Page:The Compositions in Prose and Verse of Mr. John Oldham.djvu/153

Cog, sham, outface, deny, equirocate.
Into a thousand Shapes yourselves translate:
Remember what the crafty Spartan taught,
Children with Rattles, Men with Oaths are caught:
Forswear upon the Rack, and if you fall,
Let this great Comfort make amends for all,
Those whom they damn for Rogues, next Age shall see
Made Advocates i'th' Churches Litany.
Whoever with bold Tongue or Pen shall dare
Against your Arts and Practices declare;
What Fool shall e'er presumptuously oppose,
Your holy Cheats and godly Frauds disclose;
Pronounce him Heretick, Fire-brand of Hell,
Turk, Jew. Fiend, Miscreant, Pagan, Infidel;
A thousand blacker Names, worse Calumnies,
All Wit can think, and pregnant Spite devise:
Strike home, gash deep, no Lies nor Slanders spare,
A Wound, tho' cur'd, yet leaves behind a Scar.
Those, whom your Wit and Reason can't decry,
Make scandalous with Loads of Infamy:
Make Luther Monster, by a Fiend begot.
Brought forth with Wings, and Tail, and cloven Foot:
Make Whoredom, Incest, worst of Vice, and Shame,
Pollute and foul his Manners, Life, and Name.