Page:Hudibras - Volume 1 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/281

CANTO II.] Is't not ridiculous, and nonsense, A saint should be a slave to conscience? That ought to be above such fancies, As far as above ordinances? She's of the wicked, as I guess, B' her looks, her language, and her dress: And tho', like constables, we search For false wares one another's church; Yet all of us hold this for true, No faith is to the wicked due. For truth is precious and divine, Too rich a pearl for carnal swine. Quoth Hudibras, All this is true, Yet 'tis not fit that all men knew Those mysteries and revelations: And therefore topical evasions Of subtle turns, and shifts of sense. Serve best with th' wicked for pretence; Such as the learned Jesuits use, And Presbyterians, for excuse