CANTO II.]
HUDIBRAS.
379
And if he take you into trust,
Will find you most exactly just,
Such as will punctually repay 1285
With double int'rest, and betray.
Not that I think those pantomimes,
Who vary action with the times,
Are less ingenious in their art,
Than those who dully act one part; 1290
Or those who turn from side to side,
More guilty than the wind and tide.
All countries are a wise man's home,
And so are governments to some.
Who change them for the same intrigues 1295
That statesmen use in breaking leagues;
While others in old faiths and troths
Look odd, as out-of-fashion'd clothes,
And nastier in an old opinion,
Than those who never shift their linen. 1300
For true and faithful's sure to lose,
Which way soever the game goes;
And whether parties lose or win,
Is always nick'd, or else hedg'd in:[1]
While pow'r usurp'd, like stol'n delight, 1305
Is more bewitching than the right:
And when the times begin to alter,
None rise so high as from the halter.
And so we may, if we 've but sense
To use the necessary means, 1310
And not your usual stratagems
On one another, lights, and dreams:
To stand on terms as positive,
As if we did not take, but give:
Set up the Covenant on crutches, 1315
'Gainst those who have us in their clutches,
And dream of pulling churches down,
Before we 're sure to prop our own:
Your constant method of proceeding,
Without the carnal means of heeding, 1320
Will find you most exactly just,
Such as will punctually repay 1285
With double int'rest, and betray.
Not that I think those pantomimes,
Who vary action with the times,
Are less ingenious in their art,
Than those who dully act one part; 1290
Or those who turn from side to side,
More guilty than the wind and tide.
All countries are a wise man's home,
And so are governments to some.
Who change them for the same intrigues 1295
That statesmen use in breaking leagues;
While others in old faiths and troths
Look odd, as out-of-fashion'd clothes,
And nastier in an old opinion,
Than those who never shift their linen. 1300
For true and faithful's sure to lose,
Which way soever the game goes;
And whether parties lose or win,
Is always nick'd, or else hedg'd in:[1]
While pow'r usurp'd, like stol'n delight, 1305
Is more bewitching than the right:
And when the times begin to alter,
None rise so high as from the halter.
And so we may, if we 've but sense
To use the necessary means, 1310
And not your usual stratagems
On one another, lights, and dreams:
To stand on terms as positive,
As if we did not take, but give:
Set up the Covenant on crutches, 1315
'Gainst those who have us in their clutches,
And dream of pulling churches down,
Before we 're sure to prop our own:
Your constant method of proceeding,
Without the carnal means of heeding, 1320
- ↑ Nick is a winning throw. Hedge is to protect by a counteracting bet or set-off; a familiar betting term on the turf.
