Samuel Butler. "How various and innumerable."

Samuel Butler

from

The Genuine Remains, 1759

How various and innumerable
Are those who live upon the rabble !
'Tis they maintain the church and state,
Employ the priest and magistrate ;
Bear all the charge of government,
And pay the public fines and rent ;
Defray all taxes and excises,
And impositions of all prices ;
Bear all th' expense of peace and war,
And pay the pulpit and the bar ;
Maintain all the churches and religions,
And give their pastors exhibitions ;
And those who have the greatest flocks
Are primitive and orthodox ;
Support all schismatics and sects,
And pay them for tormenting texts ;
Take all their doctrines off their hands,
And pay them in good rents and lands ;
Discharge all costly offices,
The doctor's and the lawyer's fees,
The hangman's wages, and the scores
Of caterpillar bawds and whores ;
Discharge all damages and costs
Of knights and squires of the post ;
All statesmen, cutpurses, and padders,
And pay for all their ropes and ladders ;
All pettifoggers, and all sorts
Of markets, churches, and of courts ;
All sums of money paid or spent,
With all the charges incident,
Laid out, or thrown away, or given
To purchase this world, Hell, or Heaven.

From:
Restoration Verse. William Kerr, Ed.
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1930. 8-9.