May rror feize his midnight hour, Who builds upon a parent's pow'r, And cams, by purchase vile and base, The bathing maid for his embrace; Heace virtue fickens; and the breast, Where peace had built her downy neft, Becomes the troubled feat of care, And pines with anguish and despair. A Wolf, rapacious, rough, and bold, Whofe nightly plunders thinn'd the fold, Contemplating his il-bent life, And clay'd with thets would take a wife. His purpose known, the favage race In num rous crowds attends the place; For why, a mighty wolf he was, And held dominion in his jaws. Her fav'rite whelp each mother brought, And bumbly his alliance fought; But cold by age, or elfe too nice, None found acceptance in his eyes. It happen'd as at early dawn, He folitary crois'd the lawn, Stray'd from the fold, the sportive Lamb Skipp'd wanton by her fleecy Dam; When Capid, foe to man and beast, Diktardan arrow at his breaft.

The tin'rous breed the robber knew, And trening o'er the meadow flew; Their nimblett fpeed the Wolf o'ertook, And courteous thus the Dam bespoke : Stay, faire, and fufpend your fear, Trat me, no enemy is near: Thefe jaws, in flaughter oft imbru'd, At length have known enough of blood; And kinder bus nefs brings me now, Vanquin'd, at beauty's feet to bow. You have a daughter-sweet, forgive A Wolf's addreis—in her I live;

Torn from the tyrant mother's fide, The trembler goes, a victim-bride; Reluctant meets the rude embrace, And bleats among the howling race. With horror oft her eyes behold Her murder'd kindred of the fold; Each day a fifter lamb is ferv'd, And at the glutton's table carv'd; The crashing bones he grinds for food, And flakes his thirst with streaming blood. Love, who the cruel mind detefts, And lodges but in gentle breasts, Was now no more. Enjoyment past, The favage hunger'd for the feast; But (as we find, in human race, A maik conceals the villain's face) Juftice muft authorife the treat; Till then he long'd, but durft not eat.

Love from her eyes like lightning came,
And fet my marrow all on flame;
Let your content confirm my choice,
And ratify our nuptial joys.

Wide o'er the plains my realms extend;
Me ample wealth and pow'r attend,
What midnight robber dare invade
The fold, if I the guard am made?

cur may fleep,

At home the shepherd's Wade I fecure his mafter's fheep. Dicoure like this attention claim'd; Gradear the mother's breaft inflam'd; Now fearless by his fide the walk'd, Or fettlements and jointures talk'd; Propos'd, and doubled her demands, Dowry fields, and turnip-lands. The Wolf agrees. Her bofom fwells; To Mis her happy fate she tells; And, of the grand alliance vain, Contes her kindred of the plain. The thing Lamb with horror hears, But all in vain; mamma beft knew And wearies out her Dam with pray`rs; What unexperienc'd girls should do. So, to the neighb'ring meadow carried, A formal afs the couple married,

As forth he walk'd in queft of prey, The hunters met him on the way: Fear wings his flight; the marsh he fought: The fnuthing dogs are fet at fault. His ftomach baulk'd, now hunger gnaws, Howling he grinds his empty jaws: Food must be had, and Lamb is nigh; His maw invokes the fraudful lie. Is this (diflembling rage, he cried) The gentle virtue of a bride? That, learn'd with man's deftroying race, She fets her husband for the chace? By treach'ry prompts the noify hound To fcent his footsteps on the ground? Thou trait refs vile! for this thy blood Shall glut my rage, and dye the wood!

So faying, on the Lamb he flies: Beneath his jaws the victim dies.

§ 316. FABLE VII. The Goofe and the Swans I HATE the face, however fair, That carries an affected air;

The lifping tone, the shape constrain'd,
The ftudied look, the paffion feign'd,
Are fopperies which only tend
To injure what they strive to mend.

With what fuperior grace enchants
The face, which nature's pencil paints!
Where eyes, unexercis'd in art,
Glow with the meaning of the heart!
Where freedom and good-humour fit,
And eafy gaiety and wit!
Though perfect beauty be not there,
The mafter lines, the finifh'd air,
We catch from ev'ry look delight,
And grow enamour'd at the fight:
For beauty, though we all approve,
Excites our wonder more than love;
While the agreeabie strikes sure,
And gives the wounds we cannot cure,

Why then, my Amoret, this care,
That forms you, in effect, lefs fair?
If nature on your cheek beftows
A bloom that emulates the rofe,
Or from fome heavenly irage drew
A form Apelles never knew,
M 4

Your

Your ill-judg'd aid will you impart,
And fpoil by meretricious art ?
Or had you, nature's error, come
Abortive from the mother's womb,
Your forming care the ftill rejects,
Which only heightens her defects.
When fuch, of glitt ring jewels proud,
Still prefs the foremost in the crowd,
At ev'ry public fhow are feen,
With look awry, and awkward mien,
The gaudy drefs attracts the eye,
And magnifies deformity.

Nature may underdo her part,
But feldom wants the help of art;
Truft her, the is your fureft friend,
N made your form for you to mend.
A Goofe, affected, empty, vain,
The thrilteft of the cackling train,
With proud and elevated crest,
Pecedence claim'd above the reft.

Says the. I laugh at human race,
Who ay gee hobbie in their pace;
Look here he fland'rous lye detect;
No haughty man is to erect.

That peacock yonder! Lord, how vain
The creature's of his gaudy train!
If both were fript, I pawn my word
A goofe would be the finer bird.
Nature, to hide her own defects,
Her bungled work with finery decks;
Were geese set off with half that show,
Would men admire the peacock! No.

Thus vaunting, 'crefs the micad the ftalks,
The cackling b ced attend her walks;
The fun fhot down his noon-tide beams,
The Swans were fporting in the streams;
Their fnowy plumes and ftately pride
Provok'd her spleen. Why there, the cried,
Again what arrogince we fee!
These creatures how they mimic me!
Shall ev'ry fowl the water ikim,
Because we gefe are known to swim!
Humility they foon fhall learn,
And their own entinefs difcern.

So faying, with extended wings,
Lightly upon the wave the fprings;
Her bofom fwells, fhe fpreads her plumes,
And the fwan's ftately creft ailumes.
Contempt and m ckery enfued,
And bursts of laughter fhook the flood.
A Swan, fuperior to the rest,
Sprung forth, and thus the fool addrefs'd;
Conceited thing, elate with pride!
Thy affectation all deride:
Thete airs thy awkwardaefs impart,
And thew thee plainly as thou art.
Among thy equals of the flock
Thou hadit e.cap'd the public mock;
And, as thy puts to good conduce,
Ben deem'd an honest hobbling goose.
Learn bence to ftudy wifiom's rules;
Know, fonpery 's the pride of fools;
And, Riving nature to conceal,
You only her defects reveal.

§ 317. FABLE VIII. The Lawyer and Ju
LOVE! thou divineft good below!
Thy pure delights few mortals know;
Our rebel hearts thy fway difown,
While tyrant luft ufurps thy throne.
The bounteous God of nature made
The fexes for each other's aid;
Their mutual talents to employ,
To leffen ills, and heighten joy.
To weaker woman he affign'd
That foft'ning gentleness of mind,
That can by fympathy impart
Its likeness to the rougheit heart.
Her eyes with magic pow'r endued,
To fire the dull, and awe the rude.
His rofy fingers on her face
Shed lavith ev'ry bloomy grace,
And ftamp'd (perfection to display)
His mildeft image on her clay.

Man, active, refolute, and bold,
He fathion'd in a different mould,
With ufeful arts his mind inform'd,
His breath with nobler paffions warm'd
He
gave him knowledge, tafte, and fenfe
And courage for the fair's defence.
Her frame, refiftlefs to each wrong,
Demands protection from the strong;
To man the flies when fear alarms,
And claims the temple of his arms.

By nature's Author thus declar'd
The woman's fovereign and her guard,
Shall man by treach'rous wiles invade
The weakness he was meant to aid?
While beauty, given to inspire
Protecting love, and foft defire,
Lights up a wild-fire in the heart,
And to its own breast points the dart,
Becomes the fpoiler's bafe pretence
To triumph over innocence.

The wolf, that tears the tim'rous sheep,
Was never fet the fold to keep;
Nor was the tiger, or the pard,
Meant the benighted traveller's guard;
But man, the wildest beast of prey,
Wears friendship's femblance to betray;
His strength against the weak employs;
And where he should protect, destroys.

Paft twelve o'clock, the watchman cried;
His brief the ftudious Lawyer plied;
The all-prevailing fee lay nigh,
The carneft of to-morrow's lie.
Sudden the furious winds arife,
The jarring cafement fhatter'd flies;
The doors admit a hollow found,
And rattling from their hinge, bound;
When Juftice, in a blaze of light,
Reveal'd her radiant form to fight.

The wretch with thrilling horror shook;
Loofe ev'ry joint, and pale his look;
Not having feen her in the courts,
Or found her mention'd in reports,
He afk'd, with fault ring tongue, her name,
Her errand there, and whence the came?
Sternly

Can't I another's face commend,
Or to her virtues be a friend,
But inftantly your forehead lours,
As if her merit leffen'd yours?
From female envy never free,
All mutt be blind because you fee.

Survey the garden, fields, and bow'rs,
The buds, the bioffoms, and the flow'rs;
Then tell me where the woodbine grows
That vies in fweetnefs with the role;
Or where the lily's fnowy white,
That throws fuch beauties on the fight?
Yet folly is it to declare,

That thefe are neither fweet nor fair.
The crystal fhines with fainter rays
Before the diamond's brighter blaze;
And fops will tay the diamond dies
Before the luftre of your eyes:
But I, who deal in truth, deny
That neither thine when you are by.
When zephyrs o'er the bloffom stray,
And sweets along the air convey,
Sha'n't I the fragrant breeze inhale,
Because you breathe a fweeter gale?
Sweet are the flow's that deck the field;
Sweet is the fmell the blooms yield;
Sweet is the fummer gale that blows;
And sweet, tho' fweeter you, the rose.

Shall envy then torment your breast,
If you are lovelier than the reft?
For while I give to each her due,
By praising them I flatter you;
And praifing moit, I ftil declare
You faireft, where the rest are fair.

As at his board a farmer fate,
Replenish'd by his homely treat,
His fav'rite Spaniel near him ftood,
And with his mafter thar'd the food;
The crackling bones his jaws devour'd,
His lapping tongue the trenchers fcour'd;
Till, fated now, fupine he lay,
And fnor'd the rifing fumes away.

The hungry Cat, in turn, drew near, And humbly crav'd a fervant's share; Her modeft worth the mafter knew, And ftraight the fatt'ning morfel threw: Enrag'd, the fnarling Cur awoke, And thus with fpiteful envy fpoke: They only claim a right to eat, Who earn by fervices their meat; Me, zeal and industry inflame To fcour the fields, and fpring the game; Or, plunged in the wint'ry wave, For man the wounded bird to fave. With watchful diligence I keep From prowling wolves his fleecy fheep i At home his midnight hours fecure, And drive the robber from the door: For this his brealt with kindness glows, For this his hand the food beltows; And fhall thy indolence impart A warmer friendship to his heart, That thus he robs me of my due, To pamper fuch vile things as you!

I own (with meeknefs Pufs replied) Superior merit on your fide; Nor does my breaft with envy fwell, To find it recompenc'd fo well; Yet I, in what my nature can, Contribute to the good of man. Whofe claws deftroy the pilf'ring mouse? Who drives the vermin from the house? Or, watchful for the lab'ring fwain, From lurking rats fecures the grain? From hence, if he rewards beftow, Why fhould your heart with gall o'erflow? Why pine my happiness to fee, Since there's enough for you and me? Thy words are juft, the farmer cried, And spurn'd the fnarler from his fide.

$319. FABLE X. The Spider and the Bee.
THE nymph who walks the public streets,
And fets her cap at all the meets,
May catch the fool who turns to stare;
But men of fenfe avoid the fnare.

As on the margin of the flood,
With filken line, my Lydia ftood,
I fmil'd to fee the pains the took
To cover o'er the fraudful hook.
Along the foreft as we stray'd,
You faw the boy his lime-twigs fpread;
Guefs'd you the reafon of his fear,
Leit, heedlefs, we approach too near?
For as behind the bush we lay,
The linnet flutter'd on the fpray.

Needs there fuch caution to delude
The fcaly fry, and feather'd brood?
And think you, with inferior art,
To captivate the human heart?

The maid who modeftly conceals
Her beauties, while fhe hides, reveals.
Give but a glimpfe, and fancy draws
Whate'er the Grecian Venus was.
From Eve's first fig-leaf to brocade,
All drefs was meant for fancy's aid;
Which evermore delighted dwells
On what the bafhful nymph conceals.
When Celia ftruts in man's attire,
She fhews too much to raise defire;
But, from the hoop's bewitching round,
Her very fhoe has pow'r to wound.

The roving eye, the bofoin bare,
The forward laugh, the wanton air,
May catch the fop: for gudgeons strike
At the bare hook and bait alike;
While falmon play regardlefs by,
Till art like nature forms the fly.

Beneath a peafant's homely thatch
A Spider long had held her watch;
From morn to night with reftlefs care,
She fpun her web, and wove her inare.
Within the limits of her reign
Lay many a hetdiefs captive flain;
Or flute ring ftruggled in the toils,
To burft the chains, and thun her wiles.
Aftraying Bee, that perch'd hard by,
Beheld her with difdainful eye,

And thus began: Mean thing! give o'e
And lay thy flender threads no more;
A thoughtless fly or two, at most,
Is all the conqueft thou can boat;
For bees of fenfe thy arts evade,
We fee fo plain the nets are laid.
The gaudy tulip, that displays
Her fpreading foliage to gaze;
That points her charms at all the fees,
And yields to ev'ry wanton breeze,
Attracts not me; where blufhing grows,
Guarded with thorns, the modeft role,
Enamour'd, round and round I fly,
Or on her fragrant bofom lie;
Reluctant the my ardour meets,
And bafhful renders up her fweets.

To wifer heads attention lend,
And learn this leffon from a friend:
She who with modefty retires,
Adds fuel to her lover's fires;
While fuch incautious jilts as you
By folly your own schemes undo.

$320. FABLE XI. The Young Lion and the
'Tis true, I blame your lover's choice,
Though flatter'd by the public voice;
And peevith grow, and fick, to hear
His exclamations, O how fair!
I liften not to wild delights,
And tranfports of expected nights;
What is to me your hoard of charms,
The whitenefs of your neck and arms?
Needs there no acquifition more
To keep contention from the door?
Yes; pafs a fortnight, and you'll find
All beauty cloys, but of the mind.

Senfe and good humour ever prove
The fureft cords to faften love.
Yet, Phillis, fimpleft of your fex,
You never think but to perplex;
Coquetting it with ev'ry ape
That ftruts abroad in human fhape;
Not that the coxcomb is your taste,
But that it ftings your lover's breast.
To-morrow you refign the fway,
Prepar'd to honour and obey:
The tyrant miftrefs change for life,
To the fubmiffion of a wife.

Your follies, if you can, fufpend,
And learn inftruction from a friend:
Reluctant hear the firft addrefs,
Think often ere you answer Yes:
But, once refolv'd, throw off disguise,
And wear your wishes in your eyes;
With caution ev'ry look forbear
That might create one jealous fear,
A lover's ripening hopes confound,
Or give the gen'rous breaft a wound;
Contemn the girlish arts to teaze,
Nor ufe your pow'r, unless to please;
For fools alone with rigour fway,
When, foon or late, they muft obey.

The King of brutes, in life's decline,
Refolv'd dominion to refign;