435
Could render half a grain less stubborn. 
For he at any time would hang
For th’ opportunity t’ harangue;
And rather on a gibbet dangle,
Than miss his dear delight, to wrangle; 440
In which his parts were so accomplisht,
That, right or wrong, he ne’er was non-plusht;
But still his tongue ran on, the less
Of weight it bore, with greater ease;
And with its everlasting clack 445
Set all men’s ears upon the rack. 
No sooner cou’d a hint appear,
But up he started to picqueer,
And made the stoutest yield to mercy,
When he engag’d in controversy. 450
Not by the force of carnal reason,
But indefatigable teazing;
With vollies of eternal babble,
And clamour, more unanswerable. 
For though his topics, frail and weak, 455
Cou’d ne’er amount above a freak,
He still maintain’d ’em, like his faults,
Against the desp’ratest assaults;
And back’d their feeble lack of sense,
With greater heat and confidence? 460
As bones of Hectors, when they differ,
The more they’re cudgel’d grow the stiffer. 
Yet when his profit moderated,
The fury of his heat abated. 
For nothing but his interest 465
Cou’d lay his Devil of Contest. 
It was his choice, or chance; or curse,
T’ espouse the Cause for bett’r or worse,
And with his worldly goods and wit,
And soul and body, worship’d it:  470
But when he found the sullen trapes
Possess’d with th’ Devil, worms, and claps;
The Trojan mare, in foal with Greeks,
Not half so full of jadish tricks;
Though squeamish in her outward woman, 475
As loose and rampant as Dol Common;
He still resolv’d to mend the matter,
T’ adhere and cleave the obstinater;
And still the skittisher and looser
Her freaks appear’d, to sit the closer. 480
For fools are stubborn in their way,
As coins are harden’d by th’ allay: 
And obstinacy’s ne’er so stiff
As when ’tis in a wrong belief. 
These two, with others, being met, 485
And close in consultation set,
After a discontented pause,
And not without sufficient cause,
The orator we nam’d of late,
Less troubled with the pangs of State 490
Than with his own impatience,
To give himself first audience,
After he had a while look’d wise,
At last broke silence, and the ice.

Quoth he, There’s nothing makes me doubt 495
Our last out-goings brought about,
More than to see the characters
Of real jealousies and fears
Not feign’d, as once, but, sadly horrid,
Scor’d upon ev’ry Member’s forehead; 500
Who, ’cause the clouds are drawn together,