Of whofe ftrange crimes no Canonift can tell
In what Commandinen'ts large contents they dwell.

One, one man only breeds my juft offence; 45 Whom crimes gave wealth, and wealth gave Inpu dence :

Time, that at laft matures a clap to pox,

Whofe gentle progrefs makes a calf an ox,

And brings all natural events to pass,
Hath made him an Attorney of an Afs.
No young divine, new-benefic'd, can be
More pert, more proud, more pofitive than he.
What further could I wish the fop to do,

But turn a wit, and fcribble verses too;

Pierce the foft lab'rinth of a Lady's ear

With rhymes of this per cent. and that per year?
Or court a Wife, fpread out his wily parts,
Like nets or lime- twigs, for rich Widows hearts;
Call himself Barrister to ev'ry wench,

55

And wooe in language of the Pleas and Bench? 60 Language, which Boreas might to Aufter hold

More rough than forty Germans when they scold.

NOTES.

ture or the Gospel commands. A luft ridicule on thofe practical Commentators, as they are called, who include all moral and religious Duties within them. Whereas their true original VOL. IV.

P

Then fick with Poetry, and poffcft with Mufe

Thou waft, and mad I hop'd; but men which chuse

L

1

Law practice for meer gain; bold foul repute

Worfe than imbrothel'd ftrumpets prostitute 1.

Now like an owl-like watchman he muft walk,

His hand ftill at a bill; now he must talk

Idly, like, prifoners, which whole months will fwear,

That only furetyfhip hath brought them there,

And to every fuitor lye in every thing,

Like a King's Favourite

or like a King.

NOTES.

fense is much more confined, being a fhort fummary of duty fitted for a fingle People, upon a particular occafion, and 19 ferve tranfitory ends.

VER. 61. Language, which Boreas) The Original has here a very fine ftroke of farire,

Than when winds in our ruin'd Abbyes roar.

The frauds with which that work (fo neceffary for the welfare both of religion and the ftate) was begun; the rapine with which it was carried on; and the diffoluteness in which the plunder arising from it was wafted, had fcandalized all fober men; and difposed the best Proteftants to with, that fome part of that immenfe wealth, arifing from the fuppreffion of the Monafteries, had been referved for Charity, Hofpitality, and even for the public fervice of Religion.

Curs'd be the wretch, fo venal and fo vain, Paltry and proud, as drabs in Drury-lane.

'Tis fuch a bounty as was never known,

65

If PETER deigns to help you to your own:
What thanks, what praise, if Peter but supplies,
And what a folemn face if he denies!

Grave, as when pris'ners fhake the head and swear 'Twas only Suretyfhip that brought 'em there. 70 His Office keeps your Parchment fates entire,

1

He ftarves with cold to fave them from the fire;
For you he walks the streets thro' rain or duft,
For not in Chariots Peter puts his trust;
For you he fweats and labours at the laws,
Takes God to witness he affects your caufe,
And lies to ev'ry Lord in ev'ry thing,

Like a King's Favourite or like a King.

NOTES.

75

་ He speaks here of thofe illiberal Advocates who frequent the Bar for mere gain, without any purpose of promoting or advancing civil iuftice; the confequence of which, he tells us, is a flavish attendance, together with the degradation of their parts and abilities. So that when they undertake to excufe the bad conduct of their client, they talk as idly, and are heard with the fame contempt, as debtors, whofe common cant is, that they were undone by Suretyfhip. The Imitator did not feem to take the fineness of the fatire, or he would not have neglected an abuse of this importance, to fall upon fuch paultry

Like a wedge in block 2, wring to the barre,
Bearing like affes, and more fhameless farre
Than carted whores, lye to the grave Judge; for
Baftardy abounds not in King's titles, nor
Simony and Sodomy in Church-men's lives,
As these things do in him; by these he thrives.
Shortly (as th' fea) he'll compafs all the land,
From Scots to Wight, from, Mount to Dover strand.
And spying heirs melting with Luxury,

Satan will not joy at their fins as he :
For (as a thrifty wench fcrapes kitchen-stuffe,
And barrelling the droppings, and the fnuffe
Of wafting candles, which in thirty year,
Reliquely kept, perchance buys wedding chear)
Piecemeal he gets lands, and fpends as much time
Wringing each acre, as maids pulling prime.
In parchment then, large as the fields, he draws
Affurances, big as glofs'd civil laws,

So huge that men (in our times forwardness)
Are Fathers of the Church for writing less.

NOTES.

things as Peter, and those whom Pater confidered (and so pred)

as his patrimony.

Thefe are the talents that adorn them all,

*

From wicked Waters ev'n to godly

Not more of Simony beneath black gowns,
Nor more of baftardy in heirs to Crowns,

80

In fhillings and in pence at first they deal;
And steal fo little, few perceive they steal;

Till, like the Sea, they compass all the land,

From Scots to Wight, from Mount to Dover strand: 85 And when rank Widows purchase luscious nights,

Or when a Duke to Jansen punts at White's,

Or City-heir in mortgage melts away;
Satan himself feels far lefs joy than they.

Piecemeal they win this acre firit, then that,
Glean on, and gather up the whole estate.
Then ftrongly fencing ill-got wealth by law,
Indentures, Cov'nants, Articles they draw,
Large as the fields themselves, and larger far
Than Civil Codes, with all their Gloffes, are;
So vaft, our new Divines, we must confess,
Are Fathers of the Church for writing lefs.

90

95