Samuel Butler

Quoth Hudibras, I smell a rat;
Ralpho, thou dost prevaricate.

Quoth Hudibras, I smell a rat;
Ralpho, thou dost prevaricate.

The worst of rebels never arm
To do their king or country harm,
But draw their swords read more

The worst of rebels never arm
To do their king or country harm,
But draw their swords to do them good,
As doctors cure by letting blood.

So Noah, when he anchor'd safe on
The mountain's top, his lofty haven,
And all the passengers read more

So Noah, when he anchor'd safe on
The mountain's top, his lofty haven,
And all the passengers he bore
Were on the new world set ashore,
He made it next his chief design
To plant and propagate a vine,
Which since has overwhelm'd and drown'd
Far greater number, on dry ground,
Of wretched mankind, one by one,
Than all the flood before had done.

Nick Machiavel had ne'er a trick
(Though he gave his name to our Old Nick).

Nick Machiavel had ne'er a trick
(Though he gave his name to our Old Nick).

'Tis not antiquity, nor author,
That makes truth truth, altho' time's daughter.

'Tis not antiquity, nor author,
That makes truth truth, altho' time's daughter.