his own principles of non-resistance, passive obedience, and attachment to the deposed House of Stuart. Dr. Croxall aims, in his "Applications," to supply an antidote to these (as he believed) pestilent and pernicious sentiments; and hence, in fulfilment of this purpose, deviates into long digressions on matters which are devoid of interest in the present day. Independently of this great drawback, "Croxall's Applications" are jejune, rude, full of obsolete terms, and replete in expressions generally discarded from good society in these days. Many, indeed, are so disconnected, irrelevant, and inapplicable, that if they were placed together in a bag, and drawn out by lot, they would be found to fit one fable quite as well as another. Under these circumstances, the present Editor thought it best to discard altogether Croxall's "Reflections," and to prepare new" Applications," and to add short "Morals" and "Mottoes," which may tend to illustrate the fables. Conscious that many of the fables carried with them their own lessons, his aim has been to make his Applications" as concise as possible. He has transgressed this rule laid down by himself for his observance in some exceptional cases only; where, for example, as in Fable LXI., "Cupid and Death," and Fable LXXXIII., "The Envious Man and the Covetous," the subject or construction seemed legitimately to justify or to demand a more ample and discursive explanation. The Editor has borne another purpose on his mind in the preparation of these "Applications." A believer in the efficacy and value of proverbs,-convinced of the truth of the language of Lord Bacon, "Proverbs certainly are of excellent use; they are mucrones verborum — pointed speeches; they serve to be interlaced in continual speech; they serve upon particular occasions, if you take out the kernel of them, and make them your own,"—he has explained the fable by the introduction, as often as opportunity allowed, of a good English proverb. The "Mottoes" are of inferior importance. They have been made, as far as possible, to coincide with and to confirm the moral of the fable; and are given in every instance in a poetical form, that they may be the more easily remembered. No attempt has been made towards a sorting or arrangement of the fables. Their distribution under certain broad divisions, as they refer to politics, morals, affections of the mind, or general illustrations of the conduct of mankind, would by some readers probably be considered as an improvement; but any such rearrangement must be deferred to the next edition. It has been deemed best by the Publishers to leave the text of Croxall untouched, as frequent republication has, in spite of its faults, rendered it familiar to the public. The Editor must own to one source of regret, which arises from the very limited time which has been allowed him for the discharge of his onerous but honourable task. Comparatively a stranger to Esop when requested by the Publishers to undertake the preparation of this work, he has found reason, in the progress of it, to admire the exquisite tact, quiet humour, excellent judgment, deep philosophy, intimate acquaintance with the working of the human heart, and the discriminating dissection of human motives, developed in these fables. If he shall have succeeded in imparting to his readers any portion of his own admiration for these fables, or if by his "Applications" and "Morals" he shall have made the lessons enforced by them more plain and easily understood, his labours will not have been in vain.* They, indeed, who most apply the lesson of the fable to themselves, in correcting their own faults, will most acknowledge the value of the application, and pay the best compliment to the abilities of Æsop. "If I lash vice in general fiction, Is 't I apply, or self-conviction? I no man call or ape or ass 'Tis his own conscience holds the glass. Who claims the fable, knows his right." The Publishers have spared no pains nor cost in their preparation of this volume. It is to be hoped that the new Applications, Morals, and Mottoes may unite with the excellent type, beautiful engravings, and convenient size of this work to render it a popular edition of Æsop, and to promote a larger acquaintance with, and a heartier appreciation of, the profound truths, sound wisdom, and ripe experience contained in these admirable fables. * It may be worthy of remark, that the fables of Æsop were among the earliest books brought into general circulation at the restoration of learning in the age immediately preceding the Reformation. Erasmus published more than one edition of his fables, and Martin Luther was so fond of them, that we find the authority of Sir James Stephens (Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography) for asserting, “Æsop lay on the same table with the Book of Psalms, and the two translations proceeded alternately. Except the Bible, he (Martin Luther) declared that he knew no better book, and pronounced it not to be the work of any single author, but the fruit of the labours of the greatest minds in all ages." * VERY little is known about Æsop. Two accounts of him have been published: the one, written by Maximus Planudes, a monk of Constantinople, in the 14th century; and the other by M. Bachet de Mezeriac, a learned Frenchman, who lived and wrote during the reign of our James I. The first of these "Lives" was the most popular, and had the largest circulation. A translation of it was for many years prefixed to Archdeacon Croxall's English edition of Esop's Fables. It is, however, such a mixture of anachronisms, legends, fictions, absurd stories, and manifest improbabilities, that it is universally given up as unworthy of credit. The second of these "Lives" is the source from which the following brief memoir is composed. Æsopt is acknowledged by the concurrent testimony * Claude Gaspard Bachet de Mezeriac, born at Bourg A.D. 1581, was a Jesuit student in his youth, and leaving that society before he took the vows, married. He was appointed tutor to Louis XIII. of France, but declined. He published a translation of Ovid in verse, a Life of Æsop, and several other works. †The personal appearance of Esop has been a subject of grave dispute. In the Life attributed to Maximus Panudes, he is described as being of the most deformed, grotesque, and ugly figure,—while, on the other hand, Dr. Richard Bentley and other learned critics have given very good reasons for the rejection of of all who have written about him, to have been by birth a slave. The exact place of his birth is unknown. M. Bachet de Mezeriac makes him to have been born at Cotyæon, a city of Phrygia; while, according to Professor K. O. Mueller,* the latest writer on the subject, he was a native of the Thracian city, Mesembria. His masters, famous only for their connection with sop, were Xanthus and Jadmon, both inhabitants of the island of Samos. Under the latter of these he was admitted to the honours of a freed-man, and became, by his wit, tact, ability, and judgment, the companion of kings and the associate of philosophers. He is related to have made Sardis his chief place of residence about the time of the fifty-second Olympiad, 570 B.C, on the express invitation of the celebrated Croesus, King of Lydia. In this, one of the most civilised courts then existing on the earth, and connected by its diplomacy with the various states and settlements of Greece, Æsop made the acquaintance of the most learned men of the age, who were attracted by the fame of its royal master, and by the patronage shown by him to arts and learning. Among the number of these visitors to the court of Croesus was Solon, reputed to be one of the seven wise men of Greece. Plutarch relates a memorable interview between the monarch and the philosopher, at which Æsop was present. Croesus having this opinion. His name is variously derived. Some would make it synonymous with Ethiops, from his dark complexion. M. Bachet de Mezeriac gives this derivation: aow, alow-fut. prim. to burn; w-face,- -a man with bright, sparkling, witty eyes. * See History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Mueller and Donaldson), vol. i. p. 194. |