A thimble, bodkin, and a spoon,
Did start up living men, as soon570
As in the furnace they were thrown,
Just like the dragon's teeth b'ing sown.[1]
Then was the Cause all gold and plate,
The brethren's off'rings consecrate.
Like th' Hebrew calf, and down before it575
The saints fell prostrate, to adore it.[2]
So say the wicked—and will you
Make that sarcasmous scandal true,
By running after dogs and bears,
Beasts more unclean than calves or steers?580
Have pow'rful Preachers ply'd their tongues,[3]
And laid themselves out, and their lungs;
Us'd all means, both direct and sinister,
I' th' power of gospel-preaching minister?
Have they invented tones, to win585
The women, and make them draw in
The men, as Indians with a female
Tame elephant inveigle the male?
Have they told Prov'dence what it must do,[4]
Whom to avoid, and whom to trust to?590
Discover'd th' enemy's design,
And which way best to countermine?
Prescrib'd what ways he hath to work,
Or it will ne'er advance the Kirk?
- ↑ Alluding to the fable of Cadmus; Ovid's Metamorphoses, iii. 106 (Bohn's Translation, page 85).
- ↑ Exod. xxxii.
- ↑ Calamy, Case, and other Puritan preachers, exhorted their flocks, in the most moving terms and tones, to contribute their money towards the support of the parliament army, using such terms as "happy money that will purchase religion," "All ye that have contributed to the Parliament, come and take this sacrament to your comfort."
- ↑ Alluding to the profane familiarity which characterized the prayers of the most violent of the Presbyterian ministers and leaders. Grey says it was a common practice to inform God of the transactions of the times. And for those that were 'grown up in grace' it was thought comely enough to take a great chair at the end of the table, and sit with cocked hats on their heads, to say: "God, we thought it not amiss to call upon Thee this evening and let Thee know how affairs stand; we do somewhat long to hear from Thee, and if thou pleasest to give us such and such victories, we shall be good to Thee in something else when it lies in our way."
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