For him the rich Arabia fweats her Gum;
And precious Oils from diftant Indies come:
How Haggardly foe'er fhe looks at home.
Th' Eclipse then vanishes; and all her Face
Is open'd, and restor❜d to ev'ry Grace,

The Cruft remov'd, her Cheeks as smooth as Silk,
Are polish'd with a Wash of Affes Milk;
And fhou'd fhe to the fartheft North be fent,
A Train 3 of these attend her Banifhment.
But hadft thou seen her plaister'd up before,
"Twas fo unlike a Face, it feem'd a Sore.

'Tis worth our while, to know what all the Day
They do, and how they pass their Time away.
For, if o'er-night the Husband has been flack,
Or counterfeited Sleep, and turn'd his Back,
Next day, be fure, the Servants go to wrack.
The Chamber-maid and Dreffer are call'd Whores;
The Page is ftript, and beaten out of doors.
The whole House fuffers for the Mafter's Crime:
And he himself is warn'd to wake another time.
She hires Tormentors by the Year; fhe treats
Her Vifitors, and talks; but ftill fhe beats.
Beats while fhe paints her Face, furveys her Gown,
Cafts up the Day's Account, and still beats on :
Tir'd out, at length, with an outrageous Tone,
She bids 'em, in the Devil's Name, be gone.
Compar'd with fuch a proud, infulting Dame,
Sicilian 33 Tyrants may renounce their Name.
For, if she hastes abroad, to take the Air,

Or goes to Ifis' Church (the Bawdy-house of Pray's)
She hurries all her Handmaids to the Task;
Her Head, alone, will twenty Dreffers ask.

32 A Train of these. That is, of She-Affes.

33 Sicilian Tyrants, are grown

}

to a Proverb in Latin for their
Cruelty.

Pfecas,

4

Pfecas, the Chief, with Breast and Shoulders bare,
Trembling, confiders ev'ry facred Hair ;

If any Straggler from his Rank be found,
A Pinch muft, for the Mortal Sin, compound.
Pfecas is not in fault; But in the Glass,
The Dame's offended at her own ill Face.
The Maid is banish'd; and another Girl
More dex'trous, manages the Comb and Curl ;
The rest are fummon'd on a Point so nice;
And first, the grave old Woman gives Advice.
The next is call'd, and fo the turn goes round,
As each for Age, or Wisdom, is renown'd :
Such Counsel, fuch delib'rate Care they take,
As if her Life and Honour lay at stake:
With 34 Curls on Curls they build her Head before,
And mount it with a formidable Tow'r.
A Giantess fhe feems; but look behind,
And then she dwindles to the Pigmy kind.
Duck-leg'd, fhort-waifted, fuch a Dwarf fhe is,
That she must rife on Tip toes for a Kifs.
Mean while, her Husband's whole Estate is spent!
He may go bare, while the receives his Rent.
She minds him not; fhe lives not as a Wife,
But like a Bawling Neighbour, full of Strife:
Near him in this alone, that the extends
Her Hate to all his Servants and his Friends.

Bellona's Priefts, an Eunuch at their Head,
About the Streets a mad Proceffion lead;
The 3 5 Venerable Gelding, large, and high,
O'erlooks the Herd of his inferior Fry.
His aukward Clergymen about him prance;
And beat the Timbrels to their Mystick Dance.

34 This dreffing up the Head
fo high, which we call a Tow'r,
was an ancient way amongst
the Romans.

L

35 Bellona's Pricfts were a fort of Fortune-tellers,and the High-Prieft an Eunuch.

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 Prieftly Hire) they hafte
To expiate, and avert th' Autumnal Blaft.
And 36 add befide a murrey-colour'd Veft,
Which, in their places, may receive the Peft:
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 Arong,
On their bare Hands and Feet they crawl along
A whole Field's length, the Laughter of the Throng.
Shou'd Io (Io's Priest I mean) command
A Pilgrimage to Meröe's burning Sand,

Thro' Defarts they wou'd seek the secret Spring;
A Holy Water for Lustration bring.

How can they pay their Priests too much Respect,
Who trade with Heav'n, and Earthly Gains neglect ?
With him Domeftick Gods difcourfe by Night:
By Day, attended by his Choir in white,

The Bald-pate Tribe runs madding thro' the Street,
And smile 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 | Garment was given to the Prieft, which he threw into the

River; and that, they thought, bore all the Sins of the People, which were drown'd with it.

The

The Sweating Image shakes his Head, but he
With mumbled Pray'rs attones the Deity.
The Pious Priesthood the fat Goose receive,
And they once brib'd, the Godhead muft 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 she,
Vers'd in their Talmud, and Divinity,

And Prophefies beneath a fhady Tree.
Her Goods a Basket, and old Hay her Bed,
She ftrouls, and Telling Fortunes gains her Bread:
Farthings, and some fmall Monies are her Fees ;
Yet fhe 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 obscene, he rakes;
And murder'd Infants for Inspection takes:
For Gain his Impious Practice he pursues ;
For Gain will his Accomplices accuse.

More Credit, yet, is to 37 Chaldeans giv'n ;
What they foretel, is deem'd the Voice of Heav'n.
Their Answers, 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 thefe, the moft in vogue is he, who fent
Beyond Seas, is return'd from Banishment,
His Art who to 3 8 afpiring Othe fold;
And fure Succeffion to the Crown foretold.
For his Efteem is in his Exile plac'd;

The more Believ'd, the more he was Difgrac'd.

37 Chaldeans are thought to have been the firft Aftrologers. 38 Otho fucceeded Galba in

the Empire which was fore told him by an Aftrologer.

No

:

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 Uncle's End wou'd know :
But, first, consults 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 reft ;
If 39 Mars and Saturn fhall the World infeft;
Or Jove and Venus, with their Friendly Rays,
Will interpose, and bring us better Days.

Beware the Woman too, and shun her fight,
Who in thefe Studies does her self delight,
By whom a greafie Almanack is born,
With often handling, like chaft Amber, worn:
Not now confulting, but confulted, she
Of the Twelve Houses, and their Lords, is free.
She, if the Scheme a fatal Journey show,
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 Difeafe,
But what the Stars and 4° Ptolomy fhall please.
The middle fort, who have not much to spare,
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

tunate.

40 Ptolemy a Famous Aftrologer, an Egyptian.

But