But truth has but one way to be i' th' right; so it l As numbers may t' infinity be grown,

But never be reduced to less than one-ons d

Those that go up-hill use to bow

Their bodies forward, and stoop low,
To poise themselves, and sometimes creep,

When th' way is difficult and steep dels mod So those at court, that do address violet By low ignoble offices, et slut von Eino A Can stoop to any thing that's base,⠀ To wriggle into trust and grace, vulde salt tid at. Are like to rise to greatness sooner

Than those that go by worth and honour.

dard od ot aiztu

No seared conscience is so fell

As that which has been burnt with zeal; ARA For Christian charity's as well DA ŋodi odi” wa A great impediment to zeal, omslabs her tond As zeal a pestilent disease

To Christian charity and peace. pabolt hinty CA.

As thistles wear the softest down,
To hide their prickles till they're grown,
And then declare themselves, and tear

Whatever ventures to come near
So a smooth knave does greater feats

T

Than one that idly rails and threats, long on #20)

And all the mischief that he meant
Does, like a rattle-snake, prevent.

Dame Fortune, some men's tutelar, Takes charge of them without their care, Does all their drudgery and work, Like Fairies, for them in the dark; Conducts them blindfold, and advances The naturals by blinder chances : While others by desert or wit Could never make the matter hit, But still, the better they deserve, Are but the abler thought to starve.c.

Great wits have only been preferr'd, In princes' trains to be interr'd, And, when they cost them nothing, plac'd Among their followers not the last; the But while they liv'd were far enough From all admittances kept off.

As gold, that's proof against th' assay, Upon the touchstone wears away, And having stood the greater test, Is overmaster'd by the least; So some men, having stood the hate And spiteful cruelty of Fate, Transported with a false caress Of unacquainted happiness,

Lost to humanity and sense,

Have fall'n as low as insolence.

Innocence is a defence

For nothing else but patience:
'Twill not bear out the blows of Fate,
Nor fence against the tricks of state;
Nor from th' oppression of the laws
Protect the plain'st and justest cause;
Nor keep unspotted a good name
Against the obloquies of Fame;
Feeble as Patience, and as soon,
By being blown upon, undone.
As beasts are hunted for their furs,
Men for their virtues fare the worse.

Who doth not know with what fierce rage

Opinions, true or false, 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 shield that fell from heaven

Was counterfeited by eleven,

The better to secure the fate

And lasting empire of a state,

The false are num'rous, and the true,
That only have the right, but few.
Hence fools, that understand them least,

Are still the fiercest in contest ;

Unsight unseen, espouse a side

At random, like a prince's bride,

To damn their souls, and swear and lie 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 beasts have so little in them
As that inhuman brute, Opinion:
'Tis an infectious pestilence,
The tokens upon wit and sense
That with a venomous contagion
Invades the sick imagination;
And, when it seizes any part,
It strikes 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 sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,

And make men giddy, proud and vain:
By this the fool commands the wise,
The noble with the base complies,
The sot assumes the rule of wit,

And cowards make the brave submit.

A godly man, that has serv'd out his time In holiness, may set up any crime;

As scholars, when they'ave taken their degrees, May set up any faculty they please.

A teacher's doctrine, and his proof,
Is all his province, and enough;
But is no more concern'd in use,
Than shoemakers to wear all shoes,

The soberest saints are more stiff-necked Than th' hottest-headed of the wicked.

Hypocrisy will serve as well

To propagate a church as zeal;

As persecution and promotion

Do equally advance devotion;

So round white stones will serve, they say,
As well as eggs, to make hens lay..

Your wise and cautious consciences
Are free to take what course they please:
Have plenary indulgence to dispose
At pleasure, of the strictest vows;
And challenge Heaven, they made them to,
To vouch and witness what they do;
And when they prove averse and loth,
Yet for convenience take an oath ;
Not only can dispense, but make it
A greater sin to keep than take it;