Soon as the trotting fteed he hears, He ftarts, he cocks his dapper ears; Away he fcours, affaults his hoof; Now near him fnarls, now barks aloof; With fhrill impertinence attends; Nor leaves him till the village ends.

It chanc'd, upon his evil day, A Pad came pacing down the way; The Cur, with never-ceafing tongue, Upon the passing trav'ler sprung, The Horse, from fcorn provok'd to ire, Flung backward; rolling in the mire, The Puppy howl'd, and bleeding lay; The Pad in peace purfu'd his way.

A Shepherd's Dog, who faw the deed, Detefting the vexatious breed, Bespoke him thus. When coxcombs prate, They kindle wrath, contempt, or hate. Thy teafing tongue had judgment ty'd, Thou hadft not, like a Puppy, dy'd.

FABLE XLVII.

The Court of Death.

DEATH, on a folemn night of fate,

In all his pomp of terrour fate :
Th' attendants of his gloomy reign,
Diseases dire, a ghaftly train!

Crowd the vaft court. With hollow tone
A voice thus thunder'd from the throne.

This night our minifter we name, Let ev'ry servant speak his claim; Merit fhall bear this ebon wand. All, at the word, ftretch'd forth their hand.

Fever, with burning heat poffefs'd, Advanc'd, and for the wand address'd.

I to the weekly bills appeal, Let those express my fervent zeal; On ev'ry flight occafion near, With violence I persevere.

Next Gout appears with limping pace, Pleads how he shifts from place to place,

From head to foot how swift he flies,
And ev'ry joint and finew plies;
Still working when he seems fuppreft,
A moft tenacious ftubborn gueft.

A haggard Spectre from the crew Crawls forth, and thus afferts his due. 'Tis I who taint the sweetest joy, And in the fhape of love deftroy: My Thanks, funk eyes, and nofeless face Prove my pretenfion to the place.

Stone urg'd his ever-growing force. And, next, Consumption's meagre corse, With feeble voice, that scarce was heard, Broke with short coughs, his fuit preferr❜d. Let none object my ling'ring way, I gain, like FABIUS, by delay, Fatigue and weaken ev'ry foe By long attack, secure though flow.

Plague represents his rapid pow'r, Who thinn'd a nation in an hour.

All spoke their claim, and hop'd the wand. Now expectation hufh'd the band,

When thus the Monarch from the throne.

Merit was ever modeft known. What, no Phyfician fpeak his right! None here? But fees their toils requite. Let then Intemp'rance take the wand, Who fills with gold their zealous hand. You, Fever, Gout, and all the reft, (Whom wary men, as foes, deteft), Forgo your claim; no more pretend : Intemp'rance is efteem'd a friend; He shares their mirth, their focial joys, And, as a courted gueft, deftroys. The charge on him muft justly fall, Who finds employment for you all.

FABLE XLVIII.

The Gardener and the Hog.

A GARD'NER, of peculiar tafte,
On a young Hog his favour plac'd;
Who fed not with the common herd;
His tray was to the hall preferr'd;
He wallow'd underneath the board,
Or in his mafter's chamber fnor'd,
Who fondly ftroak'd him ev'ry day,
And taught him all the puppy's play;

Where'er he went, the grunting "friend
Ne'er fail'd his pleasure to attend.

As, on a time, the loving pair

Walk'd forth to tend the garden's care, The Mafter thus address'd the Swine.

My house, my garden, all is thine; On turnips feaft whene'er you please, And riot in my beans and peafe; If the potatoe's tafte delights, Or the red carrot's fweet invites, Indulge thy morn and evening hours, But let due care regard my flow'rs; My tulips are my garden's pride. What vaft expense those beds fupply'd!

The Hog by chance one morning roam'd, Where with new ale the veffels foam'd; He munches now the fteaming grains, Now with full fwill the liquor drains; Intoxicating fumes arise;

He reels, he rolls his winking eyes, Then fagg'ring through the garden fcours, And treads down painted ranks of flow'rs. With delving fnout he turns the foil, And cools his palate with the spoil.