# Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable XIX

Fab. XIX.
The Frogs Chuse a King.
IN the days of Old, when the Frogs were All at liberty in the Lakes, and grown quite Weary of living without Government, they Petition'd Jupiter for a King, to the End that there might be ​some Distinction of Good and Evil, by Certain Equitable Rules and Methods of Reward and Punishment. Jupiter, that knew the Vanity of their Hearts, threw them down a Log for their Governour; which, upon the first Dash, frighted the whole Mobile of them into the Mudd for the very fear on't. This Panick Terror kept them in Awe for a while, 'till in good time, one Frog, Bolder than the Rest, put up his Head, and look'd about him, to see how squares went with their New King. Upon This, he calls his Fellow-Subjects together; Opens the truth of the Case; and Nothing would serve them then, but Riding a-top of him, Insomuch that the Dread they were in before, is now turn'd into Insolence, and Tumult. This King they said was too Tame for them, and Jupiter must needs be Entreated to send 'ern Another: He did lo, but Authors are Divided upon it, whether 'twas a Stork, or a Serpent; though whether of the Two soever it was, he left them neither Liberty, nor Property, but made a Prey of his Subjects. Such was their Condition in fine, that they sent Mercury to Jupiter yet once again for Another King, whose Answer was This: They that will not be Contented when they are Well, must be Patient when Things are Amiss with them; and People had better Rest where they are, than go farther, and fare Worse.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
This Fable, under the Emblem of the Frogs, sets forth the Murmuring, and the Unsteadiness of the Common People; that in a State of Liberty will have a King: They do not like him when they have him, and so Change again, and grow Sicker of the Next, than they Were of the Former. Now the Bus'ness is only this: They are never satisfy'd with their present Condition; but their Governors are still either too Dull, or too Rigid. 'Tis a Madness for him that's Free, to put himself into a Hate of Bondage, and rather than bear a Less Misfortune to Hazzard a Greater.
This Allusion of the Frogs runs upon All Four (as they say) in the Resemblance of the Multitude, both for the Humour, the Murmur, the Importunity, and the subject-Matter of the Petition. Redress of Grievances is the Question, and the Devil of it is, that the Petitioners are never to be pleas'd. In one Fit they cannot be Without Government: In Another they cannot bear the Toak on't. They find Absolute Freedom to be a Direct State of War; for where there's no Means of either preventing Strife, or Ending it, the Weaker are still a Prey to the Stronger. One King is too Soft, and Easie for them; Another too Fierce! And then a Third Change ​would do Better they think. Now 'tis Impossible to satisfie people that would have they know not what. They Beg and Wrangle, and Appeal, and their Answer is at last, that if they shift again, they shall be still Worse; By which, the Frogs are given to Underfstand the very truth of the Matter as we find it in the World, both in the Nature, and Reason of the Thing, and in Policy, and Religion; which is, That Kings are from God, and that it is a Sin, a Folly, and a Madness, to struggle with his Appointments.