Thou that with Ale or viler Liquors,
Didft infpire Withers, Pryn, and Vicars,
And force them, though it were in spight
Of Nature, and their Stars, to write;
Who, as we find in fullen Writs,
And cross-grain'd Works of modern Wits,
With Vanity, Opinion, Want,
The Wonder of the Ignorant,
The Praises of the Author, Pen'd
B' himself, or Wit-enfuring Friend;
The Itch of Picture in the Front,
With Bays, and wicked Rhyme upon't,
All that is left o'th' forked Hill
To make Men fcribble without Skill
Canft make a Poet fpight of Fate,
And teach all People to translate;
Though out of Languages in which
They understand no Part of Speech..
Affist me but this once, I'mplore,
And I fhall trouble thee no more:
In Western Clime there is a Town
To thofe that dwell therein well known.
Therefore there needs no more be fed here,
We unto them refer our Reader:
For brevity is very good,
When w' are or are not understood.
To this Town People did repair
On Days of Market, or of Fair;
And to crack'd Fiddle, and hoarse Tabor,
In Merriment did drudge and labor:
But now a Sport more formidable
Had rak'd together Village Rabble;
Twas an old way of Recreating,
Which learned Butchers call Bear-Baiting,
A bold advent'rous Exercife,
With ancient Hero's in high Prize;
For Authors do affirm it came
From Ifthmian, or Nemean Game.
Others derive it from the Bear
That's fixt in Northern Hemifphere,
And round about the Pole does make
A Circle, like a Bear at Stake;
That at the Chain's End wheels about,
And over-turns the Rabble-Rout,
For after Solemn Proclamation
In the Bear's Name (as is the fashion,
According to the Law of Arms,
To keep Men from inglorious Harms)
That none prefume to come fo near
As forty Foot of Stake of Bear;
If any yet be fo fool-hardy,
T'expofe themselves to vain Jeopardy;
If they come wounded off and lame,
No Honour's got by fuch a Maim,
Although the Bear gain much, b'ing bound
In Honour to make good his Ground,
When he's engag'd, and take no notice,
any prefs upon him, who 'tis,
But lets them know at their own Coft
That he intends to keep his Poft.
This to prevent, and other Harms,
Which always wait on Feats of Arms,
(For in the Hurry of a Fray
'Tis hard to keep out of Harm's way) Thither the Knight his courfe did steer, To keep the Peace 'twixt Dog and Bear ;
As he believ'd he was bound to do mo
In Confcience and Commiffion too. ofan. And therefore thus bespoke the Squire;
We that are wifely mounted higher good Than Conftables in Curule Wit,
Like Speculators fhould forefee,
When on Tribunal Bench we fit,
From Pharos of Authority,
Portended Mischiefs farther then
Low Proletarian Tything-Men.
And therefore being inform'd by Brutė, poli
That Dog and Bear are to difpute;ocol
For fo of late Men fighting name,por
Because they often prove the fame
(For where the firft does hap to be,
The laft does coincidere.)
Quantum in nobis, have thought good,
To fave th' Expence of Christian Blood,
And try if we by Mediation
Of Treaty and Accommodation,
Can end the Quarrel, and compose
The bloudy Duel, without Blows."
Are not our Liberties, our Lives,
The Laws, Religion, and our Wives,
Enough at once to lye at ftake
For Cov❜nant and the Caufe's Sake?
But in that Quarrel Dogs and Bears,
As well as we muft venture theirs?
This Feud by Jefuifts invented,
By evil Counsel is fomented;
There is a Machiavilian Plot,
(Though ev'ry Nare olfact it not)
A deep Design in't to divide
The well affected that confide,
By fetting Brother againft Brother,
To claw and curry one another.
Have we not Enemies plus fatis,
That Cane & Angue pejus hate us ?.
And shall we turn our Fangs and Claws
Upon our own felves without Cause?
That fome occult Design doth ly
In bloudy Cynar&tomachy,
Is plain enough to him that knows
How Saints lead Brothers by the Nose.
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