The Poetical Entertainer Or, Tales, Satyrs, Dialogues, And Intrigues, &c. Serious and Comical. All digested into such Verse as most agreeable to the several Subjects. To be publish'd as often as occasion shall offer [by Edward Ward] |
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The Conforming Parson.
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The Conforming Parson.
A Satyr.
When Judas, with ungrateful hands, had slainThe Son of her who nurs'd him to a Man,
Rob'd his own Father, took away his Life,
And made his Mother his incestuous Wife,
To Jesus then repentingly he fled,
And him he also for Reward betray'd.
Just so the A*****ry Convert, when he'd been
Notorious long for every carnal Sin,
He quits the Sect that did the Guide despise,
And to the Church for Sanctuary flies;
Where, wreaking from his Harlots, he attends
Her sacred Rites, and daringly ascends
The Pulpit, where he counterfeits the Priest,
And underneath the Robe conceals the Beast;
Comes to her Altars loaded with Disgrace,
And still sins on with a conforming Face;
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As Judas did the Builder of the same.
Never let's boast such Proselytes as these,
Only thrown out to purge the Sectaries.
For them he left not, but was left i'th' lurch,
That by conforming he might shame the Church,
And by his Sinful Principles ensnare
Some list'ning Flock beneath his ghostly Care.
A late detection proves, alas, too plain,
He only chang'd his Coat, but not the Man,
Retaining still those Vices which, before
His Recantation, stain'd the Cloth he wore.
O Holy Mother keep thy Pulpits free
And clean from such conforming Guides as he!
Let no lascivious Cast-off, from among
Pretended Saints, thy Reputation wrong,
Or think thy Holy Discipline can make
A good Divine of a Dissenting Rake.
No! with new Failings he'll refresh his Stains,
And scandalize the Robe with ill remains.
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Distillers cleanse, and bring again in play;
Yet, when by Art the Filth is most refin'd,
The Stench will in the Spirit stay behind.
| The Poetical Entertainer | |