Cap. XIV.
Æſop Expounds upon an Augury, and is made Free.
ÆSOP had thus far born All the Indignities of a Tedious Slavery, with the the Conſtancy of a Wiſe Man, and without either Vanity or Abjection of Mind. He was not Ignorant however of his own Value; Neither did he Neglect any honeſt Way or Occaſion of Advancing his Name and his Credit in the World; as in One Particular Inſtance among the Samians, on a Strange Thing that happened There upon a Very Solemn Day. The Ring, it ſeems, that had the Towne-Seale upon't was lay'd ſomewhere in Sight, Where an Eagle could come at it; She took it up in the Aire, and dropt it into the Boſome of a Slave. The Samians took this for a Fore-boding, that Threat'ned ſome diſmal Calamity to the State, and in a general Conſternation They preſently called a Councell of their Wiſe Men; and Xanthus deſired ſome few Days time for further Conſideration. Upon This, he betook himſelfe to his Study, and the More he Beat his Brains about it, the further he found himſelfe from and hope of Expounding The Secret. This put him into a deep Melancholly; which made Æſop very Importune, and Impatient, to know the Cauſe of it; with Aſſurances, That he would ſerve his Maſter in The Affair, Whatever it was, to the Uttermoſt of his Power. Xanthus hereupon laid the Whole Matter before him, and told him in Concluſion, that he was not only loſt in his Reputation, but in Danger to be Torn to Pieces by the Rabble. When Æſop found how the Caſe ſtood, Never Trouble your Head any further, ſays he, Do but follow my Advice, and I'le bring you off as well now as ever I did before. When you Appear to Morrow to give in your Anſwer, I would have you Speak to the People after this Manner.
I need to tell your Wiſdoms, That ſo Many Heads ſo Many Minds, and ſo many ſeverall Men, ſo many ſeverall Conceptions of Things; Nay and further, That every ſeverall Art, or Proſeſſion requires a Diſtinct Faculty or Diſpoſition, that is more or leſs Peculiar to it ſelf. It is the Cuſtom of the World for People in All Caſes where They are either Ignorant or Doubtfull, to Repair to Men that have the Reputation of
