When first the Lion sat with awful sway,
Your conscience taught your duty to obey:
He might have had your statutes and your Test;
No conscience but of subjects was profess'd.
He found your temper, and no farther try'd,
But on that broken reed your church rely'd.
In vain the sects essay'd their utmost art,
With offer'd treasure to espouse their part;
Their treasures were a bribe too mean to move his
But when by long experience you had prov'd
How far he could forgive, how well he lov'd,
A goodness that excell'd his godlike race,
And only short of Heav'n's unbounded grace;
A flood of mercy that o'erflow'd our isle,
Calm in the rise, and fruitful as the Nile;
Forgetting whence your Egypt was supply'd,
You thought your sov'reign bound to send the tide;
Nor upward look'd on that immortal spring,
But vainly deem'd he durst not be a king:
Then Conscience, unrestrain'd by fear, began
To stretch her limits, and extend the span;
Did his indulgence as her gift dispose,
And make a wise alliance with her foes.
Can Conscience own th' associating name,
And raise no blushes to conceal her shame ?
For sure she has been thought a bashful dame.
But if the cause by battle should be try'd,
You grant she must espouse the regal side:
O Proteus Conscience, never to be tied !
What Phoebus from the tripod shall disclose
Which are, in last resort, your friends or foes? 8:0
Homer, who learn'd the language of the sky,
The seeming Gordian knot would soon untie;
Immortal pow'rs the term of Conscience know,
But Int'rest is her name with men below.
Conscience or Int' rest be 't, or both in one,
The Panther answer'd in a surly tone,
The first commands me to maintain the crown,
The last forbids to throw my barriers down.
Our penal laws no sons of your's admit,
Our Test excludes your tribe from benefit..
These are my banks your ocean to withstand,
Which proudly rising overlooks the land,
And, once let in, with unresisted sway
Would sweep the pastors and their flocks away.
Think not my judgment leads me to comply
With laws unjust, but hard necessity;
Imperious need, which cannot be withstood,
Makes ill authentic for a greater good.
Possess your soul with patience, and attend;
A more auspicious planet may ascend;
Cocd fortune may present some happier time,
With means to cancel my unwilling crime;
(Unwilling, witness all ye Pow’rs above)
To mend my errors, and redeem your love:
That little space you safely may allow;
Your all-dispensing power protects you now.
Hold, said the Hind, 'tis needless to explain;
You will postpone me to another reign,
Till when you are content to be unjust;
Your part is to possess, and mine to trust:
A fair exchange propos'd of future chance,
For present profit and inheritance.
Few words will serve to finish our dispute;
Who will not now repeal would persecute.
To ripen green revenge your hopes attend,
Wishing that happier planet would ascend.
For shame, let Conscience be your plea no more:
To will hereafter proves she might before;
But she's a bawd to Gain, and holds the door.
Your care about your banks infers a fear
Of threat'ning floods and inundations near;
If so, a just reprise would only be
Of what the land usurp'd upon the sea;
And all your jealousies but serve to show
Your ground is, like your neighbour-nation, low.
T’intrench in what you grant unrighteous laws,
Is to distrust the justice of your cause;
And argues that the true religion lies
In those weak adversaries you despise.
rannic force is that which least you fear; ne sound is frightful in a Christian's ear: vert it, Heav'n! nor let that plague be sent Lo us from the dispeopled continent.
But piety commands me to refrain;
Those pray'rs are needless in this monarch's reign.
Behold! how he protects your friends, oppress'd,
Receives the banish'd, succours the distress'd:
Behold, for you may read an honest open breast;
He stands in day-light, and disdains to hide
An act to which by honour he is tied,
A gen'rous, laudable, and kingly pride.
Your Test he would repeal, his peers restore;
This when he says he means, he means no more.
Well, said the Panther, I believe him just,
And yet, 'tis but because you must;
You would be trusted, but you would not trust.
The Hind thus briefly; and disdain'd t' enlarge
On pow'r of kings, and their superior charge,
As Heav'n's trustees before the people's choice;
Tho' sure the Panther did not much rejoice
To hear those echoes giv'n of her once loyal voice.
The Matron woo'd her kindness to the last,
But could not win; her hour of grace was past:
Whom, thus persisting, when she could not bring
To leave the Wolf, and to believe her king,
She gave her up, and fairly wish'd her joy
Of her late treaty with her new ally;
Which well she hop'd would more successful prove
Than was the Pigeon's and the Buzzard's love.
The Panther ask'd what concord there could be
Betwixt two kinds whose natures disagree?
The Dame reply'd; 'Tis sung in ev'ry street,
The common chat of gossips when they meet;
But, since unheard by you, 'tis worth your while
To take a wholesome tale, tho' told in homely style.
A plain good man, whose name is understood,
(So few deserve the name of plain and good)
Of three fair lineal lordships stood possest,
And liv'd, as reason was, upon the best.
Inur'd to hardships from his early youth,
Much had he done, and suffer'd for his truth;
At land, and sea, in many a doubtful fight,
Was never known a more advent'rous knight,
Who oft'ner drew his sword, and always for the
right.
As Fortune would, (his fortune came, tho' late) He took possession of his just estate;
Nor rack'd his tenants with increase of rent,
Nor liv'd too sparing, nor too largely spent;
But overlook'd his Hinds, their pay was just,
And ready, for he scorn'd to go on trust:
Slow to resolve, but in performance quick;
So true, that he was awkward at a trick
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