REFLEXION.
There is Nothing ſo Little, but Greatneſs may come to Stand in need on't, and therefore Prudence and Diſcretion ought to have a place in Clemency, as well as in Piety and Juſtice. 'Tis Doing as we would be done by; and the Obligation is yet Stronger, when there is Gratitude, as well as Honour and Good Nature in the Caſe. The Generoſity of the Lion, and the Gratitude of the Mouſe; The Power, the Dignity, and the Eminence of the One, and the Meanneſs of the Other; do all Concur to the making of this a very Inſtructive Fable. Who would have thought that Providence ſhould ever have lay'd the Life of a Lion at the Mercy of a Mouſe? But the Divine Wiſdom that brings the Greateſt Ends to paſs by the moſt Despicable Means, Orders the Reward of Virtue, and the puniſhment of Vice, by Ways only known to it ſelf, in token of an Approbation of the One, and a Diſlike of the Other.
Here's a Recommendation of Clemency and Wiſdom, Both in One; for the Lion, in ſparing the Life of the Mouſe, ſav'd his Own; and has left us in this Fable, an Inſtance of a Grateful Beaſt, that will ſtand upon Record to the Confuſion of many an Ungrateful Man, that is to ſay, againſt thoſe that in their Proſperity forget the Friends, that to their Loſs and Hazard, flood by and ſuccour'd them in their Adverſity. This is a Sin of ſo odious and Dangerous an Example, that it puts even Piety, and Gratitude it ſelf out of Countenance. And then the Tenderneſs on the other ſide, is Matter of Intereſt, and ordinary Prudence, as well as of Virtue. If this Lion had kill'd the Mouſe, what would the other Mice have ſaid or Done afterward, when they ſhould have found the ſame Lion in the Toil? [Have a care Good People; for this is He that killed our Siſter, and we cannot ſave His Life, without Hazarding our Own. If the Huntſmen Kill Him, we are ſure He'll never Kill Us; Beſide that we ſhall have one Enemy the fewer for't, when he's gone.] Now the Reaſon Æſop's Mouſe here, works quite Another way. This Lion, (ſays he) gave Me my Life, when he had it at Mercy, and it is now My Turn, and Duty, to do what I can to preſerve His. No Fleſh, in fine, can be ſo Great, as not to tremble under the Force and Conſequences of this Preſident.
Fab. XVII.
A Sick Kite and her Mother.
PRay Mother (ſays a Sick Kite) Give over theſe Idle Lamentations, and let Me rather have your Prayers. Alas! my Child, (ſays the Dam) which of the Gods ſhall I go to, for a Wretch that has Robb'd All their Altars?
The Moral.
