Like Orphens burat with public zeal,
To civilize the Monkey weal:
So watch'd occasion, broke his chain,
And sought his native woods agaiır.

The hairy sylvaus round him press,
Astonish'd at his strut and dress.
Some praise his sleeve; and others glote
Upon
rich embroider'd coat;
His dapper perriwig commending,
With the black tail behind depending:
His powder'd back, above, below,
Like hoary frost or fleecy snow;
But all with envy and desire
His flutt'ring shoulder-knot admire.

Hear and improve, he pertly cries;
I come to make a nation wise.
Weigh your own worth, support your place,
The next in rank to human race.
In cities long pass'd my days,
Convers'd with inen, and learn'd their ways.
Their dress, their conrtly manners see;
Reform your state, and copy me.
Seek ye to thrive? in flatt'ry deal;
Your scorn, your hate, with that conceal.
Seem only to regard your friends,
But use them for your private ends.
Stint not to truth the flow of wit;
Be prompt to lie whene'er 'tis fit.
Bend all force to spatter merit;
your
Scandal is conversation's spirit.
Boldly to ev'ry thing attend,

And men your talents shall commend.
f knew the great. Observe me right;
So shall you grow like man polite.

He spoke, and bow'd. With mutt'ring jaws $106. FABLE XVI. The Pin and the Needie.

The wond ring circle grinn'd applause.
Now, warm with malice, envy, spite,
Their most obliging friends they bite;
And, fond to сору human ways,
Practice new mischiefs all their days.

As thus he walk'd in musing thought,
His ear imperfect accents taught;
With cautious steps he nearer drew:
By the thick shade conceal'd from view,
High on the branch a Pheasant stood;
Around her all her list'ning brood; -
Proud of the blessings of her nest,
She thus a mother's care express'd
No dangers here shall circumvent 7
Within the woods enjoy content.
Sooner the hawk or vulture trust
Than Mau, of animals the worst;
In him ingratitude you find;
A vice peculiar to the kind.
The sheep, whose annual fleece is dyed
To guard his health, and serve his pride,
Fore'd from his fold and native plain,
Is in the cruel shambles slain.
The swarms who, with industrious skill,
His hives with wax and honey fil.
In vain whole summer days employ'd,
Their stores are sold, their race destroy'd.
What tribute from the goose is paid !!
Does not her wing all science aid?
Does it not lovers' hearts explain,
And drudge to raise the merchant's gain ?
What now rewards this gen'ral use?
He takes the quills, and eats the goose.
Man then avoid, detest his ways;
So safety shall prolong your days.
When services are thas acquitted,
Be sure we Pheasants must be spitted.

THE Sage, awak'd at early day,
Thro' the deep forest took his way;
Drawn by the music of the groves,
Along the winding gloom he roves:
From tree to tree the warbling throats
Prolong the sweet alternate notes.
But where he pass'd he terror threw ;
The song broke short, the warblers flew';
The thrushes chatter'd with affright,
And nightingales abhorr'd his sight;
All animals before him ran,
To shun the hateful sight of man.
Whence is this dread of ev'ry creature?
Fly they our figure, or our nature?

"

A PIN, who long had serv'd a beauty,
Proficient in the toilet's dutý,

Had form'd her sleeve, confin'd her hair,
Or given her knot a smarter air,
Now nearest to her heart was plac'd,
Now in her mantua's tail disgrac'd;
But could she partial fortune blame,
Who saw her lover serv'd the same.

At length from all her honors cast,
Through various turns of life she pass'd ;
Now glitter'd on a taylor's arm,
Now kept a beggar's infant warm;
Now, rang'd within a miser's coat,
Contributes to his yearly groat:
Now rais'd again from low approach,
She visits in the doctor's coach!
Here, there, by various fortune tost,
At last in Gretham-hall was lost.
Charm'd with the wonders of the show,
On ev'ry side, above, below,
She now of this or that inquires;
What least was understood admires.
'Tis plain, each thing so struck her mind,
Her head's of virtuoso kind.

And pray what's this, and this, dear Sir?
A Needle, says the interpreter.
She knew the name: and thus the fool
Address'd her as a taylor's tool.

A needle

A needle with that filthy stone,
Quite idle, all with rust o'ergrown!
You better might employ your parts,
And aid the sempstress in her arts.
But tell me how the friendship grew,
Between that paltry flint and you.

Friend, says the Needle, cease to blame;
I follow real worth and fame.
Know'st thou the loadstone's pow'r and art,
That virtue virtues can impart ?
Of all his talents I partake;
How can I such a friend forsake!
Tis I direct the pilot's hand

To shun the rocks and treach'rous sand;
By me the distant world is known,.
And either India is our own.
Had I with milliners been bred,
What had I been? the guide of thread,
And drudg'd as vulgar needles do,
Of no more consequence than you.

$107. FABLE XVII.
and the Wolf.

AWOLF, with hunger fierce and bold,
Ravag'd the plains, and thinn'd the fold;
Deep in the wood secure he lay;
The thefts of night regal'd the day.
In vain the shepherd's wakeful care
Had spread the toils, and watch'd the snare ;
In vain the Dog pursued his pace,
The fleeter robber mock'd the chace.

So very like, a Painter drew,
That ev'ry eye the picture knew;
He hit complexion, feature, air,
So just, the life itself was there.
No flatt'ry with his colors laid,
To bloom restor'd the faded maid;
He gave each muscle all its strength;
The mouth, the chin, the nose's length,
His honest pencil touch'd with truth,
And mark'd the date of age and youth.
He lost his friends, his practice fail'd;
Truth should not always be reveal'd,
In dusty piles his pictures lay,
For no one sent the second pay.

The Shepherd's Dog Two bustos, fraught with ev'ry grace,
A Venus and Apollo's face,

He plac'd in view; resolv'd to please
Whoever sat, he drew from these;
From these corrected ev'ry feature,
And spirited each awkward creature.
All things were set; the hour was come,
His pallet ready o'er his thumb,
My Lord appear'd; and, seated right
proper attitude and light,

In

As Lightfoot rang'd the forest round,
By chance his foe's retreat he found.
A truce, replies the Wolf. "Tis done,
The Dog the parley thus begun :

How can that strong intrepid mind
Attack a weak defenceless kind?
Those jaws should prey on nobler food,
And drink the boar's and lion's blood;
Great souls with gen'rous pity melt,
Which coward tyrants never felt.
How harmless is our fleecy care!
Be brave, and let thy mercy spare.
Friend, says the Wolf, the matter weigh;
Nature design'd us beasts of prey;
As such, when hunger finds a treat,
Tis necessary Wolves should eat.
If, mindful of the bleating weal,
Thy bosom burn with real zeal,
Hence, and thy tyrant lord beseech;
To him repeat the moving speech:
A Wolf eats sheep but now and then ;
Ten thousands are devour'd by men.
An open foe may prove a curse;
But a pretended friend is worse.

Who with his tongue hath armies routed,
Makes ev'n his real courage doubted:
But flatt'ry never seems absurd,
The flatter'd always take your word.
Impossibilities seem just;

$109. FABLE XVII. The Painter who pleased nobody and every body.

Lasr men suspect your tale untrue,
Keep probability in view.
The trayller leaping o'er those bounds,
The credit of his book confounds.

They take the strongest praise on trust.
Hyberboles, tho' ne'er so great,
Will still come short of self-conceit.

The Painter look'd, he sketch'd the piece,
Then dipp'd his pencil, talk'd of Greece.
Of Titian's tints, of Guido's air;
Those eyes, my Lord, the spirit there
Might well a Raphael's hand require,
To give them all the native fire;
The features fraught with sense and wit,
You'll grant, are very hard to hit;
But yet with patience you shall view
As much as paint and art can do.
Observe the work. My Lord replied,
Till now I thought my mouth was wide;
Besides, my nose is somewhat long;
Dear Sir, for me 'tis far too young.

Oh pardon me! the artist cried,
In this the painters must decide.
The piece ev'n common eyes must strike;
I warrant it extremely like.
My Lord examin'd it anew;
No looking-glass seem'd half so true.

A Lady came, with borrow'd grace,
He from his Venus form'd her face.
Her lover prais'd the Painter's art;
So like the picture in his heart!
To ev'ry age some charm he lent;
Ev'n beauties were almost content.".

Thro' all the town his art they prais'd;
His custom grew, his price was rais'd.
Had he the real likeness shown,
Would any man the picture own?
But when thus happily he wrought,
Each found the likeness in his thought.
§ 109. FABL

H2

$109. FABLE XIX, The Lion and the Cub.
How fond are men of rule and place,
Who court it from the mean and base!
These cannot bear an equal nigh,
But from superior merit fly.
They love the cellar's vulgar joke,
And lose their hours in ale and smoke,
There o'er some petty club preside;
So poor, so paltry is their pride!
Nay, ev'n with fools whole nights will sit,
In hopes to be supreme in wit.
If these can read, to these I write,
To set their worth in truest light.
A Lion-cub, of sordid mind,
Avoided all the lion-kind;
Fond of applause he sought the feasts
Of vulgar and ignoble beasts;
With asses all his time he
Their club's perpetual president,
He caught their manners, looks, and aire ;
An ass in ev'ry thing but ears!
If e'er his highness meant a joke,
They grinn'd applause before he spoke;
But at each word what shouts of praise!
Good gods! how natural he brays!

spent ;

Elate with flatt'ry and conceit,
He seeks his royal sire's retreat;
Forward, and fond to show his parts,
His highness brays; the lion starts:

Puppy! that curs'd vociferation
Betrays thy life and conversation:
Coxcombs, an ever-noisy race,
Are trumpets of their own disgrace.

Why so severe the Cub replies;
Our senate always held me wise.

How weak is pride! returns the sire; All fools are vain when fools admire! But know, what stupid asses prize, Lions and noble beasts despise.

$110. FABLE XX. The old Hen and the Cock.
RESTRAIN your child; you'll soon believe
The text which
Ve sprung from Eve.'

6
says,

As an old Hen led forth her train,
And seem'd to peck to show the grain;
She rak'd the chaff, she scratch'd the ground,
And glean'd the spacious yard around."
A giddy Chick, to try her wings,
On the well's narrow margin springs,
And prone she drops. The mother's breast
All day with sorrow was possest.

A Cock she met; her son she knew,
And in her heart affection grew.

cares.

My son, says she, I grant your years
Have reach'd beyond a mothe
I see you vig'rous, strong, and bold;
I hear with joy your triumphs told.
'Tis not from Cocks thy fate I dread;
But let thy ever-wary tread
Avoid yon well; the fatal place
Is sure perdition to our race.
Print this my counsel on thy breast;
To the just gods I leave the rest..

$111. FABLE XXI. The Rat-Catcher and Catr
THE rats by night such mischief did,
Betty was ev'ry morning chid:
They undermin'd whole sides of bacon;
Her cheese was sapp'd, her tarts were taken
Her pasties, fenc'd with thickest paste,
Were all demolish'd and laid waste.
She curs'd the Cat for want of duty,
Who left her foes a constant booty.
An Engineer of noted skill
Engag'd to stop the growing ill.

From room to room he now surveys
Their haunts, their works, their secret ways,
And whence the nightly sally's made.
Finds where they 'scape an ambuscade,

An envious Cat from place to place,
Unseen attends his silent pace.
She saw that, if his trade went on,
The purring race must be undone ;
So secretly removes his baits,
And ev'ry stratagem defeats.

Again he sets the poison'd toils,
And Puss again the labor foils.

"What foe (to frustrate my designs)

My schemes thus nightly countermines ?"
Incens'd, he cries: "this very hour

The wretch shall bleed beneath my pow'r.”
So said -a pond'rous trap he brought,
And in the fact
poor Puss was caught.

66

Smuggler," says he, "thou shalt be made "A victim to our loss of trade."

The captive Cat, with piteous mews,
For pardon, life, and freedom sues.
"A sister of the science spare;
"One int'rest is our common care."

"What insolence !" the man replied;
"Shall Cats with us.the game divide?

"Were