Page:Hudibras - Volume 1 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/212

130 Has no such power, ergo 'tis none; And so thy sophistry's o'erthrown. But yet we are beside the question Which thou didst raise the first contest on: For that was, Whether bears are better Than synod-men? I say, Negatur. That bears are beasts, and synods men, Is held by all: they're better then, For bears and dogs on four legs go, As beasts; but synod-men on two. 'Tis true, they all have teeth and nails; But prove that synod-men have tails: Or that a rugged, shaggy fur Grows o'er the hide of presbyter; Or that his snout and spacious ears Do hold proportion with a bear's. A bear's a savage beast, of all Most ugly and unnatural, Whelp'd without form, until the dam Has lickt it into shape and frame: 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 dost further yet in this Oppugn thyself and sense; that is, Thou would'st have presbyters to go For bears and dogs, and bearwards too; A strange chimæra of beasts and men, Made up of pieces het'rogene; Such as in nature never met, In codem subjecto yet.