The Moral.
REFLEXION.
‘Tis Wiſdom, as well as Juſtice, to Diſtinguith betwixt Actions of Miſadventure,and of Deſign. Every Thing has at leaſt Two Handles to’t, and Both Parts ſhould be well Examin'd, before a Man can make either a Warrantable Judgment, or a Prudent Choice. The Boy's Miſtake here is no more then what we have Every day before our Eyes in common Pratice: And That which the Snake ſays to the Boy, Every Man’s Reaſon ſays to Himélf. What is his taking a Snake for an Ele, but our taking Vice for Virtue; He did it Unwarily: And ſo do We Many times too. He took the One for the Other, becauſe they were ſo much Alike, that at firſt View he could not Diſtinguiſh them. And are not Virtue and Vice as Like, in ſeveral Inſtances, as One Egg is to Another? How ſhall a Man know, at firſt Bluſh, Hypocriſie from Piety; True Charity from Oſtentation; or the Devil Himſelf with a Glory about him, from an Angel of Light? Time and Examination may do Much, but the Boy was Groping, and in the Dark, and ſo might Well be Miſtaken. The Snake Told him of his Error, and the Danger of it, but Paſs’d it over, becauſe there was no Ill Will in't. This is the very Caſe of Our Reaſon to us, in all our Miſdoings: It Checks us for what's Paſt, and Adviſes us for the Future, to have a care of Falſe Appearances: Juſtas the Snake did to the Child here.
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.
REFLEXION.
vantage,
