Guiltless of Tefticles, they tear their Throats,
And squeak, in Treble, their unmanly Notes.
Mean-while, his Cheeks the Mitred Prophet fwells,
And dire Prefages of the Year foretels.
Unless with Eggs (his Priestly Hire) they hafte
To expiate, and avert th' Autumnal Blast.
And 36 add beside a murrey-colour'd Vest,
Which, in their places, may receive the Pest:
And, thrown into the Flood, their Crimes may bear,
To purge th' unlucky Omens of the Year.
Th' astonisht Matrons pay, before the reft;
That Sex is ftill obnoxious to the Priest.
Thro' ye they beat, and plunge into the Stream,
If fo the God has warn'd 'em in a Dream.
Weak in their Limbs, but in Devotion strong,
On their bare Hands and Feet they crawl along
A whole Field's length, the laughter of the Throng.
Shou'd Io (lo's Prieft I mean) command
A Pilgrimage to Meröe's burning Sand,
Thro' Defarts they wou'd feek the fecret Spring;
A Holy Water for Luftration bring.
How can they pay their Priests too much Refpect,
Who trade with Heav'n, and Earthly. Gains negle&t?
With him, Domestick Gods difcourfe by Night:
By Day, attended by his Choir in white,
The Bald-pate Tribe runs madding thro' the Street,
And fimile to fee with how much ease they Cheat.
The Ghoftly Sire forgives the Wife's Delights,
Who fins, thro' Frailty, on forbidden Nights;
And tempts her Husband in the Holy time,
When Carnal Pleasure is a Mortal Crime,
36 And add befide, &c. A | River; and that, they thought Garment was given to the Prieft, which he threw into the
bore all the Sins of the People, which were drown'd with it
The Sweating Image fhakes his Head, but he
With mumbled Pray'rs attones the Deity.
The Pious Priesthood the fat Goofe receive,
And they once brib'd, the Godhead must forgive.
No fooner these remove, but full of Fear,
A Gypfie Jewess whispers in your Ear,
And begs an Alms: An High-Prieft's Daughter fhe,
Vers'd in their Talmud, and Divinity,
- And Prophecies beneath a fhady Tree.
Her Goods a Basket, and old Hay her Bed,
She ftrouls, and Telling Fortunes gains her Bread:
Farthings, and some small Monies, are her Fees;
Yet the Interprets all your Dreams for these.
Foretels th' Eftate, when the Rich Uncle dies,
And fees a Sweet-heart in the Sacrifice.
Such Toys, a Pidgeon's Intrails can disclose:
Which yet
th' Armenian Augur far out-goes:
In Dogs, a Victim more obfcene, he rakes;
And murder'd Infants for Inspection takes:
For Gain, his Impious Practice he pursues ;
For Gain will his Accomplices accufe.
More Credit, yet, is to 37 Chaldeans giv❜n;
What they foretel, is deem'd the Voice of Heav'n.
Their Anfwers, as from Hammon's Altar, come;
Since now the Delphian Oracles are dumb,
And Mankind, ignorant of future Fate,
Believes what fond Aftrologers relate.
Of these, the most in vogue.is he, who sent
Beyond Seas, is return'd from Banishment,
His Art who to 38 aspiring Othe fold;
And fure Succeffion to the Crown foretold.
For his Efteem is in his Exile plac'd ;
The more Believid, the more he was Difgrac'd.
37-Chaldaans are thought to the Empire; which was fore
have been the firft Aftrologers.
33 Osho fucceeded Galba.in
told him by an Aftrologer..
No Aftrologick Wizard Honour gains,
Who has not oft been banish'd, or in Chains.
He gets Renown, who, to the Halter near,
But narrowly escapes, and buys it dear.
From him your Wife enquires the Planets Will,
When the Black Jaundice fhall her Mother kill:
Her Sifter's and her Unkle's End, wou'd know:
But, first, confults his Art, when you shall go.
And, what's the greatest Gift that Heav'n can give,
If, after her, th' Adulterer fhall live.
She neither knows nor cares to know the rest;
If 39 Mars and Saturn fhall the World infeft;
Or fove and Venus with their Friendly Rays,
Will interpofe, and bring us better Days.
Beware the Woman too, and fhun her fight,
Who in these Studies does her felf delight,
By whom a greafie Almanack is born,
With often handling, like chaft Amber worn:
Not now confulting, but confulted, fhe
Of the Twelve Houses, and their Lords, is free.
She, if the Scheme a fatal Journey fhow,
Stays fafe at home, but lets her Husband
go.
If but a Mile fhe travel out of Town,
The Planetary Hour must first be known,
And lucky moment; if her Eye but akes
Or itches, its Decumbiture fhe takes.
No Nourishment receives in her Disease,
But what the Stars and 40 Ptolomy fhall please.
The middle fort, who have not much to fpare,
To Chiromancers cheaper Art repair,
Who clap the pretty Palm, to make the Lines more fair.)
39 Mars and Saturn are the two Unfortunate Planets; Jupiter and Venus, the two For
40 Ptolomy a Famous Aftrologer, an Egyptian,
But the Rich Matron, who has more to give,
Her Anfwers from the 41 Brachman will receive:
Skill'd in the Globe and Sphere, he gravely stands,
And, with his Compass, measures Seas and Lands.
The poorest of the Sex, have ftill an Itch
To know their Fortunes, equal to the Rich.
The Dairy-Maid enquires, if the fhall take
The trufty Taylor, and the Cook forfake.
Yet thefe, tho' Poor, the Pain of Child-bed bear;
And, without Nurfes, their own Infants rear:
You feldom hear of the rich Mantle, fpread
For the Babe, born in the great Lady's Bed.
Such is the Pow'r of Herbs; fuch Arts they use
To make them barren, or their Fruit to lose.
But thou, whatever Slops fhe will have bought,
Be thankful, and supply the deadly Draught:
Help her to make Man-flaughter; let her bleed,
And never want for Savin at her need.
For, if fhe holds 'till her Nine Months be run,
Thou may'st be Father to 42 an Ethiop's Son:
A Boy, who ready gotten to thy hands,
By Law is to inherit all thy Lands:
One of that hue, that fhou'd he cross the way,
His 43 Omen wou'd difcolour all the Day.
I pafs the Foundling by, a Race unknown,
At doors expos'd, whom Matrons make their own;
41 The Brachmans are Indian Philofophers, who remain to this day; and hold, after Py thagoras, the Tranflation of Souls from one Body to another.
42 His meaning is, help her to any kind of Slops, which may cause her to mifearry; for
fear fhe may be brought to Bed of a Blackmoor, which thou, being her Husband, art bound to Father; and that Baftard may by Law Inherit thy Estate.
43 The Romans thought it ominous to fee a Blackmoor in the Morning, if he were the first Man they met,
And into Noble Families advance
A Nameless Iffue, the blind work of Chance.
Indulgent Fortune does her Care employ,
And, fmiling, broods upon the Naked Boy:
Her Garment fpreads, and laps him in the Fold,
And covers with her Wings, from nightly Cold:
Gives him her Bleffing;, puts him in a way;
Sets
up
the Farce, and laughs at her own Play.
Him the promotes; fhe favours him alone,
And makes Provifion for him, as her own.
The craving Wife, the force of Magick tries,
And Philters for th' unable Husband buys:
The Potion works not on the part defign'd;
But turns his Brains, and ftupifies his Mind.
The fotted Moon-Calf gapes, and staring on,
Sees his own Bus'ness by another done:
A long Oblivion, a benumming Froft,
Conftrains his Head; and Yefterday is loft:
Some nimbler Juice wou'd make him foam and rave,
Like that 44 Cafonia to her Caius gave:
Who, plucking from the Forehead of the Fole
His Mother's Love, infus'd it in the Bowl:
The boiling Blood ran hiffing in his Veins,
Till the mad Vapour mounted to his Brains.
The 45 Thund'rer was not half fo much on Fire,
When Juno's Girdle kindled his Defire.
What Woman will not use the Pois'ning Trade,
When Cafar's Wife the Precedent has made?
44 Cafonia, Wife to Caius Caligula, the great Tyrant: "Tis faid fhe gave him a LovePotion, which flying up into his Head, diftracted him, and was the occafion of his committing fo many Acts of Cruelty.
45 The Story is in Homer; where Juno borrow'd the Girdle of Venus, call'd Ceftos; to make Jupiter in love with her, while the Grecians and Trojans were fighting, that he might not help the latter.
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