Fable XII A Father and His Sons
A very honest man happened to have a contentious brood of children. He called for a rod, and bade them try one after another, with all their force, if they could break it. They tried, and could not. Well, says he, unbind it now, and take every twig of it apart, and see what you can do that way. They did so, and with great ease, by one and one, they snapped it all to pieces. This, says he, is the true emblem of your condition: keep together, and you are safe; divide, and you are undone.
Morals
The breach of unity puts the world into a state of war, and turns every man’s hand against his brother; but so long as that band holds, it is the strength of all the several parts of it gathered into one, and is not easily subdued.
Distress and ruin on divisions wait,
But union is the bond of ev’ry state;
Disloyalty’s a plague, dissension’s worse,
And parties, where they rage, a kingdom’s curse.
Reflection
This fable imitates the force of union, and the danger of division. Intestine commotions have destroyed many a powerful state; and it is as ruinous in private affairs as it is in public. A divided family can no more stand than a divided commonwealth; for every individual suffers in the neglect of a common safety. It is a strange thing that men should not do that under the government of rational spirit, and a natural prudence, which wolves and bears do by the impulse of an animal instinct. For they, we see, will make head, one and all, against a common enemy; whereas the generality of mankind lie pecking at one another, till one by one they are all torn to pieces, never considering (as this fable teaches) the necessity and benefits of union.