"The family would be divided amongst itself; all the relations upon the paternal side, and the relations upon the maternal side would join the contest, and peace would be utterly at an end. And so in all other instances. The crow would no longer have a fee-simple of the oak, the jackdaw of the steeple, the rook of the elm, the fox of the burrow, or I of my pollard. We might even see the rook claiming the——But I will not follow the illustration further, lest I be charged with descending to personalities. I will only add, in conclusion, that if this ill-fated union takes place, we must look forward to seeing every home broken up, our private settlements, our laws of hereditary succession set upon one side, our property divided among a miscellaneous horde of people, who will not know their own grandfathers, and our most cherished sentiments cast to the winds of heaven." With which words the owl concluded, and was greeted with marks of approval from all parts of the circle.
"We are all very much indebted to the owl," said the fox, "for putting the true aspect of the case so clearly before us. His learned discourse—not more learned than lucid—has convinced us all of the extreme inexpediency of this alliance."
"If this course is persisted in," said the crow, "it can only end, in my opinion, in a way disastrous to the state. The king cannot decline to listen to our representations, if we are united."
"Haw!" said the rook; "I'm not so sure of that. Kapchack likes his own way."
"Kapchack is very self-willed," said the hawk. "It is almost our turn to have our way once now."
"So I should say," screamed the jay, who could never open his beak without getting into a temper. "So I should say; Kapchack is a wicked old——"
"Hush, hush," said the squirrel; "you can't tell who may be listening."
"I don't care," said the jay, ruffling up his feathers; "Kapchack is a wicked old fellow, and Tchack-tchack is as bad."
"Capital!" said Tchink, the chaffinch; "I like outspoken people. But I have heard that you (to the jay) are very fond of flirting." At this there would have been a disturbance, had not the fox interfered.
"We shall never do anything, unless we agree amongst ourselves," he said. "Now, the question is, are we going to do anything?"