Let a Man’s Present State be never so Uneasie, he should do well however
to Bethink himself before he Changes, for fear his Next Remove should be
Worse. This is according to the Common Understanding of the Allusion,
though not so Agreeable perhaps to the True Reason of the Case: For it
was not either Levity, or Impatience; but intolerable Pain, and Absolute
Necessity, that made the Fish shift their Condition: So that the Moral
would have born This Doctrine rather: That where we have Certain Death
before us, and only This Choice, whether it shall be a Speedy or a
Lingring Death, That which puts us soonest out of our Pain (though never
so Sharp) is the more Eligible of the Two. But to take it according to
the Old Proverb now; we Understand by [_Out of the Frying-Pan into the
Fire_] That Things go from Bad to Worse.