340 FABLES. 



danger, or endeavour to forewarn him against the 

 wicked plots of his enemies. The benevolent man, 

 from the most disinterested motives, will always 

 be disposed to do good offices to all, and the grate- 

 ful man will never forget to return them in kind, if 

 it be possible; and there is not one good man in 

 the world who may not on some occasion stand in 

 need of the help of another. But gratitude is not 

 very common among mankind. It is a heavenly 

 spark, from which many virtues spring; and the 

 source of pleasures which never enter the breast 

 of the vile ingrate. The favours and kindnesses 

 bestowed upon the grateful man, he cannot forget; 

 those which are conferred upon the ungrateful, are 

 lost: he concludes he would not have had them, if 

 he had not deserved them. 



