University of Virginia Library

The Learned write, An Insect Breeze
Is but a Mungrel Prince of Bees,
That falls, before a Storm, on Cows,
And stings the Founders of his House;
From whose corrupted Flesh that Breed
Of Vermine did at first proceed.
So, e'r the Storm of War broke out,
Religion spawn'd a various Rout,
Of Petulant Capricious Sects,
The Maggots of Corrupted Texts,
That first run all Religion down,
And after every Swarm its own.
For as the Persian Magi once
Upon their Mothers got their Sons,
Who were incapable t'injoy
That Empire any other way:
So Presbyter begot the other
Upon the Good Old Cause, his Mother,
That bore them like the Devil's Dam,
Whose Son and Husband are the same.
And yet no nat'ral Tie of Blood,
Nor Intr'est for their common good,
Could, when their Profits interfear'd,
Get Quarter for each other's Beard.
For when they thriv'd, they never fadg'd,
But onely by the ears engag'd:
Like Dogs that snarl about a Bone,
And play together when th' have none.
As by their truest Characters,
Their constant Actions, plainly appears.

Rebellion now began for lack
Of Zeal and Plunder to grow slack;
The Cause and Covenant to lessen,
And Providence to b'out of Season:
For now there was no more to purchase
O'th' King's Revenue and the Churche's,
But all divided, shar'd, and gone,
That us'd to urge the Brethren on.
Which forc'd the Stubborn'st for the Cause
To cross the Cudgels to the Laws;
That what by breaking them t'had gain'd,
By their Support might be maintain'd:
Like Thieves, that in a Hemp-plot lie,
Secur'd against the Hue-and-cry.
For Presbyter and Independent
Were now turn'd Plaintiff and Defendant,
Laid out their Apostolick Functions
On Carnal Orders and Injunctions,
And all their Precious Gifts and Graces
On Out-lawries and Scire facias;
At Michael's Term had many a Trial,
Worse then the Dragon and St. Michael,
Where thousands fell, in shape of Fees,
Into the Bottomless Abyss.
For when, like Brethren and Friends,
They came to share their Dividends,
And ev'ry Partner to possess
His Church and State Joint-Purchaces,
In which the Ablest Saint and Best
Was nam'd in Trust by all the rest,
To pay their Money, and, in stead
Of ev'ry Brother, pass the Deed;
He straight converted all his Gifts
To pious Frauds and holy Shifts,
And settled all the others Shares
Upon his outward Man and 's Heirs;
Held all they claim'd as Forfeit Lands,
Deliver'd up into his hands,
And past upon his Conscience,
By Pre-intail of Providence;
Impeach'd the Rest for Reprobates,
That had no Titles to Estates,
But by their Spiritual Attaints
Degraded from the Right of Saints.
This being reveal'd, they now begun
With Law and Conscience to fall on;
And laid about as hot and Brainsick
As th' Utter Barrister of Swanswick;
Ingag'd with Money-bags, as bold
As men with Sand-bags did of old;
That brought the Lawyers in more Fees,
Then all unsanctifi'd Trustees:
Till he who had no more to show
I'th' Case, receiv'd the overthrow;
Or both sides having had the worst,
They parted as they met at first.

Poor Presbyter was now Reduc'd,
Secluded, and Cashier'd, and Chews'd,
Turn'd out and Excommunicate
From all Affairs of Church and State,
Reform'd t'a Reformado Saint,
And glad to turn Itinerant,
To strowl and teach from Town to Town,
And those he had taught up Teach down,
And make those Uses serve agen
Against the New-inlightned men,
As fit as when at first they were
Reveal'd against the Cavalier;
Damn Anabaptist and Fanatick,
As pat as Popish and Prelatick;
And with as little variation,
To serve for any Sect i'th' Nation.
The Good Old Cause, which some believe
To be the Dev'l that tempted Eve
With Knowledge, and does still invite
The World to Mischief with New Light,
Had store of Money in her Purse,
When he took her for bett'r or worse;
But now was grown Deform'd and Poor,
And fit to be turn'd out of Door.

The Independents (whose first station
Was in the Rere of Reformation,
A Mungrel kind of Church-Dragoons,
That serv'd for Horse and Foot at once,
And in the Saddle of one Steed
The Saracen and Christian rid,
Were Free of ev'ry Spiritual Order,
To Preach, and Fight, and Pray, and Murther)
No sooner got the Start to lurch
Both Disciplines, of War and Church,
And Providence enough to run
The chief Commanders of 'em down,
But carried on the War against
The Common Enemy o'th' Saints;
And in a while prevail'd so far,
To win of them the Game of War,
And be at Liberty once more,
T'Attack themselves as th' had before.

For now there was no Foe in Arms,
T'unite their Factions with Alarms,
But all reduc'd and overcome,
Except their worst, themselves at home,
Wh' had compast all they Praid, and Swore,
And Fought, and Preach'd, and Plunder'd for,
Subdu'd the Nation, Church and State,
And all things but their Laws and Hate.
But when they came to treat and transact,
And share the spoils of all th' had ransackt,
To Botch up what th' had torn and rent,
Religion and the Government,
They met no sooner, but prepar'd
To pull down all the War had spar'd;
Agreed in nothing, but t'Abolish,
Subvert, Extirpate, and Demolish.
For Knaves and Fools b'ing near of Kin,
As Dutch-Boors are t'a Sooterkin,
Both Parties join'd to doe their best,
To Damn the Publick Interest;
And Hearded onely in Consults
To put by one anothers Bolts,
T'out-cant the Babylonian Labourers,
At all their Dialects of Jabberers,
And tug at both ends of the Saw,
To tear down Government and Law.
For as two Cheats, that play one Game,
Are both defeated of their Aim:
So those who play a Game of State,
And onely Cavil in Debate,
Although there's nothing lost nor won,
The Publick Business is undone,
Which still the longer 'tis in doing,
Becomes the surer way to Ruine.
This when the Royalists perceiv'd,
(Who to their Faith as firmly cleav'd,
And own'd the Right they had paid down
So dearly for, The Church and Crown,)
Th' united constanter, and Sided
The more, the more their Foes divided.
For though out-number'd, overthrown,
And by the Fate of War run down;
Their Duty never was defeated,
Nor from their Oaths and Faith retreated.
For Loyalty is still the same,
Whether it win or lose the Game;
True as a Dial to the Sun,
Although it be not shin'd upon.
But when these Brethren in evil,
Their Adversaries and the Devil,
Began once more to shew them Play,
And hopes, at least, to have a day,
They Rallied in Parades of Woods,
And unfrequented Solitudes,
Conven'd at Midnight in Out-houses,
T'appoint New-rising Rendezvouses,
And with a Pertinacy unmatch'd
For new Recruits of Danger watch'd:
No sooner was one Blow diverted,
But up another Party started.
And, as if Nature too in haste,
To furnish out Supplies as fast,
Before her time had turn'd Destruction
T'a new and numerous Production;
No sooner those were overcome,
But up rose others in their Room,
That, like the Christian Faith, increast
The more, the more they were Supprest:
Whom neither Chains, nor Transportation,
Proscription, Sale, nor Confiscation,
Nor all the desperate events
Of former try'd Experiments,
Nor Wounds could terrifie, nor Mangling,
To leave off Loyalty and Dangling,
Nor Death (with all his Bones) affright
From vent'ring to maintain the Right,
From staking Life and Fortune down
'Gainst all together, for the Crown;
But kept the Title of their Cause
From Forfeiture, like Claims in Laws;
And prov'd no Prosp'rous Usurpation
Can ever settle on the Nation,
Until, in spight of Force and Treason,
They put their Loy'lty in Possession;
And by their Constancy and Faith,
Destroy'd the Mighty men of Gath.

Toss'd in a furious Hurricane,
Did Oliver give up his Reign;
And was believ'd, as well by Saints,
As Moral men and Miscreants,
To Founder in the Stygian Ferry,
Until he was retriev'd by Sterry:
Who, in a false erroneous Dream,
Mistook the New Jerusalem,
Prophanely, for th' Apocryphal,
False Heaven at the End o'th' Hall;
Whither it was decreed by Fate,
His Precious Reliques to Translate.
So Romulus was seen before
B'as Orthodox a Senator;
From whose Divine Illumination
He stole the Pagan Revelation.

Next him his Son and Heir Apparent
Succeeded, though a Lame Vicegerent:
Who first laid by the Parliament,
The onely Crutch on which he leant;
And then Sunk underneath the State,
That rode him above Horseman's Weight.

And now the Saints began their Reign,
For which th' had yearn'd so long in vain,
And felt such Bowel-Hankerings,
To see an Empire all of Kings,
Deliver'd from th' Ægyptian Awe
Of Justice, Government, and Law,
And free t'erect what Spiritual Cantons
Should be reveal'd, or Gospel Hans-Towns,
To Edifie upon the Ruines
Of John of Leyden's old Out-goings,
Who for a Weather-cock hung up
Upon their Mother-Churche's Top,
Was made a Type by Providence
Of all their Revelations since;
And now fulfill'd by his Successors,
Who equally mistook their Measures:
For when they came to shape the Model,
Not one could fit another's Noddle;
But found their Light and Gifts more wide
From Fadging then th' Unsanctifi'd;
While ev'ry individual Brother
Strove hand to fist against another,
And still the Maddest and most Crackt
Were found the busiest to Transact.
For though most Hands dispatch apace,
And make light work, (the Proverb says)
Yet many different Intellects
Are found t'have contrary Effects;
And many Heads t'obstruct Intrigues,
As slowest Insects have most Legs.

Some were for setting up a King,
But all the rest for no such thing,
Unless King Jesus: Others tamper'd
For Fleetwood, Desborough, and Lambert;
Some for the Rump, and some, more crafty,
For Agitatours and the Safety;
Some for the Gospel, and Massacres
Of Spiritual Affidavit-makers,
That swore to any Humane Regence
Oaths of Supremacy and Allegeance,
Yea though the Ablest swearing Saint,
That vouch'd the Bulls o'th' Covenant:
Others for pulling down th' High places
Of Synods and Provincial Classes,
That us'd to make such hostile Inroads
Upon the Saints, like Bloudy Nimrods:
Some for Fulfilling Prophecies,
And th' Extirpation of Excise;
And some against th' Ægyptian Bondage
Of Holy-days, and paying Poundage:
Some for the cutting down of Groves,
And rectifying Bakers Loaves;
And some for finding out Expedients
Against the Slav'ry of Obedience.
Some were for Gospel-Ministers,
And some for Red-Coat Seculars,
As men most fit t'hold forth the Word,
And wield the one and th' other Sword.
Some were for carrying on the Work
Against the Pope, and some the Turk:
Some for engaging to suppress
The Camisado of Surplices,
That Gifts and Dispensations hinder'd,
And turn'd to th' Outward Man the Inward;
More proper for the cloudy Night
Of Popery, then Gospel-Light.
Others were for Abolishing
That Tool of Matrimony, a Ring,
With which th' unsanctifi'd Bridegroom
Is marri'd onely to a Thumb;
(As wise as Ringing of a Pig,
That uses to break up ground and Dig;)
The Bride to nothing but her Will,
That nulls the After-marriage still.
Some were for th' utter Extirpation
Of Linsey-Woolsey in the Nation;
And some against all Idolizing
The Cross in Shop-Books, or Baptizing.
Others, to make all things recant
The Christian or Surname of Saint;
And force all Churches, Streets, and Towns,
The Holy Title to renounce.
Some 'gainst a Third Estate of Souls,
And bringing down the Price of Coals.
Some for Abolishing Black-Pudding,
And eating nothing with the Bloud in;
To abrogate them Roots and Branches:
While others were for eating Haunches
Of Warriors, and now and then
The Flesh of Kings and Mighty men;
And some for Breaking of their Bones
With Rods of Ir'n by Secret ones;
For Thrashing Mountains, and with Spells
For Hallowing Carriers Packs and Bells.
Things that the Legend never heard of,
But made the Wicked sore afeard of.
The Quacks of Government (who sate
At th' unregarded Helm of State,
And understood, this wild Confusion
Of fatal Madness and Delusion
Must, sooner then a Prodigie,
Portend Destruction to be nigh)
Consider'd timely, how t'withdraw
And save their Wind-pipes from the Law:
For one Rencounter at the Bar
Was worse then all th' had scap'd in War:
And therefore met in Consultation,
To Cant and Quack upon the Nation;
Not for the sickly Patient's sake,
Nor what to give, but what to take;
To feel the Pulses of their Fees,
More wise then fumbling Arteries;
Prolong the Snuff of Life in pain,
And from the Grave recover—Gain.
'Mong these there was a Politician,
With more Heads then a Beast in Vision,
And more Intrigues in ev'ry one
Then all the Whores of Babylon;
So politick, as if one eye
Upon the other were a Spy;
That to trapan the one to think
The other Blind, both strove to blink:
And in his dark Pragmatick way
As busie as a Child at Play.
H' had seen three Governments Run down,
And had a hand in ev'ry one,
Was for 'em and against 'em all,
But Barb'rous when they came to fall:
For by Trapanning th' old to Ruine,
He made his Int'rest with the New one;
Plaid true and faithfull, though against
His Conscience, and was still advanc'd.
For by the Witch-craft of Rebellion
Transform'd t'a feeble State-Camelion,
By giving aim from side to side,
He never fail'd to save his Tide,
But got the Start of ev'ry State,
And at a Change ne'r came too late:
Could turn his Word, and Oath, and Faith,
As many ways as in a Lath;
By turning, wriggle, like a Screw
Int' highest Trust, and out for New.
For when h'had happily incurr'd,
In stead of Hemp, to be preferr'd,
And past upon a Government,
He play'd his trick and out he went:
But being out, and out of hopes
To mount his Ladder (more) of Ropes,
Would strive to raise himself upon
The Publick Ruine and his own.
So little did he understand
The desp'rate Feats he took in hand.
For when h'had got himself a Name
For Fraud and Tricks; he spoil'd his Game,
Had forc'd his Neck into a Nooze,
To shew his play at Fast and Loose;
And when he chanc'd t'escape, mistook
For Art and Subtlety, his Luck.
So right his Judgment was cut fit,
And made a Tally to his Wit,
And both together most Profound
At Deeds of Darkness under ground:
As th' Earth is easiest undermin'd
By Vermine Impotent and Blind.

By all these Arts, and many more
H' had practis'd long and much before,
Our State-Artificer foresaw
Which way the World began to draw.
For as Old Sinners have all Points
O'th' Compass in their Bones and Joints,
Can by their Pangs and Aches find
All Turns and Changes of the Wind,
And better then by Napier's Bones,
Feel in their own the Age of Moons:
So guilty Sinners in a State
Can by their Crimes prognosticate,
And in their Consciences feel Pain
Some days before a Showr of Rain.
He therefore wisely cast about
All ways he could, t'insure his Throat;
And hither came t'observe and smoke
What Courses other Riskers took;
And to the utmost doe his best
To save himself, and Hang the rest.

To match this Saint, there was another,
As busie and perverse a Brother,
An Haberdasher of Small wares
In Politicks and State-Affairs;
More Jew then Rabbi Achitophel,
And better gifted to Rebel:
For when h'had taught his Tribe to Spouse
The Cause, aloft, upon one House,
He scorn'd to set his own in Order,
But try'd another, and went further;
So sullenly addicted still
To's onely Principle, his Will,
That whatsoe'r it chanc'd to prove,
No force of Argument could move,
Nor Law, nor Cavalcade of Ho'born,
Could render half a grain less stubborn.
For he at any time would hang,
For th' opportunity t'harangue,
And rather on a Gibbet dangle,
Then miss his dear delight, to wrangle:
In which his Parts were so accomplisht,
That, right or wrong, he ne'r was non-plust;
But still his Tongue ran on, the less
Of weight it bore, with greater ease,
And with its Everlasting Clack
Set all mens Ears upon the Rack.
No sooner could a hint appear,
But up he started to Pickere,
And made the stoutest yield to mercy,
When he ingag'd in Controversie:
Not by the force of Carnal Reason,
But indefatigable Teazing;
With Volleys of eternal Babble,
And Clamour more unanswerable.
For though his Topicks, frail and weak,
Could [ne'er] amount above a Freak:
He still maintain'd 'em, like his Faults,
Against the desperat'st Assaults;
And back'd their feeble want of Sense
With greater Heat and Confidence:
As Bones of Hectors when they differ,
The more th' are Cudgel'd, grow the Stiffer.
Yet when his Profit moderated,
The fury of his Heat abated:
For nothing but his Interest
Could lay his Devil of Contest.
It was his Choice, or Chance, or Curse,
T'espouse the Cause for Bett'r or worse;
And with his worldly Goods and Wit,
And Soul, and Body, worshipp'd it:
But when he found the sullen Trapes
Possest with th' Devil, Worms, and Claps,
The Trojan Mare in Fole with Greeks
Not half so full of Jadish Tricks,
Though Squeamish in her outward Woman,
As loose and rampant as Dol common;
He still resolv'd to mend the matter,
T'adhere and cleave the obstinater;
And still the skittisher and looser
Her Freaks appear'd, to sit the closer.
For Fools are stubborn in their way;
As Coins are hardned by th' Allay:
And Obstinacy 's ne'r so stiff,
As when 'tis in a wrong Belief.
These two, with others, being met,
And close in Consultation set;
After a discontented pause,
And not without sufficient cause,
The Oratour we mention'd late,
Less troubled with the pangs of State,
Then with his own impatience,
To give himself first Audience,
After he had a while look'd wise,
At last broke silence, and the Ice.

Quoth he, There's nothing makes me doubt
Our last Out-goings brought about,
More then to see the Characters
Of real Jealousies and Fears,
Not feign'd, as once, but sadly horrid,
Scor'd upon ev'ry Member's Forehead:
Who, 'cause the Clouds are drawn together,
And threaten sudden change of Weather,
Feel Pangs and Aches of State-turns,
And Revolutions in their Corns;
And, since our Workings-out are crost,
Throw up the Cause before 'tis lost.
Was it to run away, we meant,
When, taking of the Covenant,
The lamest Cripples of the Brothers
Took Oaths, to run before all others;
But, in their own sense, onely swore
To strive to run away before?
And now would prove, the Words and Oath
Ingage us to renounce them both?
'Tis true, the Cause is in the lurch,
Between a right and Mungrel Church,
The Presbyter and Independent,
That stickle which shall make an end on't:
And 'twas made out to us the last
Expedient,—(I mean, Margret's Fast)
When Providence had been suborn'd,
What answer was to be return'd.
Else why should Tumults fright us now,
We have so many times gone through,
And understand as well to tame,
As, when they serve our turns, t'inflame?
Have prov'd how inconsiderable
Are all Engagements of the Rabble,
Whose Frenzies must be reconcil'd
With Drums and Rattles like a Child;
But never prov'd so prosperous,
As when they were led on by us.
For all our Scouring of Religion
Began with Tumults and Sedition;
When Hurricanes of fierce Commotion
Became strong Motives to Devotion;
(As Carnal Seamen in a Storm
Turn pious Converts, and reform;)
When rusty Weapons with chalk'd Edges
Maintain'd our feeble Priviledges,
And brown Bills levied in the City
Made Bills to pass the Grand Committee;
When Zeal with aged Clubs and Gleaves
Gave chase to Rochets and White Sleeves,
And made the Church and State and Laws
Submit t'old Iron and the Cause.
And as we thriv'd by Tumults then,
So might we better now agen,
If we know how, as then we did,
To use them rightly in our need.
Tumults by which the Mutinous
Betray themselves in stead of us;
The Hollow-hearted Disaffected,
And Close Malignant are detected;
Who lay their Lives and Fortunes down,
For Pledges to secure our own,
And freely sacrifice their Ears,
T'appease our Jealousies and Fears.
And yet for all these Providences
W'are offer'd, if we had our senses,
We idly sit, like stupid Block-heads,
Our hands committed to our Pockets,
And nothing but our Tongues at large,
To get the Wretches a discharge.
Like men condemn'd to Thunderbolts,
Who, e'r the blow, become meer Dolts;
Or Fools besotted with their Crimes,
That know not how to shift betimes,
And neither have the hearts to stay,
Nor wit enough to run away.
Who, if we could resolve on either,
Might stand, or fall (at least) together:
No mean nor trivial solaces
To Partners in extream distress,
Who use to lessen their Despairs,
By parting them int' equal shares;
As if the more there were to bear,
They felt the weight the easier;
And ev'ry one the gentler hung,
The more he took his turn among.

But 'tis not come to that as yet,
If we had Courage left or Wit;
Who, when our Fate can be no worse,
Are fitted for the bravest course;
Have time to Rally, and prepare
Our last and best defence, Despair;
Despair, by which the gallant'st Feats
Have been atchiev'd in greatest streights,
And horrid'st dangers safely wav'd,
By b'ing courageously out-brav'd.
As Wounds by wider wounds are heal'd,
And Poisons by themselves expell'd.
And so they might be now agen,
If we were, what we should be, Men;
And not so dully desperate,
To side against our selves with Fate:
As Criminals condemn'd to suffer,
Are blinded first, and then turn'd over.

This comes of Breaking Covenants,
And setting up Exauns of Saints,
That Fine, like Aldermen, for Grace,
To be excus'd the Efficace.
For Spiritual men are too Transcendent,
That mount their Banks for Independent,
To hang like Mahomet in th' Air,
Or St. Ignatius at his Prayer,
By pure Geometry, and hate
Dependency on Church or State;
Disdain the Pedantry o'th' Letter,
And since Obedience is better
(The Scripture says) then Sacrifice,
Presume the less on't will suffice;
And scorn to have the moderat'st stints
Prescrib'd their peremptory Hints,
Or any Opinion, true or false,
Declar'd as such, in Doctrinals,
But left at large to make their best on,
Without b'ing call'd t'account or question.

Interpret all the Spleen reveals,
As Whittington explain'd the Bells;
And bid themselves turn back agen
Lord May'rs of New Jerusalem.
But look so big and over-grown,
They scorn their Edifiers t'own,
Who taught them all their sprinkling Lessons,
Their Tones and sanctifi'd expressions;
Bestow'd their Gifts upon a Saint,
Like Charity on those that want,
And learn'd th' Apocryphal Bigots,
T'inspire themselves with Short-hand Notes:
For which they scorn and hate them worse,
Then Dogs and Cats do Sowgelders.
For who first bred them up to Pray,
And Teach, the House of Commons way?
Where had they all their Gifted Phrases,
But from our Calamies and Cases?
Without whose Sprinkling and Sowing,
Who e'r had heard of Nye or Owen?
Their dispensations had been stifled,
But for our Adoniram Bifield.
And had They not begun the War,
Th' had ne'r been Sainted as they are.
For Saints in Peace degenerate,
And dwindle down to Reprobate:
Their Zeal corrupts like standing Water,
In th' Intervals of War and slaughter;
Abates the sharpness of its Edge,
Without the Pow'r of Sacriledge.
And though th' have Tricks to cast their Sins,
As easie as Serpents do their Skins,
That in a while grow out agen,
In Peace they turn meer Carnal men,
And from the most Refin'd of Saints,
As naturally grow Miscreants,
As Barnacles turn Soland-Geese
In th' Islands of the Orcades.
Their Dispensation 's but a Ticket,
For their conforming to the Wicked;
With whom their greatest difference
Lies more in words and shew, then sense.
For as the Pope, that keeps the Gate
Of Heaven, wears three Crowns in state;
So he that keeps the Gate of Hell,
Proud Cerberus, wears three Heads as well:
And, if the World has any troth,
Some have been Canoniz'd in both.
But that which does them greatest harm,
Their Spiritual Gizzards are too warm,
Which puts the over-heated Sots
In Fevers still, like other Goats.
For though the Whore bends Hereticks
With Flames of Fire, like crooked Sticks;
Our Schismaticks so vastly differ,
Th' hotter they are, they grow the stiffer;
Still setting off their spiritual goods,
With fierce and pertinacious fewds.
For Zeal's a dreadfull Termagant,
That teaches Saints to Tear and Rant,
And Independents, to profess
The Doctrine of Dependences;
Turns meek and sneaking Secret ones,
To Raw-heads fierce and Bloody Bones:
And not content with endless quarrels
Against the Wicked and their Morals,
The Gibellins, for want of Guelfs,
Divert their rage upon themselves.
For now the War is not between
The Brethren and the Men of sin;
But Saint and Saint, to spill the Blood
Of one another's Brotherhood;
Where neither side can lay pretence
To Liberty of Conscience,
Or zealous suff'ring for the Cause,
To gain one Groats-worth of Applause:
For though endur'd with Resolution,
'Twill ne'r amount to Persecution.
Shall Precious Saints and Secret ones
Break one another's outward Bones?
And eat the Flesh of Brethren,
In stead of Kings and Mighty men?
When Fiends agree among themselves,
Shall they be found the greater Elves?
When Bel's at Union with the Dragon,
And Baal-Peor Friends with Dagon,
When Savage Bears agree with Bears,
Shall Secret ones lug Saints by th' Ears,
And not atone their fatal wrath,
When common Danger threatens both?
Shall Mastiffs by the Collars pull'd,
Engag'd with Bulls, let go their hold?
And Saints, whose Necks are pawn'd at stake,
No notice of the Danger take?
But though no Pow'r of Heaven or Hell
Can pacifie Fanatick Zeal;
Who would not guess there might be hopes,
The fear of Gallowses and Ropes
Before their Eyes might reconcile
Their Animosities a while?
At least until th'had a clear Stage,
And equal Freedom to engage,
Without the danger of Surprise
By both our common Enemies?

This none but we alone could doubt,
Who understand their Workings-out,
And know 'em both in Soul and Conscience,
Giv'n up t'as Reprobate a Non-sense,
As Spiritual Out-laws whom the Pow'r
Of Miracle can ne'r restore.
We whom at first they set up under,
In Revelation onely of Plunder,
Who since have had so many Trials
Of their encroaching Self-denials,
That rook'd upon us with design
To Out-reform and Undermine;
Took all our Interests and Commands
Perfidiously out of our hands;
Involv'd us in the Guilt of Bloud,
Without the Motive-gains allow'd,
And made us serve as Ministerial,
Like younger Sons of Father Belial.

And yet for all th' inhumane wrong
Th' had done us and the Cause so long,
We never fail'd to carry on
The Work still, as we had begun:
But true and faithfully obey'd,
And neither Preach'd them hurt, nor Pray'd;
Nor troubled them to crop our Ears,
Nor hang us like the Cavaliers;
Nor put them to the Charge of Gaols,
To find us Pillories and Carts-tails,
Or Hangman's Wages, which the State
Was forc'd (before them) to be at,
That cut like Tallies to the Stumps
Our Ears for keeping true Accompts,
And burnt our Vessels, like a New-
Seal'd Peck or Bushel, for b'ing true.
But hand in hand, like faithfull Brothers,
Held forth the Cause against all others,
Disdaining equally to yield
One Syllable of what we held.
And though we differ'd now and then
'Bout outward things, and outward Men:
Our inward Men and constant Frame
Of Spirit still were near the same.
And till they first began to Cant,
And Sprinkle down the Covenant,
We ne'r had Call in any place,
Nor dream'd of Teaching down Free-Grace;
But join'd our Gifts perpetually
Against the Common Enemy:
Although 'twas our and their Opinion,
Each other's Church was but a Rimmon.
And yet for all this Gospel-Union,
And outward shew of Church-Communion,
They'l ne'r admit us to our shares,
Of Ruling Church or State Affairs;
Nor give us leave t'absolve, or sentence
T'our own Conditions of Repentance:
But shar'd our Dividend o'th' Crown
We had so painfully Preach'd down;
And forc'd us, though against the Grain,
T'have Calls to teach it up again.
For 'twas but Justice to Restore
The Wrongs we had receiv'd before;
And when 'twas held forth in our way,
W'had been ungratefull not to pay:
Who for the Right w'have done the Nation,
Have earn'd our Temporal Salvation,
And put our Vessels in a way,
Once more to come again in Play.
For if the turning of us out,
Has brought this Providence about,
And that our onely Suffering
Is able to bring in the King:
What would our Actions not have done,
Had we been suffer'd to go on?
And therefore may pretend t'a share
At least in carrying on th' Affair.
But whether that be so or not,
W'have done enough to have it thought;
And that's as good as if w'had don't,
And easier past upon account.
For if it be but half deny'd,
'Tis half as good as justify'd.
The World is nat'rally averse
To all the truth it sees or hears,
But swallows Non-sense and a Lie
With greediness and gluttony;
And though it have the Pique, and long,
'Tis still for something in the wrong:
As Women long, when th' are with Child,
For things extravagant and wild,
For Meats ridiculous, and fulsom,
But seldom any thing that's wholsom;
And, like the World, Men's Jobbernoles
Turn round upon their Ears, the Poles;
And what th' are confidently told,
By no sense else can be controll'd.

And this, perhaps, may prove the means,
Once more, to hedge in Providence.
For, as Relapses make Diseases
More desp'rate than their first Accesses;
If we but get again in Pow'r,
Our Work is easier than before;
And we more ready and expert
I'th'Mystery, to do our Part.
We, who did rather undertake
The first War to create, than make:
And when of Nothing 'twas begun,
Rais'd Funds as strange, to carry't on;
Trepann'd the State, and fac'd it down,
With Plots and Projects of our own:
And if we did such Feats at first,
What can we now w'are better vers'd?
Who have a freer Latitude
Than Sinners give themselves allow'd?
And therefore likeliest to bring in
On fairest Terms, our Discipline.
To which it was reveal'd long since,
We were ordain'd by Providence:
When Three Saints Ears, our Predecessors,
The Cause's Primitive Confessors,
B'ing Crucified, the Nation stood
In just so many Years of Blood:
That multipli'd by Six, express'd
The perfect Number of the Beast.
And prov'd that we must be the Men,
To bring this Work about agen:
And those who laid the first Foundation,
Compleat the thorow Reformation:
For who have Gifts to carry on
So great a Work, but we alone?
What Churches have such able Pastors?
And Precious, Powerful, Preaching-Masters?
Possess'd with Absolute Dominions,
O'r Brethren's Purses and Opinions?
And trusted with the Double Keys
Of Heaven, and their Ware-houses:
Who, when the Cause is in Distress,
Can furnish out what Sums they please,
That Brooding lie in Bankers Hands,
To be dispos'd at their Commands:
And daily increase and multiply,
With Doctrine, Use and Usury.
Can fetch in Parties (as in War,
All other Heads of Cattel are;)
From th'Enemy of all Religions,
As well as High and Low Conditions;
And share them from Blew Ribbands down.
To all Blew Aprons in the Town.
From Ladies hurried in Calleches,
With Cornets at their Footmen's Breeches,
To Bawds as fat as Mother Nab,
All Guts and Belly like a Crab.
Our Party's great, and better ti'd
With Oaths, and Trade, than any side:
Has one considerabl' Improvement,
To double fortifie the Cov'nant:
I mean our Covenants to purchase
Delinquents Titles and the Churches:
That pass in Sale, from Hand, to Hand,
Among our selves, for Current Land.
And Rise or Fall, like Indian Actions,
According to the Rate of Factions:
Our best Reserve for Reformation,
When New-Outgoings give occasion:
That keeps the Loins of Brethren girt,
The Covenant (their Creed) t'assert:
And when th' have pack'd a Parliament,
Will once more try th' Expedient,
Who can already muster Friends,
To serve for Members, to our Ends:
That represent no part o'th' Nation,
But Fisher's-Folly Congregation:
Are only Tools to our Intrigues,
And sit like Geese to hatch our Eggs:
Who, by their Precedents of Wit,
T'out-fast, out-leiter, and out-sit:
Can order matters under hand,
To put all Bus'ness to a stand:
Lay Publick Bills aside, for Private,
And make 'em one another drive out;
Divert the Great and Necessary,
With Trifles to contest and vary;
And make the Nation represent,
And serve for us in Parliament;
Cut out more Work than can be done
On Plato's Year; but finish none,
Unless it be the Bulls of Lenthal,
That always past for Fundamental.
Can set up Grandee against Grandee,
To squander time away, and Bandy.
Make Lords and Commoners lay Sieges
To one another's Privileges;
And, rather than compound the Quarrel,
Engage, to th'inevitable peril
Of both their Ruins; th'only Scope
And Consolation of our Hope:
Who, though we do not play the Game,
Assist as much by giving Aim.
Can introduce our ancient Arts,
For Heads of Factions, t'act their Parts.
Know what a Leading-Voice is worth;
A Seconding, a Third, or Fourth:
How much a Casting Vote comes to,
That turns up Trump, of I, or No;
And by adjusting all at th' End,
Share ev'ry one his Dividend.
An Art that so much Study cost,
And now's in danger to be lost;
Unless our Ancient Virtuoso's,
That found it out, get into th' Houses.
These are the Courses that we took
To carry things, by Hook, or Crook:
And practic'd down from Forty four,
Until they turn'd us out of Door;
Besides the Herds of Boutefeus,
We set on work, without the House.
When ev'ry Knight and Citizen
Kept Legislative Journey-men,
To bring them in Intelligence
From all Points of the Rabbles Sense;
And fill the Lobbies of both Houses
With Politick Important Buzzes:
Set up Committees of Cabals,
To pack Designs without the Walls.
Examine, and draw up all News,
And fit it to our present Use.
Agree upon the Plot o'th' Farce,
And every one his Part rehearse.
Make Q's of Answers, to way-lay
What th' other Parties like to say:
What Repartees, and smart Reflections
Shall be return'd to all Objections:
And who shall break the Master-Jest,
And what, and how, upon the rest:
Help Pamphlets out, with safe Editions,
Of Proper Slanders and Seditions:
And Treason for a Token send,
By Letter, to a Country Friend.
Disperse Lampoons, the only Wit,
That Men, like Burglary, commit:
Wit, falser than a Padder's Face,
That all its Owner does, betrays:
Who therefore dare not trust it, when
He's in his Calling, to be seen.
Disperse the Dung on Barren Earth,
To bring new Weeds of Discord forth.
Be sure to keep up Congregations,
In spight of Laws and Proclamations;
For Chiarlatans can do no good,
Until th' are mounted in a Crowd:
And when th' are punish'd, all the Hurt
Is but to fare the better for't;
As long as Confessors are sure
Of double Pay for all th' endure:
And what they earn in Persecution,
Are paid t'a Groat in Contribution.
Whence some Tub-holders-forth have made
In Powdring-Tubs, their richest Trade:
And while they kept their Shops in Prison,
Have found their Prices strangely risen.
Disdain to own the least Regret
For all the Christian Blood w'have let;
'Twill save our Credit, and maintain
Our Title, to do so again:
That needs not cost one Dram of Sense,
But Pertinacious Impudence:
Our Constancy t'our Principles,
In time, will wear out all things else;
Like Marble Statues, rub'd to pieces,
With Gallantry of Pilgrim's Kisses:
While those who turn and wind their Oaths
Have swell'd, and sunk like other Froths.
Prevail'd a while, but 'twas not long,
Before from World to World they swung:
As they had turn'd from side, to side;
And as the Changelings liv'd they died.

This said; the impatient States-Monger
Could now contain himself no longer;
Who had not spar'd to shew his Picques,
Against th' Haranguers Politicks?
With smart Remarks of Leering Faces,
And Annotations of Grimaces,
After h'had ministred a Dose
Of Snuff-Mundungus, to his Nose;
And powder'd th'inside of his Skull,
Instead of th'outward Jobbernol:
He shook it, with a scornful Look
On th' Adversary, and thus he spoke.
In Dressing a Calve's Head, although
The Tongue and Brains together go,
Both keep so great a distance here,
'Tis strange, if ever they come near:
For, who did ever play his Gambols,
With such unsufferable Rambles?
To make the bringing in the King,
And keeping of him out, one thing?
Which none can do, but those who swore
T'as Point-blank Non-sense heretofore:
That to Defend was to Invade,
And to Assassinate, to Aid:
Unless because you drove him out,
(And that was never made a Doubt)
No Pow'r is able to restore
And bring him in, but on your Score.
A Spiritual Doctrine, that conduces
Most properly, to all your Uses.
'Tis true, a Scorpion's Oyl is said
To cure the Wounds the Vermine made;
And Weapons drest with Salves, restore
And heal the Hurts they gave before:
But whether Presbyterians have
So much Good Nature as the Salve,
Or Virtue in them as the Vermine,
Those who have tri'd 'em can determine.
Indeed, 'tis pity you should miss
Th' Arrears of all your Services,
And for th' Eternal Obligation
Y'have laid upon th' Ungrateful Nation:
B'us'd so unconscionable hard,
As not to find a Just Reward.
For letting Rapine loose, and Murther,
To rage just so far, but no further:
And setting all the Land on fire,
To burn t'a Scantling, but no higher:
For vent'ring to assassinate,
And cut the Throats of Church and State:
And not be allow'd the fittest Men
To take the Charge of both agen.
Especially, that have the Grace
Of Self-denying, Gifted Face;
Who, when your Projects have miscarri'd,
Can lay them, with undaunted Fore-head,
On those you painfully trepann'd,
And sprinkled in at Second Hand.
As we have been, to share the Guilt
Of Christian Blood, devoutly spilt;
For so our Ignorance was flam'd,
To damn our selves, t'avoid being damn'd:
Till finding your old Foe, the Hang-man,
Was like to lurch you at Back-Gammon;
And win your Necks upon the Set,
As well as ours, who did but Bet:
(For he had drawn your Ears before,
And nick'd 'em on the self-same Score:)
We threw the Box and Dice away,
Before y'had lost us at foul Play:
And brought you down to Rook, and Lye,
And Fancy only, on the By.
Redeem'd your forfeit Jobbernoles,
From pearching upon lofty Poles:
And rescued all your Outward Traitors
From hanging up like Allegators:
For which ingeniously y'have shew'd
Your Presbyterian Gratitude:
Would freely have paid us home in kind,
And not have been one Rope behind.
Those were your Motives to divide,
And scruple, on the other side,
To turn your Zealous Frauds, and Force,
To Fits of Conscience and Remorse.
To be convinc'd they were in vain,
And face about for New again:
For Truth no more unvail'd your Eyes,
Than Maggots are convinc'd to Flies:
And therefore, all your Lights and Calls
Are but Apocryphal, and False,
To charge us with the Consequences
Of all your Native Insolences.
That to your own Imperious Wills,
Laid Law and Gospel Neck and Heels:
Corrupted the Old Testament,
To serve the New for Precedent:
T'amend its Errors and Defects,
With Murther and Rebellion-Texts:
Of which there is not any one
In all the Book, to sow upon:
And therefore (from your Tribe) the Jews
Held Christian Doctrine forth and Use:
As Mahomet (your Chief) began
To mix them in the Alchoran:
Denounc'd, and pray'd, with Fierce Devotion,
And bended Elbows on the Cushion:
Stole from the Beggars all your Tones,
And Gifted-Mortifying Groans:
Had Lights where better Eyes were blind,
As Pigs are said to see the Wind:
Fill'd Bedlam with Predestination,
And Knights-Bridge with Illumination:
Made Children, with your Tones, to run for't,
As bad as Bloody Bones or Lunsford.
While Women, Great with Child, miscarri'd,
For being to Malignants marri'd:
Transform'd all Wives to Dalilahs,
Whose Husbands were not for the Cause:
And turn'd the Men to Ten-Horn'd Cattel,
Because they came not out to Battel:
Made Taylors Prentices turn Heroes,
For fear of being transform'd to Meroz;
And rather forfeit their Indentures,
Than not espouse the Saints Adventures.

Could Transubstantiate, Metamorphose,
And charm whole Herds of Beasts, like Orpheus;
Inchant the King's and Churches Lands,
T'obey and follow your Commands:
And settle on a New Free-hold,
As Marcly-Hill had done of Old.
Could turn the Covenant, and translate
The Gospel into Spoons and Plate:
Expound upon all Merchants Cashes,
And open th'intricatest Places:
Could Catechise a Money-Box,
And prove all Powches Orthodox;
Until the Cause became a Damon,
And Pythias, the wicked Mammon.

And yet, in spight of all your Charms,
To conjure Legion up, in Arms;
And raise more Devils in the Rout,
Than e'er y'were able to cast out:
Y'have been reduc'd, and by those Fools,
Bred up (you say) in your own Schools;
Who, though but gifted at your feet,
Have made it plain, they have more Wit.
By whom you have been so oft trepan'd,
And held forth out of all Command:
Out-gifted, Out-impuls'd, Out-done,
And Out-reveal'd at Carryings on.
Of all your Dispensations Worm'd,
Out-providenc'd, and Out-reform'd.
Ejected out of Church, and State,
And all things, but the People's Hate:
And spirited out of th' Enjoyments
Of precious, edifying Employments;
By those who lodg'd their Gifts and Graces,
Like better Bowlers, in your Places.
All which you bore, with Resolution,
Charg'd on th' Account of Persecution;
And though, most Righteously opprest,
Against your Wills, still acquiest:
And never Hum'd and Hah'd Sedition,
Nor snuffled Treason, nor Misprision.
That is, because you never durst;
For, had you preach'd and pray'd your worst,
Alas, you were no longer able
To raise your Posse of the Rabble:
One single Red-Coat Sentinel
Out-charm'd the Magick of the Spell;
And with his Squirt-fire, could disperse
Whole Troops, with Chapter rais'd, and Verse:
We knew too well those tricks of yours,
To leave it ever in your Powers:
Or trust our Safeties, or Undoings,
To your Disposing of Out-goings;
Or to your Ordering Providence,
One Farthings-worth of Consequence.

For, had you Pow'r to undermine,
Or Wit to carry a Design,
Or Correspondence, to trepan,
Inveagle, or betray one Man;
There's nothing else that intervenes,
And bars your Zeal to use the means.
And therefore wondrous like, no doubt,
To bring in Kings, or keep them out:
Brave undertakers to restore,
That could not keep your selves in pow'r
T'advance the Interests of the Crown,
That wanted Wit to keep your own.

'Tis true, you have (for I'ld be loth
To wrong ye) done your Parts, in Both;
To keep him out, and bring him in,
As Grace is introduc'd by Sin;
For 'twas your zealous want of Sense,
And sanctifi'd Impertinence:
Your carrying business in a Huddle,
That forc'd our Rulers to New-Model;
Oblig'd the State to tack about,
And turn you, Root and Branch, all out;
To Reformado, One and All,
T'your Great Croysado, General:
Your greedy slav'ring to devour
Before, 'twas in your Clutches, Pow'r.
That sprung the Game you were to set,
Before y'had time to draw the Net:
Your spight to see the Churches Lands
Divided into other Hands.
And all your Sacrilegious Ventures,
Laid out on Tickets and Debentures;
Your Envy to be sprinkled down,
By Under Churches in the Town.
And no Course us'd to stop their Mouths,
Nor th' Independants spreading Growths.
All which consider'd, 'tis most true,
None bring him in so much as you.
Who have prevail'd, beyond their Plots,
Their Midnight Junto's, and seal'd Knots;
That thrive more by your Zealous Piques,
Than all their own rash Politicks.
And this way you may claim a Share,
In carrying (as you brag) th' Affair;
Else Frogs, and Toads, that croak'd the Jews,
From Pharo, and his Brick-kills-loose:
And Flies, and Mange, that set them free,
From Task-Masters, and Slavery:
Were likelier to do the Feat,
In any indiffrent Man's Conceit;
For who e'er heard of Restoration,
Until your thorough Reformation;
That is, the King's and Churches Lands
Were sequestred int'other Hands?
For, only then, and not before.
Your Eyes were opened to restore.
And when the Work was carrying on,
Who crost it, but your selves alone?
As, by a World of Hints, appears,
All plain, and extant, as your Ears.
But first o'th' first; The Isle of Wight
Will rise up, if you should deny't;
Where Hinderson, and th'other Masses,
Were sent to cap Texts, and put Cases,
To pass for Deep and Learned Scholars;
Although but Paltry, Ob-and-Sollers:
As if th'unseasonable Fools
Had been a Coursing in the Schools;
Until th'had prov'd the Devil Author
O'th' Covenant; and the Cause, his Daughter:
For, when they charg'd him with the Guilt
Of all the Blood that had been spilt;
They did not mean, He wrought th'Effusion
In Person, like Sir Pride, or Hughson;
But only those, who first begun
The Quarrel, were by him set on.
And who could those be but the Saints,
Those Reformation-Termegants?
But e'er this past, the wise Debate
Spent so much time, it grew too late;
For Oliver had gotten Ground,
T'enclose them, with his Warriers, round:
Had brought his Providence about,
And turn'd the untimely Sophists out.
Nor had the Uxbridge bus'ness less
Of Non-sence in't, and sottishness,
When from a Scoundrel Holder forth,
The Scum, as well as Son o'th' Earth,
Your Mighty Senators took Law
At his Command, were forc'd t'withdraw;
And sacrifice the Peace o'th' Nation
To Doctrine, Use and Application.
So when the Scots, your constant Cronies,
Th' Espousers of your Cause, and Monies:
Who had so often, in your Aid,
So many ways been soundly paid;
Came in at last, for better Ends,
To prove themselves your trusty Friends,
You basely left them, and the Church,
Th'had train'd you up to, in the Lurch,
And suffer'd your own Tribe of Christians
To fall before, as true Philistines.
This shews what Utensils y'have been,
To bring the King's Concernments in:
Which is so far from being true,
That none but He can bring in you.
And if he take you into trust,
Will find you most exactly just:
Such as will punctually repay
With double Interest, and betray.

Not that I think those Pantomimes,
Who vary Action with the Times:
Are less ingenious in their Art,
Than those who dully act one Part;
Or those who turn from Side, to Side;
More guilty than the Wind and Tide.
All Countries are a Wise Man's Home,
And so are Governments to some,
Who change them for the same Intrigues
That States-Men use in breaking Leagues:
While others in Old Faiths and Troths,
Look odd, as in Out-of-fashion'd Cloaths:
And nastier, in an old Opinion,
Than those who never shift their Linnen.

For True and Faithful's sure to lose,
Which way soever the Game goes:
And whether Parties lose or win,
Is always nick'd, or else hedg'd in.
While Pow'r usurp'd like stol'n delight,
Is more bewitching than the Right.
And when the Times begin to alter,
None rise so high as from the Halter.

And so may we, if w'have but Sense
To use the necessary Means,
And not your usual Stratagems
On one another, Lights and Dreams.
To stand on Terms as positive,
As if we did not take, but give:
Set up the Covenant on Crutches,
'Gainst those who have us in their Clutches;
And dream of pulling Churches down,
Before w'are sure to prop our own:
Your constant Method of Proceeding,
Without the Carnal Means of Heeding:
Who, 'twixt your Inward Sense, and Outward,
Are worse, than if y'had none, accoutred.

I grant, all Courses are in vain,
Unless we can get in again;
The only way that's left us now,
But all the difficulty's, How?
'Tis true! w'have Money, th'only Pow'r
That all Mankind falls down before:
Money, that, like the Swords of Kings,
Is the last Reason of all things.
And therefore, need not doubt our Play
Has all Advantages that way;
As long as Men have Faith to sell,
And meet with those that can pay well.
Whose half-starv'd Pride and Avarice,
One Church and State will not suffice,
T'expose to Sale; beside the Wages
Of storing Plagues to after Ages.
Nor is our Money less our own,
Than 'twas before we laid it down:
For 'twill return, and turn t'Account,
If we are brought in Play upon't;
Or, but by Casting Knaves, get in,
What Pow'r can hinder us to win?
We know the Arts we us'd before,
In Peace and War, and something more:
And by the unfortunate Events,
Can mend our next Experiments.
For, when w'are taken into Trust,
How easie are the Wisest choust?
Who see but th'out-sides of our Feats,
And not their secret Springs and Weights;
And while th'are busie at their ease,
Can carry what Designs we please:
How easie is't to serve for Agents,
To prosecute our old Engagements?
To keep the Good Old Cause on Foot,
And present Power from taking Root?
Inflame them both with false Alarms,
Of Plots, and Parties, taking Arms;
To keep the Nation's Wounds too wide
For healing up of Side to Side.
Profess the passionat'st Concerns,
For both their Interests, by Turns.
The only way t'improve our own,
By dealing faithfully with none;
(As Bowls run true, by being made
Of purpose false, and to be sway'd)
For, if we should be true to either,
'Twould turn us out of both together:
And therefore have no other Means,
To stand upon our own Defence;
But keeping up our Ancient Party
In Vigor, Confident, and Hearty:
To reconcile our late Dissenters,
Our Brethren, though by other Venters,
Unite them, and their different Maggots,
As long and short Sticks are in Faggots.
And make them joyn again as close,
As when they first began t'Espouse;
Erect them into Separate,
New Jewish Tribes, in Church and State;
To joyn in Marriage and Commerce,
And only among themselves Converse.
And all that are not of their Mind,
Make Enemies to all Mankind:
Take all Religions in and stickle,
From Conclave, down to Conventicle;
Agreeing still, or disagreeing,
According to the Light in Being.
Sometimes, for Liberty of Conscience,
And Spiritual Mis-rule, in one Sense:
But in another quite contrary,
As Dispensations chance to vary:
And stand for, as the Times will bear it,
All Contradictions of the Spirit:
Protect their Emissaries, impowr'd
To preach Sedition and the Word:
And when th'are hamper'd by the Laws,
Release the Lab'rers for the Cause;
And turn the Persecution back,
On those that made the first Attack.

To keep them equally in awe,
From breaking, or maintaining Law;
And when they have their Fits too soon,
Before the Full-Tides of the Moon:
Put off their Zeal t'a fitter Season,
For sowing Faction in, and Treason;
And keep them hooded, and their Churches,
Like Hawks from bating on their Perches.
That when the Blessed Time shall come,
Of quitting Babylon and Rome,
They may be ready to restore
Their own Fift-Monarchy, once more;
Mean while, be better Arm'd to Fence,
Against Revolts of Providence;
By watching narrowly, and snapping
All blind sides of it, as they happen:
For, if Success could make us Saints,
Our Ruin turn'd us Miscreants:
A Scandal that would fall too hard
Upon a Few, and unprepar'd.

These are the Courses we must run,
Spight of our Hearts, or be undone:
And not to stand on Terms and Freaks,
Before we have secur'd our Necks.
But do our Work, as out of sight,
As Stars by Day, and Suns by Night:
All Licence of the People own,
In opposition to the Crown.
And for the Crown as fiercely side,
The Head and Body to divide;
The end of all we first design'd,
And all that yet remains behind:
Be sure to spare no publick Rapine,
On all Emergencies that happen;
For 'tis as easie to supplant
Authority, as Men in want:
As some of us, in trusts, have made
The one hand with the other Trade;
Gain'd vastly, by their Joint-Endeavour;
The Right a Thief, the Left Receiver:
And what the one, by tricks, fore-stall'd,
The other, by as sly, Retail'd.
For Gain has wonderful Effects,
T'improve the Factory of Sects;
The Rule of Faith in all Professions,
And great Diana of the Ephesians:
Whence turning of Religion's made
The means to turn and wind a Trade.
And though some change it for the worse,
They put themselves into a Course;
And draw in store of Customers,
To thrive the better in Commerce:
For, all Religions flock together,
Like Tame, and Wild-Fowl of a Feather;
To nab the Itches of their Sects:
As Jades do one another's Necks.
Hence 'tis, Hypocrisie, as well,
Will serve t'improve a Church, as Zeal:
As Persecution, or Promotion,
Do equally advance Devotion.

Let Business, like ill Watches, go,
Sometime too fast, sometime too slow:
For, things in order are put out
So easie, Ease it self will do't.
But when the Feat's design'd and meant,
What Miracle can bar th'event?
For 'tis more easie to betray,
Than ruin any other way.

All possible occasions start,
The Weighty'st Matters to divert:
Obstruct, Perplex, Distract, Intangle,
And lay perpetual Trains to wrangle:
But in Affairs of less Import,
That neither do us Good nor Hurt,
And they receive as little by,
Out-fawn as much, and Out-comply:
And seem as scrupulously just,
To bait our Hooks for greater Trust.

But still be careful to cry down
All publick Actions, though our own:
The least Miscarriage aggravate,
And charge it all upon the State:
Express the horrid'st Detestation,
And pity the distracted Nation.
Tell Stories, scandalous and false,
I'th'proper Language of Cabals:
Where all a subtil States-man says
Is half in Words, and half in Face:
(As Spaniards talk in Dialogues,
Of Heads and Shoulders, Nods and Shrugs)
Entrust it under solemn Vows
Of Mum and Silence, and the Rose
To be Retail'd again in Whispers,
For th'easie credulous to disperse.

Thus far the States-man. When a Shout,
Heard at a distance, put him out.
And strait another, all agast,
Rush'd in with equal Fear and Haste:
Who star'd about, as pale as Death,
And for a while, as out of Breath;
Till having gather'd up his Wits,
He thus began his Tale by fits.

That beastly Rabble,—that came down
From all the Garrets—in the Town,
And Stalls, and Shop-boards,—in vast Swarms,
With new-chalk'd Bills,—and rusty Arms,
To cry the Cause—up, heretofore,
And bawl the Bishops—out of Door;
Are now drawn up,—in greater Shoals,
To Roast—and Boil us on the Coals:
And all the Grandees—of our Members
Are Carbonading on—the Embers;
Knights, Citizens and Burgesses—
Held forth by Rumps—of Pigs and Geese.
That serve for Characters—and Badges,
To represent their Personages.
Each Bone-fire is a Funeral-Pile,
In which they Roast, and Scorch, and Broil;
And ev'ry Representative
Have vow'd to Roast—and Broil alive;
And 'tis a Miracle, we are not
Already, sacrific'd Incarnate.
For, while we wrangle here, and jar,
W'are Grylly'd all at Temple Bar:
Some, on the Sign-post of an Ale-house,
Hang in Effigy, on the Gallows,
Made up of Rags, to personate
Respective Officers of State;
That henceforth they may stand reputed,
Proscrib'd in Law, and Executed,
And while the Work is carrying on,
Be ready Listed under Dun;
That worthy Patriot, once the Bellows,
And Tinder-box of all his Fellows.
The activ'st Member of the Five,
As well as the most Primitive:
Who, for his faithful Service then,
Is chosen for a Fifth agen;
(For, since the State has made a Quint
Of Generals, he's listed in't.)
This Worthy, as the World will say,
Is paid in Specie, his own way;
For, moulded to the Life in Clouts,
Th'have pick'd from Dung-hills hereabouts:
He's mounted on a Hazel Bavin,
A crop'd Malignant Baker gave 'em:
And, to the largest Bonefire riding,
Th'have roasted Cook already, and Pride-m.
On whom, in Equipage, and State,
His Scare-crow Fellow-Members wait;
And March in Order, two and two,
As at Thanksgivings th'us'd to do:
Each in a tatter'd Talismane,
Like Vermine in Effigie slain.

But (what's more dreadful than the rest)
Those Rumps are but the Tail o'th'Beast;
Set up by Popish Engineers,
As by the Crackers plainly appears:
For, none but Jesuits have a Mission,
To preach the Faith with Ammunition;
And propagate the Church with Powder,
Their Founder was a blown up Soldier.
These Spiritual Pioneers o'th' Whores,
That have the Charge of all her Stores;
Since first they fail'd in their Designs,
To take in Heav'n by springing Mines;
And with unanswerable Barrels
Of Gun-powder, dispute their Quarrels:
Now take a Course more practicable,
By laying Trains to fire the Rabble,
And blow us up in th'open Streets;
Disguis'd in Rumps, like Sambenites;
More like to Ruin, and Confound,
Than all their Doctrines under-ground.

Nor have they chosen Rumps amiss,
For Symbols of State-Mysteries;
Though some suppose, 'twas but to shew
How much they scorn'd the Saints, The Few;
Who, 'cause th'are wasted to the Stumps,
Are represented best by Rumps.
But Jesuites have deeper Reaches
In all their Politick Far-fetches:
And from their Coptick Priest, Kirkerus,
Found out this Mystick way to jear us.

For, as the Ægyptians us'd, by Bees,
T'express their Antick Ptolomies;
And by their Stings, the Swords they wore,
Held forth Authority and Pow'r:
Because these subtil Animals
Bear all their Int'rests in their Tails;
And when th'are once impair'd in that,
Are banish'd their Well-order'd State:
They thought, all Governments were best,
By Hieroglyphick Rumps, exprest.

For, as in Bodies Natural,
The Rump's the Fundament of all;
So, in a Commonwealth, or Realm,
The Government is call'd the Helm:
With which, like Vessels under Sail,
Th'are turn'd and winded by the Tail.
The Tail, which Birds and Fishes steer
Their Courses with, through Sea and Air;
To whom the Rudder of the Rump is
The same thing With the Stern and Compass.
This shews, how perfectly the Rump
And Commonwealth in Nature jump.
For, as a Fly, that goes to Bed,
Rests with his Tail above his Head;
So in this Mungril State of ours,
The Rabble are the Supreme Powers.
That Hors'd us on their Backs to show us
A Jadish trick at last, and throw us.

The Learned Rabbins of the Jews
Write, there's a Bone, which they call Luez,
I'th' Rump of Man, of such a Vertue,
No force in Nature can do hurt to;
And therefore, at the last Great Day,
All th'other Members shall, they say,
Spring out of this, as from a Seed,
All sorts of Vegetals proceed:
From whence, the Learned Sons of Art,
Os Sacrum, justly stile that part.

Then what can better represent,
Than this Rump-bone, the Parliament?
That after several rude Ejections,
And as prodigious Resurrections;
With new Reversions of nine Lives,
Starts up, and, like a Cat, revives?

But now, alas, th'are all expir'd,
And th'House, as well as Members, fir'd;
Consum'd in Kennels, by the Rout,
With which they other Fires put out:
Condemn'd t'ungoverning Distress,
And Paultry, Private Wretchedness:
Worse than the Devil to Privation,
Beyond all hopes of Restauration;
And parted like the Body and Soul,
From all Dominion and Controul.

We, who could lately, with a Look,
Enact, Establish, or Revoke;
Whose Arbitrary Nods gave Law,
And Frowns kept multitudes in Awe:
Before the Bluster of whose Huff,
All Hats, as in a Storm, flew off.
Ador'd and bow'd to, by the Great,
Down to the Foot-man, and Valet.
Had more bent Knees than Chappel-Mats,
And Prayers, than the Crowns of Hats;
Shall now be scorn'd as wretchedly,
For Ruin's just as low as high;
Which might be suffer'd, were it all
The Horrour, that attends our Fall:
For, some of us have Scores more large
Than Heads and Quarters can discharge.
And others who, by restless scraping,
With Publick Frauds, and Private Rapine;
Have mighty Heaps of Wealth amass'd,
Would gladly lay down all at last:
And to be but undone, Entail
Their Vessels on perpetual Jail;
And bless the Devil to let them Farms
Of forfeit Souls, on no worse Terms.

This said, A near and louder Shout
Put all th'Assembly to the Rout:
Who now begun t'out-run their fear,
As Horses do, from those that bear:
But crouded on, with so much haste,
Until th'had block'd the Passage fast;
And Barricadoed it with Haunches
Of Outward Men, and Bulks, and Paunches:
That with their shoulders strove to squeeze,
And rather save a Cripled piece
Of all their crush'd and broken Members,
Than have them Grillied on the Embers:
Still pressing on with heavy Packs,
Of one another, on their Backs:
The Van-Guard could no longer bear
The Charges of the Forlorn Rere;
But born down head-long by the Rout,
Were trampled sorely under Foot.
Yet nothing prov'd so formidable,
As the horrid Cookery of the Rabble:
And Fear that keeps all Feeling out,
As lesser Pains are, by the Gout,
Reliev'd 'em with a fresh Supply
Of rallied Force, enough to fly;
And beat a Tuscan Running Horse,
Whose Jocky-Rider is all Spurs.