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Abroad, at home, the Spectre's there:
In vain we feek to fly from Care.
At length he thus the Ghoft addrest:
Since thou must be my conftant guest,
Be kind, and follow me no more;
For Care by right should'

go

before.

The waves in fpreading circles ran, Proteus arofe, and thus began:

Came you from court? for in your mien A felf-important air is feen.

He frankly own'd his friends had trick'd him, And how he fell his party's victim.

Know, fays the God, by matchless skill,

9:167. Fable XXXII. The Two Owls and the I change to ev'ry fhape at will;

Sparrow.

TWO formal Owls together fat,
Conferring thus in civil chat:
How is the modern tafte decay'd!
Where's the respect to wisdom paid ?
Our worth the Grecian fages knew;
They gave our fires the honour due;
They weigh'd the dignity of fowls,
And pry'd into the depth of Owls.
Athens, the feat of learned fame,
With gen'ral voice rever'd our name;
On merit title was conferr'd,
And all ador'd th'Athenian bird.

Brother, you reafon well, replies
The folemn mate, with half-fhut eyes;
Right. Athens was the feat of learning;
And truly wifdom is difcerning.
Befides, on Pallas' helm we fit,
The type and ornament of wit;
But now, alas! we're quite neglected;
And a pert Sparrow's more refpected!

A Sparrow, who was lodg'd befide,
O'erhears them footh cach other's pride,
And thus he nimbly vents his heat:

Who meets a fool muft find conceit.
I grant, you were at Athens grac'd,
And on Minerva's helm were plac'd;
But ev'ry bird that wings the sky,
Except an Owl, can tell you why.

From hence they taught their fchools to know
How falfe we judge by outward fhow;
That we fhould never looks efteem,
Since fools as wife as you might feem.
Would ye contempt and fcorn avoid,
Let your vainglory he destroy'd :
Humble your arrogance of thought;
Purfue the ways by nature taught:
So fhall you find delicious fare,
And grateful farmers praife your care;
So fhall fleek mice your chace reward,
And no keen cat find more regard.

§ 168. Fable XXXIII. The Courtier and Proteus. WHENE'ER a courtier's out of place,

The country fhelters his difgrace;
Where, doom'd to exercife and health,
His houfe and gardens own his wealth,
He builds new fchemes, in hope to gain
The plunder of another reign:
Like Philip's fon, would fain be doing,
And fighs for other realms to ruin.

As one of thefe (without his wand)
Penfive, along the winding ftrand
Employ'd the folitary hour,
In projects to regain his pow'r ;

But yet I'm told, at court you fee
Those who prefume to rival me.

Thus faid-a fnake, with hideous trail,
Proteus extends his scaly mail.

Know, fays the man, though proud in place, All courtiers are of reptile race.

Like
you, they take that dreadful form,
Bask in the fun, and fly the storm;
With malice hifs, with envy glote,
And for convenience change their coat;
With new-got luftre rear their head,
Though on a dunghill born and bred.

Sudden the God a lion ftands;
He flakes his mane, he fpurns the fands;
Now a fierce lynx, with fiery glare,
A wolf, an afs, a fox, a bear.

Had I ne'er liv'd at court, he cries,
Such transformation might furprize;
But there, in queft of daily game,
Each abler courtier acts the fame.
Wolves, lions, lynxes, while in place,
Their friends and fellows are their chace.
They play the bear's and fox's part;
Now rob by force, now fteal with art.
They fometimes in the fenate bray;
Or chang'd again to beasts of prey;
Down from the lion to the ape
Practise the frauds of ev'ry fhape.

So faid, upon the God he flies;
In cords the struggling captive ties.

Now, Proteus, now (to truth compell'd)
Speak, and confefs thy art excell❜d.
Ufe ftrength, furprize, or what you will,
The courtier finds evafions ftill:
Not to be bound by any ties,
And never forc'd to leave his lyes.

§ 169. Fable XXXIV. The Maftiffs. HOSE who in quarrels interpose,

TH

Must often wipe a bloody nose. A Maftiff, of true English blood, Lov'd fighting better than his food. When dogs were fnarling for a bone, He long'd to make the war his own; And often, found (when two contend) To interpofe obtain❜d his end; He glory'd in his limping pace; The fears of honour feam'd his face; In ev'ry limb a gash appears, And frequent fights retrench'd his ears. As on a time he heard from far Two dogs engag'd in noify war, Away he fcours, and lays about him, Refolv'd no fray fhould be without him.

Forth

Forth from his yard a tanner flies,
And to the bold intruder cries,

A cudgel fhall correct your manners;
Whence fprung this curfed hate to tanners ?
While on my Dog you vent your spite,
Sirrah! 'tis me you dare not bite.
To fee the battle thus perplex'd,
With equal rage a butcher vex'd;
Hoarfe fcreaming from the circl'd crowd,
To the curs'd Mastiff cries aloud:

Both Hockley-hole and Marybone
The combats of my Dog have known.
He ne'er, like bullies coward-hearted,
Attacks in public, to be parted,

Think not, rash fool, to share his fame;.
Be his the honour or the fhame.

Thus faid, they fwore, and rav'd like thunder;
Then dragg'd their fasten'd Dogs afunder;
While clubs and kicks from ev'ry fide
Rebounded from the Maftiff's hide.

All reeking now with sweat and blood,
A while the parted warriors ftood,
Then pour'd upon the meddling foe;
Who, worry'd, howl'd and fprawl'd below.
He rofe, and, limping from the fray,

By

both fides mangl'd, sneak'd away.

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Countryman.

PYTHAG'RAS rofe at early dawn,
By foaring meditation drawn,
To breathe the fragrance of the day.
Through flow'ry fields he took his way.
In muling contemplation warm,
His steps mifled him to a farm,
Where, on the ladder's topmoft round,
A peasant stood: the hammer's found
Shook the weak barn. Say, friend, what care
Calls for thy honest labour, there

The Clown, with furly voice, replies,
Vengeance aloud for juftice cries.
This kite, by daily rapine fed,
My heas annoy, my turkies dread,
At length his forfeit life hath paid;
See on the wall his wings difplay'd;
Here nail'd, a terror to his kind,
My fowls: fhall future fafety find;
My yard the thriving poultry feed;
And my barns refufe fat the breed.

Friend, fays the Sage, the doom is wife;
For public good the murd❜rer dies.

§ 170. Fable XXXV. The Barley Mow and But if thefe tyrants of the air

the Dunghill.

HOW many faucy airs we meet

From Temple-bar to Aldgate-street?

Proud rogues, who fhar'd the South-fea prey,
And fpring like mushrooms in a day!
They think it mean to condefcend
To know a brother or a friend;

They blush to hear their mother's name ;
And by their pride expose their shame.
As cross his yard, at early day,
A careful farmer took his way,
He stopp'd, and leaning on his fork,
Obferv'd the flail's inceffant work.
In thought he measur'd all his ftore;
His geefe, his hogs, he number'd o'er:
In fancy weigh'd the fleeces fhorn,
And multiply'd the next year's corn.
A Barley-mow, which stood befide,
Thus to its muling mafter cry'd :

Say, good Sir, is it fit or right
To treat me with neglect and flight?
Me, who contribute to your cheer,
And raife your mirth with ale and beer,
Why thus infulted, thus difgrac'd,
And that vile Dunghill near me plac'd ?
Are thofe poor fweepings of a groom,
That filthy fight, that naufeous fume,
Meet objects here? Command it hence :
A thing fo mean muft give offence.

The humble Dunghill thus reply'd,
Thy mafter hears, and mocks thy pride :
Infult not thus the meek and low;
In me thy benefactor know;
My warm affiftance gave thee birth,
Or thou hadft perifh'd low in earth;

Demand a sentence so fevere,
Think how the glutton man devours ;
What bloody feafts regale his hours!
O, impudence of pow'r and might,
Thus to condemn a hawk or kite,
When thou perhaps, carniv'rous finner,
Hadft pullets yesterday for dinner!

Hold, cry'd the Clown, with paffion heated,
Shall kites and men alike be treated?
When Heav'n the world with creatures ftor'd,
Man was ordain'd their fov'reign lord.
Thus tyrants boaft, the Sage reply'd,

Whofe murders fpring from power and pride.
Own then, this manlike kite is flain
Thy greater lux'ry to fuftain;

For "Petty rogues submit to fate,
"That great ones may enjoy their state."

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WHY are thofe tears? why droops your head?
Is then your other husband dead?
Or does a worfe difgrace betide;
Hath no one fince his death apply'd?
Alas! you know the caufe too well:
The falt is fpilt; to me it fell.
Then, to contribute to my lofs,
My knife and fork were laid across;
On Friday too! the day I dread!
Would I were fafe at home in bed!
Laft night (I vow to Heav'n 'tis true)
Bounce from the fire a coffin flew.
Next poft fome fatal news hall tell:
God fend my Cornifh friends be well!

Garth's Difpenfatory.

Unhappy

Unhappy widow, ceafe thy tears,
Nor feel affliction in thy fears:
Let not thy ftomach be suspended;

Eat now, and weep when dinner's ended;
And when the butler clears the table,
For thy defert I'll read my fable.

Betwixt her fwagging panniers load
A farmer's wife to market rode,
And jogging on, with thoughtful care,
Summ'd up the profits of her ware;
When starting from her filver dream,
Thus far and wide was heard her fcream:
That raven on yon left-hand oak
(Curfe on his ill betiding croak)
Bodes me no good. No more the said.
When poor blind Ball, with ftumbling tread,
Fell prone; o'erturn'd the pannier lay;
And her mafh'd eggs beftrew'd the way.
She, fprawling in the yellow road,

Rail'd, fivore, and curs'd: Thou croaking toad,
A murrain take thy whorefon throat!
I knew misfortune in the note.

Dame, quoth the Raven, fpare your oaths,
Unclench your fift, and wipe your cloaths.
But why on me thofe curfes thrown?
Goody, the fault was all your own:
For had you laid this brittle ware
On Dun, the old fure-footed mare,
Though all the Ravens of the hundred
With croaking had your tongue out-thunder'd,
Sure-footed Dun had kept his legs,

And you, good woman, fav'd your eggs.

IN

§ 173. Fable XXXVIII. The Turkey and Ant.
other men we faults can spy,
And blame the mote that dims their eye;
Each little fpeck and blemish find;
To our own ftronger errors blind.

A Turkey, tir'd of common food,
Forfook the barn, and fought the wood;
Behind her ran her infant train,
Collecting here and there a grain.
Draw near, my birds, the mother cries,
This hill delicious fare fupplies;
Behold, the bufy Negro race:
See, millions blacken all the place!
Fear not. Like me, with freedom eat;
An Ant is most delightful meat.—
How blefs'd, how envy'd were our life,
Could we but 'fcape the poult'rer's knife !
But man, curs'd man, on Turkey preys,
And Chriftmas fhortens all our days:
Sometimes with oysters we combine,
Sometimes allift the fav'ry chine.
From the low peafant to the lord,
The Turkey fmokes on ev'ry board.
Sure, men for gluttony are curft:
Of the fev'n deadly fins the worst.

An Ant, who climb'd beyond his reach,
Thus anfwer'd from the neighb'ring beech;
Ere you remark another's fin,

Bid thy own confcience look within;

Controul thy more voracious bill,

Nor for a breakfast nations kill.

§ 174. Fable XXXIX. The Father and Jupiter. THE Man to Jove his fuit preferr'd;

He begg'd a wife. His pray'r was heard. Jove wonder'd at his bold addreffing : For how precarious is the bleffing!

A wife he takes. And now for heirs Again he worries Heav'n with prayers. Jove nods affent. Two hopeful boys And a fine girl reward his joys.

Now more folicitous he grew,
And fet their future lives in view;
He saw that all refpect and duty

Were paid to wealth, to pow'r, and beauty.
Once more, he cries, accept my pray'r;
Make
my lov'd progeny thy care.
Let

my firft hope, my fav'rite boy,
All fortune's richeft gifts enjoy.
My next with ftrong ambition fire:
May favour teach him to afpire;
Till he the ftep of pow'r afcend,
And courtiers to their idol bend.
With ev'ry grace, with ev'ry charm,
My daughter's perfect features arm.
If Heav'n approve, a father's bleft.
Jove fimiles, and grants his full request.

The firft, a mifer at the heart,
Studious of ev'ry griping art,
Heaps hoards on hoards with anxious pain
And all his life devotes to gain.
He feels no joy, his cares increase,
He neither wakes nor fleeps in peace;
In fancy'd want (a wretch complete)
He ftarves, and yet he dares not eat.

The next to fudden honours grew:
The thriving art of courts he knew;
He reach'd the height of pow'r and place,
Then fell, the victim of disgrace."

Beauty with early bloom supplies,
His daughter's cheek, and points her eyes.
The vain coquette each fuit difdains,
And glories in her lover's pains.
With age the fades, each lover flies;
Contemn'd, forlorn, she pines and dies.

When Jove the father's grief furvey'd,
And heard him Heav'n and Fate upbraid,
Thus fpoke the God:- By outward show
Men judge of happiness and woe:
Shall ignorance of good and ill
Dare to direct th'Eternal Will?
Seek virtue; and, of that poffeit,
To Providence refign the reft.

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The Don, a formal, folemn ftrutter,
Defpifes Monfieur's airs and flutter;
While Monfieur mocks the formal fool,
Who looks, and speaks, and walks by rule.
Britain, a medley of the twain,
As pert as France, as grave as Spain,
In fancy wifer than the reft,
Laughs at them both, of both the jest.
Is not the poet's chiming clofe
Cenfur'd by all the fons of profe?
While bards of quick imagination
Defpife the fleepy profe narration.
Men laugh at apes, they men contemn;
For what are we, but apes to them?

Two monkies went to Southwark fair;
No critics had a fourer air:

They forc'd their way through draggl'd folks,
Who gap'd to catch Jack-pudding's jokes :
Then took their tickets for the show,
And got by chance the foremosft row.
To fee their grave, observing face,
Provok'd a laugh through all the place.
Brother, fays Pug, and turn'd his head,
The rabble's monftrously ill-bred!

Now through the booth loud hiffes ran;
Nor ended till the fhow began.
The tumbler whirls the flip-flap round,
With fomersets he thakes the ground;
The cord beneath the dancer fprings;
Aloft in air the vaulter fwings;
Distorted now, now prone depends,
Now through his twifted arms afcends :
The crowd, in wonder and delight,
With clapping hands applaud the fight.
With fimiles, quoth Pug, If pranks like these
The giant apes of reafon please,
How would they wonder at our arts!
They must adore us for our parts.
High on the twig I've seen you cling,
Play, twift, and turn in airy ring:
How can thofe clumfy things, like me,
Fly with a bound from tree to tree?
But yet, by this applaufe, we find
Thefe emulators of our kind
Difcern our worth, aur parts regard,
Who our mean mimics thus reward.

Brother, the grinning mate replies,
In this I grant that man is wife.
While good example they pursue,
We must allow fome praise is due; -
But when they strain beyond their guide,
I laugh to fcorn the mimic pride;
For how fantastic is the fight,
To meet men always bolt upright,
Because we fometimes walk on two! X
I hate the unitating crew.

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Upon a beam aloft he fits,

And nods, and feems to think by fits.
So have I feen a man of news

Or Post-boy o'er Gazette peruse;
Smoke, nod, and talk with voice profound,
And fix the fate of Europe round.
Sheaves pil'd on fheaves hid all the floor.
At dawn of morn, to view his store,
The Farmer came. The hooting guest
His felf-importance thus expreft:

Reason in man is mere pretence:
How weak, how fhallow is his fenfe!
To treat with fcorn the Bird of Night,
Declares his folly, or his fpite.
Then, too, how partial is his praife!
The lark's, the linnet's chirping lays,
To his ill-judging ears are fine,
And nightingales are all divine.
But the more knowing feather'd race
See wisdom ftamp'd upon my face,
Whene'er to vifit light I deign,
What flocks of fowl compote my train!
Like flaves, they crowd my flight behind,
And own me of superior kind.

The Farmer laugh'd, and thus reply'd: Thou dull important lump of pride, Dar'ft thou, with that harfh grating tongue, Depreciate birds of warbling fong? Indulge thy fpleen. Know, men and fowl Regard thee as thou art, an Owl. Befides, proud blockhead, be not vain Of what thou call'ft thy flaves and train. Few follow wifdom, or her rules; Fools in derifion follow fools.

§ 177. Fable XLII. The Jugglers. JUGGLER long through all the town A Had rais'd his fortune and renown; You'd think (fo far his art tranfcends) The devil at his fingers ends

Vice heard his fame, fhe read his bill;
Convinc'd of his inferior fkill,
She fought his booth, and froin the crowd
Defy'd the man of art aloud:

Is this then he fo fam'd for flight?
Can this flow bungler cheat your fight?
Dares he with me difpute the prize?
I leave it to impartial eyes.

Provok'd, the Juggler cry'd, 'Tis done; In fcience I fubinit to none.

Thus faid, the cups and balls he plav'd; By turns, this here, that there convey'd. The cards, obedient to his words, Are by a fillip turn'd to birds. His little boxes change the grain : Trick after trick deludes the train, He fhakes his bag, he fhews all fair; His fingers fpread, and nothing there; Then bids it rain with fhow'rs of gold: And now his iv'ry eggs are told: But when from thence the hen he draws, Amaz'd fpectators hum applaufe.

Vice

Vice now ftept forth, and took the place With all the forms of his grimace.

This magic looking-glafs, the cries, (There, hand it round) will charm your eyes. Each eager eye the fight defir'd, And ev'ry man himself admir'd.

Next, to a fenator addrefling,

See this bank-note; obferve the bleffing;
Breathe on the bill. Heigh, pafs! 'Tis gone.
Upon his lips a padlock thone.

A fecond puff the magic broke :
The padlock vanish'd, and he spoke.
Twelve bottles rang'd upon the board,
All full, with heady liquor ftor'd,
By clean conveyance disappear;
And now two bloody fwords are there!
A purfe the to a thief expos'd:
At once his ready fingers clos'd.
He opes his fift, the treasure's fled;
He fees a halter in its ftead.

She bids ambition hold a wand ;
He grafps a hatchet in his hand.

A box of charity the fhows:
Blow here (and a churchwarden blows);
'Tis vanifh'd with conveyance neat,
And on the table smokes a treat.

She thakes the dice, the board the knocks, And from all pockets fills her box.

She next a meagre rake addreft :
This picture fee; her fhape, her breast!
What youth, and what inviting eyes!
Hold her, and have her. With furprise
His hand expos'd a box of pills,
And a loud laugh proclaim'd his ills.
A counter, in a mifer's hand,
Grew twenty guineas at command.
She bids his heir the fum retain,
And 'tis a counter now again.
A guinca with her touch, you fee,
Takes ev'ry fhape but Charity;
And not one thing you faw or drew,
But chang'd from what was first in view.
The Juggler now, in grief of heart,
With this fubmiffion own'd her art:
Can I fuch matchless flight withstand!
How practice hath improv'd your hand!
But now and then I'cheat the throng;
You ev'ry day, and all day long.

§ 178. Fable XLIII. The Council of Horfes. UPON a time, a neighing Steed

Who graz'd among a num'rous breed,
With mutiny had fir'd the train,
And fpread diffention through the plain.
On matters that concern'd the ftate
The council met, in grand debate.
A Colt, whofe eye-balls flam'd with ire,
Elate with ftrength and youthful fire,
In hafte ftept forth before the reft,
And thus the lift'ning throng addreft :
Good gods how abject is our race,
Condemn'd to flav'ry and difgrace!

Shall we our fervitude retain,

Because our fires have borne the chain?
Confider, friends, your strength and might!
'Tis conqueft to affert your right.
How cumbrous is the gilded coach!
The pride of man is our reproach.
Were we defign'd for daily toil,

To drag the ploughshare through the foil,
To sweat in harnefs through the road,
To groan beneath the carrier's load?
How feeble are the two-legg'd kind!
What force is in our nerves combin'd!
Shall then our nobler jaws fubmit
To foam and champ the galling bit?
Shall haughty man my back beftride?
Shall the fharp fpur provoke my fide?
Forbid it, Heav'ns! Reject the rein;
Your fhame, your infamy disdain.
Let him the Lion first controul,
And ftill the tyger's famifh'd growl.
Let us, like them, our freedom claim,
And make him tremble at our name.

A gen'ral nod approv'd the cause,
And all the circle neigh'd applaufe.

When lo! with grave and folemn pace,
A Steed advanc'd before the race;
With age and long experience wife,
Around he cast his thoughtful eyes;
And, to the murmurs of the train,
Thus fpoke the Neftor of the plain:

When I had health and strength, like you,
The toils of fervitude I knew ;
Now grateful man rewards my pains,
And gives me all these wide domaine.
At will I crop the year's increase;
My latter life is reft and peace.
I grant, to man. we lend our pains,
And aid him to correct the plains:
But doth not he divide the care
Through all the labours of the year?
How many thousand structures. rife,
To fence us from inclement skies!
For us he bears the fultry day,
And ftores up all our winter's hay.
He fows, he reaps the harveft's grain
We share the toil, and share the gain.
Since ev'ry creature was decreed
To aid each other's mutual need,
Appeafe your difcontented mind,
And act the part by Heav'n affign'd.

The tumult ceas'd. The Colt fubmitted, And, like his ancestors, was bitted.

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