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30

35

“ When (says the Greyhound) I pursue,
My game is lott, or caught in view;
Beyond my fight the prey 's secure;
The Hound is slow, but always sure;
And, had I his fagacious scent,
Jove ne'er had heard my discontent."

The Lion crav'd the Fox's art;
The Fox the Lion's force and heart :
The Cock implor'd the Pigeon's flight,
Whose wings were rapid, strong, and light:
The Pigeon strength of wing despis’d,
And the Cock’s matchless valour priz’d.
The Fishes with'd to graze the plain;
The Beasts, to skim beneath the main.
Thus, envious of another's state,
Each blam’d the partial hand of Fate.

The Bird of Heaven then cry'd aloud :
• Jove bids disperse the murmuring crowd ;
The God rejects your

idle

prayers. Would

ye,

rebellious Mutineers !
Entirely change your name and nature,
And be the very envy'd creature ?
What! silent all, and none consent ?
Be happy, then, and learn content ;
Nor imitate the restless mind,
And proud ambition, of mankind."

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45

50

FABLE

A

GAINST an elm a sheep was ty’d,

The butcher's knife in blood was dy'dl;
The patient flock, in silent fright,
From far beheld the horrid sight.
A savage Boar, who near them stood,
Thus mock'd to scorn the fleecy brood.

“ All cowards should be serv'd like you.
Sce, see your murderer is in view :
With purple hands, and reeking knife,
He strips the skin yet warm with life.
Your quarter'd fires, your bleeding dams,
The dying bleat of harmless lanıbs,
Call for revenge. O stupid Race !
The heart that wants revenge is base."

“ I grant, an ancient Ram replies,
We bear no terror in our eyes;
Yet think us not of soul fo taine,
Which no repeated wrongs infame;
Insensible of every ill,
Because we want thy tusks to kiil.
Know, those, who violence pursue,
Give to themselves the vengeance
For in these mafiacres they find
The two chief plagues that waste mankind.

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20

due;

D 3

Our 25

Our skin supplies the wrangling bar,
It wakes their slumbering sons to war ;
And well Revenge may rest contented,
Since drums and parchment were invented.”

10

• By

TH

HE wind was high, the window shakes,

With sudden start the Miser wakes ;
Along the filent rooin he stalks,
Looks back, and trembles as he walks.
Each lock and every bolt he tries,

5 In every

creek and corner pries;
Then
opes

the chest with treasure stor’d,
And stands in rapture o'er his hoard.
But now, with sudden qualms possest,
He wrings liis hands, he beats his breast;

conscience ftung, he wildly ftares, And thus his guilty foul declares :

“ Had the decp earth her stores confin'd, This heart. had known fweet peace of mind. But virrue's fold. Good Gods ! what price 15 Can recompense the pangs of vice ! O bane of good ! seducing cheat ! Can man, weak man, thy power defeat ? Gold banih'd honour from the mind, And only left the name behind ; Gold fow'd the world with every ill ; Gold tauglit the murderer’s fword to kill :

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35:

'Twas gold instructed coward-hearts In treachery's more pernicious arts. Who can recount the mischiefs o'er?'

25 Virtue resides on earth no more 4** He spoke, and sigh d. In angry

mood
Plutus, his god, before him stood.'
The Miser, trembling, lock'd his chest;
The Vision frown'd, and thus address'd :

6 Whence is this vile ungrateful rant,
Each sordid rascal's daily cant ?
Did I, base wre:ch! corrupt mankind's :
The fault's in thiy rapacious mind. -
Because my blessings are abusid,
Must I be censur'd, curs’d, accus’d ?
Evn Virtue's self by knares is made
A cloak to carry on the trade;
And Power (when lodg'd in their poffeffion)
Grows tyranny, and rank oppreslion.
Thus, when the villain crams his chest,
Gold is the canker of the breast;
'Tis avarice, infolence, and pride, ,
And every shocking vice beside :
But, when to virtuous hands 'tis given,

45:
It blesses, like the dews of Heaven :
Like Heaven, it hears the orphan's cries,
And wipes the tears from widows' eyes.
Their crimes on gold thall Misers lav,
Who pawn'd their fordid souls for pay? 50
Let bravoc3, then, when blood is spilt,
L'pbraid the pallive soul with guilt.”

D 4

FABLE

THE LION, THE FOX, AND THE GEESE.

a

A LION, tir’d with state-affairs,

Quite sick of pomp, and worn with cares,
Resolvd (remote from noise and strife)
In peace to pass his latter life.
It was proclaim'd; the day was set;

5.
Behold the general council met.
The Fox was viceroy.namd. The crowd
To the new regent humbly bow'd.
Wolves, bears, and mighty tigers, bend,
And strive who most shall condescend.
He straight assumes a solemn grace,.
Collects his wisdom in his face.
The crowd admire his wit, his sense ;
Each word hath weight and consequence.
The flatterer all his are displays :

15 He who hath power is sure of praise.

A Fox stept forth before the rest, And thus the servile throng addrest:

« How vast his talents, born to rule, And train'd in Virtue's honeft school ! What clemency his temper sways ! How uncorrupt are all his ways ! Beneath his conduct and command, Rapine shall cease to waste the land.. rain hath stratagem and art ;

25 and mercy rule his heart.

What

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