This is to tell us, that in some Cases one Nail must be driven out with
another; and the Deceiving of the Deceiver doubles the Pleasure. ’Tis a
Hard Matter to make a False Man and a False Tale consist with themselves;
and when they come to Interfere, the Reason and the Argument of the Case
returns upon the Head of the Impostor: So that it requires Great Care and
Skill for a Man that has a Dark and a Double Design upon Another, to keep
Clear of Clashing with his own Reasonings. Wherefore Parasites and Lyars
had need of Good Memories. A _General Peace_ would have Secured the _Fox_
as well as the _Cock_: But if the _Fox_, would not stand the _Dogs_,
the _Cock_ had no Reason to Venture himself with the _Fox_. All People
that are Perfidious, either in their Conversation, or in their Kind, are
Naturally to be Suspected in Reports that favour their Own Interest; and
when they can make nothing else on’t, they find it the Best of their Play
to put it off with a Jest.
’Tis a common thing for Captious People, and Double-Dealers, to be taken
in their own Snares; as for the Purpose in the Matter of Power, Policy,
the Fundamentals, and the Maxims of Government, _&c_. How many are there
that Limit Sovereignty in One Case to strain it in Another, and so Handle
the same Question _Pro_ and _Con_, at the same Time? Government is to
be Bounded when it may serve one Turn, and Absolute when it may serve
Another. Insomuch that for want of Presence of Thought, Men affirm what
they Deny, and Deny what they Affirm, and run Counter to Themselves. If
Sovereign Power cannot Dispense, ’tis Ty’d up they cry; and if it may
be Ty’d up, ’tis no longer Sovereign Power; for that which Tyes it up,
is Above it. At this Rate, One Doctrin Interferes with Another, and the
very Foundations of Reason and Government sink at last into a Paradox.
When the _Fox_ brings Tydings of a Peace, and Preaches upon the Subject
to the _Poultry_, Beware the _Geese_. Your _Foxes_ Acts of _Amnesty_ are
no Other then the Old Stale Politicks I know not how many Years ago. They
Pardon all in General, in the Beginnings; those that ought to be Hanged,
in the Middle; and not one Honest Man in the Conclusion. So that ’tis Ten
to One the _Cock_ was Excepted in the Proclamation; and that though the
_Dogs_ were not allowed so much as to lick their Lips at a _Fox_ upon
their Uttermost Peril, _Reynard_ had gotten a Proviso for Himself, yet
to carry on his Old Trade among the Lambs and the Poultry still. This is
the Method of all Popular Shams, when the Multitude are to be led by the
Noses into a Fool’s Paradise. The _State-Foxes_ tell ’em what Golden-Days
are now a coming, When _Every Man shall sit under his own Vine, and Eat
the Fruit of his own Fig-Tree_: How Trade and Religion shall Flourish,
and the People in short keep Holy-Day all the Year long. These are Fine
Words, but the _Fox_’s Business upon the Upshot, is only the Cramming his
own Gut, without any respect to the Publick.