70
SATYR.
The one to mow vast Crowds of People down,
10 The other (as then needless) half the Town;
And two as mighty Miracles restore,
What both had ruin'd and destroy'd before:
In all as unconcern'd, as if th' had been
But Pastimes for Diversion to be seen.
15 Or, like the Plagues of Ægypt, meant a Curse,
Not to reclaim us, but to make us worse.
Twice have Men turn'd the World (that silly Blockhead!)
The wrong Side outward, like a Jugler's Pocket,
Shook out Hypocrisy, as fast and loose,
20 As e're the Dev'l could teach, or Sinners use,
And on the other Side at once put in
As impotent Iniquity,[1] and Sin.
As Sculls, that have been crack'd, are often found
Upon the wrong Side to receive the Wound,
25 And, like Tobacco-pipes at one End hit,
To break at th'other still that's opposite:
10 The other (as then needless) half the Town;
And two as mighty Miracles restore,
What both had ruin'd and destroy'd before:
In all as unconcern'd, as if th' had been
But Pastimes for Diversion to be seen.
15 Or, like the Plagues of Ægypt, meant a Curse,
Not to reclaim us, but to make us worse.
Twice have Men turn'd the World (that silly Blockhead!)
The wrong Side outward, like a Jugler's Pocket,
Shook out Hypocrisy, as fast and loose,
20 As e're the Dev'l could teach, or Sinners use,
And on the other Side at once put in
As impotent Iniquity,[1] and Sin.
As Sculls, that have been crack'd, are often found
Upon the wrong Side to receive the Wound,
25 And, like Tobacco-pipes at one End hit,
To break at th'other still that's opposite:
- ↑ 22. As impotent Iniquity.] The Term impotent is here used in the Latin Sense of it for ungovernable or unrestrained.—So Horace says Aquila impotens.
the Kingdom. The City was rebuilt in a very little Time; and Care was taken to make the Streets wider and more regular than before.—London became much more healthy after the Fire. The Plague, which used to break out with great Fury twice or thrice every Century, and indeed was always lurking in some Corner of the City, has not once discovered itself since that Calamity."
23. As
