And many to defend that faith,
Fought it out mordicus* to death;
But no beast ever was so slight,
For man, as for his God, to fight.
They have more wit, alas! and know
Themselves and us better than so:
But we, who only do infuse
The rage in them like boute-feus,
'Tis our example that instils
In them the' infection of our ills.
For, as some late philosophers

Have well observ'd, beasts that converse
With man take after him, as hogs

Get pigs all the' year, and bitches dogs.
Just so, by our example, cattle

Learn to give one another battle.

We read in Nero's time, the Heathen,

When they destroy'd the Christian brethren,
They sew'd them in the skins of bears,
And then set dogs about their ears;
From whence, no doubt, th' invention came
Of this lewd antichristian game.'

To this, quoth Ralpho, 'Verily
The point seems very plain to me;
It is an antichristian game,

Unlawful both in thing and name.

First, for the name; the word Bear-baiting
Is carnal, and of man's creating;
For certainly there's no such word
In all the Scripture on record;
Therefore unlawful, and a sin;
And so is (secondly) The thing:

* Mordicus.] i. e. with their teeth.

A vile assembly 'tis, that can

No more be prov'd by Scripture, than
Provincial, Classic, National,

Mere human creature-cobwebs all.
Thirdly, It is Idolatrous;

For when men run a-whoring thus
With their inventions, whatsoe❜er
The thing be, whether Dog or Bear,
It is idolatrous and pagan,

No less than worshipping of Dagon.'
Quoth Hudibras, 'I smell a rat,
Ralpho, thou dost prevaricate :

For though the thesis which thou layʼst
Be true ad amussim, as thou say'st;
(For that Bear-baiting should appear
Jure divino lawfuller

Than Synods are, thou dost deny
Totidem verbis, so do I)

Yet there's a fallacy in this;
For if by sly homœosis,

Tussis pro crepitu, an art

Under a cough to slur a f―t,
Thou would'st sophistically imply—
Both are unlawful; I deny.'

'And I (quoth Ralpho) do not doubt
But Bear-baiting may be made out
In gospel-times, as lawful as is
Provincial, or Parochial Classis ;
And that both are so near of kin,
And like in all, as well as sin,

That put 'em in a bag, and shake 'em,

Yourself o' th' sudden would mistake 'em,
And not know which is which, unless
You measure by their wickedness;

For 'tis not hard to' imagine whether
O' th' two is worst, though I name neither.'
Quoth Hudibras, Thou offer'st much,
But art not able to keep touch.
Mira de lente, as 'tis i' th' adage,
Id est, to make a leek a cabbage;
Thou wilt at best but suck a bull,
Or shear swine, all cry and no wool;
For what can Synods have at all,
With Bear that's analogical?
Or what relation has debating
Of Church-affairs with Bear-bating?
A just comparison still is

Of things ejusdem generis .

And then what genus rightly doth
Include and comprehend them both.
If animal, both of us may

As justly pass for Bears as they;
For we are animals no less,
Although of different specieses.
But, Ralpho, this is no fit place,
Nor time, to argue out the case:
For now the field is not far off,
Where we must give the world a proof
Of deeds, not words, and such as suit
Another manner of dispute:
A controversy that affords

Actions for arguments, not words;
Which we must manage at a rate
Of prowess' and conduct adequate
To what our place and fame doth promise,
And all the Godly expect from us.
Nor shall they be deceiv'd, unless
We're slur'd and outed by success;

Success, the mark no mortal wit,
Or surest hand, can always hit:
For whatsoe'er we perpetrate,

We do but row, we' are steer'd by Fate,
Which in success oft disinherits,
For spurious causes, noblest merits.
Great actions are not always true sons
Of great-and mighty resolutions;
Nor do the bold'st attempts bring forth
Events still equal to their worth;
But sometimes fail, and in their stead
Fortune and cowardice succeed.

Yet we have no great cause to doubt,
Our actions still have borne us out;
Which though they're known to be so ample,
We need not copy from example;
We're not the only person durst
Attempt this province, nor the first.
In northern clime a valorous knight
Did whilom kill his bear in fight,
And wound a Fiddler: we have both
Of these the objects of our wroth,
And equal fame and glory from
The' attempt, or victory to come.
'Tis sung there is a valiant Mamaluke,
In foreign land yclep'd

To whom we have been oft compar'd
For person, parts, address, and beard;
Both equally reputed stout,

And in the same cause both have fought :

* The writers of the General Historical Dictionary, vol. vi. p. 291, imagine, That the chasm here is to be filled with the words Sir Samuel Luke, because the line before it is of ten syllables, and the measure of the verse generally used in this Poem is of eight.

He oft in such attempts as these
Came off with glory and success:
Nor will we fail in the' execution,
For want of equal resolution.
Honour is like a widow, won
With brisk attempt and putting on;
With entering manfully, and urging;
Not slow approaches, like a virgin.'
This said; as erst the Phrygian knight,
So our's with rusty steel did smite
His Trojan horse, and just as much
He mended pace upon the touch;
But from his empty stomach groan'd
Just as that hollow beast did sound,
And angry answer'd from behind,
With brandish'd tail and blast of wind.
So have I seen, with armed heel,
A wight bestride a Common-weal,
While still the more he kick'd and spur'd,
The less the sullen jade has stir'd.