A Pleasant Purge for a Roman Catholic, Epigram 5 – Epigram 6
On, and againſt, Popiſh Pictures of the Virgin Mary as a Queene, ſitting on a Throne with a Triple Crowne on her head, and holding Chriſt, painted like a ſucking Infant, in her Armes; and on the Reliques of her milke, which they keepe and ſhew.
FIe, Mary, fie; what give ſucke to a Baby?
It is not decent, fit for Queene, nor Lady:
With them it's out of faſhion; thou wilt ſhame
Thy ſelfe with theſe, they will thee taxe and blame:
Wer't thou no Lady, Queene, as heretofore,
Thou migh'ſt doe this; but now not doe it more
Since Queene and Lady too: Thy childe growes great
Or old enough to be wean'd from the Teat.
He hath ſuckt ſixeteene hundred yeares and more,
Thirty mens ages, ſhall he ne're give o're?
Shall he be ſtill a ſuckling, or a foole
To ſucke ſo long? tis time he were at Schoole.
Others give ſucke but for one yeare, or two;
Thou, ſixteene hundred yeares, what doeſt thou doe
Thus to turmoyle thy ſelfe? and all in vaine,
He doth a little Infant yet remaine,
Where ſome not halfe ſo old as he, have knowne
Ten Generations unto old men growne.
Sure thy milke, I doubt, is very bad,
Thy Babe ere this might elſe have beene a Lad;
Out of his coates, at leaſt; No age hath knowne
One ſucke ſo long, and yet ſo little growne.
No doubt, if noted, tis a Miracle
Whoſe ſtrangeneſſe doth all Wonders elſe excell.
But (bleſſed Virgin) can thy milke be ill,
Sith nought but sLuk. 1. 28.Goodneſſe all thy members fill?
This cannot be the reaſon, milke is ſcant
More likely, with thee; and thy Babe doth want
Milke, that hee thrives not; and hee'le ſucke no other
Nurſe thou wouldſt put him to, but thee his Mother.
Yet, ſince I finde, thou haſt much Milke to ſpare,
As Hogges-heads of its Reliques now declare
tSee Tho. Beacons Reliques of Rome, Vol. 3. fol. 181. b. 184. a. 186. a 193. a. Declaration du Pere Baſil. p. 85. There is a Chapple named S. Laict in Reimes where the Ladies Milke is kept.Kept freſh and ſweete, by ſundry Prieſts and Fryers
(And tis thine own true milke, elſe they are lyers;)
The want of milke is not the cauſe why he
Growes not, there muſt ſome other reaſon be:
How theſe thy milke have got it is not knowne,
Belike they ſtole it, and thy Babe's not growne,
Becauſe theſe cheates each day commit High-Treaſon
In ſtealing of his milke: Loe here's the reaſon:
No milke they ſhew, but i'ts freſh, ſweete, not ſowre;
No doubt they ſteale thy milke from thee each houre
Elſe it would waſt,*If the conſecrated Bread and wine, which Rome holds, to be the very glorified Body and Blood of Chriſt, will putrifie, mould and corrupt if over-long reſerved, as experience witneſſeth, and all Romiſh D… grant: then much more the Virgins milke: unleſſe they make it better than Chriſts very body and blood. grow ſtale, ſoure, putrifie
As other milke; ſuch Theeves deſerve to dye
At leaſt, for ſtealing thy Babes milke ſo long,
Elſe he ere this had growne more great and ſtrong;
Why Rome hath ſo much Virgins milke to ſhew,
And Chriſt is yet a Babe in part you know.
But can ſuch theft be without her conſent?
No ſure; I feare his Mother is content
To keepe him ſtill an Infant, that ſhe may
The better rule, and make him her obey:
Were he but growne once unto mans eſtate,
Her Regency would be quite out of date:
Men would no longer to her pray, and ſay,
vImpera Filio tuo Monſtra Te eſſe Matrem. Yet remaining in all their Houres of our Lady and Maſſe-bookes and ſundry Manuals of their Devotion, intimating Chriſt now in ſtate of Glory to be ſtill under his Mothers Cōmand. See B. Vſh. Anſ. to the Ieſuits Chal. p. 478. to 496.Command thy Sonne, make him thee to obey,
Now ſhew thy ſelfe a Mother, would no more
Be heard, few would her ayde, or grace implore,
But his alone, whom Papiſts now paſſe by
Becauſe a Babe, and worſhip, honour, Eye
His Mother more than him; when as the Wiſe
Men from the Eaſt, thexMat. 2 …. 2. 9. 11. Babe did onelyonly priſe;
They ran in Pilgrimage to him; they fall
Downe and odore him, not her; preſent all
Their gifts to him alone, but ne're once bent
Their knees her to ſalute in Complement,
Much leſſe her to adore, for ought we read:
Rome will not here the Wiſemens footeſteps tread.
Nor ſuffer Chriſt to mans eſtate to grow,
Sith this her Church, Monkes, faith would overthrow.
Romes Ladies Prayers, her Primers, Offices,
Houres, Maſſe-bookes, Pſalters, and ſuch Blaſphemies,
Muſt be caſheer'd then, and her New faith too;
Moſt Monkes, Nunnes, Fryers it would quite undo;
To hinder Chriſt from doing all this ill
He muſt be kept a little ſucking ſtill.
Meane time his mother rules al, weares the Crown,
And he (poove Infant) is depos'd, kept down;
Leaſt this ſhould be forgot, or men it doubt
Rome though it fit to Paint, Print, ſet it out,
In all her Churches, Pſalters, Bookes we find…
By Statues, Pictures, all of this to minde;
Where Mary ſits as Lady, yea, as *Thus is She pictured not onelyonly among Papiſt; abroad, but at home to, and ſuch a Statue of her hath beene lately ſet up over the Porch of S. Maries Church in Oxford to the great ſcandall of Proteſtants, and obduration of Papiſts.Queene
Of Heav'n upon a Royall Throne, betweene
Two Angels, wearing a great Triple Crowne,
VponUpon her head, to adde to her renowne;
With Chriſt a little Babe, held in her Armes
Or Lap, which ſhe ſo over-rules and charmes
With threates, or flatt'ries, that he there ſtill lyes.
For ſundry ages, and yet never cryes,
Though thus abus'd, kept from his Crowne and right
So long; perchance his Mother doth affright
Him with the Rod, and ſhould he but once cry
For juſtice, ſhe would whip him inſtantly.
But Mary thou art full of innocence,
Not guilty of theſe crimes; its Romes offence
Thus to abuſe thee, and thy Sonne, and make
Him ſtill a Babe; thou from him thus to take
His rule, Crowne, Kingdome: O Sweete Jeſus thou
Art very patient, and to anger ſlow;
Elſe thou couldſt never ſuffer Rome ſo long,
Thee and thy bleſſed Mother thus to wong
With theſe Blaſphemous Pictures, Images,
Falſe Reliques, Legends, and Idolatries:
No doubt thou wilt avenge theſe in due time;
Meane while let me her cenſure, in this Rime.
Its not thy perſon, nor thy Mothers, I
Here laſh, taxe, cenſure, but Romes Blaſphemie;
I onelyonly jeare, diſcover to her Eyes
Her damned follies, and Idolatries
In theſe her Pictures, Reliques, that ſhe may
Diſcerne, renounce, and caſt them cleane away.
Lord cleare her eyes by this, that ſhe may ſee
Her curſed follies, and them henceforth flee.
Beholding thee, not as a ſmall ſuckling,
But as her onelyonly crowned Lord and King:
Not as thou once waſte, but as thou art now;
Then all their knees to thee alone ſhall bow,
Not unto Mary, who is grieved ſore,
To ſee Rome thee neglect, and her adore.
On, and againſt Papiſts painting the Virgin Mary, and other Saints in new faſhions, with frizled, poudred haire, and rich dreſſes.
VVHat? Lady Mary frizled, ſpotted, painted?
I feare the bleſſed Virgin is Un-Sainted;
Or hath quite loſt her old Virginity,
She now appeeres ſo wanton to the Eye;
So rich, and ſtately, in ſuch Dreſſes ſhe
Never here uſed, and abhorr'd to ſee.
I feare ſome Ladies who curle, powder, paint,
To warrant theſe, have made her ſuch a Saint:
Stript her of all her modeſt, courſe aray,
Put her in faſhion, made her rich, compt, gay,
Curled and ſpotted; yea, as wanton, vaine
As thoſe lew'd Females who in Stewes remaine.
She was a modeſt Virgin heretofore,
Now ſhe may be a Lady, or a Whore.
Fie Ladies, fie! you may your ſelves defame
And Antique thus, but not this bleſſed Dame,
Who ſpits at all ſuch Dreſſes, and defies
Her ſelfe and you, whiles clad in ſuch diſguiſe.
No wonder if lewd Rome the Whore now play;
Shee makes the Virgin one by ſuch Aray,
To Grace her Trade, and keepe her Company:
How dare Her Nunnes then ſave their Chaſtitie?
AlasyNicolaus de Clemangis, de corrupto Eccleſiae ſtatu c. 15. 23. Agrippa De. Va. Scie…t. c. 63. they doe it not; but ſeemingly;
They were Romes Baſtards elſe, not Progeny.
I'le never thinke Romes Church chaſte any more,
Who paints the bleſſed Virgin like a Whore;
Nor wonder why the Female Sexe curles, paints,
They learne to doe it from the Roman Saints.
Theſe are now lawfull by Canoniſation;
Not ill, but holy by Romes Conſecration;
No doubt moſt Madams will now curle, ſpot, paint,
Since to doe theſe things is to be a Saint,
At leaſt in ſhew; and that may well ſuffice;
No matter for the Heart, theſe pleaſe the Eyes.
If by nought elſe, by this at leaſt we know
Romes Saints are voyd of ſubſtance, nought but ſhew;
Nay, Romes great vaunting Church to be a Whore,
Since farre more painted, gaudie than before,
More ſtor'd with Baudes and Panders to intice
Men to her luſts, and to uphold her vice.
Setting her Saints out to mens publike viewes
In ſuch Attyre as ſuites beſt with her ſtewes.
Joyne but herzAgrip. De Vanitat. Scien. c. 63. Eſpenceus de Continentia l. 3. c. 4. publike Stewes to this her Paint;
She's than a true Whore, but a varniſht Saint.