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With graceful courage filence broke,
And thus with indignation fpoke:

When flatt ring monkeys fawn and prate,
They justly raife contempt or hate;
For merit's turn'd to ridicule,
Applauded by the grinning fool.
The artful fox your wit commends,
To lure you to his felfith ends;
From the vile flatt'rer turn away,
For knaves make friendships to betray.
Difmifs the train of fops and fools,
And learn to live by wifdom's rules;
Such beauties might the lion warm,
Did not your folly break the charm;
For who would court that lovely shape,
To be the rival of an ape?

He said, and snorting in difdain, Spurn'd at the crowd, and fought the plain.

§ 241. Fable III. The Nightingale and Glow

worm.

THE prudent nymph, whofe cheeks difclofe
The lily and the blufhing rofe,
From public view her Charms will fereen,
And rarely in the crowd be feen;
This fimple truth fhall keep her wife-
"The faireft fruits attract the flies."

One night a Glow-worm, proud and vain,
Contemplating her glitt ring train,
Cried, Sure there never was in nature
So elegant, fo fine a creature.
All other infects that I fee,
The frugal ant, induftrious bee,
Or filk-worm, with contempt 1 view;
With all that low, mechanic crew,
Who fervilely their lives employ
In bus'nefs, enemy to joy.
Mean, vulgar herd! ye are my fco:n;
For grandeur only I was born,
Or füre am fprung from race divine,
And plac'd on earth to live and thine.
Thofe lights that sparkle fo on high,
Are but the glow-worms of the fky;
And kings on earth their gems admire,
Because they imitate my fire.

She spoke. Attentive on a spray,
A Nightingale forbore his lay;
He faw the thining morfel near,
And flew, directed by the glare;
Awhile he gaz'd with fober look,

And thus the trembling prev befpoke:
Deluded fool, with pride clate
Know, 'tis thy beauty brings thy fate:
Lefs dazzling, long thou might have lain
Unheeded on the velvet plain:
Pride, foon or late, degraded mourns,
And beauty wrecks whom the adoins.

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Yet hold a moment, if you can,

And heedfully the fable scan.

The fhades were fled, the morning blush'd,
The winds were in their caverns huth'd,
When Hymen, penfive and fedate,
Held o'er the fields his mufing gait.
Behind him, thro' the green-wood shade,
Death's meagre form the god furvey'd;
Who quickly, with gigantic ftride,
Ontwent his pace, and join'd his fide.
The chat on various subjects ran,
Till angry Hymen thus began:
Relentless Death! whofe iron fway
Mortals reluctant must obey,
Still of thy pow'r fhall I complain,
And thy too partial hand arraign?
When Cupid brings a pair of hearts,
All over ftuck with equal darts,
Thy cruel fhafts my hopes deride,
And cut the knot that Hymen tied.

Shall not the bloody and the bold,
The mifer, hoarding up his gold,
The harlot recking from the ftew,
Alone thy fell revenge purfue?
But muft the gentle and the kind
Thy fury, undiftinguish'd, find?

The monarch calmly thus replied:
Weigh well the caufe, and then decide,
That friend of yours you lately nam`d,
Cupid alone, is to be blam'd;
Then let the charge be justly laid:
That idle boy neglects his trade,
And hardly once in twenty years
A couple to your temple bears.

The wretches, whom your office blends,
Silenus now, or Plutus fends;
Hence care, and bitternefs, and ftrife,
Are common to the nuptial life.

Believe me; more than all mankind
Your vot'ries my compaflion find.
Yet cruel am I call'd, and bafe,
Who feek the wretched to rele-fe;
The captive from his bonds to free,
Indiffoluble but for me.

'Tis I entice him to the yoke;
By me your crowded altars fmoke:
For mortals boldly dare the noofe,
Secure that Death will fet them loofe.

8243. Fable V. The Poet and his Patron, WHY, Calia, is your fpreading watte So loofe, fo negligently lac'd? Why muft the wrapping bed-gown hide Your fnowy bofom's fwelling pride? How ill that drefs adorns your head, Diftain'd, and rumpied from the bed Thofe clouds that hade your blooming face A little water might difplace, As Nature ev'ry morn beftows The cryftal dew to cleanfe the rofe. Thofe treffes, as the raven black, That way'd in ringlets down your back, Uncomb d, and injur'd by neglect, Deffrey the face which once they deck'd.

Whense

Whence this forgetfulness of drefs?
Pray, Madam, are you married-Yes.
Nay, then indeed the wonder ceases;
No matter now how loose your drefs is;
The end is won, your fortune's made;
Your fifter now may take the trade.
Alas! what pity 'tis to find
This fault in half the female kind!
From hence proceed averfion, strife,
And all that fours the wedded life.
Beauty can only point the dart,
'Tis neatnefs guides it to the heart;
Let neatness then and beauty ftrive
To keep a wav'ring flame alive.

Tis harder far (you'll find it true)
To keep the conqueft, than fubdue;
Admit us once behind the fcreen,
What is there farther to be feen?
A Lower face may raise the flame,
But ev'ry woman is the fame.

Then ftudy chiefly to improve
The charm that fix'd your husband's love.
Weigh well his humour. Was it drefs

That gave your beauty pow'r to blefs?
Purfue it ftill; be neater seen;
'Tis always frugal to be clean;
So thall you keep alive defire,

And time's swift wing fhall fan the fire.
In garret high (as stories say)
A Pot fung his tuneful lay;

So fort, fo fmooth his verfe, you'd swear
Apollo and the Mufes there:
Thro' all the town his praises rung;
His fonnets at the playhouse fung;
High waving o'er his lab'ring head,
The goddefs Want her pinions spread,
And with poetic fury fir'd
What Phoebus faintly had infpir'd.

A noble youth, of tafte and wit,
Approv'd the fprightly things he writ,
And fought him in his cobweb dome,
Difcharg'd his rent, and brought him home.
Behold him at the stately board!
Who but the Poct and my Lord!
Each day delicioufly he dines,
And greedy quaffs the gen'rous wines;
His fides were plump, his fkin was fleck,
And plenty wanton'd on his check;
Aftoaifh'd at the change fo new,
Away th' infpiring goddess flew.

Now, dropt for politics and news,
Neglected lay the drooping mufe,
Unmindful whence his fortune came,
He ftifled the poetic flame;
Nor tale, nor fonnet, for my lady,
Lampoon, nor epigram, was ready.

With juft contempt his Patron faw
(Refolv'd his bounty to withdraw);
And thus, with anger in his look,
The late-repenting fool befpoke:

Blind to the good that courts thee grown, Whence has the fun of favour fhone? Delighted with thy tuneful art, Efeem was growing in my heart;

But idly thou reject'ft the charm
That gave it birth, and kept it warm.
Unthinking fools alone defpife

The arts that taught them first to rise.

§ 244. Fable VI. The Wolf, the Sheep, and the Lamb.

DUTY demands, the parent's voice

Should fanctify the daughter's choice:
In that is due obedience fhewn;
To choose, belongs to her alone.

May horror feize his midnight hour,
Who builds upon a parent's pow'r,
And claims, by purchase vile and base,
The loathing maid for his embrace;
Hence 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 ill-fpent life,

And cloy'd with thefts, would take a wife.
His purpose known, the favage race
In num'rous crowds attend the place;
For why, a mighty wolf he was,
And held dominion in his jaws.
Her fav'rite whelp each mother brought,
And humbly 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 crofs'd the lawn,
Stray'd from the fold, a fportive Lamb
Skipp'd wanton by her fleecy Dam ;
When Cupid, foc to man and beaft,
Difcharg'd an arrow at his breaft.

The tim'rous breed the robber knew,
And trembling o'er the meadow flew;
Their nimbleft fpeed the Wolf o'ertook,
And courteous thus the Dam bespoke:
Stay, faireft, and fufpend your fear;
Trust me, no enemy is near:
Thefe jaws, in flaughter oft imbrued,
At length have known enough of blood;
And kinder bus'nefs brings me now,
Vanquish'd, at beauty's feet to bow.
You have a daughter-iweet, forgive
A Wolf's addreis-in her I live;
Love from her eyes like lightning came,
And fet my marrow all on flame;
Let your confent confirm my choice,
And ratify our nuptial joys.

Me ample wealth and pow'r attend,
Wide o'er the plains my realms extend;
What midnight robber dare invade
The fold, if I the guard am made?
At home the thepherd's cur may fleep,
While I fecure his mafter's theep.
Difcourfe like this attention claim'd;
Grandeur the mother's breaft inflam'd;
Now fearless by lis fide the walk'd,
Of fettlements and jointures talk'd;
K 4

Propos'd

Propos'd, and doubled her demands
Of flow'ry fields and turnep-lands.
The Wolf agrees. Her bofem fwells;
To Mifs her happy fate fhe tells;
And, of the grand alliance vain,
Contemns her kindred of the plain.

The loathing Lamb with horror hears,
And wearies out her Dam with pray'rs;
But all in vain ; mamma best knew
What unexperienc'd girls fhould do.
So, to the neighb'ring meadow carried,
A formal afs the couple married.

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 ner eyes behold
Her murder'd kindred of the fold;
Fach day a fifter lamb is ferv'd,
And at the glutton's table cart 'd;
The crafhing bones he grinds for food,
And flakes his thirft with ftreaming blood,
Love, who the cruel mind deteits,
And lodges but in gentle breafts,
Was now no more. Enjoyment paft,
The favage hurger'd for the fealt;
But (as we find, in human race,
A milk conceals the villain's face)
Juftice muft authorife the treat;
Till then he long'd, but durit not eat.

As forth he walk'd in queft of prey,
The hunters met him on the way:
Fear wings his fight; the marth he fought;
The fnuffing dogs are fet at fault.
His ftomach Laulk'd, now hunger gnaws,
Howling he grinds his empty jaws:
Food must be had, and Lamb is righ;
His maw invokes the fraudful lye.
Is this (differnbling rage, he cried)
The gentle virtue of a bride?

That, leagued with man's deftroying race,

She fets her husband for the chace?

By treachery prompts the oify hound
To fcent his footeps 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.

$245. Fable VII.

I

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 agreeable strikes fure,
And gives the wounds we cannot cure.
Why then, my Amoret, this care,
That forms you, in effect, less fair è
If nature on your cheek befiows
A bloom that emulates the rofe,
Or from fome heavenly image drew
A form Apelles never knew,
Your ili-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 fill rejects,
Which only heightens her defects.
When fuch, of glitt ring jewels proud,
Still prefs the foremoft in the crowd,
At cv'ry public fhow are feen,
With look awry, and aukward mien,
The gaudy drets attracts the eye,
And magnifics deformity.

Nature may underdo her part,
But feidom wants the help of art;
Truft her, the is your furcft friend,
Nor made form for
your
you to mind.
A Goofe, affected, empty, vain,
The thrilleft of the cackling train,
With proud and clevated creft,
Precedence claim'd above the reft.

Says he, I laugh at human race,
Who fay geefe hobble in their pace,
Look here!-the fland'rous lye detect;
Not haughty man is fo erect."
That peacock yonder! Lord, how vain
The creature's of his gaudy train!
If both were ftript, I pawn my word
A goofe would be the finer bird.
Nature, to hide her own defects,
Her bungled work with finery decks;
Were geefe fet off with half that show,
Would men admire the peacock No.

Thus vaunting, 'crofs the mead the stalks,
The cackling breed attend her waiks;
The fun thot down his neon-tide beams,
The Swans were fporting in the ftreams;
Their feowy plumes and stately pride

The Confe and the Swans. Provok'd her spleen. Why there, the cried,

HATE the face, however fair,
That carries an affected air;
The lifping tone, the thape contrain'd,
The ftudied look, the pallion feign'd,
Are fopperies, which only tend
To injure what they trive 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 finish'd air,

Again what arrogance we fee!

Thole creatures! how they mimic me!
Shall ev'ry fowl the waters fkim,
Because we geefe are known to fwim!
Humility they fcon fhall learn,
And their own emptine's discern.

So faying, with extended wings,
Lightly upon the wave the fprings;
Her bofom fwells, the spreads her plumes,
And the fwan's ftately croft affumes.
Contempt and mockery enfued,
And bursts of laughter fhook the flood.

A Swan, fuperior to the reft,
Sprung forth, and thus the fool addrefs'd:

Conceited

Conceited thing, elate with pride! Thy affectation all deride: Thefe airs thy aukwardnefs impart, And thew thee plainly as thou art. Among thy equals of the flock Thou hadit elcap'd the public mock; And, as thy parts good conduce, Been deem d'an honeft hobbling geofe. Learn hence to ftudy wifdom's rules; Know, foppery's the pride of fools; And, itriving nature to conceal. You only her defects reveal.

$246. Fable VIII. The Lawyer and Juice.

OVE' thou divineft good below!

Lo

Thy pure delights few mortals know:
Our rebel hearts thy fway difown,
While tyrant left ufurps thy throne.
The bounteous God of nature made
The fexes for each other's aid;
Their mutual talents to employ,
To leden ills, and heighten joy.
To weaker woman he allign'd
That fort'ning gentlenefs of mind,
That can by tympathy impart
Its likenes to the rougheft heart.
Her eyes with magic pow'r erdued,
To fire the dull, and awe the rude.
His rofy fingers on her face
Shed lavish ev'ry blooming grace,
And ftemp'd (perfection to difplay)
His mildeft image on her clay.

Mas, active, refolute, and bold,
He fathion'd in a diff rent mould,
With ufuful arts his mind inform'd,
His breaft with nobler paffions warm'd;
He gave him knowledge, tafte, and sense,
And courage for the fair's defence.
Her frame, refiftlefs to each wrong,
Demands protection from the ftrong;
To man the flics when fear alarms,
And claims the temple of his arms.

By nature's Author thus declar'd
The woman's fov'reign and her guard,
Sinil man by treach'rous viles invade
The weakrefs 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 breaft points the dart,
Becomes the fpoiler's bafe pretence
To triumph over innocence.

The wolf, that tears the tim'rous fheep,
Was never fet the fold to keep;
Nor was the tiger, or the pard,
Meant the benighted trav'ller's guard;
But man, the wildeft beaft of prey,
Wears friendship's femblance to betray;
His ftrength 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 lyc, 5

Sudden the furious winds arife,
The jarring cafement fhatter'd flies;
The doors admit a hollow found,
And rattling from their hinges bound;
When Juftice, in a blaze of light,
Reveal & her radiant form to fight.

The wretch with thrilling horror fhooks
Loofe every joint, and pale t.is 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 the white-rob'd Shade replied
(A crimion glow her vifage dyed):
Canft thou be doubtful who I am?
Is Juftice grown fo ftrange a name?
Where not your cou.ts for Justice rais'd>
'Twas there, of old, my altars blaz'd.
My guardian thee I did elect,
My facred temple to protect,
That thou and all thy venal tribe,
Should fpurn the goddess for the bribe.
Aloud the ruin'd client cries,
Juftice has neither cars nor eyes;
In foul alliance with the bar,
'Gainft me the judge denounces war,
And rarely iffues his decree
But with intent to baffle me.

She paus'd-her breast with fury burn'd; The trembling Lawyer thus return'd: I own, the charge is juftly laid, And weak th' excufe that can be made; Yet fearch the ipacious globe, and fee If all mankind are not like me.

The gown-man, fkill'd in Romish lyes, By faith's falfe glafs deludes our eyes; O'er confcience rides without controul, And robs the man, to fave his foul.

The doctor, with important face,
By fly defign miftakes the cafe;
Piefcribes, and fpins out the difeafe,
To trick the patient of his fees.

The foldier, rough with many a fear,
And red with flaughter, leads the war;
If he a nation's trust betray,
The foe has offer'd double pay.

When vice o'er all mankind prevails,
And weighty int'reft turns the fcales,
Muft I be better than the reft,
And harbour Juftice in my breast ?
On one fide only take the fee,
Content with poverty and thee?

Thou blind to fenfe, and vile of mind,
Th'exafperated Shade rejoin'd,
If virtue from the world is flown,
Will others faults excufe thy own?
For fickly fouls the priest was made;
Phyficians for the body's aid,
The foldier guarded liberty,
Man, woman, and the lawyer me.
If all are faithlefs to their truft,
They leave not thee the less unjust.
Henceforth your pleadings I disclaim,
And bar the fanction of my name;

Within

Within your courts it fhall be read,
That Juftice from the law is fled.

She spoke; and hid in fhades her face, Till Hardwicke footh'd her into grace.

With watchful diligence I keep
From prowling wolves his fleecy sheep;
At home his midnight hours fecure,
And drive the robber from the door :
For this his breaft with kindness glows,

§ 247. Fable IX. The Farmer, the Spaniel, For this his hand the food beftows;

and the Cat.

WHY knits my dear her angry brow?

What rude offence alarms you now? I faid that Delia's fair, 'tis true, But did I fay fhe equall'd you? 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 must be blind because you fee.

;

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

That these are neither fweet nor fair.
The cryftal fhines with fainter rays
Before the diamond's brighter blaze;
And fops will fay 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 blossom ftray,
And fweets along the air convey,
Shan't I the fragrant breeze inhale,
Because you breathe a fweeter gale?

Sweet are the flow'rs that deck the field;
Sweet is the finell the bloffoms yield;
Sweet is the fummer gale that blows;
And fweet, tho' fweeter you, the rofe.

Shall envy then torment your breaft,
If you are lovelier than the reft ?
For while I give to each her duc,
By praifing them I flatter you;
And praising mott, I still declare
You faireft, where the reft are fair.
As at his board a Farmer fate,
Replenish'd by his homely treat,
His fav'rite Spaniel near him flood,
And with his mafter fhar'd the food;
The crackling bones his jaws devour'd,
His lapping tongue the trenchers fcour'd;
Till, fated now, fupine he lay,
And ford the rising fumes away.

The hungry Cat in turn drew near,
And humbly crav'd a fervant's fhare;
Her modeft worth the Mafter knew,
And straight the fatt'ning mortel threw;
Enragd, the fnarling Cur awoke,
And thus with fpiteful envy spoke:

They only claim a right to cat,
Who earn by fervices their meat;
Me, zeal and induftry inflame

To fcour the fields, and (pring the game;
Or, plunged in the wint'ry wave,

For man the wounded bird to fave.

And thall thy indolence impert
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 recompens'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 should 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 fpurn'd the fnarler from his side.

§ 248. 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 fnarc.

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

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

The maid who modeftly conceals
Her beautics, while the 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 bashful nymph conceals.

Her

When Celia ftruts in man's attire, She fhews too much to raife defire; But, from the hoop's bewitching round, very fhoc has pow'r to wound. The roving eye, the bofom bare, The forward laugh, the wanton air, May catch the fop; for gudgeons ftrike At the bare hook and bait alike; While falmon play regardless by, Till art like nature forms the fly.

Beneath

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