Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CXXXII
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Fab. CXXXII.
A Fowler and a Partridge.
A Fowler had taken a Partridge, and the Bird offer'd her self to Decoy as many of her Companions into the Snare as she could, upon Condition that he would but give her Quarter. No, says he, You shall Dye the rather for That very Reason, because you would be so Base as to Betray your Friends to save your self.
The Moral.
Of all Scandalous and Lewd Offices, That of a Traytor is Certainly the Basest; for it Undermines the very Foundations of Society.
REFLEXION.
Treachery is a Sin against Common Faith, Honour, and Humane Socicty; A Villany, in short, that’s never to be Approv’d, how Convenient soever in some Cases to be made use of. The Fowler's here, was a Wise and a Generous Resolution, upon the Partridges Proposal; for all Traytors are Mercenaries; and Whoever Betrays One Mastcr for Ad-vantage, will Betray Another fer a Better Price. But as all manner of Treachery is Abominable in the Sight both of God and Man, and stands Reprehended in this Fable: So there are Certain Kinds and Degrees of it, that are yet more Execrable and Odious, One then Another. There is first a Treachery by Complexion, which was the Partridges Case. Her Heart Fail’d her, and she would fain have Compounded for her Own Life, by the Betraying of her Fellows. This was an Unhappy Infirmity, but the Weakness all this while, does not Exeuse the Perfidy, though it may seem in some Measure to Extenuate the Crime, by the Poor Creatures lying under almost an Insuperable Frailty. The Fowler however made an Example of her for a Terror to Others. Now if a Treachery of this Quality be so Unpardonable, what shall we fay to Those Judas'es, that Dip in the Dish with their Masters, and then for so many Pieces of Silver, deliver them up to be Crucify’d? What shall we say to Those that Sell their Country, their Souls, and their Religion, for Mony, and Rate Divinity. at so much a Pound? And then to Consummare the Wickedness, Finish the Work with Malice, that they began with Avarice.