Thus the lord Coke hath gravely writ,
In all the form of lawyers wit;
And then with Latin, and all that,
Shows the comparison is pat.
Yet in some points my lord is wrong:
One's teeth are sold, and t'other's tongue:
Now men of parliament, God knows,
Are more like elephants of shows,
Whose docile memory and sense
Are turn'd to trick, to gather pence.
To get their master half a crown,
They spread their flag, or lay it down:
Those who bore bulwarks on their backs,
And guarded nations from attacks,
Opening their trunk for every tester.
Siam, for elephants so fam'd,
Is not with England to be nam'd:
Their elephants by men are sold;
Ours sell themselves, and take the gold.
SOME Colinæus[2] praise, some Bleau[2],
Others account them but so so;
Some Plantin to the rest prefer,
And some esteem old Elzevir[2];
