This Fable is recorded by Aristotle, who tells us that Æsop spoke it to
the Samians on occasion of a popular sedition, to dissuade them from
deposing their great minister of state, lest they might, in getting
rid of one who was already glutted with their spoils, make room for a
more hungry and rapacious one in his stead. By this it would appear,
that some ministers of state in ancient times, instead of being guided
by integrity and patriotism, were intent only upon filling their own
coffers, and aggrandizing and enriching their own relations, from the
plunder of the people whose affairs they were entrusted with; and
that they considered them as their prey, rather than their charge. A
succession of such ministers, who can be countenanced by weak monarchs
only, is more calamitous to a nation than plague, pestilence, and
famine; for the effects of their mal-administration do not end with
their wicked lives, but lay the foundation of ruin to nations that
would, under a patriotic government, have been virtuous, great, and
flourishing.
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