Abuses Stripped and Whipped, Book · Satire 13
OF COMPASSION.
SATYR. 13.
PItty is knowne a kinde and tender Passion,
In it owne nature worthy commendation;
And if Discretion guide it, well may be
Of meere alliance vntounto Charitie;
If not, it then from vertue quickly swerues,
And with the rest a like reproofe deserues:
Now some will muse thereat, such as suppose
A man through pitty cannot erre; but those
If they hauehave any iudgement of their owne,
Shall say compassion may amisse be showne:
Yea, and oft is, which they will quickly finde,
Or else I'le say their Reasons eye is blinde;
First let them tell me, is't not frequented now,
That those the which our Country lawes allow
Iurors for tryall, are oft-times compell'd
Through a base tender weaknes for to yeeld.
VntoUnto this melting Passion? sometime by,
A personall respect ta'ne by the eye:
Sometime for that th' offendor (it may be,
Already hath sustain'd much misery:
And thinke they not this Charity and right?
Yet through the Ignorance forgetting quite,
Whilest they an ill deserued life prolong,
Therein they doe not onelyonly Iustice wrong,
But by their indiscreete and fond Compassion,
Vnwisely hazard e'ne their owne Saluation;
Then for their need, or cause they much implore,
In common pleas they leane vntounto the poore,
(If might o're sway them not,) and that they trust,
(Because they meane well) may be counted Iust:
Are there not some toe, who would faine be deem'd
Good Common-wealths men? yet hauehave misesteem'd
That Order which for wandring rogues was made,
(And as if they allowd their begging trade)
Much pittie those that iustly punisht be,
As though it were done void of Charitie?
Yea they hauehave dar'd to saie thus much and more,
There's no lawes made now, but against the poore:
Moreouer, he whose iudgement is so slender,
And hath an yeelding heart so fondly tender
To stoup vntounto this Passion, neither spares
The lawes of God nor man; but rashly dares
Peruert them both; supposing his intent,
Shall free him from deserued punishment:
These though that God himselfe saies kill; reply
With no alas? tis pitty he should die:
But such as they deserue the selfe same-check
He had that spar'd the King of Amaleck:
For to say truth as vertuous as it showes,
A foolish p…tty quickly ouerthrowes,
In War an Army and in peace a State;
And this Ile stand to, 'tis as bad as Hate,
For That and Bribes to such a power is growne,
Iustic… can little in some courts now be showne:
Yea it is cleere and cannot be withstood,
That Pitty sometimes hurts the common good,
And more we find that God's therby offended,
And therefore man must hauehave this fault amended,
And be perswaded 'tis his part to see,
How farre this Passion may admitted be;
For seeme how 'twill, all pitty is vnfit,
Vnlesse Gods lawes and Mans do warrant it:
But I hauehave noted some kind-hearted Asses,
Worth laughing at, that all the rest surpasses
For foolish pitty: but themselues alone,
'Tis preiudiciall too; or hurteth none;
To these do you but a Tragaedian be,
Or else recite some ancient historie;
If that the matter which you do relate
Be sorrowfull and somthing Passionate,
Though it were done a thousand yeares agoe,
And in a Country they did neuer know,
Yet wil they weep (kind-hearts) as if those men,
Were of their friends; and that thing told, but then
Before their eyes in action: nay, vnfold
Some new made tale that neuer yet was told,
So it be doleful and do represent
Some strange and lamentable accident:
Although not only (as I said before)
It be a matter meerely fain'd, but more;
Though that they know it so, they cannot keep
Their melting eyes from teares but they must weep
I might touch Parents, chiefly in the City,
That mar their children by their cockering pitty,
But other Passions call me now away;
And yet before I leaue thus much Ile say,
Those fond-kind Parents that take rods from schooles
HaueHave almost fild the land with knaues and fooles
And those that think we need no pitty rue,
Let them not hold so stil, for this is true,
Fond pitty rests in no true manly breast;
And therefore you that are, or would at least
Be counted men; be not therewith ore' borne,
For tis a Passion that novv Women scorne.