... Nox atra cava circumvolat umbra.

To these I must apply the Fable of the Mole, That after having consulted many Oculists for the bettering of his Sight, was at last provided with a good Pair of Spectacles; but upon his endeavouring to make use of them, his Mother told him very prudently,

'That Spectacles, though they might help the Eye of a Man, could be of no use to a Mole.'

It is not therefore for the Benefit of Moles that I publish these my daily Essays.

But besides such as are Moles through Ignorance, there are others who are Moles through Envy.

[As]

it is said in the

Latin

Proverb, 'That one Man is a Wolf to another

[2]