But all thy Light can ne'er evict
That ever Synod-man was lickt ;
Or brought to any other Fashion
Than his own Will and Inclination.
But thou doft further yet in this
Oppugn thy felf and fenfe, that is,
Thou wouldst have Prefbyters to go
For Bears and Dogs and Bearwards too;
A ftrange Chimera of Beafts and Men,
Made up of pieces Heterogene,

Such as in Nature never met

In eodem Subjecto yet.

Thy other Arguments are all

Suppofures, Hypothetical,

That do but beg, and we may chufe
Either to grant them, or refuse.

Much thou haft faid; which I know when,
And where, thou ftol'ft from other Men,

(Whereby 'tis Plain thy Light and Gifts Are all but plagiary shifts;)

And is the fame that Ranter fed,

Who arguing with me, broke my head,

And tore a handful of my Beard
The felf-fame Cavils then I heard,
When b'ing in hot difpute about
This Controverfie, we fell out;

And what thou know'ft I answer'd then,
Will ferve to answer thee agen:

Quoth Ralpho, Nothing but th' Abuse
Of Humane Learning you produce ;
Learning, that Cobweb of the Brain,
Profane, erroneous, and vain;

A Trade of Knowledge as replete

As others are with Fraud and Cheat:

An Art t' incumber Gifts and Wit,

And render both for nothing fit
;

Makes Light unactive, dull and troubled,
Like little David in Saul's Doublet :
A Cheat that Scholars put upon
Other Mens Reafon and their own;
A Fort of Error, to ensconce
Abfurdity and Ignorance;

That renders all the Avenues
To Truth, impervious and abftrufe,

By

By making plain things, in debate,
By Art, perplext and intricate :
For nothing goes for Senfel or Light
That will not with old Rules jump right.
As if Rules were not in the Schools co
Deriv'd from Truth, but Truth from Rules.
This Pagan, Heathenish Invention At LA
Is good for nothing but Contention. ZLOTA
For as in Sword-and-Buckler Fight,
All blows do on the Target light:
So when Men argue, the great'ft part
O'th' Contest falls on Terms of Art,
Until the Fuftian ftuff be spent,

And then they fall to th' Argument.

Quoth Hudibras, Friend Ralph, thou hast Out-run the Constable at laft ;

For thou art fallen on a new

Difpute, as fenfelefs as untrue,
But to the former oppofite,
And contrary as black to white ;
Mere Difparata, That concerning
Prefbytery, This Human Learning;

To things s'averfe, they never yet
But in thy rambling fancy met.
But I fhall take a fit occafion

T'evince thee by Ratiocination,

Some other time, in place more proper
Than this w' are in: Therefore let's ftop here,
And reft our weary'd Bones a while,
Already tir'd with other Toil.

Anno

B

Ind over to the the Seffions, as being a Juftice of the Peace in his Country, as well as Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, in the Parliament's Army, and a CommitteeMan,

Idem 3,

As Montaigne playing with his Cat.

Montaigne in his Effays fuppofes his Cat thought him a Fool, for lofing his time in playing with her.

Idem 4.

Profoundly fkill'd in Analytique. Analytique is a part of Logick, that teaches to decline and conftrue Reafon, as Granmar does Words,

M 3

Ide n