People are not to Reason upon Obedience to Parents, and Submission to
Governors, provided there be nothing in the Command, or in the Imposition
that is simply Evil. Reason in Man, does abundantly supply the Defect of
other Faculties wherein we are inferior to Beasts; and what we cannot
compass by Force, we bring about by Stratagem. The Intent of this Fable
is to set forth the Excellency of Man above all Creatures upon the
Earth; and to shew, that he is _Lord and Ruler over all the rest_; their
_Teeth_, _Claws_, _Stings_, and other means of Offence, notwithstanding.
The young Lion himself is Charg’d by his Sire not to Contend with
him; so that consequently no Creature of less Force is upon any Terms
to Encounter him. Not but that there are some special Instances to
the contrary, in Exception to the General Rule. The _Moralist_ makes
the Event to confirm the Reason, and to support the Authority of the
Lions Counsel. It may pass likewise in some sort, for a _Punishment_ of
Disobedience to a Parent; but there’s the Voice of Providence and Wisdom
in’t as well as the Voice of a Father; which is intimated in shewing us,
that the Yoak of Oxen, and the Horse that stood Bridled and Sadled, had a
_Man_ still to their _Master_.