We have but too many Men in the World of This _Dog’s_ Humour; that will
rather Punish Themselves, then not be Troublesome and Vexatious to
Others. There’s an Envy of Good Things too, as well as of Good Men; but
this Fable is so well known that it is Moraliz’d in a Common Proverb.
If some Men might have their Wills, the very Sun in the Firmament should
withdraw his Light, and they would submit to Live in Perpetual Darkness
Themselves, upon Condition that the rest of the World might do so for
Company. Whatsoever their Neighbour Gets, They Lose, and the very Bread
that One Eats, makes T’other Meager: which is the Genuine Moral of the
Fable. There is in this Malevolence, somewhat of the Punishment, as
well as of the Spite of the Damn’d: They take Delight in Other Peoples
Miseries, and at the same Time are their Own Tormentors. This Diabolical
Envy is Detestable even in Private Persons; but whenever the Governing
Part of a Nation comes to be Tainted with it, there’s nothing so Sacred
that a Corrupt, Supercilious, Ill Natur’d Minister will not sacrifice to
This Execrable Passion. No Man should Eat, Live, or Breathe Common Air,
if He could hinder it. ’Tis the Bus’ness of his Life, and the Delight
of his Soul, to Blast all Sorts of Honest Men, and not only to Lessen
their Characters, and their Services, but to Range them in the Number
of Publique Enemies: And he had Twenty times rather see the Government
Sink, then have it thought that any hand but his Own should have a Part
in the Honour of Saving it. Now He that betrays his Master for _Envy_,
will never fail of doing it for _Money_: For the Gratifying of This
Canker’d Malignity is but Another way of selling him; Only the Spite is
Antecedent and Subservient to the Corruption: But this _Court-Envy_ is
not Altogether the Envy of the Dog in the Fable. For there’s a Mixture
of Avarice and Interest in the Former, whereas the Other is a Spiteful
Malignity purely for Mischief-sake. The _Dog_ will rather Starve himself
then the _Oxe_ shall Eat; but the _Courtier_ will be sure to Look to One
whoever else goes to the Devil.