APPLICATION. This is asserted by Dodsley to be an exception to the majority of Esop's Fables, on account of the obscurity of the moral conveyed in it. The most probable intention of the author was, to hold forth the conduct of the bird described in it as an example of industry and moderation. The Cock lives by his honest labour: his scratching on the dunghill is the work of his calling. The diamond is only a temptation cast in his way, to divert him, by its splendour, from his business and duty. He would be glad of a barleycorn in its stead, and casts it aside as a useless bead, not worthy his attention. The lesson inculcated is the wisdom of choosing things useful rather than ornamental, and of being guided in our actions by the dictates of reason rather than by the promptings of fancy or inclination. The sensible man will not be led away by the gaudy allurements of glitter and show, but will estimate every thing by

its intrinsic worth.

In this the art of living lies,

To want no more than may suffice;
Our portion is not large, indeed;
But then, how little do we need !

Man's rich with little, were his judgment true;
Nature is frugal, and her wants are few.

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A DOG was lying upon a manger full of hay. An Ox, being hungry, came near, and offered to eat of the hay; but the envious, ill-natured cur, getting and snarling at him, would not suffer him to touch it. Upon which the Ox, in the bitterness of his heart, said: "A curse light on thee for a malicious beast, who can neither eat hay thyself, nor will allow those to eat it who can !"

MORAL. Use, but not abuse.

APPLICATION. The author of this fable shows an

intimate acquaintance with the varieties of human nature. How often do we see children play the part of the Dog in the Manger, and refuse their playmates the book or the toy which they are not wanting themselves! The same unaccommodating spirit prevails among men. There are some of such a perverse disposition that they express a real pleasure in the calamities of their neighbours, and, by a strange contradiction of feeling, envy them the possession of those very things in which, if they possessed them, they would find no possible use nor enjoyment. How far are such persons from realising the duty or the blessedness of doing to others as they would be done by! How little is their absence missed or lamented!

Be useful where thou livest, that they may
Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still.

Mark well the words: All worldly joys go less
To the one joy of doing kindnesses.

THE BIRDS, THE BEASTS, AND THE BAT.

ONCE upon a time a fierce war was waged between the Birds and the Beasts; when the Bat, taking advantage of his ambiguous make, declared himself to be neutral, with the secret intention of joining the side of the conquerors. The Bat, at the beginning of the conflict, thinking the Birds most likely to carry it, enlisted himself among them; but kept fluttering at a little distance, that he might the better observe, and take his measures accordingly. However, after some time spent in the action, the army of the Beasts seeming to prevail, he went entirely over to them, and endeavoured to convince them, by the affinity

F

which he had to a mouse, that he was by nature a beast, and would always continue firm and true to their interest. His plea was admitted; but, in the end, the advantage turning completely on the side of the Birds, under the admirable conduct and courage of their general the eagle, the Bat, to save his life, and escape the disgrace of falling into the hands of his deserted friends, betook himself to flight; and ever since, skulking in caves and hollow trees all day, as if ashamed to show himself, never appears till the dusk of the evening, when all the feathered inhabitants of the air are gone to roost.

MORAL.

Traitors are odious, even to those who

profit by their treason.

APPLICATION. Traitors have been found through all times and ages; in courts, camps, senates, and peoples. There is no important episode in history which is not darkened with the suspicion of treason. Heroic enterprises have been less frequently frustrated by the courage of the enemy than by the treachery of supposed friends. In ancient story, Leonidas at Thermopylæ, and, in modern annals, the events connected with the reign of our own James II., are eminent examples of this truth. The treachery may originate in fear, or in the desire of personal advantage, or from a mercenary spirit, prompted by gold