by whatsoever Means, though falfe and unjuft, lay Schemes against his Honour, and Reputation, or contrive his total Ruin. If a private Perfon, when Injured, fhould make use of this Expedient, one could not impute it to his Timidity, or Want of Courage; but rather to his Prudence, which furnishes him with a proper Expedient to fettle his Affairs, and effectually fecure his own Perfon, Liberty, and Reputation, DE 96 92 93 92 93 90 97 92 92 92 92 92 92 92 92 52 92 92 92 That Children ought to be refpected on the Account of their Fathers, and the Fathers on the Account of their Children. A Famous Sports-Man, being Abroad one Day upon his Sport, happen'd to caft his Eye upon an old decrepit Bitch, that lay languishing, and three quarters Starv'd, by the Way.fide, upon a Dung-Hill. This miferable Creature had been once his Servant, but fo alter'd, by Age, Neglect, and hard Ufage, that fhe was hardly to be known: The Gentleman however stood fo long mufing, and bethinking himself, that the Bitch gave him to understand, by the licking of her Lips, the waging of her Tail, and her creeping to him upon her Belly, what she would have faid, if she could have Spoken. The Mafter was fo delighted with the Good Nature and Tenderness of the Creature, that he took every Thing by the right Handle, and put her fome Questions, to which, in her Way, the return'd this Anfwer. Sir, fays fhe, I had once the Honour to eat of your Bread, but betwixt my prefent Condition of Want and Mifery, and a broken Leg over and above, I may well be out of your Memory; unless I should prefume to remind you of an old Servant,by this notable Token; that, at the Fall of a mighty Stag (much Spoken of in thofe Days) I had forty Teizers in the Field, that came out of my own Loins, and the Picture of them all, is at this Day to be feen in the Prince's Gallery. The Gentleman had fo great a Kindness for the whole Strain, that he immedi ately ately order'd the Bitch to be wash'd and clean'd, taken into the Houfe, and provided for from his own Table. The Prefident of this Bounty, to a try'd Servant, encouraged another to put in for the like Provifion, but the Mafter march'd off, and adjourn'd the fecond Caufe till another Time. The MORAL. Misfortune, Neceffity, and Old-Age, often put our intimate Acquaintance out of our Knowledge: Whereas true Friendship, and Courage, are never to be forgetten. A Man of Honour, encourages Virtue wherefoever he meets with it, and a good Reputation will ftand the Teft of Time, and bad Fortune. And lastly, whofoever petitions for Favours, must watch for a favourable Opportunity. If a Master lies under an Obligation to fhew himself grateful, and to take into his particular Care thofe faithful Servants, who have spent their useful Years in his Service; how much more is he in Honour obliged to do it, in Respect to thofe Children, whofe Parents Sacrificed their All to his Intereft; or to those decrepit Parents, whofe Children have generoufly parted with their Lives to ferve him. The Survivor, is like a lively Picture of the Deceafed, who hath ftampt in his Forehead the Marks of his Affection, the Teftimonial of the Employments which he has faithfully, and dutifully Difcharged, and the Tokens of the Honours he has acquired to his Family. There is fo close an Union interwoven in the very Nature of Father and Son, that it seems almoft impoffible to Love One, and Hate the Other, at the fame Time; or not to reward in the Perfon of the one, the paft Services of the other. And that seems to be the Reason why the Romans (who have left us fo many remarkable and heroick Examples of Gratitude) granted fo great and honourable Priviledges, and Immunities to those Parents, who had a numerous Family, defign'd for the Service of the Republick: In fo much, that when there happen'd to be Two Competitors, either for the fame Preferment, or in a Point of Honour, contefted between two Perfons of Note; if they were found to be equal in all otherRefpects, he that could make it appear, that he had a more numerous Off-fpring, had the Precedence. To this Priviledge were many others annex'd, which excus'd the Father from ferving the troublesom Offices of the State. Even the Slaves themselves were reputed Free by the Law, when they had been happy enough to have more than Four Children. The Lacedæmonians, whofe Laws, eftablish'd by the divine Lycurgus, were refpected as Oracles, exempted the Father of Three Children from Watching the City; and, if he had a greater Number, he was freed from all other troublefom Employments. And if it happen'd, in either of thofe two Republicks, that the Children came to be reduced, they were bred up at the publick Expence, until they were able to bear Arms. That which gave the first Rife, to the Eftablishment of that Law, is no lefs extraordinary, than it has been religiously obferv'd. It was at the Time when the Wars began to break out in the Roman Empire. The Citizens of Alba, who could not bear to fee the furprizing Progrefs of the growing City of Rome, did their utmost to prevent them, and levy'd for thatPurpose a powerful Army. Now after feveral Encounters, finding themselves equally match'd, and fearing left a bloody Combat fhould in Time divide the whole Country Country of Italy into two Parties, they agreed, to make an End of the War, to chufe of each Side three Brethren of a Birth, to fight it out. The Horatii defended the Romans Intereft, and the Curiatii that of the Albans. They Fought in the Midft of the two Armies. The Three Curiatii being Wounded, had already kill'd Two of their Enemies, when the Third of the Horatii, who was left alive, adding Craft to his Strength, pretended to run away, and by this Means had an Opportunity to Fight them one by one, till he had kill'd them all. This laft ftroke, which procur'd a Peace between those two contending Cities, left the Romans Victorious: But this Victory was unfortunately ftain'd with Parricide; for the Conqueror's Sifter, feeing him bear the Spoils of One of the Curiatii, to whom he was betrothed, fell a Weeping; which unfeafonable Sorrow colt the young Maid her Life; for her Brother, unable to fee her, drew his Sword, and Slew her, as the fourth Victim. He was immediately taken up for it, and try'd, and ought, according to Law, to have been put to Death; but their Compaffion for the Father opposed the rigid Sentence, calling to Mind how his Two Sons had Sacrificed their Lives to the publick Good, and the Lofs of his Daughter, which was no lefs grievous; together with the valiant Exploit of the Conqueror, which feem'd fufficiently to atone for his Parricide: in fo much, that Compaffion got the better of the Severity of the Law; and great Priviledges were afterward granted to the Father, not as being the Father of a generous Conqueror, but as a Father only. ThofePriviledges and Exemptions were fince handed down to all the Citizens of Rome,who had Children capable of ferving the CommonWealth. And indeed, Who could have beheld that |