A

CXLI. The HORSE and the Ass.

Horfe adorned with warlike accoutrements, came thundering and neighing along the way, where he overtook an Afs with a heavy burthen, moving flowly on; he immediately in a haughty, imperious tone, threatened to trample him in the dirt, if he did not break the way for him: The poor Afs quietly got out of his way, and let him pafs by. Soon after, the Horfe, in an engagement with the enemy, loft one of his eyes, which rendering him unfit for fhew, or any military bufinefs, he was ftripped of his ornaments, and fold to a Carrier: The Afs meeting him in this forlorn condition, Hey, Friend, fays he, is it you? Well, I always thought that Pride of yours would one day have a fall.Pride is a moft unaccountable vice; many are led into it by motives, which, did they rightly confider, would make them abhor it. Whoever thinks well of himfelf, defires others fhould. do fo too: It is an affectation of appearing confiderable, that makes men proud and infolent; and their being fo, infallibly renders them little and inconfiderable.

ROMETHEUS formed Man of the fineft clay, and animated his work with all the faculties that are to be found amongst the animal creation: He gave him the courage of the Lion, the fubtilty of the Fox, the providence of the Ant, and the industry of the Bee; and he enabled him, by the fuperiority of his understanding, to fubdue them all, and to make them fubfervient to his ufe and pleafure: He difcovered to him the metals hidden in the bowels of the earth, and fhewed him their feveral ufes: He inftructed him in every thing that might tend to cultivate and civilize human life: He taught him to till the ground, and to

I 2

improve

improve the fertility of nature; to build houfes, to cover himself with garments, and to defend himself against the inclemencies of the air and feafons; to compound medicines of falutary herbs, to heal wounds, and to cure difeafes; to conftruct fhips, to cross the feas, and to communicate to every country the riches of all. In a word, he endowed him with fenfe and memory, with fagacity and invention, with art and fcience; and to crown all, he gave him an infight into futurity. But, alas! this latter gift, inftead of improving, wholly deftroyed the proper effect of all the former. Furnished with all the means and inftruinents of happiness, Man nevertheless was miferable ; through the knowledge and dread of future evil, he was incapable of enjoying prefent good. Prometheus faw, and immediately refolved to remedy this inconvenience: He effectually restored man to a capacity of happiness, by depriving him of prefcience, and giving him Hope in its ftead.

A

CXLIII.

The Boy and the NETTLE.

Little Boy, playing in the fields, chanced to be ftung by a Nettle, and came crying to his father: He told him, he had been hurt by that nafty weed feveral times before; that he was always afraid of it; and that now he did but just touch it, as lightly as poffible, when he was fo feverely ftung. Child, fays he, your touching it fo gently and timoroufly is the very reafon of its hurting you. A Nettle may be handled fafely, if you do it with courage and refoluon: If you feize it boldly, and grip it faft, depend upon it, it will never fting you: And you will meet with many forts of perfons, as well as things in the world, which ought to be treated in the very fame

manner.

CXLIV. The

CXLIV. JUPITER'S LOTTERY.

UPITER, in order to please mankind, directed

Lottery, in which there were no Blanks; and amongst a variety of other valuable chances, Wisdom was the higheft prize. It was Jupiter's command, that in this Lottery fome of the Gods fhould also become Adventurers. The Tickets being difpofed of, and the wheels placed, Mercury was employed to prefide at the drawing. It happened that the best prize fell to Minerva : Upon which a general murmur ran through the affembly, and hints were thrown out that Jupiter had used fome unfair practices to fecure this defirable lot to his daughter. Jupiter, that he might at once both punish and filence these impious clamours of the human race, presented them with Folly in the place of Wisdom; with which they went away perfectly well fatisfied : And from that time the greatest Fools have always looked upon themselves as the wifest Men.

A

CXLV. The Ass in the LION'S SKIN.

N Afs put on the Skin of a Lion, and going into the woods and pastures, he put the flocks and herds into a fad confternation: At laft, meeting his owner, he would have frighted him alfo; but presently knowing him by his long ears, he with at good cudgel made him fenfible he was ftill an Afs, though dreffed in a Lion's Skin.--All affectation tends to expofe and make man ridiculous. To affume any character, to which the perfon is not equal, is extreme folly; therefore, he who puts on a fhew of Learning, of Religion, of any Virtue or Knowledge, to which he has no claim, is, and ever will be esteemed, An Afs in a Lion's Skin.

CXLVI. The MUSHROOM and the ACORN.

N Acorn fell from the top of an old venerable

A Oak, Full on the head of a Mushroom that unΑ

happily fprung up beneath it. Wounded by the blow, the Mushroom complained of the incivility. Impertinent upstart, replied the Acorn, why didft thou, with familiar boldness, approach fo near thy fuperiors? Shall the wretched offspring of a dunghill presume to raife its head upon a fpot ennobled by my ancestor for fo many generations? I do not mean, returned the Mushroom, to difpute the honour of thy birth, or to put my own in competition with it. On the contrary, I must acknowledge, that I hardly know from whence I fprung: But fure it is merit, and not mere ancestry, that obtains the regard of thofe, whofe approbation is truly valuable. I have little perhaps to boaft, but furely thou who haft thus infulted me, canft have no pretence to any. I please the palates of mankind, and give a poignant flavour to their most elegant entertainments; while thou, with all thy boafted ancestry, art only fit to fatten hogs upon.

CXLVII.

The THIEF and the DOG.

Thief attempting to rob a house, was disturbed by the barking of a vigilant Dog; the Thief thought to ftop his mouth with a piece of bread, but the Dog with indignation refused it, telling him, that as he was intrufted with the care of his master's house, he would not ceafe barking while fuch a rogue was Jurking about it.It is a known maxim to suspect an enemy the more for his endeavouring to convince us of his friendship or benevolence; and we ought to be upon our watch against indifferent people, when they are uncommonly forward in their civility and kindnefs.

CXLVI11. The

CXLVIII. The Owl and the NIGHTINGALE.

habitation in a grove amongst the ruins of an old monastery, and had pored fo often on fome mouldy manuscripts, the ftupid relicks of a monkish library, that he grew infected with the pride and pedantry of the place; and miftaking gravity for wisdom, would fit whole days with his eyes half fhut, fancying himself profoundly learned. It happened as he fat one evening, half buried in meditation and half in fleep, that a Nightingale, unluckily perching near him, began her melodious lays. He ftarted from his reverie, and with a horrid fcreech interrupted her fong:-Begone, cried he, thou impertinent minstrel, nor diftract with noify diffonance my fublime contemplations; and know, vain fongfter, that harmony confifts in truth alone, which is gained by laborious study; and not in languishing notes, fit only to foothe the ear of a love-fick maid. Conceited pedant, returned the Nightingale, whose wisdom lies only in the feathers that muffle up thy unmeaning face; mufic is a natural and rational entertainment; and, though not adapted to the ears of an Owl, has ever been relished and admired by the best formed minds.

a made his

CXLIX. The SHEEP-BITER.

Shepherd had a Dog, on whofe fidelity he fo

much relied, as, in his abfence, to commit the care of his flock to his charge; and to encourage the Dog in his duty, he fed him with curds and whey, and other good things: But no fooner was the Shepherd's back turned, than the treacherous Cur fell to devouring the Sheep, inftead of guarding and defending them. The Shepherd hearing of this, refolved to hang him; and when the rope was about his neck,

fays