POLITICIANS.
All the politics of the great
Are like the cunning of a cheat,
That lets his false dice freely run,
And trusts them to themselves alone,
But never lets a true one stir,
Without some fingering trick or slur;
And, when the gamester doubts his play,
Conveys his false dice safe away,
And leaves the true ones in the lurch
T' endure the torture of the search.
FEAR.
There needs no other charm, nor conjurer
To raise infernal spirits up, but fear;
That makes men pull their horns in, like a snail
That's both a pris'ner to itself, and jail;
Draws more fantastic shapes, than in the grains
Of knotted wood, in some men's crazy brains;
When all the cocks they think they see, and bulls,
Are only in the insides of their skulls.
THE LAW.
The law can take a purse in open court
While it condemns a less delinquent for't.
THE SAME.
Who can deserve, for breaking of the laws,
A greater penance than an honest cause.
THE SAME.
All those that do but rob and steal enough,
Are punishment and court-of-justice proof,
And need not fear, nor be concerned a straw
In all the idle bugbears of the law;
But confidently rob the gallows too,
As well as other sufferers, of their due.