Alone fhe walk'd, and lock'd around in vain,
With rueful vifage, for her vanith'd train :
None of her fylvan fubjects made their court;
Levees and couchees pafs without refort.
So hardly can ufurpers manage well
Thofe whom they firft inftructed to rebel.
More liberty begets defire of more;
The hunger ftill increafes with the ftore.
Without reipect they bruth'd along the wood
Each in his clan, and, fill'd with loathfome food,
Afk'd no permiffion to the neighbouring flood.
The Panther, full of inward difcontent,
Since they would go, before 'em wifely went;
Supplying want of pow'r by drinking first,
As if she gave 'em leave to quench their thirst.
Among the reft, the Hind, with fearful face,
Beheld from far the common wat'ring place,
Nor durft approach; 'till with an awful rear
The fov'reign lion bad her fear no more.
Encourag'd thus fhe brought her younglings nigh,
Watching the motions of her patron's eye,
And drank a fober draught; the reft amaz'd
Stood mutely ftill, and on the ftranger gaz'd;
Survey'd her part by part, and fought to find
The ten horn'd, monfter in the harmlefs Hind,
Such as the Wolf and Panther had defign'd.
They thought at first 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 faultlets object full in view,
Lord, how they all admir'd her heav'nly hue!
Some, who before her fellowship difdain'd,
Scarce, and but fcarce, from in-born rage reftrain'd,
Now frifk'd about her, and old kindred feign'd.
Whether for love or int'reft, every sect
Of all the favage nation fhew'd refpect.
The vice-roy Panther could not awe the herd;
The more the company, the lefs they fear'd.
The furly Wolf with fecret envy burst,
Yet could not howl; the Hind had feen him first:
But what he durft not fpeak, the Panther durit.
For when the herd, fuffic'd, did late repair
To ferny heaths, and to their foreft lare,
She made a mannerly excufe to stay,
Prof'ring the Hind to wait her half the way:
That, fince the iky 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 plot.
Yet wond'ring how of late the grew eltrang'd,
Her forehead cloudy, and her count'nance chang'd,
She thoug at this hour th' occafion would prefent
To learn er fecret caufe of difcontent,
Which, won the hop'd, might be with eafe redrefs'd,
Confidering her a well-red civil beaft,
And more a gentlewoman than the reft.
After fome common talk what rumours ran,
The lady of the ipotted-muff began..
DAME, fad the Panther, times are mended well,
Since late among the Philistines you fell,
The toils were pitch'd, a spacious track of ground
With expert huntsmen was encompass'd round;
Th' inclofure narrow'd; the fagacious pow'r
Of hounds, and death, drew nearer ev'ry hour.
'Tis true, the younger Lion scap'd the snare,
But all your priestly calves lay struggling there;
As facrifices on their altars laid;
While you their careful mother wifely fled,
Not trusting destiny to fave your head.
For whate'er promifes 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 rev'rence of the miracle,
The better luck was yours to fcape fo well.
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 speak the worst)
Because fome forms, and ceremonies fome
You kept, and stood in the main question dumb.
Dumb you were born indeed, but thinking long
The teft it seems at last has loos'd your tongue.
And to explain what your forefathers meant,
By real prefence in the facrament,
(After long fencing pufh'd against a wall)
Your falvo comes, that he's not there at all:
There chang'd your faith, and what may change
may fall.
Who can believe, what varies every day,
Nor ever was, nor will be at a fstay?
Tortures may force the tongue untruths to tell,
And I ne'er own'd myself infallible,
Reply'd the Panther: Grant fuch prefence 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 Efop'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 still.
I freely grant you spoke to fave your life;
For then you lay beneath the butcher's knife.
Long time you fought, redoubl'd batt'ry bore,
But, after all, against yourself you fwore;
Your former felf; for every hour your form
Is chop'd and chang'd, like winds before a storm.
Thus fear and int'reft 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 canon, dame, is leveil'd full at you.
But, fhunning long difputes, I fain would fee
That wondrous wight infallibility.
Is he from heav'n, 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 (though I disown it) faid the Hind,
The certain manfion were not yet affign'd:
The doubtful refidence no proof can bring
Against the plain existence of the thing.
Becaufe philofophers may difagree,
If fight b' emiffion or reception be,
Shall it be thence inferr'd I do not fee?
But you require an answer positive,
Which yet, when I demand, you dare not give;
1 or fallacies in univerfals live.
1 then affirm that this unfailing guide
In pope and general councils must refide;
Eoth lawful, both combin'd; what one decrees
By numerous votes, the other ratifies :
On this undoubted fenfe the church relics.
'Tis true, fome doctors in a fcantier space,
I mean, in each apart, contract the place.
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