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.
Fab. CXXXIII.
A Hare and a Tortoiſe.
WHat a Dull Heavy Creature (ſays a Hare) is This ſame Tortoiſe! And yet (ſays the Tortoiſe) I'll run with you for a Wager. 'Twas Done and Done, and the Fox, by Conſent, was to be the Judg. They ſtarted together, and the Tortoiſe kept Jogging on ſtill, ‘till he came to the End of the Courſe. The Hare lay'd himſelf down about Mid-way, and took a Nap; for, ſays he, I can fetch up the Tortoiſe when I pleaſe: But he Over-ſlept himſelf it ſeems, for when he came to Wake, though he ſcuded away as faſt as 'twas poſſible, the Tortoiſe got to the Poſt before him, and Won the Wager.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
