REFLEXION.
The Foxes Put off in This Fable, is a moſt Inftructive Point of Philoſophy toward the Government of our Lives; Provided that his Fooling may be made our Earneſt; as it would be much for our Honour and Quiet ſo to be. No man can be Miſerable if he can but keep Clear of the Snare of Hopes and Fears; and Antidote himſelf againſt the Flatteries of the One, and the Alarums of the Other: It is a High Point of Chriſtian, as well as of Civil Prudence; for a man to ſay Thus to Himſelf beforehand, of a Thing that he has a Mind to [If I cannot get it, I ſhall be Better without it.] Or if he can but ſay after the Miſſing of it, [It was better Loſt then found.] Now if we cannot Arrive at the Pitch of making This Indifference a Virtue indeed, we may however ſo Diſguiſe it yet, (though in a cafe of Neceſſity) as to make it Look like One: Not but that it would be much better if we could Attain to the Perfection it ſelfe, as well as we may in Appearance Cover the Diſgrace.
I knew a Fine Lady once, and ſhe was a Woman of Senſe, Quality, and a very Generous Mind, She lay under Mortifications in abundance, and yet was never Obſerv’d to be Peeviſh, or Angry, upon Any Provocation Whatſoever; and the Reaſon ſhe gave for’t was This: [It Will make Me Look Old,) So that it is not ſo much the want of Ability to maſter our Affections, as the want of Reſolution to go thorough with the Experiment, This is a way to keep us Firm in All Tryals: or if He, that upon a True Principle, lives without any Diſquiet of Thought, may be ſayd to be Happy. It Emproves All our Diſappointments into Providences, when we can let fall the Vain Deſire of any thing without Feeling the Loſs of it. It comes All to a Caſe now, upon the force of the Moral, whether we Quit, as the Fox did the Grapes, becauſe he could not come at them, or as the Wolfe did the Sheep, becauſe he durſt not Venture, upon ’em. But be it either the One or the Other, there's a Virtue, and a Bleſſing in't, Both ways, in getting the Better of our Paſſions: which might certainly be done if we had but Halfe the Tenderneſs for our Minds and Conſciences, that we have for our Carcaſſes, and our Fortunes.
Fab. CXXXI
A Boy and a Snake.
A Boy was Groping for Eels, and layd his hand upon a Snake, but the Snake, finding it was Pure Simplicity, and not Malice, Admoniſh’d him of his Miſtake; Keep your ſelf Well while you are Well, ſays the Snake; for if you Meddle with Me, You'll Repent your Bargain.
The
