Ye 'ave 'fpous'd the Covenant and Cause,

By holding up your cloven paws.

Sir (quoth the Voice) 'tis true, I grant,
We made, and took, the Covenant;
But that no more concerns the Cause,
Than other perjuries do the laws;

Which, when they 're prov'd in open court,
Wear wooden peccadillo's for 't :

And that's the reafon Covenanters

Hold up

their hands, like rogues at bars.

I fee (quoth Hudibras) from whence 'Thefe fcandals of the Saints commence,. That are but natural effects

1458

1455

Of Satan's malice, and his fects',

1460

Thofe fpider-faints, that hang by threads

Spun out o' th' entrails of their heads.

Sir (quoth the Voice) that may as true

And properly be faid of you,

Whofe talents may compare with either,

1465

Or both the other put together:

For all the Independents do,

Is only what you forc'd them to ;
You, who are not content alone
"With tricks to put the devil down,
But must have armies rais'd to back
The Gospel-work you undertake;
As if artillery and edge-tools,

Were th' only engines to fave fouls :
While he, poor devil, has no power
By force to run down and devour;

1470

3475

Has

Has ne'er a Claffis, cannot fentence

To ftools, or poundage of repentance;
Is ty'd up only to defign,

Tentice, and tempt, and undermine :
In which you all his arts outdo,
And prove yourselves his betters too.
Hence 'tis poffeffions do less evil.
Than mere temptations of the devil,
Which all the horrid'ft actions done:
Are charg'd in courts of law upon;
Because, unless they help the elf,.
He can do little of himself;

1480

1485

And therefore, where he 's best possest;

Acts most against his interest ;

1490

Surprizes none, but those who 'ave priests.

T' your mittimus anathemas,

And never boggle to restore
The members you deliver o'er,
Upon demand, with fairer justice,
Than all your covenanting Trustees;
Unless, to punish them the worse,

1515

You put them in the fecular powers,
And pass their fouls, as fome demife
The fame eftate in mortgage twice:
When to a legal utlegation

1520

You turn your excommunication,
And, for a groat unpaid that 's due,
Diftrain on foul and body too.

Thought he, 'tis no mean part of civil

1525

State-prudence to cajole the devil,

And not to handle him too rough,

When he 'as us in his cloven hoof.

'Tis true (quoth he), that intercourfe

Have us'd all means to propagate

Your mighty interests of state,

Laid out our fpiritual gifts to further

Your great defigns of rage and murther:
For if the Saints are nam'd from blood,
We only 'ave made that title good;

3540

Right (quoth the Voice), and, as I fcorn.

The cock crows, and the morn grows on,

When 'tis decreed I must be gone;

And, if I leave you here till day,
You'll find it hard to get away.
With that the Spirit grop'd about
To find th' inchanted hero out,
And try'd with hafte to lift him up,
But found his forlorn hope, his crup,
Unferviceable with kicks and blows,
Receiv'd from harden'd-hearted foes.

He thought to drag him by the heels,
Like Gresham-carts, with legs for wheels;
But fear, that fooneft cures those fores,
In danger of relapse to worse,

1550*

3555

*560

1565

Came in t'affift him with its aid,
And up his finking vessel weigh'd.
No fooner was he fit to trudge,
But both made ready to diflodge;
The Spirit hors3d him, like a sack,
Upon the vehicle his back,

•1570

And bore him headlong into th' hall,
With fome few rubs against the wall;
Where, finding out the postern lock'd,
And th' avenues as ftrongly block'd,

1575

H' attack'd the window, ftorm'd the glass,

And in a moment gain'd the pass;

Through which he dragg'd the worsted foldier's

Fore-quarters out by th' head and shoulders,

1580

Convey'd away, the Lord knows how.
He thought it was no time to stay,
And let the night, too, steal away;
But, in a trice, advanc'd the Knight
Upon the bare ridge, bolt upright,
And, groping out for Ralpho's jade,
He found the faddle, too, was tray'd,

1.590

And

* Ver. 1575.] Altered to the outer postern, edit. 1710.