Stultifera Navis :: :: University of Virginia Library

What madman is't; what kind of fool,
That thus defies each decent rule,
And makes himself a handle?
Who backs his wife's foul impudence,
And proves to her incontinence,
A wretch to hold the candle ?

103

Can such be man, whose soul divine,
Should ev'ry godlike act combine,
That honours virtue's name?
Can human nature thus efface,
Each trait of purity and grace,
And wear the badge of shame.

The beasts of field, the birds of air,
Will guard their mates with jealous care,
Nor own such vice disgusting;
They boast an instinct more refin'd,
Than such foul fools, though blest with mind,
For shame impure thus lusting.

Is gold possess'd of charm so rare,
To make a man thus yield his fair,

104

To be by lust polluted ?
Then other fools their course may run,
For 'mongst the throng, so vile, there's none,
As he who's self cornuted.

L'ENVOY OF THE POET.

Fly from foul infamy, nor thus entice,
Thy weaker half to play the wanton's part;
Murder not others with the damning vice,
That stabs thy reputation to the heart.

THE POET'S CHORUS TO FOOLS.

Come, trim the boat, row on each Rara Avis,
Crowds flock to man my Stultifera Navis.

Theophilus Cibber affords a striking instance of human depravity of this species; who purposely connived at the incontinence of his wife with Mr. Sloper, that he might receive his money, and also extort from him heavy damages, by an action of Crim. con. which was instituted, but to little effect, for, on hearing the evidence, the infamy of the Plaintiff was so conspicuous, that the Jury awarded him Ten Pounds damages, and, to increase his punishment, the public were so exasperated at his conduct, that Cibber found it impossible to appear on the stage in this country afterwards, in consequence of which he embarked for Ireland, when the vessel was lost, and Cibber drowned; but, that we may not confine ourselves to fools of so late a period, we need only refer to the history of Pasiphæ, queen of Crete, who had a son and heir by her gallant lover, a Bull, which was most condescendingly fathered by her cornuted lord.

The Curious Impertinent affords an instance of a different nature, respecting fools of this species, where the hero of the tale, anxious to prove the fidelity of his wife, requests his bosom friend to make love to her, in order to make trial of her constancy; which is accordingly done, and with such success, that the husband has to thank himself for the horns he wears. This is not, however, the worst species of folly, for, however the reader may dispute the veracity of the ensuing statement, it is nevertheless grounded in truth. An individual, who shall be nameless, was in the habit of taking his wife every evening to the piazzas of Covent Garden, where he left her, in order to procure money, the wages of her own prostitution, and, if it so happened that she returned without such ill acquired gain, he was in the habit of chastising her severely; but with respect to the gratification of venality; through the medium of this degrading vice; how many husbands are there not, who wilfully put their wives in the way of great men, in order that they may gain their ends, heedless of the cries of conscience, and the goading sting of shame. Chi suoi vizii non doma, nelle sue mani la sua vergogna porta.