University of Virginia Library

[The sacred Priest the sensless Mob obey'd]

The sacred Priest the sensless Mob obey'd;
'Twas Aaron who the Golden Folly made:
From Egypt he the lov'd Idea brought,
The Calf was then imprest upon his Thought,
There, by his Fancy, so exactly wrought,
That ev'ry Trace unalter'd did remain,
The Lines were deeply carv'd within his Brain;
Thence, by Traduction, lineally convey'd
On all his Sons the spreading Mischief prey'd:
The tainted Stock did dire Effects produce,
Venom was mix'd with all its vital Juice:
Th'impoison'd Juice with Swiftness did ascend,
As quick as Thought to loftiest Boughs extend,
And thence, by subtile Paths, to lower Branches tend,
Did on each Leaf, each slender Fibre seise:
Moses himself encreas'd the curst Disease,
When, by a wondrous Skill, an Art divine,
To Ashes he their Apis did calcine,
And with their Liquor mix'd the glitt'ring Dust,
Too much he added to their native Thirst:
The crouding Atoms throng'd into the Brain,
Too close they stuck to be expell'd again:
The sacred Tribe not only Suff'rers were,
Others had in their Guilt an equal Share;
The painful Hunger all alike opprest,
The rav'nous Vultur prey'd on ev'ry Breast,
The Love of Gold its Poison did dilate,
Dispers'd it self throughout the wretched State;
From them into the Christian Church it came;
The Christian Church deserv'd an equal blame,
Too fond it grew of Grandeur, Wealth, & Fame.