No More Learning

The Socinians teach the worship of one God, without
distinction of persons; affirming, that the Holy Ghost is but another
expression for the power of God; and that Jesus Christ is only the
Son of God by adoption. As they deny our Saviour's divinity, they
disavow, of course, the doctrine of redemption, and consider him only
as a prophet, gifted with a more than usual share of inspiration, and
sealing his mission by his blood. This heresy has, at different times,
and under various disguises and modifications, insinuated itself into
the Christian church, forming, as it were, a resting place, though but
a tottering one, between natural and revealed religion. Here, I fear,
the author's lines apply:

To take up half on trust, and half to try,
Name it not faith, but bungling bigotry;
Both knave and fool the merchant we may call,
To pay great sums, and to compound the small;
For who would break with heaven, and would not break for all?

This heretical belief was adopted by the Protestants of Poland and of
Hungary, especially those who were about this time in arms under Count
Teckeli against the emperor. Hence Dryden bids the Fox,

Unkennelled, range in thy Polonian plains.


Note VII.

_Let them declare by what mysterious arts
He shot that body through the opposing might,
Of bolts and bars, impervious to the light,
And stood before his train confessed in open sight. _--P. 122.

"Then the same day, at evening, being the first day of the week, when
the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be
unto you. "

Again, "And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and
Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in
the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. "--_The Gospel of St John_,
chap. xx. verses 19. 26.

From these passages of Scripture, Dryden endeavours to confute the
objection to transubstantiation, founded on the host being consecrated
in various places at the same time, in each of which, however, the
body of Christ becomes present, according to the Papist doctrine.
This being predicated of the real body of our Saviour, the Protestants
allege is impossible, as matter can only be in one place at the same
time. Dryden, in answer, assumes, that Christ entered into the meeting
of the disciples, by actually passing through the closed doors of the
apartment; and as, at the moment of such passage, two bodies must have
been in the same place at the same instant, the body of Jesus namely,
and the substance through which he passed, the poet founds on it as an
instance of a transgression of a natural law, proved from Scripture, as
violent as that of one body being in several different places at once.
But the text does not prove the major part of Dryden's proposition; it
is not stated positively by the evangelist, that our Saviour passed
_through_ the doors which were shut, but merely that he _came and stood
among his disciples_ without the doors being opened; which miraculous
appearance might take place many ways besides that on which Dryden has
fixed for the foundation of his argument.


Note VIII.

_More haughty than the rest, the Wolfish race}
Appears with belly gaunt, and famished face; }
Never was so deformed a beast of grace. }
His ragged tail betwixt his legs he wears,
Close clapped for shame; but his rough crest he rears,
And pricks up his predestinating ears. _--P. 124.

The personal appearance of the Presbyterian clergy was suited by an
affectation of extreme plainness and rigour of appearance. A Geneva
cloak and band, with the hair close cropped, and covered with a sort
of black scull-cap, was the discriminating attire of their teachers.
This last article of dress occasioned an unseemly projection of their
ears, and procured those who affected it the nick-name of prick-eared
fanatics, and the still better known appellation of Round-heads. Our
author proceeds, with great bitterness, to investigate the origin
of Calvinism. His account of the rise and destruction of a sect of
heretics in Cambria may be understood to refer to the ancient British
church, which disowned the supremacy of the see of Rome, refused to
adopt her ritual, and opposed St Augustin's claims to be metropolitan
of Britain, in virtue of Pope Gregory's appointment. They held two
conferences with Augustin; at one of which he pretended to work a
miracle by the cure of a blind man; at the second, seven British
bishops, and a numerous deputation from the monastery of Bangor,
disputed with Augustin, who denounced vengeance against them by the
sword of the Saxons, in case they refused to submit to the see of Rome.
His prophecy, which had as little effect upon the Welch clergy as his
miracle, was shortly afterwards accomplished: For Ethelfred, the Saxon
king of Northumberland, having defeated the British under the walls of
Chester, cut to pieces no fewer than twelve hundred of the monks of
Bangor, who had come to assist their countrymen with their prayers. Our
author alludes to this extermination of the British recusant clergy,
by comparing it to the census, or tribute of wolves-heads, imposed
on the Cambrian kings. It has been surmised by some authors, that
Augustin himself instigated this massacre, and thereby contributed to
the accomplishment of his own prophecy. Other authorities say, that he
died in 604, and that the monks of Bangor were slain in 613. Perhaps,
however, our author did not mean to carry the rise of Presbytery so
far back, but only referred to the doctrines of Wiccliff, who, in the
reign of Edward III. , and his successor Richard II. , taught publicly at
Oxford several doctrines inconsistent with the supremacy of the Pope,
and otherwise repugnant to the doctrines of the Roman church. He was
protected during his lifetime by John of Gaunt; but, forty years after
his death, his bones were dug up and burned for heresy. His followers
were called Lollards, and were persecuted with great severity in the
reign of Henry V. , Lord Cobham and many others being burned to death.
Thinking, perhaps, either of these too honourable and ancient a descent
for the English Presbyterians, our author next refers to Heylin, who
brings them from Geneva,[136] where the reformed doctrine was taught
by the well known Zuinglius, and the still more famous Calvin. The
former began to preach the Reformation at Zurich about 1518, and
disputed publicly with one Sampson, a friar, whom the Pope had sent
thither to distribute indulgences. Zuinglius was persecuted by the
bishop of Constance; but, being protected by the magistrates of Zurich,
he set him at defiance, and in 1523 held an open disputation before
the senate, with such success, that they commanded the traditions of
the church to be thrown aside, and the gospel to be taught through
all their canton. Zuinglius, in some respects, merited the epithet of
_fiery_, which Dryden has given him; he was an ardent lover of liberty,
and dissuaded his countrymen from a league with the French, by which it
must have been endangered; he vindicated, from Scripture, the doctrine
of resisting oppressors and asserting liberty, of which he said God was
the author, and would be the defender;[137] and, finally, he was killed
in battle between the inhabitants of Zurich and those of the five small
cantons. The conquerors, being Catholics, treated his dead body with
the most shameless indignity.

The history of Calvin is too well known to need recital in this place.
He was expelled from France, his native country, on account of his
having adopted the doctrines of the reformers, and, taking refuge in
Geneva, was appointed professor of divinity there in 1536. But being
afterwards obliged to retire from thence, on account of a quarrel about
the administration of the communion to certain individuals, Calvin
taught a French congregation at Strasburgh. He may be considered as the
founder of the Presbyterian doctrine, differing from that of Luther
in denying consubstantiation, and affirming, in a large extent, the
doctrine of predestination, founded upon election to grace. The poet
proceeds to describe the progress of this sect:

With teeth untried, and rudiments of claws,
Your first essay was on your native laws;
Those having torn with ease, and trampled down,}
Your fangs you fastened on the mitred crown, }
And freed from God and monarchy your town. }
What though your native kennel still be small,
Bounded betwixt a puddle and a wall;
Yet your victorious colonies are sent
Where the north ocean girds the continent.
Quickened with fire below, your monsters breed
In fenny Holland, and in fruitful Tweed;
And like the first the last affects to be,
Drawn to the dregs of a democracy.

The citizens of Geneva, before they adopted the reformed religion,
were under the temporal, as well as the ecclesiastical, authority of
a bishop. But, in 1528, when they followed the example of the city of
Berne, in destroying images, and abolishing the Roman ceremonies, the
bishop and his clergy were expelled from the city, which from that
time was considered as the cradle of Presbytery. As they had made
choice of a republican form of government for their little state,
our author infers, that democracy is most congenial to their new
form of religion. It is no doubt true, that the Presbyterian church
government is most purely democratical; which perhaps recommended it
in Holland. It is also true, that the Presbyterian divines have always
preached, and their followers practised, the doctrine of resistance to
oppression, whether affecting civil or religious liberty. But if Dryden
had looked to his own times, he would have seen, that the Scottish
Presbyterians made a very decided stand for monarchy after the death
of Charles I. ; and even such as were engaged in the conspiracy of
Baillie of Jerviswood, which was in some respects the counter-part of
the Ryehouse-plot, refused to take arms, because they suspected that
the intentions of Sidney, and others of the party in England, were to
establish a commonwealth. I may add, that, in latter times, no body of
men have shewn themselves more attached to the king and constitution
than the Presbyterian clergy of Scotland.

There is room for criticism also in the poetry of these lines. I
question whether _fenny Holland_ and _fruitful Tweed_, in other words,
a marsh and a river, could form a favourable medium for communicating
the influence of the _quickening fire below_.


Note IX.

_From Celtic woods is chased the wolfish crew;
But ah! some pity e'en to brutes is due;
Their native walks, methinks, they might enjoy,
Curbed of their native malice to destroy. _--P. 126.

It is remarkable how readily sentiments of toleration occur, even
to the professors of the most intolerant religion, when their minds
have fair play to attend to them. The edict of Nantes, by which
Henry IV. secured to his Huguenot subjects the undisturbed exercise
of their religion, was the recompense of the great obligations he
owed to them, and a sort of compensation for his having preferred
power to conscience; an edict, declared unalterable, and which had
even been sanctioned by Louis XIV. himself, so late as 1680, was,
in 1685, finally abrogated. The violence with which the persecution
of the Protestants was then pushed on, almost exceeds belief. The
principal and least violent mode of conversion, adopted by the king
and his minister Louvois, was by quartering upon those of the reformed
religion large parties of soldiers, who were licenced to commit every
outrage in their habitations short of rape and murder. When, by this
species of persecution, a Huguenot had been once compelled to hear
mass, he was afterwards treated as a relapsed heretic, if he shewed
the slightest disposition to resume the religion in which he had
been brought up. James II. , in two letters to the Prince of Orange,
beseeching toleration for the regular priests in Holland, fails not
to condemn the conduct of Louis towards his Protestant subjects; yet,
with gross inconsistency, or the deepest dissimulation, he was at the
same time congratulating Barillon on his Most Christian Majesty's care
for the conversion of his subjects, and hoping God would grant him the
favour of completing so great a work. [138] And just so our author,
after blaming the persecution of the Huguenots, congratulates Italy and
Spain upon possessing such just and excellent laws, as the rules of the
inquisitorial church courts.


Note X.

_A slimy-born and sun-begotten tribe,
Who far from steeples, and their sacred sound,
In fields their sullen conventicles found. _--P. 129.

The dregs of the fanaticism of the last age fermented, during that
of Charles II. , into various sects of sullen enthusiasts, who
distinguished themselves by the different names of Brownists, Families
of Love, &c. &c. In many cases they rejected all the usual aids of
devotion, and, holding their meetings in the open air, and in solitary
spots, nursed their fanaticism by separating themselves from the more
rational part of mankind. Dryden has elsewhere described them with
equal severity;

A numerous host of dreaming saints succeed,
Of the true old enthusiastic breed;
'Gainst form and order they their powers employ,
Nothing to build, and all things to destroy.

In Scotland, large conventicles were held in the mountains and morasses
by the fiercest of the Covenanters, whom persecution had driven
frantic. These men, known now by the name of Cameronians, considered
popery and prelacy as synonymous terms; and even stigmatized, as
Erastians and self-seekers, the more moderate Presbyterians, who were
contented to exercise their religion as tolerated by the government.


Note XI.

_Her novices are taught, that bread and wine
Are but the visible and outward sign,
Received by those who in communion join;
But the inward grace, or the thing signified,
His blood and body, who to save us died_, &c. --P. 133.

The poet alludes to the doctrine of the church of England concerning
the eucharist, thus expressed in the twenty-eighth article of faith:

"The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians
ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a
sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death; insomuch, that to such
as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which
we break is a partaking of the body of Christ, and likewise the cup of
blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.

"Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of bread and wine,
in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy writ; but it is
repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a
sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.

"The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the supper only,
after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean, whereby the body
of Christ is received and eaten in the supper, is faith. "

Dryden insists upon a supposed inconsistency in this doctrine; but his
argument recoils upon the creed of his own church. The words of our
Saviour are to be interpreted as they must have been meant when spoken;
a circumstance which excludes the literal interpretation contended
for by the Romanists: For, by the words "_Hoc est corpus meum_," our
Saviour cannot be then supposed to have meant, that the morsel which
he gave to his disciples was transformed into his body, which then
stood before their eyes, and which all but heretics allow to have been
a real, natural, human body, incapable, of course, of being multiplied
into as many bodies as there were persons to partake of the communion,
and of retaining its original and identical form at the same time.
But unless such a multiplied transformation actually took place, our
Saviour's words to his apostles must have been emblematical only. Queen
Elizabeth's homely lines are, after all, an excellent comment on this
point of divinity:

His was the word that spake it;
He took the bread and brake it;
And what that word did make it,
That I believe, and take it.


Note XII.

_True to her king her principles are found;
Oh that her practice were but half so sound! _--P. 133.

The pretensions of the church of England to loyalty were carried
to a degree of extravagance, which her divines were finally unable
to support, unless they had meant to sign the destruction of their
religion. This was owing to the recollection of the momentous period
which had lately elapsed. The interest of the church had been deeply
interwoven with that of the crown; their struggle, sufferings, and
fall, during the civil wars, had been in common, as well as their
triumphant restoration: the maxim of "no king no bishop," was indelibly
imprinted on the hearts of the clergy; in fine, it seemed impossible
that any thing should cut asunder the ties which combined them. In
sanctioning, therefore, the doctrines of the most passive loyalty,
the English divines probably thought that they were only paying a
tribute to the throne, which was to be returned by the streams of royal
bounty and grace towards the church. Even the religion of James did
not, before his accession, shake their confidence, or excite their
apprehensions. They were far more afraid of the fanatics, under whose
iron yoke they had so lately groaned, than of the Roman Catholics,
who, for three generations, had been a depressed, and therefore a
tractable body, whose ceremonies and church government resembled, in
some respects, their own, and who had sided with them during the civil
wars against the Protestant sectaries. But when the members of the
established church perceived, that the rapid steps which James adopted
would soon place the Catholics in a condition to rival, and perhaps to
overpower her, they were obliged to retract and explain away many of
their former hasty expressions of absolute and unconditional devotion
to the royal pleasure. The king, and his Catholic counsellors, saw
with astonishment and indignation, that professions of the most ample
subjection were now to be understood as limited and restricted by the
interests of the church. In the height of their resentment, even the
church of England's pretensions to a peculiar degree of loyalty were
unthankfully turned into ridicule, in such bitter and sarcastic terms
as the following, which occur in a pamphlet published expressly "with
allowance," _i. e. _ by royal permission.

"I have often considered, but could never yet find a convincing reason,
why that part of the nation, (which is commonly called the church of
England) should dare appropriate to themselves alone the principles of
true loyalty; and that no other church or communion on earth can be
consistent with monarchy, or, indeed, with any government.

"This is a presumption of so high a nature, that it renders the church
of England a despicable enemy to the rest of mankind: For, what can be
more ridiculous than to say, that a congregation of people, calling
themselves a church, which cannot pretend to an infallibility even in
matters of faith, having, since their first institution, made several
fundamental changes of religious worship, should, however, assume to
themselves an inerribility in point of civil obedience to the temporal
magistrate? Or, what can be more injurious than to aver, that no other
sect or community on earth, from the rising to the setting sun, can be
capable of this singular gift of loyalty? So that the church of England
alone, (if you have faith enough to believe her own testimony,) is
that beautiful spouse of Christ, holy in her doctrine, and infallible
in her duty to the supreme magistrate, whom (by a revelation peculiar
to herself) she owns both for her temporal and spiritual head. But I
doubt much, whether her _ipsa dixit_ alone will pass current with all
the nations of the universe, without making further search into the
veracity of this bold assertion. "

_A New Test of the Church of England's Loyalty. _


Note XIII.

_Or Isgrim's counsel. _--P. 134.

This name for the Wolf is taken from an ancient political satire,
called "Reynard the Fox;" in which an account is given of the intrigues
at the court of the Lion; the impeachment of the Fox; his various
wiles and escapes; finally, his conquering his accuser in single
combat. This ancient apologue was translated from the German by the
venerable Caxton, and published the 6th day of June, 1481. It became
very popular in England; and we derive from it all the names commonly
applied to animals in fable, as Reynard the fox, Tybert the cat, Bruin
the bear, Isgrim the wolf, &c. The original of this piece is still so
highly esteemed in Germany, that it was lately modernized by Goethé,
and is published among his "Neüe Schriften. " It is probable that this
ancient satire might be the original of "Mother Hubbard's Tale," and
that Dryden himself may have had something of its plan in his eye,
when writing "The Hind and Panther. " As it had become merely a popular
story-book, some of his critics did not fail to make merry with his
adopting any thing from such a source. "_Smith. _ I have heard you
quote Reynard the fox. --_Bayes. _ Why, there's it now; take it from me,
Mr Smith, there is as good morality, and as sound precepts, in The
Delectable History of Reynard the Fox, as in any book I know, except
Seneca. Pray, tell me, where, in any other author, could I have found
so pretty a name for a wolf as Isgrim? "[139]


Note XIV.

_The wretched Panther cries aloud for aid
To church and councils, whom she first betrayed;
No help from fathers or tradition's train,
Those ancient guides she taught us to disdain,
And by that Scripture, which she once abused
To reformation, stands herself accused. _--P. 135.

The author here prefers an argument much urged by the Catholic divines
against those of the church of England, and which he afterwards resumes
in the Second Part. The English divines, say they, halt between two
opinions; they will not allow the weight of tradition when they dispute
with the church of Rome, but refer to the scripture, interpreted by
each man's private opinion, as the sole rule of faith; while, on the
other hand, they are obliged to have recourse to tradition in their
disputes with the Presbyterians and dissenters, because, without its
aid, they could not vindicate from scripture alone their hierarchy and
church-government. To this it was answered, by the disputants on the
church of England's side, that they owned no such inconsistent opinion
as was imputed to them; but that they acknowledged, for their rule of
faith, the word of God in general; that by this they understood the
_written word_, or _scripture_, in contradistinction to the Roman rule
of scripture and traditions; and as distinguished, both from the church
of Rome, and from heretics and sectaries, they understood by it more
particularly the written word or scripture, delivering a sense, owned
and declared by the primitive church of Christ in the three creeds,
four first general councils, and harmony of the fathers.

Dryden's argument, however, had been, by the Catholics, thought so
sound, that it is much dwelt upon in a tract, called, "A Remonstrance,
by way of Address to both Houses of Parliament, from the Church of
England," the object of which is to recommend an union between the
churches of England and of Rome. The former is there represented as
holding the following language:

"You cannot be ignorant, that ever since my separation from the church
of Rome, I have been attacked by all sorts of dissenters: So that my
fate, in this encounter, may be compared to that of a city, besieged
by different armies, who fight both against it and one another; where,
if the garrison make a sally to damage one, another presently takes an
advantage to make an attack. Thus, whilst I set myself vigorously to
suppress the papist, the puritan seeks to undermine me; and, whilst I
am busied to oppose the puritan, the papist gains ground upon me. If I
tell the church of Rome, I did not forsake her, but her errors, which
I reformed; my rebellious subjects tell me the same, and that they
must make a thorough reformation; and, let me bring what arguments I
please, to justify my dissent, they still produce the same against me.
If, on the other hand, I plead against the puritan dissenter, and show,
that he ought to stand to church-authority, where he is not infallibly
certain it commands a sin; the papist presently catches at it, and
tells me, I destroy my own grounds of reformation, unless I will
pretend to that infallibility which I condemn in them.

"Matters standing thus betwixt me and them, why would it not be a
point of prudence in me, (as I doubt not but you would esteem it in a
governor of that city I lately mentioned,) to make peace with one of my
adversaries, to the end I may with more ease resist the onsets of the
other? "

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 134: Hind and Panther Transversed. ]

[Footnote 135: This office was usually held by the executioner, who,
to this extent, was a pluralist; and the change was chiefly made,
to prevent the necessity of producing that person in court, to the
aggravation of the criminal's terrors. ]

[Footnote 136: "But separating this obliquity from the main intendment,
the work was vigorously carried on by the king and his counsellors,
as appears clearly by the doctrinals in the Book of Homilies, and by
the practical part of Christian piety, in the first public Liturgy,
confirmed by act of parliament, in the second and third year of the
king; and in that act (and, which is more, by Fox himself) affirmed
to have been done by the especial aid of the Holy Ghost. And here the
business might have rested, if Catin's pragmatical spirit had not
interposed. He first began to quarrel at some passages in this sacred
liturgy, and afterwards never left soliciting the Lord Protector,
and practising by his agents on the court, the country, and the
universities, till he had laid the first foundation of the Zuinglian
faction; who laboured nothing more, than innovation both in doctrine
and discipline; to which they were encouraged by nothing more than some
improvident indulgence granted unto John A-Lasco; who, bringing with
him a mixt multitude of Poles and Germans, obtained the privilege of a
church for himself and his, distinct in government and forms of worship
from the church of England.

"This gave powerful animation to the Zuinglian gospellers, (as they
are called by Bishop Hooper, and some other writers) to practise first
upon the church; who being countenanced, if not headed, by the Earl
of Warwick, (who then began to undermine the Lord Protector,) first
quarrelled the episcopal habit, and afterwards inveighed against
caps and surplices, against gowns and tippets, but fell at last upon
the altars, which were left standing in all churches by the rules of
liturgy. The touching on this string made excellent music to most of
the grandees of the court, who had before cast many an envious eye on
those costly hangings, that massy plate, and other rich and precious
utensils, which adorned those altars. And what need all this waste?
said Judas, when one poor chalice only, and perhaps not that, might
have served the turn. Besides, there was no small spoil to be made of
copes, in which the priest officiated at the holy sacrament; some of
them being made of cloth of tissue, of cloth of gold and silver, or
embroidered velvet; the meanest being made of silk, or satin, with
some decent trimming. And might not these be handsomely converted into
private use, to serve as carpets for their tables, coverlids to their
beds, or cushions to their chairs or windows. Thereupon some rude
people are encouraged under-hand to beat down some altars, which makes
way for an order of the council-table, to take down the rest, and set
up tables in their places; followed by a commission, to be executed in
all parts of the kingdom, for seizing on the premises to the use of the
king. "]

[Footnote 137: "_Quo animo ipsum quoque Paulum dicere existimo_,
si potes liber fieri utere potius, _1. Cor. 7. Quod eternum Dei
concilium, patres nostri, fortissimi viri, infracto animo secuti,
miris victoriarum successibus ut Sempachii," &c. _ And again, "_Ipse
Dominus libertatis author exstitit, et honestam libertatem querentibus
adest_. "--Pia et Amica Paranæsis ad Suitensium rempublicam. ]

[Footnote 138: Dalrymple's Memoirs, Vol. II. p. 108. ]

[Footnote 139: The Hind and the Panther Transversed, p. 14. ]




THE

HIND AND THE PANTHER,

A POEM.

PART II.




THE

HIND AND PANTHER.

PART SECOND.


Dame, said the Panther, times are mended well,
Since late among the Philistines you fell. [140]
The toils were pitched, a spacious tract of ground
With expert huntsmen was encompassed round;
The inclosure narrowed; the sagacious power
Of hounds and death drew nearer every hour.
'Tis true, the younger lion[141] 'scaped the snare,
But all your priestly calves lay struggling there,
As sacrifices on their altars laid;[142] }
While you, their careful mother, wisely fled,}
Not trusting destiny to save your head. }
For, whate'er promises you have applied }
To your unfailing church, the surer side}
Is four fair legs in danger to provide; }
And whate'er tales of Peter's chair you tell, }
Yet, saving reverence of the miracle, }
The better luck was yours to 'scape so well. --}
As I remember, said the sober Hind,
Those toils were for your own dear self designed,
As well as me; and with the self-same throw,
To catch the quarry[143] and the vermin too,--
Forgive the slanderous tongues that called you so.
Howe'er you take it now, the common cry
Then ran you down for your rank loyalty,[144]
Besides, in popery they thought you nurst,
As evil tongues will ever speak the worst,
Because some forms, and ceremonies some
You kept, and stood in the main question dumb.
Dumb you were born indeed; but, thinking long,
The test, it seems, at last has loosed your tongue:[145]
And to explain what your forefathers meant,
By real presence in the sacrament,
After long fencing pushed against a wall, }
Your salvo comes, that he's not there at all: }
There changed your faith, and what may change may fall. }
Who can believe what varies every day,
Nor ever was, nor will be at a stay? --
Tortures may force the tongue untruths to tell,
And I ne'er owned myself infallible,
Replied the Panther: grant such presence were,
Yet in your sense I never owned it there.
A real virtue we by faith receive,
And that we in the sacrament believe. --
Then, said the Hind, as you the matter state,
Not only Jesuits can equivocate;
For real, as you now the word expound,
From solid substance dwindles to a sound.
Methinks, an Æsop's fable you repeat;
You know who took the shadow for the meat:
Your church's substance thus you change at will,
And yet retain your former figure still.
I freely grant you spoke to save your life;
For then you lay beneath the butcher's knife.
Long time you fought, redoubled battery bore,
But, after all, against yourself you swore,
Your former self; for every hour your form
Is chopped and changed, like winds before a storm.
Thus fear and interest will prevail with some;
For all have not the gift of martyrdom. --
The Panther grinned at this, and thus replied:
That men may err was never yet denied;
But, if that common principle be true,
The canon, dame, is levelled full at you.
But, shunning long disputes, I fain would see
That wonderous wight, Infallibility.
Is he from heaven, this mighty champion, come?
Or lodged below in subterranean Rome?
First, seat him somewhere, and derive his race,
Or else conclude that nothing has no place. --
Suppose, though I disown it, said the Hind,
The certain mansion were not yet assigned;
The doubtful residence no proof can bring
Against the plain existence of the thing.
Because philosophers may disagree, }
If sight by emission, or reception be, }
Shall it be thence inferred, I do not see?
[146]}
But you require an answer positive, }
Which yet, when I demand, you dare not give; }
For fallacies in universals live. [147] }
I then affirm, that this unfailing guide
In pope and general councils must reside;
Both lawful, both combined; what one decrees }
By numerous votes, the other ratifies: }
On this undoubted sense the church relies. [148]}
'Tis true, some doctors in a scantier space,
I mean, in each apart, contract the place.
Some, who to greater length extend the line,
The church's after-acceptation join.
This last circumference appears too wide;
The church diffused is by the council tied,
As members by their representatives
Obliged to laws, which prince and senate gives.
Thus, some contract, and some enlarge the space;}
In pope and council, who denies the place, }
Assisted from above with God's unfailing grace? }
Those canons all the needful points contain;
Their sense so obvious, and their words so plain,
That no disputes about the doubtful text
Have hitherto the labouring world perplexed.
If any should in after-times appear,
New councils must be called, to make the meaning clear;
Because in them the power supreme resides,
And all the promises are to the guides. [149]
This may be taught with sound and safe defence;
But mark how sandy is your own pretence,
Who, setting councils, pope, and church aside,
Are every man his own presuming guide. [150]
The sacred books, you say, are full and plain,
And every needful point of truth contain;
All who can read interpreters may be.
Thus, though your churches disagree,
Yet every saint has to himself alone
The secret of this philosophic stone.
These principles your jarring sects unite,
When differing doctors and disciples fight.
Though Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, holy chiefs,
Have made a battle-royal of beliefs;
Or, like wild horses, several ways have whirled
The tortured text about the Christian world;
Each Jehu lashing on with furious force,
That Turk or Jew could not have used it worse;
No matter what dissension leaders make,
Where every private man may save a stake:
Ruled by the scripture and his own advice,
Each has a blind bye-path to Paradise;
Where, driving in a circle slow or fast,
Opposing sects are sure to meet at last.
A wonderous charity you have in store }
For all reformed to pass the narrow door;}
So much, that Mahomet had scarcely more. }
For he, kind prophet, was for damning none;
But Christ and Moses were to save their own:
Himself was to secure his chosen race,
Though reason good for Turks to take the place,
And he allowed to be the better man,
In virtue of his holier Alcoran.
True, said the Panther, I shall ne'er deny
My brethren may be saved as well as I:
Though Huguenots condemn our ordination,
Succession, ministerial vocation;
And Luther, more mistaking what he read,
Misjoins the sacred body with the bread:[151]
Yet, lady, still remember I maintain,
The word in needful points is only plain. --
Needless, or needful, I not now contend,
For still you have a loop-hole for a friend,
Rejoined the matron; but the rule you lay }
Has led whole flocks, and leads them still astray,}
In weighty points, and full damnation's way. }
For, did not Arius first, Socinus now,
The Son's eternal Godhead disavow?
And did not these by gospel texts alone
Condemn our doctrine, and maintain their own?
Have not all heretics the same pretence
To plead the scriptures in their own defence?
How did the Nicene council then decide
That strong debate? was it by scripture tried?
No, sure; to that the rebel would not yield;
Squadrons of texts he marshalled in the field:
That was but civil war, an equal set,
Where piles with piles, and eagles eagles met. [152]
With texts point-blank and plain he faced the foe,
And did not Satan tempt our Saviour so?
The good old bishops took a simpler way;
Each asked but what he heard his father say,
Or how he was instructed in his youth,
And by tradition's force upheld the truth. [153]
The Panther smiled at this;--And when, said she,
Were those first councils disallowed by me?
Or where did I at sure tradition strike,
Provided still it were apostolic? [154]
Friend, said the Hind, you quit your former ground,
Where all your faith you did on scripture found:
Now 'tis tradition joined with holy writ;
But thus your memory betrays your wit.
No, said the Panther; for in that I view,
When your tradition's forged, and when 'tis true.
I set them by the rule, and, as they square,}
Or deviate from undoubted doctrine there, }
This oral fiction, that old faith declare. --}
_Hind. _ The council steered, it seems, a different course;
They tried the scripture by tradition's force:
But you tradition by the scripture try; }
Pursued by sects, from this to that you fly,}
Nor dare on one foundation to rely. }
The word is then deposed, and in this view,
You rule the scripture, not the scripture you.
Thus said the dame, and, smiling, thus pursued:
I see, tradition then is disallowed,
When not evinced by scripture to be true,
And scripture, as interpreted by you.
But here you tread upon unfaithful ground,
Unless you could infallibly expound;
Which you reject as odious popery,
And throw that doctrine back with scorn on me.
Suppose we on things traditive divide,
And both appeal to scripture to decide;
By various texts we both uphold our claim,
Nay, often, ground our titles on the same:
After long labour lost, and time's expence,
Both grant the words, and quarrel for the sense.
Thus all disputes for ever must depend;
For no dumb rule can controversies end.
Thus, when you said,--Tradition must be tried
By sacred writ, whose sense yourselves decide,
You said no more, but that yourselves must be
The judges of the scripture sense, not we.
Against our church-tradition you declare,
And yet your clerks would sit in Moses' chair;
At least 'tis proved against your argument,
The rule is far from plain, where all dissent. --
If not by scriptures, how can we be sure,
Replied the Panther, what tradition's pure?
For you may palm upon us new for old;
All, as they say, that glitters, is not gold.
How but by following her, replied the dame,
To whom derived from sire to son they came;
Where every age does on another move,
And trusts no farther than the next above;
Where all the rounds like Jacob's ladder rise,
The lowest hid in earth, the topmost in the skies?
Sternly the savage did her answer mark,
Her glowing eye-balls glittering in the dark,
And said but this:--Since lucre was your trade,
Succeeding times such dreadful gaps have made,
'Tis dangerous climbing: To your sons and you
I leave the ladder, and its omen too. [155]
_Hind. _ The Panther's breath was ever famed for sweet;
But from the Wolf such wishes oft I meet.
You learned this language from the Blatant Beast,[156]
Or rather did not speak, but were possessed.
As for your answer, 'tis but barely urged:
You must evince tradition to be forged;
Produce plain proofs; unblemished authors use
As ancient as those ages they accuse;
Till when, 'tis not sufficient to defame;
An old possession stands, till elder quits the claim.
Then for our interest, which is named alone
To load with envy, we retort your own;
For, when traditions in your faces fly,
Resolving not to yield, you must decry.
As when the cause goes hard, the guilty man
Excepts, and thins his jury all he can;
So when you stand of other aid bereft,
You to the twelve apostles would be left.
Your friend the Wolf did with more craft provide
To set those toys, traditions, quite aside;[157]
And fathers too, unless when, reason spent,
He cites them but sometimes for ornament.
But, madam Panther, you, though more sincere,
Are not so wise as your adulterer;
The private spirit is a better blind,
Than all the dodging tricks your authors find.
For they, who left the scripture to the crowd,}
Each for his own peculiar judge allowed; }
The way to please them was to make them proud. }
Thus with full sails they ran upon the shelf;
Who could suspect a cozenage from himself?
On his own reason safer 'tis to stand,
Than be deceived and damned at second-hand.
But you, who fathers and traditions take,
And garble some, and some you quite forsake,
Pretending church-authority to fix,
And yet some grains of private spirit mix,
Are, like a mule, made up of different seed,
And that's the reason why you never breed;
At least, not propagate your kind abroad,
For home dissenters are by statutes awed.
And yet they grow upon you every day, }
While you, to speak the best, are at a stay, }
For sects, that are extremes, abhor a middle way:}
Like tricks of state, to stop a raging flood,}
Or mollify a mad-brained senate's mood; }
Of all expedients never one was good. }
Well may they argue, nor can you deny,
If we must fix on church authority,
Best on the best, the fountain, not the flood;
That must be better still, if this be good.
Shall she command, who has herself rebelled?
Is antichrist by antichrist expelled?
Did we a lawful tyranny displace,
To set aloft a bastard of the race?
Why all these wars to win the book, if we }
Must not interpret for ourselves, but she? }
Either be wholly slaves, or wholly free. }
For purging fires traditions must not fight;
But they must prove episcopacy's right. [158]
Thus, those led horses are from service freed;
You never mount them but in time of need.
Like mercenaries, hired for home defence,
They will not serve against their native prince.
Against domestic foes of hierarchy
These are drawn forth, to make fanatics fly;
But, when they see their countrymen at hand, }
Marching against them under church-command, }
Straight they forsake their colours, and disband. --}
Thus she; nor could the Panther well enlarge
With weak defence against so strong a charge;
But said:--For what did Christ his word provide,
If still his church must want a living guide?
And if all-saving doctrines are not there,
Or sacred penmen could not make them clear,
From after-ages we should hope in vain
For truths which men inspired could not explain. --
Before the word was written, said the Hind,
Our Saviour preached his faith to human kind:
From his apostles the first age received
Eternal truth, and what they taught believed.
Thus, by tradition faith was planted first,
Succeeding flocks succeeding pastors nursed.
This was the way our wise Redeemer chose, }
Who sure could all things for the best dispose,}
To fence his fold from their encroaching foes. }
He could have writ himself, but well foresaw
The event would be like that of Moses' law;
Some difference would arise, some doubts remain,
Like those which yet the jarring Jews maintain.
No written laws can be so plain, so pure,
But wit may gloss, and malice may obscure;
Not those indited by his first command,
A prophet graved the text, an angel held his hand.
Thus faith was ere the written word appeared,
And men believed not what they read, but heard.
But since the apostles could not be confined
To these, or those, but severally designed
Their large commission round the world to blow,
To spread their faith, they spread their labours too.
Yet still their absent flock their pains did share;
They hearkened still, for love produces care.
And as mistakes arose, or discords fell,
Or bold seducers taught them to rebel,
As charity grew cold, or faction hot,
Or long neglect their lessons had forgot,
For all their wants they wisely did provide,
And preaching by epistles was supplied;
So, great physicians cannot all attend,
But some they visit, and to some they send.
Yet all those letters were not writ to all;
Nor first intended but occasional,
Their absent sermons; nor, if they contain
All needful doctrines, are those doctrines plain.
Clearness by frequent preaching must be wrought
They writ but seldom, but they daily taught;
And what one saint has said of holy Paul,
"He darkly writ," is true applied to all.
For this obscurity could heaven provide }
More prudently than by a living guide, }
As doubts arose, the difference to decide? }
A guide was therefore needful, therefore made;
And, if appointed, sure to be obeyed.
Thus, with due reverence to the apostles' writ,
By which my sons are taught, to which submit,
I think, those truths, their sacred works contain,
The church alone can certainly explain;
That following ages, leaning on the past,
May rest upon the primitive at last.
Nor would I thence the word no rule infer,
But none without the church-interpreter;
Because, as I have urged before, 'tis mute,
And is itself the subject of dispute.
But what the apostles their successors taught, }
They to the next, from them to us is brought, }
The undoubted sense which is in scripture sought. }
From hence the church is armed, when errors rise, }
To stop their entrance, and prevent surprise; }
And, safe entrenched within, her foes without defies. }
By these all festering sores her councils heal,}
Which time or has disclosed, or shall reveal; }
For discord cannot end without a last appeal. }
Nor can a council national decide, }
But with subordination to her guide: }
(I wish the cause were on that issue tried. )}
Much less the scripture; for suppose debate
Betwixt pretenders to a fair estate,
Bequeathed by some legator's last intent;[159]
(Such is our dying Saviour's testament:)
The will is proved, is opened, and is read,
The doubtful heirs their differing titles plead;
All vouch the words their interest to maintain,
And each pretends by those his cause is plain.
Shall then the testament award the right?
No, that's the Hungary for which they fight;
The field of battle, subject of debate;
The thing contended for, the fair estate.
The sense is intricate, 'tis only clear
What vowels and what consonants are there.
Therefore 'tis plain, its meaning must be tried
Before some judge appointed to decide. --
Suppose, the fair apostate said, I grant,
The faithful flock some living guide should want,
Your arguments an endless chace pursue: }
Produce this vaunted leader to our view,}
This mighty Moses of the chosen crew. -- }
The dame, who saw her fainting foe retired,
With force renewed, to victory aspired;
And, looking upward to her kindred sky, }
As once our Saviour owned his Deity, }
Pronounced his words--"She whom ye seek am I. "[160]}
Nor less amazed this voice the Panther heard,
Than were those Jews to hear a God declared.
Then thus the matron modestly renewed:
Let all your prophets and their sects be viewed,
And see to which of them yourselves think fit
The conduct of your conscience to submit;
Each proselyte would vote his doctor best,
With absolute exclusion to the rest:
Thus would your Polish diet disagree,
And end, as it began, in anarchy;
Yourself the fairest for election stand,
Because you seem crown-general of the land;
But soon against your superstitious lawn
Some presbyterian sabre would be drawn;[161]
In your established laws of sovereignty }
The rest some fundamental flaw would see,}
And call rebellion gospel-liberty. }
To church-decrees your articles require
Submission mollified, if not entire. [162]
Homage denied, to censures you proceed;
But when Curtana[163] will not do the deed,
You lay that pointless clergy-weapon by,
And to the laws, your sword of justice, fly.
Now this your sects the more unkindly take,
(Those prying varlets hit the blots you make,)
Because some ancient friends of yours declare,
Your only rule of faith the scriptures are,
Interpreted by men of judgment sound,
Which every sect will for themselves expound;
Nor think less reverence to their doctors due
For sound interpretation, than to you.
If then, by able heads, are understood
Your brother prophets, who reformed abroad;
Those able heads expound a wiser way,
That their own sheep their shepherd should obey.
But if you mean yourselves are only sound, }
That doctrine turns the reformation round, }
And all the rest are false reformers found;}
Because in sundry points you stand alone, }
Not in communion joined with any one; }
And therefore must be all the church, or none. }
Then, till you have agreed whose judge is best,
Against this forced submission they protest;
While sound and sound a different sense explains,
Both play at hardhead till they break their brains;
And from their chairs each other's force defy,
While unregarded thunders vainly fly.
I pass the rest, because your church alone
Of all usurpers best could fill the throne.
But neither you, nor any sect beside, }
For this high office can be qualified, }
With necessary gifts required in such a guide. }
For that, which must direct the whole, must be}
Bound in one bond of faith and unity; }
But all your several churches disagree. }
The consubstantiating church[164] and priest
Refuse communion to the Calvinist;
The French reformed from preaching you restrain, }
Because you judge their ordination vain;[165] }
And so they judge of yours, but donors must ordain. }
In short, in doctrine, or in discipline,
Not one reformed can with another join;
But all from each, as from damnation, fly:
No union they pretend, but in non-popery.
Nor, should their members in a synod meet,
Could any church presume to mount the seat,
Above the rest, their discords to decide;
None would obey, but each would be the guide;
And face to face dissensions would increase,
For only distance now preserves the peace.
All in their turns accusers, and accused;
Babel was never half so much confused;
What one can plead, the rest can plead as well;}
For amongst equals lies no last appeal, }
And all confess themselves are fallible. }
Now, since you grant some necessary guide,
All who can err are justly laid aside;
Because a trust so sacred to confer }
Shows want of such a sure interpreter;}
And how can he be needful who can err? }
Then, granting that unerring guide we want,
That such there is you stand obliged to grant;
Our Saviour else were wanting to supply
Our needs, and obviate that necessity.
It then remains, that church can only be
The guide, which owns unfailing certainty;
Or else you slip your hold, and change your side,
Relapsing from a necessary guide.
But this annexed condition of the crown, }
Immunity from errors, you disown; }
Here then you shrink, and lay your weak pretensions down. [166]}
For petty royalties you raise debate; }
But this unfailing universal state }
You shun; nor dare succeed to such a glorious weight;}
And for that cause those promises detest,
With which our Saviour did his church invest;
But strive to evade, and fear to find them true,
As conscious they were never meant to you;
All which the mother-church asserts her own,
And with unrivalled claim ascends the throne.
So, when of old the Almighty Father sate
In council, to redeem our ruined state,
Millions of millions, at a distance round, }
Silent the sacred consistory crowned, }
To hear what mercy, mixt with justice, could propound;}
All prompt, with eager pity, to fulfil
The full extent of their Creator's will:
But when the stern conditions were declared,
A mournful whisper through the host was heard,
And the whole hierarchy, with heads hung down,
Submissively declined the ponderous proffer'd crown.
Then, not till then, the Eternal Son from high
Rose in the strength of all the Deity;
Stood forth to accept the terms, and underwent }
A weight which all the frame of heaven had bent,}
Nor he himself could bear, but as Omnipotent. }
Now, to remove the least remaining doubt,
That even the blear-eyed sects may find her out,
Behold what heavenly rays adorn her brows, }
What from his wardrobe her beloved allows, }
To deck the wedding-day of his unspotted spouse! [167]}
Behold what marks of majesty she brings,
Richer than ancient heirs of eastern kings!
Her right hand holds the sceptre and the keys,
To show whom she commands, and who obeys;
With these to bind, or set the sinner free,
With that to assert spiritual royalty.
One in herself, not rent by schism, but sound,
Entire, one solid shining diamond;
Not sparkles shattered into sects like you:
One is the church, and must be to be true;
One central principle of unity; }
As undivided, so from errors free; }
As one in faith, so one in sanctity. }
Thus she, and none but she, the insulting rage
Of heretics opposed from age to age;
Still when the giant-brood invades her throne, }
She stoops from heaven, and meets them half way down,}
And with paternal thunder vindicates her crown. }
But like Egyptian sorcerers you stand, }
And vainly lift aloft your magic wand, }
To sweep away the swarms of vermin from the land;}
You could, like them, with like infernal force,
Produce the plague, but not arrest the course.
But when the boils and blotches, with disgrace
And public scandal, sat upon the face,
Themselves attacked, the Magi strove no more, }
They saw God's finger, and their fate deplore; }
Themselves they could not cure of the dishonest sore. [168]}
Thus one, thus pure, behold her largely spread,
Like the fair ocean from her mother-bed;
From east to west triumphantly she rides,
All shores are watered by her wealthy tides.
The gospel-sound, diffused from pole to pole,
Where winds can carry, and where waves can roll,
The self-same doctrine of the sacred page
Conveyed to every clime, in every age.
Here let my sorrow give my satire place,
To raise new blushes on my British race.
Our sailing ships like common-sewers we use, }
And through our distant colonies diffuse }
The draught of dungeons, and the stench of stews;}
Whom, when their home-bred honesty is lost,
We disembogue on some far Indian coast,
Thieves, pandars, palliards,[169] sins of every sort;
Those are the manufactures we export,
And these the missioners our zeal has made; }
For, with my country's pardon, be it said, }
Religion is the least of all our trade. }
Yet some improve their traffic more than we;}
For they on gain, their only god, rely, }
And set a public price on piety. }
ndustrious of the needle and the chart,
They run full sail to their Japonian mart;
Preventing fear, and, prodigal of fame, }
Sell all of Christian to the very name,[170] }
Nor leave enough of that to hide their naked shame. }
Thus, of three marks, which in the creed we view,
Not one of all can be applied to you;
Much less the fourth. In vain, alas! you seek
The ambitious title of apostolic:[171]
God-like descent! 'tis well your blood can be
Proved noble in the third or fourth degree;
For all of ancient that you had before, }
I mean what is not borrowed from our store,}
Was error fulminated o'er and o'er; }
Old heresies condemned in ages past,
By care and time recovered from the blast. [172]
'Tis said with ease, but never can be proved,
The church her old foundations has removed,
And built new doctrines on unstable sands:
Judge that, ye winds and rains! you proved her, yet she stands.
Those ancient doctrines charged on her for new,
Show, when, and how, and from what hands they grew.
We claim no power, when heresies grow bold,
To coin new faith, but still declare the old.
How else could that obscene disease be purged,
When controverted texts are vainly urged?
To prove tradition new, there's somewhat more
Required, than saying, 'twas not used before.
Those monumental arms are never stirred,
Till schism or heresy call down Goliah's sword.
Thus, what you call corruptions, are, in truth,
The first plantations of the gospel's youth;
Old standard faith; but cast your eyes again, }
And view those errors which new sects maintain, }
Or which of old disturbed the church's peaceful reign;}
And we can point each period of the time,
When they began, and who begot the crime;
Can calculate how long the eclipse endured,
Who interposed, what digits were obscured:
Of all which are already passed away,
We know the rise, the progress, and decay.
Despair at our foundations then to strike,
Till you can prove your faith apostolic;
A limpid stream drawn from the native source;
Succession lawful in a lineal course.
Prove any church, opposed to this our head,
So one, so pure, so unconfinedly spread,
Under one chief of the spiritual state,
The members all combined, and all subordinate;
Show such a seamless coat, from schism so free,
In no communion joined with heresy;--
If such a one you find, let truth prevail; }
Till when, your weights will in the balance fail;}
A church unprincipled kicks up the scale. }
But if you cannot think, (nor sure you can
Suppose in God what were unjust in man,)
That He, the fountain of eternal grace, }
Should suffer falsehood for so long a space}
To banish truth, and to usurp her place; }
That seven successive ages should be lost,
And preach damnation at their proper cost;[173]
That all your erring ancestors should die,
Drowned in the abyss of deep idolatry;
If piety forbid such thoughts to rise,
Awake, and open your unwilling eyes:
God hath left nothing for each age undone, }
From this to that wherein he sent his Son; }
Then think but well of him, and half your work is done. }
See how his church, adorned with every grace, }
With open arms, a kind forgiving face, }
Stands ready to prevent her long-lost son's embrace! }
Not more did Joseph o'er his brethren weep,
Nor less himself could from discovery keep,
When in the crowd of suppliants they were seen,
And in their crew his best-loved Benjamin.
That pious Joseph in the church behold, }
To feed your famine, and refuse your gold; }
The Joseph you exiled, the Joseph whom you sold. [174]}
Thus, while with heavenly charity she spoke,
A streaming blaze the silent shadows broke;
Shot from the skies a cheerful azure light; }
The birds obscene to forests winged their flight, }
And gaping graves received the wandering guilty sprite. }
Such were the pleasing triumphs of the sky,
For James his late nocturnal victory;
The pledge of his almighty Patron's love,
The fireworks which his angels made above. [175]
I saw myself the lambent easy light[176]
Gild the brown horror, and dispel the night;
The messenger with speed the tidings bore; }
News, which three labouring nations did restore;}
But heaven's own Nuntius was arrived before. }
By this, the Hind had reached her lonely cell,
And vapours rose, and dews unwholesome fell;
When she, by frequent observation wise, }
As one who long on heaven had fixed her eyes,}
Discerned a change of weather in the skies. }
The western borders were with crimson spread,
The moon descending looked all flaming red;
She thought good manners bound her to invite
The stranger dame to be her guest that night.
'Tis true, coarse diet, and a short repast, }
She said, were weak inducements to the taste }
Of one so nicely bred, and so unused to fast;}
But what plain fare her cottage could afford,
A hearty welcome at a homely board,
Was freely hers; and, to supply the rest,
An honest meaning, and an open breast;
Last, with content of mind, the poor man's wealth,
A grace-cup to their common patron's[177] health.
This she desired her to accept, and stay,
For fear she might be wildered in her way,
Because she wanted an unerring guide,
And then the dew-drops on her silken hide
Her tender constitution did declare, }
Too lady-like a long fatigue to bear, }
And rough inclemencies of raw nocturnal air. [178]}
But most she feared, that, travelling so late,}
Some evil-minded beasts might lie in wait, }
And without witness wreak their hidden hate. }
The Panther, though she lent a listening ear,
Had more of lion in her than to fear;
Yet wisely weighing, since she had to deal
With many foes their numbers might prevail,
Returned her all the thanks she could afford,
And took her friendly hostess at her word;
Who, entering first her lowly roof, a shed }
With hoary moss and winding ivy spread, }
Honest enough to hide an humble hermit's head,}
Thus graciously bespoke her welcome guest: }
So might these walls, with your fair presence blest,}
Become your dwelling-place of everlasting rest; }
Not for a night, or quick revolving year,
Welcome an owner, not a sojourner.
This peaceful seat my poverty secures;
War seldom enters but where wealth allures:
Nor yet despise it; for this poor abode,
Has oft received, and yet receives a God;
A God, victorious of a Stygian race,
Here laid his sacred limbs, and sanctified the place.
This mean retreat did mighty Pan[179] contain;}
Be emulous of him, and pomp disdain, }
And dare not to debase your soul to gain. [180]}
The silent stranger stood amazed to see
Contempt of wealth, and wilful poverty;
And, though ill habits are not soon controuled,
Awhile suspended her desire of gold.
But civilly drew in her sharpened paws, }
Not violating hospitable laws, }
And pacified her tail, and licked her frothy jaws. }
The Hind did first her country cates provide;
Then couched herself securely by her side.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 140: Alluding to the Popish Plot. See Note I. ]

[Footnote 141: James II. then Duke of York, whom Shaftesbury and his
party involved in the odium of the plot. ]

[Footnote 142: Plunket, the titular primate of Ireland, Whitebread,
provincial of the Jesuits, and several other Catholic priests, suffered
for the alleged plot. Derrick most absurdly supposes the passage to
refer to the period of the Civil War. ]

[Footnote 143: _Quarry_ signifies, properly, "dead game ready to be cut
up by the huntsman," which the French still call _faire la curée_. But
it is often taken, as in this passage, for the game in general. Vermin
comprehends such wild animals as are not game, foxes, polecats, and the
like. ]

[Footnote 144: Note II. ]

[Footnote 145: The test-oath, against popery, in which
transubstantiation is formally disavowed. See Note III. ]

[Footnote 146: There was a dispute among naturalists, whether sight was
accomplished _per emissionem vel per receptionem specierum_. ]

[Footnote 147: _Dolus versatur in generalibus_, was an axiom of the
schools. ]

[Footnote 148: Note IV. ]

[Footnote 149: The Catholics interpret our Saviour's promise, "that he
would be with the disciples to the end of the world," as applicable to
their own church exclusively. ]

[Footnote 150: Note V. ]

[Footnote 151: By the doctrine of consubstantiation. ]

[Footnote 152: Alluding to Lucan's description of the Roman civil war. ]

[Footnote 153: Note VI. ]

[Footnote 154: See Note XIV. Part I. page 156. ]

[Footnote 155: The gallows. ]

[Footnote 156: By the Blatant Beast, we are generally to understand
slander; see Spenser's Legend of Courtesy. But it is here taken for the
Wolf, or Presbyterian clergy, whose violent declamations against the
church of Rome filled up many sermons. ]

[Footnote 157: The Presbyterian church utterly rejects traditions, and
appeals to the scripture as the sole rule of faith. ]

[Footnote 158: Note VII. ]

[Footnote 159: It is probable, that from this passage Swift took the
idea of comparing the scripture to a testament in his "Tale of a Tub. "]

[Footnote 160: By this asseveration the author seems to infer, that,
because the church of Rome avers her own infallibility, she is
therefore infallible. ]

[Footnote 161: In a Polish Diet, where unanimity was necessary, the
mode adopted of ensuring it was for the majority to hew to pieces the
first individual who expressed his dissent by the fatal _veto_. ]

[Footnote 162: "The church, according to the articles of faith, hath
power to decree rites and ceremonies, and authority in controversies of
faith; and yet it is not lawful for the church to ordain any thing that
is contrary to God's word written, neither may it so expound one place
of scripture, that it be repugnant to another. " Article xx. ]

[Footnote 163: This romantic name is given to the sword of mercy; which
wants a point, and is said to have been that of Edward the Confessor.
It is borne at the coronation. The sword of Ogier the Dane, famous in
romance, the work of Galand, who made Joyeuse and Durandal, was also
called Curtana. ]

[Footnote 164: The Lutherans. ]

[Footnote 165: The Huguenot preachers, being Calvinists, had received
classical, and not episcopal ordination: hence, unless re-ordained,
they were not admitted to preach in the established church of England. ]

[Footnote 166: Note VIII. ]

[Footnote 167: Note IX.