Moral essays. With an English translation by J.W. Basore

;ox MERCY, I. XIX. 2-5conceived the idea of king, as we may recognizefrom the case of bees and other creatures ; the king "of the bees has the roomiest cell, placed in the centraland safest spot ; besides, he does no work, but superintendsthe work of the others, and if they lose theirking, they all scatter ; they never tolerate more thanone at a time, and they discover the best one bymeans of a fight* ; moreover the appearance of theking is striking and different from that of the othersboth in size and beauty. His greatest mark of distinction,however, lies in this : bees are most easilyprovoked, and, for the size of their bodies, excellentfighters, and where they wound they leave theirstings ; but the king himself has no sting. Naturedid not wish him to be cruel or to seek a revenge thatwould be so costly, and so she removed his weapon,and left his anger unarmed.Great kings will find herein a mighty precedentfor it is Nature's way to exercise herself in smallmatters, and to bestow the tiniest " proofs of greatprinciples. Shameful, were it not to draw a lessonfrom the ways of the tiny creatures, since, as themind of man has so much more power to do harm,it ought to show the greater self-control. Wouldat least that a man were subject to the samelaw, and that his anger broke off along with hisweapon, and that he could not injure more thanonce or use the strength of others to wreak his hatred ;for he would soon grow weary of his rage if he had noinstrument to satisfy it but liimself, and if by giWngrein to his violence he ran the risk of death. Buteven as it is, such a man has no safe course ; for hemust fear as much as he wishes to be feared, mustwatch the hands of every person, and count himself411