Drew several gifted brethren in,
That for the bishops would have been,
And fix'd them constant to the Party, 785
With motives powerful and hearty:
Their husbands robb'd and made hard shifts
T' administer unto their gifts
All they could rap, and rend,[1] and pilfer,
To scraps and ends of gold and silver; 790
Rubb'd down the teachers, tir'd and spent
With holding forth for Parliament;[2]
Pamper'd and edify' d their zeal
With marrow puddings many a meal:
Enabled them, with store of meat, 795
On controverted points to eat:[3]
And cramm'd them till their guts did ache,
With caudle, custard, and plum-cake.
AV^hat have they done, or what left undone,
That might advance the Cause at London? 800
March' d rank and file, with drum and ensign,
T' entrench the city for defence in;
Rais'd rampires with their own soft hands,[4]
To put the enemy to stands;
Prom ladies down to oyster-wenches 805
Labour'd like pioneers in trenches,
Pell to their pick-axes and tools,
And help'd the men to dig like moles?
- ↑ Var. "Rap and run" in the first four editions.
- ↑ Dr Echard thus describes these preachers: "coiners of new phrases, drawers out of long godly words, thick pourers out of texts of Scripture, mimical squeakers and bellowers, vain-glorious admirers only of themselves, and those of their own fashioned face and gesture: such as these shall be followed and worshipped, shall have their bushels of China oranges, shall be solaced with all manner of cordial essences and elixirs, and shall be rubbed down with Holland often shillings an ell." See also Spectator, p. 46.
- ↑ That is, to eat plentifully of dainties, of which they would sometimes controvert the lawfulness to eat at all.
- ↑ When London was expected to be attacked, and in several sieges during the civil war, the women, even the ladies of rank and fortune, not only encouraged the men, and supplied them handsomely with provisions, but worked with their own hands in digging and raising fortifications. Lady Middlesex, Lady Foster, Lady Anne Waller, and Mrs Dunch, have been particularly celebrated for their activity. The Knight's learned harangue is here archly interrupted by the manual wit of one who hits him in the eye with a rotten egg.
