Page:The poetical works of William Cowper (IA poeticalworksof00cowp).pdf/157

Rh From fancy's influence, and intemperate zeal, But above all (or let the wretch refrain, Nor touch the page he cannot but profane) Free from the domineering power of lust; A lewd interpreter is never just. How shall I speak thee, or thy power address, Thou God of our idolatry, the press? By thee, religion, liberty and laws Exert their influence, and advance their cause; By thee, worse plagues than Pharaoh's land befell, Diffus'd, make earth the vestibule of hell: Thou fountain, at which drink the good and wise, Thou ever-bubbling spring of endless lies, Like Eden's dread probationary tree, Knowledge of good and evil is from thee. No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest, Till half mankind were like himself possessed. Philosophers, who darken and put out Eternal truth by everlasting doubt, Church quacks, with passions under no command, Who fill the world with doctrines contraband, Discoverers of they know not what, confined Within no bounds, the blind that lead the blind, To streams of popular opinion drawn, Deposit in those shallows, all their spawn. The wriggling fry soon fill the creeks around, Poisoning the waters where their swarms abound; Scorned by the nobler tenants of the flood, Minnows and gudgeons gorge the unwholesome food. The propagated myriads spread so fast, Even Leuwenhoek himself would stand aghast, Employed to calculate the enormous sum, And own his crab-computing powers o'ercome. Is this Hyperbole? The world well known, Your sober thoughts will hardly find it one. Fresh confidence the speculatist takes From every hare-brained proselyte he makes, And therefore prints. Himself but half-deceived, 'Till others have the soothing tale believed. Hence comment after comment, spun as fine As bloated spiders draw the flimsy line. Hence the same word that bids our lusts obey, Is misapplied to sanctify their sway. If stubborn Greek refuse to be his friend, Hebrew or Syriac shall be forced to bend; If languages and copies all cry, No — Somebody proved it centuries ago. Like trout pursued, the critic in despair Darts to the mud and finds his safety there. Women, whom custom has forbid to fly The scholar's pitch (the scholar best knows why) With all the simple and unlettered poor,