Encourag'd thus fhe brought her younglings nigh,
Watching the motions of her patron's eye,
And drank a fober draught; the rest amaz'd
Stood mutely fill, and on the ftranger gaz'd;
Survey'd her part by part, and fought to find
The ten-horn'd monfter in the harmless Hind,
Such as the Wolf and Panther had defign'd.
They thought at firft they dream'd; for 'twas offence
With them, to queftion certitude of fenfe,
Their guide in faith: but nearer when they drew,
And had the faultless obje& full in view,
Lord, how they all admir'd her heavenly hue!
Some, who before her fellowship difdain'd,
Scarce, and but fcarce, from in-born rage
reftrain'd,
Now frisk'd about her, and old kindred feign'd.
Whether for love or intereft, every fect
Of all the favage nation fhew'd respect.
The viceroy Panther could not awe the herd;
The more the company, the lefs they fear'd.
The furly Wolf with fecret envy burft,
Yet could not howl; the Hind had feen him first:
But what he durft not speak, the Panther durft.
For when the herd, fuffic'd, did late repair,
To ferney heaths, and to their foreft lare,
She made a mannerly excufe to stay,
Proffering the Hind to wait her half the way:
That, fince the fky was clear, an hour of talk
Might help her to beguile the tedious walk.
With much good-will the motion was embrac'd,
To chat a while on their adventures pafs'd:
Nor had the grateful Hind fo foon forgot
Her friend and fellow-fufferer in the 8 plot.
8 The popish plot; the contrivers of which were Prefbyterians, Latetudinarians, and Republicans, who had before fhewn themfelves enemies to the Proteftant, as well as the Popish Church.
Yet wond'ring how of late fhe grew eftrang'd,
Her forehead cloudy, and her count'nance chang'd,
She thought this hour th' occcafion would prefent
To learn her fecret cause of discontent,
Which well the hop'd, might be with ease redress'd,
Confidering her a well-bred civil beast,
And more a gentlewoman than the rest.
After fome common talk what rumours ran,
The lady of the spotted-muff began.
AME, faid the Panther, times are mended well,
Since I late among the Philistines you fell.
The toils were pitch'd, a fpacious tract of ground
With expert huntsmen was encompass'd round;
Th' inclosure narrow'd; the fagacious power
Of hounds and death drew nearer every hour.
'Tis true, 2 the younger lion fcap'd the fnare,
But all your 3 priestly calves lay struggling there;
As facrifices on their altars laid;
While you their careful mother wifely fled,
Not trufting deftiny to fave your head.
For whate'er promises you have apply'd
To your unfailing church, the furer fide
Is four fair legs in danger to provide.
And whate'er tales of Peter's chair you tell,
Yet, faving reverence of the miracle,
The better luck was yours to fcape so well.
1 By the Philistines- -are meant the Cromwellians &c. 2 By the younger lion-is meant Charles the Second. 3 But all your priefly carves lay fruggling there. This alludes to the Commons voting in 1641 that all Deans, Chapters, &c, should be abolished.
As I remember, faid the fober Hind,
Those toils were for your own dear felf defign'd,
As well as me; and with the felf-fame throw,
To catch the quarry and the vermin too,
Forgive the fland'rous tongues that call'd you fo
Howe'er you take it now, the common cry
Then ran you down for your
rank loyalty.
Befides, in Popery they thought you nurst,
As evil tongues will ever fpeak the worst,
Because fome forms, and ceremonies fome
You kept, and flood in the main question dumb.
Dumb you were born indeed; but thinking long
The teft 4 it feems at laft has loos'd your tongue.
And to explain what your forefathers meant,
By real prefence in the facrament,
After long fencing push'd against a wall,
Your falvo comes, that he's not there at all:
There chang'd your faith, and what may change may
Who can believe what varies every day,
Nor ever was, nor will be at a stay?
Tortures may force the tongue untruths to tell,
And I ne'er own'd myself infallible,
Reply'd the Panther: grant fuch presence were,
Yet in your fenfe I never own'd it there.
A real virtue we by faith receive,
And that we in the facrament believe.
Then faid the Hind, as you the matter ftate,
Not only Jefuits can equivocate;
For real, as you now the word expound,
From folid fubftance dwindles to a found.
Methinks an Esop's fable you repeat;
You know who took the fhadow for the meat:
Your church's fubftance thus you change at will,
And yet retain your former figure ftill.
4 The teft-act pass'd in 1672, enjoined the abjuration of the real prefence in the facrament.
I freely grant you spoke to save your life;
For then you lay beneath the butcher's knife.
Long time you fought, redoubled battery bore,
But, after all, against your felf you swore;
Your former felf: for every hour your form
Is chopp'd and chang'd, like winds before a ftorm.
Thus fear and intereft will prevail with fome;
For all have not the gift of martyrdom.
The Panther grin'd at this, and thus reply'd:
That men may err was never yet deny'd.
But, if that common principle be true,
The cannon, dame, is levell'd full at you.
But, fhunning long difputes, I fain would fee
That wond'rous wight Infallibility.
Is he from heaven, this mighty champion, come:
Or lodg❜d below in fubterranean Rome ?
First, feat him fomewhere, and derive his race,
Or elfe conclude that nothing has no place.
Suppofe, tho' I difown it, faid the Hind,
The certain mansion were not yet affign'd:
The doubtful refidence no proof can bring
Against the plain existence of the thing.
Because philofophers may difagree,
If fight be emiffion or reception be,
Shall it be thence inferr'd, I do not fee?
But you require an answer pofitive,
Which yet, when I demand, you dare not give;
For fallacies in univerfals live.
I then affirm that this unfailing guide
In pope and general councils must refide;
Both lawful, both combin'd: what one decrees
By numerous votes, the other ratifies:
On this undoubted fenfe the church relies.
'Tis true, fome doctors in a fcantier space,
I mean, in each apart, contract the place.
Some, who to greater length extend the line,
The church's after-acceptation join.
This laft circumference appears too wide;
The church diffus'd is by the council ty'd ;
As members, by their reprefentatives
Oblig'd to laws, which prince and fenate gives.
Thus fome contract, and fome enlarge the space:
In pope and council who denies the place,
Affifted from above with God's unfailing grace?
Those canons all the needful points contain ;
Their sense so obvious, and their words fo plain,
That no difputes about the doubtful text
Have hitherto the labouring world perplex'd.
If any fhould in after-times appear,
New councils must be call'd, to make the meaning clear:
Because in them the power fupreme refides;
And all the promifes are to the guides. "
This may be taught with found and fafe defence:
But mark how sandy is your own pretence,
Who, fetting councils, pope and church afide,
Are every man his own prefuming guide.
The facred books, you fay, are full and plain,
And every needful point of truth contain:
All who can read interpreters may be:
Thus, tho' your feveral churches disagree,
Yet every faint has to himself alone
The fecret of this philofophic ftone.
Thefe principles your jarring fects unite,
When differing doctors and difciples fight.
Tho' Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, holy chiefs,
Have made a battle royal of beliefs;
Or like wild horses several ways have whirl'd
The tortur'd text about the chriftian world;
Each Jehu lafhing on with furious force,
That Turk or Jew could not have us'd it worse;
No matter what diffenfion leaders make,
Where ev'ry private man may fave a stake:
Rul'd by the fcripture and his own advice,
Each has a blind bye-path to Paradife;
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