That _Sheep_ has a Blessed Time on’t that runs on a _Wolfe_’s Errand: But
_Æsop_’s _Sheep_ have more Wit, I perceive, then many of our Domestique
Innocence. ’Tis a Court-Master-Piece, to draw Chesnuts out of the Fire
with other Peoples Fingers; and to Complement a Man into a Post of
Honour, a-purpose to have him Knock’d o’th Head in’t: Now the _Sheep_’s
Case in the Fable, is but an Every-days Case in the World; when People
are divided betwixt Charity and Discretion, how far to go, and where to
stop. In Offices of This Doubtful Quality, We have only This General Rule
to Walk by, that when we have to do with Known _Wolves_, we Know likewise
that they are not to be Confided in. But this _Wolfe_ (I must Confess)
with a _Lambskin_ over his Shoulders, might have past Muster for _a
Gospeller in Sheeps Cloathing_; which would have made it a more Dangerous
Imposture. We are to Gather from hence, that there’s no Trusting to the
Fair Words and Appearances of a False and a Malicious Enemy; for their
very Kindnesses are no better then Snares. _Treachery_ is a kind of a
_Lay Hypocrisie_, and they are Equally Odious both to God and Man: Over
and above the Corrupting of our Manners, the Hardening of our Hearts; the
Dissolving of all the Bonds of Faith, Confidence, and Society, and the
Extinguishing of Good Nature it self; And all This in our own Defence too.