A second ballot was taken as follows: The Lion 261; The Dog 42; The Monkey 294; The Cock 1; Scattering 147.
After this ballot a conference took place between the leading friends of the Lion, the Dog, and the Monkey. The Lion’s friends claimed for him the Presidency of right, and quoted Aesop, Phaedrus, La Fontaine, Gay, and other writings of men to prove his divine right to the supremacy of beasts. The Monkey observed that the world had got over these old notions; that democracy was the only sensible form of government for the present age; and urged upon his rivals to withdraw, as the majority of the convention were evidently in his favor.
The Animal Declaration of Independence Harper’s January 1857 [edited extract being part eight in a series of 19]
