136
UPON AN HYPOCRITICAL
XI.
For as a Turk, that is to act some Crime
Against his Prophet's holy Law,
Is wont to bid his Soul withdraw,
And leave his Body for a Time:
So, when some horrid Action's to be done,
Our Turkish Proselite puts on
Another Spirit, and lays by his own;
And when his over-heated Brain
Turns giddy, like his Brother Mussulman,[1]
He's judg'd inspir'd, and all his Frenzies hold
To be prophetic, and reveal'd.
The one believes all Madmen to be Saints,[2]
Which th' other crys him down for, and abhors,
And yet in Madness all Devotion plants,
And where he differs most concurs;
Both equally exact and just
In Perjury, and Breach of Trust;
So like in all Things, that one Brother
Is but a Counterpart of th' other;
For as a Turk, that is to act some Crime
Against his Prophet's holy Law,
Is wont to bid his Soul withdraw,
And leave his Body for a Time:
So, when some horrid Action's to be done,
Our Turkish Proselite puts on
Another Spirit, and lays by his own;
And when his over-heated Brain
Turns giddy, like his Brother Mussulman,[1]
He's judg'd inspir'd, and all his Frenzies hold
To be prophetic, and reveal'd.
The one believes all Madmen to be Saints,[2]
Which th' other crys him down for, and abhors,
And yet in Madness all Devotion plants,
And where he differs most concurs;
Both equally exact and just
In Perjury, and Breach of Trust;
So like in all Things, that one Brother
Is but a Counterpart of th' other;
- ↑ And when his overheated Brain,—Turns giddy, like his Brother Mussulman.] This alludes to the Turkish Dervis, who at his Devotions keeps turning round till he grows giddy, and then fancies his wild incoherent Whimsies to be the Effects of Inspiration.
- ↑ The one believes all Madmen to be Saints] Besides their implicit Faith in the Deliriums of the crack-brain'd Dervis, the Turks also look'd upon all Ideots to be a sort of Saints.
With
