And emissary Pigeons had in store,
Such as the Meccan prophet us'd of yore,
To whisper counsels in their patron's ear;
And veil'd their false advice with zealous fear.
The master smil'd to fee them work in vain,
To wear him out, and make an idle reign :
He faw, but fuffer'd their protractive arts,
And strove by mildness to reduce their hearts :
But they abus'd that grace to make allies,
And fondly clos'd with former enemies;
For fools are doubly fools, endeav'ring to be wise.
After a grave confult what course were best,
One, more mature in folly than the rest,
Stood up, and told them with his head aside, That defp'rate cures must be to desp'rate ills ap
And therefore, fince their main impending fear
Was from th'increasing race of Chanticleer,
Some potent bird of prey they ought to find,
A foe profess'd to him, and all his kind :
Some haggard Hawk, who had her eyry nigh,
Well pounc'd to fasten, and well wing'd to fly;
One they might trust, their common wrongs to
The Musquet, and the Coystrel were too weak,
Too fierce the Falcon; but, above the rest,
The noble Buzzard ever pleas'd me best;
Of small renown, 'tis true; for, not to lye,
We call him but a Hawk by courtefy.
I know he hates the Pigeon-house and Farm,
And more, in time of war, has done us harm':
But all his hate on trivial points depends;
Give up our forms, and we shall foon be friends.
For Pigeons flesh he seems not much to care;
Cram'd chickens are a more delicious fare.
On this high potentate, without delay,
I wish you would confer the fov'reign sway:
Petition him t'accept the government,
And let a splendid embassy be fent.
This pithy speech prevail'd, and all agreed, Old enmities forgot, the Buzzard should fucceed. Their welcome fuit was granted soon as heard, His lodgings furnish'd, aud a train prepar'd, With B's upon their breast, appointed for his
He came, and crown'd with great folemnity,
God fave king Buzzard, was the general cry.
A portly prince, and goodly to the fight,
He feem'd a fon of Anach for his height:
Like those whom stature did to crowns prefer :
Black-brow'd, and bluff, like Homer's Jupiter:
Broad-back'd, and brawny-built for love's delight;
A prophet form'd to make a female profelyte.
A theologue more by need than genial bent;
By breeding sharp, by nature confident.
Interest in all his actions was discern'd;
More learn'd than honest, more a wit than learn'd:
Or forc'd by fear, or by his profit led,
Or both conjoin'd, his native clime he fled:
But brought the virtues of his heaven along;
A fair behaviour, and a fluent tongue.
And yet with all his arts he could not thrive;
The most unlucky parafite alive.
Loud praises to prepare his paths he sent,
And then himself pursu'd his compliment;
But by reverse of fortune chas'd away,
His gifts no longer than their author stay :
He shakes the dust against th' ungrateful race,
And leaves the stench of ordures in the place.
Oft has he flatter'd and blafphem'd the same;
For in his rage he spares no sov'reign's name :
The hero and the tyrant change their style
By the fame measure that they frown or smile.
VOL. II.
When well receiv'd by hospitable foes,
The kindness he returns, is to expose :
For courtefies, tho undeferv'd and great,
No gratitude in felon-minds beget;
As tribute to his wit, the churl receives the treat.
His praise of foes is venomously nice;
So touch'd, it turns a virtue to a vice:
"A Greek, and bountiful, forewarns us twice."
Seven sacraments he wisely does disown,
Because he knows confeffion stands for one;
Where fins to sacred filence are convey'd,
And not for fear, or love, to be betray'd:
But he, uncall'd, his patron to controul,
Divulg'd the secret whispers of his foul;
Stood forth th' accusing Satan of his crimes,
And offer'd to the Moloch of the times.
Prompt to affail, and careless of defence,
Invulnerable in his impudence,
He dares the world; and eager of a name,
He thrusts about, and justles into fame.
Frontless, and fatire-proof, he scow'rs the streets,
And runs an Indian-muck at all he meets.
So fond of loud report, that not to miss
Of being known (his last and utmost blifs)
He rather would be known for what he is.
Such was, and is the captain of the test,
Tho half his virtues are not here express'd;
The modesty of fame conceals the rest.
The spleenful Pigeons never could create
A prince more proper to revenge their hate:
Indeed, more proper to revenge, than save;
A king, whom in his wrath th' Almighty gave:
For all the grace the landlord had allow'd,
But made the Buzzard and the Pigeons proud;
Gave time to fix their friends, and to seduce
They long their fellow-subjects to inthral,
Their patron's promise into question call,
And vainly think he meant to make them lords
False fears their leaders fail'd not to suggest,
As if the Doves were to be dispossess'd;
Nor fighs, nor groans, nor gogling eyes did want;
For now the Pigeons too had learn'd to cant.
The house of prayer is stock'd with large increase;
Nor doors, nor windows can contain the press :
For birds of every feather fill th' abode;
E'en atheists out of envy own a God:
And reeking from the stews adulterers come,
Like Goths and Vandals to demolish Rome,
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