THE FABLES OF ÆSOP, &c.

Fable I. A Cock and a Diamond.

As a Cock was turning up a Dunghill, he spy’d a Diamond. Well (says he to himself) this sparkling Foolery now to a Lapidary in my place, would have been the Making of him; but as to any Use or Purpose of mine, a Barley-Corn had been worth Forty on’t.

The Moral.

He that’s Industrious in an Honest Calling, shall never fail of a Blessing. ’Tis the part of a Wise Man to Prefer Things Necessary before Matters of Curiosity, Ornament, or Pleasure.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. II. A Cat and a Cock.

It was the hard Fortune once of a Cock, to fall into the Clutches of a Cat. Puss had a Months Mind to be upon the Bones of him, but was not willing to pick a Quarrel however, without some plausible Color for’t. Sirrah (says she) what do you keep such a bawling, and screaming a Nights for, that no body can sleep near you? Alas says the Cock, I never wake any body, but when ’tis time for People to rise, and go about their Business. Nay, says the Cat, and then there was never such a lycentuous Rascal: Why, you make no more Conscience of Lying with your own Mother, and your Sisters——In truth, says the Cock again, that’s only to provide Eggs for my Master and Mistress. Come come, says Puss, without any more ado, ’tis time for me to go to Breakfast, and Cats don’t live upon Dialogues; at which word she gave him a Pinch, and so made an end, both of the Cock, and of the Story.

Fab. III. A Wolf and a Lamb.

As a Wolf was lapping at the Head of a Fountain, he spy’d a Lamb, paddling at the same time, a good way off down the Stream. The Wolf had no sooner the Prey in his Eye, but away he runs open-mouth to’t. Villain (says he) how dare you lye mudling the Water that I am a drinking? Indeed, says the poor Lamb, I did not think that my drinking there below, could have foul’d your Water so far above. Nay, says t’other, you’ll never leave your chopping of Logick, till your Skin’s turn’d over your Ears, as your Fathers was, a matter of six Months ago, for prating at this sawcy rate; you remember it full well, Sirrah. If you’ll believe me, Sir, (quoth the innocent Lamb, with fear and trembling) I was not come into the World then. Why thou Impudence, cries the Wolf, hast thou neither Shame, nor Conscience? But it runs in the Blood of your whole Race, Sirrah, to hate our Family; and therefore since Fortune has brought us together so conveniently, you shall e’en pay some of your Fore-Fathers Scores before you and I part; and so without any more ado, he leapt at the Throat of the miserable helpless Lamb, and tore him immediately to pieces.

The Moral of the Two Fables above.

’Tis an easy Matter to find a Staff to beat a Dog. Innocence is no Protection against the Arbitrary Cruelty of a Tyrannical Power: But Reason and Conscience are yet so Sacred, that the Greatest Villanies are still Countenanc’d under that Cloak and Colour.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. IV. A Frog and a Mouse.

There fell out a Bloody Quarrel once betwixt the Frogs and the Mice, about the Sovereignty of the Fenns; and whist Two of their Companions were Disputing it at Swords Point, Down comes a Kite Powdering upon them in the Interim, and Gobbles up both together, to Part the Fray.

Fab. V. A Lion and a Bear.

There was a Lion and Bear had gotten a Fawn betwixt them, and there were they at it Tooth and Nail, which of the Two should carry’t off. They Fought it out, till they were e’n glad to lie down, and take Breath. In which instant, a Fox passing that way, and finding how the case stood with the Two Combatants, seiz’d upon the Fawn for his Own Use, and so very fairly scamper’d away with him. The Lion, and the Bear saw the Whole Action, but not being in condition to Rise and Hinder it, they pass’d this Reflexion upon the whole matter; Here have we been Worrying one another, who should have the Booty, ’till this Cursed Fox has bobb’d us Both on’t.

The Moral of the Two Fables above.

’Tis the Fate of All Gotham Quarrels, when Fools go together by the Ears, to have Knaves run away with the Stakes.

REFLEXION.

This is no more than what we see Dayly in Popular Factions, where Pragmatical Fools commonly begin the Squabble, and Crafty Knaves reap the Benefit of it. There is very rarely any Quarrel, either Publique, or Private, whether betwixt Persons, or Parties, but a Third Watches, and hopes to be the Better for’t.

And all is but according to the Old Proverb, While Two Dogs are Fighting for a Bone, a Third runs away with it. Divide and Govern, is a Rule of State, that we see Confirm’d and supported by Dayly Practice and Experience: So that ’tis none of the Slightest Arguments for the Necessity of a Common Peace, that the Litigants Tear one another to pieces for the Benefit of some Third Interest, that makes Advantage of their Disagreement. This is no more then what we find upon Experience through the whole History of the World in All Notable Changes, and Revolutions; that is to say, the Contendents have been still made a Prey to a Third Party. And this has not been only the Fate and the Event of Popular Quarrels, but the Punishment of them; for the Judgment still treads upon the Heel of the Wickedness. People may talk of Liberty, Property, Conscience, Right of Title, &c. but the main Business and Earnest of the World, is Money, Dominion, and Power, and how to Compass Those Ends; and not a Rush matter at last, whether it be by Force, or by Cunning. Might and Right are Inseparable, in the Opinion of the World; and he that has the Longer Sword, shall never want, either Lawyers, or Divines to Defend his Claim. But then comes the Kite, or the Fox, in the Conclusion; that is to say, some Third Party, that either by Strength, or by Craft, Masters both Plaintiff and Defendant, and carries away the Booty.

Fab. VI. A Dog and a Shadow.

As a Dog was crossing a River, with a Morcel of Good Flesh in his Mouth, he saw (as he thought) Another Dog under the Water, upon the very same Adventure. He never consider’d that the one was only the Image of the Other; but out of a Greediness to get Both, he Chops at the Shadow, and Loses the Substance.

The Moral.

All Covet, All Lose; which may serve for a Reproof to Those that Govern their Lives by Fancy and Appetite, without consulting the Honour, and the Justice of the Case.

REFLEXION.

This is the Case of unreasonable, and Insatiable Desires; as in Love, Ambition, and the Like; where People are still reaching at More and More, till they lose all in the Conclusion.

There are more Meanings of Substance and Shadow; of Mistaking One for T’other; and Losing All by Chopping at More; then the bare Sense and Letter of the Dog, the Flesh, and the Image here in the Fable. Under these Heads are comprehended all Inordinate Desires, Vain Hopes, and Miserable Disappointments. What shall we say of those that spend their Days in Gaping after Court-Favours and Preferments; Servile Flatteries, and Slavish Attendances? That Live and Entertain themselves upon Blessings in Vision? (For Fair Words and Promises, are no more than Empty Appearances) What is all This, but Sacrificing a Mans Honour, Integrity, Liberty, Reason, Body, Soul, Fortune, and All, for Shadows? We place our Trust in Things that have no Being; Disorder our Minds, Discompose our Thoughts, Entangle our Estates, and Sell our selves, in One Word, for Bubbles. How wretched is the Man that does not know when he’s Well, but passes away the Peace and Comfort of his Life, for the Gratifying of a Fantastical Appetite, or Humour! Nay, and he Misses his Aim, even in That too, while he Squanders away his interest, and Forfeits his Discretion, in the Pursuit of One Vanity after Another. Ambition is a Ladder that reaches from Earth to Heaven; and the First Round is but so many Inches in a Mans way towards the Mounting of All the Rest. He’s never well till he’s at the Top, and when he can go no Higher, he must either Hang in the Air, or Fall; For in This Case, he has nothing above him to Aspire to, nor any Foot-Hold left him to come down by. Every Man has what’s Sufficient, at Hand, and in Catching at more then he can carry away, he loses what he Had. Now there’s Ingratitude, as well as Disappointment, in all these Rambling and Extravagant Motions: Beside, that Avarice is always Beggerly; for He that Wants, has as good as Nothing. The Desire of More and More, rises by a Natural Gradation to Most, and after that, to All; Till in the Conclusion we find our selves Sick and Weary of All that’s possible to be had; sollicitous for something else, and then when we have spent our Days in the Quest of the Meanest Things, and at the Feet too of the Worst of Men, we find at the bottom of the Account, that all the Enjoyments under the Sun, are not worth struggling for. What can be more Vainer now, then to Lavish out our Lives and Fortunes in the Search and Purchase of Trifles; and at the same time to lye Carking for the Unprofitable Goods of this World, and in a restless Anxiety of Thought for what’s to come. The Folly, in fine, of these Vexatious and Frivolous Pursuits, shews it self in all the Transports of our Wild and Ungovern’d Affections.

Here is further set forth in this Emblem, All the Fabulous Torments of Hell, even Above-Ground. Men that are Tainted with this Appetite are ready to dye of Thirst, with Tantalus, and the Water running at their very Lips. They are Condemn’d with the Sisters, to the Filling of Tubs with Holes in ’em; which is but a Lively Figure of so much Labor spent in Vain, upon the Gratifying of Unreasonable Desires. What’s a Man’s Contending with Insuperable Difficulties, but the Rolling of Sisiphus’s Stone up the Hill, which is sure before hand, to Return upon him again? What’s an Eternal Circulation of the same Things, as well as the same Steps, without Advancing one Inch of Ground towards his Journey’s End, but Ixion in the Wheel? And all this while, with Cares and Horrours at his Heart, like the Vultur that’s Day and Night Quarrying upon Prometheus’s Liver.

But after all that’s said upon this Subject, of our Mistake, and Punishment, the Great Nicety will lye in Rightly Distinguishing betwixt the Substance, and the Shadow; and in what degree of Preference the one stands to the other. Now this must be according to Epictetus’s Distribution of Matters, into what we have in our own Power; and what not; and in Placing things Honest and Necessary, before other Subordinate Satisfactions. Æsop’s Dog here was in the Possession of a very Good Breakfast, and he knew very well what he had in his Mouth; but still, either out of Levity, Curiosity, or Greediness, he must be Chopping at something else, that he neither wanted, nor Understood, till he lost All for a Shadow; that is to say, for just nothing at All.

Fab. VII. A Lion, an Ass, &c. a Hunting.

A Lion, an Ass, and some other of their Fellow-Forresters, went a Hunting one day; and every one to go share and share-like in what they took. They pluck’d down a Stag, and cut him up into so many Parts; but as they were entering upon the Dividend, Hands off says the Lion: This Part is mine by the Privilege of my Quality: This, because I’ll have it in spite of your Teeth: This again, because I took most Pains for’t; and if you Dispute the Fourth, we must e’en Pluck a Crow about it. So the Confederates Mouths were all stopt, and they went away as mute as Fishes.

The Moral.

There’s no Entring into Leagues or Partnerships, with those that are either too Powerful, or too crafty for us. He that has the Staff in his Hand will be his own carver. Bought Wit is Best.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. VIII. A Wolf and a Crane.

A Wolf had got a Bone in’s Throat, and could think of no better Instrument to Ease him of it, than the Bill of a Crane; so he went and Treated with a Crane to help him out with it, upon Condition of a very considerable Reward for his pains. The Crane did him the Good Office, and then claim’d his Promise. Why how now Impudence! (says t’other) Do you put your Head into the Mouth of a Wolf, and then, when y’ave brought it out again safe and sound, do you talk of a Reward? Why Sirrah, you have your Head again, and is not that a Sufficient Recompence?

The Moral.

One Good Turn they say requires another: But yet He that has to do with Wild Beasts (as some Men are No Better) and comes of with a Whol Skin, let him Expect No Other Reward.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. IX. A Countryman and a Snake.

A Countryman happen’d in a Hard Winter to spy a Snake under a Hedge, that was half Frozen to Death. The Man was Good Natur’d and Took it up, and kept it in his Bosom, till Warmth brought it to Life again; and so soon as ever it was in Condition to do Mischief, it bit the very Man that sav’d the Life on’t. Ah thou Ungrateful Wretch! Says he, Is that Venemous Ill Nature of thine to be Satisfi’d with nothing less then the Ruine of thy Preserver?

The Moral.

There are Some Men like Some Snakes; ’Tis Natural to them to be doing Mischief; and the Greater the Benefit on the One side, the More implacable is the Malice on the other.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. X. A Lion and an Asse.

An Asse was so Hardy once, as to fall a Mopping and Braying at a Lion. The Lion began at first to shew his Teeth, and to Stomack the Affront; but upon Second Thoughts; Well! (says he) Jeer on, and be an Asse still. Take notice only by the way, that ’tis the Baseness of your Character that has sav’d your Carcass.

The Moral.

It is below the Dignity of a Great Mind to Entertain Contests with People that have neither Quality nor Courage: Beside the Folly of Contending with a Miserable Wretch, where the very Competition is a Scandal.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XI. A City Mouse and a Country Mouse.

There goes an Old Story of a Country Mouse that Invited a City-Sister of hers to a Country Collation, where she spar’d for Nothing that the Place afforded; as Mouldy Crusts, Cheese-Parings, Musty Oatmeal, Rusty Bacon, and the like. Now the City-Dame was so well bred, as Seemingly to take All in Good Part: But yet at last, Sister (says she, after the Civilest Fashion) why will you be Miserable when you may be Happy? Why will you lie Pining, and Pinching your self in such a Lonesome Starving Course of Life as This is; when ’tis but going to Town along with me; to Enjoy all the Pleasures, and Plenty that your Heart can Wish? This was a Temptation the Country Mouse was not able to Resist; so that away they Trudg’d together, and about Midnight got to their Journeys End. The City Mouse shew’d her Friend the Larder, the Pantry, the Kitchin, and Other Offices where she laid her Stores; and after This, carry’d her into the Parlour, where they found, yet upon the Table, the Reliques of a Mighty Entertainment of That very Night. The City-Mouse Carv’d her Companion of what she lik’d Best, and so to’t they fell upon a Velvet Couch together: The Poor Bumkin that had never seen, nor heard of such Doings before, Bless’d her self at the Change of her Condition, when (as ill luck would have it) all on a Sudden, the Doors flew open, and in comes a Crew of Roaring Bullies, with their Wenches, their Dogs and their Bottles, and put the Poor Mice to their Wits End, how to save their Skins. The Stranger Especially, that had never been at This Sport before; but she made a Shift however for the present, to slink into a Corner, where she lay Trembling and Panting ’till the Company went their Way. So soon as ever the House was Quiet again, Well: My Court Sister, says she, If This be the Way of Your Town-Gamboles, I’ll e’en back to my Cottage, and my Mouldy Cheese again; for I had much rather lie Knabbing of Crusts, without either Fear or Danger, in my Own Little Hole, then be Mistress of the Whole World with Perpetual Cares and Alarums.

The Moral.

The Difference betwixt a Court and a Country Life. The Delights, Innocence, and Security of the One, Compar’d with the Anxiety, the Lewdness, and the Hazards of the Other.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XII. A Crow and a Muscle.

There was one of Your Royston-Crows, that lay Battering upon a Muscle, and could not for his Blood break the Shell to come at the Fish. A Carrion-Crow, in this Interim, comes up, and tells him, that what he could not do by Force, he might do by Stratagem. Take this Muscle up in the Air, says the Crow, as High as you can carry it, and then let him fall upon that Rock there; His Own Weight, You shall see, shall break him. The Roystoner took his Advice, and it succeeded accordingly; but while the One was upon Wing, the Other stood Lurching upon the Ground, and flew away with the Fish.

The Moral.

Charity begins at Home, they say; and most People are kind to their Neighbours for their Own sakes.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XIII. A Fox and a Raven.

A Certain Fox spy’d out a Raven upon a Tree with a Morsel in his mouth, that set his Chops a watering; but how to come at it was the Question. O thou Blessed Bird! (says he) the Delight of Gods, and of Men! and so he lays himself forth upon the Gracefulness of the Ravens Person, and the Beauty of his Plumes; His Admiral Gift of Augury, &c. And now, says the Fox, If thou hadst but a Voice answerable to the rest of thy Excellent Qualities, the Sun in the Firmament could not shew the World such Another Creature. This Nauseous Flattery sets the Raven immediately a Gaping as Wide as ever he could stretch, to give the Fox a taste of his Pipe; but upon the Opening of his Mouth he drops his Breakfast, which the Fox presently Chopt up, and then bad him remember, that whatever he had said of his Beauty, he had spoken nothing yet of his Brains.

The Moral.

There’s hardly any Man living that may not be wrought upon more or less by Flattery: For we do all of us Naturally Overween in our Own Favour: But when it comes to be Apply’d once to a Vain Fool, it makes him forty times an Arranter Sot than he was before.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XIV. An Old Lion.

A Lion that in the Days of his Youth and Strength, had been very Outragious and Cruel, came in the end to be Reduced by Old Age, and Infirmity, to the last Degree of Misery, and Contempt: Insomuch that All the Beasts of the Forrest; some out of Insolence, others in Revenge, some in fine, upon One Pretence, some upon Another, fell upon him by Consent. He was a Miserable Creature to all Intents and Purposes; but Nothing went so near the Heart of him in his Distress, as to find himself Batter’d by the Heel of an Asse.

The Moral.

A Prince that does not secure Friends to Himself while he is in Power and Condition to oblige them, must never expect to find Friends, when he is Old and Impotent, and no longer Able to do them any Good. If he Governs Tyrannically in his Youth, he will be sure to be Treated Contemptuously in his Age; and the Baser his Enemies are, the more Insolent, and Intollerable will be the Affront.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XV. An Asse and a Whelp.

A Gentleman had got a Favourite Spaniel, that would be still Toying and Leaping upon him, Licking his Cheeks, and playing a Thousand pretty Gamboles, which the Master was well enough pleas’d withall. This Wanton Humour succeeded so well with the Puppy, that an Asse in the House would needs go the same Gamesome Way to Work, to Curry favour for Himself too; but he was quickly given to understand, with a Good Cudgel, the Difference betwixt the One Play-Fellow and the Other.

The Moral.

People that live by Example, should do well to look very Narrowly into the Force and Authority of the President, without Saying, or Doing Things at a Venture: for that may Become One Man, which would be Absolutely Intolerable in Another, under Differing Circumstances.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XVI. A Lion and a Mouse.

Upon the Roaring of a Beast in the Wood, a Mouse ran presently out to see what News: and what was it, but a Lion Hamper’d in a Net! This Accident brought to her mind, how that she her self, but some few Days before, had fall’n under the Paw of a Certain Generous Lion, that let her go again. Upon a Strict Enquiry into the Matter, she found This to be that very Lion; and so set her self presently to Work upon the Couplings of the Net; Gnaw’d the Threds to pieces, and in Gratitude Deliver’d her Preserver.

The Moral.

Without Good Nature, and Gratitude, Men had as good live in a Wilderness, as in a Society. There is no Subject so Inconsiderable, but his Prince, at some time or Other, may have Occasion for him, and it holds through the Whole Scale of the Creation, that the Great and the Little have Need one of Another.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XVII. A Sick Kite and her Mother.

Pray Mother, (says a Sick Kite) Give over these Idle Lamentations, and let me rather have your Prayers. Alas! my Child, (says the Dam) which of the Gods shall I go to, for a Wretch that has Robb’d All their Altars?

The Moral.

Nothing but the Conscience of a Virtuous Life can make Death Easie to us; Wherefore there’s No trusting to the Distraction of an Agonizing, and a Death-bed Repentance.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XVIII. A Swallow and other Birds.

There was a country Fellow at work a Sowing his Grounds, and a Swallow (being a Bird famous for Providence and Foresight) call’d a company of Little Birds about her, and bad ’em take Good Notice what that Fellow was a doing. You must know (says the Swallow) that all the Fowlers Nets and Snares are made of Hemp, or Flax; and that’s the Seed that he is now a Sowing. Pick it up in time for fear of what may come on’t. In short, they put it off, till it took Root; and then again, till it was sprung up into the Blade. Upon this, the Swallow told ’em once for All, that it was not yet too Late to prevent the Mischief, if they would but bestir themselves, and set Heartily about it; but finding that no heed was given to what she said; She e’en bad adieu to her old Companions in the Woods, and so betook her self to a City Life, and to the Conversation of Men. This Flax and Hemp came in time to be gather’d, and Wrought, and it was this Swallows Fortune to see Several of the very same Birds that she had forewarn’d, taken in Nets, made of the very Stuff she told them of. They came at last to be Sensible of the folly of slipping their Opportunity; but they were Lost beyond All Redemption first.

The Moral.

Wise Men read Effects in their Causes, but Fools will not Believe them till ’tis too late to prevent the Mischief. Delay in these Cases is Mortal.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XIX. The Frogs Chuse a King.

In the days of Old, when the Frogs were All at liberty in the Lakes, and grown quite Weary of living without Government, they Petition’d Jupiter for a King, to the End that there might be some Distinction of Good and Evil, by Certain Equitable Rules and Methods of Rewards and Punishment. Jupiter, that knew the Vanity of their Hearts, threw them down a Log for their Governour; which upon the first Dash, frighted the whole Mobile of them into the Mudd for the very fear on’t. This Panick Terror kept them in Awe for a while, till in good time one Frog, Bolder then the Rest, put up his Head, and look’d about him, to see how squares went with their New King. Upon This, he calls his Fellow-Subjects together; Opens the truth of the Case; and Nothing would serve them then, but Riding a-top of him; Insomuch that the Dread they were in before, is now turn’d into Insolence, and Tumult. This King, they said, was too Tame for them, and Jupiter must needs be entreated to send ’em Another: He did so, but, Authors are divided upon it, whether ’twas a Stork, or a Serpent; though whether of the Two soever it was, he left them neither Liberty, nor Property, but made a Prey of his Subjects. Such was their Condition in fine, that they sent Mercury to Jupiter yet once again for Another King, whose Answer was This: They that will not be Contented when they are Well, must be Patient when things are Amiss with them: and People had better Rest where they are, than go farther, and fare Worse.

The Moral.

The Mobile are uneasie without a Ruler: They are as Restless with one; and the oftner they shift, the Worse they Are; So that Government, or No Government; a King of God’s Making, or of the Peoples, or none at all; the Multitude are never to be satisfied.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XX. The Kite, Hawk, and Pigeons.

The Pigeons finding themselves Persecuted by the Kite, made Choice of the Hawk for their Guardian. The Hawk sets up for their Protector; but under Countenance of That Authority, makes more Havock in the Dove-House in Two Days, then the Kite could have done in Twice as many Months.

The Moral.

’Tis a Dangerous Thing for People to call in a powerful and Ambitious man for their Protector; and upon the Clamour of here and there a Private person, to hazard the Whole Community.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXI. A Dog and a Thief.

As a Gang of Thieves were at work to Rob a House, a Mastiff took the Alarum, and fell a Baying: One of the Company spoke him fair, and would have Stopt his Mouth with a Crust: No, says the Dog, This will not do, for Several Reasons. First, I’ll take no Bribes to betray my master. Secondly, I am not such a fool neither, as to sell the Ease and Liberty of my Whole Life to come, for a piece of Bread in Hand: For when you have Rifled my Master; pray who shall Maintain Me?

The Moral.

Fair Words, Presents, and Flatteries, are the Methods of Treachery in Courts, as well as in Cottages, only the Dogs are Truer to their Masters then the Men.

REFLEXION.

When Ill Men take up a Fit of Kindness all on a sudden, and appear to be Better Natur’d then Usual, ’tis Good Discretion to suspect Fraud, and to lay their Words, and their Practices together: The Greater the Trust, the Greater is the Treachery, and the Baser is the Villany too. This Moral reaches to All sorts of Trustees whatsoever.

It were well if All Two-Footed Servants were but as Faithful to their Masters as This Four-Legg’d Animal. A Loaf of Bread was as much to Him as a Bag of Guineas to a Great-Officer; And why should not the One make as much Conscience of Betraying his Patron for Gold, as the Other of doing it for a Crust? Beside the Right Reasoning of the Dog upon the Consequence of Things. If I take Your Bread, (says he) You’ll Rob my Master. But in the Other case it is not so much a Deliberation of what will follow upon’t, as a kind of Tacit Composition, that does as good as say [For so much Mony I’ll shut my Eyes, and let You Rob my Master.] Here’s an Emblem now, of the Foresight, Fidelity, and Duty of a Trusty Servant, on the One hand, and of the Flattery, Arts and Practices that are Employ’d by Evil Men to Corrupt him, on the Other.

Under the figure of This Faithful Trusty Servant, is Couch’d a Lecture to All men of Business; let them be Councellors, Confidents, Favourites, Officers, Soldiers, Traders, or what you will. For there are Good and Bad of All Kinds and Professions. So that Æsop’s Dog is a Reproche to False Men. Publick Persons have their ways of Temptation, and Address, as well as Private; And He that Suffers a Government to be Abus’d by Carlesness, or Neglect, does the Same thing, with Him that Maliciously and Corruptly sets himself to Couzen it. This holds as well too in the Private Case, of being either Principal or Accessary to the Robbing of a House; Only the Former, is a Treachery of a Deeper Dye. There are Loaves at the Gates of Courts and Palaces, as well as at the Door of a Cottage; and to Encourage the Abuse, there are a Thousand Quirks to avoid the Stroke of the Law, though None to Avoid the Guilt of the Sin. There needs no Contract Express; No Explicit Confederacy; for the Consent, and the Assistance is Imply’d in receiving the Present; Or according to the Word in Fashion, the [Acknowledgment:] which is only a softer Name for a Bribe. Now this Acknowledgment is of the Nature of a Direct Bargain, where the Sum, or the Reward is agreed upon before the Thing be done; though there’s room yet for a Distinction, even in These Cases, betwixt what’s done Openly and Barefac’d, and a Thing that’s done in Hugger mugger, under a Seal of Secrecy and Concealment. But the Conscience at last is the Best Judg of the Fraud. And without any more Words, the Dog in the Fable perform’d All the Parts of a Trusty Servant.

Fab. XXII. A Wolf and a Sow.

A Wolf came to a Sow that was just lying down, and very kindly offer’d to take care of her Litter. The Sow as Civilly thank’d her for her Love, and desir’d she would be pleas’d to stand off a little, and do her the Good Office at a Distance.

The Moral.

There are no Snares so Dangerous as those that are laid for us under the Name of Good Offices.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXIII. A Mountain in Labour.

When Mountains cry out, people may well be Excus’d the Apprehension of some Prodigious Birth. This was the Case here in the Fable. The Neighbourhood were All at their Wits end, to consider what would be the Issue of That Labour, and instead of the Dreadful Monster that they Expected, Out comes at last a Ridiculous Mouse.

The Moral.

Much ado about Nothing.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXIV. An Asse and an Ungrateful Master.

A Poor Asse, that what with Age, Labour, and Hard Burdens, was now worn out to the Stumps in the Service of an Unmerciful Master, had the Ill Hap one day to make a False Step, and to fall down under his Load. His Driver runs up to him Immediately, and Beats him almost to Death for’t. This (says the Asse to himself) is according to the Course of the Ungrateful World. One Casual Slip is enough to Weigh down the Faithful and Affectionate Service of a Long Life.

Fab. XXV. An Old Dog and his Master.

An Old Dog, that in his Youth had led his Master many a Merry Chase, and done him all the Offices of a Trusty Servant, came at last, upon falling from his Speed and Vigor, to be Loaden at every turn with Blows and Reproches for’t. Why Sir, (says the Dog) My Will is as Good as ever it was; but my Strength and my Teeth are gone; and you might with as good a Grace, and Every jot as much Justice, Hang me up because I’m Old, as Beat me because I’m Impotent.

The Moral of the Two Fables above.

The Reward of Affection and Fidelity must be the Work of another World: Not but that the Conscience of Well Doing is a Comfort that may pass for a Recompence even in This; in Despite of Ingratitude and Injustice.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXVI. An Asse, an Ape, and a Mole.

An Asse and an Ape were Conferring Grievances. The Asse complain’d mightily for want of Horns, and the Ape was as much troubled for want of a Tail. Hold your Tongues Both of ye, says the Mole, and be Thankful for what you have, for the Poor Moles are Stark Blind, and in a Worse Condition then either of ye.

Fab. XXVII. The Hares and the Frogs.

Once upon a time the Hares found themselves mightily Unsatisfy’d with a Miserable Condition they Liv’d in, and call’d a Council to Advise upon’t. Here we live, says one of ’em at the Mercy of Men, Dogs, Eagles, and I know not how many Other Creatures and Vermin, that Prey upon us at Pleasure; Perpetually in Frights, Perpetually in Danger; And therefore I am absolutely of Opinion that we had better Die once for All, then live at This rate in a Continual Dread that’s Worse then Death it self. The Motion was Seconded and Debated, and a Resolution Immediately taken, One and All, to Drown Themselves. The Vote was no sooner pass’d, but away they Scudded with That Determination to the Next Lake. Upon this Hurry, there leapt a Whole Shoal of Frogs from the Bank into the Water, for fear of the Hares. Nay, then my Masters, says one of the Gravest of the Company, pray let’s have a little Patience. Our Condition I find is not altogether so bad as we fancy’d it; for there are those you see that are as much afraid of Us, as we are of Others.

The Moral of the Two Fables above.

There’s No Contending with the Orders and Decrees of Providence. He that Made us knows what’s Fittest for us; and Every man’s Own Lot (well understood and Manag’d) is Undoubtedly the Best.

REFLEXION.

’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.

Fab. XXVIII. A Wolf, Kid, and Goat.

A Goat that was going out one Morning for a Mouthful of Fresh Grass, Charg’d her Kid upon her Blessing, not to Open the Door till she came back, to any Creature that had not a Beard. The Goat was no sooner out of sight, but up comes a Wolf to the Door, that had Over-hear’d the Charge; and in a Small Pipe calls to the Kid to let her Mother come in. The Kid smelt out the Roguery, and bad the Wolf shew his Beard, and the Door should be open to him.

The Moral.

There never was any Hypocrite so Disguis’d but he had some Mark or Other yet to be known by.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXIX. A Dog, a Sheep, and a Wolf.

A Dog brought an Action of the Case against a Sheep, for some Certain Measures of Wheat, that he had lent him. The Plaintiff prov’d the Debt by Three Positive Witnesses, The Wolf, the Kite, and the Vultur. (Testes Probi & Legales.) The Defendant was cast in Costs and Damages, and forc’d to sell the Wool off his Back to Satisfie the Creditor.

The Moral.

’Tis not a Straw matter whether the Main Cause be Right or Wrong, or the Charge True or False; Where the Bench, Jury and Witnesses are in a Conspiracy against the Pris’ner.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXX. A Countryman and a Snake.

There was a Snake that Bedded himself under the Threshold of a Country-House: A Child of the Family happen’d to set his Foot upon’t; The Snake bit him, and he Dy’d on’t. The Father of the Child made a Blow at the Snake, but Miss’d his Aim, and only left a Mark behind him upon the Stone where he Struck. The Countryman Offer’d the Snake, some time after This, to be Friends again. No, says the Snake, so long as you have This Flaw upon the Stone in Your Eye, and the Death of the Child in your Thought, there’s No Trusting of ye.

The Moral.

In Matters of Friendship and Trust, we can never be too Tender; but yet there’s a Great Difference betwixt Charity and Facility. We may Hope Well in many Cases, but let it be without Venturing Neck, and All upon’t, for New-Converts are Slippery.

REFLEXION.

’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.

Fab. XXXI. A Fox and a Stork.

There was a Great Friendship once betwixt a Fox and a Stork, and the Former would needs Invite the Other to a Treat. They had Several Soups serv’d up in Broad Dishes and Plates, and so the Fox fell to Lapping himself, and bad his Guest Heartily Welcom to what was before him. The Stork found he was Put upon, but set so good a Face however upon his Entertainment; that his Friend by All means must take a Supper with Him That night in Revenge. The Fox made Several Excuses upon the Matter of Trouble and Expence, but the Stork in fine, would not be said Nay; So that at last, he promis’d him to come. The Collation was serv’d up in Glasses, with Long Narrow Necks, and the Best of Every thing that was to be had. Come (says the Stork to his Friend) Pray be as Free as if you were at home, and so fell to’t very Savourly Himself. The Fox quickly found This to be a Trick, though he could not but Allow of the Contrivance as well as the Justice of the Revenge. For such a Glass of Sweet-Meats to the One, was just as much to the Purpose, as a Plate of Porridge to the Other.

The Moral.

’Tis allowable in all the Liberties of Conversation to give a Man a Rowland for his Oliver, and to pay him in his Own Coin, as we say; provided always that we keep within the Compass of Honour, and Good Manners.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXXII. A Fox and a Carv’d Head.

As a Fox was rumidging among a Great many Carv’d Figures, there was One very Extraordinary Piece among the Rest. He took it up, and when he had Consider’d it a while, Well, (says he) What Pity ’tis, that so Exquisite an Outside of a Head should not have one Grain of Sense in’t.

The Moral.

’Tis not the Barber or the Taylor that makes the Man; and ’tis No New Thing to see a Fine Wrought Head without so much as One Grain of Salt in’t.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXXIII. A Daw and Borrow’d Feathers.

A Daw that had a mind to be Sparkish, Trick’d himself up With all the Gay Feathers he could Muster together: And upon the Credit of these Stoll’n, or Borrow’d Ornaments, he Valu’d himself above All the Birds in the Air Beside. The Pride of this Vanity got him the Envy of all his Companions, who, upon a Discovery of the Truth of the Case, fell to Pluming of him by Consent; and when Every Bird had taken his Own Feather; the Silly Daw had nothing left him to Cover his Nakedness.

The Moral.

We steal from one Another all manner of Ways, and to all manner of Purposes; Wit, as well as Feathers; but where Pride and Beggery Meet, People are sure to be made ridiculous in the Conclusion.

REFLEXION.

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.

Fab. XXXIV. An Ant and a Fly.

There happen’d a Warm Dispute betwixt an Ant and a Fly. Why, Where’s the Honour, or the Pleasure in the World, says the Fly, that I have not My Part in? Are not All Temples and Palaces open to me? Am not I the Taster to Gods and Princes, in All their Sacrifices and Entertainments? Am I not serv’d in Gold and Silver? And is not my Meat and Drink still of the Best? And all This, without either Mony or Pains? I trample upon Crowns, and Kiss what Ladies Lips I please. And what have you now to pretend to all this While? Why, says the Ant, You Value Your self upon the Access you have to the Altars of the Gods, the Cabinets of Princes, and to All Publick Feasts and Collations: And what’s all This but the Access of an Intruder, not of a Guest? For People are so far from Liking Your Company, that they Kill ye as fast as they can Catch ye. You are a Plague to ’em Wherever You come. Your very Breath has Maggots in’t, and for the Kiss you Brag of, what is it but the Perfume of the last Dunghil you Touch’d upon, once Remov’d; For My Part, I live upon what’s my Own, and Work Honestly in the Summer to Maintain my self in the Winter; Whereas the whole Course of Your Scandalous Life is only Cheating or Sharping, one Half of the Year, and Starving the Other.

The Moral.

Here’s An Emblem of Industry, and Luxury, set forth at large; with the Sober Advantages, and the Scandalous Excesses of the One and of the Other.

REFLEXION.

This Fable Marks out to us the Difference betwixt the Empty Vanity of Ostentation, and the Substantial Ornaments of Virtue. It shews that the Happiness of Life does not lie so much in the Enjoying of small Advantages, as in living free from Great Inconveniences, and that an Honest Mediocrity is Best. The Fly stands up for the Pride, the Luxury, and the Ambition of Courts, in the preference of Palaces, to Caves and Private Retreats. The Ant contents her self with the Virtue of Sobriety, Retirement, and Moderation: She lives upon her Own, Honestly Gotten and Possess’d without either Envy or Violence; Whereas the Fly is an Intruder, and a Common Smell-Feast, that Spunges upon Other Peoples Trenchers.

A Man can hardly fancy to himself a Truer Image of a Plain, Honest, Country Simplicity, then the Ant’s part of the Dialogue in this Fable. She takes pains for What she Eats; Wrongs No body; and so Creates no Enemies; She wants Nothing, and she Boasts of Nothing; Lives Contented with her Own, and Enjoyes all with a Good Conscience. This Emblem recommends to us the Blessings of a Virtuous Privacy, according to the just Measures of Right Nature, and in Few Words, comprizes the Sum of a Happy State.

The Fly, on the Contrary, leads a Lazy, Voluptuous, Scandalous, Sharking Life; Hateful wherever she comes, and in Perpetual Fears and Dangers. She Flutters, ’tis true, from place to place, from Feast to Feast, Brags of her Interest at Court, and of Ladies Favours: And what’s This Miserable Insect at last, but the very Picture of one of our Ordinary Trencher-Squires, that spend their time in Hopping from One Great man’s Table to Anothers, only to Pick up Scraps, and Intelligence, and to Spoil Good Company! I cannot see one of These Officious, Humble Companions, Skipping up and down from Levee to Levee, and making himself Necessary, wherever he thinks fit to be Troublesome: I cannot hear a Finical Fop Romancing, how the King took him aside at such a time; What the Queen said to him at Another; How many Ladies fell out who should have him to her self; What Discourse pass’d; Where he is to Eat to morrow; What Company; What Dishes; What Wine; Who Loves Who; and what Intrigues are afoot in Church and State, &c. Without more Words I cannot Hear the Chat, or see the Vanity of these Pragmatical Empty Busie-Bodies without thinking of the Fly in the Fable. And This Application was the True End of Writing it.

Fab. XXXV. A Frog and an Oxe.

As a Huge Over-grown Oxe was Grazing in a Meadow, an Old Envious Frog that stood Gaping at him hard by, call’d out to her Little Ones, to take Notice of the Bulk of That Monstrous Beast; and see, says she, if I don’t make my self now the Bigger of the Two. So she Strain’d Once, and Twice, and went still swelling on and on, till in the Conclusion she Forc’d her self, and Burst.

The Moral.

Betwixt Pride, Envy, and Ambition, men fancy Themselves to be Bigger then they are, and Other People to be Less: And This Tumour Swells it self at last ’till it makes All Fly.

REFLEXION.

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.