But he is worst, who beggarly doth chaw
Others wits fruits, and in his ravenous maw
Rankly digested, doth these things out-spue,
As his own things; and they're his own, 'tis true,
For if one eat my meat, though it be known
The meat was mine, the excrement's his own.
But thefe do me no harm, nor they which use,
to out-ufure Jews,
T'out-drink the fea, t' out-fwear the Letanie,
Who with fins all kinds as familiar be
As Confeffors, and for whofe finful fake
Schoolmen new tenements in hell must make;
Whose strange fins Canonifts could hardly tell
In which Commandment's large receit they dwell.
But these punish themselves. The infolence
Of Cofcus, only, breeds my just offence,
Whom time (which rots all, and makes botches pox, And plodding on, must make a calf an ox)
VER. 38. Irishmen outfwear;] The Original says,
"out-fwear the Letanie,"
improved by the Imitator into a juft ftroke of Satire. Dr. Donne's is a low allufion to a licentious quibble used at that time by the enemies of the English Liturgy: who, difliking the frequent invocations in the Letanie, called them the taking God's Name in vain, which is the Scripture periphrafis for fwearing.
VER. 43. Of whofe ftrange crimes] Such as Sanchez de Matrimonio has minutely enumerated and defcribed. Such Canonifts deferved this animadverfion. In Pafcal's fine Provincial Letters are also fome ftrange and striking examples.
VER. 44. In what Commandment's large contents they dwell.] The Original is more humorous :
"In which Commandment's large receit they dwell."
Wretched indeed! but far more wretched yet
Is he who makes his meal on others wit:
'Tis chang'd, no doubt, from what it was before,
His rank digestion makes it wit no more:
Senfe, past through him, no longer is the fame ;
For food digefted takes another name.
I pass o'er all those Confeffors and Martyrs
Who live like S-tt-n, or who die like Chartres,
Out-cant old Efdras, or out-drink his heir,
Out-ufure Jews, or Irifhmen out-fwear;
Wicked as Pages, who in early years
Act fins which Prifca's Confeffor fcarce hears.
Ev'n those I pardon, for whofe finful fake
Schoolmen new tenements in Hell must make;
Of whose strange crimes no Canonift can tell
In what Commandment's large contents they dwell.
One, one man only breeds my just offence; 45
Whom crimes gave wealth, and wealth gave im-
pudence:
Time, that at last matures a clap to pox,
Whofe gentle progrefs makes a calf an ox,
As if the Ten Commandments were fo wide, as to ftand ready to
receive
every thing within them, that either the Law of Nature, or
the Gospels, enjoins. A juft ridicule on thofe practical Commenta-
tors, as they are called, who include all moral and religious duties
within the Decalogue. Whereas their true original fenfe is much
more confined; being a short summary of moral duty fitted for a
fingle people, upon a particular occafion, and to ferve temporary
ends.
W.
VER. 48. Makes a calf an ox,] An unaccountable blunder in our Author. As if an ox was in his natural state.
Hath made a Lawyer; which (alas) of late;
But scarce a Poet: jollier of this ftate,
Than are new-benefic'd Minifters, he throws,
Like nets or lime-twigs, wherefoe'r he goes.
His title of Barrister on ev'ry wench,
And wooes in language of the Pleas and Bench.**
Words, words which would tear
The tender labyrinth of a Maid's foft ear:
More, more than ten Sclavonians fcolding, more
Than when winds in our ruin'd Abbyes roar.
Then fick with Poetry, and poffeft with Muse
Thou waft, and mad I hop'd; but men which chuse
Law practice for mere gain; bold foul repute
Worfe than imbrothel'd ftrumpets prostitute.
Now like an owl-like watchman he must walk,
His hand still at a bill; now he must talk
Idly, like prisoners, which whole months will fwear,
That only furetyfhip hath brought them there,
And to every fuitor lye in every thing,
Like a King's Favourite-or like a King.
VER. 61. Language, which Boreas-] The Original has here a very fine ftroke of Satire,
"Than when winds in our ruin'd Abbyes roar."
The frauds with which that work (fo neceffary for the welfare both of religion and the ftate) was begun; the rapine with which it was carried on; and the diffolutenefs in which the plunder arifing from it was wafted, had scandalized all fober men; and disposed fome even of the beft Proteftants to wifh, that fome part of that immenfe wealth, arifing from the fuppreffion of the Monasteries, had been referved for charity, hofpitality, and even for the fervice. of religion. W.
And brings all natural events to pass,
Hath made him an Attorney of an Afs.
young Divine, new-benefic'd, can be
More pert, more proud, more pofitive than he.
What further could I wish the fop to do,
But turn a wit, and fcribble verses too;
Pierce the foft lab'rinth of a Lady's ear
With rhymes of this per cent. and that per year?
Or court a Wife, fpread out his wily parts,
Like nets, or lime-twigs, for rich Widow's hearts;
Call himself Barrister to ev'ry wench,
And wooe in language of the Pleas and Bench? 60 Language which Boreas might to Aufter hold
More rough than forty Germans when they scold.
Curs'd be the wretch, fo venal and so vain : Paltry and proud, as Drabs in Drury-lane. 'Tis fuch a bounty as was never known,
If PETER deigns to help you to your own:
What thanks, what praise, if Peter but supplies!
And what a folemn face, if he denies !
Grave, as when pris'ners shake the head and swear
'Twas only Suretyship that brought them there.
His Office keeps your Parchment fates entire,
He starves with cold to fave them from the fire;
For
you he walks the streets through rain or duft,
For not in Chariots Peter puts his trust;
For you he fweats and labours at the laws,
Takes God to witness he affects your cause,
And lies to ev'ry Lord, in ev'ry thing,
Like a King's Favourite-or like a King.
Like a wedge in a block, wring to the barre,
Bearing like affes, and more fhameless farre
Than carted whores, lie to the grave Judge; for
Bastardy abounds not in the King's titles, nor
Simony and Sodomy in Church-men's lives,
As these things do in him; by these he thrives.
Shortly (as th' fea) he'll compafs all the land,
From Scots to Wight, from Mount to Dover ftrand.
And spying heirs melting with Luxury,
Satan will not joy at their fins as he:
For (as a thrifty wench fcrapes kitchen-ftuffe,
And barrelling the droppings, and the fnuffe
Of wafting candles, which in thirty year,
Reliquely kept, perchance buys wedding chear)
Piecemeal he gets lands, and fpends as much
Wringing each acre, as maids pulling prime.
In parchment then, large as the fields, he draws
Affurances, big as glofs'd civil laws,
So huge that men (in our times forwardness)
Are Fathers of the Church for writing less.
These he writes not; nor for these written payes,
Therefore spares no length (as in those first dayes
When Luther was profest, he did defire
Short Pater-nofters, faying as a Fryar
VER. 78. Like a King's Favourite] A line from the Original, as alfo line 60; which fhews that Donne, if he had properly attended to it, could have written harmoniously.
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