224 FABLES. 



NATURE cannot by any art or labour be changed; 

 she may indeed be wrought upon and moulded 

 by good council and discipline; but it is in vain 

 to attempt a total transformation of our genius, 

 person, or complexion : therefore our application, 

 assiduity, and pains, when wrong directed, are of 

 no avail. We should, indeed, strive to discover 

 w r hich way the bent of our genius lies, that we may 

 apply ourselves to a judicious cultivation and im- 

 provement of it; but we ought to be sure never to 

 thwart or oppose nature's fixed laws. When men 

 aspire to eminence in any of the various arts or 

 sciences, without being gifted with the innate 

 powers or abilities for such attainments, it is only 

 like attempting to wash the Blackamoor white. 



