These Fables lay Open to us the Folly of Those People that make
themselves Slaves to their Revenge; for no Man should be so Angry with
Another, as to Hurt Himself for’t. We should likewise Consider, that
there’s More Hazard in the succour of a New Powerful Friend, then in the
Hostility of an Old Dangerous Enemy; and that the Greatest Empires upon
the Face of the Earth, have had their Rise from the Pretence of Taking up
Quarrels, or Keeping the Peace.
These Fables tell us, that it is a Rule of Good Discretion in all Matters
of Quarrel, and Controversie, for Him that is Worsted to have a Great
Care Whom he calls to his Aid: Especially when there’s more of Passion
then Necessity in the Case. The _Horse_ might have Quench’d his Thirst
with Troubled Water; or he might have stay’d the Clearing of it; Or
Chang’d his Wat’ring Place; Or when he was forc’d out of One Pasture he
might have taken up in Another, which would have Preserv’d his Liberty
upon the Main, though not as to this Particular: But his Stomach was too
Great, it seems, to Digest the Affront, without having his Enemy at his
Feet: so that he gives up his Freedom to Gain his Revenge. He has Fair
Words however, Rich Trappings, and Large Promises; but Works only for
his Master; and if at any time he does but Slacken his Pace, or abate,
either in his Zeal, or in his Mettle, the Spur is immediately in the
Flank of him: Or if he be Unruly, the Bit’s upon the Check to keep him
to his Duty. The _Stag_ was too hard for the _Horse_; and the _Horse_
flyes for Succour to One that’s too Hard for _Him_, and Rides the One to
Death, and Outright Kills the Other. It were Well, if Possible, to keep
All Potent Enemies to the Behaviour in such a Case as This, Especially if
they Appear under the Shape of Friends: But if People will Venture Life,
Liberty and All, for the Clawing of an Itch, and lay Violent Hands upon
Themselves, there’s no Fence for’t.
That which _Men_ are to _Horses_, in the Scale of Creatures, Men in Power
and Authority, are in some Proportion to the Poor and Weak: That is to
say in the _Analogy_ of Servitude, and Drudgery; and in the carrying
of some sort of Burdens that are a Shame to the Bearer. They Toyl and
Moyl for the Interest of their Masters, that in requital, break the very
Hearts of them for their Pleasure; and the Freer they are of their Flesh,
the more Scandalous is the Bondage. When they have done All that _Horses_
can do, they are Lash’d, Spurr’d, Revil’d, and Ill Treated, for not being
able to do More: They are Hurry’d on without either Respite or Reason;
And after they have carry’d their Riders safe over All Leaps, and through
All Dangers, and by All Ways and Means Contributed to the Ease, Credit,
and Security of their Masters, what comes of them in the End, but to be
Strain’d, Founder’d, or Broken Winded; Old Age Overtakes them, and they
are e’en Glad to take up in a Mill at last with Grains and Thistles, and
there spend the Remainder of a Wretched Life in a Circulation of Misery
and Labour. If any Man of War, or State, shall find this Case to be his
Own, and Himself Touch’d in the Moral of This Fable, let him keep his Own
Councel, and learn to be Wiser hereafter. And we may learn This Lesson of
the _Horse_ too, not to Sacrifice our Honour, Liberty, and Conscience, to
a Freak.