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And, when he chanc'd t' escape, mistook

For art and subtlety his luck.

So right his judgment was cut fit,
And made a tally to his wit,

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And both together most profound,

At deeds of darkness under ground;
As th' earth is easiest undermin'd

By vermin impotent and blind.

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O' th' compass in their bones and joints,
Can by their pangs and aches find
All turns and changes of the wind,
And, better than by Napier's bones,
Feel in their own the age of moons;
So guilty sinners in a state

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Can by their crimes prognosticate,

And in their consciences feel pain

Some days before a show'r of rain :
He therefore wisely cast about

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All ways he could t' insure his throat,

And hither came t' observe and smoke

What courses other riskers took,

And to the utmost do his best

To save himself and hang the rest.

To match this Saint there was another,

As busy and perverse a Brother,

An haberdasher of small wares,

In politics and state affairs ;

More Jew than Rabbi Achitophel,

And better gifted to rebel;

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For when h' had taught his tribe to 'spouse

The Cause aloft upon one house,

He scorn'd to set his own in order,

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But try'd another, and went further;

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So suddenly addicted still

To 's only principle, his will,

That whatsoe'er it chanc'd to prove,

Nor force of argument could move,

Nor law, nor cavalcade of Ho'burn,

Could render half a grain less stubborn ;

For he at any time would hang

For th' opportunity t' harangue;

And rather on a gibbet dangle

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Than miss his dear delight, to wrangle;

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In which his parts were so accomplisht,

That, right or wrong, he ne'er was nonplust;
But still his tongue ran on, the less

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Against the desp'ratest assaults,

And back'd their feeble want of sense

With greater heat and confidence ;

As bones of Hectors, when they differ,

The more they're cudgell'd grow the stiffer,

Yet when his profit moderated,

The fury of his heat abated;

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For nothing but his interest

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Could lay his devil of contest:

It was his choice, or chance, or curse,

T'

espouse the Cause for better or worse,
And with his worldly goods and wit,
And soul and body worshipp'd it:
But when he found the sullen trapes
Possess'd with th' devil, worms, and claps,

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and claps, inc

The Trojan mare, in foal with Greeks,

Not half so full of jadish tricks,

Though squeamish in her outward woman, 475

As loose and rampant as Doll Common,
He still resolv'd, to mend the matter,
T'adhere and cleave the obstinater;
And still, the skittisher and looser
Her freaks appear'd, to sit the closer;
For fools are stubborn in their way,
As coins are harden'd by th' allay;
And obstinacy's ne'er so stiff
As when 'tis in a wrong belief.
These two, with others, being met,
And close in consultation set,

After a discontented pause,

And not without sufficient cause,

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To give himself first audience,
After he had a-while looked wise,

At last broke silence and the ice.

Quoth he, There's nothing makes me doubt 495 Our last Outgoings brought about,

More than to see the characters

Of real jealousies and fears,

Not feign'd, as once, but sadly horrid,
Scor'd upon ev'ry Member's forehead;

Who, cause the clouds are drawn together,
And threaten sudden change of weather,

Feel

pangs

and aches of state-turns,

And revolutions in their corns;

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And, since our Workings-out are crost,

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Throw up the Cause before 'tis lost.

Was it to run away we meant,
When, taking of the Covenant,

The lamest cripples of the Brothers

Took oaths to run before all others,
But, in their own sense, only swore,
To strive to run away before,

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