help for’t in many Cases, if the Saving Equity be Over-rul’d by the Killing Letter of it. ’Tis the Verdict that does the Business; but ’tis the Evidence, True or False that Governs the Verdict. So that, (as it sometimes falls out) the Honour of the Publick may come to be Concern’d in the Defence and Support of an Undetected Perjury. The only Danger is the giving too much Credit to the Oaths of Kites and Vultures. That is to say, of Witnesses so Profligate as to bring a Scandal even upon Truth it self, where it is so Asserted.

’Tis Ill Trusting a Reconcil’d Enemy; but ’tis Worse yet, to Proceed at One Step, from Clemency and Tenderness, to Confidence and Trust: Especially where there are so many Memorials in Sight, for Hatred and Revenge to work upon. ’Tis Generous however to Forgive an Enemy; though Extremely Hazardous to Grace him in the doing of an Ill Thing, with the Countenance of a Deference to his Merit. Nay, a Bare Easiness of Pardoning has but too often the Force of a Temptation to Offend again. ’Tis a Nice Business to Indulge on the Left hand, without Punishing on the Right, for there must be No Sacrificing of a Faithful Friend to the Generosity of Obliging a Mortal Enemy. But the Case is then most Deplorate when Reward goes over to the Wrong side, and when Interest shall be made the Test and the Measure of Virtue. Upon the whole Matter, the Countryman was too Easie, in Proposing a Reconciliation; (the Circumstances duly Consider’d) and the Snake was much in the Right on the Other hand, in not entertaining it from a man that had so many Remembrances at Hand still, to Provoke him to a Revenge. Wherefore it is highly Necessary, for the one to know how far, and to Whom to Trust, and for the other to Understand what he is to Trust to. ’Tis a great Error to take Facility, for Good Nature: Tenderness, without Discretion is no better then a more Pardonable Folly.

Æsop has here given us the Fiction of a Case, wherein it may not be Amiss to repay an Abuse in its own Kind. The Mockery of the Fox was a Reproche, as it Hit the Stork on the Weak side; but That which was Rudeness, and Ill Nature in the Aggressor, was only a Monitory Justice, and a Discreet Sharpness in the Other. But This is the Fate Commonly of Drolls and Buffons, that while they think to make Sport with Others, they serve only in the conclusion for a Laughing-Stock themselves.

There’s nothing looks Sillier then a Crafty Knave Out-witted, and Beaten at his Own Play. The Foxes Frolick went too far, in regard it was both upon an Invitation, and under his Own Roof. Now the Return of the Stork was only a Quid pro Quo, and a Warrantable Revenge, even according to the Rules of Civility, and Good Fellowship; for the Fox’s leading the Humour gave the Other not only a Provocation, but a kind of a Right to Requite him in his Own Way: Beside that it was the Cleverer Mockery of the Two. This may serve to Reprove Those Liberties in Conversation that pass the Bounds of Good Nature, Honour, Honesty, and Respect. When they Exceed These Limits, they Degenerate into Scurrility, Scandal and Ill-Manners. For in All Cases, an Eye must be had to the Due Circumstances of Measure, Time, Place, Occasion, and Person. The Laws of Humanity, and Hospitality must be kept Sacred upon any Terms: for the Wounding of a Friend for the sake of a Jest, is an Intemperance, and an Immorality, not to be Endur’d. There was somewhat of This in the Foxes beginning the Frolick.

Many a Fool has a Fair Out side, and Many a Man of Fortune, and Title has not so much as a Common Sense. We have a Whole World of Heads to Answer the Drift of This Emblem: But there is No Judging however by the Senses, of Matters that the Senses can take no Cognizance of; as Virtue, Wisdom, and the Like. The Excellency, in fine, of the Soul is above the Beauty of the Body: Not but that the Graces of the One, and the Endowments of the Other, may Encounter sometimes, (how rarely soever) in One and the same Person. But Beauty and Judgment are so far yet from being Inseperable, that they seem effectually to Require, More or Less, a Diversity of Temperament: Beside that More Care is taken to Cultivate the Advantages of the Body then those of the Mind. To Wrap up all in a Word, the World it self is but a Great Shop of Carv’d Heads; and the Foxes Conceit will hold as well in the Life, as in the Fiction.

Every thing is Best, and Every Man Happiest, in the State and Condition wherein Nature has Plac’d them; But if Daws will be setting up for Peacocks, or Asses for Lions, they must Expect, and Content themselves to be Laugh’d at for their Pains. The Allusion of the Daw here, and his Borrow’d Feathers, Extends to All sorts of Impostors, Vain Pretenders, and Romancers, in Feats of Arms, State, Love, or the Like. It Points also at the Empty Affectation of Wit and Understanding; in which case, it fares as it does with men that set up for Quality, Birth, and Bravery, upon the Credit of a Gay Out-side; for Authors may be Cozen’d upon the Tick, as well as Taylors: Nay we have seen some, even of our First-Rate-Writers, that have been Better at Disguising other Peoples Works, then Furnishing any thing of their Own; That is to say; upon the taking of them to pieces, the Stuff and Trimming is found to be Wholly Stol’n, and new-Fourbish’d; and nothing, in short that they can Assume to Themselves but the Needle and Thred that Tackt the Composition together. Now when these Plagiaries come to be Stript of their Borrow’d, or Pilfer’d Ornaments, there’s the Daw in the Fable truly Moraliz’d.

This Fancy is a Lash upon Those that set up to Live above their Quality and Fortune, and pretend to spend Penny for Penny with men of Twenty times their Estate, and therefore must needs Burst in the Conclusion! But Pride and Ambition Pushes men forward, not only to Extravagances, but Impossibilities, though to the Certain Undoing of the Weaker and the Meaner: When they come to Vie Power and Expence with Those that are too High and too many for them.

Men that would be Bigger then God has made them, must e’en Expect to fall to Nothing. This Affectation strikes upon All the Weaknesses that Pride, Envy, or Ambition can fancy to it self, provided always that we do not take Emulation for Envy. In One Word, when men’s Hearts and Thoughts are puff’d up into a Desire of Things Unnatural, the Tumour is Incurable. But they are Weak Minds commonly that are Tainted with This Evil. They take False Measures, both of themselves, and of Others, without considering the Limits, Bulk, Fortune, Ability, Strength, &c. or in truth, the very Nature of the Things, Matters, or Person in Question. They set up Competitors for Learning, Power, Estate, Policy; They Censure their Betters, Despise their Equals, and Admire Themselves: But their Greatness all this while, is only in Imagination, and they make All fly with the Frog at last, by Straining to be Bigger then they Are, and Bigger then ’tis possible for them to Be.

There’s No trusting to the Fair Words of Those that have both an Interest, and an Inclination to Destroy us; Especially when the Design is carry’d on under the Masque of a Friendly Office. It is but reasonable to Oppose Art to Art, and where we suspect False Play, to Encounter One Trick with another: Provided always that it be Manag’d without breach of Faith, and within the Compass of Honour, Honesty, and Good Manners. The Wolf had the same Design upon the Asse, that the Lion had upon the Horse; and the matter being brought to a Trial of Skill between them, the Countermine was only an Act of Self-Preservation.

We are to Gather from hence, that people would never Envy the Pomp and Splendour of Greatness, if they did but consider, either the Cares and Dangers that go along with it, or the Blessings of Peace, and Security in a Middle Condition. No Man can be truly Happy, who is not every Hour of his Life prepared for the worst that can befall him. Now this is a State of Tranquility never to be attain’d, but by keeping perpetually in our Thoughts the Certainty of Death, and the Lubricity of Fortune; and by Delivering our selves from the Anxiety of Hopes and Fears.

It falls Naturally within the Prospect of this Fiction to Treat of the Wickedness of a Presumptuous Arrogance, the Fate that Attends it; The Rise of it; and the Means of either Preventing or Suppressing it; The Folly of it; The Wretched and Ridiculous Estate of a Proud Man, and the Weakness of That Envy that is Grounded upon the mistaken Happiness of Human Life.

If a body may be Allow’d to Graft a Christian Moral upon a Pagan Fable, what was it but Pride and Arrogance that first threw Lucifer out of Heaven, and afterwards, Adam out of Paradise? [Ye shall be as Gods] was the Temptation; an Impotent and a Presumptuous Affectation of Vain Glory was the Sin; and a Malediction Temporal and Eternal was the Punishment. Now if the Charms of an Unruly Ambition could so far prevail upon the Angels Themselves in their Purity; and upon Mankind in a State of Innocence, how Strict a Guard ought we then to keep upon our selves, that are the Children of disobedience, and bring the seeds of This Deadly Vanity into the World with us in our very Veins?

It is highly Remarkable, that as Pride, and Envy are the Two Passions that above All Others give the Greatest Trouble to the Sons of Men, so are they likewise the First Emotions of the Mind that we take Notice of in our Approaches to the Exercise of our Reason. They begin with us in the Arms of our Nurses, and at the very Breasts of our Mothers; for what’s the meaning of all the Little Wrangles and Contentions else, Which Child shall be made most of; or which Baby shall have the Gayer Coat? So that These Affections are in truth Connatural to us, and as We our selves grow up and Gather Strength, so do They; and pass Insensibly from our Inclinations into our Manners. Now the Corruption must needs be Strong, where Humane Frailty strikes in so Early with it, and the Progress no less Mortal, where it is suffer’d to go on without Control: For what are the Extravagances of the Lewdest Life, but the more Consummated Follies and Disorders, of either a Mis-taught or a Neglected Youth? Nay, what are All the Publick Outrages of a Destroying Tyranny, and Oppression, but Childish Appetites let alone till they are grown Ungovernable? Beside that it is Infinitely Easier to prevent Ill Habits then to Master them; As the Choaking of the Fountain is the surest Way to Cut off the Course of the River. It should be Consider’d too that we have the Seeds of Virtue in us, as well as of Vice; and when ever we take a Wrong Biass, ’tis not out of a Moral Incapacity to do Better, but for want of a Careful Manage and Discipline, to let us Right at First.

Wherefore Children should be moulded while their Tempers are yet Pliant and Ductile. As Pride, for the Purpose, that arises from a False Opinion of Things, should be Obviated by Informing their Understandings. And so for Envy; the very Disposition to it is to be Sweeten’d, as Flowing from a Certain Froward Tincture of Ill Nature. (I speak This of the Malevolent, Canker’d Passion of Envy, which in Effect, is Little or Nothing akin to the Silly Envy of the Asse here in the Fable.) In One word, Children should be season’d betimes, and Lessen’d into such a Contempt, and Detestation of This Vice, as neither to practice it Themselves, nor to Approve it in Others. This is, in Little, the Foundation of a Virtuous Life, and there goes no more then Judging, and Acting Aright, to the Character of a Good Philosopher, a Good Christian, and a Good Man: For to Know, and to Do, is the Compendium of our Duty.

It is not for Every Twatling Gossip yet, or some Empty Pedant, presently to Undertake This Province; for it requires a Critical Nicety both of Wit, and of Judgment, to find out the Genius, or the Propensions of a Child, and to Distinguish betwixt the Impulses of Envy, and those of Emulation: Betwixt the First Motions of a Churlish and Impetuous Insolence, and those of a Serene Greatness, and Dignity of Mind. It is not, I say, for Every Common Eye, or Hand to divide so Accurately betwixt the Good, and the Evil, the Gracious and Perverse, as to hit the precise Medium of Encouraging the One, without Discouraging the Other. And This Faculty of Discerning is not enough neither, without a Watchful Assiduity of Application. The Just Season of Doing Things must be Nick’d, and All Accidents Observ’d and Improv’d; for Weak Minds are to be as Narrowly Attended, as Sickly Bodies: To say nothing of the Infinite Curiosity of the Operation, in the Forming of our Lives and Manners: And that not One man of Ten Thousand is Competently Qualify’d for the Office. Upon the Whole Matter there must be an Awe maintain’d on the One Hand, and at the same time, a Love and Reverence Preserv’d on the Other. And all this must be Order’d too with so Gentle a Softness of Address, that we may not Hazzard, either the Stifling, or the Quenching of Generous Inclinations, by bearing too Hard upon them, or the Licentiating of any thing that is Course and Vulgar, out of a foolish Facility or a Mistaken Pity. It is with our Passions, as it is with Fire and Water, they are Good Servants, but Bad Masters, and Subminister to the Best, and Worst of Purposes, at once, This is enough said, as to the Wickedness, and the Fate of Pride; The Source and Danger of it, together with the only sure and Effectual Means of Remedy.

The Moral leads me in the Next place, to Consider the Folly of both the Horse and the Asse; The One, in Placing his Happiness upon any thing that could be taken away; and the Other, in Envying that Mistaken Happiness, under the Abuse of the same Splendid Illusion and Imposture. What Signifies a Gay Furniture, and a Pamper’d Carcass; or any other Outward Appearance, without an Intrinsick Value of Worth and Virtue? What signifies Beauty, Strength, Youth, Fortune, Embroider’d Furniture, Gawdy Bosses, or any of Those Temporary, and Uncertain Satisfactions, that may be taken from us with the very next Breath we draw? What Assurance can any Man have of a Possession that Every Turn of State, Every Puff of Air, Change of Humour, and the least of a Million of Common Casualties may Deprive him of? How many Huffing Sparks have we seen in the World, that in the same day have been both the Idols, and the Sport and Scorn of the same Slaves and Fools? Nay, how many Emperours and Princes, that in the Ruff of all their Glory have been taken down from the Head of a Conquering Army, to the Wheel of the Victor’s Chariot? Where’s that Advantage under the Sun that any but a Mad man would be Proud of? Or where’s That Pride it self that any Mortal in his Right Wits, would not find Reason to be Asham’d of? Take it singly, and what is there more in’t, then an Unnatural and Unmanly Tympany, that Rises in a Bubble, and spends it self in a Blast? Take it in Complication, and we find a Thousand Weaknesses, Iniquities, and Vexatious Cutting Miseries wrapt up in’t. What can be more Imprudent then to Affect Reputation by the Methods of Infamy? To Aspire to Greatness by the ways of becoming Odious and Contemptible? And to Propose the Erecting of a Mighty Fabrick, upon a Bottom that will Certainly sink under the Weight?

The Disappointments of Those that Build their Hopes in this World upon a False Basis, fall under These Three General Heads. The Advantages we Value our selves upon, may either be taken from us; or We from Them: Or, which is much at One, we may be brought by a Thousand Accidents to lose the Use and Relish of them. As first for the Purpose; they may be taken from Us, by Cheats, Robberies, Subornations, False Oaths, Forgeries, Corrupt Judges; To say nothing of Fires, Earthquakes, Tempests, Inundations, Insurrections, and Other Violences without Number. Secondly, We may be taken from Them, by as many Ways as there are out of This World. A Fly or a Hair shall do the Office of a Rope. And then for the Third Branch, an Indisposition, a Feaver, an Acute Pain, an Impetuous Passion, an Anxious Thought, Impotency, and Old Age, shall do the Work of Taking away both the Guest, and the Comfort of them. Nay, the very Loss of one Pleasure is enough to Damp, if not to Destroy the Relish of Another.

But now to carry the Allusion One Step further yet; It may be literally Asserted, that All Proud Men, over and above the Stroke of a Divine Judgment, are Miserable, even in themselves, and that no Circumstances in this World can ever make them Other. Their Appetites are Insatiable, and their Hearts consequently never at Rest; Whether it be Wealth, Power, Honour, Popular Esteem, or whatever else they pretend to. They Envy, and they are Envy’d. ’Tis Impossible for them to be at rest, without enjoying what it is Impossible for them to Attain. They live Gaping after More, and in a perpetual Fear of Losing what they have already. The Higher they are Rais’d, the Giddier they are; the more Slippery is their Standing, and the Deeper the Fall. They are never Well, so long as Any thing is above them: And their Ambition carries them on to the Supplanting of their very Masters and Makers: When yet by a most Ridiculous Contradiction, they lie Effectually, (in the very same Instant) at the mercy of the men they most Despise. [The Silver, being Ten Thousand Talents, is given to Thee, (says Ahasuerus to Haman) The People also, to do with them, as it seemeth good unto Thee, Esther, Cap. 3. V. 11.] Who would have Imagin’d now, that the Stiff Crossness of a Poor Captive, should ever have had the Power to make Haman’s Seat so Uneasie to him? Or that the want of a Cap, or a Cringe, should so Mortally Discompose him, as we find afterwards it did! If Large Possessions, Pompous Titles, Honourable Charges, and Profitable Commissions; If a Plentiful Issue, Court Favours, or the Flowing Bounty of a Gracious Prince, could have made This Proud Man Happy, there would have been Nothing wanting to his Establishment. But All This did not do his Work, it seems; neither, as big as he was, did there in Truth need any Great matter to Unsettle him. But he was as sure to sink under the Infirmity of his Own Mind, as if he had been Doom’d to Sink in the Fate of a Common Ruine.

When Haman saw Mordecai in the King’s Gate, (says the Text) that he stood not up, nor Moved for him, he was full of Indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman Refrained himself and when he came Home, he sent and call’d for his Friends, and Teresh, his Wife; and told them of the Glory of his Riches, and the Multitude of his Children, And All the Things wherein the King had Promoted him, and how he had Advanced him above the Princes and Servants of the King. Yea, Esther the Queen (says he) did let no man come with the King unto the Banquet that she had prepar’d, but my self; and tomorrow am I invited unto her also with the King. [Yet All This Availeth Me Nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King’s Gate, Esther, Cap. 5. V. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.]

This Instance of Haman’s Case may serve, in a Good Measure, for a Moral to the Arrogance of the Horse here in the Fable; only Haman’s Pride was the more Invidious and Malicious of the Two. To wind up the Story; Mordecai was an Eye-sore to Haman, and a Gallows of Fifty Cubits High was prepared for him by the Order of Haman, Cap. 5. V. 14. But the King, upon Examination of the Matter, Order’d Haman himself to be Hanged. [So they Hanged Haman upon the Gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, Cap. 7. V. 10.] Haman’s Pride, in fine, was a Torment to him, and he was not only Punish’d By it, and For it, but by a Righteous Judgment of Retaliation, he suffer’d Death Himself upon the very Gibbet that he had provided for Another.

How wretched a Creature was Haman now, even in the Caresses of his Royal Master, and in the very Rapture of all his Glories! And how Vain again were all the Marks and Ensigns of his Character and Power; that were not able to Support him against one Slighting Look of a Sorry Slave! He had the World at Will, we see; but All was as good as Nothing to him, so long as he saw Mordecai the Jew sitting in the King’s Gate. Where’s the Sober Man now, that would not rather chuse to be Mordecai in the Gate, upon These Terms, then to be Haman in the Palace? The One had the Blessing of a Conscience that Fears Nothing but God; the Other was Haunted with a Fantastical Weakness of Mind, that makes a man Dread Every thing, and stand in awe of his Own Shadow! A Word, a Thought, an Imagination, a Countenance is enough to Break his Sleep, and to Shake the very Foundations of the Babel that he has Built. He fancies every Bolt that’s Levell’d at his Vices, to be Pointed at his Person, and finds himself Wounded in the Morality of the most Innocent Reproofs. He’s a Slave to All Passions, All Accidents, and All sorts of Men. A Jest, a Banter, a Lampoon; Nay a Glance, an Insinuation, or a Bare Casualty, with the Help of a Guilty Conscience, and a Suspicious Gloss of Application, is enough to Murder him; for he Conceits himself to be Struck at, when he is not so much as Thought of: as I dare appeal to the Consciences of a Thousand Top Gallant Sparks, that will fancy their Own Case to be the Key to This Moral. He makes himself Odious to his Superiours, by his Haughtiness; to his Equals, by a Restless Course of Factious Competitions; and then he never fails of a Virulent Hatred and Envy, from those that are below him; so that he’s beset with Enemies on All hands, the Meanest of which is not without Many and Many a Way to the Wreaking of a Malice, and to the Gratifying of a Revenge. As to the Wretchedness of his Condition, ’tis all a Case to Him, whether he be Teiz’d out of his Life by a Judgment of Flies and Lice, or Stung to Death by Fiery Serpents. And he is not only Tormented by Others, but the very Tormenter of Himself too. Nay, rather then want a Colourable Ground of Trouble, he Creates it. His pride is a Continual Drought upon him, and a Thirst never to be Quench’d. His Conscience, his Fancy, his Fears, Jealousies, and Mistakes; Every thing helps on towards his Undoing. And now to the Infinite Variety of Plagues that Wait upon Pride, there is likewise as Great a Diversity of Imperious Humours, for This Misery to Work upon. As for Example, There is a Pride of Stomach, a Pride of Popularity, a Pride of Brow, Equipage, and Parade. There’s a Pride of Tongue without either Brains, or Heart to Support it. There’s an Abject, (in fine) and there’s a Surly Pride: But to Conclude, there is All This, and a Thousand times more of the same Kind and Colour, that lies Naturally Couch’d under This Allegory. And not One Instance at last, that is not verify’d by Many and Many an Example.

Now as to the Envy of the Asse it was a Double Folly; for he Mistakes both the Horses Condition, and his Own. ’Tis Madness to Envy any Creature that may in a Moment become Miserable; Or for any Advantage that may in a Moment be taken from him. The Asse Envies the Horse to day; and in some Few Days more, the Horse comes to Envy Him: Wherefore let no man Despair, so long as it is in the Power, either of Death, or of Chance, to Remove the Burden. Nothing but Moderation and Greatness of Mind can make, either a Prosperous, or an Adverse Fortune Easie to us. The Only Way to be Happy is to submit to our Lot; for No man can be properly said to be Miserable that is not wanting to Himself. It is Certainly True, that many a Jolly Cobler has a Merrier Heart in his Stall, than a Prince in his Palace.

We are here taught in some Cases to Yield to Times and Occasions; but with a Saving still, to Honour, and to Conscience. A Wise and an Honest Man will always mean the same Thing; but he’s a Fool that always says the same thing. Æsop however Condemns the Double Practices of Trimmers, and All False, Shuffling, and Ambidextrous Dealings. He gives also to understand, that Those that pretend at the same time to serve Two Masters, are True to Neither.

The Three Fables next above have a Great Affinity One with Another, and yet not without some Remarkable Diversities neither. From the Emblem of the Bat and Weazle, we are to Gather, that there are Certain Ways, Cases, and Occasions, wherein, Disguises, and Artificial Evasions are in some Measure Allowable, provided only that there be No Scandalous, or Malicious Departure from the Truth. This Shifting of the Bat in the Paw of the Weazle, was but making the Best of what he had to say, and to shew for Himself, toward the saving of his Life. There was No Breach of Faith, or of Trust in’t; No Abandoning of a Duty, No Thought of Treachery; Nor in Effect, any thing more in’t, then a Fair Christian Way of putting out False Colours.

The Bat that stood Neuter, may serve for the Character of a Time-serving Trimmer: He Betrays his Party, first in withdrawing his Assistance. Secondly, In going over to the Stronger Side, and Declaring Himself an Open Enemy when his Fellows had the Worst on’t. His Judgment, in fine, was Just, and if All Double Dealers and Deserters were serv’d as This Bat was, it would be an Example of Terrour to Renegades, and of Encouragement to Honest men.

The Estriches Case seems to be Different from the Other Two. He Fought, (though ’tis not said on which side) and he was Taken in the Battel. He had the Shape, but not the Heart of a Trimmer, and it was rather Nature then Fraud, that brought him off. Now there are Many things in an Affair of This Quality that may be Warrantable, even upon the Nicest Scruples of Honour, in him that suffers the Violence, which perchance would not be so in the Aggressor.

To take This Fable in a Political Sense; a Peace that puts People out of Condition of Defence, in Case of a War, must expect a War; and such a State as leaves them at the Mercy of an Enemy, is Worse then War it self. There’s no Trusting to the Articles and Formalities of an Out-side Peace, upon the pretended Reconciliation of an Implacable Enemy. Christian Religion bids us Forgive: But Christian Prudence bids us have a Care too, whom we Trust. ’Tis just in the World as it is in the Apologue. Truces, and Cessations, are both Made, and Broken, for Present Convenience; and where the Allies find they may be the Better for’t, we may lay down this for an undoubted Truth, that there can never want a Colour for a Rupture, where there’s a Good Will to’t. ’Tis No New Thing in the World for the Dogs that are to keep the Wolves from Worrying the Sheep, to be deliver’d up to the Enemy for Hostages, for fear the Sheep should Worry the Wolves. This was our very Case within the Memory of Man, when Matters were brought to the same Issue in the Kingdom by’t, that they are here in the Fable: Witness the several and several Treaties and Proposals that were set on foot under the Countenance of a Good Will to Peace: Where only such Conditions were insisted upon by the Designing Party, as would be almost Equally Destructive to all Honest Men, whether they were Granted or Refused. The One Way the Wolves were to have the Sheep left at Mercy; and the Other Way, the Scandal was turn’d upon the Refusers, as the Enemies of an Accommodation; Nay and the very Dogs were turn’d into Wolves too; while Lawyers, and Divines, made the Law and the Gospel Felons of themselves, and suborn’d the Scriptures against the very Christ and his Apostles.

The Fables of the Ax-Handle, and the Wedge, serve to precaution us not to put our selves Needlessly upon an After Game, but to Weigh before hand what we Say, and Do. We should have a Care how we Arm our Enemies against our Selves; for there’s Nothing goes Nearer a Man then to be Undone by his Own Improvidence; and Nothing afterward more Ridiculous, then to Blame Fortune for our own Faults: Though we are so Fram’d by Nature, in respect of our Souls and Bodies, that One Part of a Man is still Wounded by the Other. Nothing so much Troubled the Eagle and the Thrush, as the Thought of assisting to their own Destruction.

There’s No living in This World without an Exchange of Civil Offices, and the Need we have One of Another, goes a Great Way towards the Making of us Love One Another. How is this Amity, and Communication to be entertain’d now, but by the Commerce of Giving and Receiving? Reason, and Experience, are Sufficient to convince us of the Necessity of such a Correspondence; And this Fiction of the Axe and the Forrest, and so of the Tree and the Wedge, shews us the Danger of it too, if it be not Manag’d with a Provident Respect to All the Niceties of Circumstance, and Contingency in the Case. People have got a Custom, ’tis true, of Computing upon the Present Need, and Value of things, without ever heeding the Consequences of them: As if all our Askings, and our Grantings were to be Governed by the Standard of the Market. ’Tis so pityful a Bus’ness, says One, and it was so small a Thing, says Another; And yet this Pityful Bus’ness, and this Small Thing, proves at last to be as much as a Man’s Life, Honour, and Estate is Worth. Alas! What’s a Handle for an Axe, out of a whole Forrest! What’s the Writing of a Man’s Name, or the saying Ay, or No to a Question? And yet the very Safety and Honour of our Prince and Country, and the Summ of our Well-being lies many a time at Stake upon the Issue of doing either the One or the Other. Nay and let the People we have to do withal be never so Just and Honest, it is yet a Temerity, and a Folly Inexcusable, to deliver up our selves Needlesly into Anothers Power: For He that does anything Rashly, must be taken in Equity of Construction to do it willingly: for he was free to Deliberate or not: ’Tis Good Advice to Consider, First, what the Thing is that is Desired. 2. The Character of the Person that Asks. 3. What use may be made on’t to the Detriment of him that Grants the Request, and so to Resolve how far in Duty, Humanity, Prudence, Justice, and Respect, we are to Comply with it. Wheresoever there is Moral Right on the One Hand, No Secondary Interest can Discharge it on the Other. A Pris’ner upon Parole must surrender himself upon Demand, though he Die for’t. A Man may Contribute to his own Ruin Several Ways; but in Cases not to be Foreseen, and so not to be Prevented, it may be his Misfortune, and the Man not to blame. We are not to omit Precaution however, for fear an Ill Use should be made of those Things that we do, even with a Good Intention; but we are still to Distinguish betwixt what may Possibly, and what will Probably be done, according to the Best Measures we can take of the End of Asking; for there would be No Place left for the Functions of Humane Society, if the Possibility of Abusing a Kindness, should wholly Divert us from the Exercise of Charity and Good Nature. There may be Great Mischief Wrought yet, without any thing of a Previous Malice, and it may be Hazardous to Yield, even where the Proposal is wholly Innocent. There may be other Propositions again, that were Originally Design’d for Snares, to the Short-sighted and Credulous. Now ’tis the Art of Life, Critically to Discern the One Case from the Other.

There needs Little more to be said to the Emblems of the Eagle and the Thrush, then to observe, that both by Chance, and by Nature, we are made Accessary to our Own Ruins: and That’s enough to Trouble a Body, though not to Condemn him.

This Allegory is a Political Reading upon the State and Condition of Civil Communities, where the Members have their Several Offices, and Every Part Contributes respectively to the Preservation and Service of the Whole. ’Tis true, their Operations are More or Less Noble, but the Mechanical Faculties can no more be Spar’d then the Intellectual, and those that Serve in Council under an Appearance of Rest, are yet as Busie, and as Necessary, in their Functions, as those that are Actually and Visibly in Motion. Here’s a Caution in fine, to the Members, to have a care how they withdraw themselves from their Duties, till it shall be too late for their Superiours to make use of them.

There is so Near an Analogy betwixt the State of a Body Natural, and Politique, that the Necessity of Government and Obedience, cannot be better Represented. The Motions of a Popular Faction are so Violent, and Unreasonable, that neither Philosophy, Prudence, Experience, nay, nor the Holy Writ it self, has the Power (ordinarily speaking) to Work upon them. If People would allow themselves Time for Thought and Consideration, they would find that the Conservation of the Body depends upon the Proper Use and Service of the Several Parts; and that the Interest of Every Distinct Member of it, is wrapt up in the Support, and Maintenance of the whole, which obliges them all to Labour in their Respective Offices and Functions for the Common Good. There are Degrees of Dignity (no doubt on’t) in Both Cases, and One Part is to be Subservient to Another, in the Order of Civil Policy, as well as in the Frame of a Man’s Body: so that they are mightily out of the way, that take Eating and Drinking, and Un-Eating, and Un-Drinking, in a course of Vicissitude, with other Offices of Nature that are common to Beasts with Men, to be the Great Bus’ness of Mankind, without any further Regard to the Faculties, and Duties of our Reasonable Being: For Every Member has its Proper, and Respective Function Assign’d it, and not a Finger suffers but the Whole Feels on’t.

This is to Reprove the Impertinent, Useless, and Unreasonable Demands of Those that first Ask what Another cannot Part with, unless he be a Stark Fool, or a Mad-Man. And, 2. That which if they could obtain would be of No Use, or Benefit to them at all. The Old Moral carries it to Those also that will Part with Nothing to the Poor, even out of their Superfluities: But it seems to be Abominably Wrested, for neither did the One want, nor had the other Any Thing to spare.

There are Certain Rules to be observed, as well in Asking, as Denying. Things against Nature are unreasonable on Both Sides. Things Impossible are Ridiculous in the very Proposal; and Things which the One cannot Spare, and the Other will be never the Better for, fall naturally within the Compass of Exceptions. That is to say, Those Things that we know not what to do withal if we Had them; and Those Things again, which Another Cannot Part with but to his own Loss and Shame. These Points are the very Conditions of This Fable. Here’s a General Caution against Extravagant Desires, and yet let the Refusal be never so Just, it is Possible however, that a Man may Oppose a most Unconscionable Request for an Unjustifiable Reason; As in the Case for the Purpose, of an Ill Natur’d Denyal, out of a Dislike of the Man, rather then of the Thing it self.

The Application of This Fable to Avarice, that will part with Nothing, seems to be Wrested; for it strikes more properly upon the Folly of Peoples not being satisfied with the Appointments of Nature. An Ape with a Tayl, would be as scandalous, as a Fox without One. Why should not Any One Creature Envy the Whole, as well as any One Part of Another: And why should not an Ape be as much Troubled that he has no Wings, as that he has no Tayl? This Grumbling Humour has Envy in it, Avarice and Ingratitude, and sets up it self in fine against all the Works of the Creation.

Interest Does more in the World then Faith and Honesty; for Men are more sensible in their own Case then in Anothers; which is all but according to the Old Saying, Command your Man, and Do’t Your Self. Neither, in Truth, is it Reasonable, that Another should be more Careful of Me, then I am of myself. Every Man’s Bus’ness is Best Done when he looks after it with his Own Eyes: And in short, when Every Man looks to One, the Care is taken for All.

We are likewise given to understand, in the Misfortune, and Mistake of the Stag, how Rare a Felicity it is for a Man in Distress, to find out such a Patron as has the Will and the Resolution, the Skill, and the Power, to Relieve him; and that it is not Every Man’s Talent neither to make the Best of a Bad Game. The Morality of this Caution is as good a Lesson to Governments, as to Private Families. For a Prince’s Leaving his Bus’ness Wholly to his Ministers without a Strict Eye over them in their respective Offices and Functions, is as Dangerous an Errour in Politiques, as a Master’s Committing All to his Servants is in Oeconomicks. It is Effectually a Translation of the Authority, when a Superiour trusts himself Implicitly to the Faith, Care, Honesty and Discretion of an Inferiour. To say nothing of the Temptation to Bribery and False Dealing, when so much may be Gotten by’t with so Little Hazzard, either of Discovery, or Punishment. Beside the Desperate Inconvenience of setting up a Wrong Interest, by drawing Applications out of the Proper Channel; and Committing the Authority and Duty of the Master to the Honesty and Discretion of the Servant. Men will be True to themselves how Faithless soever to One Another.

There’s but a Hair’s Breadth here, betwixt an Office of Great Piety, Humanity and Virtue, and an Action of Extreme Folly, Improvidence, and Hazzard. But the Fox saw through the Complement, and that it was, in Truth, but an Invitation of him to his own Funeral. We meet with many of These Dangerous Civilities in the World, wherein ’tis a Hard Matter for a Man to Save, both his Skin and his Credit.

’Tis a Difficult Point to Hit the True Medium, betwixt Trusting too Much, and too Little, for fear of Incurring a Danger on the One Hand, or giving a Scandal on the Other. Complements are only Words of Course, and though One External Civility may be Current Payment for Another, yet a Man would be loth to Venture his All upon a Figure of Speech, where the Meaning is so Nicely Divided betwixt Jest and Earnest. ’Tis a Base Thing to suspect a Friend, or an Honest Man, Nay ’tis a Base Thing to suspect any Man, that but Looks like One; so as to Wound him; That is, either in a Word, or in a Thought. But then ’tis Death perhaps to be Impos’d upon by an Hypocrite under that Masque. So that the Character of a Wise Man, lyes at Stake upon Matter of Judgment, One Way, and of a Good Natur’d Man, the Other Way. The Middle Course is to Hide our Distrust where we are doubtful, and to be Free, and Open, where we may be Secure. There’s No Living without Trusting some body or Other, in some Cases, or at some Time or Other: But then if People be not Cautious, Whom, When, and Wherein, the Mistake may be Mortal; for there must be somewhat of a Trust to make way for a Treachery; since No Man can be Betray’d that does not either Believe, or seem to Believe: So that the Fox did well to Weigh All Circumstances before he came to a Resolution. The Lion’s Design was well enough Cover’d under the Disguise of a Counterfeit Sickness, and a Dissembled Tenderness and Respect, for the Drawing of the Fox into the Toyle. For there was the Civility of an Invitation, on the One Hand, and some Colour of a Right to a Visit, though but out of Compassion and Good Manners, on the Other: But the Foxes Sagacity, and the Prints of the Feet Spoil’d All. This Fable in One Word more, bids us be Careful how we Trust in Any Case without looking Well about us: for ’tis Half the Bus’ness of One part of the World to put Tricks upon T’other. The Heart of Man is like a Bog, it looks Fair to the Eye; but when we come to lay any Weight upon’t, the Ground is False under us. Nothing could be more Obliging and Respectful then the Lyon’s Letter was, in Terms and Appearance; but there was Death yet in the True Intent and Meaning on’t.

In a Middle State, both of Body, and of Fortune, a Man is better Dispos’d for the Offices of Humane Society, and the Functions of Reasonable Nature; and the Heart is also freer from Cares and Troubles. There are Unwieldy Minds as well as Unwieldy Bodies, and the Fumes of the One Obstruct the Operations of the Other. The Head of a Philosopher will never do well upon the Shoulders of an Epicure. The Body and the Soul are Inseparable Companions, and it is against the Nature of This Reasonable Union, for the One to be a Clog to the other. The Foxes here, is the Case of many a Publick Minister, that comes Empty In, but when he has Cram’d his Gutts well, he’s fain to squeeze hard before he can get off again; and glad to Compound with his very Skin for his Carcase.

These Fables lay Open to us the Folly of Those People that make themselves Slaves to their Revenge; for no Man should be so Angry with Another, as to Hurt Himself for’t. We should likewise Consider, that there’s More Hazard in the succour of a New Powerful Friend, then in the Hostility of an Old Dangerous Enemy; and that the Greatest Empires upon the Face of the Earth, have had their Rise from the Pretence of Taking up Quarrels, or Keeping the Peace.

These Fables tell us, that it is a Rule of Good Discretion in all Matters of Quarrel, and Controversie, for Him that is Worsted to have a Great Care Whom he calls to his Aid: Especially when there’s more of Passion then Necessity in the Case. The Horse might have Quench’d his Thirst with Troubled Water; or he might have stay’d the Clearing of it; Or Chang’d his Wat’ring Place; Or when he was forc’d out of One Pasture he might have taken up in Another, which would have Preserv’d his Liberty upon the Main, though not as to this Particular: But his Stomach was too Great, it seems, to Digest the Affront, without having his Enemy at his Feet: so that he gives up his Freedom to Gain his Revenge. He has Fair Words however, Rich Trappings, and Large Promises; but Works only for his Master; and if at any time he does but Slacken his Pace, or abate, either in his Zeal, or in his Mettle, the Spur is immediately in the Flank of him: Or if he be Unruly, the Bit’s upon the Check to keep him to his Duty. The Stag was too hard for the Horse; and the Horse flyes for Succour to One that’s too Hard for Him, and Rides the One to Death, and Outright Kills the Other. It were Well, if Possible, to keep All Potent Enemies to the Behaviour in such a Case as This, Especially if they Appear under the Shape of Friends: But if People will Venture Life, Liberty and All, for the Clawing of an Itch, and lay Violent Hands upon Themselves, there’s no Fence for’t.

That which Men are to Horses, in the Scale of Creatures, Men in Power and Authority, are in some Proportion to the Poor and Weak: That is to say in the Analogy of Servitude, and Drudgery; and in the carrying of some sort of Burdens that are a Shame to the Bearer. They Toyl and Moyl for the Interest of their Masters, that in requital, break the very Hearts of them for their Pleasure; and the Freer they are of their Flesh, the more Scandalous is the Bondage. When they have done All that Horses can do, they are Lash’d, Spurr’d, Revil’d, and Ill Treated, for not being able to do More: They are Hurry’d on without either Respite or Reason; And after they have carry’d their Riders safe over All Leaps, and through All Dangers, and by All Ways and Means Contributed to the Ease, Credit, and Security of their Masters, what comes of them in the End, but to be Strain’d, Founder’d, or Broken Winded; Old Age Overtakes them, and they are e’en Glad to take up in a Mill at last with Grains and Thistles, and there spend the Remainder of a Wretched Life in a Circulation of Misery and Labour. If any Man of War, or State, shall find this Case to be his Own, and Himself Touch’d in the Moral of This Fable, let him keep his Own Councel, and learn to be Wiser hereafter. And we may learn This Lesson of the Horse too, not to Sacrifice our Honour, Liberty, and Conscience, to a Freak.

This Fable concerns those that think to Deceive God with Fallacies of Words, Equivocations, Mental Reservations, and Double Meanings; but though Frauds and Perjuries may pass upon Men for a Season, they are as Open as the Light yet to Him that Searches the Heart. A Man had better be a Downright Atheist, then in such a Case as This, an Equivocating Hypocrite: For He that Denies a Providence, or Doubts whether there be any God at all, is much more Pardonable, then Another that Acknowledges, and Confesses an All-Seeing and an Almighty Power; and yet at the Same Time, most Blasphemously Affronts it. ’Tis a Great Unhappiness that Children should be so much Addicted (as we see they are) to This Way and Humour of Shuffling: But it is a Greater Shame and Mischief, for Parents, Governours, and Tutors, to Encourage, and Allow them in’t, and so (Effectually) to Train them up to One of the most Dangerous Corruptions they are Capable of, in Countenancing the very Ground Work of a False and Treacherous Life. There must be no Paradoxing or Playing Tricks with Things Sacred. Truth is the Great Lesson of Reasonable Nature, both in Philosophy, and in Religion. Now there is a Truth of Opinion; a Truth of Fact, and a Truth in Simplicity and Sincerity of Thought, Word, and Deed. The Last of the Three is the Truth that is here in question. The Knack of Fast and Loose passes with a world of Foolish People for a Turn of Wit; but they are not aware all this while, of the Desperate Consequences of an Ill Habit, and that the Practice of Falsifying with Men, will lead us on Insensibly to a Double Dealing even with God Himself.

No Man is to Account any thing a Loss, if he gets Wisdom by the bargain: Beside, that Bought Wit is Best. It is in some Proportion, in the Business of this World, as it is in that of the Next: In the Cases, (I mean, of Losses, Miscarriages and Disappointments): We are in Both Respects the Better for them (Provided they be not Mortal, that is) for they are Monitory and Instructive. Affliction makes a Man Both Honest and Wise; for the smart brings him to a sense of his Errour, and the Experiment to the Knowledge of it. We have I know not how many Adages to back the Reason of This Moral, Hang a Dog upon a Crab-Tree (we say) and He’ll never love Verjuyce. And then we have it again in That Common saying, The Burnt Child Dreads the Fire. ’Tis Wandring Many times, whether it be in Opinion, or in Travelling, that sets a Man Right in his Judgment, and brings him into the way. The Dogs running away with the Flesh, Does as good as bid the Cook look Better to’t Another time.

A Dog and a Sheep. See Fable and Moral 29.

This is to lay before us the Charms and Extravagances of a Blind Love. It Covers all Imperfections, and Considers neither Quality, nor Merit. How many Noble Whores has it made, and how many Imperial Slaves! And let the Defects be never so Gross, it either Palliates, or Excuses them. The Womans Leaping at the Mouse, tells us also how Impossible it is to make Nature Change her Biass, and that if we shut her out at the Door, she’ll come in at the Window.

Here’s the Image of a Wild and Fantastical Love, under the Cover of as Extravagant a Fable, and it is all but Fancy at last too; for Men do not See, or Tast, or Find the Thing they Love, but they Create it. They Fashion an Idol, in what Figure or Shape they please; Set it up, Worship it, Dote upon it; Pursue it; and in fine, run Mad for’t. How many Passions have we seen in the World, Ridiculous enough to Answer All the Follies of this Imagination! It was much for Venus to turn a Cat into a Woman, and for that Cully again to take That Cat for a Woman: What is it Less now, for a Fop to Form an Idea of the Woman he Dyes for, Every jot as Unlike That Woman, as the Cat is to the Mistress? Let This Suffice for the Impostures, and Illusions of That Passion.

We are further given to Understand that No Counterfeit is so Steady, and so Equally Drawn, but Nature by Starts will shew her self thorough it; for Puss, even when she’s a Madam, will be a Mouser still. ’Tis the Same Thing with a Hypocrite, which is only a Devil dress’d up with a Ray about him, and Transform’d into an Angel of Light. Take him in the very Raptures of his Devotion, and do but throw a parcel of Church-Lands in his way, he shall Leap at the Sacrilege from the very Throne of his Glory, as Puss did at the Mouse; and Pick your Pocket, as a French Poet says of a Jesuit, in the Middle of his Paternoster.

The Bus’ness of the World, is more or less, the Bus’ness of Every Man that lives in’t; And if the Great and the Small do not Joyn in One Common Assistance, where the Matter requires it, they are in Danger to be Both Undone; So that it is for the Good of the Whole, that the Several Parts take care One of Another.

We have here set before us the Mischiefs of Ill Nature, and Imprudence, both in One; and the Folly of not Heeding the Duty, as well as the Common Necessity of Helping One Another. [This is None of My Bus’ness] we Cry: never considering, that in Things Requisite to be done, what One Cannot, Another Must: Beside, that in the Case of a Fellow-Servant, or an Honest Neighbour, I am as much bound to save him from Sinking under a Heavy Burthen, as I am to give him a Cup of Drink, or a Morsel of Bread, to keep him from Choaking or Starving: It makes a Breach in a Community, when Particular Men shall take upon them to Divide from the Common Service of the Body: And He that sets up a Private Interest, Separate from the Publique, Discontinues the Connexion of the Government, by Cutting off That Link of the Chain. But the Miseries and Calamities that follow upon departing from the Known Rules and Measures of Political Order, are sufficient to Enlighten us in the Reason of Political Methods, and to Excite us to an Agreement in all Reciprocal Services, One with Another. There’s the Duty of Charity in’t, and the Foundations of Governing Prudence; Beside, that we are likewise Mov’d to’t, by a Sense of Tenderness, Honour and Justice.

The Churlish Humour of this Horse, is too much the Humour of Mankind, even in the Case of Subjects to the same Master; but such is the Vanity that many People draw from their Titles, and their Trappings, that they look down upon their Fellows, as if they were not All made of the same Clay. To speak the Plain Truth of the Matter, ’Tis the Little People that support the Great; and when the Foundation fails, the whole Fabrick must either drop into Rubbish, or otherwise Rest upon the Shoulders of their Superiours.

This is to bid us have a Care what Friendships we Contract, and what Company we keep; for Contrary Humours and Manners will never agree together. There can be no Thought of Uniting Those that Nature it self has Divided. And this Caution holds good in all the Bus’ness of a Sober Man’s Life; as Marriage, Studies, Pleasures, Society, Commerce, and the like: ’Tis in some sort, with Friends (Pardon the Coursness of the Illustration) as it is with Dogs in Couples. They should be of the Same Size, and Humour; and That which pleases the One should Please the Other; But if they Draw Several Ways, and if One be too Strong for T’other, they’ll be ready to Hang themselves upon Every Gate, or Style they come at. This is the Moral of the Friendship betwixt a Thrush and a Swallow, that can never Live together.

This is to Reprove Those (according to the old Moral) that Stir up Men in Power to do Public Mischief; which is much Worse then any Man’s Doing a Private One Himself: And only a Safer Way of Committing greater Outrages.

The Trumpeter’s Plea is so Arrant a Shuffle here, that an Incendiary at the Bar, or in the Pulpit, has as much to say for Himself. He that Countenances, Encourages, or Abettes a Mischief, Does it. The Seditious Lawyer, or Divine, Kills No Body with his own Hand, but by a False Gloss perhaps, upon a Law, or a Text, he may Cause Ten Thousand Swords to be Drawn, without Spilling One Drop of Blood immediately Himself. Shall any Man now, that Wilfully, and Maliciously, procures the Cutting of whole Armies to Pieces, set up for an Innocent? As if the lives that were taken away by his Instigation, were not to be Charged upon his Account. He that Covers Murder, Oppression, Sacrilege, Rebellion, with a Cloak of Statute and Scripture, makes God and Government, Effectually the Authors of the Wickedness: And those are the Basest, and Worst of Bravo’s, that Employ Journeymen Mercenaries under them to do the Work. What is This, but to Engage our Bibles, and our Law Books in a Conspiracy against Themselves? Shall He that gives Fire to the Train, pretend to Wash his Hands of the Hurt that’s done by the Playing of the Mine? Humane Corruptions are as Catching as Powder; as Easily Enflam’d, and the Fire afterwards as Hard to be Quench’d. That which a Man Causes to be Done, he Does Himself, and ’tis all a case whether he does it by Practice, Precept, or Example. In One Word, He that Kindles the Passions of the Mobile, is Answerable for the Following Conflagration. When the Men of the Long Robe have once Preach’d the People to Tinder, the Least Spark sets them a Fire: so that they have no more to do then to Inculcate the Doctrine of Disobedience, and then leave the Multitude to chew upon’t. A Trumpeter in the Pulpit is the very Emblem of a Trumpeter in the Field; and the same Charge holds Good against Both. Only the Spiritual Trumpeter is the more Pernicious Instrument of the Two; for the Latter serves only to Rouze the Courage of the Soldiers without any Doctrine of Application upon the Text, whereas the other infuses Malice over and above, and Preaches Death and Damnation, Both in One, and gives ye the very Chapter and Verse for’t.

In This Emblem is set forth the Blessing of Liberty, and the Sordid Meanness of those Wretches that sacrifice their Freedom to their Lusts, and their Palates. What Man in his Right Senses, that has wherewithal to Live Free, would make himself a Slave for Superfluities! The Wolfe would have been well enough Content to have Barter’d away a Ragged Coat, and a Raw-Bon’d Carcass, for a Smooth and a Fat One; but when they came to talk of a Collar once, away Marches He to his Old Trade in the Woods again, and makes the Better Choice of the Two.

To speak to the First Point, we are lyable to be Impos’d upon by Outsides and Appearances, for want of Searching things to the Bottom, and Examining what Really they are, and what they Only seem to be. This Fiction of the Wolfe, is a Reproof to Eager Appetites, and Over-Hasty Judgments, that will not give themselves time to Ballance Accounts, and Compute Beforehand, whether they are to get or Lose by the Bargain. It holds as well against Intemperate Curiosities, and Rash Wishes, That is to say, against the Folly of the One, and the Wickedness of the Other; for if we come once to take Evil for Good, our very Prayers are turn’d into Sin: But what with a Certain Itch of Prying into, and Meddling with Other Peoples Matters, and a Natural Levity that puts us upon Shifting and Changing, we fall Insensibly into a Thousand Inconveniences: and when it comes to That once, that we find our selves Uneasie at Home, and no Resting-Place in our Own Thoughts, (where Rest is Only to be had) we are e’en glad to run away from our Selves, and Hunt abroad for’t where ’tis never to be found. This is the Common Root of all our Wandrings and Errors. We Spend our Time, and our Peace, in Pursuit of Things wholly Forreign to our Business, and which will Certainly Deceive us at last.

Thus it Is, and Thus it must be, so long as we take Every thing by a Wrong Handle, and only Calculate upon our Own Misfortunes, without any Allowance for the Comforts that we Enjoy. And so we reckon upon our Neighbours Enjoyments, on the Other hand, without any Consideration for the Hardships that They Endure. Oh that I had but such a Palace! Says One; Such an Estate; Such a Retinue; This Glorious Train; That Lovely Woman, &c. Nay the Envious Freak Descends to the very Point, and Petticoat. Now these Idle Curiosities may be Specious Enough in the Contemplation; but what if This House, at the Foot of the Account, should Prove to be Haunted, That Gay Furniture Borrow’d; T’other fine Woman Clapt; The Curse of Sacrilege cleaving to such an Inheritance, and all the rest of the Gawdy Fooleries perhaps unpay’d for? (as these Incumbrances are no New Things in Nature) Who would not rather take up with the Wolfe in the Woods again, then make such a Clutter in the World upon These Scandalous Conditions.

For the Obviating of All Cases of this Quality, Children should be Early Instructed, according to their Age and Capacity, in the True Estimate of Things, by Opposing the Good to the Evil, and the Evil to the Good; and Compensating, or Qualifying One Thing with Another. What’s Plenty without Health? What’s Ease without Plenty? And what’s Title and Greatness, with Carking Thoughts, and a Troubled Mind to Attend it? What does That Man Want that has Enough? Or What’s He the better for a Great deal, that can never be Satisfy’d? By This Method of Setting what we Have against What we have Not, the Equity of Providence will be made Manifest, and to All manner of purposes Justify’d; When it shall appear upon the Ballance, that Every man has his Share in the Bounties of Heaven to Mankind.

As to the Freedom here that Æsop is so Tender of, it is to be Understood of the Freedom of the Mind: A Freedom to Attend the Motions of Right Reason; and a Freedom, in fine, not to be parted with for All the Sensual Satisfactions under the Sun. It is, I say, a Freedom under These Limits; for there’s No such Thing as Absolute Liberty: Neither is it possible that there should be any, without a Violence to the Order of the Universe, and to the Dictates of Reasonable Nature: For All Men Living are in Some sort or Other, and upon some Penalty or Other, Subjected to a Superior Power; That is to say, the Laws of Morality are Above them: But the Case wherein All Men are upon the Behaviour is not here the Question. To Wind up the Moral, in short; Liberty is a Jewel, and a Blessing. The Wolfe was well enough pleas’d here with the State of the Dog’s Body, but he had no fancy to his Collar.

’Tis a Common Thing for a Master to Sacrifice a Servant to his Own Ease and Interest; but there’s No Meddling with Men of that Inhospitable Humour, where the Domestiques, how Faithful soever, can never be Secure.

This is according to the Old Moral; but not without some Force (in My Opinion at least) to the Natural Biass of the Fable. The Farmer has no Liberty of Choice before him, but either to do what he does, or to Perish: And in so Doing, (with all respect to the Rules of Honesty) he does but his Duty; without any way Incurring the Character of an ill Natur’d Man, or a Cruel Master. But there may be also Another Doctrine Rais’d from it; which is, That in Cases of Extreme Difficulty, the Laws of Conveniency, and Ordinary Practice must give place to the Laws of Necessity. This was the Naked Truth of the Farmer’s Case.

Things that at first seem Terrible, become Easy to us when we are Wonted to them; says the Old Moral; which holds, I confess, in the Case of the Camel, but not in That of the Lyon.

With leave of the Moralist, the Illustration does not come up to the Force and Intent of the Two Last Fables: Neither, in truth, is the very Design of them according to the True Reason of the Matter in Question. Things that seem Terrible, and are Not so, become not only Familiar, but Ridiculous to us, when we find that our Fears were Vain and Idle; as in the case of the Camel: But things on the contrary, that only Seem Terrible, but are found upon Experience to be more Dangerous then we took them for: (as in the Strength, the Nimbleness, the Fierceness, and the Appetite of a Lyon.) These are Things, I say, that the Better we Know them, the More we Dread them: So that though we have Apprehensions, as well where there is No Peril, as where there Is: Yet Time teaches us to Distinguish the One from the Other. The Allusion would much better have held in the case of a Battle, where the Soldier grows Every day less apprehensive of the Hazzard, by seeing so many People Scape; and by Computing upon the Disproportion of Those that Outlive it, to Those that Fall in’t. We may however Learn from hence, that people may be Frighted as well Without Reason as With it. Now, in Propriety of Speaking, and in a Right Understanding of the Thing too, People were not so much Frighted, as they were Surpriz’d at the Bigness, and Uncouth Deformity of the Camel: But I could Wish, the Fox had been More and More affraid of the Lyon, the Oftner he Saw him; and the Doctrine would then have been to Govern our Passions by the Truth and Reason of Things, not by Appearances; but it holds however, that Custom goes a Great Way in making Matters Indifferent to us. ’Tis much the same Case too, betwixt the People, and Bugg-Laws, and Acts of State, that it is here betwixt the Fox and the Lyon. Men look, upon the First Opening of a Publique Fast, as if Heaven and Earth were going together; Not a Shop Open; The Streets Quiet, and so Dismal a Countenance Every where, as if it were to Rain Fire and Brimstone the Next Moment. The Second Day is a Little Uneasy too, but not half so Frightful as the Former: and so in Two or Three days more, the Awe goes quite off, and the People come to their Wits, and fall to their Trade again, without any further Heed to the Matter.

This is to bid Men have a care What Company they keep; for when the Good and the Bad are taken together, they must Go together. Not but that a Man may lie under some Obligation of Duty and Respect, to Visit, Eat and Correspond with Many People that he does not Like. And This may be well enough Done too; provided it be out of Decency, Discretion, or Good Manners, rather then upon Choice and Inclination. We cannot Honestly let a Civil Enemy into a Town that’s Besieg’d, or hold any sort of Intelligence with him (though but in a Bare Curiosity) about the Affairs of the Garrison. Let a Man Consider now, how much more Dangerous, and Unwarrantable it is to take an Enemy into our Souls, then into our Forts. With all Honour yet to a Brave Adversary, apart from his Cause.

’Tis the Fortune of many a Good Man to fall into Bad Company, and to be Undone by’t, and yet no way Guilty all this while, of the Iniquity of his Companions. The Letter of the Law Sweeps All in such a Case, without Distinction of Persons: To say Nothing of the Shame and Dishonour of being taken up with Rogues and Felons; over and above the Lash of Publique Justice, and the Contagion of a Lewd Conversation. Shew me the Company (says the Adage) and I’ll tell you the Man. What would a body think now of a Prime Minister that should Conjobble Matters of State with Tumblers and Buffoons; Confer Politiques with Tinkers and Carr-men? would not any man Judge their Souls to be of the same Standard and Allay? and that there were no more betwixt them then Cross or Pile, which should be the Lord, and which the Scoundrel? Or, according to the Fable, which the Stork, and which the Goose? For ’tis not the Purple, but the Virtue, that makes a Man of Honour; truly so call’d.

A Common Lyar (says the Old Moral) shall not be Believ’d, even when he speaks True: But there’s a Great deal more in’t, of which hereafter.

There’s not One Man of a Thousand that Understands the Just, the Safe, Warrantable, Decent, and Precise Limits, of that which we call Bantering, or Fooling: But it is either too Course, too Rude, too Churlish, too Bitter, too Much on’t, too Pedantique, too fine, out of Measure, or out of Season. Now the Least Errour or Mistake in the Manage of This Humour, lays People Open to Great Censure and Reproche. It is not Every Man’s Talent to know When and How to Cast out a Pleasant Word, with such a Regard to Modesty and Respect, as not to Transgress the True, and Fair Allowances of Wit, Good Nature, and Good Breeding. The Skill and Faculty of Governing This Freedom within the Terms of Sobriety and Discretion, Goes a Great Way in the Character of an Agreeable Conversation; for That which we call Raillery, in This Sense, is the very Sawce of Civil Entertainment: And without some such Tincture of Urbanity, even in Matters the most Serious, the Good Humour Flattens, for want of Refreshment and Relief: But there’s a Medium yet betwixt All-Fool, and All-Philosopher. I mean, a Proper and a Discreet Mixture, that in some sort Partakes of Both, and renders Wisdom it self so much the more Grateful, and Effectual. The Gravity, in short, of the One, is Enliven’d with the Spirit and Quickness of the Other; and the Gayety of a Diverting Word serves as a Vehicle to Convey the Force of the Intent, and Meaning of it. But the Main Drift at last of this Fable, is to shew us the Dangerous Consequences of an Improper and an Unseasonable Fooling: With All Respect however to the Ornament and Advantage of a Facetious Freedom of Discourse, within the Compass of Sobriety and Honour. To Conclude; The Shepherd’s Boy went too far upon the Topique that he did not Understand.

’Tis Vain and Dangerous to Enter into Competitions with our Superiours, in what Kind soever, whether it be in Arms, Letters, Expence, Strength of Body, Arts and Sciences, or the like. ’Tis Impossible for any Man, in fine, to take a True Measure of Another, without an Exact Knowledge and a True Judgment of Himself. Nay the Attempt of any thing above our force, with Vanity, and Presumption, most certainly ends in a Miscarriage that makes the Pretender Ridiculous. The Out-doing of a Great Man in his Own Way, Savours in some degree of Ill Manners, as it is upon the Main, a High Point of Indiscretion. One Man takes it for an Affront to be Out-witted; Another to be Out-Fool’d, as Nero could not Endure to be Out-Fiddled; But in short, be the Matter never so Great, or never so Trivial, ’tis the same Case as to the Envy of the Competition.

We have but too many Men in the World of This Dog’s Humour; that will rather Punish Themselves, then not be Troublesome and Vexatious to Others. There’s an Envy of Good Things too, as well as of Good Men; but this Fable is so well known that it is Moraliz’d in a Common Proverb.

If some Men might have their Wills, the very Sun in the Firmament should withdraw his Light, and they would submit to Live in Perpetual Darkness Themselves, upon Condition that the rest of the World might do so for Company. Whatsoever their Neighbour Gets, They Lose, and the very Bread that One Eats, makes T’other Meager: which is the Genuine Moral of the Fable. There is in this Malevolence, somewhat of the Punishment, as well as of the Spite of the Damn’d: They take Delight in Other Peoples Miseries, and at the same Time are their Own Tormentors. This Diabolical Envy is Detestable even in Private Persons; but whenever the Governing Part of a Nation comes to be Tainted with it, there’s nothing so Sacred that a Corrupt, Supercilious, Ill Natur’d Minister will not sacrifice to This Execrable Passion. No Man should Eat, Live, or Breathe Common Air, if He could hinder it. ’Tis the Bus’ness of his Life, and the Delight of his Soul, to Blast all Sorts of Honest Men, and not only to Lessen their Characters, and their Services, but to Range them in the Number of Publique Enemies: And he had Twenty times rather see the Government Sink, then have it thought that any hand but his Own should have a Part in the Honour of Saving it. Now He that betrays his Master for Envy, will never fail of doing it for Money: For the Gratifying of This Canker’d Malignity is but Another way of selling him; Only the Spite is Antecedent and Subservient to the Corruption: But this Court-Envy is not Altogether the Envy of the Dog in the Fable. For there’s a Mixture of Avarice and Interest in the Former, whereas the Other is a Spiteful Malignity purely for Mischief-sake. The Dog will rather Starve himself then the Oxe shall Eat; but the Courtier will be sure to Look to One whoever else goes to the Devil.

’Tis No New Thing for an Innocent Simplicity to be made the Sport of Bantering Drolls, and Buffons. This is to tell Modest and Well-Meaning Men what they are to Expect in this World, and what they are to Trust to where there is not a Power sufficient to Repel Force by Force: And it serves further to keep This Check upon the Insolent, that there are Others as much too Hard for Them, as They are for Those that they Oppress. This Crow is much of the Humour of the Mobile. They are Tongue-Valiant, ’tis True, and as Bold as Hercules where they know there’s No Danger, but throw a Volly of Shot among them, and they have not the Courage of so many Hares. And what is All This now, but according to the Guise of the World, God Threatens Kings, (as Dr. Donne has it) Kings Lords, as Lords do Us. He that’s a Tyrant over One Man is a Slave to Another.

In These Three Fables is set forth the Vanity of Unnatural Wishes, and Foolish Prayers; which are not only to be Rejected, but they deserve also to be Punish’d. Providence has made an Equal Distribution of Natural Gifts, whereof each Creature severally has a share; and it is not for This or That Particular to pretend to All: So that Considering the Equality of the Division, No Creature has Cause, either to Boast, or to Complain. We are never Content with the Bountyes of Providence. One would have a Voice; T’other Gay Cloaths; and while Every Man would have All, we Charge Providence with Injustice for not giving to Every Man Alike. Socrates was in the Right in Saying, That in Case a Man were to go where he should have the Choice before him, of All the ill Things and All the Good Things in Nature, he would come home again the same Man that he went out.

It is to be Noted, upon the Distribution of the Matter of These Three Fables, that the Camel prays for Weapons Offensive, and Defensive, either for the Encount’ring of Dangers, or the Repelling of them. The Fox and the Hare, for the Means of Avoiding them. And the Peacock for a Voice, answerable to his Beauty. And All their Prayers are to No Purpose, but to the Reproche of the Petitioners, and to the Confusion of Vain Desires. What is All This but an Appeal from Heaven to Heaven itself; and Petitioning Providence against Providence, in a Recourse from One Providence to Another? The Determinations and Appointments of Heaven are no more to be Disputed and Controll’d, then they are to be made Better, and Improv’d; And we must not Presume to Judge of the Goodness and Justice of Heaven, by the Frailties and Corruptions of Flesh and Blood. We were not of Councel with the Almighty, either in the Making, or in the Regulating of the World, and we have no more Right to Advise him in the Governing of it. The Power, in fine, that Rules in the Nature of Things, is no other then a Divine Influence.

Why should not the Nightingale Envy the Peacock’s Train as well as the Peacock Envy the Nightingale’s Note? And why should not All the Work of the Creation Expostulate at the same Rate, and upon the same Grounds? Why has not Man the Wings of an Eagle to carry him from Danger, or to satisfie his Curiosity what the World’s a doing? Why has he not the Sagacity of a Dog, the Paw of a Lyon; The Teeth of a Leopard; The Heels of a Courser, and the like? And have not Brute Animals the same Equity of Complaint on the Other Hand, for want of the Faculties and Advantages, Intellectual, and Moral of Mankind? So that here’s a Civil War that runs through all the Parts of the Universe, where Nothing is pleased with it’s Own Lot; and no Remedy at last; but by New Moulding the World over again. This Inordinate Appetite has been the Overthrow of many a Kingdom, Family and Commonwealth.

To Ask Impossibilities, in fine, is Ridiculous, and to Ask Things Unnatural is Impious; for to take upon us to Blame, or Mend the Works of Providence, is to suppose the Divine Wisdom lyable to Miscarriages and Mistakes. These Mutterings are Foolish also, even to the Degree of Madness it self; for there’s no Thought or Possibility of Relief in the Case. Such as we are God has made Us: our Post and our Station is appointed us, and the Decree is not to be Revers’d.

There’s No forcing Nature against her Biass, or Inverting the Methods of Providence. Irregular Desires and Unreasonable Undertakings must expect to meet with Disappointments. There’s a Proper Time for All Things, and Nothing succeeds well, but what’s done in Season. And This is not the Only Case, neither, where an Extravagant Appetite, or Humour, makes People forget the Methods of Decency and Reason. As in Unequal Matches for the Purpose: For Marrying is but a kind of Transplanting, and an Old Fellow with a Young Wench, may very well pass for a Counterpart of This Fable.

It is Wisdom to Consider the End of Things before we Embarque, and to Forecast Consequences. It is also to be Expected that Men in Distress will look to themselves in the First Place, and leave their Companions to Shift as well as they can. When a Knave, and an Honest Man happen to be Embarqu’d together in the same Common Interest, the Sharper will be sure, if ever it comes to a Pinch, to shift for Himself; and leave T’other in the Lurch. It is the way of the World for Men to Abandon their Benefactors, and to make sport with Those that Rais’d them. This was the Trick, that the Fox serv’d the Goat here in the Well; to shew us that He that Helps Another out at a Plunge, runs the Risque of being left in the Mire himself. No Matter for the Morality of the Thing, so long as it is the Fashion; And that He that Advances himself upon the Ruine of Another gets the Reputation of a Man of Art, and Address. The Facility, in fine, and the Simplicity of the Goat, shews us what an Honest Man is to Trust to that keeps a Knave company.

We find in This Fox, the Roguery, the Invention, and the Wilyness of the Crafty People we meet with Abroad, and a Lively Image of the Faith, Friendship, Good Nature, and Justice that we are to Expect from them. We cannot therefore keep too strict an Eye upon the Life and Conversation of Those we have to do withall. If they be Men of Fraud, they’ll never stick at bringing their Friends and Companions into Dangers, Losses, and Inconveniences; Scoure off themselves, and leave Those that Trust them to pay the Reck’ning. But, in a Word, This Application extends to Men of Trick and Design of All Sorts; let it be in Pleasure, Fortune, Pride, Envy, Vain-Glory, Trade, Law, Marriages, Quarrels, Travels, Ambition, &c. Wherefore it Behoves us to Look before we Leap, and in Case of the Worst that can befall us, to secure an After-Game. The Want of this Foresight was the Goats Ruine.

There’s no Peace to be Expected among those that are Naturally Fierce and Quarrelsome. But we are to Distinguish however, betwixt Injuries of Malice, and of Evil Nature, as we do betwixt Violences in Hot Bloud, and Those of Deliberate Spite and Intention; which we find in the Common Cases of Manslaughter, and Murder. The Doctrine may be briefly This, that so far as Possible, we are to Avoid Ill Company: but where we are forc’d upon’t, there’s No Remedy but Patience. The Cocks here Did but according to their Kind; And it is the Same Thing with Wicked Men too, (as Birds of the same Feather) to be Troublesome to Other People as well as to One Another.

’Tis Foolish to Appeal to Witnesses for the Proof of any thing, when ’tis not a Pin Matter, whether the Fact in Question be True or False; and so it is also to talk of Proofs that are not within Call: But Vain Boasters are Naturally Impertinent; for they Talk at Random, without any Regard to Truth and Judgment. There may be a Double Use made of this Fable: First, as a Dissuasive to Those that spend their Time in Idle Insipid Company. Secondly, As a Caution to Those that are Tainted with this Levity, not to make Themselves Ridiculous any longer. Nature has Written Fool upon the Tip of That Man’s Tongue that will be always telling Stories with an [I did This,] and [I did That.] Travellers, they say, may lie by Authority; and yet our Traveller’s Privilege here was not sufficient to Protect him in his Vanity from making Sport to the Company.

This Points at the Folly and Wickedness of Those Men that think to play Fast and Loose with God Almighty, who sees the very Thoughts of our Hearts. This way of Fooling in Holy Things is much a Bolder sort of Impiety, then it is commonly Taken for. He that pretends to Doubt of an All-knowing Power, has as much Right to Doubt of an Almighty Power too, and the bringing of One Attribute in Question, Opens the Way to a Dissidence of all the Rest. It would prevent a great Deal of Wickedness in the World, if Men would but Live and Act in Religious Matters, so as to Own, and to Recognize the Force, and Awe of a Deity in their Practices, as well as in their Words: But when they come to Querying and Riddling upon’t, with an [If it be so and so;] The Scandal of the Supposition is not to be Born; for such a way of Seeming to Affirm a Thing, is but one Remove from a Flat Denyal of it. Such was the Impostors Question here to the Oracle: which Implyes both the Doubt of a Divine Omniscience, and a Curiosity to Discover the Truth of the Matter, with a Banter at the End on’t; and so makes a Consummated Wickedness.

This is to Inform us, that Wicked and Ill Natur’d Men are not to be Oblig’d by Kindnesses, Especially when they find they may be the better for Insolence; for at that Rate, he that Rewards Past Affronts, Draws on and Encourages New Ones. There are Churlish Curs in the Moral as well as in the Fable, and we are here taught how to Behave our selves upon the Biting of All Manner of Dogs. Under the Rule and Correction of This Allegory, we may reckon Calumny, Slander, and Detraction in any Form or Figure whatsoever, and all Manner of Affronts and Indignities upon our Good Names, or our Persons. There may be Place in All These Cases for a Generous Charity to Forgive Offences, even of the Highest Ingratitude and Malice; But it is not Advisable to Reward where Men have the Tenderness not to Punish. This way of Proceeding is Dangerous in All the Affairs Publique, as well as Private, of Humane Life; for ’tis a Temptation to Villany, when a Man fares the Better for Evil Doing. Ill Nature, in fine, is not to be Cur’d with a Sop; but on the contrary, Quarrelsome Men as well as Quarrelsome Curs are worse for fair Usage.

We find this Doctrine and Practice to be Verify’d in State-Chaces, as well as in those of the Woods; That is to say, where it is made a Crime to be Rich, and where Men are forc’d to lay Violent Hands on Themselves, to be Safe and Quiet; and with the Bever here to compound with their Nutmegs to save their Lives.

There is some Comfort in Company, even in a State of Adversity. Society is so Necessary and Agreeable to Mankind in All Cases, that Death is Certainly the More Uneasy for a Man’s going alone into Another World: But the Consolation Pointed at in This Fable, is That which an Envious Man takes in the Ruine of his Enemy. There is a Memorable Instance to This Purpose, of a Gentleman that had an Estate for Lives, and Two of his Tenants in the Lease: One of them Dyes, and the Other desires his Landlord to lay Both Farms into One, and Accept of him for His Tenant. The Gentleman fairly Excus’d Himself, and away goes the Man in a Rage to his Wife; Told her how it was, and Swore a Great Oath, that he would be Reveng’d of his Landlord. This was in Harvest Time, and he went out next day to his Reapers, but stay’d so long, that his Wife sent up and down to look after him. To shorten the Story, they found him at last in a Ditch, Vomiting his Heart out. The Man, it seems, had Poyson’d himself, and the Revenge upon his Landlord was the Defeating him of his Estate by Destroying the Last Life in his Lease. In One Word, Revenge stops at Nothing that’s Violent and Wicked. It Divides the Dearest Friends; Embroils Governments, and Tears Families to pieces. But to say no more on’t, The Histories of All Ages are full of the Tragical Outrages that have been Executed by this Diabolical Passion: beside, that it hardens People into a Brutal Contempt of Death, (as in the Fables above) where they may but see their Enemies fall for Company.

This gives us to Understand the Practice of the World, and that Flattery and Time-serving Enters into the most Solemn Offices of Mankind. To Flatter Foolish Men into a Hope of Life where there is None at all, is much the same Thing with Betraying People into an Opinion, that they are in a Virtuous, and Happy State, when they are Over-run with Passion, and Drown’d in their Lusts. The One has the same Pernicious Effect upon our Minds, that the Other has upon our Bodies; for it makes us Careless of Both. There are Certain Decencies of Form, and Civility, ’tis true, that purely regard Matters of Conversation, and Good Manners; And These Respects ought to be Preserv’d; But Ceremonies of Mode and Complement, are mightily out of Season, when Life and Salvation come to be at Stake.

It falls under the Prospect of the same Topique, to Consider, that Kingdoms and Common-Wealths have their Distempers, Intermissions, and Paroxisms, as well as Natural Bodies. And that a Glavering Council is as Dangerous on the One hand, as a Wheedling Priest, or a Flattering Physician is on the Other. There is hardly such Another Pest in a Community, as a Consort of Parasites, that feed Governours with False Representations and Reports of Men and of Things. They First Betray their Masters to Dishonour and Ruine; and then when they find the Vessel Sinking, save themselves in the Long Boat. So much the Better, quoth the Doctor: Ay, Ay, (says the Emperical Statesman) That’s as we’d have it. When at the same time the Distemper is as Mortal to the Government, on the One hand, as to the Patient on the Other.

This is to Intimate, that where Rulers lay Snares, deal Falsly, and Exercise Cruelty, All goes to Wrack both Publique and Private. All Frauds are Cover’d and Gilded over with Specious Pretences, and Men are Every jot as Easily Impos’d upon, as Birds, Beasts or Fishes; while the Eagerness of our Appetites Suspends the Exercise of our Reason. A Treat, a Woman, or a Bottle, is the same Thing to Us, that a Worm, a Gudgeon, a Grain of Corn, or a piece of Flesh is to Those Animals. We Snap at the Bait without ever Dreaming of the Hook, the Trap, or the Snare that goes Along with it. Now what’s the Difference betwixt Æsop’s Pretext here for the Building of a City, and the Cheats that we have heard of, for the Saving of a City. The Design was Destruction in Both, and that was the Event on’t too. Religion, Liberty and Property were the Bait: Nay the very Sound of the Words did the Bus’ness. The Common People will Chop like Trouts at an Artificial Fly, and Dare like Larks under the Awe of a Painted Hobby. ’Tis with Men just as it is with Birds and Fishes, There’s not a Mortal of us, that will not Bite at some Bait or other, and we are caught as Sillily too, as the Bird was here in the Net.

This is to Reprehend the False and Covetous Humour of Those that for Mony and Profit, will not Stick at putting Shams even upon God Himself; Prophaning his Altars, and Ridiculing his very Omniscience and Power. Here’s the Wickedness of a Libertine Naturally enough set forth, only the Punishment is Wanting that should have Compleated the Moral. What Opinion have These Religious Banterers, of the Divine Power, and Justice? Or what have they to say for themselves in this Audacious Habit of Mockery and Contempt; but that they Believe in their Hearts that there is No God? Not but that more or less, we are all Jugglers in Secret betwixt Heaven, and our Own Souls; Only to Cover and Meditate Abuses under the Masque and Pretence of Conscience, and Religion; and make God Almighty Privy to a Thousand False and Cozening Contrivances, that we keep as the Greatest Privacies in the World, from the Knowledge of our Neighbours. Nay, when we are Most in Earnest, our Vows and Promises are more then Half Broken in the very making of them; and if we can but secure our Selves a Retreat, by some Cleanly Evasion, Distinction or Mental Reservation, it serves our Purpose e’en as Well as if it were a Casuistical Resolution. In One Word we find the Moral of Mercury and the Traveller in the very Secrets of our Hearts, betwixt Heaven, and our own Souls.

Wicked Dispositions should be Check’d betimes; for when they come once to Habits, they grow Incurable. More People go to the Gibbet for want of Timely Instruction, Discipline, and Correction, then upon any Incurable Pravity of Nature; And it is mightily the Fault of Parents, Guardians, Tutors and Governours, that so many men Miscarry. They suffer ’em at first to Run-a-head, and when Perverse Inclinations are Advanc’d once into Habits, there’s No Dealing with ’em. It may seem somewhat a Hard Case for the Greater Thieves to Punish the Less, and to see Publique Purloyners and Oppressors sit in Triumph upon the Lives of the Little Ones that go to the Gallows: For the Tye of Morality is the same upon Both; and they Stand Both Accountable to the Same Master. But Time, Power, and Corruption, give a Reputation to the Worst of Practices, and it is no longer Oppression when it comes Gilded with the Name of Authority. This Unequal and Unreasonable Judgment of Things, brings many a Great Man to the Stool of Repentance; for when he has Swallow’d more then he can Digest, it sticks upon his Conscience, and will neither Up, nor Down. Now in the Sight of Heaven, the Greater the Temptation, the Less is the Sin; and yet in the Vogue of the World, it passes for an Exploit of Honour, for Kings and States to run away with Whole Countries that they have no Colour, or Pretence to; when many a poor Devil stands Condemn’d to a Halter, or a Whipping-Post, for the Pilfering of a Silver-Spoon perhaps, or the Robbing of a Hen-Roost: Though the Former, all this While, has No Better Title to what he takes then the Latter; and yet to see what a deal of Fulsome Flattery, and Panegyrick we have upon the Glorious Atchievements of the One; and only some Smithfield Ballad perchance, or a Sabbath-Breaking Speech, or Confession, to Embalm the Memory of the Other. To be Short and Plain; the Offence before God, is at least as Great in a Prince, as in a Begger, and the Morality of a Careful Education holds alike in both. ’Twas the Mother’s sparing the Rod at first, that brought the Child at the Long Run to the Halter.

Affliction makes People Honest and Wise. Every Man Living has his Weak Side, and no Mortal was ever yet so much at Ease, but his Shoe Wrung him some where or Other, or he Fancy’d so at least, and Then it did so. The Shepherd would needs be a Merchant; and the Merchant, if he had succeeded, would still have been Hankering after something else. His Levity was a Fault, and his Miscarriage was a Judgment upon him for’t. The saving of his Person after the Loss of his Goods was a Providential Mercy to him; and the bringing of Him home to Himself again, was to Convince him of His Error, and to shew him, that he was well at First, if he would have kept so. He was in a State of Ease, Peace, Innocence, and Safety: And he that will Sacrifice all Those Blessings to a Restless Appetite, deserves to be Miserable. Our Shepherd’s Case, in short here, is every Man’s Case that Quits a Moral Certainty for an Uncertainty, and Leaps from the Honest Bus’ness he was brought up to, into a Trade he has no Skill in.

’Tis to no Purpose to think of Preventing, or Diverting Fatalities: Especially where the Event looks like the Punishment of a Superstition: as it fares with Those that Govern their Lives by Forebodings and Dreams: or the Signs of Ill Luck, as we use to say: They are still Anxious and Uneasie: History is full of Examples to Illustrate the Doctrine of This Fable. The Father was to blame for laying so much Stress upon a Foolish Dream, and the Son was Little less to Blame, for being so much Transported at the Impression of that Fancy upon the Father: But they were Both Justly Punished however, The One for his Passion, and the Other for his Superstition.

’Tis the way of the World to give Other People Councel for their Own Ends. Paradoxing is of Great Use and Service in many Encounters and Accidents that we meet withal in the World; but the Faculty must be so Tenderly Manag’d, as not to Grate upon the Truth, and Reason of Things: And it is of Great Effect, if it can but give some Colour of Probability to the Matter in Question. Nay there’s a Pleasure in the very Tryal of Wits; but when This Talent is Employ’d upon the Topique of Convenience, and Profit; It is a wonderful Force that it has upon the Affections of the Common People. The Fox carry’d it as far as ’twould go; but he had too Hard a Task on’t, to Over-rule a Multitude to their Own Pain and Loss.

We may Improve a Doctrine from This, that Every Man has his Weak Side, either by Mischance, or by Nature; and that he makes it his Bus’ness to Cover it too, the Best he can. In case of the Worst, it is some sort of Ease to have Company in our Misfortunes. It puts a Body out of Countenance to be in a Fashion by Himself, and therefore the Fox did well to Try if he could bring his Fellow Foxes to put themselves into His Mode. When we have Carry’d a Point as far as it will go, and can make no more on’t, ’tis a Stroke of Art and Philosophy, to look as if we did not so much as Wish for a Thing that is not to be Had. Every Man’s Present Condition has somewhat to be Said for’t: If it be Uneasy, the Skill will be, either how to Mend it, or how to Bear it; But then there must be no Clashing with the Methods, the Decrees, and the Laws of Nature. A Man that has Forfeited his Honour and his Conscience, seems to be much in the Condition of the Fox here that had lost his Tail, and takes as much pains too, to persuade All his Companions to follow his Fashion. He lays down his Arguments, and gives his REASONS, Nay, and he endeavours to Prove it by Scripture too, that Men, in such a Case, ought to go to Old Nick for Company. We are to Consider here, that the Devils have their Traps as well as the Woodmen, and that it is the Case of many a Lawyer and Divine, when they come once to be Hamper’d, to rub off as well as they can, though they Leave their Consciences behind them, as the Fox did his Tail, and then Preach up the Blessed Doctrine and Convenience of No Consciences, as well as No Tails.

There are some Falsities so Bold and Notorious, that they carry their Contradictions in the very Reason and Presumption of the Matter, without any other Evidence.

There’s No Trusting of Those that Say One Thing, and Do Another, Especially if they follow Fair Words with Foul Deeds. Here’s a Case of Honour, and of Conscience, Both in One, upon the Matter of Hospitality, and of Trust. The Laws of Hospitality are Sacred on the One Side, and so are the Duties we Owe to our Country on the Other. If we Consider the Trust, Faith must not be Broken; If the Common Enemy, his Councel is not to be kept. The Woodman did as good as Tacitely promise the Fox a Sanctuary; but not being Sui Juris, he promis’d more than he could Warrantably Perform; for a Subsequent Promise to Conceal the Fox, could not Discharge him of a Prior Obligation to Destroy him. ’Tis true, it would have been more Generous to have don’t at first, and while he had as yet No Colour of any Tye of Honour upon him to Preserve him. The Fox begg’d for Protection, which he had No Reason to Expect. First it was upon Force, and Necessity, not Choice. Secondly, It was at his own Peril, without any Conditions for his own Security. Thirdly, He Committed himself to the Mercy of a Man that was bound to Kill him. Fourthly, The very Address was scandalous; for he must needs have an Ill Opinion of the Countryman, so much as to Imagine that he could be Wrought upon to Betray his Country for the Sake of a Beast. But let the Rest be as it will, there’s no Excuse for the Woodman’s Double Dealing.

This Fable runs better in the Humour, then it does in the Moral. It lays before us the Unprofitable Vanity of False Worship, and gives us to Understand, that the more zealous we are in a Wrong Way, the Worse. An Idol is an Abomination in the sight both of God, and of Good Men; and yet we are so to Govern our Selves, even in the Transports of That Abhorrence, as still to preserve a Reverence for Religion it self, in the very Indignation we Express for the Corruption of it. So that the License of this Buffoon went a little too far perhaps, for there must be No Playing with Things Sacred, nor Jesting, as we say with Edge Tools. We have the Moral of this Abandon’d Libertine up and down in the World in a Thousand several Shapes. All People that Worship for Fear, Profit, or some other By-End, Fall More or Less within the Intendment of this Emblem. It is a kind of a Conditional Devotion for Men to be Religious no longer then they can Save, or Get by’t. Put forth thy Hand now (says the Devil to the Almighty in the Case of Job) and Touch All that he hath, and he will Curse thee to thy Face. This Good Man Lost All, and for an Example of Patience and indignation to Future Ages. The Lord gave (says he) and the Lord hath Taken away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Here was No Dashing of the Two Tables one against the Other, for an Office, or an Egg at Easter, as the Fellow serv’d his Idol here. The Whole Sum of the Moral is in short, Comprized in the Old Saying: He that serves God for Mony, will serve the Devil for Better Wages.

It looks well among Friends, when Masters and Servants are all of a piece. The Dog invites his Guest, and the Cook throws him out of the Window, and in so doing, the Man shew’d himself the Arranter Cur of the Two; for it was against Hospitality and Good Manners so to do. There is a Duty of Tenderness and Good Nature, even towards Those Animals: But when it came to the Worst at last, the Dog had the Wit, we see, to make the Best of a Bad Game. Though ’twas an unmannerly, and an Ill-Natur’d Frolick of the Cook all this while; for the Ill Usage of a Servant is some sort of Affront to his Master.

There’s No Wealth like That which comes by the Blessing of God upon Honest Labour and Warrantable Industry. Here’s an Incitement to an Industrious Course of Life, by a Consideration of the Profit, the Innocence and the Virtue of such an Application. There is one Great Comfort in Hand, beside the Hope and Assurance of more to come. The very Exercise procures us Health, and Consequently All the Pleasures and Satisfactions that Attend it. We have the Delight of Seeing and Reaping the Fruit of our own Labour, and the Inward Joy of Contemplating the Benedictions of Another World, that shall be superadded to the Advantages of This. Æsop very well understood, that Naked Lessons and Precepts, have Nothing the Force that Images and Parables have, upon our Minds and Affections: Beside, that the very Study to Unriddled a Mystery, furnishes the Memory with more Tokens to Remember it by. A Tale in Emblem sinks Deeper, where the Life and Spirit of it is Insinuated by a kind of Biass and Surprize. It was a Touch of Art in the Father to Cover his Meaning in such a manner, as to Create a Curiosity, and an Earnest Desire in his Sons to find it out. And it was also a Treble Advantage to them besides; for there was, I say, Health in the Exercise, Profit in the Discovery, and the Comfort of a Good Conscience in Discharging the Duty of a Filial Obedience.

There is a Proper Time and Season for Every Thing; and Nothing can be more Ridiculous than the Doing of Things without a Due Regard to the Circumstances of Persons, Proportion, Time and Place.

That which we commonly call Good Fortune, is properly, Providence, and when Matters succeed Better with us by Accident, then we could pretend to, by Skill; We ought to Ascribe it to the Divine Goodness, as a Blessing upon Industry. It is Every man’s Duty to Labour in his Calling, and not to Despond, for any Miscarriages or Disappointments, that were not in his own power to Prevent. Faith, Hope, and Patience, Overcome All things, and Virtue can never fail of a Reward in the Conclusion. What was it but This Constancy and Resignation, that kept the Hearts of the Poor Cavaliers from Breaking, in the Tedious Interval of that Bloudy Revolution from Forty to Sixty; ’till at last, the Banish’d, and Persecuted Son of a Royal Martyr, was in God’s Good time brought back again and Plac’d upon the Throne of his Ancestors, which Crown’d the Sufferings of All his Loyal Subjects. The Fisherman’s waiting in his Calling, bids us Persevere in our Duties, and the Lucky Hit he had in the Conclusion, tells us that Honest Endeavours will not fail of a Reward.

This Fable applies it self to Those that Promise more in their Adversity than they either Intend, or are able to make good in their Prosperity; but they must not think to bring themselves off at last with a Conceit; for in the Sight of God, an Equivocating Juggling Sham, is as much as a Gross, Downright Lye.

’Tis the Practice of the World for People in Distress to serve God and Man in Several Respects, both Alike: That is to say, when they lie under any Heavy Affliction, or Propose to themselves any Considerable Advantage, and find they have Need of Anothers Help; how do they Beg, Vow, Promise, Sollicite, Swear, Sign and Seal, and yet Conscious to Themselves all this while, that they neither Intend, nor are able to make One Article Good? Wickedness comes on by Degrees, as well as Virtue; and Sudden Leaps from one Extream to Another, are Unnatural Motions in the Course of our Lives and Humours. Here’s first a Rash and a Knavish Promise; for the Promiser knew he was not able to make it Good. When he has broken the Ice, he Advances, from Cozening of God, to make Sport with him, and pays him with Paste for Flesh: But Vengeance Overtook him in the Conclusion, and gave him to Understand, that God will not be Mocked. The Moral of This Sick Man, is the Case of Every Soul of us in the Making and the Breaking of our Vows.

’Tis Matter of Custom, and in Passion, rather then in Earnest, that Men in Pain and Misery are so ready to call for Death: For when he comes, they wish him away again. It may be said to be the Motto of Humane Nature, rather to Suffer then to Die, though ’tis Good however to be always ready for That which Must come at Last. The Doctrine is This, That Skin, and All that a man has, will he give for his Life. We are apt to Pick Quarrels with the World for Every Little Foolery. Every Trivial Cross makes us think we are Weary of the World; but our Tongues run quite to Another Tune when we come once to parting with it in Earnest. Then, ’tis Call the Doctor, Pothecary, Surgeon; Purge, Flux, Launce, Burn, Saw: I’ll Endure Any Thing in This World, if you can but keep Life and Soul together. When it comes to That once, ’tis not Help me Off with my Burthen, but Help me Up with it.

This Fancy is Half Knavery, Half Humour, and the Doctor’s Part in’t is no more then according to the Common Practice of the World, in Law, as well as in Physick, when People make the Remedy Worse then the Disease; as when a Man spends the Fee Simple of an Estate in a Contest for the Title. The Barber that Pick’d the Gentleman’s Pocket while he was Washing of his Face, Wrote after this Copy. The Moral holds forth This Matter of Advice to us, not to Contract any Obligations Rashly; for Good Offices in course are rather Baits, and Snares, then Benefits; and there are some Certain People, that a Sober Man would not Venture the being Beholden to. The Poor Woman here, had her Jest for her Houshold-Stuff; and the Vain Satisfaction of paying her Physician with a Conceit for his Money. It Minds me of the Orator that was to Teach a Young Man Rhetorick, on Condition of Double Pay upon the Perfecting of him in his Profession, and not a Penny before; The Master follow’d his Scholar Close, and came to him at last for his Money, according to the Bargain; The Young Fellow begg’d him over and over to Forbear it a while, but could not Prevail. He told him Then, that there was nothing Due to him; for if Rhetorick be (as you say) the Art or Power of Persuasion; and if I cannot prevail with you to forbear your Money, I am not Master of my Trade yet. This was the Woman’s Way of Reasoning with the Physician. The Doctor would have his Money for the Curing of her Eyes, and the Woman shuffl’d it off that she was not Cur’d, for she could see nothing at all, which was One Fallacy upon Another.

What we cannot Compass by Force, must be brought about by Invention, and Address, but then on the Other hand, in All Cases of Hazzard, Things would be well Weigh’d and Examin’d before we Trust. This Fable is the Fiction of a Case not Altogether Incredible. ’Tis a Common Thing for an Old Jade to Counterfeit Lame, for fear of Hard Riding: For a Duck to run Flapping and Fluttering away, as if she were Maim’d, to carry People from her Young: as there’s a Story of a Fox that was Hard Hunted, and Hung himself up by the Teeth in a Warren among the Vermin to put the Dogs to a Loss. Without any more Words, Twenty Instances might be given to shew how near That which we call Impulse, or Instinct, comes to Reason: For the Cats Policy was no Other in truth, then That we call Sleeping Dog-Sleep: And there was the very same Fore-thought, and Design in’t too, which in a Construction of Law and Equity passes for Malice Prepense.

Rashness, and Want of Consideration, is ever Unfortunate. Men should not take a Charge upon them that they are not Fit for; as if Singing, Dancing, and Shewing of Tricks, were Qualifications for a Governor. Baudoin says, that this Fable, shews not only the Envy and Malignity of the Fox; but the Imprudence of the Electors in the Choice of Ministers and Officers, that are not made for Bus’ness. Here’s first an Ape made a King, for shewing Tricks, and making Fools Faces: And the Fox is then to put a Slur upon him, in Exposing him for Sport, to the Scorn of the People.

Here’s an Ape chosen King, in Succession to a Lyon; which stands for a Short, and a Plain Representation of the Best and the Worst of Governments under the Dignity of the One, and the Indignity of the Other. It sets forth the Case and Unhappiness of Elective Kingdoms, where Canvassing and Faction has commonly too great a hand in the Election. Nor is there any Wonder, to see Drolls and Tumblers Advanc’d to Charges of Honor and Profit, where Ignorance and Popularity sways the Choice: And nothing so fit as an Ape, for a Commission of State, where a Gambole, or a Grimace, passes for a Qualifying Title to the Exercise of Power.

It is no Wonder again, where People are so Mistaken in the Faculties and Capacities of Government, that they depart also from the Veneration that’s due to’t; and when the Main Ends of it shall come to be Disappointed. For every Jack-Pudding with Æsop’s Fox here, will be Ridiculing Palpable Weaknesses, and Exposing those (almost Sacred) Imperfections, and Defects which they ought to Cover. What’s a Character of Honor upon the Shoulders of a Man that has neither a Soul Answerable to’t, nor a True Sense of the Dignity, but a Mark set up for every Common Fool to shoot his Bolt at! When Apes are in Power, there will never want Foxes to Play upon them.

This touches the Case of Those Mean Upstarts, that when they come once to be preferr’d, forget their Fathers, and have not the Wit to Consider, how soon Fortune may set them Down again where she took ’em up; but yet at last, when they come to be minded of their Original, it makes many a Proud Fool sensible of a Scandalous Extraction, that has no Shame at all for a Scandalous Life.

’Tis hardly safe to Descant upon a Boasting Mule, in a Fable, when there are so many of his Brethren in the World, that will Take it to Themselves. Nay, and Over and Above the Self-conceited Vanity of These Brutes, there are none so forward neither, to Bespatter Men of Bloud and Quality, as those that have most Reason to be Asham’d of their Descent. This Pride of Pedigree is Easily run down, if there be not Power Joyn’d to the Ostentation: But where there is Authority given to the Folly, as well as to the Fool, the Indignation that it raises makes the Insolence Insupportable. Nothing Dash’d the Confidence of the Mule like the Braying of the Ass in the very Interim, while he was Dilating upon his Genealogy. As who should say, Remember your Father, Sirrah. This comes to the Case of a Spaniard, that was Wonderfully upon the Huff about his Extraction, and would needs Prove himself of such a Family by the Spelling of his Name; a Cavalier in the Company, with whom he had the Controversy, very Civilly yielded him the Point; for (says he) I have Examin’d the Records of a certain House of Correction, and I find your Grandfather was Whipt there by That Name. We have in fine a World of Boasting Mules among us, that don’t care for being Minded of their Braying Fathers: But ’tis the Fate of These Vain-Glorious Fops to be Thus Met withal, and your Counterfeit Men of Honor seldom Come off better; Wherefore let every Man look well about him before he boasts of his Pedigree, to make sure that there be not an Asse in the Family.

’Tis good to Provide against All Chances both Sleeping and Waking; for a Man cannot be too Circumspect, upon Condition on the other hand, that his Caution do not make him Over-sollicitous. Past Dangers make us Wiser for the Future; As the Dog, after he had been snapt at the Door, had the Wit to lie in the Hall; which tells us that a Wise Body is not to be Caught Twice by the same Snare and Trick. His Promise to the Wolf was a kind of a Dog-Case of Conscience, and the Wolf play’d the Fool in Taking his Word, for That which he was not obliged to Perform.

There’s No Trusting to the Fair Words and Countenances of Bloudy Men: He’s sure to be Ruin’d that lays himself at the Mercy of those that Live upon the Spoil. Their very Complements are Snares; as the Lyon’s Invitation of the Bull to Sup with him, was but the Cover of a Design he had to Sup upon the Bull himself.

This Fable will look well enough in the Moral, how Fantastical soever it may appear at first Blush, in the Lines and Traces of it. Here’s a Beast in Love with a Virgin; which is but a Reverse of the Preposterous Passions we meet with Frequently in the World, when Reasonable Creatures of Both Sexes fall in love with Those, that in the Allusion may (almost without a Figure) pass for Beasts. There’s Nothing so Fierce, or so Savage, but Love will Soften it; Nothing so Generous, but it will Debauch it; Nothing so sharp-sighted in Other Matters, but it throws a Mist before the Eyes on’t. It puts the Philosopher beside his Latin; and to sum up All in a Little, where This Passion Domineers, neither Honour, nor Virtue, is able to stand before it. The Lyons parting with his Teeth, and his Clawes, in a Complement to his New Mistress, is no more then what we see Every Day Exemplify’d in the Case of making over Estates and Joyntures, with the Malice Prepense all this While of holding their Noses to the Grindstone, and with the Girls Father here, of Jilting them at last.

There are more Fools in the World then Wise Men, and more Knaves then Honest Men; so that it is not Number, but Excellency, that Inhances the Value of Any thing. The most copious Writers are commonly the Arrantest Scriblers; and in so much Talking, the Tongue is apt to run before the Wit: In Many Words there is Folly, but a Word in Season is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver: Says the Oracle of Truth it self. And we have it from the same Authority, that our very Prayers, when they are Loud and Long, are in the Sight of Heaven no better then so much Babbling; and that they have more in them of Hypocrisy and Ostentation, then of Affection and Judgment. The Great Creator of the Universe, whose single FIAT was sufficient to have made Ten Thousand Worlds in the Twinkling of an Eye, Allowed himself Six Days yet for the Finishing of his Purpose: Paus’d upon Every Days Work, Consider’d of it, Review’d it, and Pronounc’d it Good, and so Proceeded. Right Reason Moves, in some Proportion, by the same Steps and Degrees with This Inimitable Example: It Deliberates, Projects, Executes, Weighs, and Approves. Nature does Nothing in a Huddle, and Human Prudence should Govern it self by the same Measures. A Plurality of Voices, ’tis true, carries the Question in all our Debates, but rather as an Expedient for Peace, then an Eviction of the Right; for there are Millions of Errors to one Reason, and Truth; And a Point is not so Easy to be Hit: In a Word, the Old Saying is a shrewd One; that Wise Men Propose, and Fools Determine. Take the World to pieces, and there are a thousand Sots to one Philosopher: and as many Swarms of Flyes to One Eagle. Lyons do not come into the World in Litters.

These Wasps in a Honey-Pot, are so many Sensual Men that are Plung’d in their Lusts and Pleasures; and when they are once Glu’d to them, ’tis a very Hard Matter to Work themselves Out. We have an Emblem here of those Foolish Voluptuous Men, that Sacrifice the Peace, the Honour, the Comfort, and all other Substantial Satisfactions of Life, to the Temptation of a Liquorish Palate. And so for the Liberties of Wine, Women, Feasting, and Jolly Company; The Pomp and Splendor of Courts and Parades, &c. It comes All to the same Point; for when Men are once Dipt; what with the Engagements of Sense, Custom, Facility; Nay and I might have said, with the very Shame of Departing from what they have given themselves up to, they go on with Æsop’s Flyes, till they are Stifled in their very Pleasures.

Every Man Stands or Falls to his Own Reason; and it is No Excuse to say that I was Misled by Example, or Conjecture, when I had the Means before me of Informing my self Better. If This Prodigal had but Consulted the Almanack, or his own Experience, it would have set him Right in the Course of the Seasons, or the Old Proverb Methinks might have satisfy’d him, that One Swallow makes no Summer, Unless the Fable perchance should fall out to be the Ancienter of the Two, and the Occasion of that Proverb: But there are Certain Extravagants among People of all Sizes and Professions, and there must be no Drawing of General Rules from Particular Exceptions.

’Tis a Point of Good Discretion to make a Virtue of Necessity, and to Content our selves without what we cannot get, though we have never so much a Mind to’t; for ’tis a Turn of Art to seem to Despise what we cannot Compass, and to put off a Miscarriage with a Jest; Beside, that it is Better to have People think a man could Gain Such or such a Point if he Would, then that he Would, but cannot.

The Foxes Put-off in This Fable, is a most Instructive Point of Philosophy towards the Government of our Lives; Provided that His Fooling may be made Our Earnest; as it would be much for our Honour and Quiet so to be. No man shall ever be Miserable, if he can but keep Clear of the Snare of Hopes and Fears; and Antidote himself against the Flatteries of the One, and the Alarms of the Other: It is a High Point of Christian, as well as of Civil Prudence; for a Man to say Thus to Himself before-hand, of a Thing that he has a Mind to [If I cannot get it, I shall be Better without it.] Or if he can but say after the Missing of it, [It was better Lost then found.] Now if we cannot Arrive at the Pitch of making This Indifference a Virtue indeed, we may however so Disguise it yet, (though in a case of Necessity) as to make it Look like one: Not but that it would be much better if we could Attain to the Perfection it self, as well as we may in Appearance Cover the Disgrace.

I knew a Fine Lady once, and she was a Woman of Sense, Quality, and a very Generous Mind. She lay under Mortifications in abundance, and yet was never Observ’d to be Peevish or Angry upon any Provocation Whatsoever; and the Reason she gave for’t was This: [It Will make Me Look Old,] So that it is not so much the want of Ability to master our Affections, as the want of Resolution to go thorough with the Experiment. This is a way to keep us Firm in All Tryals: or if He, that upon a True Principle, lives without any Disquiet of Thought, may be said to be Happy: It Emproves all our Disappointments into Providences, when he can let fall the Vain Desire of any thing without feeling the Loss of it. It comes All to a Case now, upon the force of the Moral, whether we Quit, as the Fox did the Grapes, because he could not come at them, or as the Wolf did the Sheep, because he durst not Venture upon ’em. But be it either the One or the Other, there’s a Virtue, and a Blessing in’t, Both ways, in getting the Better of our Passions: which might certainly be done, if we had but half the Tenderness for our Minds and Consciences, that we have for our Carcasses, and our Fortunes.

’Tis Wisdom as well as Justice, to Distinguish betwixt Actions of Misadventure, and of Design. Every Thing has at least Two Handles to’t, and Both Parts should be well Examin’d, before a Man can make either a Warrantable Judgment, or a Prudent Choice. The Boy’s Mistake here is no more than what we have Every day before our Eyes in common Practice: And That which the Snake says to the Boy, Every Man’s Reason says to Himself. What is his taking a Snake for an Eele, but our taking Vice for Virtue? He did it Unwarily: And so do We Many times too. He took the One for the Other, because they were so much Alike, that at first View he could not Distinguish them. And are not Virtue and Vice as Like, in several Instances, as One Egg is to Another? How shall a Man know, at first Blush, Hypocrisie from Piety; True Charity from Ostentation? or the Devil Himself with a Glory about him, from an Angel of Light? Time and Examination may do much, but the Boy was Groping, and in the Dark, and so might Well be Mistaken. The Snake Told him of his Error, and the Danger of it, but Pass’d it over, because there was no Ill Will in’t. This is the very Case of Our Reason to us, in all our Misdoings: It Checks us for what’s Past, and Advises us for the Future, to have a care of False Appearances: Just as the Snake did to the Child here.

Treachery is a Sin against Common Faith, Honour, and Human Society, A Villany, in short, that’s never to be Approv’d, how Convenient soever in some Cases to be made use of. The Fowler’s here, was a Wise and a Generous Resolution, upon the Partridges Proposal; for all Traytors are Mercenaries; and Whoever Betrays One Master for Advantage, will Betray Another for a Better Price. But as all manner of Treachery is Abominable in the Sight both of God and Man, and stands Reprehended in this Fable: So there are Certain Kinds and Degrees of it, that are yet more Execrable and Odious, One than Another. There is first a Treachery by Complexion, which was the Partridges Case. Her Heart Fail’d her, and she would fain have Compounded for her Own Life, by the Betraying of her Fellows. This was an Unhappy Infirmity, but the Weakness all this while, does not Excuse the Perfidy, though it may seem in some Measure to Extenuate the Crime, by the Poor Creatures lying under almost an Insuperable Frailty. The Fowler however made an Example of her for a Terror to Others. Now if a Treachery of this Quality be so Unpardonable, what shall we say to Those Judases that Dip in the Dish with their Masters, and then for so many Pieces of Silver, deliver them up to be Crucify’d? What shall we say to Those that Sell their Country, their Souls and their Religion, for Mony, and Rate Divinity at so much a Pound? And then to Consummate the Wickedness, Finish the Work with Malice, that they began with Avarice.

Unnecessary Delays in all Pressing Affairs are but just so much time Lost, beside the Hazard of Intervening Contingencies that may Endanger a Total Disappointment. Let not the Work of to day be put off ’till to morrow; for the Future is Uncertain; and he that lyes down to Sleep in the Middle of Bus’ness that requires Action, does not know whether he shall live to ’wake again: Or with the Hare in the Fable here, Out-sleep his Opportunity. A Plodding Diligence brings us sooner to our Journey’s End, then a Fluttering Way of Advancing by Starts and by Stops; for ’tis Perseverance Alone that can carry us Thorough-Stitch.

’Tis a Vanity Common in the World, for Every Pretending Coxcomb to make himself One of the Party still with his Betters. They cry [We] to Every thing, and make themselves Necessary upon all Occasions, and to All Purposes and People, when upon the Truth of the Matter, they are found to be good for Just Nothing at all.

[We] Apples cry the Horse-Turds. [We] the King’s Officers, crys the Fellow that carrys Guts to the Bears. [We] crys the Scum of the Nation to the Bench, to the Court, to the City, to the Church, to Parliaments, and Councils. There’s Nothing so Great, but the Little People cry [We] to’t still. [We’ll] do This, and [We’ll] do That, and [We’ll] Undertake for This and T’other. This is in a Familiar Way, the Common Style of the Licentious Multitude, to the Scandal of all Honorable Commissions, and of Those that Manage them. And This Humour of [Weing] holds as well in Matters of State, and of Understanding, as in the Point of Honour and Quality. ’Twas [We] in the Persons of the Fish-Wives and the Broom-Men. [We] again in the Resolutions of Billingsgate, and Grub-street, that took upon them to Prescribe in Matters of Religion and Government. [We] won’t lose our Religion, was the Cry of Every Ignorant Atheist. [We’ll] stand up for our Properties was the Beggers Song that liv’d upon the Alms Basket. And [We] for our Liberties, cry the Slaves of All Times and Interests; Nay and None so streight Lac’d as Common Cheats upon the Topique of Conscience. And so it was [We] again in the name of the Multitude, that did Every thing that was thought worth the Doing. Now if the Dregs of the People will be Opening, and Crying [We] to Every thing; the Mobile has a Wide Mouth, and there’s No Stopping it. But the Arrogance of the Rabbles Assuming at This Rate, is Nothing to the Meanness of their Superiors, when they shall descend to keep such Company; or to make use of such Tools or Engines. ’Tis not half so bad for the Apples to cry [We] Horse-Turds, as it would be for Men of State, and Caball, to cry [We] Tinkers and Carr-Men. But this is a Supposition, not to enter so much as into the Thought of any Man of Sense or Honour. This Fable will also bear as Edifying, and as Pertinent a Moral, in the Inversion, as it does the Other Way. We Rogues, on the One Hand, is Every jot as Emphatical, as We Princes on the Other.

Boasters are Naturally Falsifyers, and the People of All Others that put their Shams the Worst together. Their Imperfections would not be Half so much taken Notice of, if their Own Vanity did not make Proclamation of them; As a Blind Lady that I knew, was never Well, but when she was Discoursing of Colours. ’Tis a Strange Thing, the Impudence of some Women! Was a Word often in the Mouth of a Precise Dame, who her self was as Common as the King’s High-Way. I knew Another that was never without Limon-Pill in her Mouth, to Correct an Unsavoury Vapour of her Own, and yet would be Perpetually Inveighing against Foul Breaths. Now This way of Covering Defects, Scandals or Inconveniences, is the Only Way of Exposing them.

Charity is a Humane, as well as a Christian Virtue, and there is a place for it, even upon Brutes, under the Duty of Tenderness and Good Nature, as well as upon Men; but still with a Distinction by way of Preference, that it is to be Employ’d in the First Place upon those that have the Fairest Right to’t: ’Tis One thing I must Confess, to Condition for a Good Office, and Another thing to do it Gratis; so that the Husbandman took the Proposal by the Right Handle in that Respect: But his being provided of Servants already, to do his Work was no Excuse for his Want of Charity to Relieve his Distressed Neighbor.

A Good Man would not Willingly lye under any Obligation to a Person of a Lewd Character and Conversation; for beside the Danger he Incurs, it would not be for his Credit neither, where Presents are Scandals, and rather Snares than Benefits. ’Tis a kind of Incumbrance upon the freedom of a Generous Mind, to be in debt to an Ill Man, even upon any Score whatsoever, that does but carry the face of Good Will, or Respect; for ’tis a Debt that a Man’s both Asham’d and Weary of, ’till ’tis paid off. He lives uneasily under the Burden of it, and Consequently, it is the Debt of All Others that ought first to be Answer’d. And there’s no Cancelling the Bonds of Honor and Justice. Kindnesses are to be paid in specie, as well as Money. That is to say, there must be Affection in the Return, as well as Justice. Now as there can be No True Friendship betwixt a Good Man and a Wicked Man, there should be no Intercourse betwixt them that looks like Friendship, and therefore the Less Commerce the Better. As Jupiter, we see, would have Nothing to do with the Serpent.

It is as Natural for a Man to Kill a Flea, as it is for a Flea to Bite a Man. There’s a kind of self-Preservation on Both sides, and without Any Malice on Either Hand. The Flea cannot Live without Nourishment, nor the Man without Rest. So that here’s only a Present Dispatch on the One Hand, to prevent a Lingring Death on the Other, (as a Restless Life is in Truth no Better). There are in the World as many Illustrations of This Fable, as there are Instances of Petulant, Pragmatical, and Impertinent People that Break in upon Men of Government and Business. Distractions have much in them of Flea-bitings; That is to say, they keep us Waking, and Hinder our Repose. The Flea thought it hard to suffer Death for an Importunity: But to a Man that knows how to Value his Time and his Quiet, One Importunity upon the Neck of Another, is the Killing of a Man Alive, and the very Worst of Deaths.

’Tis an Ill Habit to turn Offices and Duties of Piety into Matters and Words only of Course; and to Squander away our Wishes and our Prayers upon Paltry Fooleries, when the Great Concerns of Life and Death, Heaven and Hell, lye all at stake. Who but a Mad man, that has so many Necessary and Capital Duties of Christianity to think of, would ever have made a Deliverance from a Flea-biting a part of his Litany? It makes our Devotions Ridiculous, to be so Unfeeling on the One side, and so Oversensible, and Sollicitous on the Other. By this Foolish and Impertinent Way of our Proceeding toward the Almighty, Men Slide by little and little into some sort of Doubt, if not a Direct Disbelief and Contempt of his Power. And then with the Country Fellow here, if we cannot Obtain Every Vain Thing we ask, our next Bus’ness is to take Pet at the Refusal, nay and in Revenge to give over Praying for Good and All; and so to Renounce Heaven for a Flea-biting.

Marriages are Govern’d, rather by an Over-ruling Fatality, then by any Solemnity of Choice and Judgment; though ’tis a Hard Matter to find out a Woman, even at the Best, that’s of a Just Scantling for her Age, Person, Humour, and Fortune to make a Wife of. This Fable presents us with One single Disparity that is of it self Sufficient, without a more then Ordinary Measure of Virtue and Prudence, to make a Man Miserable and Ridiculous. I speak of a Disparity of Years, which, in the Moral, takes in all Other Disproportions. The One’s too Young, T’other too Old; to shew us that Marriage is out of Season if it does not Hit the very Critical Point betwixt them. ’Tis much with Wedlock, as it is with our Sovereign Cordials and Antidotes. There go a Thousand Ingredients to the making of the Composition: But then it they be not Tim’d, Proportion’d, and Prepar’d according to Art, ’tis a Clog to us rather then a Relief. So that it would have been Well, if Nature had Prescrib’d the Dos of Woman’s Flesh, as she has Determin’d the Necessity of it.

Hasty Resolutions are seldom fortunate, and it is a piece of Necessary Prudence, for a Man, before he resolves any thing, to Consider what may be the Consequences of it.

We are taught by the Providence of These Frogs, to Consider the End of Things before we Resolve upon the Means; for when the Die is Cast, ’tis too late to Wish for Another Chance. In our Deliberations what to do, we should Distinguish betwixt Lawful and Unlawful, Prudential and Foolish, a Less Present Good, and a Consequence of greater Evils, that we be not Betray’d by the Fair Appearances of Things Specious; Frauds and Fallacies, Glittering Outsides, &c. into Inconveniencies and Mistakes.

When a Man wants any thing, let him look for’t in Time, and Consider Well before-hand what Occasion he has for’t, and upon What Terms it is to be Had; for there may be such Conditions that a Man would not Comply with, even for the Saving, or Redeeming of his Life. There are Other Cases where a Man must Part with More for the Getting of a Thing, then that Thing is Worth. Some again, where a Body runs the Risque of an Absolute Ruin, for the Gaining of a Present Supply: Wherefore there’s No Remedy either Way, without a Strict Calculation of the Profit or Loss on Both Sides. I want Money, but I will not make myself a Slave for’t. I want a Friend at Court, but I will not Forfeit the Character of a Man of Honour, or the Conscience of a Christian, and an Honest Man, to Purchase such a Friend: I am in Prison; but I will not play the Knave to set my self at Liberty. These are All Necessary Deliberations upon the Matter here in Question. Let us see how we shall get Out again, says the Frog, before we go In.

’Tis Good Discretion, when a Body has to do with an Adversary, that is either too Crafty, or too Strong for him, to turn him off to his Match; but it would be a Cleverer Way yet, to Encounter the Stratagem, and to Defeat One Sham with Another, as the Simplicity of the Cock here was too hard for the Wiliness of the Fox. Experience makes many a Wise Man of a Fool, and Security makes many a Fool of a Wise Man. We have an Instance of the Former in the Cocks Over-reaching the Fox, and of the Other, in the Foxes Supine Confidence, that made him so Intent upon his Prey, as to neglect his Safety. Now the Cock, that upon Long Tryal and Observation, knew the Fox to be the Common Enemy of all Poultrey; had likewise a Dread and Suspicion of him by Instinct, which made him Naturally Cautious upon the very Principle of Self-Preservation. Whereas the Fox, that Trusted to his Address and Manage, without so much as Dreaming of a Cross Bite from so silly an Animal, fell Himself into the Pit that he had Digg’d for Another. It is much the same Case in the World when Providence is pleas’d to Confound the False, the Mighty, and the Blood-Thirsty, by Judgments of Lice and Frogs: That is to say, by the most Despicable of Instruments. To put an End to This Moral, It is a wonderful Thing how the very Force of Nature will Exert it self, in the Meanest and the Weakest of Creatures, in Cases of Extream Necessity and Danger: As it made the Cock here too hard for the Fox.

Things that a Man has once set his Heart upon, will hardly be ever got out of his Head, but Every Hint and Occasion will be putting him in mind of ’em again. Ill Habits are not Easily Cur’d. ’Tis with almost All People in cases of Fright or Distraction of Mind, as it was with our Merchant Adventurers here. The Last Impression sticks Closest to us. There was a Miserable Wretch in Bedlam that had lost his Wits upon the Firing of a Ship at Sea, and His Head was still running upon Fire and Water; insomuch that the very Sight of either of them would put him into an Outrageous Fury. Another that was Mad for Love, would be Beating his Brains perpetually upon Anagrams and Sonnets. Oliver’s Enthusiastick Porter, was directly Bible-Mad, and up to the Ears still in the Dark Prophets, and the Revelation. In the Year 1658, When the Original Contracters were met in Council about Settling the Government, a very good Poor Woman carried her Little Trunks and Boxes to Weld-House for Protection, for fear of the Mobile. The House was Rifled, and her Trinkets went away with the Rest. Upon this Loss she fell Idle-Headed; and to This very Day she stands like the Bramble in the Fable, near the place still, (where the Innocent Creature Lives) Catching of People by the Coats, and Asking them about her Trunks and Boxes: Pray, says she, When shall I have my Things again? My Trunks are not come home yet, &c. The Doctrine upon the Whole is no more then This, That we are not to set our Hearts upon the Things of This World; for All Emotions of the Mind have somewhat in them of This Freak; and the only Way to be Happy and Quiet, is to make all Contingencies Indifferent to us.

’Tis a Folly, says the Old Moral, for People to run Great Hazards for small Advantage. And why may it not as well Reflect upon the Cruelty of taking away the Life of a Poor Innocent Creature for making bold with One Miserable Grain of Corn, when she was Hungry. But This is All Forc’d, and in Truth, it is a Dry Fable with Little or Nothing in’t.

Or to Turn it Another Way yet, Here’s the Life of a Poor Creature in Question, and the Lark Expostulates, and Pleads Not Guilty, but the Belly has No Ears, and the Bird-Catcher is so Intent upon his Interest, and Appetite, that he gives no Heed at all to the Equity of the Plea, which is but according to the Course of the World, when people Measure Right or Wrong by the Rule of their Own Profit or Loss. ’Tis Passion and Partiality that Govern in All These Cases.

We are never the better for the Possession of any thing, Barely for the Propriety sake, but ’tis the Use and Application of it towards the Conveniences of Life, and the Comforts of Humane Society, that gives Every thing its Value. The Divine Goodness we see is perpetually at Work; Nature keeps on in her Course, and the Heavens shed their Influences without Intermission; and what’s the Doctrine now of This Great Example, but that the Blessings of Providence, which are Common and Diffusive, ought not to lie Idle; and that Whoever Buries his Talent, either of Understanding, or of Fortune, breaks a Sacred Trust, and Couzens Those that stand in Need on’t. But we have a sort of Sordid Wretches among us, that had rather Cast their Silver and Gold into the very Mine again from whence it was Taken, or leave it at the Mercy of Thieves and Common Hazards, then that any Man Living should be the Better for’t.

We are many times Preserv’d or Destroy’d, by Those Accidents or Counsels, that in All Probability should have had quite Contrary Effects. But it is Our Part yet to Act according to Reason, and commit our selves to Heaven for the rest. We have our Blind Sides in the World, as well as the Stag had his by the Sea-side, and we have our Enemies too, that are still Watching to make Advantage of that Weakness. One Man is Transported out of his Reason, and his Honesty, by Sensual Pleasures: Another by Money, perhaps, or by Ambition. Every Man, in short, by Somewhat or other: And it is but striking him in the Right Vein, to do his Bus’ness. The Wisest of Men have their Follies; The Justest, their Iniquities, and the most Temperate of Men have now and then by Fits, their Excesses. Achilles himself (after all that his Mother could do for him) was left Vulnerable yet in the Heel, and Paris’s Arrow found him Out there. We are taught further also to look to our selves on the Blind Side, as the Part that lyes most Expos’d to an Attacque. And finally; That it is not in the Power of Humane Wisdom to secure us against Plots and Practices upon Humane Frailty: Nay, and when we have done our Best to Prevent Mischief, the very Precaution it self serves many times to Contribute to our Ruin. The Stag did All that was to be done here; but the Ways and Workings of Providence are unsearchable; and it is not in the Power of Humane Prudence to Obviate all the Accidents of Humane Life.

’Tis a Common Case for People to be Reduc’d to This Miserable Choice; That is to say, by what Hand or Means they’ll rather Perish; under the Certainty of an Inevitable Destruction One Way or other. The Ancients have Moraliz’d it This Way. But it seems to Me (under favour) that the Stag’s was a Forc’d Put; and a Chance rather then a Choice, he did not fly from the Huntsmen to the Lyon for Protection; but it so fell out, that while he fled to Avoid a Less Danger, he ran into a Greater; We find This to be the Case of many Men, as well as Beasts, that are Forc’d to fly for Refuge, to Murderers and Oppressors, instead of Patrons and Protectors.

Ingratitude is Abhorr’d both by God and Man, and there is a Certain Vengeance Attends those that Repay Evil for Good, and seek the Ruin of their Protectors. This Fable Exposes the Baseness of That Horrid Vice, and it Preaches Thankfulness and Justice. The Obligations of Hospitality and Protection are so Sacred, that Nothing can Absolve us from the Discharge of Those Duties. ’Tis True, that This particular Instance holds better in the Morality of the Application, then it does in the Reason of the Thing: for the Question is not what the Beast does in his Kind; but what Ought to be done, with a respect to such a Benefit receiv’d. If a Man should Launch into the History and Practice of Humane Nature, we should find Nothing more Common there, then one Rebellion Started upon the Pardoning of Another; and the very Minions of Princes Link’d in Conspiracies against their Master. But Those Things ever were, and ever will be, so long as Men are Men, and carry their Corruptions about them. There will be Goats, in fine, and there will be Vines, to answer This Moral, in Sæcula Sæculorum.

Many a Bragging Coxcomb is Ruin’d by a Mistake of Fear in an Enemy, and a Fancy of Courage in Himself. Baudoin Remarks upon the Lyon’s Aversion to the Cock, that there’s Nothing so Great but it has its Failings, and so he makes the Pursuit of the Lyon to be a Particular Mark of the Ass’s Weakness. Meslier will have the Fear to be Counterfeited, with a Design to Surprize the Pursuer; but This Fable seems still to look Another way.

It may appear a very Extravagant, Surprizing Encounter, that Æsop has Exhibited to us in This Fable. Here’s a Lyon running away from a Cock, and an Ass Pursuing a Lyon: That is to say, here are Two of the most Unlikely Things in Nature brought together, in the Semblance of Fear in the One, and of Resolution in the Other: But the Moral is never the Worse yet for the Seeming Disproportions of the Figure; and the Characters in the Fiction, are well enough Suited to the Truth, and Life of the Case. The Flight of the Lyon must be Imputed here to the Natural Aversion that he has to the Crowing of a Cock. This is the Tradition; but it shall break No Squares whether it be so or not: For the Philosophy holds good in Other Instances No less Wonderful, whether it be True or False in This. How many Insuperable Disagreements do we Meet with, in the Bus’ness of Meats, Drinks, and Medicines; in Plants, Minerals, and Living Creatures! Now These Impulses are no more to be Controll’d, then the Primary, and the Unchangeable Powers and Laws of Nature: And These Instincts, after All, are no more to be Reason’d upon, then they are to be Resisted; and therefore it is, that we call them Occult Qualities; which is All One with Saying that we do not Understand How they Work, or What they Are. Now ’tis One Thing to Submit to an Absolute Force, Another Thing to Fly, and Yield to a Natural Infirmity: So that ’tis No Departure from the Dignity of a Lyon to Fly, when Nature Drives him: Neither is it at all to the Ass’s Reputation, to Pursue, when Vanity, Folly and Rashness Transport him.

The Ass, we see, lies under Many Mistakes here, and the More, and the Grosser they are, the more Suitable still to his Character. How many such Asses are there in the World, that Huff, Look Big, Stare, Dress, Cock, Swagger, at the same Noisy, Blustring Rate; and Nothing more Familiar then for a Whiffling Fop, that has not so much as One Grain of the Sense, or Soul of a Man of Honour in him, to play the part of a Hero. Nay, there are Fanfarons in the Tryals of Wit too, as well as in Feats of Arms, and none so forward to engage in Argument, or Discourse, as Those that are least able to go through with it. In One Word for All, the whole Race of Bawling, Fluttering Noddyes, by what Name or Title soever Dignify’d or Distinguish’d, are a Kin to the Ass in This Fable.

There’s No Fastening an Obligation upon Those that have neither Justice, Gratitude, nor Good Faith; and it is the same Case in Effect, with Those that do not Understand when they are Well-us’d: From whence we may infer this Doctrine, that Fools and Knaves are not Company for Honest Men. The Course and Violent Part of the Common People have much in them of this Currs Humour. They Plunge themselves into Difficulties by Mistaking their Way, and then fly in the Face of Those that would Set them Right again. In This Opposition to Duty and Discretion, they Pursue their Errors, ’till in the End, they are left to the Fate of their Own Madness and Folly; and Consequently Perish without Any Hope, or Means of Pity or Redress. The Gard’ner would have sav’d his Dog from Drowning, and the Curr bit his Master by the Fingers for his Pains.

’Tis an Ordinary Thing for People to Boast of an Interest where they have None, and then when they are Detected, ’tis a Stroak of Art to Divert the Reproach, by Emproving a Spiteful Word, or Thing, to a Bodies Own Advantage. This way of Dialogue, is a kind of Tick-Tack; Where the One’s Bus’ness is to keep from making a Blot, and the Other’s is to Hit it when ’tis made. It is a Happy Presence of Mind, to Anticipate Another Man’s Thought, by Considering well beforehand what Construction, or Allusion his own Words will bear; for Otherwise, the Casting out an Inconsiderate Hint, is but the setting of a Trap to Catch Himself. As the Sow’s Appealing to Venus here, was as good as an Answer thrown into the very Mouth of the Dog, which she might Easily have foreseen would be turn’d back upon her in the Bitterness of a Reproche: For the Reply lay so Open, the Other could not Well Miss it: But when all is done, Both Parts are to keep themselves upon their Guard; Or if either of ’em has Overshot himself, it is some sort of Reputation still, to make the Best of a Bad Game: As the Sow turn’d off the Scandal here with a jest.

We are not to put an Estimate upon Things by the Quantity, or the Number of them, but by their Quality and Virtue: Taking for Granted, that Æsop’s Bitch was Fruitfuller then our Sows. See the Moral of A Lyoness and a Fox. Fab. 122.

Good Councel is lost upon an Habitual Hardness of Ill Nature: And in That Case it must be a Diamond that Cuts a Diamond: for One Fraud is best Undermin’d and Disappointed by Another. This Fable is a Figure upon a Figure, in Opposing the Straitness of the Body of the Snake after he was Dead, to the Crookedness of his Manners when he was Living. But the License of Mythology will bear out the Hardness of the Allusion.

Ill Dispositions may be Suppress’d, or Dissembled for a while, but Nature is very hardly to be Alter’d, either by Councell, or by Education. It may do well enough, for Curiosity, and Experiment, to try how far Ill Natur’d Men and Other Creatures may be Wrought upon by Fair Usage, and Good Breeding; But the Inclination and Cruelty of the Damm will never out of the Whelp. It may Suspend peradventure, or intermit, for want of Occasion to shew it self: but Nature is like Mercury, there’s No Killing it Quite. The Wolfe in the House has a Kindness still for the Wolves in the Woods, and continues in the Interest of the same Common Enemy. Cat will to Kind, as they say, and Wicked Men will be True to their Principles, how False soever to their Masters.

We may read in the Moral of This Fable, the common Practice of the World, and a Doctrine that we find Every day Verify’d, as well in Men, as in Beasts; for there are Wolfe-Whelps in Palaces, and Governments, as well as in Cotages, and Forrests. Do we not find in History, and Experience, Instances in abundance, even of Publick Ministers Themselves, that though taken up out of the very Herds of the Common Enemy; Admitted into Special Trusts; Fed by the Hand, and Treated with the Grace and Character of Particular Favourites, have their Hearts in the Woods, yet all this while among their Fellows. So that there’s No Reclaiming of them. They go out however, as there is Occasion, and Hunt and Growle for Company; but at the same time, they give the Sign out of their Master’s Hand, hold Intelligence with the Enemy; and make use of their Power and Credit to Worry Honester Men then Themselves. It wants Nothing after This, but that they may live to have their Due; and with the Dog here in the Fable, go to Heaven in a String, according to the True Intent of the Allegory.

There’s Nothing more Common in the World than these Wolvish Back-Friends, in all our Pretensions; whether it be in Law, in Government, or in a Hundred other sorts of Clayme and Competition; Especially for the running down of a Man that’s Declining in his Credit already. Calumny is Base at best; though Pleasant enough sometimes, where it falls out, that One Rascal is Countermining Another. But let the Reproche be never so True, it can hardly be Honest, Where the Office is done in Hugger-Mugger; and where the Intention is not Guided by a Conscience of the Duty. It is a way to Confound the Good and the Bad, where Knaves have Credit enough to be Believ’d, to the Wrong of Honest Men, and the Innocent left without Means of Defence.

He that would live Clear of the Envy and Hatred of Potent Calumniators, must lay his Finger upon his Mouth, and Keep his Hand out of the Ink-Pot; for to do a Good Office upon the Point of Opinion, Intelligence, Brains, or Conscience, where this Wolvish Humour prevails, is little better then a Scandalum Magnatum, or a Libel upon his Superiors: But where it happens that there’s a Fox and a Wolfe in the Case; and One Sharper to Encounter Another, the Scene is Diverting enough.

The Intent of This Fable is to Work a Reformation of Manners, by shewing that Evil Habits are very hard to be Cur’d; for they take Root by Degrees, ’till they come in the End to be past both Remedy and Shame. Habitual Debauches make Excess of Drink as Necessary to a Man as Common Air, Especially when his Mind comes to be Wholly taken up with the Contemplation of his Vice. There are Those that can never Sleep without their Load, nor Enjoy One Easie Thought, till they have laid All their Cares to Rest with a Bottle. ’Tis much the same Thing with Other Sensual Pleasures, where Mens Bodies and Minds are given up to the Entertainment of them. But the Extravagance is never so Desperate, as when the Understanding is Taken up with the Study and Meditation of Those Pleasures, which the Body is no longer in Condition to Practice, and that’s the most Deplorate, Hopeless, and Incurable State of an Evil Disposition; when Drink upon Drink is made Use of for a Remedy.

There’s a Providence attends Innocency and Virtue, the Power of Musique apart. ’Tis a Rule that goes a Great way in the Government of a Sober Man’s Life, not to put any thing to Hazard that may be Secur’d by Industry, Consideration, or Circumspection. And this Caution reaches to a Thousand Cases in the Ordinary Course of Life. Men should Look before they Leap; Deliberate before they Resolve; Try, Weigh, Examine, and Bethink themselves well of the Matter before they Execute. We fall into some Inconveniencies out of Pure Lazyness, and for want of taking Pains to Enform our selves Better: Into Others, out of Rashness; by doing Things in a Hurry, and Hand over Head at a Venture. Now there’s no Excuse for a Blunder upon any of these Topiques, where there was both Time and Means to prevent it. What are we the better for the Faculty of Reason, without the Exercise of it? If the Cook would but have been at the Trouble of Carrying a Candle with him, he would have been in no Danger of taking a Swan for a Goose.

’Tis a Vain Thing to Attempt the Forcing of Nature; for What’s Bred in the Bone will never out of the Flesh: And there can be no Thought of Altering the Qualities, the Colour, or the Condition of Life, that Providence has Allotted us.

’Tis Labour in Vain, to all manner of Purposes, to Endeavour the Mending of any of the Works of Nature; for she never did Any thing Amiss. And then ’tis as Great a Madness to Attempt any Alteration upon them, because What Nature does, God does; whose Decrees are Unchangeable, and All his Works are Perfection in the Kind; but next to the Force of Natural Impressions, we may reckon That of Customs and Habits.

The Greatest of Temporal Blessings, are Health, and Long Life; and the most Durable of Good Things must Consequently be the Best. The Question here betwixt the Crow and the Swallow, has somewhat in it of the Case betwixt Virtue and Sensual Pleasures, as (for the purpose) of Youth, Wine, Women, and All other Entertainments whatsoever, that may serve to Gratify a Carnal Appetite. Here’s Temporary Oppos’d to Eternal; Joys that shall Endure for Ever, Fresh, and in Vigor; to Satisfactions that are attended with Satiety and Surfeits, and Flatten in the very Tasting.

There’s No Recalling of what’s Gone and Past; so that After-Wit comes too Late when the Mischief is Done. That is to say, it comes too late for That Bout. But it is not Amiss, however, for a Man that has gone astray, to call to Mind where he went out of his Way, and to look back Step by Step into all his Miscarriages and Mistakes. The Glass of Life is Behind us, and we must look into what’s Past, if we would take a View of what’s to Come. A Fault Committed, or a Misfortune Incurr’d, cannot be Recall’d ’tis True; but yet the Meditating upon One False Step may help to Prevent Another. Wherefore ’tis Good, upon the Point of Common Prudence, to be Thoughtful, provided we be not more Sollicitous then the Thing is worth, and that we make a Right Use of Those Reflexions; that is to say, an Use of Repentance, where we did Morally Amiss; an Use of Rectifying our Judgments, where we did Foolishly; and an Use of Caution in both Cases, never to do the same Thing over again. This is no more then what in Conscience, Equity, and Reason we are Bound to do. But we must have a care all this while, not to run into False Consequences for want of laying Things and Things together, and to Sham Fallacies upon the World for Current Reason, as the Nightingale was taken Singing in the Day when she was at Liberty. And what’s This to her Resolution of Singing only in the Night, now she’s in the Cage.

The Doctrine of This Fable is according to Reason and Nature. People that are not Allow’d to be Sharers with their Companions in Good Fortune, will hardly ever agree to be Sharers in Bad. An Open, and an Honest Candor of Mind carries a Body Safe and Dry through all Ways and Weathers: Whereas in shifting and Shuffling, a Man puts himself off his Guard; and the same Rule that serves him at One time, will not serve him at Another; Men are willing enough to have Partners in Loss, but not in Profit; and ’tis not the Traveller alone that cries [I] have found a Purse of Gold, and then Changes his Note upon Hue and Cry, and says [WE] shall be hang’d for’t; but ’tis the Course of All People of Intrigue, to give Every thing two Faces, and to Deal with the World, as the Spark did with the Oracle. The Bird shall be Dead or Living, which himself Pleases.

To Emprove the Moral yet a little farther, we have a Thousand Disappointments in the Ordinary Course of Life, to Answer This in the Fable. Many a Man finds this Purse of Gold in a Mistress, in a Bottle, in an Office, and in All other the vain Satisfactions of this World: And what’s the End on’t at last, but when he has Compass’d his Longing, Gratify’d his Appetite, or, as he fancies, made his Fortune perhaps: He grows presently Sick of his Purchase; His Conscience is the Hue and Cry That pursues him, and when he reckons upon it that he has gotten a Booty, he has only caught a Tartar. The Bag of Money burnt the Poor Fellow’s Fingers in the very Taking of it up.

Custom is Another Nature; and what betwixt Obstinacy, and Sloth, let it be never so ill, and inconvenient, People are very Hard yet to Quit it. He that does Nothing at all, does Worse then He, that upon the Account of Humane Frailty, does Amiss; for nothing can be more contrary to God Himself, who is a Pure Act, then the Sleeping and Drowsing away of our Life and Reason, that was given us for so many Better Purposes. The Frog in the High-way here, is the Lively Figure of such a Man; for a Life of Sloth is the Life of a Log, rather then the Life of a Reasonable Creature. ’Tis as much as a Body can well do, even with the Uttermost of his Prudence and Industry, to Rub through the Difficulties of the World, though he should keep himself perpetually a Doing. There is not perchance a more Insupportable Misery in Nature, then it would be, to put the Body into a Frame, that should keep it always in the same Posture. What can be said worse of Slothfulness now, when the very Vice is Equal to the most Exquisite of Torments? It is Odious to God and Man, Useless to the World, Irksom to it Self, Miserable in All Estates, and utterly Incapable either of Tasting, or Enjoying any thing of Comfort. The Frog was used to the Place, she said, and rather then Stir to help her Self, there she lay till her Guts were Pash’d out.

The Mistake of a Friend for an Enemy, or of an Enemy for a Friend, is one of the most Pernicious Errors of a Rash Man’s Life; for there’s Judgment, good Nature, Generosity, Justice, common Prudence, and All at Stake. Nothing can be more Disobliging to a Friend on the One hand, or more Ruinous to my self on the Other. Charity however bids me Hope and Think the Best, provided at the Same Time, that I Secure the main Chance. Now this Caution holds as well in Politiques, as in Morals; and in Publick Cases as well as in Private; for there is Nothing more Frequent, then for People to take their Oppressors for their Protectors, and their Protectors for their Oppressors: As the Bees here Spar’d the Thief, and fell foul upon their Keeper. This is the very Humour of the Mobile, when they mistake the Man.

Many People apprehend Danger Where there’s None, and fancy themselves to be Out of Danger where there’s most of All. As the Fellow gave God Thanks at Sea when the Ship struck upon a Sand, for bringing him into Shallow Water again, where he could feel the Bottom. This is to mind us, That there is No State of Life so Secure, as not to lie Open to a Thousand Difficulties and Dangers; and that it is not possible for the Wit of Man to Provide against All Contingencies. There’s No Fence against Inundations, Earth-quakes, Hurricans, Pestilential Vapours and the like; and therefore it is Our Part, and Duty, to Hope, and Endeavour the Best, and at the Same Time to provide for the Worst that can Befal Us. That which cannot be Helpt, must be Born.

This Allegory is frequently Applied to those that make Advantage to Themselves by Embroyling the Publique; and set their Country A-fire for the Roasting of their Own Eggs. ’Tis the Only Trade that many People have to Live by, and the most Profitable Trade too, when the Occasion lies Fair for their Purpose. ’Tis with the Common People in this Case, just as ’tis with Fishes: Trouble the Waters, so that they cannot see their Way before them, and you Have ’em Sure in the Bag before they know where they are.

This is the Humour of a great many Travelling Men, as well as Travelling Apes: Men that will be Talking of Places that they never Saw, and of Persons that they never Heard of. Their Whole Conversation is made up of Councels and Intrigues, Reasons of State, Embassies, and Negotiations, that they never were skill’d in at all. Neither Men, Books nor Sciences come Amiss to ’em: And after All This Extravagant Bustle, a Gay Coat and a Grimace is the Upshot of what they can Pretend to. These Phantomes however are Sometimes taken for Men, and born up by the Wellmeaning Ignorant Common People, as the Ape was here by the Dolphin; till in the Conclusion, their Sillyness lays them Open, Their Supporters give them the Slip, and down they Drop and Vanish. How many of these Empty Chattering Fops have we daily put upon us, for Men of Sense and Bus’ness; that with Balzack’s Prime Minister, shall spend ye Eight and Forty Hours together Poring over a Map, to look for Aristocracy and Democracy, instead of Croatia and Dalmatia, and take the Name of a Country for a Form of Government; Without any more ado, we have Apes in History as well as in Fiction, and not a Rush matter whether they go on Four Legs, or on Two.

’Tis an Old Saying, That Listners never hear Well of Themselves; and Mercury’s Curiosity Sped accordingly in this Fable. All Vain Men that Affect Popularity, are apt to Fancy, that Other People have the same Opinion of Them, that they have of themselves; but nothing goes Nearer the Heart of ’em then to meet with Contempt, instead of Applause, Esteem, and Reputation. They Muster up All their Commissions and Charters; as Mercury Values himself here, upon the Relation he had to Jupiter; whose Pimp he is, and That’s his Bus’ness. He gives to Understand also what a Friend the Artizans had at Court, and All too Little, to gain him the Respect, but so much as of a Common Messenger.

Knaves Set up these Jugglers, and Fools Maintain them. There must be Forms however, Characters, and Hard Words, Crabbed Looks, and Canting Calculations, for the Colour of the Pretence; but People should have a Care yet, not to take a Confederacy for a Science.

More People are lost for want of good Education and Institution, then for want of Honest and Honourable Inclinations; and these are Miscarriages that Parents and Tutors are in a Great Measure to Answer for. We are here given to Understand, that there are Offices of Trust also, as well as Offices of Labour, and the one as Necessary to the Common Good as the Other. The Mastiff Maintains the Hound, as well as the Hound the Mastiff; and if the one did not keep the House from being Robb’d, the Other would have nothing to eat in’t at all. So that This Fable, upon the Whole Matter, will serve for a Political Reading to Princes and Governors, as well as to Masters of Private Families, upon the Reciprocal Use, Benefit, and Necessity of Industry and Protection betwixt Rulers and Subjects, for the Preservation of a Common-wealth: The One Supplies us with what we Want, and the Other Supports us in the Defence of what we Get, and neither would Signifie any thing to us without the Other.

Every Man has his Post Assign’d him, and in That Station he is Well, if he can but Think himself so; and He that cannot keep himself Well, when he is Well, may Thank Himself: But Men of Curiosity and Levity can never be at Rest; for let their Present State be what it will, it never Pleases them. They have a Sickly Uneasiness upon them, which Way soever they lye, or in what Condition soever they are; no Place, no Posture, no State, either of Life or of Fortune agrees with ’em, but they run on, Shifting, and Changing, from One Error, and from One Qualm, to Another; Hankering after Novelties, and Trying New Experiments. We are Naturally given to be Peeping into Forbidden Secrets, and Groping in the Dark after we know not what. We never think of the Main Bus’ness of Life, till a Vain Repentance minds us of it at the Wrong End on’t, and then, with the Crab in the Fable, we find that we have been Doing of One thing All this while, when we should have been Doing Another; and Abandoned the Station that God and Nature Allotted us, to our Irreparable Ruine.

There’s a Great Difference betwixt an Orator in the Schools, and a Man of Bus’ness upon a Stage of Action. Many a Man that Passes for a Philosopher in Private, behaves himself most Ridiculously in Publick; as what’s more Uncouth (with Respect be it spoken) then a Pedant out of his Element? There are Flattering Chambers, as well as Flattering Glasses, and the One Helps out a Bad Voice, as the Other Countenances an ill-Favour’d Face; That is to say, the One Drowns the Harshness of the Pipe, as the Other Covers, or Disguises the Coursness of the Complexion. But Men must not think to Walk upon These Stilts, if they come to set up in Publick once; The One, for an Italian Capon, the Other, for an English Beauty: Wherefore it will become All People to Weigh and Measure Themselves, before they Venture upon any Undertaking that may bring their Lives, Honour, or Fortune in Question. Some Songsters can no more Sing in any Chamber but their Own; then some Clarks can Read in any Book but their Own; Put them out of their Road once, and they are Meer Cat-Pipes and Dunces.

’Tis a Hard Matter for a Man that Argues against the Truth, and the Reason of a Thing, to Consist with Himself, for having no Rule to Walk by, ’tis Forty to One but Some time or Other he will lose his Way: Especially when he is to Accommodate his Story to the Various Circumstances of Times, Persons, and Occasions. But it is One Thing to forget Matter of Fact, and Another Thing to blunder upon the Reason of it. It is however, well Worthy of a Sober Man’s Care, not to let anything fall that may be turn’d upon him out of his Own Mouth. This Presence of Mind, ’tis true, is not Every Bodies Talent; neither does this Consideration Enter into Every Bodies Thought; but it were better if it Were so, and so it Ought to be.

The Affectation of Powers and Faculties, that are Above us, is not only Vain and Unprofitable, but Ridiculous; for the Matter, upon Examination, will not abide the Test. Your Empyricks, Piss-Pot Prophets, Fortune-Tellers, and Buffon-Pretenders to State and Government, Fall under the Lash of this Moral. And so do All your little Smatterers in Arts and Sciences of what Kind, or Quality soever: But there goes more to the Making of a Prophet, then Nodding or Croaking. ’Tis not the Gown and the Cap that makes the Doctor; Neither is it the Supercilious Gravity of Countenances and Forms that presently Dubbs any Man a Philosopher. Not but that a Fool may Put himself in the Garb, and so far imitate the Meen, and Motions of a Wise Man, as at first Blush to Put a Body to a Stand what to Make of him: But upon further Consideration, the Original is as Easily known from the Copy, as the Ass in his borrow’d Skin was from the Lyon: Or I might have said, as the Crow here from the Raven: Their Ears and their Tongues Betray them.

This Pagan Fable will bear a Christian Moral, for more People Worship for Fear, and for Interest, then for Love and Devotion. As the Indians do the Devils, That they may not Hurt ’em. It teaches us farther, that we are not to take Pet, or Despond, under any Cross or Calamity that the Almighty is pleas’d to lay upon us. The Judgments of Heaven are Just, let them fall never so Heavy, they are yet less then we deserve. The Devil Himself, when he was let loose upon Job, could not Transport That Patient, Good Man beyond his Temper, or make him Quit his Hold. Resignation and Perseverance are All that a Man has to Trust to in This Extremity. There’s no Good to be done by Struggling, nor any way left us to make our Peace with, but to try by Faith, Prayer, and a New Life, if we can make our Offended Master Once again our Friend. So that upon the Upshot, Afflictions are but the Methods of a Merciful Providence, to Force us upon the only Means of setting Matters Right, betwixt Divine Justice and Humane Frailty.

If Men would but Ballance the Good and the Evil of Things, the Profit and the Loss, they would not Venture Soul, Body, and Reputation, for a Little Dirty Interest. ’Tis much the same Thing betwixt Us, and our Sensual Acquisitions, that it is betwixt the Raven and the Snake here. Men of Eager Appetites Chop at what comes next, and the Purchase seldom fails of a Sting in the Tayl on’t. Nor is it to be Expected, that Passion without Reason should Succeed better. Our Senses are Sharp-set upon All Fleshly Pleasures, and if they be but fair to the Eye, Relishing to the Palate, Harmonious to the Ear, Gentle to the Touch, and Fragrant to the Smell, ’tis all we Look for, and all we Care for. ’Tis true, all this while, that our very Nature Requires a Dose of These Enjoyments; nay, and that Providence it self does not only Allow, but Prescribe it; for the Common Comfort and Benefit of Humane Society, and of Mankind; for Life would be no longer Life without it. But the Crime and the Danger lies in the Excess, and in the Immoderate Love and Use of them. Was not the Apple in Paradise Fair to the Eye, and Grateful to the Tast, and yet there was Death in’t? What were the Poets Sirens, but Figures of our Seducers, that Charm us by the Ear, and Tempt us to leap Over-board? That is to say, by Debauching us into False Doctrines and Opinions, which do but Answer, on the One side, the Moral of the Songs on the Other. And so for the Touch, and the Smell, the Former, ’tis true, has made more Havock in the World, but yet a Man may be Poyson’d with a Perfume, as well as with a Nauseous Potion. To Conclude, we have Snakes in our Beds, in our Cups, in our Dishes, and whoever dips too deep, will find Death in the Pot.

This is to Caution us against All Superfluous and Dangerous Desires. Our Own Lot is Best, and by Aiming at what we have Not, and what is Impossible to be had, we lose what we have already. No Man goes out of Himself but to his Loss. Imitation is Servile, let it be Where, How, and What it will. Nature Points out to us which way Every Man’s Talent, and Genius lies; and He that keeps to his Own Province, or Biass, speeds Best. The Painting of the Daw like a Pigeon, did not make him One, neither can any Man do himself Right in Another Bodies Shape: Besides, that when he is once out, ’tis Hard to find his Way Home again. The Hypocrite is never so far from being a Good Christian, as when he looks Likest One. ’Tis much a Case with a Faction in a Government, and a Daw in a Pigeon-House. There’s a Fraud driven on, and they Assimilate themselves, as much as may be, to the Interest they Propose to be the Better for. They put on all Appearances in Matter of Opinion, Practice, and Pretence, Suitable to the Humour they are to Joyn withal: But still Some Unlucky Accident or Other happens to Discover them in the End; and then, when they would go off again, the People of their Own Plume and Colour Beat ’em away, and Refuse to Entertain them. This is no more then what we find to be True in All Turns of State. Double-Dealers may Pass Muster for a While, but All Parties Wash their Hands of them in the Conclusion.

Men that are Impatient under Imaginary Afflictions, change commonly for Worse, as the Daw did here in the Fable, that Threw himself into a Starving Necessity, rather then he would Submit to the Tolerable Inconvenience of an Easie Restraint. This was a Republican Daw, that Kaw’d for Liberty, not Understanding that he that Lives under the Bondage of Laws, is in a State of Freedom: And that Popular Liberty, when it passes Those Bounds, is the most Scandalous Sort of Slavery. Nothing would serve him, but he must be at his Own Disposal, and so away he goes, carries his String along with him, and Shackles Himself. This is just the Humour and the Fate of Froward Subjects. They Fancy themselves Uneasie under the Errors of a Male Administration of Government, when their Quarrel strikes, in truth, at the very Root and Conditions of Government it self. It is as Impossible for a Government to be without Faults, as for a Man to be so. But Faults or No Faults, it comes yet much to a Case; for where they cannot Find ’em, they can Create them; And there goes no more to’t neither, then the Calling of Necessary Justice by the Name of Oppression. And what’s the End on’t, more then this now? They Run away from their Masters into the Woods, and there, with Æsop’s Daw, they either Starve, or Hang Themselves.

The Extravagant Heats and Transports of Lovers, and Voluptuaries, take away all Shame. This Fable Hints to us the Wild Extravagances of an Unbridled Appetite, and that till that Devil be laid, there can be no Thought of Lodging Carnal Love and Modesty under the same Roof. Jupiter’s forgetting Modesty in the Composition of Man, Intimates the Difficulty of Admitting it, till Flesh and Blood has done the Friendly Office towards the Peopling of the World; for there’s hardly any Place for Councel, till these Heats are in some Measure taken off; and it is no Wonder, that when Love comes to be without Reason, it should be without Modesty too; for when ’tis once past Government, it is consequently past Shame. When Our Corruptions, in fine, are Strong, and our Understandings Weak, we are apter to Hearken to the Motions of the Blood, and to the Vain Imaginations of a Deprav’d Affection, then to the Dry Doctrines and Preceps of Authority and Virtue.

This Difficulty of keeping Young and Hot Blood in Order, does mightily Enforce the Necessity of an Early Care for the Training up of Children, and giving them a Tincture, before it be too Late, of those Doctrines and Principles, by which they are afterward to Govern the Whole Frame of their Lives. For in their Tender Years they are more Susceptible of Profitable and Vertuous Impressions, then afterward, when they come to be Sollicited by the Impulse of Common, and Vulgar Inclinations. They should in Truth, be kept out of Distance, of either Seeing or Hearing Ill Examples: Especially in an Age that is Govern’d more by President then by Reason.

We are to Learn from hence (says the Old Moral) that there’s no Trifling, Dallying, or Delaying with Men in Power: And that Contentment in a Mean Condition at Home, is beyond all the Luxurious Treats in the World, Abroad, with Pomp, and Envy. The Danger of Trifling with Great Men does not come up methinks, to the Full Force, and Intent of this Fable, which seems rather to set forth the Mistakes of Impotent Greatness, in Mis-judging the Test and Standard of Humane Happiness. What’s a Voluptuous Dinner, and the Frothy Vanity of Discourse that commonly attends these Pompous Entertainments? What is it but a Mortification, to a Man of Sense and Virtue, to spend his time among People that take Good for Evil, and Punish where they should Reward, and Reward where they should Punish? The Tortoise was Forbidden the Court; That is to say, he was Banished from the sight of Vain, Wicked, and Unprofitable Examples. Jupiter gave the Tortoise the Honour of an Invitation, but that Honour was yet to the Poor Tortoise’s Loss; for He that’s Transported out of his Nature, and out of his Element, let the Change be what it will, is a Loser by the Bargain. A Plain, and a Homely Home, with Competency and Content, is beyond all the Palaces under the Heavens; The Pomp, the Plenty, and the Pleasures of them over and above. To say nothing of the Surfeits that are gotten by Excesses of Eating and Drinking; The Restless Nights, Factious Emulations, Fewds, and Disgusts that attend them: Besides the Slavery of being Ty’d up to other Peoples Hours, Meals, and Fashions. He that has no Ambition, is Happy in a Cell, or in a Cottage; whereas the Ambitious Man is Miserable, even upon a Throne. He that thinks he has not Enough, Wants, and He that Wants is a Beggar.

The Tortoise came Late, for he came Unwillingly, which is the Case of many a Worthy Man that Sacrifices his Peace to Formalities of Complement, and Good Manners. Jupiter took Snuff at the Contempt, and Punish’d him for’t. And what was the Punishment? He sent him Home again. That is to say, He Remanded him to his Lot, and to his Choice. Such, in Short, is the Felicity of a Moderate, and a Steady Mind, that all Comforts are Wrapt up in’t; for Providence turns the very Punishment of a Good Man, into an Equivalence to a Reward, by Improving that to his Advantage, which was intended for his Ruin; and making the Tortoise’s Banishment a Blessing to him.

That Sheep has a Blessed Time on’t that runs on a Wolfe’s Errand: But Æsop’s Sheep have more Wit, I perceive, then many of our Domestique Innocence. ’Tis a Court-Master-Piece, to draw Chesnuts out of the Fire with other Peoples Fingers; and to Complement a Man into a Post of Honour, a-purpose to have him Knock’d o’th Head in’t: Now the Sheep’s Case in the Fable, is but an Every-days Case in the World; when People are divided betwixt Charity and Discretion, how far to go, and where to stop. In Offices of This Doubtful Quality, We have only This General Rule to Walk by, that when we have to do with Known Wolves, we Know likewise that they are not to be Confided in. But this Wolfe (I must Confess) with a Lambskin over his Shoulders, might have past Muster for a Gospeller in Sheeps Cloathing; which would have made it a more Dangerous Imposture. We are to Gather from hence, that there’s no Trusting to the Fair Words and Appearances of a False and a Malicious Enemy; for their very Kindnesses are no better then Snares. Treachery is a kind of a Lay Hypocrisie, and they are Equally Odious both to God and Man: Over and above the Corrupting of our Manners, the Hardening of our Hearts; the Dissolving of all the Bonds of Faith, Confidence, and Society, and the Extinguishing of Good Nature it self; And all This in our own Defence too.

’Tis a Folly, to the Highest Degree, for Men to run the Risque of their Lives and Fortunes, by Entering into Leagues with the Weak, against an Adversary that is Manifestly too Strong for them Both. ’Tis Hazardous to Contract Unequal Friendships and Alliances, and there’s an Inequality of Disposition and Humour, as well as of Power. The False are as Dangerous as the Fearful: Only with this Difference, that the One will do a Man Hurt, and the Other can do him no Good. The End of Leagues is Common Assistance and Defence; And he that joyns Interest with those that cannot Help him, stands as single as he did before; which destroys the End of a Common Union; for where there’s no Hope of a Reciprocal Aid, there can be no Reason for a Mutual Obligation: And it is the same Thing in Bus’ness, Councel, and Commerce, that it is in Arms and Force. The Case of the Hares and Foxes in a Confederacy against the Eagles, is a Common Case betwixt Kingdoms and Common-wealths.

The Doctrine of this Fable is held forth to us in a Thousand Cases of Curiosity, Novelty, &c. We make a Wonderful Matter of Things at a Distance, that Signifie Little or Nothing at all, nearer hand. And we are as much Impos’d upon in the Prospect of our Hopes and Fears: The Dangers, and the Blessings that we either Dread, or Propose to our selves, look a great Deal Bigger a far off, then in Effect they are. And what’s the Mystery of All this now, but that we judge of Things by False Images and Appearances, without Entering into the True State and Reason of them? So that at this Rate, we divide our Lives, betwixt Flattering Illusions, and Restless Apprehensions: Never at Ease, either on the One side, or on the Other. The Mischief is, that we are Over-solicitous about Matters that are out of our Power, and Star-gazing after Futurities; when in truth, our Bus’ness lies just under our Noses; That is to say, in the Attending, and Emproving of Present Opportunities. In few Words, a Wise Man Counts his very Minutes: He lets no Time slip him; for Time is Life: which he makes Long, by the Good Husbandry of a Right Use and Application of it, from One Moment to Another. This is not yet to Exclude the Providence of Tracing Premisses into Consequences, or Causes into their Effects; but to Caution us not to look at the Wrong End of the Glass; and so Invert the Prospect. We see Things at hand, as they really are, but at a Distance, only as they seem to be: Patience and Consideration will set us Right in our Judgments and in our Measures. It is much thereabouts with the Common People too, in the Matter of Remote Grievances. They Represent, and Fancy to Themselves, Hell, Slavery and Damnation at a Distance, in many a Case, which at hand signifies not so much as a Flea biting.

This is to Caution us against running the Risque of Disappointments; that are greater then the Present Inconveniences; and where the Misery, and Hazzard, does more then Countervail the Benefit.

In the Fable of the Horse and the Ass (Num. 38,) The Ass finds himself Mistaken in his Opinion, both of the Foundation of Happiness, and of the Stability of it. His Mistake in This, looks another way; for he took his Brother to be Happy when he was not so; Even according to his own Standard: But we are too apt to think other People more Happy, and our selves Less, then in Truth, They, or We are: Which favours of a Malevolence on the One hand, and an Ingratitude on the Other. Nay, it falls out many times, that the Envious Persons are rather to be Envy’d of the Two. What had the Wild Ass here to Complain of, or the Tame One to be Envy’d for? The Former was but in the Plight that Wild Asses usually are; and in truth ought to be. When they are in the Woods they are at Home, and a Forrest Life, to them, is but according to Nature. As to the State and Rudeness of his Body, ’tis but Answerable to the Condition of his Lot. The Tame Ass, ’tis true, was Better Fed, but then he was Harder Wrought, and in the Carrying of Packs, he did but serve Mankind in the Trade that Providence has Assign’d him; for he was made for Burdens. ’Tis a Fine Thing to be Fat and Smooth; but ’tis a Finer Thing to Live at Liberty and Ease.

To speak Properly, and to Point, there is no such Thing as Happiness or Misery in this World (commonly so Reputed) but by Comparison; Neither is there any Man so Miserable, as not to be Happy, or so Happy, as not to be Miserable, in some Respect or Other: Only we are apt to Envy our Neighbours the Possession of Those Advantages that we Want, without ever giving Thanks for the Blessings that They Want, and We our selves Enjoy. Now This Mixture in the Distributions of Providence, duly Considered, serves to make us Easy, as well as Necessary One to Another; and so to Unite us in a Consistence both of Friendship, and of Civil Convenience: For it is no less Requisite to maintain a Truck in the Matter of Moral Offices, and Natural Faculties, then in the Common Bus’ness of Negotiation, and Commerce; and Humane Society can no more Subsist without the One, then without the Other. One Man furnishes Brains, Another Money, a Third, Power, Credit, Mediation, Intelligence, Advice, Labour, Industry: (to say Nothing of a Thousand other Instances Reducible to this Head) so that the Rule of Communication holds as well betwixt Man and Man; as betwixt Country and Country; What One has Not, Another Has, and there is not That Man Living, but in some Case or Other, stands in Need of his Neighbour. Take away This Correspondence, and the very Frame of all Political Bodies drops, to pieces. Every thing is Best in fine, As God has Made it, and where God has Plac’d it. The Tame Ass wrought hard for his Fine Coat, and the Wild one Far’d Hard to Ballance the Comfort of his Freedom.

The Decrees and Appointments of Heaven are Unchangeable, and there’s no Contending. How many Popular Counter-parts of the Asses Petition to Jupiter for Redress of Grievances, have we liv’d to see within our own Memory, and all, for Things, not only Unreasonable, but utterly Impossible. We read however in the Answer, the Quality, and the Reproch of the Prayer, which is Granted upon Conditions as Impracticable as the Thing desir’d is Ridiculous.

The Asses are here Complaining (after the Way of the Mobile) for being put to the very Use and Bus’ness they were made for; as if it were Cruelty and Oppression to Employ the Necessary Means, which God and Nature has given us, for the Attaining of Necessary Ends. If we Confound Higher and Lower, the World is a Chaos again, and a Level. Is not a Labourer as much a Tool of Providence as the Master Builder? Are not the Meanest Artisans of the same Institution with Ministers of Counsel and State? The Head can no more be without the Body, then the Body without the Head; and neither of them without Hands and Feet to Defend, and Provide, both for the One, and for the Other. Government can no more subsist without Subjection, then the Multitude can Agree without Government: And the Duty of Obeying, is no less of Divine Appointment, then the Authority of Commanding.

Here’s a Petition to Jupiter, in Truth, against Himself; and in the Moral, a Complaint to God against Providence; as if the Harmony of Nature, and of the World; The Order of Men, Things, and Bus’ness, were to be Embroil’d, Dissolv’d, or Alter’d, for the Sake of so many Asses. What would become of the Universe if there were not Servants as well as Masters? Beasts to Draw, and Carry Burdens, as well as Burdens to be Drawn and Carry’d? If there were not Instruments for Drudgery, as well as Offices of Drudgery: If there were not People to Receive and Execute Orders, as well as others to Give and Authorize them? The Demand, in fine, is Unnatural, and Consequently both Weak and Wicked; and it is likewise as Vain, and Unreasonable, to Ask a Thing that is wholly Impossible. But ’tis the Petition of an Ass at last which keeps up the Congruity of the Moral to the Fable.

The Ground of the Request, is the Fiction of a Complaint, by reason of Intolerable Burdens. Now we have Grievances to the Life, as well as in Fancy; and Asses in Flesh and Blood too, and in Practice, as well as in Emblem. We have Herds in Society, as well as in the Fields, and in the Forests; And we have English too, as well as Arcadian Grievances. What? (Cries the Multitude) are not our Bodies of the same Clay, and our Souls of the same Divine Inspiration with our Masters? Under these Amusements, the Common People put up so many Appeals to Heaven, from the Powers and Commands of their Lawful Superiors, under the Obloquy of Oppressors; and what Better Answer can be return’d to All their Clamorous Importunities, then this of Jupiter? Which most Emphatically sets forth the Necessity of Discharging the Asses Part; and the Vanity of Proposing to have it done any Other Way. As who should say, the Bus’ness of Humane Nature must be done. Lay your Heads together, and if you can find any way for the doing it, without one sort of People under Another, You shall have Your Asking. But for a Conclusion, He that’s born to Work, is out of his Place and Element when he is Idle.

Nature has Assign’d every Creature its Proper Place and Station: and an Ass in a Bog is out of his Element, and out of his Province. The Fable it self has not much in’t: but it may serve to Teach us in the Moral, that it is a High Point of Honour, and Christianity, to bear Misfortunes, with Resolution, and Constancy of Mind: And that Steadiness, is a Point of Prudence, as well as of Courage; for People are the Lighter, and the Easier for’t. But it was an Ass, we see, that Complain’d, and (if a Body may play the Fool with him) he was but an Ass for Complaining: First, of what he could not Help; and Secondly, to be never the Better for’t. ’Tis with a Man in a Jayle, much at the Rate as it was with this Ass in the Bog. He’s Sullen and out of Humour at his first coming In; the Pris’ners Gather about him, and there He tells ’em his Case Over and Over I warrant ye. Some make Sport with him; Others Pity him, and this is the Trade they drive for the First Four or Five Days perhaps; but so soon as the Qualm is over, the Man comes to himself again; makes merry with his Companions, and since he cannot be in his Own House, he reckons Himself as good as at Home in the very Prison. ’Tis the same Thing with a Bird in a Cage; when she has Flutter’d her self a Weary, she sits down and Sings. This ’tis to be Wonted to a Thing. And were it not a Scandal now, if Philosophy should not do as much with us as Custom, without leaving it to Necessity to do the Office of Vertue. It might be added to this Moral, that what’s Natural to One may be Grievous to Another. The Frogs would have been as much at a Loss in the Stable, as the Ass was in the Bog.

The Same Thing in One Person or Respect, is not always the Same Thing in Another: The Grooms Grinning at the Gambols of the Ass, tells us that there are Many Cases that make People Laugh without Pleasing them, as when the Surprize, or Caprice of some Fantastical Accident happens to strike the Fancy: Nay, a Body cannot forbear Laughing Sometimes, when he is yet Heartily Sorry for the Thing he Laughs at; which is, in Truth, but an Extravagant Motion, that never comes near the Heart: wherefore the Wolfe was Out in his Philosophy, when he call’d it a Laughing-Matter; Besides, that he should have Distinguish’d upon the Disproportion betwixt the Worrying of a Wolfe, and the Pecking of a Raven; That is to say, betwixt a Certain Death on the One Hand, and only a Vexatious Importunity on the Other. The Raven understood what sort of Spark he had to do withal, and the Silly Ass stood Preaching to Himself upon the Text of No Remedy but Patience.

This Fable Advises Every Man in Prudence to be sure of Knowing his Company before he Embarque with them in any Great Matter; Though He that Betrays his Companion, has the Fortune commonly to be Betray’d Himself.

Here’s the Folly of the Ass in Trusting the Fox that he knew to be a Treacherous Companion; and here’s the Knavery of the Fox in Betraying the Ass, which was but according to his Nature. Now this does not hinder yet, but that the Lyon Forfeited a Point of Honour in the Worrying of him; And this Fiction throughout is but the Emblem of Things that are Familiar to us in the World. The Lyon might have been Allow’d an Aversion to the Fox as a Perfidious Creature, but the Devouring of him upon these Terms, was Another Treachery in Himself. There may be this said at last for the Congruity of the Fancy, that a Just and Generous Lyon, would not have Sunk so Low as to hold any Communication with a Fox, much less to Concert with him in his False Dealing. But this Lyon was meant for the Figure of a Wicked Governour, Conferring upon Frauds with Wicked Ministers. Now if he had spar’d the Ass, for his Simplicity, and Pinch’d the Fox for his Perfidy, the Proceding might have had some Semblance of a Generous Equity: But an Honourable Mind will scorn to make Advantage of a Treacherous Instrument. That is to say, by Assenting to the Treachery: So that the Moral seems to carry more Force with this Biass. Upon the Whole Matter, here’s the Silly Ass pays Dear for the Credulity and Folly of Keeping Ill Company. The Fox is Met withal in his Own Way, for Breaking the Faith of Society; but still there wants some Judgment Methinks, to Attend the Lyon; for he that Encourages One Treason, does not only Practice, but Promote Another; and lays the Foundation of a Doctrine, that will come Home to Himself in the Conclusion. When a Prince fails in Point of Honour and Common Justice, ’tis enough to Stagger his People in their Faith and Allegiance. But the Lyon here in the Fable came off better then our Political Lyons usually do in the World.

This is the Case of Many People in the World, that spend their Time in Good Offices for Others, to the Utter Ruine of Themselves: And there’s No Better to be Expected from a Wicked Age, and an Ill Natur’d People. They that want Foresight, should do well to Hearken to Good Council. He that thinks to Oblige Hard-Hearted People by an Officious Tenderness, and to fare the Better Himself for putting it into Their Power to Hurt him, will find only so much Time, Pains, and Good-Will, utterly cast away, at the Foot of his Account. ’Tis Good however, to Hope, and to Presume the Best, provided a Man be Prepar’d for the Worst. The Mistake lies in This, that the Charity begins Abroad that Ought to begin at Home. They that cannot see into the End of Things, may well be at a Loss in the Reason of them; and a Well-Meaning Piety is the Destruction of many an Honest Man, that sits Innocently Brooding upon the Political Projects of Other People, though with the Heart all the While, of a Patriot, and a True Friend to the Publique. Tell him the Consequences of Matters, and that he is now Hatching of Serpents, not of Chickens: A Misguided Zeal makes him Deaf and Blind to the true State and Issue of Things. He sits his Time out, and what’s the End on’t; but the Plot Naturally Discloses it self in a Common Ruine? It is a Great Infelicity to make a Wrong Choice of a Friend: But when Men are Advertis’d of the Danger beforehand, it is as Great a Fault, if they will take No Warning. The Hen was told on’t, but the Swallow had the Fate, as well as the Gift of Cassandra; to speak Truth, and not to be believ’d: Which has been the Misfortune of many an Honest Man in All Times, and particularly in the very Age we live in.

’Tis not Good to be Over Fierce upon any Thing, for fear of Mistaking, or Misunderstanding the Matter in Question. Moderation is a High Point of Wisdom, and Temerity on the Other Hand, is ever Dangerous: For Men are Subject to be Couzen’d with Outward Appearances, and so take the Vain Images, and Shadows of Things, for the Substance. All Violent Passions have somewhat in them of the Rashness of This Pigeon; and if That Rashness be not as Fatal in the One Case, as This was in the Other, ’tis a Deliverance that we are more Indebted for, either to the Special Grace of an Over-ruling Providence, or to the Mediation of That which we call Chance, then to any thing of our own Government and Direction. One Man may have the Advantage of Another in the Benefit of a Presence of Mind, which may serve in a Great Measure, to Fortifie us against Surprizes, and Difficulties not to be foreseen: But a sound Judgment is the Result of second Thoughts, upon Due Time and Consideration, which way to bring Matters to a Fair Issue. This Precipitate Temper is little better then a Physical Madness; for there is somewhat of an Alienation in’t, when People proceed, not only Without, but Contrary to Reason. How many Instances do we see daily, of People that are Hurry’d on, without either Fear or Wit, by Love, Hatred, Envy, Ambition, Revenge, &c. to their Own Ruine: which comes to the very Case of the Pigeon’s breaking her Wing against the Picture, and the Miscarriage is Every jot as Ridiculous.

The Care, Charge, and Hazzard of a Brood of many Children, in the Education and Proof of them, does, in a Great Measure, Countervail the Blessing: Especially where they are gotten in a State of Slavery. Sorrow and Vexation is Entail’d upon the whole Race of Mankind. We are Begotten to’t; We are Born to’t; and as it has Descended to us, so it is by us to be Handed down to Those that come after us. The Stress of the Fable lies upon the Hazzard of having a Numerous Stock of Children, which must of Necessity, whether they Live or Dye, furnish Matter of Great Anxiety to the Parents. The Loss of them is Grievous to us. The Miscarriage of them, by falling into Lewd and Vicious Courses, is much Worse: And one such Disappointment is sufficient to Blast the Comfort of All the Rest. Nay, the very Possibility, or rather the Likelyhood and Odds, that some out of such a Number will Prove Ungracious and Rebellious, makes our Beds Uneasie to us; Fills our Heads and our Hearts with Carking Thoughts, and keeps us in Anxiety Night and Day for fear they should be so, and prove like Vipers, to eat out the Belly of their Own Mothers.

Funeral Tears are only Civilities of Course, but there must be Wringing of Hands yet, and Ejulations, some where or Other; and where the Relations are not in Humor for’t, ’tis the Fashion to Provide Mercenaries to do the Office. The Moral of this will reach to All the Pompous Solemnities of our Mourning Processions, which upon the Whole, Amount to no more then Dress and Pageantry, to make the Show look Dismal, and so many Sowre Faces that are Hir’d to Adorn the Hypocrisie. This was the Widow’s Case, that Cry’d her self half Mad and Blind with a Thousand Passionate Interjections, for the loss of her Dear Husband. [Never so Dear, so Dear a Man!] This Woman, I say (when she had done All This, and Renounc’d the World, the flesh and the Devil, with as much Solemnity as ever she did in her Baptism) was at the Long-Last prevail’d upon to hear the Will read: But when she found in the Conclusion, that the Dear Man she so often call’d upon, had left her Nothing that he could keep from her, but her Wedding Ring and her Apron-Strings, Up she started, Wip’d her Eyes, Rais’d her Voice, [And is this all with a Pox] she cry’d; and with Those Words in her Mouth, she came to her self again. Now This Widow, in the Pure Strength of Flesh and Blood, cry’d as Arrantly for Money as the Mercenaries in the Fable.

The Practice of Requiting Good Offices is a Great Encouragement to the Doing of them; and in truth, without Gratitude there would be Little Good Nature; for there is not One Good Man in the World that has not need of Another. This Fable of the Ant is not All together a Fiction, for we have many Instances of the Force of Kindness; even upon Animals and Insects: To pass over the Tradition of Androclus’s Lyon, the Gratitude of Elephants, Dogs and Horses is too Notorious to be Deny’d. Are not Hawks brought to the Hand, and to the Lure? And in like manner, are not Lyons, Tygres, Bears, Wolves, Foxes, and other Beasts of Prey Reclaim’d by Good Usage? Nay, I have seen a Tame Spider, and ’tis a Common Thing to have a Lizzard come to Hand. Man only is the Creature, that to his Shame no Benefits can Oblige, no, nor Secure, even from seeking the Ruine of his Benefactor: So that This Pismire sets us a Lesson here in her Thankfulness to her Preserver.

The Advantages of Time and Place are enough to make a Poultron Valiant. There’s Nothing so Couragious as a Coward, if you put him out of Danger. This way of Brawl and Clamour, is so Arrant a Mark of a Dastardly Wretch, that he does as good as Call himself so that Uses it. The Kid behind the Door has the Priviledge of a Lord Mayors Fool. He’s under Protection: The One is Scurrilous, and the Other Sawcy; and yet These are the Two Qualities that pass but too frequently in the World for Wit and Valour.

’Tis a High Point of Prudence for any Man to be Content with his Lot. For ’tis Forty to One that he that Changes his Condition, out of a Present Impatience and Dissatisfaction, when he has try’d a New one, Wishes for his Old One again: and Briefly, the more we shift, the Worse Commonly we are. This Arises from the Inconstancy of our Minds, and One Prayer does but make way for Another. Those People, in fine, that are Destin’d to Drudgery, may well Change their Masters, but never their Condition.

He that finds himself in any Distress, either of Carcass, or of Fortune, should do well to Deliberate upon the Matter, before he Prayes for, or Resolves upon a Change. As for Example now, what is it that Troubles me? Is there any Help for’t or no? What do I want? Is it Matter of Necessity or Superfluity? Where am I to look for’t? How shall I come at it? &c.

Now All our Grievances are either of Body or of Mind, or (in Complication) of Both, and either the Remedy is in our Own Power, or it is not. There are some Things that we cannot do for our selves, without the Help of Others: There are some Things again, that Other People Cannot do for Us, nor are they any way else to be done but by Our selves. In the One Case we are to seek abroad for Relief, and in the Other, Whoever Consults his Reason, and his Duty, will find a Certain Cure at Home: So that it goes a Great way in the Philosophy of Humane Life, to Understand the Just Measures of what we are Able to do, and what we are Oblidg’d to do, in Distinction from the Contrary; for Otherwise we shall spend our Days with Æsop’s Ass, in Hunting after Happiness where it is not to be found, without ever looking for’t where it is. ’Tis allow’d us, to be sensible of Broken Limbs, and Diseased Bodies: And Common Prudence sends us to Surgeons and Physicians, to Piece, and Patch them up again. But in These Cases, we Examine the Why, the What, and the How of Things, and Propose Means Accommodate to the End. ’Tis Natural to be Mov’d with Pain, and as Natural to Seek Relief; And it is well done at Last, to do That which Nature bids us do; But for Imaginary Evils, Every Man may be his Own Doctor. They are Bred in our Affections, and we may Ease our selves. If the Question had been a Spavin, or a Gall’d Back, and the Ass had Petition’d to Jupiter for Another Farryer, it might have been a very Reasonable Request. Now if he had but Pitch’d upon such or such a Particular Master, it might have done well enough too: But to grow Weary of One Master, or of One Condition, and then to be presently Wishing in General Terms for Another: This is only an Inconsiderate Ejaculation thrown off at Random, without either Aim or Reason. Upon the Whole Matter, it is but laying our own Faults at the Door of Nature and Providence, while we Impute the Infirmities of our Minds to the Hardship of our Lot.

To proceed according to the Distribution of my Matter; it is much with Us in This Case, as it was with the Man that fell from his Horse and could not get up again. He was sure he was Hurt, he said, but could not tell Where. That is to say, first our Grievances are Fantastical where they are not Corporal. 2ly. It is Another Error in us, that in All our Fantastical Disappointments, we have Recourse to Fantastical Remedies. 3ly. Providence has Allotted Every Man a Competency for his State and Business. All beyond it is Superfluous, and there will be Grumbling without End, if we come to reckon upon’t, that we want This or That, because we Have it Not, instead of Acknowledging that we have This or That, and that we want Nothing. These Things duly Weigh’d, what can be more Providential then the Blessing of having an Antidote within our selves against all the Strokes of Fortune! That is to say, in the Worst of Extremeties, we have yet the Comfort left us of Constancy, Patience, and Resignation.

’Tis not for a Wise and an Honest Man, to stand Expostulating with the Nature of Things. As for Instance, Why should not I be This or That, or be so or so, as well as He or T’other? But I should rather say to my self after This manner: Am not I the Creature of an Almighty Power; and is it not the same Power and Wisdom that Made and Order’d the World, that has assign’d me this Place, Rank or Station, in’t? This Body, This Soul, This every Thing? What I am, I must be, and there’s no Contending with Invincible Necessity; No Disputing with an Incomprehensible Wisdom: To say Nothing of the Impiety of Appealing from an Inexplicable Goodness. If I can Mend my Condition by any Warrantable Industry and Virtue, the Way is Fair and Open; And That’s a Priviledge that Every Reasonable Creature has in his Commission: But without Fixing upon some Certain Scope, and Prescribing Just and Honourable Ways to’t, there’s Nothing to be done. ’Tis a Wicked Thing to Repine; and ’tis as Bootless, and Uneasy too; for One Restless Thought, Begets, and Punishes Another. We are not so Miserable in our Own Wants, as in what Others Enjoy: And then our Levity is as Great a Plague to us as our Envy, so that we need Nothing more then we have, but Thankfulness, and Submission, to make us Happy. It was not the Ground of the Asses Complaint, that it was Worse with Him then with Other Asses; but because he was an Ass: And he was not so Sick of his Master, as of his Work. His Fortune was well enough for such an Animal, so long as he kept himself within his Proper Sphere and Bus’ness: But if the Stones in the Wall will be taking upon them to Reproche the Builder; and if Nothing will please People unless they be Greater than Nature ever Intended them; What can they Expect, but the Asses Round of Vexatious Changes, and Experiments; and at last, when they have made Themselves Weary and Ridiculous, e’en glad to set up their Rest upon the very Spot where they Started.

’Tis a Common Thing for People that are Uneasy, to fly to Remedies that are Worse then the Disease; wherefore Men should Deliberate before they Resolve; and say to Themselves, This we suffer at Present, and This or That we Propose to Get by such and such a Change; and so set the One against the Other. The Wenches were call’d up too Early, they thought, and so for fear of having too Little Sleep, they ran the Risque of having no Sleep at all. And it fares much at the same Rate in Publique Grievances that it does in Private; When rather then bear the Importunity of a Flea-biting, we are apt to run our selves Hand over Head into a Bed of Scorpions; which is such another kind of an Expedient, as if a Body should Beat out his Brains to Cure the Head-Ach. Flesh and Bloud is Naturally impatient of Restraint; beside the Itch and Curiosity that we have, to be Prying and Searching into Forbidden Secrets; and to see (as one says) What Good is in Evil. ’Tis Natural to us to be Weary of what we have, and still to be Hankering after something or other that we have Not: And so our Levity Pushes us on from One Vain Desire to Another, in a Regular Vicissitude, and Succession of Cravings and Satiety. We want (as I say) what we have not, and grow Sick on’t when we have it. Now the Wise Man Clears the Whole Matter to us, in Pronouncing All things under the Sun (That is to say, the Pomp, the Pleasures, and the Enjoyments of This World) to be Vanity of Vanities, and All, Vanity. The Truth of it is, we Govern our Lives by Fancy, rather then by Judgment. We Mistake the Reasons of Things, and Impute the Issue of them to Wrong Causes. So that the Lesson given us here, is Preceptive to us, not to do any thing but upon due Consideration. The Wenches Kill’d the Cock for calling them up so soon, whereas the Crowing of the Cock was the Cause, in Truth, that they were call’d up no sooner.

He that Advises another to his Own Advantage, may be very Reasonably Suspected to give Councel for his Own Ends. It may so fall Out, ’tis True, as to be Profitable for Both: But all Circumstances would be Well Examin’d in such a Case before we Trust. This is the Song of your Men of Prey, as well as of your Beasts of Prey, when they Set up for the Good of the Goats and Common People. How many Fine Things have we had told as in the Memory of Man, upon the Subject of our Liberties, Properties, and Religion, and the Delivering us from the Fears and Jealousies of Idolatry, and Arbitrary Power! And what was the Fruit of All This in the End, but Vision and Romance on the Promising Hand, and an Exchange of Imaginary Chains, for Real Locks and Bolts, on the Other: But Æsop’s Beasts saw further into a Mill-Stone then our Mobile: And that the Lyon’s Invitation of the Goat from the Rocks into the Fool’s Paradise of a Delicate Sweet Meadow, signify’d no more, in Plain English, then Come down that I may Eat ye.

’Tis Dangerous Trusting to specious Pretexts of Civility and Kindness, where People are not well assur’d of the Faith and Good Nature of Those they have to do withal; In which case, the Butchery, and the Breach of Hospitality Represented in This Fable, under a Masque of Friendship, was no more, then what might Reasonably enough be Expected under such Circumstances. There are Men of Prey as well as Beasts and Birds of Prey, and for Those that Live upon, and Delight in Bloud, there’s no Trusting of them: For let them pretend what they will, they Govern themselves, and take their Measures according to their Interests and Appetites. ’Tis a Hard Case yet, for Men to be forc’d upon Ill Nature, in their Own Defence, and to suspect the Good Faith of Those, that gives us All the Protestations and Assurance of Friendship, and Fair Dealing that One Man can give Another. Nay the very Suspicion is an Affront, and almost sufficient to Authorize some sort of Revenge. He that Violates the Necessary Trust and Confidence that One Man ought to Repose in Another, does what in Him lies, to Dissolve the very Bond of Humane Society; for there’s no Treachery so Close, so Sure, and so Pernicious, as That which Works under a Veil of Kindness. We set Toyls, Nets, Gins, Snares, and Traps for Beasts and Birds ’tis True; and we Bait Hooks for fishes; But All This is done in their Own Haunts, and Walks, and without any Seal of Faith and Confidence in the Matter: But to break the Laws of Hospitality and Tenderness; To betray our Guests under our Own Roofs, and to Murder them at our Own Tables; This is a Practice only for Men and Vulturs to be guilty of.

Camerarius makes This to be an Emblem of the Taking of a Town, where the Poor scape better then the Rich; for the One is let go, and the Other is Plunder’d and Coop’d up. But with Favour of the Moralists, it was not at the Fowler’s Choice, which to Take, and which to Let go; for the Cranes were too Nimble, and got away in spite of him: So that This Phansie seems rather to Point at the Advantages that some have over Others, to make Better shift in the World then their Fellows, by a Felicity of Make, and Constitution, whether of Body or of Mind: Provided always, that they Play Fair, and Manage all Those Faculties with a Strict Regard to Common Honesty and Justice.

Self Love is the Root of All the Vanities that are struck at in These Two Fables, and it is so Natural an Infirmity, that it makes us Partial even to Those that come of us, as well as our selves: And then it is so Nicely Divided, betwixt Piety, Pride, and Weakness, that in Many Cases ’tis a hard Matter to Distinguish the One from the Other. ’Tis a Frailty for a Man to Think Better of his Children then they Deserve: But then there is an Impulse of Tenderness, and of Duty, that goes along with it, and there must be some sort of an Esteem in the Case too, for the setting of That In-bred Affection at Work. The Difficulty lies in the Moderating of the Matter, and in getting the True Medium betwixt being Wanting to our Own Flesh and Bloud, once Remov’d, and Assuming too much to our selves. Let the Attachment be what it will, we must not suffer our Judgments to be either Perverted, Blinded, or Corrupted, by any Partiality of Prepossessions whatsoever.

The Moral here before us, Extends to the Fruits and Productions of the Brain, as well as of the Body; and to Deformities in the Matter, as well of Understanding, as of Shape. We are Taught here Principally, Two Things; First, how Ridiculous it is for a Man to Dote upon Fops and Buffons, though never so much the Issue of his Own Head and Loins; And yet Secondly, How Prone we are to Indulge our Own Errors, Follies, and Miscarriages, in Thought, Word, and Deed. The World has Abundance of these Apes and Owls in’t: So that Whoever does but look about him, will find so many Living Illustrations of This Emblem, that more Words upon the Subject would be needless.

Here’s a Reproof to Men of Sensuality, and Pleasure. The Moral Preaches Industry, and Beats down Sloth; and Shews that After-wit is Nothing Worth. It must be an Industrious Youth that provides against the Inconveniences and Necessities of Old Age; And he that Fools away the One, must either Beg or Starve in the Other. Go to the Ant, thou Sluggard; (says the Wise Man) which in a Few Words Sums up the Moral of This Fable. ’Tis Hard to say of Laziness, or Luxury, whether it be the more Scandalous, or the more Dangerous Evil. The very Soul of the Slothful, does Effectually but lie Drowzing in his Body, and the Whole Man is Totally given up to his Senses: Whereas the Profit and the Comfort of Industry, is Substantial, Firm, and Lasting; The Blessings of Security and Plenty go along with it, and it is never out of Season. What’s the Grasshopper’s Entertainment now, but a Summers Song? A Vain, and an Empty Pleasure? Let it be Understood however, that we are not to Pass Avarice upon the World under the Title of Good Husbandry, and Thrift: and under That Cover to Extinguish Charity by not Distributing the Fruits of it. We are in the First Place, to Consult our Own Necessities, but we are Then to Consider in the Second Place, that the Necessities of our Neighbours have a Christian Right to a Part of what we have to Spare. For the Common Offices of Humanity, are as much Duties of Self-Preservation, as what Every Individual Contributes to its Own Well-Being. It is in Short, the Great Interest and Obligation of Particulars, to advance the Good of the Community.

The Stress of This Moral lies upon the Preference of Honest Labour to Idleness; and the Refusal of Relief on the One Hand, is intended only for a Reproof to the Inconsiderate Loss of Opportunity on the Other. This does not hinder yet, but that the Ants, out of their Abundance, ought to have Reliev’d the Grasshopper in her Distress, though ’twas her Own Fault that Brought her to’t: For if One Man’s Faults could Discharge Another Man of his Duty, there would be no longer any Place left for the Common Offices of Society. To Conclude, We have our Failings, Every Mothers Child of us, and the Improvidence of my Neighbour must not make me Inhumane. The Ant did well to Reprove the Grasshopper for her Slothfulness; but she did Ill then to refuse her a Charity in her Distress.

The Heart and Tongue of a Woman are commonly a Great way a sunder. And it may bear Another Moral; which is, that ’tis with Froward Men, and Froward Factions too; as ’tis with Froward Children, They’ll be sooner Quieted by Fear, and Rough Dealing, then by any Sense of Duty or Good Nature. There would be no Living in This World without Penal Laws, and Conditions. And Do or Do not, This or That at Your Peril, is as Reasonable, and Necessary in Families as it is in Governments. It is a Truth Imprinted in the Hearts of All Mankind, that the Gibbets, Pillories, and the Whipping-Posts make more Converts then the Pulpits: As the Child did more here for fear of the Wolfe, then for the Love of the Nurse.

This shews us, how Unnatural a Vanity it is, for a Creature that was Made for One Condition, to Aspire to Another. The Tortoises Place was upon the Sands, not among the Stars; and if he had kept to his Station, he would have been in No Danger of Falling. Many a Fool has Good Councel Offer’d him, that has not either the Wit, or the Grace to Take it; and his Willfulness commonly Ends in his Ruine.

Every thing in Nature has it’s Appointed Place, and Condition, and there’s No putting a Force upon any thing, contrary to the Biass and Intent of it’s Institution. What Bus’ness has a Tortoise among the Clouds? Or why may not the Earth it self as well Covet a Higher Place, as any Creature that’s Confin’d to’t? It is, in short, a Silly, an Extravagant, and in Truth, so Impious a Fancy, that there can hardly be a Greater Folly, then to Wish, or but so much as Suppose it: But there’s an Ambition in mean Creatures, as well as in Mean Souls. So many Ridiculous Upstarts as we find Promoted in the World, we may Imagin to be so many Tortoises in the Air; and when they have Flutter’d there a While, like Paper Kites, for the Boys to stare at, He that took them up, grows either Asham’d, or Weary of them, and so lets them Drop again; and, with the Devil Himself, e’en leaves them where he found them. This may serve to put a Check to the Vanity and Folly of an Unruly Ambition; that’s Deaf, not only to the Advice of Friends, but to the Councels and Monitions of the very Spirit of Reason it self: For flying without Wings is All one with Working without Means. We see a Thousand Instances in the World, Every jot as Ridiculous as This in the Fable. That is to say, of Men that are Made for One Condition, and yet Affect Another. What signifies the Fiction of Phaeton in the Chariot of the Sun? The Frog vying Bulk with an Oxe; or the Tortoise Riding upon the Wings of the Wind; but to Prescribe Bounds and Measures to our Exorbitant Passions; and at the same time, to shew us upon the Issue, that All Unnatural Pretensions are Attended with a Certain Ruine?

’Tis a Part of Good Discretion in All Contests, to Consider over and over, the Power, the Strength, and the Interest of our Adversary; and likewise again, that though One Man may be more Robust then Another, That Force may be Baffled yet by Skill and Address. It is in the Bus’ness of Life as it is in a Storm, or a Calm at Sea: The Blast may be Impetuous; but seldom lasts long; and though the Vessel be Press’d never so Hard, a Skilful Steers-man will yet bear up against it: But in a Dead Calm, a Man loses his Spirits, and lies in a Manner Expos’d, as the Scorn and Spectacle of Ill Fortune.

Saying and Doing are Two Things. Physician Cure thy Self, Preaches to us upon This Fable. Every Man does Best in his own Trade, and the Cobler is not to go beyond his Last. We have of these Dunghil-Pretenders, in All Professions, and but too many of them that Thrive upon their Arrogance. If This Worm had met with an Ass to Encourage his Vanity, instead of a Fox to Correct it, he might have been Advanc’d to a Doctor of the College perhaps: Or to some more Considerable Post of Honour, either in Church or State.

There can be no True Friendship, properly so Call’d, but betwixt Equals. The Rich and the Poor, the Strong and the Weak will never agree together: For there’s Danger on the One side, and None on the Other, and ’tis the Common Interest of All Leagues and Societies, to have the Respective Parties Necessary to One Another. And there needs no Ill Will, or Malice neither, to do the Mischief, but the Disparity, or Disproportion Alone is enough to do the Work. The same Quantity of Wine that makes One Man Drunk, will not Quench Another Man’s Thirst. The same Expence that breaks One Man’s Back is not a Flea-biting to Another: Wherefore, Men should sort themselves with their Equals; for a Rich Man that Converses upon the Square with a Poor Man, shall as certainly Undoe him, as a Brass-Pot shall break an Earthen One, if they Meet and Knock together.

Boldness without Counsel, is no better then an Impetus, which is commonly Worsted by Conduct and Design. There’s No Man so Daring but some time or Other he Meets with his Match. The Moral, in short, holds forth This Doctrine, that Reason is too Hard for Force; and that Temerity puts a Man off his Guard. ’Tis a High Point of Honour, Philosophy and Virtue, for a Man to be so Present to Himself as to be always Provided against All Encounters, and Accidents whatsoever; but This will not Hinder him from Enquiring Diligently into the Character, the Strength, Motions, and Designs of an Enemy. The Tyger lost his Life for want of This Circumspection.

There’s No Resisting of a Common Enemy; No Maintaining of a Civil Community, without an Union for a Mutual Defence; and there may be also, on the Other Hand, a Conspiracy of Common Enmity and Aggression. There are Cases indeed of Great Nicety that fall under the Topique of the Right and Lawfulness of Joyning in such Leagues. He that is not Sui Juris, must not Enter into any Covenants or Contracts to the Wrong of his Master: But there are Certain Rules of Honesty, and Methods of Government, to Direct us in all Agreements of This Quality. A Thing simply Good in it self, may become Unjust and Unrighteous, under such and such Circumstances. In a Word, the Main Bond of All Bodies and Interests is Union, which is No Other in Effect then a Common Stock of Strength and Counsel Joyn’d in One. While the Bulls kept together, they were Safe; but as soon as ever they separated, they became a Prey to the Lyon.

There is no State of Life without a Mixture in’t of Good and Evil; and the Highest Pitch of Fortune is not without Dangers, Cares, and Fears. This Doctrine is Verify’d by Examples Innumerable, through the Whole History of the World, and that the Mean is Best, both for Body, Mind, and Estate. Pride is not only Uneasie, but Unsafe too, for it has the Power and Justice of Heaven, and the Malicious Envy of Men to Encounter at the same Time; and the Axe that Cuts down the Fir, is Rightly Moraliz’d in the Stroke of Divine Vengeance, that brings down the Arrogant, while the Bramble Contents it self in its Station: That is to say; Humanity is a Vertue, that never goes without a Blessing.

There are some Pestilent Humours and Froward Natures, that Heaven it self has much ado to please. Envy Places it’s Happiness in the Misery and Misfortune of Others; and Avarice is never to be Pleas’d, unless it can get All to it self. They may seem to be nearer a-Kin then in truth they Are, though the One is seldom or never to be found without the Other. The Best Use of This Application, is to Possess us with a True Sense of the Restlesness of these Two Passions; and Consequently to make Those Weaknesses Odious to our selves, that are so Troublesom to the World; and in truth, no Better then the Common Pest of Mankind.

The Fancies of Poets, Painters, and Gravers, are No Evidences of Truth; for People are Partial in their Own Cases, and Every Man will make the Best of his Own Tale. ’Tis against Common Equity for the same People to be both Parties and Judges, and That’s the Case here betwixt the Man and the Lyon. Now the Lyon is much in the Right, that Characters, Pictures, and Images, are All as the Painter, the Carver, or the Statuary pleases; and that there’s a Great Difference betwixt a Flight of Fancy, and the History of Nature. ’Tis much Easier for a Man to make an Ass of a Lyon upon a Pedestal, then in a Forrest; and where it lies at his Choice, whether the Giant shall Kill the Squire, or the Squire the Giant. Argument is not the Work of the Chissel; neither does the Design of the Artist conclude the Truth of the Fact: but there is somewhat Heroical yet in the Imagination, though the Piece was never Drawn from the Life.

It must be a Diamond that cuts a Diamond, and there is No Pleasanter Encounter, then a Tryal of Skill betwixt a Couple of Sharpers to Overreach One Another. The Boy’s beginning so Early, tells us that there are Cheats by a Natural Propensity of Inclination, as well as by a Corruption of Manners. It was Nature that taught this Boy to Shark; not Discipline, or Experience. And so it was with Two Ladies that I have known (and Women of Plentiful Fortunes too) they could not for their Bloods keep themselves Honest of their Fingers, but would still be Nimming something or other for the very Love of Thieving. ’Tis an Unhappy Thing, that the Temperament of the Body should have such an Influence upon our Minds, according to the Instance of the Boy in This Fable: For the Morality, or Immorality of the Matter, is not the Whole of the Case.

There are some Natures so Untractable, that there’s No Good to be done upon them by Generosity, Kindness, Artifice, or Councel, nay, the more pains a Man takes to Reclaim them, the Worse they are; and when they are put out of Condition to do Mischief by Violence, they will find a Way yet to Teize and Plague People with Restless, and Vexatious Importunities. They love to be Troublesome, and with the Shrew upon the Ducking-stool, when their Mouths are Stopt, they’ll call Pricklouse still with their Thumbs.

The Life and Conversation of some Men is so Brutal, as if they had only the Shape, without the Faculties of Reasonable Creatures. What’s He better then the Boar in This Fable now, that Abandons himself wholly to his Appetites, and Pleasures; and after so many Repeated Poxes, and Qualms, One upon the Neck of Another, Drinks and Whores on still, in Despite of all Punishments, and Warnings. The Boar’s Intemperance, and the Note upon him afterwards, on the Cutting of him up, that he had no Brains in’s Head, may be Moraliz’d into the Figure of a Sensual Man, that has neither Grace nor Knowledge, but runs headlong on to his Ruine, without either Consideration, or Conscience.

No Man lives without Enemies, and no Enemy is so Despicable, but some time or other he may do a Body a shrewd Turn. ’Tis Prudence to pass over Those Indignities, which are either too Little for our Consideration, or out of our Power to Reach, and Punish. For there’s Nothing more Ridiculous, then an Impotent Anger, that spends it self to no manner of Purpose; and there’s no Better way of Dealing with it, then to Laugh it Out of Countenance. All Men in the World that we see Transported into Outrages, for small Trivial Matters, fall under the Innuendo of This Bull in the Fable, that ran Tearing Mad for the Pinching of a Mouse.

This is but after the Common Guise of the World, for the People when they are put to a Plunge, to cry out to Heaven for Help, without Helping Themselves; whereas Providence Assists No Body that does not put his Own Shoulders to the Work. Prayers without Works, are Nothing Worth, either for Other People, or for Our selves. [For Other People] I say, because there is a Double Duty Incumbent upon us in the Exercise of Those Powers, and Abilities, which Providence has given us for the Common Good of Both. There must be the Penny as well as the Pater-noster. ’Tis not a Bare Lord have Mercy upon us, that will help the Cart out of the Mire, or our Neighbour out of the Ditch, without putting our Hands to the Work. What signifies the Sound of Words in Prayer, without the Affection of the Heart, and a sedulous Application of the Proper Means that may Naturally lead to such an End: This is to say, Body and Soul must go together, in All the Offices of a Christian, as well as of a Civil Life, where there is place for the Exercise of the Faculties of Both.

There is also a Pompous and a Noisy Devotion, that cries aloud to be heard of Men; which is by so much the more Odious in the sight of God then the Other, as an Hypocritical Affectation of Religion, is Worse then a Drowsie Heartlessness of Duty. The Moral of This Fable may be Understood to look Both Ways, but Care must be Taken however, not to let the Scandals of Theatrical Appearances, Divert, or Deter us from the Practice of Holy Offices, within the Bounds of Piety and Good Conscience: after the Example of Those, that set up for Atheists, for fear they should be taken for Enthusiasts. He, in fine, that Made Body and Soul, will be Serv’d and Glorify’d by Both. Besides that, Hercules helps no Body that will not help Himself.

They that would still have more and more, can never have Enough; No, Not if a Miracle should Interpose to Gratify their Avarice; for it makes Men Unthankful to the Highest Degree, not only in General, for the Benefits they Receive, but in particular also to the very Benefactors Themselves. If the Nearest Friend a Covetous Man has in the World, had really a Mine in his Guts, he’d Rip him up to Find it: For his Bus’ness is to make the Most of what he has, and of what he can get, without any regard to the Course of Providence, or of Nature: And what’s the End of All These Unreasonable Desires, but Loss, Sorrow, and Disappointment? The True Intent of This Fable is to Possess us of a Just Sense of the Vanity and Folly of these Craving Appetites. If the Woman could have been Contented with Golden Eggs, she might have kept That Revenue on still; but when Nothing less then the Mine it self would serve her, she lost Hen, Eggs and All.

There’s no Folly like That of Vain Glory, nor any thing more Ridiculous then for a Vain Man to be still Boasting of Himself: For ’tis against All Law and Equity, for a Body to be admitted a Judge in ones Own Case. A second Doctrine may be This (and we find it true by Experience) that Mony Governs the World; and that the Market-Price is the Measure of the Worth of Men as well as of Fishes; As the Sturgeon left it to the Fish-monger to Determine the Controversy betwixt Him and the Pike.

There are Degrees in Good Things. There are Blessings of Fortune, and Those are of the Lowest Rate. The Next above Those Blessings are the Bodily Advantages of Strength, Gracefulness and Health; but the Superlative Blessings, in fine, are the Blessings of the Mind: Fools ’tis true may be allow’d to Brag of Foolish Things; but the Leopard’s Beauty without the Foxes Wit is no better then a Fop in a Gay Coat.

Men Mind the Pleasure, and the Satisfaction of a Fancy, or a Loose Appetite more then they do Better Things; and they are sooner brought to Themselves, and set Right by the Innuendo of a Parable, then by the Dint of direct Reason. There are many Men that are Infinitely Tender in Point of Honour, and have very little Regard yet upon the Main, to Truth and Equity. Now such People as These are sooner Wrought upon by Shame then by Conscience, when they find themselves Fool’d and Shamm’d (as we say) into a Conviction. This Fable tells us what we Ought to do in the Case of Attending to Instructive and Profitable Counsels. It tells us also what we are apt to do, in Heark’ning after Fooleries: and loosing the Opportunity of Hearing and Learning Better Things. And it shews us in fine, the Force of an Allegory betwixt Jest and Earnest; which in such a Case as This, is certainly the most Artificial, Civil, and Effectual Manner of Reproche. I call it a Reproche, for ’tis an Affront to Good Manners as well as to Ordinary Prudence, not to Hearken to a Man of Authority; That is to say, to the Voice of Wisdom, when she speaks to us out of the Mouth of a Philosopher. Men that have Wandring Thoughts at such a Lecture, deserve as well to be Whipt, as Boys for Playing at Push-Pin, when they should be Learning their Lesson: Beside, that it is only Another way of calling a Man Fool, when no Heed is given to what he says. Now Demades that Understood both his Bus’ness, and the Weak side of Humane Nature perfectly Well, never troubled his Head to bring his Auditory to their Wits again by the Force of Dry and Sober Reason; but Circumvented them by a Delicate Figure, into a Curiosity that led them Naturally to a Better Sense of their Interest, and their Duty.

If (says Æsop) You shall once Destroy your Present Governor, that is Full and Wealthy, you must of Necessity Chuse Others when he is gone, who will be sure to Fill their own Coffers out of what the Other has left ye. This Fable upon the Whole, is very Instructive how People should Behave themselves in the Case of Male-Administration, or Oppression; where there is any Colour or Complaint of Cruelty, or Injustice, under the Cover of Sovereign Power. The Fox’s Resolution here is mightily to the Purpose: That is to say, where the Grievance is only the Unrighteous Exercise of a Lawful Authority. The Removal of Bloud Suckers that are already as Full as their Skins will hold, serves only to make way for Others that are Greedy and Empty. This is no Redress of the Evil, No, nor so much as a Change; but in Truth, an Augmentation of it.

It is again to be Consider’d, that as Government is Necessary, Sacred, and Unaccountable, so it is but Equal for us to bear the Infelicities of a Male Exercise of it, as we Enjoy the Blessings of Authority and Publique Order. There’s Nothing Pure that’s Sublunary, but somewhat still of Good Blended with the Bad, and of Bad with the Good; And This Natural Mixture runs through the Whole Course and Condition of Humane Affairs. We are not to be either our Own Carvers, or our Own Chusers, and the Man puts out his Own Eyes that does not see the Folly, and the Iniquity of Struggling with Insuperable Powers, which is Impious in the Practice, and Miserable in the Conclusion. Where Government is Accounted as Bondage, the Exercise of it shall never fail of being call’d Persecution and Oppression: But to put Matters at Worst, Let us for Argument sake, suppose Pilling and Polling Officers, as Busie upon the People as These Flies were upon the Fox: Better bear a Tolerable Present Calamity then Exchange it for a Worse; and the Fox had the Wit rather to suffer the Galling of a Parcel of Flies that were full already, then by Beating them off, to make way for a New set of Hungry Sharpers that would do him Fifty times the Mischief.

No Man can be perfectly Happy; but if he be either Curious, or Unsteady, he shall Live and Die Craving, and in a Restless Want of something or other that is never to be had. Wherefore we should do well to Weigh our Present Inconveniences against Those that may probably arise in the Future, and not so much as to think of Changing our Condition till we have Ballanc’d the Accounts. We may lay down This, in short, for a Rule without any Exception, that Nothing but a Fool or a Madman will Wish any thing to be Other then as God has Made it. Let us Reform our Lives, and Mend our Manners, and set Every thing Right at Home first, before we take upon us to Correct the Works of Providence and Nature. The Husbandman thought Corn would do better without Beards, till he found that according to the Way he went to Work, he should have neither One nor T’other.

This Fable holds forth to us several Morals. Rapine and Injustice, Meet in the End with Violence. One Murderer is Kill’d by Another. Adulterers are paid in kind; and One Wicked Man Punishes Another. It is but according to the Course of the World, for the Stronger to Oppress the Weaker, and for Thieves Themselves to Rob one Another: But the more Mighty do well however in Avenging Those that are Oppress’d by the Less Mighty. And the Fable has This Prospect too, that Princes are as much Ty’d to Vindicate their Subjects Cause as if it were their Own.

’Tis no News for the Weak and the Poor to be a Prey to the Strong, and the Rich, and the Vindication of the Innocent is no Ill Plea, or Masque for the Oppressing of the Guilty. Birds of Prey are an Emblem of Rapacious Officers. A Superior Power takes away by Violence from Them, That which by Violence they took away from Others: But it falls out too often, that the Equity of Restitution is forgotten, after the Execution of the Punishment. Now what is This way of Proceeding, but Drinking the Blood of the Widow and the Orphan at second hand? for He that takes away from a Thief, That which the Thief, to his Knowledge, took from an Honest Man, and keeps it to Himself, is the Wickeder Thief of the Two, by how much the Rapine is made yet Blacker by the pretence of Piety and Justice. Here’s a Country-man takes a Hawk in the Chase of a Pigeon, the Hawk reasons the Case with him; The Country-man Pleads the Pigeon’s Cause, and upon a Fair Hearing; The Hawk stands Condemn’d out of her own Mouth, and the Innocent is consequently deliver’d from her Oppressor. Now here’s One Violence Disappointed by Another; A Poor Harmless Wretch Protected against a Powerful Adversary; Justice done upon a Notorious Persecutor; and yet after All this Glorious semblance of a Publique Spirited Generosity, and Tenderness of Nature, the Man only sav’d the Pigeon from the Hawk, that he might Eat it Himself: And if we look Well about us we shall find This to be the Case of most Mediations, we meet with in the Name of Publique Justice.

Let Every Man Examin his Own Strength, and the Force of the Enemy he is to Cope withal before he comes to Close, and Grapple with him: For he’s sure to go by the Worst that Contends with an Adversary that is too Mighty for him. ’Tis Good Advice not to Contend with Those that are too Strong for us, but still with a saving to Honesty and Justice, for the Integrity of the Mind must be supported against All Violence and Hazzards whatsoever. This of the Spider is a very Foolish Undertaking, and as Unjust a Pretence; for the Equity of the Case is Clearly Mistaken. The Intent of the Fable is to set us Right in the Understanding, and Interpreting of Injuries. ’Tis an unhappy Error to take things for Injuries that are Not so: And then supposing an Injury done, ’tis a Nice Point to Proportion the Reparation to the Degree of the Indignity; and to take a True Measure of our Own Force. It was a Ridiculous Project to think of Catching a Swallow in a Cobweb; and the Spider was as much Out too in thinking to Restrain the Common Air to its own Particular Use. The Swallow was a Fly-Catcher as well as the Spider, and no more an Inter-loper upon the Spider’s Right, then the Spider was upon the Swallow’s; for the Flies were in Common to Both. Those People, in short, deserve to be Doubly Laugh’d at, that are Peevish, and Angry; First, for Nothing, and secondly, to no manner of Purpose.

This Envious Injustice is Frequent in the World, for why should People think to Engrosse and Appropriate the Common Benefits of Fire, Air, and Water to Themselves; Not but that there are Swarms of This sort of State-Spiders in the World, that Reckon Every Fly that’s taken out of the Common-Stock, as a Penny out of their Own Pockets. The Bounties of God and of Princes ought to be Free, both alike, without making Every Morsel of Bread that an Honest Man puts in his Mouth to be the Robbing of a Minion, Wherefore let Every Man Compute, First, What he ought to do. Secondly, What he is Able to do. Provided Thirdly, That he Govern himself by the Rules of Vertue and Discretion. This Consideration beforehand, would have sav’d the Foolish Spider the Trouble of Setting Nets for Swallows.

A Safe Mediocrity is much better then an Envy’d, and a Dangerous Excellency. They that in their Prosperity Despise Others, shall be sure in their Adversity to be Despis’d Themselves. It is much the same Case with Men of Prey, that it is with Birds of Prey. They take it for a Disparagement to Sort themselves with any Other then the Enemies of the Publique Peace: But Men that Live upon Rapine, are set up for a Marque, as the Common Enemy; and all Heads and Hands are at Work to destroy them.

Here’s a Fiction of an Alarum, and we’ll suppose it to be a False One too; for the Inventor has not Determin’d the Point. Now the Fancy will have more Force and Quickness in’t that Way, then T’other; and the Asses Reasoning upon the Case, will hold good both Ways alike: Only the Asses in the Moral are more Frightful then the Asses in the Fable. We shall be Taken else, is the Song of All Popular Male-Contents, when they design a Change of Government: And so they Hurry the Mobile Head-long upon the very Dread of Imaginary Chains and Shackles, into the Slavery they Fear’d: But some Asses are Wiser then Others: for the Multitude would Answer their Masters else in the One Instance, as the Animal here in the Emblem Answer’d His, in the Other: Here was no Scampering away at a Venture, without Fear, or Wit; No Sollicitous Enquiry whether the News was True or No: But the Mythologist has prudently, and for our Instruction, Cast those Two Circumstances out of the Question, and laid the Stress of it upon This single Issue. As who would say; In all Governments there must be Burdens to be Born, and People to Bear them: And who so proper to bear Those Burdens, as Those that Providence and Policy have Appointed and Design’d for that Office and Station? So that ’tis all one to the Common People who’s Uppermost (That is to say, upon the Matter of Ease and Liberty) for Asses must be Asses still, whoever Rides them, and Providence will keep the World in Order still, whoever Grumbles at it.

This gives us to Understand, first, that a Man may do what he will with his Own; but he has Nothing to do with the Propriety of Another Body. Secondly, That People may do any Thing with Impunity, where there’s No body to call ’em to Account for’t; And that which is Death for One to do is Lawful for Another.

There are several Starts of Fancy, that Off-hand look well enough; but bring them to the Test, and there’s Nothing in ’em. The Fox’s Reproche here upon the Gossips, was a Frolique Pleasant enough; but without any Colour, or Congruity of Reason; and the Fallacy lies, from the same Thing done by several Persons, to the same Right of Doing it; though under Circumstances so Different, that there’s no Parity at all betwixt them upon the Collation. This Freak has somewhat of the Air in’t of the Young Fellow’s Conceit to his Father, when he took him Ruffling his Grand-Mother. Why may not I lie with your Mother, says he, as well as You lie with mine? These Foxes should do well to Consider, that High-Way-Men, and Other Criminals have as much to say for themselves, where there’s a Breach of Law, and Common Justice in the Case. This Instance of the Fox and the Gossips, comes to the Old Proverb; that One may better Steal a Horse then Another look over the Hedge.

The Fat Capons in This Fable, are the Rich, the Great, and the (Externally) Happy Men in the World. People Weigh Vertue, in Common Reputation, as they do Flesh in the Market, at so much a Pound. They Agree too in the Contempt of Men of a Less Size and Quality, and they Meet with the same Fate in the End too, by a Just Judgment upon them for their Insulting Vanity. They are made the very Mark for Envy, and Avarice to shoot at: and Equally in danger of being Sacrific’d, either to Tyranny, or to Faction. The Poor, in fine, have This Consolation, that their Condition is safer, and easier, then That of the Rich: And All People in the World will agree with Those Capons in the Fable, that it is better to Live Lean then to Dye Fat.

’Tis not the Thing that is Done, but the Intention in the Doing of it, that makes the Action Good, or Evil. There’s a Great Difference betwixt what we do upon Force, and what upon Inclination; and the Good Will is nevertheless Obliging, though by some Unlucky Accident it should be Diverted to my Ruine. Where there is neither Privity, nor Consent, there can be no Malice, and consequently no Crime, or Disobligation. For All other Misadventures Amount to no more in Truth, then That which we call Ill Luck, in the Accidents of Life, wherefore the Timber was in the Right to Forgive the Oxen here, and so shall We be too, if after the Doctrine, and Example of This Fable, we forgive one Another.

’Tis a Great Folly to Fear that which it is Impossible to Avoid; and it is yet a Greater Folly to Fear the Remedy of All Evils: For Death Cures All Diseases, and Frees us from All Cares. It is as Great a Folly again, not to Prepare our selves, and Provide for the Entertainment of an Inevitable Fate. We are as sure to go Out of the World, as we are that ever we came In to’t; and Nothing but the Conscience of a Good Life can Support us in That Last Extremity. The Fiction of a Swan’s Singing at her Death, does, in the Moral, but Advise, and Recommend it to us, to make ready for the Chearful Entertainment of our last Hour, and to Consider with our Selves, that if Death be so Welcome a Relief even to Animals, barely as a Deliverance from the Cares, Miseries, and Dangers of a Troublesome Life, how much a Greater Blessing, ought All Good Men to Account it then, that are not only Freed by it from the Snares, Difficulties, and Distractions of a Wicked World, but put into Possession (over and above) of an Everlasting Peace, and the Fruition of Joys that shall never have an End!

Here’s the Figure of a Worldly Sorrow, and of a Worldly Love, drawn to the Life, from the Heart and Humour of a Right, Worldly Woman. Hypocrisie Out-does the Truth, in Grief, as well as in Religion. ’Tis too Fierce and Noisie, to be Natural; but the Ostentation supplies the Place of the Duty. If the Wives Transports had not been Counterfeit, they would have been as Certain Death as the Husband’s Disease: For Flesh and Blood is not able to bear up under so Intolerable a Weight. It is in short, only the Acting a Part, not the Discharge of a Flowing Passion; she takes the Hint; Plays her Roll; Cries out her Set time, and when the Farce is over, betakes her self from her Infirmity to her Philosophy; not forgetting the Politique Part all this while, of making her Mourning for One Husband, a Prologue to the Drawing on of Another.

And This is not the Poor Woman’s Case Alone, but many a Poor Man’s too; for the Extravagance holds for a Sick Wife, as well as for a Sick Husband. ’Tis Custom, Practice and Good Manners, in fine, that in a Great Measure Rules This Affair. People Proportion their Griefs to their Hopes, and their Tears to their Legacies. There is as much a Fashion in the Mourning Face, as in the Mourning Dress; and our very Looks must be in the Mode, as well as our Cloaths. This Hint Minds me of a Pleasant Droll of a Painter, to an Honourable Lady of My Acquaintance that was sitting for her Picture. Madam (says he) will your Ladiship be pleas’d to have your Lip drawn as they wear ’em now? It is a Notable Part of Good Breeding, to know When, and How, and how Much, and how Long to Cry; and Every Thing must be done too as they do it now. I speak This, as to the Method of a Widow’s Lamentations: But when the Husband’s Dead, the Play is Done; and then it comes to the Old Bear Garden Case, when the Bull had Toss’d a Poor Fellow that went to save his Dog: There was a mighty Bussle about him, with Brandy and Other Cordials to bring him to Himself again; but when the College found there was no Good to be done on’t, Well, Go thy ways Jaques, says a Jolly Member of that Society, There’s the best Back-Sword Man in the Field gone. Come, Play Another Dog. The Sick Husband here wanted for neither Slops nor Doctors, and Every Thing was in a Hurry too in Both Places Alike. The Man Dies, and the Woman Bethinks her self, Well, says she, There’s the Best Husband Gone that ever Woman had to do withal: But, Pray Sir, is T’other Husband in the House that you were speaking of? What is all This now, but directly to the Tune of The Butcher’s Back-Sword Man, and Playing Another Dog.

This may be Apply’d to well-nigh All sorts of Vain Persons and Humours: As Those that Assume to Themselves the Merit of Other Mens Services. Those that Talk, and Think, and Bussle, as if Nothing were done without them. All Meddlers, Boasters, and Impertinents, that Steal away the Reputation of Better Men for their Own Use. The World is Full, in fine, of these Pragmatical Flies, that Value themselves for being In at Every thing, and are found Effectually, at last to be just good for Nothing.

It is the Fortune, and it is the Humour of Weak and Trifling Men to Value themselves upon Idle and Trivial Matters; and many times, in Truth, upon Just Nothing at all: That is to say, upon a False Perswasion that they Do Things, which they do Not do, and Govern Affairs wherein they have No Manner of Interest. They Place a Reputation also upon Things that a Sober Man would be out of Countenance to Own, and Contend for the Credit of being the Authors of Fooleries. What a Dust do I Raise? says the silly Fly, And have we not Millions of Vain, Empty Pretenders in the World, that Talk at the same Rate, and with as Little Colour, either of Truth, or of Reason? ’Twas [I] carry’d such a Cause; such a Debate, such a Question. ’Twas [I] that Advis’d, Brought about, or Prevented This and That; when yet upon the Upshot, This same [I] was no more then the Fool, that fancy’d he play’d upon the Organ, when he only Drew the Bellows. Whence comes it now that Men Arrogate to Themselves thus, where they have Nothing to do, and Claim a Title, as Matter of Credit, to the Weakest Things in the World; but for want of Understanding the True Measures of Honour and Virtue: The Moral of This Vanity runs through All Degrees of Men, and All Functions. There’s Nothing so Great; There’s Nothing so Little, as not to Afford Subject for This Busie and Over-Weening Conceit to Work upon? No, not from the Modelling of Common-wealths; the Winning of Battels; the Saving, or the Recovery of Kingdoms, to the very Flies Raising the Dust here in the Fable.

Patience and Impunity, is an Encouragement to an Affront. The Divine Wisdom has appointed a Hell as well as a Heaven, to the End that Dread and Terror on the One Hand, may supply the want of Gratitude, Affection, and Good Nature on the Other: What is it but the Fear of Punishment that keeps the World in Order? And what but the Awe we stand in, of Majesty, and Power, that Supports the Dignity of Government. This Moral runs through the whole History of our Lives, for ’tis Every Man’s Case from Top to Bottom. Princes Themselves, without Stings, are no Better then Drones; and when the Sacred Character is Disarm’d, there’s no longer any Reverence to be Expected for the Person. When People find it Dangerous to Offend their Superiors, they’ll take care to Please them: And there’s as much Difference, upon This Point, between One Governor and Another (the Resemblance notwithstanding) as there is betwixt an Eele and a Snake.

’Tis Good to be sure, where our Salvation is at Stake; and to run no more Risque of the Main Chance, then of Necessity Must. What needs any Man make his Court to the Servant, when his Access is Open to the Master? And especially when that Master is as ready to Give, as the Petitioners to Ask. A Wise Man will take the Nearest and the Surest Way to his Journey’s End; and Commit no Bus’ness of Importance to a Proxy, where he may do’t Himself.

Let a Man’s Present State be never so Uneasie, he should do well however to Bethink himself before he Changes, for fear his Next Remove should be Worse. This is according to the Common Understanding of the Allusion, though not so Agreeable perhaps to the True Reason of the Case: For it was not either Levity, or Impatience; but intolerable Pain, and Absolute Necessity, that made the Fish shift their Condition: So that the Moral would have born This Doctrine rather: That where we have Certain Death before us, and only This Choice, whether it shall be a Speedy or a Lingring Death, That which puts us soonest out of our Pain (though never so Sharp) is the more Eligible of the Two. But to take it according to the Old Proverb now; we Understand by [Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire] That Things go from Bad to Worse.

There’s No Contracting of Alliances with Those that are out of Distance of Assisting in a Time of Need, in all Contracts, whether of Publique Alliance, and Commerce, or Particular Friendship, there must a Regard be had to Reciprocal Aid and Assistance, in case of any Distress; So that All the Circumstances of Ability, Disposition, Situation, Interest, &c. must be taken into Thought, and Rightly Understood, before the Bargain be Struck: for ’tis a Scandalous Oversight to Err in any of the Essentials to a Prudential, and a Beneficial Agreement: By which is Intended, any sort of Defect, or Incapacity that may Obstruct, or Frustrate the End of the League. Those Contracts are Ridiculous, and Void in Themselves, that shall pretend to Oblige us against Nature. For ’tis a Banter, not a Confederacy, to talk of Fishes Marching by Land, and Living out of their Element.

According to the Old Moral, Covetous Men will make any shift to save Money: But this Allusion is the least Part of the Bus’ness. ’Tis no Easy Matter for People in many Cases to save their Money, and their Credit Both: But the Best Thing to be done, in the Disguise of a Base, and Sordid Humour, is the Managing of the Imposture with a Good Grace, and in such a Manner, that if a Man carries it off, there’s so much Money sav’d; and if he be Detected, there will be something Pleasant in the Frolique to Atone for a Secret Narrowness of Heart.

At this Rate of a Pretended Freak, or Whimsy, a Great many other Corruptions, and Imperfections may be so Palliated, as to take off much of the Scandal of them; for many a Wicked Thought is so Varnish’d over in the Practice, as to pass Muster among the Gay Arts of Gallantry and Conversation. The Thing above all Others to be Wish’d, Study’d, and Endeavour’d, is to have a Clear Mind, and to Lead a Life in so Conscientious a Probity of Manners, as in Thought, Word, and Deed, to make Good the Character of an Untainted Honest Man: But where This Discipline shall be found too Strict for Flesh and Blood, (and there’s no Living up to the Rigorous Exactness of Purity, and Justice) it will in such a Case, be the best of a Bad Game to keep Clear of Open Offence, and to give the Infirmity the Best Face that the Matter will bear. As the Ambassador, betwixt Jest and Earnest, Cast a Cloak of Railery over his Avarice.

This is a Reproof to the Pride and Vanity of Those Men, that when they come to be Advanc’d Themselves, forget all their Old Friends and Acquaintance, even Those that Rais’d them. This Fable is Humane Nature to the very Quick, only it has Two Handles to’t, and it would not be Fair, to take it in the Worst Sense, without somewhat of an Apology, or an Excuse for’t, where ’twill bear a Better.

It is almost as True in Philosophy as it is in Fact, and Common Practice, that Honours Change Manners. Men Assume other Thoughts; Other Opinions of Themselves; Nay, and almost Another Nature, when they Contract other Interests. The Stamp of Dignity Defaces, in some People the very Character of Humanity; and Transports them to such a Degree of Haughtiness, that they reckon it below the Quality of a Great Man, to Exercise either Good Nature, or Good Manners: As if Dignify’d Flesh and Bloud were not of the same Composition with other Men. Now what does all This Arrogance Amount to, more, then the Pride of an Ass in his Trappings; when ’tis but his Masters taking away his Top-Knot, to make an Ass of him again.

But we are yet to Distinguish betwixt Those that take State and Distance upon them, purely out of Pride and Humour, and Those that seem to do the same Thing, though in a Compliance with the Necessity of their Affairs. It is Impossible for a Publique Minister to be so Open and Easy to all his Old Friends and Acquaintance, as he was in the State of his Private Condition; and at the same Time, to Attend the Necessary Functions of his Office: But This may be All help’d out yet, by an Affability of Address, without any Offence, either to his Bus’ness, or to his Duty. A Word, an Action, a Countenance, manag’d with Honour and Discretion, is sufficient to Uphold the Reputation of his Character; for there are Artificial Ways of telling People what a Man would do if he Could, without a Surly Ostentation of an Unwillingness to do the Things, that Effectually are not in his Power. A Good Word, they say, Costs no more then a Bad: Beside that in the Cardinal’s Forgetting his Old Friend here, he did more Forget Himself.

There’s Nothing Good, or Natural, that’s out of Season. Nay the most Obliging Offices in Nature, and the Greatest Blessings under the Sun, lose much, both of their Value, and of their Relish, when they’re Mistim’d.

The World is like to be well Govern’d, when Pyes and Daws shall take upon them to set up for Philosophers, Doctors of the Chair, and Men of State and Government. Things are Mightily out of Order in That Quarter, especially when Vain Fools come to be admitted into Business upon the Credit of their Own Word.

The Importunity of such a Fop, is Excellently set forth in the Qualifications of this Pye; for he Enforces the Reason of his Pretence, by the Clearest Arguments in the World against Himself. He would be a States-Man, because he is a Buffon; as if there went no more to the Making of a Councellor, then the Faculties of a Merry-Andrew, or a Tumbler. Here’s the Confident Ambition of a Foolish Twattling Pretender, on the One Hand, and a Just Reproof of him, in a most Reasonable Refusal, on the Other; to Teach us, that the Want of Shame, Brains, or Good Manners, does not presently Entitle Every little Skip-Jack to the Boards-End in the Cabinet. But Our Eagle here was not a Prince to Advance the Ministers of his Pleasures, to be Ministers of State, and to make his Sport his Bus’ness.

’Tis the Practice, but it is the Baseness of the World too, for Men to Govern themselves Wholly by their Interest, and to Abandon All that’s Sacred and Honourable, for the saving of their Own Skins. Thus, says the Moral; but the Conceit was not worth the Life of the Poor Creature, and therefore the Allegory not to be Recommended; because it sets up a False Principle. There was place for Honour, Dignity of Mind, and Humanity to shew it self, in the Case, though but to a Poor Mouse: And there’s Nothing to be said in Defence of the Wanton Cruelty of Sacrificing a Life to a Jest: But to come now to the Ungrateful Point, the Bare Innuendo of it would stare so many People in the Face, that it were better pass’d over in silence; for the Moral drawn out at length, would be a Satyr against Mankind. And Millions of Men that carry their Heads High in the World, would fall under the Lash of the Country-man’s Exclamation here.

We may gather from hence, first, that People are Flesh and Blood in a Cell, as well as in a Palace. 2ly, That it is a very great Mastery, for a Man to stand Firm, in a Case, where Humane Frailty, Violent Inclinations, and the Preservation of Life it self, are in a Conspiracy against his Virtue. 3ly. That a very Pious Good Man may think himself Better then he Is, for want of an Occasion to try the Force of his Goodness and Resolution. 4ly. That when the Flesh and the Devil have once got the better of a Scrupulous Conscience, it puts a Man past All Sense of Shame, as well as of the Sin; to the Degree of Glorying in his Wickedness. The Holy Man was not so much Troubled, it seems, at the Use of the Remedy, as that he had not try’d the Experiment sooner. You may Talk what you will (says Lais) of your Philosophers and Learned Men; but I have as many Visits from Those Sparks as from Other People. And she was much in the Right on’t.

The Whole World is full of Fools, only He that’s the Least One is the Wisest Man. This would have been Well, if the Moralist had not given the Block-headed Servant too much Privilege: But the Ill Manners is suitable enough however, to the Character. It was such a kind of a Course Complement that Scotus put upon Charles the Bald, as they were Sitting together at a Table. The Emperor ask’d him Quid Interest (says he) inter Scotum & Sotum? (Playing upon the Conceit of Scot and Sot) [Mensa] says he. That is to say, the Table is between the Scot and the Sot: And so with the Liberty of a Buffon, the School-man turn’d the Sot upon the Emperor, in Law-Latin: This Booby’s Answer in the Fable, as Unmannerly as it was, had yet a Great deal of Truth in’t; for He that can Advance himself to be a King of Fools, may be Honestly Reputed within a Hairs Breadth of an Universal Monarch.

There’s No Disputing with a Man that denies Principles, and there are certain Præcognita in the Motions of Flesh and Bloud, as well as in the Philosophy of the Schools: In which Cases, we Understand our Duty without a Teacher, and Acquit our selves as we Ought to do, without a Prompter. That is to say, there are some Certain Fundamentals of Natural Justice, that we take for Granted, and Trust One Another for; as in the Proposition of our Widow here in the Fable, without any Need of Articles for the Performance of Covenants. The Widow, in short, play’d the Gipsy, and so did her Confident too, in pretending to Believe her: But there’s No Catching Old Birds with Chaff, for One Woman reads the Heart of Womankind in her Own Breast. She was a Fool to be Mealy-Mouth’d, where Nature speaks so Plain. There may be Exceptions ’tis True, to a General Rule, but none to an Universal. It was No Ill shift however, to come off withal, that in despite of All her Aversions, she was not yet for making a Virtue of Necessity. The Publisher of Mr. Selden’s Table Talk, Tells of a Girl that was worth Forty of Our Widow here, and an Honest Down-right, Plain Dealing Lass it was. The Wench was just newly Marry’d, and so soon as ever the Job was over, Pray Mother, says she, Must not I go to Bed now? No, No, Child, says Mamma, You must take Your Dinner first: Oh, says the Girl, and Then go to Bed I warrant ye. No, my Dear, not yet, says the Mother, You must Dance after Dinner. Ay, Ay, says the Girl again, and Then to Bed. No, No, says T’other, You must Sup first, and Dance again. Ay, Ay, and Then to Bed, says the Bride. This Girl did but speak the Widows Mind; for let Flesh and Bloud pretend what it will, to Bed, to Bed, will be the Bob of the Song.

That which Nature has Allotted us is best for us, and it is Great Folly and Wickedness for People not to be Content with it, and Thankful for’t.

No Man knows Himself, or Understands his Own Condition, but by Comparison, and upon Experience. Our very Wishes, many times, are Mortal to us: and the very Granting of our Prayers, would but serve to make us still more and more Miserable. The Tortoise’s Shell was a Clog and a Burden, till they found it Necessary for the Defence of their Lives; and they Envy’d the Easyness and Lightness of the Frogs, till they saw them Joll’d to pieces, and Devour’d for want of a Buckler to Cover, and Protect them. But they came then to be of the Begger’s Mind, that stood Gaping at my Lady Devonshire’s Funeral: Here’s a Brave Sight, says she, and yet I Gad Bess, for all That, I had rather be a Live Begger then a Dead Countess. The Moral Concludes in This, that there can be No Thought of Security, or Quiet in This World, but in a Resignation to the Allotments of God and Nature. If the Tortoises had had their Wish, they had e’en been Pick’d up among the Frogs.

’Tis Ill done for any Man to Consult his Present Ease and Profit, without Computing upon the Trouble and Loss that may Ensue. ’Tis not safe to make any Present Resolutions without a Considerate Prospect into the Future. This is abundantly Moraliz’d in several Other Places. But the Mouse’s Question of Who shall Feed us hereafter? goes a great Way in the Resolution of All These Cases.

The Master here deals with the Dog, as Great Officers deal many times with Honest, Well-Meaning Men at Court. They speak ’em Fair Themselves, and Murder ’em by their Deputies: But still That which is done by the Principal’s Order, or with his Privity, or Approbation, is the Principal’s Act. The Servant is But the Master’s Instrument in the Case, as the Cudgel is the Servant’s; and they are Both under the same Command. When a Man happens to be Kill’d, we do not Impute the Murder to the Weapon that did the Execution, but to him that Manag’d it. This is much after the way of Treating Elephants. When an Elephant is taken in a Pit-fall, He that is design’d for the Master and Keeper of him, sets Other People to Prick and Teize him, and Then In comes He Himself, and under Pretence of taking his Part, falls foul upon his Enemies, and Rescues him. The Elephant takes This Man now for his Friend; Whereas, upon the Whole Matter, it was by His Order that he was both Taken and Beaten.

There’s Nothing more Frequent then this Shamming Way of Confederacy, betwixt Two Men in Power; when an Honest Patriot, for the Purpose, or a Loyal Subject is to be made an Owl of; by Consent of them Both. The One Affronts him, while the Other Cajoles and Pities him; Takes up his Quarrel, shakes his Head at it; Claps his Hand upon his Breast, and then Protests, and Protests, he Wonders at his Heart that my Lord should have so little Honour, as to Treat an Honest Gentleman at This rate. A Friend of mine has been at This sport many and many a time: And now upon the Whole Matter, This is no more at last then a Concerted Intrigue betwixt a Brace of Sharpers, that Laugh all the while at the whole Roguery in their Sleeves. The Master’s Good Words are a Greater Mortification to the Dog, then the Servants Blows.

Vain Fears and Imaginations Cast a Mist before our Eyes, and not only Represent Real Dangers Greater then they Are, but Create Fantastical Difficulties, where in Truth there are None at all. The Birds were in a Mortal Apprehension of the Beetles, till the Sparrow Reason’d them into a Better Understanding of the Matter. How should they Hurt us in the Air, says the Sparrow, with Those Pellets, that they can hardly Move upon the Ground, which brought the Point to an Issue upon a very Logical Conclusion.

We are to learn from hence, the Folly of an Impotent, and Inconsiderate Anger; and that there’s no Creature so Contemptible, but by the Help of Resolution, and of Numbers, it may Gain its Point. The Heat and Thirst of Revenge does but Hurry People from Less Mischiefs to Greater; As One Hasty Word, or Blow, brings on a Thousand. There’s no Opposing the Torrent of a Head-strong Multitude; for Rage and Despair give Courage to the most Inconsiderable, and the most Fearful of Creatures. Had it not been Better now to have pass’d over the Affront of one Spiteful Creature, then to Provoke and draw on upon Himself the Outrage of a Thousand?

Delays are Dangerous. The very Instant is All that we can call our Own, the Rest, is either Chance, or Fate. The Case of the Fowler and the Chaffinch, reaches to all the Pretensions of Humane Life. Every Man Living has a Design in his Head upon something or other, and Applies himself accordingly toward the Attaining of his End; whether it be Honour, Wealth, Power, or any other sort of Advantage, or Settlement in the World. Now he that would take a True Measure how to Proceed, should say to himself, This is the Thing I would be at. This or That in such a Proportion will do my Bus’ness; And This Nick of time is the Critical Occasion for the Gaining of such or such a Point. I’ll take it while ’tis to be had. He that may be well, and Will not, in hope of being Better, runs the Risque of getting Nothing at all; and so Parts with a Moral Certainty in Possession, for a Wild, and a Remote Possibility in Reversion. Lost Opportunities are never to be Recover’d. ’Tis Good Discretion, when we cannot Command what we would have, to Compound for what we May, and not to call any thing Ill Luck, which is in Truth Ill Manage. ’Tis a Weakness to be Sollicitous for more then enough, and to Hazzard All by Grasping at too much. All Covet, All Lose; for Avarice, whether it Succeeds or not, is but a kind of Beggary; and he that Wants More, has as Good as Nothing at all. The Bird-Catcher slipt his Time here, and makes Good the Old Vulgar Saying; He that will not when he May, When he Would he shall ha’ Nay.

We are apt to put a Value upon Things for their Novelty, rather then for their Virtue: and the fame Levity holds towards Women, Friends and Acquaintances: Nay, and Governments too; for People seldom Change for a Better. All Civil Constitutions have their Failings, and the Unhinging, even of the Worst of Governments, brings on an Anarchy, which is yet Worse; for it lays All in Rubbish: And we have no better Security for the Next State of Things, then we had for the Former, but still for Variety sake, we go on Chopping and Changing our Friends, and our Masters, as well as our Horses; and with the Soldier, out of a Sickly Levity, like the Last Best, whatever it be.

Without a Strict Hand over us, in the Institution of our Youth, we are in Danger to be Lost for ever. He that Spares the Rod, Hates the Child; and the Severity of an Early Discipline is One of the Greatest Obligations that a Son can have to a Tender Parent. This we shall find to be True, if we do but set the Good against the Bad, as the Dog did the Knocks, and then Ballance the Account.

It is both Base, and Foolish, to Insult over People in Distress, for the Wheel of Fortune is perpetually in Motion, and He that’s Uppermost to day, may be Under it to Morrow. No Man knows what End he is Born to; and it is Only Death that can Pronounce upon a Happy or a Miserable Life. When the Timber made sport with the Oxen for the Drudgery they Labour’d under, Little did they Dream of the Greater Oppression they were to Undergo Themselves.

There’s No Corruption like Ecclesiastical Avarice; No Cruelty so Merciless as That of a Debauch’d Church-man. ’Tis the Devil’s Master-Piece to begin There; for he knows very Well, that the Scandalous Examples of a Perfidious, and an Apostate Clergy, are the Ready Way to bring the Holy Order of Priesthood it self into Odium, and Disgrace. Here’s Your Church, they cry presently; as if the very Function were Unhallow’d by the Mercenary Practices of some Backsliding Members of that Communion. Let them Live as they Preach, and Preach as they Ought, and let there be No Moralizing in the Pulpit upon the Fable of the Man, and the Satyr, by Blowing Hot and Cold out of the same Mouth. There are Simoniacal Contracts on the Buying side, as well as on the Selling, when People shall Preach One Doctrine to get Into a Living, and the Contrary to Keep it. What is This, but the Selling of the Truth, and of Souls, for Money, and the Prostituting of All that’s Sacred, for the saving of their Skins and their Stakes?

Not but that Charity is Free, and much at the Discretion of Him that is to Exercise it. It is Free, I say, to All Intents and Purposes, as to any Legal Coertion upon it, though at the same time, in Point of Conscience, a Man may lye under the Obligation of an Indispensable Duty. So that without forcing the Drift of this Fable, the Bishop is not to Blame here, the Matter simply Consider’d; for the First, Second, or Third Denyal, or for All together; for such Circumstances may be Suppos’d, with a Regard to the Manner, Time, and Persons, as might not only Acquit him for the Refusal, but have Reflected upon his Conduct, and Prudence, if he had Granted the Request: So that (with Veneration to the Divine Institution it self, and to Those that Live up to’t) we are to take This for the Figure of a Loose and a Covetous Prelate, that Disgraces his Character by his Conversation, and sets a Higher Rate upon a Copper Farthing, then upon an Apostolical Benediction. Now if This Bishop could have said, Silver and Gold have I none, the Author of This Fable would have Absolv’d him.

He that Consults the Interest of his Carcass, before that of his Repution, or his Country, is Effectually but a Brute, under the Figure of a Man. An Honourable Death is to be Preferr’d before an Infamous Life. This Hog in the Fable has but taken up the Words and Humour of a Bestial sort of People in the World: Men that lie Wallowing in their Lusts, their Debauches, and their Pleasures, and spending their Censures upon Men of Honour, and Publique Spirits, without any Regard to the Conscience of either Christian, Moral, or Political Duties. They are more Solicitous for the Pampering of their Bodies, then for the Saving of their Souls, or the Embalming of their Memories: and fall justly under the Reproof of the Horse to the Hog in This Emblem.

This is to bid us secure our selves Before hand of what we Undertake for, and not depend upon Uncertainties. Though with the Moralist’s Leave, the Uncertainty was on the Other Hand, and he that Bought the Skin, ran a Greater Risque then T’other that Sold it; and had the Worse End of the Staff. ’Tis Good Councel however, not to make our selves Answerable for Things out of our Power: Especially where there are Dangerous Contingencies in the Way, as we find in This Fable: For the Bear was within a Hairs Breadth of Spoiling the Jest: It is much at this Rate that we make All our Bargains; We give our Time, Study, Interest, Liberty, and, in short, part with all that’s Precious, not only upon Uncertainties, but for Things we can never Obtain. There’s no depending upon To-morrow.

Nature it self speaks in These Lively Images of Truth. Here’s a Good Man, and his Penitent Preaching upon Two several Texts. The Holy Father Enforces the Necessity of the Soldier’s Repentance, from the Wicked Course of Life that he Leads, and the Trade that he Drives. The Soldier, on the Other hand, is willing to be Converted, for the Times are Dead, he says, and there’s Neither Pay, nor Plunder to be got. The World has abundance of These Proselytes, that when they can be no longer Wicked to Advantage, take up an Outward Change of Profession, and pass presently for Babes of Grace, without the Least Symptoms, all this while, of any Inward Change of Mind. This was the Case of One of our Modern Confessors, and Martyrs, who took a Formal Leave of Jesus Christ, and told his Ghostly Father, that he was now fully Resolv’d not to Starve for his Religion. Now there are Millions and Millions in the World, of This Man’s Kidney, that have the Wit yet to keep their Tongues betwixt their Teeth, and to take up the same Resolution without Noise. How many Instances of the Power of Pay and Pillage, does Every day Produce in all manner of Dealings and Professions: For Religion and Property still March Hand in Hand, and Men will do Tricks like Dogs, for Crusts, and Change their Masters, both Heavenly, and Earthly, for Better Wages. Where’s That Law, or Text, that has not been Over-rul’d some time or other, and Distorted, by a False Gloss to make the Application Profitable, and Easie to the Good People? How often have we heard as Arrant Jangling in the Pulpits, as ever we did in the Steeples: And Professors Ringing as Awk as the Bells, to give notice of the Conflagration which They Themselves were Raising; for we have found it to our Cost, that the Multitude will sooner Kindle with a Pernicious Doctrine then with a Pudding-Lane Fire-Ball. ’Tis not Conscience, but Interest that Governs the World; and the Incomparable Hudibras has hit the Point to a Hair.

This it is, in fine, that makes the Devil of a Saint, and a Saint of a Devil; for your Holy Apostate is the Blackest of Hypocrites. The Soldier turns Religious, and he shall do more Mischief in That Shape, then ever he did in the Other. For a Corrupted Zeal draws more Bloud then a Mercenary Malice.

All Matches, Friendships, and Societies are Dangerous and Inconvenient, where the Contractors are Not Equals: And the Mouse under the Paw of the Lyon, does well enough set forth the Danger of such a Marriage.

This Doctrine concerns those that Rashly Change their Condition and Fortune, and commonly fall into the Inconveniences that they thought to Avoid. He that’s Well, already, and, upon a Levity of Mind, Quits his Station, in hope to be Better, ’tis Forty to One he loses by the Change; for This Lightness is both a Vice, and a Disease, and rather the Wallowing of a Sickly Qualm, then any Reasonable Agitation of Councel and Debate. The Fault is not in the Place, or Bus’ness, but in the Stomach; and the Quitting of such a Course of Life, is but shifting Posture in a Fit of Sickness: Let a Man turn which Way he will, he is still as Restless and uneasie One way as Another. Not but that ’tis Reasonable for a Man, under any Calamity, to use the Best Means he can, Honestly, to get Clear on’t. Let it be Pain of Body, Distress of Mind, Loss of Liberty, Pinching Necessity of Fortune; Nay let it be Gout, Stone, or Torments, there’s Matter yet left for Industry, Councel, Generosity, or when All fails, for Philosophy, and Constancy of Mind to Work upon; and to Emprove All the Methods of Providence to our Advantage. Now All This is only an Honourable and Warrantable Conflict, with such Accidents and Circumstances as Providence is pleas’d to make use of, for the Tryal of our Faith and Virtue. So that These Strivings are not to be taken for a Contending with superior Powers; but they are Cases Excepted from the Uneasiness here in the Fable; which arises from a Dissatisfaction in such a Lot, as might make us abundantly happy if we would but keep our Desires within Those Bounds which God and Nature have Prescrib’d us. But Men under These Irregular Appetites, can never think themselves Well, so long as they fancy they Might be Better: And then from Better, they must Rise to be Best; and when That Best it self falls short of what they Expected from it, they are still as Poor and Miserable as if they had just Nothing at all. The Husbandman Envies the Soldier; The Soldier Envies the Merchant, and when he has try’d All Turns, and Projects, what with the Chance of War, Storms, and Pyrates, he sees his folly too late, and in Vain Wishes himself with his Hinds and his Flocks again. To say All in a Word, This Levity is both Attended, and Punish’d, with an Impossibility of Mending our Condition; for we Apply to our Bodies, and our Fortunes, when the Distemper lies in our Minds.

This Fable, according to Abstemius, and Others, Touches the Humour of Those that Squander away their Money upon Vanity and Trifles: But it seems to Me to look quite Another Way. With Abstemius’s Favour, I should rather take This Fable to Strike at the Natural Consequences of Evil Examples, when the Unreasonableness of One Act shall be made use of as an Argument for Another, no less Unreasonable: for ’tis President, Effectually that Governs the World. Why should not One Fool be Preferr’d for Farting as well as Another? For in Cases of Competition, he that does Best, e’en in an Ill, or in a Weak Thing, has a kind of Claim, and Right to a Preference, and the Grosser the Foppery, or the Iniquity, the Fairer the Pretence.

This Ass’s putting up for an Office, Taxes the Perverting of Policy and Justice, in Conferring Those Honours, Charges, and Benefits, upon Parasites, Drolls, Buffons, and other Servile Instruments of Lust and Ambition, that are Due only to Men of Honour and Virtue. The Ministers of Government, and of Pleasure, should be carefully Distinguish’d; for it Corrupts both the Morals, and the Understandings of a Nation, when they find the Precepts of Common Honesty, and the Practices of State, to run so directly Counter, as to leave no Hope of Advancement, Credit, or Security, but by living in a Defiance to Nature and Reason: That is to say, by Playing the Fool, and Farting for Preferment.

There are too many People in the World of the Humour of This River, that assume to Themselves what they receive from others, without ever so much as Thinking of the Heavenly Goodness that is the Author of Life it self, and of all the Blessings that Crown the Comfort of it.

This Fable is a kind of an Expostulatory Debate betwixt Bounty and Ingratitude; betwixt the Divine Goodness, and the Vain-Glorious Pride of Corrupt Nature. And the Iniquity of our Proceeding is much the Same, both towards God and Man. We are readier to Claim to our selves, then to Ascribe to Others, and most Dangerously given to Mistake the Gratuitous Blessings of Heaven, for the Fruits of our Own Industry and Virtue. The Fountain of all Goodness, and of all Good Things is God, Blessed for ever: But in the Dispensation of his Mercies to the World, some things he does by Himself, others by the Intervention of Natural Means, and by the Mediation of such Instruments as he has appointed for the Conveying of Those Benefits to us. According to this Order, Kings are, by Deputation, the Fountains of Honour and Preferment: And we find Men as Backward every Jot to Acknowledge Temporal, as they are to Acknowledge Spiritual Gifts and Bounties: So that we have Thankless Favourites as well as Graceless Christians. What a Babel do they make now of the Nature of Things, rather then Own the Course of Providence in the Distribution of them! Insomuch that the Faculties that were given us for the Glory and Service of our Master, as well as for the Comfort of our Lives, and the Salvation of our Souls, are turn’d Point Blank against the very Reason and Intention of them. Sharpness of Wit is Emprov’d to the Dishonour of Him that Gave it. Atheism and Blasphemy Dress’d up like a Science, and the Understanding that was given us for the Finding out of the Truth, is Employ’d upon Paradoxing, and Ridiculing it. They Value themselves with the River, upon a Conceit, that the Fish, the Beauty, the Conveniency, is All their Own: And what is All This now, but either to Disclaim the Original, or to Defame it? That’s Obscure, they say, Neglected, Over-grown, and either Not taken Notice of, or not Found: And what’s the Issue now of This Vanity, and Distraction? A Judgment Treads upon the Heel on’t; for Providence stops the Current, lays the Channel Open, and Exposes it to Detestation and Scorn, in all its Filthiness.

Wickedness may Prosper for a while; but at the Long Run, He that sets All Knaves at Work, will most certainly Pay them their Wages. The Man pays Dear for his Protection that Pawns his Soul for’t: And it may be Another Observation, that the Devil Himself will not work without Money.

This Emblem Insinuates a Government by One to be less Burdensom, then a Government by Many. And it is well enough Adapted to a Profitable Allegory. The Multitude of Birds are Impos’d upon, that One Monarch is not sufficient for the Discharging of the Office, and therefore there’s a Motion put up for the Erecting of More Kings: for Why, say they, should so many Millions of Men be Subjected to the Power and Will of One single Person? This Error was begotten betwixt Faction, and Interest. The One Manages by Design, and the Other falls in upon an Implicit Resignation; or else Yields, upon Facility, and Weakness. In the Conclusion, some Man of Observation, and Experience (as the Crow for the purpose) carries them off Clear from the Reasoning Part, and Applies to the Mobile in their Own Way: That is to say, in a Way of Pocket-Arguments. He never Troubled Himself about the Original of Power, or the Analogy betwixt Monarchy in Heaven, and upon Earth; but gives them a short Stroke upon the Subject of Profit and Loss. You will find it easier, says he, to Fill One Sack then Many: And That Allusion carry’d the Point.

This Confirms the Proverb, that Charity begins at Home, and when all is done, there’s No Man loves a Friend so Well, but he loves Himself Better. There are No People more Startled at Death, then Those that have gotten a Custom of Calling for’t. Oh that Death would Deliver Me! (says One) Oh, that Death would take Me in the Place of my Dear Husband! says T’other. But when Death comes to Present Himself indeed, and to take them at their Words, the Good Wife very Civilly puts the Change upon him, and tells him, that the Person he comes for lies in the Bed there. In few Words, to call for Death in Jest, is Vain, and Unprofitable. To call for’t in Earnest, is Impious: And to call for’t at all, is both Foolish and Needless; for Death will most certainly come at his appointed time, whether he be call’d for or No.

The Methods of Government, and of Humane Society, must be Preserv’d where Every Man has his Roll, and his Station Assign’d him; and it is not for One Man to break in upon the Province of Another. This Moral tells us also, that when One Man Condoles for the Distresses of Another, ’tis more for Money, or for Company, then for Kindness.

’Tis a slavish sort of Ceremony and Imposition, that People must be Train’d up, by certain Rules of Art, and Prescription, to the very Manage and Government of the most Free and Natural of our Affections; for we are Taught and Appointed the very Methods, and Degrees of Grieving, and Rejoycing; and to do Honour to the Dead, by the Counterfeit Lamentations of the Living. But this way of Mourning by Rule, is rather an Ostentation of Sorrow, then Indication of it. Now to say the Truth of the Matter, Terms and Modes have Corrupted the Sincerity of our Manners, as well toward our Living Friends, as to the Memory of Those Departed. We have hardly anything left in our Conversation that is Pure and Genuine: But the way of Civility in Fashion, casts a Blind over the Duty, under some Certain Customary Presidents of Empty Words: So that at This rate, we Impose One upon Another, without any regard to Faith, Truth, or Vertue. But we must Sing in some Cases, and Cry in Others, and there’s an End on’t.

’Tis a Miserable Thing, when Men that Understand Nothing at all, shall take upon them to Censure, and to Prejudge every thing that they do not Understand. What’s the Use of a College, if every Particular Man shall set up to be his Own Doctor? And ’tis the same Case where Subjects take upon them to Correct Magnificat, and to Prescribe to their Superiors. Let every Man be Trusted in his Own Way, and let the Doctor Prescribe to the Patient, and not the Patient to the Doctor. For at the Rate of This Thick-skull’d Blunder-head, every Plow Jobber shall take upon him to Read upon Divinity, Law, and Politiques, as well as Physick.

There are no Visits so officious, and Importune, as those that People think to get by; Especially when our Thoughts are taken up with Matters of Greater Moment. Besides, that there’s a Design upon us in the very Complement. These Fables may serve to Point out to us, that there are Men, as well as Wolves and Foxes, that wait for the Carcass: That is to say, for an Office, an Estate, a Commission, Lands, Moneys, Jewels, or whatever else People lie Gaping for in Reversion, according to the Practice of the World: So that there’s Little Trust to These Death Bed Ceremonies; which, for the Greater Part, have more in them of Avarice, and Interest, then of Piety and Good Will: So that Effectually, a Wolfe’s Visiting a Sick Ass, is but Saying Grace to a Dead One.

People should not be too Inquisitive, without Considering how far They Themselves may be concern’d in the Answer to the Question.

’Tis No New Thing in the World to Return Evil for Good. Nay, there are some Natures so Soure, and so Ungrateful, that they are never to be Oblig’d. All Kites of this Humour do not wear Feathers: Neither do All such Mice wear Long Tails. There are Cases, wherein our Very Tenderness, and Charity, becomes a Snare to us; and there are People too, that fancy No Blood so sweet, as That of the Person to whom they stand Indebted for their Lives and Fortunes: But then if One Man should Cease to be Generous, and Charitable, because Another Man is Sordid, and Ungrateful; It would be much in the Power of the Basest of Vices to Extinguish the most Christian, and Humane of Vertues. These Lewd Examples May however, and Ought to Recommend Prudence and Caution to us; but without Killing, or Quenching Good Nature. There are, ’tis true, some People so Harden’d in Wickedness, as to have No Sense at all of the most Friendly Offices, or the Highest Benefits. Now in these Desperate Cases, a Man is little Better then Felo-de-se, that for the Helping of Another, Ventures the Undoing of Himself. Nay, and ’tis somewhat more then a Venture too, when a Mouse lays it self at the Mercy of a Kite.

More Men Reclaim out of Shame, Fear, and Pure Necessity, then for the Love of Honour, or Virtue. They that are Honest upon these Terms would be Arrant Knaves if the Tables were Turn’d. They go along with the Devil, while there’s either Pleasure, or Profit to be had on That side; but when they come once to lose the Tast of the One, and the Means of the Other, they are presently Register’d in the Calender of New Converts. The Countenance of this Fable looks a little betwixt Jest and Earnest; but This Mixture of Appearance does not hinder it from being a most Edifying Satyr upon the Corruptions, and False Semblances of Humane Life. Lord! How Sober, and Temperate do People grow, when they can Drink and Whore no longer!

A Wise Book is much better then a Foolish Companion; and the Dead, in such a case, are much better then the Living. It is one of the most vexatious Mortifications perhaps, of a Sober, and Studious Man’s Life, to have his Thoughts Disorder’d, and the very Chain of his Reason Discompos’d, by the Importunity of a Tedious, and an Impertinent Visit; Especially, if it be from a Fool of Quality, where the very Figure of the Man Entitles him to All Returns of Good Manners and Respect. And the Affliction is yet more Grievous, where that Prerogative of Quality, is further Back’d and Corroborated, with a Real Kindness and Good Will: For a Man must be Inhumane and Ungrateful, as well as Rude, if he does but so much as Offer, at the Easing, or the Relieving of Himself. The Drift of This Fable at last, is to tell us, that Good Books and Good Thoughts are the Best Company, and that they are Mistaken that think a Wise Man can ever be Alone. It prepares us also to Expect Interruptions, and Disappointments, and to Provide for ’em; but withal, to take the Best Care we can to Prevent the Plague of Ill Company, by avoiding the Occasions of it. The Linking of a Man of Brains and Honesty into a Lewd Insipid Conversation, is Effectually but the Moral of That Tyrant, that Bound the Living, and the Dead together, and yet This is it which the Impertinent takes for the Relief of Solitude, and the Blessing of That which he calls Company.

This Fable is Moraliz’d in the Holy Gospel it self. ’Tis with all Men that are Notoriously Wicked, of what Degree or State, or in what point of Iniquity soever, much after the Rate of the Wolfe in This Fiction. Tyranny Marches under the Masque of Care, Piety, and Protection. Injustice sets up the Rigorous Letter of the Law to Weigh against the Improbity of the Witness: The Pawn-Broker pretends Charity, and the Oppressor Flays the Widow and the Orphan: And at the same Time, Preaches Mercy and Compassion, with the very same Breath. Treachery Covers it self under a Cloak of Kindness and Friendship; and Nothing more Frequent then Wolves in Lambs-skins, even in the most Solemn Offices of Church and State. This Fable Extends to All the Lewd Practices of Hypocrites and Impostors, under the Colour of Pious, and Charitable Works and Duties. Now if All our Moral Wolves in Sheeps-Cloathing, were but Serv’d as This Hypocritical Wolfe was in the Fiction, and Hung-up Indeed, with their Crimes in Capital Letters on their Foreheads, Common Truth and Honesty among Men would be more Sacred.

There are Political Sheep-biters as well as Pastoral; Betrayers of Publick Trusts, as well as of Private; And Humane Curs that are as Wolvish as the Other. This Maxim however, holds in All Cases; that Breach of Faith and Trust, is the most Odious, Inhospitable and Inhumane, of Civil, as well as of Moral Offences. A special Confidence in One more then in Another, though from a King to a Subject, or from a Master to a Servant, has some Analogy in’t of Friendship, but the Matter should be thoroughly Weigh’d and Examin’d, before we put it to the Utmost Tryal and Test. A Man may be too Hard or too Easy; too Advent’rous or too Wary, in passing a Judgment upon the Character of the Person: But above all things it will concern us perfectly to Understand the Honour, the Practice, and the Conversation of the Man we Propose for a Friend, before we lay any Stress upon his Faith; Not but that we may believe Well of a Man, and yet not think fit to Trust him: So that a Charity on the One hand does not Authorize a Confidence on the Other; It is not Amiss however, to lay Baits for a Man in such a Case, and to try him on the Blind-side. As if a Man be Covetous; Profit or Bribes may put him to the Test: and so Answerably in Other Cases. Powerful Temptations Artificially Dispos’d, are the Best Essay, and Assurance of a Man’s Faith and Honesty that the Matter will bear. This Dog here would perhaps have Fought for his Master in any Other Case, though he Betray’d him in This: But the Love of Mutton was his Weak-side: Which in some sort Answers to That which we call Peccatum in Deliciis in Mankind. This Infirmity however did not Excuse the Treachery, and the Kinder the Master, the more Unpardonable is the Traytor.