’Tis the Intent of These Two Fables, to shew, that no People are so
Miserable but that at some Time or Other, in some Things or Other they
have Reason to Account themselves Happy. And if they would but duly
consider, how it is with many of their Neighbours, they would find it
their Duty to be Thankful, that it is no Worse with Themselves. It is
some Relief to the Miserable to shew them that there are Others yet
more Miserable, and there is not any thing so Timerous, but something
else is afraid of It. There are Those, ’tis True, that Die for the very
Fear of Death, and Plunge themselves into Certain Misery, upon the Bare
Apprehension of it: But this comes rather from the Spleen, then their
Misfortune.
Since so it is, that Nature Provides for the Necessities of All
Creatures, and for the Well Being of Every One in it’s kind: And since
it is not in the Power of any Creature to make it self Other then what
by Providence it was Design’d to be; what a Madness is it to Wish our
selves Other then what we Are, and what we Must continue to Be: Since
the Thing is Bounded, and the whole Matter Pre-determin’d! Every _Atome_
of the Creation has its Place Assign’d: Every Creature has its proper
Figure, and there is no Disputing with him that made it so. _Why have not
I This?_ and _why have not I that?_ are Questions for a Philosopher of
_Bedlam_ to ask; and we may as well Cavil at the Motions of the Heavens,
the Vicissitude of Day and Night, and the Succession of the Seasons,
as Expostulate with Providence upon any of the rest of Gods Works. The
_Asse_ would have _Horns_, and the _Tinker_ would fain be in Bed with my
_Lady_. The _Ape_ would have a _Tail_; and why should not a _Mountebank_
Complain that he is not a _Minister of State or Justice_? But in short,
the Poor, Wretched, Blind _Mole_ puts in with her Doctrine to take up the
Quarrel.
And what’s the Case of the _Hares_ now, but an Instance to Fortifie us
against _Panick_ Frights and Terrors, for Trivial Causes; where the Fears
are a great deal more Terrible then the Dangers? In All these Cases, we
fancy our selves much more Miserable then we Are, for want of taking a
True Estimate of Things. We fly into Transports without Reason, and Judge
of the Happiness, or Calamity, of Humane Life, by False Lights. A Strict
Enquiry into the Truth of Matters will Help us in the One, and Comparison
will set us Right in the Other. The _Dogs_ and the _Eagles_ Frighted
the _Hares_; The _Hares_ Frighted the _Frogs_, and the _Frogs_, Twenty
to One, Frighted something else. This is according to the Course of the
World, One Fears Another, and some body else is afraid of Him.
It may seem to be a kind of a Malicious Satisfaction, that One Man
derives from the Misfortunes of Another. But the Philosophy of This
Reflexion stands upon Another Ground; for our Comfort does not Arise from
Other Peoples being Miserable, but from this Inference upon the Ballance,
That we suffer only the Lot of Humane Nature: And as we are Happy or
Miserable, compar’d with others, So Other People are Miserable or Happy
Compar’d with Us: By which Justice of Providence, we come to be Convinc’d
of the Sin, and the Mistake of our Ingratitude. What would not a man give
to be Eas’d of the Gout or the Stone? Or supposing an Incurable Poverty
on the One Hand, and an Incurable Malady on the Other, Why should not the
Poor Man think himself Happier in his Rags, then the Other in his Purple?
But the Rich Man Envies the Poor Mans Health, without considering his
Want; and the Poor Man Envies the Others Treasure without considering his
Diseases. What’s an Ill Name in the World to a Good Conscience within
Ones self? And how much less Miserable upon the Wheel, is One man that is
Innocent, then Another under the Same Torture that’s Guilty? The Only Way
for _Hares_ and _Asses_, is to be Thankful for what they Are, and what
they Have, and not to Grumble at the Lot that they must bear in spite of
their Teeth.