Four Bulls, by mutual vows allied,
The morrow's unknown ills defied;

As one they mov'd, they fought, they fed,
And safety rose, by union bred;

Nor this alone the good they found,
The private bliss of each went round;
Hence doubly bless'd the gen'rous heart,
Which scorns the bliss it can't impart.
From day to day the Lion came,
But matters still appear'd the same :
This smote his inmost soul with grief,
For much he long'd for fav'rite beef:
What can he do? he fears to wage
Unequal war, and four engage,

Thought follows thought-he finds in vain:
Yet thought to thought succeeds again,
Half-form'd resolves, and embryo schemes,
And all the train of statesmen's dreams,
With conflict rude disturb his mind,
To this, nor that success inclin'd.
Suspense presides with flutt'ring wings,
From which she shakes a thousand stings.
In this disastrous doubting case,
The Fox appears-with thinking face;
On him his royal master laid

His load of care, secure of aid;
Who paus'd awhile with sober grace,
Then thus refin'd upon the case :

'Not things of moment most I find Have broke the union of the mind;

⚫ E'en mere mistakes, that pet, or pride 'Have made, the sacred band divide,

And deepest enmities arise,

From trifling things among the wise.

'In friendship, slight's the deepest wound,
'And that is fancied more than found-
These hints improv'd our ends may gain,
'The Bulls divided, count them slain.’

The Lion, pleas'd, replied he knew
The Fox could forge a lie-or two;
Which he opin'd, in points like this,
Would not be very much amiss.-

Here wiser Reynard shook his head, And This would never do', he said,"Tis our's to make these foolish elves, My lord, be liars to themselves:

'Suspicion rais'd, the very eye

Will, unsuspected, gravely lie,
'And, when a friend it shall survey,
• Th' idea of a foe display,

'As you shall see'-Away he flew,
And, to the friends as near he drew,
He smooth'd his brow, he coin'd a smile,
And put on all the masks of guile;
Then whispers one with friendly nod,
'Mark, is not yon behaviour odd?

• The Bull must surely mean affront,

His tail is next you-fie upon't!

How slighting that! and there's another

⚫ Can scarce some high resentment smother;

'He snorts, he paws, and fain would shew 'By vengeance whence his troubles flow. 'The third, how dull! regardless still • What fate you prove, or good, or ill.' Appearance (treacherous witness) here Confirms the sounds that cheat his ear; Suspicion, soon alarm'd, and pride, At once, to self the whole applied. The Bull withdraws, resolv'd, as due, They first for his return should sue.

The Fox returns, and boasts his arts And to his liege the truth imparts; 'The Bull who turn'd his tail so rude, 'Meant only not his ear t' intrude;

And he that spurn'd so fierce the ground 'With anguish felt an hornet wound. The third, the downy turf who press'd, Sought but the sweets of peaceful rest. 'But come, to his remote retreat 'I'll guide my royal master's feet.' They go, the victim mourns too late His absent friends and hapless state. And, slain, the Fox exulting cries, 'Not one, but all, shall be our prize.' Away he goes, and, thus, again, Infus'd soft flatt'ry, deadly bane! Great Sir,' says he to one, I swear

• Your friends are rude, indeed they are;

Friendship a decent due respect

Should, rather than destroy, protect.

Superior far to these you rise 'The wise affirm, we trust the wise; Your nobler port, your finer wit, All with united force admit; 'And yet no just distinction's made, 'No difference shewn, no homage paid. 'I wonder at your choice, but here • "Tis silence best becomes my sphere, 'Tho', might your slave presume to tell 'What all the forest thinks as well,

'These are perhaps the only Two
'With whom your worth would lose its due.'
The Bull (how easy praise deceives!)
With pleasure hears, with pride believes;
Puts on the lofty looks and airs
Which humble merit never wears.
To treat him as an equal now
Inflames his heart, contracts his brow;
'Tis envy, or 'tis worse, 'tis hate,
Denies due honour to his state;

He could not bear th' affronts they gave,
They break his peace, they make him rave;
They lov'd, and they rever'd, he thought
Less than the wretches knew they ought;
And (as is usual) storm'd and swore
That they might love and rev'rence more.
His friends alarm'd, in deep amaze,
On him, and on each other, gaze,
Disgust in either's bosom bred,
Was shewn as diff'ring tempers led,

One, bold and warm, the taunts returns,
And with contagious anger burns,
Than this, not plagues are sooner caught,
Nor with more dreadful evils fraught.
The other, meek, in secret pines,

And friends he could not keep, resigns;
Resigns, tho' late, with yearning heart,
And mourns persuasion's useless art.
Retiring now, he leaves the fray,
The Fox still mark'd his pensive way,
The Lion found, and seiz'd his prize,
And, like the first, the second dies.
The two, who yet alive remain,
In dreadful conflict shake the plain;
The Fox observes the doubtful fight,
One drops, he smiles with full delight;
Flies with the joyful news, and brings
The King to take what's now the King's.
Faint, breathless, bleeding on the ground,
The hapless victor soon they found;
He falls an unresisting prey,
And crowns the triumphs of the day.
This tale a Sage once told his son,
And thus applied it when he'd done:
'Do you, my child, with unsuspecting eye,
'O'erlook what others labour to descry;
'Kind to all faults, and to all failings blind,
Be you the last to think affronts design'd.
'Cold seems thy friend?-by the severest laws
Thy conduct try, to find the latent causé,