Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CLXXXIII

by Roger L'Estrange

Fab. CLXXXIII.

Jupiter and Fraud.

JUpiter Appointed Mercury to make him a Composition of Fraud and Hypocrisie, and to give Every Artificer his Dole on’t, The Medicine was Prepar'd according to the Bill, and the Proportions duly Observ’d, and Divided: Only there was a great deal too Much of it made, and the Overplus remain'd still in the Morter. Upon Examining the Whole Account, there was a Mistake it seems, in the Reck’ning; for the Taylors were forgott’n in the Catalogue: So that Mercury, for Brevity sake, gave the Taylors the Whole Quantity that was Left; and from hence comes the Old Saying; There’s Knavery in All Trades, but Most in Taylors.

The MORAL.

It is in some sort Natural to be a Knave. We were Made so, in the very Composition of our Flesh and Blood; Only Fraud is call'd Wit in One Case, Good Husbandry in Another, &c. while 'tis the Whole Bus'ness of the World for One Man to Couzen Another.

REFLEXION.

LYING and Couzening is a General Practice in the World, tho' it appears in some Men, and in some Trades, more then in other. Æsop is still Introducing some or other of the Gods, to Countenance the Corruptions of Flesh and Blood: And since Custom and Interest will have it to; that all Tradesnen must use Fraud, more or less, even in their own Defence, the Practice being in some sort so Necessary, 'tis not amiss to bring in Jupiter vo justifie it. But why is this False and Double Dealing apply'd to Tradesmen only, when it is Common to Mankind? And why among them, to Taylors above the Rest? when all the Bus'ness thar passes in this World betwixt Man and Man is Manag’d by Collusion and Deceit, in as High a Measure: So that the Composition might have been as well Prepar'd for Humane Nature. Are we not False,in Our Pretended Civilities, Formal Complements, and Respects; in our Confidences, and in our Professions? Are we not False, in Promising, and Breaking? Is not He that Robs me of my Good Name, a more Abominable Cheat, then He that Couzens me of a Yard of Damask? Is not He that Betrays me in his Arms, a more Detestable Wretch then He that Contents Himself in the Way of his Trade, to Pick my Pocket? Without any more Words, we are All Jugglers in some Kind, or in some Degree or Other. But there's this to be said for't yet, that we Play Foul by Consent. We Couzen in cue Words, and in our Actions; only we are Agreed upon’t, that such and such Forms of Civility, like some Adulterate Quoins, shall pass Current for so Much. A Fashionable Imposture, or Hypocrisie, shall be call’d Good Manners, and so we make a shift in some sort to Legitimate the Abuse. In Jupiter's appointing these Frauds, we read the Power of Humane Frailty that Disposes us to Entertain them: For we are False enough by Nature without any need of Prescription.