The man befought the fhaggy lord,
And on his knees for life implor'd.
His life the gen'rous hero gave..
Together walking to his cave,
The Lyon thus befpoke his guest:
What hardy beaft fhall dare conteft
My matchless strength! You faw the fight,
And must atteft my power and right.
Forc'd to forgoe their native home,
My starving flaves at diftance roam.
Within these woods I reign alone;
The boundlefs forreft is my own.
Bears, wolves, and all the favage brood,
Have dy'd the regal den with blood.
Thefe carcafes on either hand,
Thefe bones that whiten all the land,
My former deeds and triumphs tell,
Beneath thefe jaws what numbers feil.
True, fays the man, the ftrength I faw
Might well the brutal nation awe :
But fhall a monarch, brave like you,
Place glory in fo falfe a view?
Robbers invade their neighbour's right..
Be lov'd let juftice bound your might.
Mean are ambitious heroes boasts
Of wasted lands, and flaughter'd hofts.
Pirates their power by murders gain.
Wife kings by love and mercy reign.
To me your clemency hath shown
The virtue worthy of a throne.
Heav'n gives you power above the rest,
Like heav'n, to fuccour the diftreft.
The cafe is plain, the monarch faid,
False glory hath my youth misled;
For beafts of prey, a fervile train,`
Have been the flatt'rers of my reign.
You reafon well: Yet tell me, friend,
Did ever you in courts attend?
For all my fawning rogues agree,
That human heroes rule like me..
FABLE II.
The SPANIEL and the CAMELEON.
A Spaniel, bred with all the care
That waits, upon a favourite heir;
Ne'er felt correction's rigid hand;
Indulg'd to difobey command,
In pamper'd eafe his hours were spent.
He never knew what learning meant.
Such forward airs, fo pert, fo fmart,
Were fure to win his lady's heart..
Each little mifchicf gain'd him praise.
How pretty were his fawning ways!
The wind was fouth, the morning fair,
He ventures forth to take the air.
He ranges all the meadow round,
And rolls upon the fofteft ground:
When near him a Cameleon feen,
Was fcarce diftinguifh'd from the green.
Dear emblem of the flatt'ring host,
What, live with clowns! a genius loft!
To cities and the court repair.
A fortune cannot fail thee there.
Preferment fall thy talents crown.
Believe me, friend; I know the town.
Sir, fays the fycophant, like you,
Of old, politer life I knew:
Like you a courtier born and bred,
Kings lean'd their ear to what I faid.
My whisper always met fuccefs;
The ladies prais'd me for addrefs.
I knew to hit each courtier's paffion,
And flatter'd every vice in fashion.
But Jove, who hates the liar's ways,
At once cut fhort my profperous days;
And, fentenc'd to retain my nature,
Transform'd me to this crawling creature.
Doom'd to a life obfcure and mean,
I wander in the fylvan fcene.
For Jove the heart alone regards;
He punishes what man rewards.
How diff'rent is thy cafe and mine!
With men at leaft you fup and dine;
While I, condemn'd to thinneft fare,
Like those I flatter'd, feed on air.
The MOTHER, the NURSE, and the FAIRY.
The bleffing fent,
I Were ever parents more content?
How partial are their doating eyes!
No child is half fo fair and wife.
Wak'd to the morning's pleafing care,
The mother rofe, and fought her heir.
She faw the nurfe, like one poffefs'd,
With wringing hands, and fobbing breast.
Sure fome difafter has befel.
Speak, Nurfe; I hope the boy is well.
Dear Madam, think not me to blame;
Invisible the Fairy came:
Your precious babe has hence convey'd,
And in the place a changeling laid.
Where are the father's mouth and nose,
The mother's eyes, as black as floes?
See here, a shocking awkward creature,
That fpeaks a fool in every feature.
The woman's blind, the mother cries;
I fee wit fparkle in his eyes.
Lord! Madam, what a fquinting leer!
No doubt the Fairy hath been here.
Juft as the fpoke, a pigmy (p'tit
Pops through the key-hole, fwift as light;
Perch'd on the cradle's top he stands,
And thus her folly reprimands.
Whence fprung the vain conceited lie,,
That we the world with fools fupply?
What! give our fprightly race away,
For the dull helplefs fons of clay !
Befides, by partial fondness shown,
Like you we doat upon our own.
Where yet was ever found a mother,
Who'd give her booby for another?
And should we change with human breed,
Well might we país for fools indeed.
The EAGLE and the assembly of ANIMALS.
S Jupiter's all-feeing eye
Survey'd the worlds beneath the sky,
From this fmall fpeck of earth were fent
Murmurs, and founds of difcontent:
For ev'ry thing alive complain'd,
That he the hardest life fuftain'd.
Jove calls his Eagle.. At the word,
Before him ftands the royal bird..
The bird, obedient, from heav'n's height,
Downward directs his rapid flight;
Then cited ev'ry living thing
To hear the mandates of his king.
Ungrateful creatures, whence arife
Thefe murmurs which offend the fkies?
Why this disorder? fay the cause :
For just are Jove's eternal laws.
Let each his difcontent reveal.
To you four dog I firft appeal.
Hard is my lot, the hound replies.
On what fleet nerves the greyhound flies!
While I, with weary ftep, and flow,
O'er planes, 1 vales, and mountains go.
The morning fees my chace begun;
Nor ends it till the fetting fun.
When (fays the greyhound) I pursue,
My game is loft, or caught in view:
Beyond my fight the prey's fecure.
The hound is flow, but always fure.
And had I his fagacious fcent,
Jove ne'er had heard my difcontent.
The lion crav'd the fox's art;
The fox, the lion's force and heart.
The cock implor'd the pigeon's flight,
Whofe wings were rapid, ftrong and light:
The pigeon ftrength of wing defpis'd,
And the cock's matchlefs valour priz❜d.
The fishes wish'd to graze the plane;
The beafts, to fkim beneath the main.
Thus, envious of another's ftate,
Each blam'd the partial hand of fate.
The bird of heaven then cry'd aloud,
Jove bids difperfe the murm'ring crowd;
The god rejects your idle prayers.
Would ye, rebellious mutineers,
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