And bills upon record been found, 405
That forc’d the ladies to compound;
And that, unless I miss the matter,
Is all the bus’ness you look after. 
Besides, encounters at the bar
Are braver now than those in war, 410
In which the law does execution
With less disorder and confusion
Has more of honour in’t, some hold
Not like the new way, but the old
When those the pen had drawn together, 415
Decided quarrels with the feather,
And winged arrows kill’d as dead,
And more than bullets now of lead. 
So all their combats now, as then,
Are manag’d chiefly by the pen; 420
That does the feat with braver vigours,
In words at length, as well as figures;
Is judge of all the world performs
In voluntary feats of arms
And whatsoe’er’s atchiev’d in fight, 425
Determines which is wrong or right: 
For whether you prevail, or lose
All must be try’d there in the close;
And therefore ’tis not wise to shun
What you must trust to ere y’ have done. 430

The law, that settles all you do,
And marries where you did but woo;
That makes the most perfidious lover
A lady, that’s as false, recover;
And if it judge upon your side, 435
Will soon extend her for your bride;
And put her person, goods, or lands,
Or which you like best int’ your hands.

For law’s the wisdom of all ages,
And manag’d by the ablest sages; 440
Who, though their bus’ness at the bar
Be but a kind of civil war,
In which th’ engage with fiercer dudgeons
Than e’er the Grecians did and Trojans,
They never manage the contest 445
T’ impair their public interest;
Or by their controversies lessen
The dignity of their profession: 
Not like us Brethren, who divide
Our Commonwealth, the Cause, and Side; 450
And though w’ are all as near of kindred
As th’ outward man is to the inward,
We agree in nothing, but to wrangle
About the slightest fingle-fangle;
While lawyers have more sober sense 455
Than t’ argue at their own expence,
But make their best advantages
Of others’ quarrels, like the Swiss;
And, out of foreign controversies,
By aiding both sides, fill their purses; 460
But have no int’rest in the cause
For which th’ engage, and wage the laws;
Nor further prospect than their pay,
Whether they lose or win the day: 
And though th’ abounded in all ages, 465
With sundry learned clerks and sages,
Though all their business be dispute,
Which way they canvass ev’ry suit,
Th’ have no disputes about their art,