Rashness, and Want of Consideration, is ever Unfortunate. Men should
not take a Charge upon them that they are not Fit for; as if Singing,
Dancing, and Shewing of Tricks, were Qualifications for a Governor.
_Baudoin_ says, that this Fable, shews not only the Envy and Malignity of
the _Fox_; but the Imprudence of the Electors in the Choice of Ministers
and Officers, that are not made for Bus’ness. Here’s first an _Ape_ made
a King, for shewing Tricks, and making Fools Faces: And the _Fox_ is then
to put a Slur upon him, in Exposing him for Sport, to the Scorn of the
People.
Here’s an _Ape_ chosen _King_, in Succession to a _Lyon_; which stands
for a Short, and a Plain Representation of the Best and the Worst of
Governments under the Dignity of the One, and the Indignity of the Other.
It sets forth the Case and Unhappiness of _Elective Kingdoms_, where
Canvassing and Faction has commonly too great a hand in the Election. Nor
is there any Wonder, to see Drolls and Tumblers Advanc’d to Charges of
Honor and Profit, where Ignorance and Popularity sways the Choice: And
nothing so fit as an _Ape_, for a Commission of State, where a Gambole,
or a Grimace, passes for a Qualifying Title to the Exercise of Power.
It is no Wonder again, where People are so Mistaken in the Faculties
and Capacities of Government, that they depart also from the Veneration
that’s due to’t; and when the Main Ends of it shall come to be
Disappointed. For every _Jack-Pudding_ with _Æsop’s Fox_ here, will
be Ridiculing Palpable Weaknesses, and Exposing those (almost Sacred)
Imperfections, and Defects which they ought to Cover. What’s a Character
of Honor upon the Shoulders of a Man that has neither a Soul Answerable
to’t, nor a True Sense of the Dignity, but a Mark set up for every Common
Fool to shoot his Bolt at! When _Apes_ are in _Power_, there will never
want _Foxes_ to _Play_ upon them.