An _Old Lion_.
A _Lion_ that in the Days of his Youth and Strength, had been very
Outragious and Cruel, came in the end to be Reduced by Old Age, and
Infirmity, to the last Degree of Misery, and Contempt: Insomuch that All
the Beasts of the Forrest; some out of Insolence, others in Revenge, some
in fine, upon One Pretence, some upon Another, fell upon him by Consent.
He was a Miserable Creature to all Intents and Purposes; but Nothing went
so near the Heart of him in his Distress, as to find himself Batter’d by
the Heel of an _Asse_.
The MORAL.
_A Prince that does not secure Friends to Himself while he is in Power
and Condition to oblige them, must never expect to find Friends, when
he is Old and Impotent, and no longer Able to do them any Good. If
he Governs Tyrannically in his Youth, he will be sure to be Treated
Contemptuously in his Age; and the Baser his Enemies are, the more
Insolent, and Intollerable will be the Affront._