Part 14

A Wolf in quest of prey, happened to fall in with a well-fed Mastiff. Ah, Tray, said he, one does not need to ask how you do, you look so plump and hearty. I wish I were as well provided for; but my gaunt looks shew that I fare very differently, although I dare say I venture my life ten times more than you do, in searching for a precarious subsistence, amidst woods and wilds, exposed to rain, and frost, and snow. If you will follow me, replies the Dog, and do as I do, I have no doubt you will change for the better, and soon be in as good plight as I am. The Wolf eagerly requested to be informed what would be required of him. Very little, replied the Mastiff; only drive away beggars, guard the master’s house, caress him, and be submissive to his family, and you will be well fed and warmly lodged. To these conditions the Wolf had no objections; but as they were jogging along, he observed the hair worn off around the Dog’s neck, and enquired the cause. O nothing, answered he, or a mere trifle; perhaps the collar, to which my chain is fastened, has left a mark. Chain! replied the Wolf, with some surprize; so then you are not permitted to go where and when you please? Not always, said Tray; but what does that signify? It signifies so much, rejoined the Wolf, that I am resolved to partake of no sumptuous fare with a chain about my neck; for half a meal, with liberty, is preferable to a full one without it.

APPLICATION.

True greatness of soul will never give up liberty for any consideration whatever; for what are riches, grandeur, titles, or any other worldly good, if they are holden by so precarious a tenure as the arbitrary will of a tyrant! A mere competency, with liberty, is preferable to servitude amidst the greatest affluence; and even the lowest condition in life, with freedom, is better than the most exalted station without it. But liberty in a state of society does not consist in doing whatsoever we please; but only permits those actions by which we do no injustice to our neighbour, or to the community. The well-being of society requires the efforts of all, from the highest to the lowest, to preserve and support it; and since it appears to be the will of Omnipotence, that mankind should live in this state of social union (which does not admit of the unbridled freedom of the savage state) a certain portion of individual liberty must be given up for the good of the whole; but the sacrifice should be bounded by the common good: all beyond approaches towards slavery, and degrades the people who submit to it.

THE FLYING FISH AND THE DOLPHIN.

The Flying Fish, to avoid its enemies, leaves the water, takes wing, and mounts up into the air. The Dolphin is one of the most constant of these enemies; and its velocity through the liquid element, it is said, surpasses that of every living creature, insomuch that as it darts along, the brilliancy and changeableness of its colours, which cannot be described, appear like the flash of a meteor. A Flying Fish being pursued by a Dolphin, in his eagerness to escape, took too long a flight, and his wings becoming dry, he fell upon a rock, where his death was inevitable. The Dolphin, in the keenness of his pursuit, ran himself on shore at the foot of the rock, and was left by the wave, gasping in the same condition as the other. Well, says the Flying Fish, I must die it is certain; but it is some consolation to behold my merciless enemy involved in the same fate.

APPLICATION.

When brought low by a cruel and insolent oppressor, there is no torture we feel more poignantly, than to see him triumphantly exulting in our downfal; and the opposite extreme must take place in our minds, on seeing our enemy over-shoot his mark, and in his turn brought down to the same level of distress with ourselves. The temper that is not touched with feelings of this kind, must be of a highly philosophical cast indeed. The great and powerful, for the sake of their own peace of mind, should not unfeelingly persecute their inferiors; for nothing is more sweet to some tempers, and scarcely any thing more easy to compass, than revenge.

THE LION AND THE FROG.

The Lion hearing an odd kind of hollow voice, and seeing nobody, started up: he listened again, and hearing the noise repeated, he trembled and quaked for fear. At last, seeing a Frog crawl out of the lake, and finding that the noise he had heard was nothing but the croaking of that little creature, he went up to it with great anger; but checking himself, turned away from it, ashamed of his own timidity.

APPLICATION.

The early prejudices of a wrong education can only be eradicated from the strongest minds. The weak retain them through life. This Fable is a pretty image of the vain fears and empty terrors, with which our weak misguided nature is so apt to be alarmed and disturbed. If we hear but ever so little noise which we are not able to account for, immediately, nay, often before we give ourselves time to consider about it, we are struck with fear, and labour under a most unmanly and unreasonable trepidation; more especially if the alarm happens when we are alone, and in the dark. These fears are ingrafted into our minds very early, and therefore it is the more difficult, even when we are grown up, and ashamed of them, to root them out of our nature. They are chiefly the offspring of the nursery, and originate in the many terrific tales, and lying stories, of those who have the management there; and though every pains be afterwards taken to free the mind from the impression of such groundless fears, the weaker part of mankind are still apt to be terrified at the empty phantoms of ghosts, spectres, apparitions, and hobgoblins. But whatever effect such phantasies may have upon the guilty mind, innocence has nothing to dread from supernatural causes. Fear is however a natural passion, and its use is to put us upon our guard against danger, by alarming the spirits; but it, like all our other passions, should be kept in a state of subjection: for though they are all good and useful servants, yet if once they get the better of our reason, they prove the most domineering tyrants imaginable; nor do any of them treat us in so abject and slavish a manner as fear: it unnerves and enfeebles our limbs, while it fetters our understandings; and at the same time that it represents a danger near at hand, disarms and makes us incapable of defending ourselves from it. But we ought to call forth a sense of honour and shame, to correct such weaknesses; and for this purpose it will be useful to remember the Fable of the Lion and the Frog.

THE KID AND THE WOLF.

A Kid being mounted upon the roof of a high shed, and seeing a Wolf below, took the opportunity of affronting him with the foulest reproaches: upon which the Wolf looking up, replied, Do not value yourself, vain creature, upon thinking you mortify me, for I look upon this ill-language not as coming from you, but from the place which protects you.

APPLICATION.

Place a coward out of the reach of danger, and then no man can put on an appearance of greater courage. In his castle he makes a great deal more bluster and threatening than a man of spirit and honour would do, if placed in the same situation. A similar kind of overbearing behaviour too often shews itself in the upstart worthless placeman, who taking advantage of his situation, which protects him, and knowing that he is out of the reach of our resentment, exhibits all the “insolence of office:” but such should be put in mind, that a saucy deportment is no sign of either courage, good sense, or good manners, and that a gentleman and a man of spirit will use no ill or unbecoming language to any person, however low in station.

THE COUNTRY AND THE CITY MOUSE.

A plain Country Mouse was one day unexpectedly visited at his hole, by a fine Mouse of the town, who had formerly been his play-fellow. The honest rustic, pleased with the honour, resolved to entertain his friend as sumptuously as possible. He set before him a reserve of delicate grey pease and bacon, a dish of fine oatmeal, some parings of new cheese, and to crown all with a dessert, a remnant of a charming mellow apple. When the repast was nearly finished, the spark of the town, taking breath, said, Old Crony, give me leave to be a little free with you; how can you bear to live in this melancholy hole here, with nothing but woods, and meadows, and mountains, and rivulets about you? Do you not prefer the conversation of the world to the chirping of birds, and the splendour of the court, to the rude aspect of a wild like this? With many flowery arguments, he at last prevailed upon his country friend to accompany him to town, and about midnight they safely entered a certain great house, where there had been an entertainment the day before. Here it was the courtier’s turn to entertain, and placing his guest on a rich Persian carpet, they both began to regale most deliciously, when on a sudden the noise of somebody opening the door, made them scuttle in confusion about the dining-room. The rustic in particular was ready to die with fear at the many hair-breadth escapes which followed. At last, recovering himself, Well, says he, if this be your town-life, much good may it do you. Give me my poor quiet hole again, with my homely, but comfortable grey pease.

APPLICATION.

A moderate fortune, with a quiet retirement in the country, is preferable to the greatest affluence, attended with the care and the perplexity of business. How often are we deceived by the specious shows of splendour and magnificence; and what a poor exchange does he make, who gives up ease and content in an humble situation, to engage in difficulties, and encounter perils in affluence and luxury! The ploughman in the field, who labours for his daily pittance, earns his bread with less uneasiness and fatigue, than the man who haunts levees to obtain wealth and preferment. Riches, properly used, are indeed very conducive to ease and happiness; but if we leave any comfortable situation to procure them, or abuse the possession of them by riot and intemperance, we resign the end for the means, mistake the shadow for the substance, and convert the instruments of good fortune into the engines of anxiety and solicitude.

THE ONE-EYED DOE.

A Doe that had lost an eye, used to graze near the sea; and that she might be the more secure from harm, she kept her blind side towards the water, from whence she had no apprehension of danger, and with the other surveyed the country as she fed. By this vigilance and precaution, she thought herself in the utmost security; but a sly fellow, with two poaching companions, who had watched her several days to no purpose, at last took a boat, and came gently down upon her, and shot her. The Doe, in the agonies of death, breathed out this doleful complaint: O hard fate, that I should receive my death’s wound from the side whence I expected no ill, and be safe in that quarter where I looked for the most danger.

APPLICATION.

We are liable to many misfortunes that no care or foresight can prevent; but we ought to provide in the best way we can against them, and leave the rest to Providence. The wisest of men have their foibles or blind sides, and have their enemies too, who watch to take advantage of their weaknesses. It behoves us therefore to look to ourselves on the blind side, as the part that lies most exposed to an attack. Vigilance and caution are commonly our best preservatives from evil, and security is often a fatal enemy, when we cherish it so as to lull all our apprehensions to rest. We should not however encourage in ourselves the slavish principle of fear, nor make ourselves miserable on account of latent evils, which it is not in our power to prevent. The ways and workings of Providence are inscrutable; and it is not in the power of human prudence to obviate all the accidents of life.

THE TREES AND THE WOODMAN.

A Countryman being in want of a handle for his hatchet, entered a wood and looked among the branches for one that would suit his purpose. The Trees, with a curiosity natural to some other creatures, asked him what he was seeking? He replied that he only wanted a piece of wood to make a handle to his axe, and begged they would be so good as to permit him to serve himself. Since that is all, said the Trees, help yourself, and welcome. He immediately availed himself of the permission, and had no sooner fitted up his instrument, than he began pell-mell to cut and hack about him, felling the noblest trees in all the forest, without distinction. The Oak is said to have spoke thus to the Beech, in a low whisper: Brother, we must take all this for our easy credulity, and imprudent generosity.

APPLICATION.

One would imagine that the natural principle of self-preservation implanted in us, would make it unnecessary to caution any one not to furnish an enemy with arms against himself. Yet daily experience shews us that such instances of imprudence are not uncommon. In this life we are liable to be surrounded with calamities and distresses: we should therefore be cautious of adding to our misfortunes, by our own want of caution, and of putting power into the hands of those enemies, which our merit or our affluence may tempt to rise up against us. Any person in a community, by what name or title soever distinguished, who affects a power which may possibly hurt a people, is their enemy, and therefore they ought not to trust him: for though he were ever so fully determined not to abuse such a power, yet he is so far a bad man, as he disturbs a nation’s quiet, and makes them jealous and uneasy, by desiring to have it, or even retaining it, when it may prove mischievous. If we consult history, we shall find that the thing called prerogative, has been claimed and contended for chiefly by those who never intended to make a good use of it; and as readily resigned by wise and just princes, who had the true interest of their people at heart. How like senseless stocks do they act, who, by complimenting some capricious mortal, from time to time, with scraps of prerogative, at last put it out of their power to maintain their just and natural liberty!

THE EAGLE AND THE CROW.

An Eagle flew down from the top of a high rock, and making a stoop at a Lamb, seized it with her strong talons, and bore aloft her bleating prize to her young. A Crow observing what passed, was ambitious of performing the same exploit, and darted down upon a Ram; but instead of being able to carry it up into the air, she found she had got her claws entangled in its fleece, and could neither move herself nor her fancied prize. Thus fixed, she was soon taken by the Shepherd, and given away to some boys, who eagerly enquired what bird it was? An hour ago, said he, she fancied herself an Eagle; however I suppose she is by this time convinced that she is but a Crow.

APPLICATION.

It is impossible for any man to take a true measure of the abilities of another, without an exact knowledge and true judgment of his own; a false estimate of which always exposes him to ridicule, and sometimes to danger. Every man ought therefore to examine the strength of his own mind with attention and impartiality, and not fondly to flatter himself that he can by an awkward and ill-judged emulation soar to the height which has been attained by men endowed by nature with great abilities and original talents, matured by industry. We can no more adopt the genius of another man, than we can assume his shape and person. The bright original in every department of the arts and sciences will be valued and esteemed, whilst his puny imitators will be treated with neglect, or be despised. Almost every man has something original in himself, which, if duly cultivated, might perhaps procure him respect and applause, and it is creditable for him to endeavour justly to obtain them.

THE HORSE AND THE STAG.

In ancient times, when the Horse and the Deer ranged the forest with uncontrolled freedom, it happened that contentions arose between them about grazing in particular meadows. These disputes ended in a conflict between them, in which the Deer proved victorious, and with his sharp horns drove the Horse from the pasture. Full of disappointment and chagrin, the Horse applied to the Man, and craved his assistance, in order to re-establish him in the possession of his rights. The request was granted, on condition that he would suffer himself to be bridled, saddled, and mounted by his new ally, with whose assistance he entirely defeated his enemy; but the poor Horse was mightily disappointed when, upon returning thanks to the Man, and desiring to be dismissed, he received this answer: No, I never knew before how useful a drudge you were; now I have found what you are good for, you may be assured I will keep you to it.

APPLICATION.

Victories may be purchased at too dear a rate, if we solicit the assistance of allies capable of becoming our most formidable enemies, and it will be vain to flatter ourselves, that the yoke of slavery, if we once willingly suffer it to be laid upon our shoulders, can be easily shaken off, when the ends for which we bore it are accomplished. The Fable is intended to caution us against consenting to any thing that might prejudice public liberty, as well as to keep us upon our guard in the preservation of that which is of a private nature. This is the use and interpretation given of it by Horace, one of the best and most polite philosophers that ever wrote. After reciting the Fable, he applies it thus: This, says he, is the case of him, who, dreading poverty, parts with that invaluable jewel, liberty; like a wretch as he is, he will always be subject to a tyrant of some sort or another, and be a slave for ever, because his avaricious spirit knew not how to be contented with that moderate competency, which he might have possessed independent of all the world.

THE MILLER, HIS SON, AND THEIR ASS.

A Miller and his Son were taking their Ass to market to sell him, and that he might get thither in good condition, they drove him gently before them. They had not proceeded far before they met a company of travellers: Sure, say they, you are mighty careful of your Ass; one of you might as well get up and ride, as suffer him to walk on at his ease, while you trudge after on foot. In compliance with this advice, the Old Man set his Son upon the beast. And now, they had scarcely advanced a quarter of a mile further, before they met another company. You idle young rogue, said one, why dont you get down, and let your poor father ride? Upon this, the Old Man made his Son dismount, and got up himself. While they were marching in this manner, a third company began to insult the father. You hard-hearted wretch, say they, how can you suffer that poor lad to wade through the dirt, while you, like an alderman, ride at your ease? The good-natured Miller stood corrected, and immediately took his Son up behind him. And now the next man they met exclaimed, with more vehemence and indignation than all the rest, Was there ever such a couple of lazy loobies! to overload in so unconscionable a manner, a poor dumb creature, who is far less able to carry you, than you are to carry him! The complying Old Man would have been half inclined to make the trial, had not experience by this time sufficiently convinced him, that there cannot be a more fruitless attempt, than to endeavour to please all mankind.

APPLICATION.

It is better to pursue the dictates of one’s own reason, than attempt to please every body; for to do this is next to impossible. Therefore we ought to decide according to the best of our judgment, and correct our mistakes from our own experience. Wise men are instructed by reason; men of less understanding by experience; the most ignorant by necessity; and beasts by instinct. When a man so neglects himself, as not to make a just use of his reason and his mental powers, in combating with prejudice and folly, as well as the caprice of others, he will ever be led on in a maze of error, wavering and embarrassed about pursuing this or that path, until between them he is lost in a labyrinth, from which he will never be able to extricate himself as long as he lives.

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER.

A commonwealth of Ants, having, after a busy summer, provided every thing for their wants in the winter, were about shutting themselves up for that dreary season, when a Grasshopper in great distress, and in dread of perishing with cold and hunger, approached their avenues, and with great humility begged they would relieve his wants, and permit him to take shelter in any corner of their comfortable mansion. One of the Ants asked him how he had disposed of his time in summer, that he had not taken pains and laid in a stock, as they had done? Alas! my friends, says he, I passed away the time merrily and pleasantly, in drinking, singing, and dancing, and never once thought of winter. If that be the case, replied the Ant, all I have to say is this: that they who drink, sing, and dance in the summer, run a great risk of starving in the winter.

APPLICATION.

As summer is the season in which the industrious laborious husbandman lays up his supplies for the winter, so youth and manhood are the times of life which we should employ in laying in such a stock as may suffice for helpless old age; yet there are many whom we call rational creatures, who squander away in a profuse prodigality, whatever they get in their younger days, as if the infirmity of age would require no supplies to support it, or at least would find them administered to it in some miraculous way. From this Fable we learn this admirable lesson, never to lose the present opportunity of fairly and honestly providing against the future evils and accidents of life; and while health and the vigour of our faculties remain firm and entire, to lay them out to the best advantage; so that when age and infirmities despoil us of our strength and abilities, we may not have to bewail that we have neglected to provide for the wants of our latter days: for it should always be remembered, that “a youth of revels breeds an age of care,” and that temperance in youth lays the foundation of health and comfort for old age.

THE HORSE AND THE LION.

An old Lion, finding that many of the beasts had become too nimble for him, and that he could not come at his prey so readily as before, craftily gave out that he had long studied physic and surgery in foreign countries, and that he could cure every kind of disorder to which the beasts were liable. These professions having been spread abroad, he hoped to get many of the animals to come within his clutches. The Horse seeing through the whole of the scheme, was resolved to be even with him; and so humouring the thing as if he suspected nothing, he feigned himself to be in great pain from a wound in his foot, and limping up to the Lion, he begged he would examine the part and administer relief. The Lion, though intent only upon making a good meal of horse-flesh, begged the Horse to hold up his foot that he might see it: this was no sooner done, than the Horse gave him so violent a blow on the nose, as quite stunned him, and scampered off, neighing at the success of a trick, which had defeated the purpose of one who intended to have tricked him out of his life.

APPLICATION.