Moral and political fables, ancient and modern done into measured prose intermixed with ryme by Dr. Walter Pope.
Pope, Walter, d. 1714.
Page 38
FAB. XXXIX. The Mice.
THE Mice a General Assembly held,
To find Expedients how they might resist
The Force, and secret Treacheries o'th' Cat;
After a long Debate, it was propos'd,
To hang a Bell about their Enemy's Neck,
Whose sound might give them notice of's approach
This was approvd, and would have been decreed,
Had not an aged Mouse rose from his Seat,
A Mouse of high Degree, and Royal Blood,
A Mouse. whose Merits all the House admird,
And beck'ning with his Hand, Audience requir'd.
Fathers, said he, the Wit of Mice, or Men
Could not invent a better Law than this,
Could it be brought to bear, and put in use,
Who dares about the Cats Neck hang the Bell?
Where are those Mice their Country love-so well?
The MORAL.
Too dangerous Counsels never take Effect.
