Did not our Worthies of the House,
Before they broke the peace, break vows?
For having freed us first from both
Th' Allegiance and Suprem'cy oath,
Did they not next compel the nation
To take, and break the Protestation?
To fwear, and after to recant,
The Solemn League and Covenant?
To take th' Engagement, and difclaim it,
Enforc'd by thofe who first did frame it?
Did they not fwear, at first, to fight
For the King's fafety and his right?
And after march'd to find him out,
And charg`d him home with horfe and foot;
But yet ftill had the confidence
To fwear it was in his defence?
Did they not fwear to live and die
With Eifex, and ftraight laid him by?
If that were all, for fome have swore
As falfe as they, if they did no more.
Did they not fwear to maintain Law,
In which that fwearing made a flaw?
For Proteftant religion vow,
That did that vowing difallow?
For Privilege of Parliament,
In which that fwearing made a rent?
And fince, of all the three, not one
Is left in being, 'tis well known.
Did they not fwcar, in exprefs words,
To prop and back the House of Lords?
And after turn'd out the whole houfefull
Of Peers, as dangerous and unuseful.
io Cromwell, with deep oaths and vows,
wore all the Commons out o' th' House;
Tow'd that the Red-coats would difband,
ly, marry would they, at their command;
And Saints have freedom to digrefs,
150 And vary from them as they pleafe;
Or mifinte, pret them by private
Infructions, to all aims they drive at.
Then why fhould we ourselves abridge,
And curtail our own privilege?
155 Quakers (that, like to lanterns, bear
Their light within them) will not fwear;
Their Gofpel is an Accidence,
By which they conftrue Confcience,
And hold no fin fo deeply red,
As that of breaking Prifcian's head,
(The head and founder of their order,
That stirring hats held worfe than murder)
Thefe, thinking they're oblig'd to troth
In fwearing, will not take an oath:
165 Like mules, who, if they 've not their will
To keep their own pace, stand stock still:
But they are weak, and little know
What free-born Confc ences may do.
'Tis the temptation of the devil
That makes all human actions evil;
For Saints may do the fame things by
The Spirit, in fincerity,
Which other men are tempted to,
And at the devil's inftance do,
And yet the actions be contrary,
Juft as the Saints and Wicked vary.
For as on land there is no beaft
But in fome fish at fea 's expreft;
So in the Wicked there 's no vice
Of which the Saints have not a fpice;
And yet that thing that 's pious in
The one, in th' other is a fin.
Is't not ridiculous and nonfenfe,
A Saint should be a flave to Confcience,
That ought to be above fuch fancies,
As far as above Ordinances?
She's of the Wicked, as I guess,
B' her looks, her language, and her drefs:
And though, like Conftables, we fearch
For falfe wares one another's Church;
And troll'd them on, and fwore, and fwore, 185
ill th' Army turn'd them out of door.
This tells us plainly what they thought,
hat oaths and fwearing go for nought,
And that by them th' were only meant
o ferve for an expedient.
What was the Public Faith found out for,
lur to flur men of what they fought for?
The Public Faith, which every one
s bound t' obferve, yet kept by none;
nd if that go for nothing, why
hould Private Faith have fuch a tie?
aths were not purpos'd, more than Law,
o keep the Good and Just in awe,
ut to confine the Bad and Sinful,
ike mortal cattle in a pinfold.
Yet all of us hold this for true,
No faith is to the Wicked due.
For truth is precious and divine,
Too rich a pearl for carnal fwine.
Quoth Hudibras, All this is true;
Yet 'tis not fit that all men knew
Those myfteries and revelations;
And therefore topical evasions
Of fubtle turns and thifts of fenfe,
Serve best with th' Wicked for pretence;
. Saint's of th' heav'nly realm a Peer; nd as no Peer is bound to fwear,
Such as the learned Jefaits ufe,
And Prefbyterians, for excufe
at on the Gospel of his Honour, f which he may difpofe, as owner, follows, though the thing be forgery, nd falfe, t'affirm it is no perjury, ut a mere ceremony, and a breach nothing but a form of speech, nd goes for no more when 'tis took, han mere faluting of the Book. ppose the Scriptures are of force, hey're but commiffions of course; VOL. II.
Against the Proteftants, when th' happen
To find their Churches taken napping:
As thus; A breach of Oath is duple,
And either way admits a fcruple,
And may be ex parte of the maker,
More criminal than th' injur'd taker ;
For he that strains too far a vow,
Will break it, like an o'er-bent bow:
And he that made, and forc'd it, broke it,
Not he that for Convenience took it.
A broken oath is, quatenus oath,
As found t' all purposes of troth;
As broken laws are ne'er the worse,
Nay, till they're broken have no force.
What 's juftice to a man, or laws,
That never comes within their claws?
They have no power, but to admonish;
Cannot control, coerce, or punish,
Until they 're broken, and then touch
Thofe only that do make them fuch.
Befide, no engagement is allow'd
By men in prifon made for good;
For when they 're fet at liberty,
They're from th' engagement too fet free.
The Rabbins write, When any Jew
Did make to God or man a vow,
Which afterwards he found untoward,
And stubborn to be kept, or too hard,
Any three other Jews o' th' nation
Might free him from the obligation:
And have not two Saints power to use
A greater privilege than three Jews?
The court of Confcience, which in man
Should be fupreme and foveran,
Is 't fit fhould be fubordinate
To ev'ry petty court in th' ftate;
And have less power than the leffer,
To deal with perjury at pleasure ?
Have its proceedings difallow'd, or
Allow'd, at fancy of pye-powder?
Tell all it does, or does not know,
For fwearing ex officio?
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The laws o' th' land, that were intended
To keep it out, are made defend it.
Does not in Chancery every man fwear
What makes best for him in his answer?
Is not the winding-up witneffes,
And nicking more than half the business?
For witneffes, like watches, go
Juft as they're fet, too fast or flow;
And where in Confcience they 're strait-lac'd,
300 'Tis ten to one that fide is caft.
Do not your Juries give their verdi& As if they felt the caufe, not heard it? And as they please, make matter o' fact Run all on one fide, as they 're packt? 305 Nature has made man's breast no windores, To publish what he does within doors; Nor what dark secrets there inhabit, Unless his own rafh folly blab it. If Oaths can do a man no good In his own business, why they fhou'd, In other matters, do him hurt,
Be forc'd t' impeach a broken hedge,
And pigs unring'd at vif. franc. pledge'
Difcover thieves, and bawds, recufants,
Priefts, witches, eaves-droppers, and nufance;
Tell who did play at games unlawful,
And who fill'd pots of ale but half-full;
And have no power at all, nor fhift
To help itself at a dead lift?
Why fhould not Confcience have vacation
As well as other Courts o' th' nation;
Have equal power to adjourn,
Appoint appearance and return;
And make as nice diftinction ferve
To fplit a cafe, as thofe that carve,
Invoking cukolds' names, hit joints?
Why should not tricks as flight do points?
Is not th' High-court of Justice fworn
To judge that law that ferves their turn?
Make their own jealoufies high-treason,
And fix them whomfoe'er they pleafe on?
Cannot the learned Counfel there
I think there 's little reafon for 't.
He that impofes an Oath makes it,
Not he that for Convenience takes it:
Then how can any man be faid
To break an Oath he never made?
These reasons may perhaps look oddly
To th' Wicked, though they evince the Godly;
But if they will not ferve to clear
320 My honcur, I am ne'er the near.
Honour is like that glaffy bubble,
That finds philofophers fuch trouble,
Whofe leaft part crackt, the whole does fly,
And wits are crackt to find out why.
Quoth Ralpho, Honour's but a word To fwear by only in a Lord:
In other men 'tis but a huff
Is fenfelefs, and juft nothing else.
Let it (quoth he) be what it will,
When they make pictures to destroy,
It has the world's opinion ftill.
And vex them into any form
That fits their purpose to do harm? Rack them until they do confefs, Impeach of treafon whom they please,
And moft perfidiously condemn
Thofe that engag'd their lives for them? And yet do nothing in their own fenfe,
But what they ought by Oath and Confcience. 340 fooner.
But as men are not wife that run
The flightest hazard they may shun,
There may a medium be found out
To clear to all the world the doubt;
=And that is, if a man may do 't,
By proxy whipt, or substitute.
Though nice and dark the point appear,
(Quoth Ralph) it may hold up and clear.
That Sinners may supply the place
Of fuffering Saints, is a plain case,
Juftice gives fentence many times,
On one man for another's crimes.
Our Brethren of New-England ufe
Choice malefactors to excufe,
And hang the Guiltlefs in their stead,
Of whom the Churches have lefs need;
As lately 't happen'd: In a town
There liv'd a Cobler, and but one,
That out of Doctrine could cut Ufe,
And mend men's lives as well as fhoes,
This precious Brother having flain,
In times of peace, an Indian,
Not out of malice, but mere zeal,
(Because he was an Infidel)
The mighty Tottipottymoy
Sent to our Elders an envoy,
Complaining forely of the breach
Of league held forth by Brother Patch,
Against the articles in force
Between both Churches, his and ours,
for which he crav'd the Saints to render
lato his hands, or hang th' offender;
But they maturely having weigh'd
They had no more but him o' th' trade,
A man that ferv'd them in a double
Capacity, to teach and cobble)
Refolv'd to fpare him; yet to do
The Indian Hoghan Moghan too
Impartial juftice, in his stead did
dang an old Weaver that was bed-rid:
Then wherefore may not you be skipp'd,
And in your room another whipp'd?
For all philofophers, but the Sceptic,
Hold whipping may be fympathetic.
It is enough, quoth Hudibras,
Thou haft refolv'd and clear'd the cafe ;
And canft, in Confcience, not refufe,
'rom thy own Doctrine, to raise Use:
know thou wilt not (for my fake)
Se tender-confcienc'd of thy back:
Then strip thee of thy carnal jerkin,
And give thy outward-fellow a ferking;
For when thy veffel is new hoop'd,
All leaks of finning will be ftopp'd.
Quoth Ralpho, you mistake the matter;
or in all fcruples of this nature,
Jo man includes himself; nor turns
Befides, it is not only foppish,
But vile idolatrous, and Popifh,
For one man out of his own skin
400 To frisk and whip another's fin;
As pedants out of school-boys' breeches
Do claw and curry their own itches.
But in this cafe it is profane,
And finful too, because in vain ;
405 For we must take our Oaths upon it
You did the deed, when I have done it.
Quoth Hudibras, That 's answer'd foon;
Give us the whip, we 'll lay it on,
Quoth Ralpho, That we may fwear true,
410 'Twere properer that I whipp'd you;
For when with your confent 'tis done,
The act is really your own.
Quoth Hudibras, It is in vain
For, when difputes are weary'd out,
'Tis intereft ftill refolves the doubt:
But fince no reafon can confute ye,
420 I'll try to force you to your duty;
For fo it is, howe'er you mince it ;
As, ere we part, I fhall evince it ;
And curry (if you ftand out) whether
You will or no, your stubborn leather.
Canft thou refufe to bear thy part
I' th' public Work, bafe as thou art?
To higgle thus, for a few blows,
To gain thy Knight an opulent spouse,
Whofe wealth his bowels yearn to purchase,
430 Merely for th' intereft of the Churches ?
And when he has it in his claws
Will not be hide-bound to the Cause :
Nor fhall thou find him a curmudgin,
If thou difpatch it without grudging:
435 If not, refolve, before we go,
That you and I must pull a crow
The point upon his own concerns.
And raife among themselves new scruples,
When common danger hardly couples.
Remember how in arms and politicks
We still have worfted all your holy tricks: 520 Trepann'd your Party with intrigue, And took your Grandees down a peg; New-model'd th' Army, and cashier'd 460 All that to Legion Smec adher'd; 3 [H] 2
As caftling foals of Balaam's afs.
At this the Knight grew high in chafe,
And, ftaring furioufly on Ralph,
He trembled and look'd pale with ire,
Like athes first, then red as fire.
Have I (quoth he) been ta'en in fight,
And for fo many moous lain by 't,
And when all other means did fail,
Have been exchang'd for tubs of ale?
Not but they thought me worth a anfom
Much more confiderable and handsome,
But for their own fakes, and for fear
They were not safe when I was there;
Now to be baffled by a fcoundrel,
An upstart Sectay, and mongrel,
Such as breed out of peccant humours
Yet neither of them would difparage,
By uttering of his mind, his courage;
Which made them ftoutly keep their ground,
With horror and difdain wind-bound.
And now the caufe of all their fear
By flow degrees approach'd fo near,
They might diftinguish different noife
Of horns, and pans, and dogs, and boys,
And kettle-drums, whofe fullen dub
Sounds like the hooping of a tub.
But when the fight appear'd in view,
They found it was an antique fhew
A triumph that, for pomp and state,
Did proudest Romans' emulate;
For as the Aldermen of Rome
Their foes at training overcome,
And not enlarging territory,
(As fome, miftaken, write in ftory)
Being mounted in their best array,
Upon a carre, and who but they
And follow'd with a world of tall-lads,
That merry ditties troll'd, and ballads,
Did ride with many a Good-morrow,
Crying, Hey for our town, through the Boroug
So when this triumph drew fo nigh,
550 They might particulars defcry.
They never faw two things fo pat
In all refpecs, as this and that.
First he that led the cavalcate
Wore a fow-gelder's flagellate,
On which he blew as ftrong a levet,
As well-fee'd lawyer on his brev'ate,
When ayer one another's heads
They charge (three ranks at once) like Swea
Next pans and kettles of all keys,
560 From trebles down to double base';
And after them, upon a nag,
That might pafs for a forehand stag1
A Cornet rode, and on his staff
A fmock difplay'd did proudly wave;
565 Then bagpipes of the loudest drones,
With fnuffling, broken-winded tones,
Whofe blafts of air, in pockets fhut,
Sound filthier than from the gut,
And make a viler ñoise than fwine,
In windy weather, when they whine,
Next one upon a pair of panniers,
Full fraught with that which, for good-manner
Shall here be nameless, mixt with grains,
Which he difpens'd among the fwains,
Of our own Church, like wens or tumours,
And, like a maggot in a fore,
Would that which gave it life devour;
It never fhall be done or faid:
With that he feiz'd upon his blade;
And Ralpho too, as quick and bold,
Upon his basket hilt laid hold,
With equal readiness prepar'd,
To draw and ftand upon his guard;
When both were parted on the fudden,
With hideous clamour, and a loud one,
As if all forts of noife had been
Contracted into one loud din;
Or that fome member to be chofen
Had got the odds above a thousand;
And by the greatnefs of his noife,
Prov'd fittett for his country's choice.
This ftrange furprifal put the Knight
And wrathful Squire into a fright:
And though they food prepar'd, with fatal 575
Impetuous rancour to join battle,
Both thought it was the wifeft course
To wave the fight, and mount to horse,
And to fecure, by swift retreating,
Themfelves from danger of woric beating.
Ver. 520.] O'er-reach'd, in all editions but the two firit of 1654, to 1704, inclufive. Capuch`d, rettored in later editions, which fignifies booed, or blindfolded.
Ver. 543.] This and the following line, not in the two first editions of 1604. Added 1674.
Ver. 587. Thy might diffinguish, &c.] They might dijcern respective roje, in the two firft edita of 1664.
Ver. 596. Their foes.] For fees, in all editions! 1705, inclufive.
Ver. 609, 610.] Cavalcate,-Flagellate, in the four first editions. Afterwards altered to, co valcade, flagellet.
Ver. 613, 614.] Thefe two lines are not in the two first editions of 1664, but added in 1674 Like Stocads, altered, 1684, to Swedes.
And Hudibras, who used to ponder
Although his fhoulders with battoon
Bore a flave with him in his chariot;
On fuch fights with judicious wonder,
Could hold no longer to impart
His animadverfions, for his heart.
Quoth he, In all my life, till now,
I ne'er faw fo profane a show;
It is a Paganih invention,
Which Heathen writers often mention;
And he who made it had read Goodwin,
Or Rois, or Caelius Rhodogine,
With all the Grecian Speeds and Stows,
That beft defcribe thofe ancient fhows;
And has obferv'd all fit decorums
We find defcrib'd by old hiftorians:
For as the Roman conqueror,
That put an end to foreign war,
Entering the town in triumph for it,
So this infulting female brave
Carries, behind her here, a flave:
And as the Ancients long ago,
Be claw'd and cudgel'd to fome tuae. A tailor's prentice has no hard
Measure, that 's bang'd with a true yard : But to turn tail, or run away,
And without blows give up the day;
When they in field defy'd the foe,
Hung out their mantles della guerre,
March proudly to the river's fide,
So her proud Standard-bearer here,
And o'er the waves in triumph ride;
Waves on his fpear, in dreadful manner,
Like dukes of Venice, who are faid The Adriatic fea to wed;
A Tyrian petticoat for banner.
Next links and torches heretofore
Still borne before the emperor;
And have a gentler wife than those
For whom the ftate decrees thofe fhows.
But both are Heathenith, and come
From th' Whores of Babylon and Rome, And by the Saints fhould be withstood, As antichriftian and lewd;
And we, as fuch, thould now contribute Our utmost strugglings to prohibit.
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