which Passion hurry'd her into a Hectick Fever of which maugre all the Indearments of a tender and loving Husband she in a most Sorrowful and Tragical manner gave up the Ghost Never was a Gentleman more Disconsolate than â—ozmani Grief over-whelm'd his Heart and his Soul continually disburthen'd it self by breathing out passionate Complaints and dolourous Sighs And what with the Death of his Lady and the Deformity of his Son he was reduc'd to a low and weak Condition His Friends being Concerned to see him so and perceiving him in a deep Consumption they with all the tender Expressions of Love and Affection indeavour'd to expel the Grief which had Seiz'd his Mind but all in Vain for he rejected their Visits refus'd their Counsels despis'd their Comforts and wholly deny'd himself the Society of his own Family Thus he Linger'd out a Month or Two till he found his Vitals ready to take Flight when he sent for his Brother in Law to whom he Communicated his Grief in the following Manner Brother Mortals may imagine that by their Wealth they are secur'd from Vicissitude and its Consequences and that Fortune hath lost her Power and is Subject to the Controuls of a Guilded Purse or the Amorous Looks of a Fair Beauty But alas so long as we are Born with Affection and suffer it to Reign Arbitrary over our other Powers we are not Sensible that she is Hood-winck'd both to Wealth and Grandeur as well as Poverty and Want Nor will we Believe that what Favours she heaps upon us at One time she may Sweep away at another Who would have Thought a Person so Rich and Wealthy so Well-belov'd and Esteem'd so much Refpected and Admir'd so Bless'd in the soft Embraces of a vertuous and loving Wife and in fine once so Happy in the Enjoyment of a Son whoâ—e Beauty seem'd to be the Master-piece of Nature I say Who would have imagin'd a Person once so Fortunate should have Liv'd to see so dire a Catastrophe befall him Ah have I Liv'd to see the Lady of my Affections my bosom-Bosome-Friend and the Soul of my Love surrender up all the Efforts of Nature all the Ravishing Endearments of Love and Beauty and all the Conjugal Affections of a Wife to her Husband into the Hands of that grim Tyrant Death And shall this Memory of mine forget her and Live with nothing to feast my Opticks on but the Deformity of a Son No no Maugre all the Delusive Advice to stay and linger out my Days here I 'll force my Fate and compel Atropos to Cut this Thred of Life And here Lozmani Swooning he seem'd as if he had already taken Possession of another World till his Senses were retriev'd when opening his Eyes he thus went on I am glad my Dissolution arriv'd not before I Bequeath'd my Son to your Care and my Estate to your Self for his Maintainance I Conjure you by all that 's Just and Sacred on pain of suffering here all the Horrours of Conscience that can be inflicted on a Perjur'd Soul to do no otherwise by him than becomes a loving Uncle and what the deplorable Condition of a Fatherless Kinsman calls for To which the Brother Assenting with an Oath Christianus was call'd for by his Father who in the midst of a Flood of Tears Embracing him recommended him to his Uncle and Dy'd Thus we see the Tragical End of Lozmani and his Lady By this I would have my Young Reader observe what Love and Affection some Parents have for their Children as well as Advise Parents to see the Folly of immoderate Grief the Misery of Idolizing their Children and the Danger of Repining at the Decree of Heaven Shall we hasten the running out that little Sand left us because the Almighty Recalls the Talent HE hath Lent us Consider Facilis descenâ—us Averni Sed revocare gradum superasque eva dere ad auras Hoc Opus hic Labor est Virg. Aen. 6. Thus Down-hill to th' Shades you go a Facile way But to return and re-enjoy the day That is a Work a Labor An Impossibility Is it not better then to prompt Nature with a Mind Calm and Serene than to hurry ourselves with Passion into those dark Recesses of the Dead from whence there is no Regress into this Life again Chilo the Philosopher Plin. l. 7. c. 32. who so much abhorr'd the Excess of Passion and used to say Nequid nimium Cupias Desire nothing too much Was not exempt from the Punishment thereof for the Old Man dy'd with Joy when his Son return'd Victor from the Olympick Games Without we can take to ourselves Immortality it is Madness for Mortals to imagine Heaven is obliged to Preserve what we Affect and a Crime often Punish'd not only by the removal of the Object but by the privation of the Adorer's Life None can Evade those Decretive Actions Subordinate to the Series of their Lives And this I call Fate which Tully saith GOD hath Decreed and Resolved shall come to pass But to proceed Christianus was no sooner taken home to his Uncle's House but he as soon â—ound the Want of his Parents His Uncle soon broke the Oath he had made forcing him to Labour with his Slaves beyond his Strength and in a little time most unnaturally turn'd him into the wide World to shift Christianus being thus depriv'd of an Habitation he wander'd up and down Contented with the Courtesy of some and the Reproaches of others All which drave him the more to Contemplate his own Frailty and Contemn the Vanity of this World's Enjoyments Till at length as he was returning thro' the Fields into the City with a Company of wicked Children attending him he was Pityed by a Religious Merchant who took him into his Family where he Liv'd Belov'd and Admir'd nigh Two Years at which time to the great Grief of the Merchant and his Lady he fell Sick of the Small-pox and Died being Honoured with a Decent and Solemn Funeral Thus he was taken Care of by the Almighty and no doubt has the Reward of those who shun Vice and its Attendants But to let my Reader see that Heaven never suffers the Guilty to go unpunished I will Conclude all with this one Instance The Perjur'd and Unnatural Brother having Liv'd in Excess and Prodigality on his Brother's Estate a considerable time and afterwards meeting with great Losses at Sea the Thoughts of which together with the Gnawings of his Conscience for Perjury and Villany to his Brother and Christianus forc'd him in Despair to sling himself Head-long from the Top of a high Clifâ— into the Sea Where we will leave him suffering the Punishments of the Furies which are the Stings of an evil Conscience where as Cicero saith Every one 's own Fraud and his own Terrour Frets him most Every one 's own Wickedness Torments and Inrages him his own Evil Thoughts and the Lashes of Conscience affright him These are Constant and Domestick Furâ—es to the Wicked that Night
the Course of Nature But the Child may lose great part of it's Origine Nature by the Reception of unnatural Nutriment This may be done thus Let an Infant suck a Moross Surly Woman and it will receive not only Nourishment but the ill Qualities of the Nurse No wonder then the Child degenerates from its Parents when it participates of another's Nature There can be no true Affection between the Mother and such a Child For what difference will there be between the Legitimate and a Bastard when thou shalt take them both Young and bring them up saying I am thy Mother and the like In fine every Mother ought to Suckle her own Child when she is not infirm Besides Dost thou think the Brests were made for no other Use than to excite Lust Consider All Objects ought to be hid which have force enough in themselves to attract Vice Let this suffice If thou woud'st preserve tender Flowers till they are Ripe they must not be expos'd to every unwholsome Blast 15 The Hawk and Birds A Hawk flew Scaling thro' the Air With hopes to find some Prey But strait the Birds perceiv'd her near And up they flew away One mounts her Back a Hole to pick The other Three together At Head Tail Wings do snatch at quick Plucking from thence a Feather Thus they the greedy Hawk assault Which makes him cry and rore Good Birds forgive me now this Fault I 'll ne'er do so no more The MORAL IF my Child thou wilt live to a good Old Age and leave behind thee a Name not inroll'd in the black Leaves of Oppression Extortion Fraud and Usury now is the time to fly Covetousness and check all unjust Desires after the Injoyments of another Why wilt thou turn Hawk Hast thou not seen One hurry'd to the Ducking-place by a Multitude Nay hast thou not held an Arm or a Leg till thy Companions have Pump'd him This is only a Seasoning him for Bridewell and the Gallows Let me advise thee then if thou wilt divert Disgrace from thy Family and avoid Shame and Misery thy self look not on thy Play-fellow's Toys with Affection Meddle not with thy School-fellow's Top Book or Satchel because it is finer than thine or because thou hast not the same Nay if something molests thy Teeth and thou seest a Pin drop off his Sleeve use it not without his Consent Thus thou wilt inure thy self in the ways of Virtue and be happy in a Contented Mind Palfer from none for Gain ill got Will with that Party's Mem'ry rot 16. The Gulon BEhold this glutt'nous Gulon how She seizes on her Prey And never leaves with Teeth to tare Till all 's consum'd away But fills her Belly monstrous full Then to give Nature ease Betwixt two Trees she pulls herself The Meat from thence to squeeze So empty'd runs again to Stuff As much or rather more And never thinks she has enough But still for Food does roar The MORAL WOu'dst thou be a Man of Understanding endow'd with a Thinking Soul indeavour to keep thy Spirits free from the Rapine of an unnatural Apetite For as too much Oyl retards the motion of the Watch wheels so Gluttony depresses the Spirits and keeps 'em from Soaring above the reach of Nature What Idea canst thou form of a Summum Bonum here which is nothing but the searching out the Bounds of Nature with the injoyment of a Mind Serenely bent to Benefit the Publick when thou art fit for nothing but to lye down and wallow with Swine When I was in America I saw an Indian with a Belly stuff'd like a Wool-pack begirt about with a Belt I ask'd him Why he did so He reply'd When we find a Prey we devour it all be it never so much and till we catch another we take in our Belts a Hole every time we go to Stool and so remain satisfy'd This may allow of some Excuse in them but for those who have the Use at Discretion it 's most Unnatural especially where there are Objects enough ready to Starve for want of That which is wasted 17. Young Storks and their Dams AN antient Stork who well had liv'd Began for to Decay And fearing none wou'd lend Relief Thus to her self doth say Ah woe is me I cannot fly To seek my daily Food For Age has clip'd my Wings whereby They do me little good Whereat some young Ones to her came Who with Affection great Took care to Labour that she might Have daily Food to eat The MORAL HAst thou got Wealth ó Man in an Honest way and thy Parents brought thee up to Years of Discretion to dispose thereof Consider Is my Father or Mother Poor in Debt or Necessitated Have they bestow'd that upon me when I was uncapable of helping my self which now wou'd Nourish them in their Aged Extremity Have I not Substance to repay which I wasted under their Tuition Do I not owe my Being to them And am I not likewise their Debtor for all the Expence Care Sorrow Love and Affection they were at to bring me to what I am This will teach thee to make thy Purse thy Parents and to open it to all thy distressed Friends that Heaven may inlarge what thou hast with a Life Long and Happy But do not as some who perhaps will every Holy-tide afford 'em a Meal but with this Proviso that they shall either Eat with their Servants or be Seated at the lower-end of the Table Some such Devils I have seen my self Support thy aged Parents and besure Th' Almightys blessing will attend thy store 18. The Ambitious Vulture A Rav'nous Vulture long had stood The Phoenix Nest to view And for that purpose in a Wood She went and lay perdue Which having seen Ambition so Did stimulate her Heart She carries Spices too and fro To act the Phoenix's part And with the same a Nest doth build Immortal's her desire To have a Golden Crown but then The Sun set all on fire combust With that she Sinks her Nest and all Vain-glorious Hopes and Projects turn to dust The MORAL THus the Lofty Soul whose Ambition is Elivated above the Decree of Fate wou'd impose upon his Fellow-Creature a Belief that he is something more than mere Man when all his Glory is gotten by the Ruin of others and his Fame supported by the Eccho of a dangerous Parasite From this I infer Two Indisputables Truth and Error There are Moral Vultures as well as Religious Devils and they both profess Infallibility The Moral Impostor never discovers his Morality to any but Strangers who are not acquainted with his Neighbourhood The other wou'd be Gold before it 's Refin'd in the Furnace A GOD before the Elements of Nature are Qualify'd and Sublimated by the Power of Omnipotency This Vulture wou'd have all the Nectar and Ambrosia out of Heaven to be devour'd by Swine on Earth And wou'd keep the Keys by his Side to make a Prison of Paradice Here 's Infallibility with a Witness
â—â—d then draw near and Touch. If thou â—oud'st be out of Danger fly Gameing â—ioting the Play house and the like For â—â—e Stage Now serves only to deiude unâ—ary Souls into the Snares of Vice and become almost the greatest Piece of â—mmorality in the World Run not â—ither then to have thy Mind Inchanted â—ith Ravishing Imagination and thy Boâ—y Corrupted with the Consequence of â—ust Besides who knows whilst thou â—â—t Vindicating thy Friend but thou â—ay'st receive a Wound thrô thy Body 〈◊〉 a Hector Thou oughtest not to deâ—â—ght in seeing thy Fellow Creature miâ—ick'd into the Shape of a Beast 24. Friendship of Mice IN an Old House run to Decay That ready was to sink There stood a Tub of Water where The Mice did use to drink At length it happen'd as in haste To Drink they going were The foremost miss'd his Footing and Fell down for want of care At which the Mice did all agree To help him out with speed Each hung by th' other's Tail when he Caught hold thereof was freed The MORAL WHat 's the Old Proverb Claw me and I will Claw you One good Turn deserves another But if thou 'lt be neither Scribe nor Pharisee remember this If thine Enemy Hunger Feed him if he Thirst give him Drink Down comes Heaven's Fire upon his Head if afterwards he proves Ingrate But when thou dost Good to those who Deserve it not and at the same time Wishest Ill to the Party a Fig for thy Compassion Is there not That within thee which thou callest Conscience Beware of its being an unwelcome Evidence another Day In fine If thou seest an Object Naked Consider thus with thy self Have I not an old Garment at home useless to me Or when one meets thee going to Spend Two-pence with thy Friend and asketh thine Alms Lend one Half and Spend the other c. This is pulling a Man out of the Water But be not thou as some Men with some Souls who love to pass by Affliction Blind fold Be Friends with all and ready stand To lend in Need thy helping Hand 25. The Salamander and Man IN Flames the Salamander lives Burning in Sulph'rous Fire Whose Heat the Beast fresh Vigour gives Making the Man admire Who thus Disputes Pray whence came you Thou art Immortal sure Or else those fiery red-hot Coals You never cou'd endure I 'm not Immortal quick saith he Tho' Fire I can feel But Naturally it suits with me According to my Zeal The MORAL IT 's no difficult matter to Guess who is meant by the Salamander because â—â—ere is no Creature under the Sun more like it than an Atheist For stifling all Convictions his Conscience is Sear'd as with an Hot Iron making his own shallow Reason his God which being False is utterly Uncapable to direct him to search and find out the most True and Holy GOD and Creator of Wisdom it Self and so he Lives diving in the Fire of his own boundless and foolish Imaginations His hellish Zeal Obliging him to venture his All on the Notion of Dying like a Beast and yet not Suffer'd to Live a Life like it Thus he spends his Youth like a witty Fool his Man-hood worse than an unreasonable Beast and his Age if Justice cut him not off like a Devil incarnate Avoid then the Society of such Mortal immortal Devils lest you are Infected by their Bituminous Poyson and Atheistical Conversation Ah pity me I do Believe dread GOD Those who do not Lord Scourge them with thy Rod. 26. The Unnatural Eagle A Wealthy Eagle chosen King Had by his Queen a Son Who by his Father's Will was made Successor to the Crown But mind This wicked Paricide Who not Content to stay With spreading Wings at 's Father Flew And took his Life away And so usurp'd the Vacant Throne When all the Birds agreed To Cut him off And so he dy'd A Parri Regicide The MORAL I Cou'd Wish none in the World were like this young Eagle But scarce a Year revolves without some Unnatural Instance or other All that the Wise Man saith is True and this we know to be so Covetousness is the Root of all Evil. From whence springs Ambition Restlesness Discontent and a World of Miseries Murder is Subordinate to Ambition and Discontent And with that Peasants as well as Princes are made Impure I my self have known one Relation Murder another for less than Half a Crown It is indeed most Benefit to thee to arrive at the highest Zenith of Glory by Gradations that thou may'st know Others Dispositions as well as thine Own But neither Ambition nor Discontent will suffer this but force thee to Jump in the dark Abyss of Disorder If thou wilt wait Nature's due Time thou shalt be Happy and have what Providence design'd for thee If not then thou' rt Unworthy to enjoy the Elements of Life Content's a Iem Let what you have suffice Let Nature have its Course Man quickly dyes 27. The Boys and Bear TWo Boys as rambling thrô a Wood By chance a Bear espy'd At which one took to 's Heels and loud Unto the other Cry'd Who strait fell down on 's Back and lay Perdue until the Bear Came up when thus the Boy began To Whisper in his Ear You hollow Tree with Honey full Unto the top is heap'd Away the Bear runs and the Boy Immediately escap'd The MORAL POlicy goes beyond Strength But that Man who lyes still in a Ditch crying Lord Help me and never offer so much as one Struggle towards it merits no more Pity than he does Incouragement who lyes Gaping under a Plumb-Tree expecting the Plumbs to drop into his Mouth without lifting up his Hand to Gather 'em though within Reach Therefore wish not or pray for such a thing or such a Deliverance but use also the Means to attain it And if thou seest thine Enemy prove too Strong for thee then Resist not but turn to thy Money-Politicks for 't will certainly prove the securest Safety in such an exigent Extremity Observe this as a certain Maxim One Yard of subtle Policy join'd to an Inch of experienc'd Strength if well us'd may Measure the whole Universe When Lord in any Danger e'er I fall By Satan's skill O then attend my Call I 'll use the Means but wait on thee for all 28. The Hen and Chickens A Careless Hen that Chickens had As from her Coop doth stray A Hawk espying darted down And carry'd one away One Chicken bigger than the Rest Upon her Back doth fly And over all the other Chicks Makes an attempt to Fly Again the nimble Hawk darts down The silly Chick t' insnare Which done away with motion quick She cutts the â—â—itting Air. The MORAL BY this Fable we may learn Two Duties First The Duty of Parents to their Children Which is To restrain the Haughtiness of their Dispositions that they mayn't Ride Paramount on their Backs And to signalize no more Favour for one than the other If thou dost one shall
THE FABLES OF Young Aesop With their Morals With a Moral History of his Life and Death Illustrated with Forty curious Cuts applicable to each FABLE The Fourth EDITION Written by B. H. LONDON Printed and Sold by Benj. Harris at the Golden Boar's Head in Grace-Church-street MDCC Tho' Aesop's Crooked Strait is his Vertuous Road Which Points the Way to Heaven's bless'd Abode Shall we therefore the better part despise Because deceitful Beauty from it flyes Abhor reflecting on the Cripple's Fate Who wou'd be Crooked when he might be Strait To the READER Reader ONce more I Dedicate this Pocket Companion to thy Use If thou lovest Vertue thou wilt accept it and Read with a Desire of Improvement but if thy Affections are in the Heart of the Earth and admirest Darkness I advise thee not to hinder thy Friend from looking upwards and beholding the Sun And if thou wouldst live Happy here and have the Unum Necessarium hereafter get Wisdom get Virtue which cannot be chang'd by Fortune nor separated by the Cavils of this World which cannot be demolish'd by Age nor abated by Sickness but will make Peasants Kings and Beggars Princes the Sick Whole and the most Miserable the most Happy I have here prefix'd being sensible how Diverting Lives are to the Publick A Moral History of Aesop ' s Life shewing the Vanity of immoderate Passion the Deceitfulness of Beauty and the Misery attending a perjur'd and vicious Soul I have also made the whole more Correct than any of the former Editions by altering the Style to Gratify some Persons of more Profound Iudgments but so as the meanest Capacity may Understand me Indeed the World has Oblig'd me to this by their Candid Acceptance of Three Impressions and the Obligation I think to return GOD willing with a Second Part in a little time However if thou wilt improve this in the mean time thou wilt find it more Beneficial than the Transitory Injoyments of this Life which Fade before we can perceive 'em to Flourish But Virtue well Rooted in the Soul is like a Rock in the Sea all the Affections being guided thereby to the Crowning their End with immortal Glory Which that thou may'st attain to is the Desire of thine Janua 10. 1700. B. H. Young AeSOP's Life IN one of the farthest Parts of Germany there Liv'd once a worthy and sober Dr. of Physick by Name John Lozmani of an Antient and Honourable Family He was a Gentleman no less to be Admir'd for his Exquisite Learning than Belov'd for the internal Endowments of a Vertuous and Generous Soul and One whose Aspect might Excite the Affections of a Chaste Princess as well as Check the wanton Glances of the most Lascivious Lover To all which besides the great Observance and profound Respect the People paid him were added a copious Estate and plentiful Revenues He had not arriv'd to above the Age of Twenty before Heaven Crown'd his Sun-shine Years with the chaste Enjoyments of a Marriage Bed and made him the Husband of a Young Lady in whom Love and Beauty as well as Vertue and Chastity were eminently Predominant But tho' Heaven had showr'd its Blessings down in so singular manner upon their Heads yet it seem'd to deny 'em a long time That which is the End and Design of Wedlock the Thoughts of which with the Apprehension of not leaving Issue behind to keep up the Name and Honour of a Family depress'd Lozmani's Spirits and forc'd him to Affect a solitary and retired Life But all this by his Lady's being happily Deliver'd of a Son quickly Vanish'd and the Clouds of Melancholly Dispers'd his Spirits became more Strong and Lively and his Joy rais'd to a higher Pitch than before Glad was he to see Heaven bless him with a Son so Fair so Beautiful and so well Proportion'd in whom the very Heart and Soul of its Parents were bound up But alas when we go about to Assure ourselves of a Constant Flux of Felicity and Promise Happiness with its Duration then are we not only the most Deceiv'd but render'd by Fortune's inconstant Motions as to this World the most Miserable and the most Unhappy For As in all things so in poor Mortal's Heart Sorrow and Joy by Course do Act their part For Fortune's Course b'ing Fickle as the Wind How then can That be Constant when she 's Blind Nor is she ever Worship'd by the Wise But only Fools who make her Throne the Skies Thus we see the Mutability of all things For this Son whom they Named Christianus growing into Years and proving the exact Picture of his Father he was Educated and Instructed by him in the ways of Virtue and had already Learn'd Manners enough to prove himself an Ornament to his Parents when about the Ninth Year of his Age he Unfortunately fell from the Turret of his Father's House into a Garden adjoyning whereby he was not only taken up for Dead but had his Back broke his Joints dislocated and his whole Body bruised in a Deplorable manner Imagine now what Scenes of Sorrow attended it And Guess how great an Impression it made upon the Hearts of Two loving and indulgent Parents who would have parted with all their Wealth to have prevented It if possible But such is the irrevocable Decree of Heaven that an Alexander whose Arms Punish'd all the known World till it Confess'd him Conquerour can no more Evade the Poyson of his Cup-bearer Antipater's Son than a Croesus with all his Wealth pretend to Bribe a Deity If we expect to Enjoy an immortal Gift we must not allow ourselves in the excessive Transports of the Passions of the Mind A Mediocrity in Temper will Fortify us against all the Disappointments in Nature and preserve to us at least the Idea and Remembrance of what our Senses once Delighted in when Passion robs us of this and our Reason too Passion ah Passion spoils the Nobler Parts And makes fond Mortals Deify their Hearts Vexing the Spirits with Impure Dissentions Pushing us on t' Adore our own Inventions ' ' And very few are free from this Infection ' ' For every one 's a Slave to some Affection But ah Ten Thousand times more Happy 's he Who Subdues Passion and sets Reason free That his weak Opticks may more clearly ' spye The Imperfections that proceed thereby But to return As Christianus was so Unfortunate in the Juvenal of his Years to be made a Cripple so he became the more Helpless and outwardly Miserable For his Deformity so Discompos'd his Mother that soon after she made a Chamber her Consinement and in a little time her Aspect became Pale and Wan the Vermilion of her Cheeks were wash'd off with Pearly Tears and her Eyes affected nothing more than the ghastly Ideas of the King of Terrours and his silent Urn her Brows were Depress'd with Clouds of Melancholly and all her Actions Discourse and Conversation spoke nothing but deep Resentments of a troubled and discontented Mind The Excess of