 | Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose |  |
273
THEFT
'Tis Counted Cunning to Retrive
And find out by a Thief a Thiefe;
But nothing is more Sottish, then
To finde out thieves by honest men.
And find out by a Thief a Thiefe;
But nothing is more Sottish, then
To finde out thieves by honest men.
Crimes Punishd, like the weapon Salve
Heal up the wounds and Hurts they gave.
Heal up the wounds and Hurts they gave.
For as the Roman Souldiers once,
When they were Plundering of Towns,
And Robbing of their Churches; found
In one a Little hole i' th' Ground,
Which having greedily unclosd,
To finde out Treasure, they supposd
Was there conceald: out flew a Dampe
That spread Contagion through the Campe,
And suddenly strook many Dead;
From whence, by slow Degrees, it spread
From Place, to Place, til it Possest
All the wide world, from East to west:
So, when Rude Mortals boldly search
For Gain, and Plunder, in the Church,
And Sacrilegiously teare
Her Schismes wider then they were,
A Horrid Plague breaks out, that kills
The wretches first, and after fills
The whole world, like a General Floud
Of Desolation, war and Bloud.
When they were Plundering of Towns,
And Robbing of their Churches; found
In one a Little hole i' th' Ground,
Which having greedily unclosd,
To finde out Treasure, they supposd
Was there conceald: out flew a Dampe
That spread Contagion through the Campe,
And suddenly strook many Dead;
From whence, by slow Degrees, it spread
From Place, to Place, til it Possest
All the wide world, from East to west:
So, when Rude Mortals boldly search
For Gain, and Plunder, in the Church,
And Sacrilegiously teare
Her Schismes wider then they were,
A Horrid Plague breaks out, that kills
The wretches first, and after fills
The whole world, like a General Floud
Of Desolation, war and Bloud.
Why should not Piety be made
As wel as Equity, a Trade?
And men get mony by Devotion
As wel as making of a Motion?
B' allowd to Pray upon Conditions
As well as Suiters in Petitions?
And in a Congregation Pray
No less then Chanc'ry for Pay?
As wel as Equity, a Trade?
And men get mony by Devotion
As wel as making of a Motion?
B' allowd to Pray upon Conditions
As well as Suiters in Petitions?
274
No less then Chanc'ry for Pay?
A Roman Thief was not Affeard
To Scrape the Gold of Jupiter's own Beard;
And either shewd himself, t' have no Beliefe
In Thunder-bolts, or was a Desprate thief.
To Scrape the Gold of Jupiter's own Beard;
And either shewd himself, t' have no Beliefe
In Thunder-bolts, or was a Desprate thief.
| Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose | |