Canidia, or, The witches a rhapsody, in five parts / by R.D.

CANTO XIII.

The Question is, Which is worse, A Diabolical or Human Curse? Devils have most strength of Arm; But Wicked men shall do most harm. The Devils Malice never dies; But the resisted Coward flies. Men never cease to Hate or Spoil, 'Tis hard to give them the Foil.

Devils can hurt us without hands; But cannot cheat us of our Lands, Nor force us to obey their Commands, And we do put them to many stands. Devils can flatter, tempt and kill: But not without, nor against our Will. They that do with Spirits deal, (Shadows that neither see nor feel;) Find they can only fright and fear; But Flesh and Blood do's gripe and tear.

Devils have more Wit and Manners, Than such hypocritical Trepanners. They contrive mischief more freely, And act their Villanies more Gentilely. Devils keep Principles; Men deny Just and Unjust Morality. Great and Little are truly mated, Good and Bad must be related.

Spirits are bounded and kept in; 'Tis Men wade through thick and thin.

When was the Devil so forlorn, To Blaspheme, or be Forsworn? The Devil holds Religion; Men deny it: He fears Justice; but They defie it.

The Savage Beasts do us little harm, The rest feed us and keep us warm. Now and then Devils may tempt us, And ugly Witches may Torment us: Pilfering Neighbours may Poll us, And some angry Folk controll us; But the Designing men annoy us, Undermine us and de••stoy us. Devils Incarnate Mortals fright, More than pure Spirits of greater Might.

'Tis the close Intriguing Party; Ravening, Proud, and never Hearty: But that for these we might do well, For all the Devils in Hell. Those are Disturbers of the Peace, None can keep their own, or live at ease. For a Witch there is a Spell, And Charms to conjure those in Hell: But a fair Tongue, and Sting in Tail, There is no Fence for a Flayl.

The Prime Devils are Chain'd i'th' dark▪ The Petty ones run about and shark. We pick them up, as idle Blades, And choose them for our Camrades. These are the Pugs that haunt Rooms, And walk in Melancholy Tombs: We send them to kill Poultry, Hogs and Pigs, At merry Meetings to dance Jiggs.

To make merry, or make sad; Sometimes, if need be, to make mad.

But a vexatious, angry Wizard, That's troubled with the grumbling o'th' Gizzard; Deals in Tempests, Fires or Floods, That consume mens Lives and Goods. Counterfeit Wares, Bonds, Wills and Deeds, Turns and winds Covenants and Creeds. Oaths can stand him in no stead, 'Tis nothing to make poor Hearts bleed.

Rake for Estates, and tear the ground, Purchase all that can be found. Ravish Mannors, Rifle Farms, Take-in Commons without Charms. Plunder Abbies, Chantries, Cells, Where Jewels, Gold, and Silver dwells. Cottages, Villages cannot escape, He makes an universal Rape.

Whole Families Cries and Tears, Never enter into his Ears: He is no more concern'd in Losses, Than the Stone-Statues upon Crosses. How so e're you seem to grutch us, You may be far safer in our Clutches. And 'twas ever took for granted, By Fools and Knaves the World is hanted: And at all This we're never danted, Our Spirit's large, we can't be scanted.

From all which Premisses, I dare conclude, The World's worser than Hell's Brood. Witches and Men out-act malign Devils. Hell and the World are constant Evils.