’Tis the Intention that qualifies the Action; neither is it for any
Man to pretend Merit, or to challenge a Reward for attending his own
Business. The _Raven_ Dogg’d the _Wolves_ for his Supper: Now if these
_Wolves_ themselves had been Hounded by a Herd of _Tygers_, that should
have Worried _Them_, one sort of Carrion would have been as good to the
_Raven_, as another. This is the Case, as well betwixt Man and Man, as
of _Wolves_ and _Ravens_, that suck the Blood of those they Follow and
Depend upon, under a Pretext of Service and Kindness. How many Examples
have we seen of this, among those that follow Courts, and the Leaders of
those Followers? If the Master gets the better on’t, they come in for
their Snack; and if he happens to fall in the Chace, his Temporising
Friends are the Foremost to break in upon the Quarry. Whether the _Wolves
Took_ or were _Taken_, was all a Case to the _Raven_.