WHO doth not know with what fierce rage
Opinions, true or falfe, engage;
And, 'cause they govern all mankind,
Like the blind's leading of the blind,
All claim an equal interest,
And free dominion, o'er the rest.
And, as one fhield that fell from heaven
Was counterfeited by eleven,
The better to fecure the fate
And lasting empire of a state,
The falfe are numerous, and the true,
That only have the right, but few.
Hence fools, that understand them least,
Are ftill the fierceft in conteft;
Unfight, unfeen, efpoufe a fide
At random, like a prince's bride,
To damn their fouls, and fwear and lye for,
And at a venture live and die for.
OPINION governs all mankind,
Like the blind's leading of the blind ;
For he that has no eyes in 's head,
Must be by' a dog glad to be led;
And no beafts have fo little in them/
As that inhuman brute, Opinion:
'Tis an infectious peftilence,
The tokens upon wit and fenfe,
That with a venomous contagion
Invades the fick imagination;
And, when it feizes any part,
It ftrikes the poison to the heart.
This men of one another catch
By contact, as the humours match;
And nothing 's so perverse in nature
As a profound opiniator.
AUTHORITY intoxicates,
And makes mere fots of magiftrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud, and vain :
By this the fool commands the wife,
The noble with the bafe complies,
The fot affumes the rule of wit,
And cowards make the base submit.
A godly man, that has ferv'd out his time
In holiness, may fet up any crime;
As fcholars, when they 've taken their degrees,
May fet up any faculty they please.
WHY should not piety be made,
As well as equity, a trade,
And men get money by devotion,
As well as making of a motion ?
B' allow'd to pray upon conditions,
As well as fuitors in petitions?
And in a congregation pray,
No less than Chancery, for
A TEACHER's doctrine, and his proof,
Is all his province, and enough;
But is no more concern'd in ufe,
Than fhoemakers to wear all fhoes.
THE fobereft faints are more stiff-necked Than th' hotteft-headed of the wicked.
HYPOCRISY will ferve as well
To propagate a church as zeal;
As perfecution and promotion
Do equally advance devotion :
So round white ftones will ferve, they say,
As well as eggs, to make hens lay.
THE greatest faints and finners have been made Of profelytes of one another's trade.
YOUR wife and cautious confciences
Are free to take what course they please:
Have plenary indulgence to difpofe,
At pleasure, of the strictest vows,
And challenge Heaven, they made them to,
To vouch and witness what they do ;
And, when they prove averfe and loth,
Yet for convenience take an oath,
Not only can difpenfe, but make it
A greater fin to keep than take it ;
Can bind and loofe all forts of fin,
And only keeps the keys within;
Has no fuperior to control,
But what itself sets o'er the foul;
And, when it is enjoin'd t'obey,
Is but confin'd, and keeps the key;
Can walk invisible, and where,
And when, and how, it will appear;
Can turn itself into disguises
Of all forts, for all forts of vices;
Can tranfubftantiate, metamorphofe,
And charm whole herds of beasts, like Orpheus
Make woods, and tenements, and lands,
Obey and follow its commands,
And fettle on a new freehold,
As Marcly-hill remov'd of old;
Make mountains move with greater force
Than faith, to new proprietors;
And perjures, to fecure th' enjoyments
Of public charges and employments:
For true and faithful, good and just,
Are but preparatives to trust;
The gilt and ornament of things,
And not their movements, wheels, and fprings.
ALL love, at firft, like generous wine,
Ferments and frets until 'tis fine;
But, when 'tis fettled on the lee,
And from th' impurer matter free,
Becomes the richer ftill the older,
And proves the pleasanter the colder.
THE motions of the earth or fun,
(The Lord knows which) that turn, or run,
Are both perform'd by fits and starts,
And fo are thofe of lovers' hearts,
Which, though they keep no even pace,
Move true and conftant to one place.
LOVE is too great a happiness
For wretched mortals to poffefs;
For, could it hold inviolate
Against thofe cruelties of Fate
Which all felicities below
By rigid laws are subject to,
It would become a blifs too high
For perishing mortality,
Tranflate to earth the joys above;
For nothing goes to heaven but love.
ALL wild but generous creatures live, of course,
As if they had agreed for better or worse :
The lion's conftant to his only mifs,
And never leaves his faithful lioness;
And she as chaste and true to him again,
As virtuous ladies use to be to men.
The docile and ingenuous elephant
T'his own and only female is gallant;
And fhe as true and conftant to his bed,
That first enjoy'd her fingle maidenhead ;
But paltry rams, and bulls, and goats, and boars,
Are never fatisfy'd with new amours ;
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