There is nothing so Little, but Greatness may come to Stand in need on’t,
and therefore Prudence and Discretion ought to have a place in Clemency,
as well as in Piety and Justice. ’Tis _Doing as we would be done by_;
and the Obligation is yet stronger, when there is Gratitude, as well as
Honour and Good Nature in the Case. The Generosity of the Lion, and the
Gratitude of the _Mouse_; The Power, the Dignity, and the Eminence of
the One, and the Meanness of the Other; do all Concur to the making of
this a very Instructive Fable. Who would have thought that Providence
should ever have laid the Life of a _Lion_ at the Mercy of a _Mouse_?
But the Divine Wisdom that brings the greatest Ends to pass by the most
Despicable Means, Orders the Reward of Virtue, and the punishment of
Vice, by Ways only known to it self, in token of an Approbation of the
One and a Dislike of the Other.
Here’s a Recommendation of Clemency and Wisdom, Both in One; for the
_Lion_, in sparing the Life of the _Mouse_, sav’d his Own; and has left
us in this Fable, an Instance of a Grateful Beast, that will stand upon
Record to the Confusion of many an Ungrateful Man; that is to say,
against those that in their Prosperity forget their Friends, that to
their Loss and Hazard, stood by and succour’d them in their Adversity.
This is a Sin of so odious and Dangerous an Example, that it puts even
Piety, and Gratitude it self out of Countenance. And then the Tenderness
on the other side, is Matter of Interest, and ordinary Prudence, as well
as of Virtue. If this _Lion_ had kill’d the _Mouse_, what would the
_other Mice_ have said or Done afterwards, when they should have found
the same _Lion_ in the Toil? [Have a care Good People; for this is he
that killed our Sister, and we cannot save His Life, without Hazarding
our Own. If the Huntsman Kill Him, we are sure he will never Kill Us;
Beside that we shall have one Enemy the fewer for’t, when he’s gone.] Now
the Reason of _Æsops Mouse_ here, works quite Another way. This _Lion_,
(says he) gave Me my Life, when he had it at Mercy, and it is now My
Turn, and Duty, to do what I can to preserve His. No Flesh, in fine, can
be so Great, as not to tremble under the Force, and Consequences of this
President.