A _Wolf_ and a _Hog_.
A _Wolf_ that had liv’d many Years upon the Spoil, came at last to be
Troubled in Conscience for the Spilling of so much Innocent Blood, and
so took up a Christian Resolution to keep a long Lent for’t; and not to
Eat One Bit of Flesh for a Whole Twelve-Month: But Fasting it seems did
not agree with his Constitution, for upon the sight of a _Hog_ Wallowing
in a Muddy Puddle, he ran presently to him, and ask’d him what he was?
Why, says the _Hog_, I belong to a Neighbour here in the Village, and
the Ancient _Romans_ call me _Porcus_. In Good Time, says the _Wolf_;
for I have read in _Littleton’s Dictionary_, that _Porcus is a Fish,
that being Taken, Grunteth like a Hog_; and so he made a Supper of the
_Hog_, without breaking his _Fast_, and without any Offence to his Vow of
_Mortification_.
The MORAL.
_In a long Practice of Wickedness, now and then a Faint Vow or Promise of
Amendment, goes for Nothing: And if a Body should have a Mind to break a
Commandment under such an Obligation, it will be hard if he cannot bring
himself off with some_ Salvo, _and be his own Confessor_.