THE PRAISE AND VIRTUE OF A jail, and jailers.  
WITH THE MOST EXCELLENT 〈…〉 sterie, and necessary use of all sorts of HANGING.  
ALSO 〈…〉 ch at Tyburn for a Period, 〈…〉 uthors' free leave to let them 〈…〉, who are offended at the 〈…〉ke without cause.  
By JOHN TAYLOR.  
LONDON, Printed by I. H. for R. B. 1623.   

TO THE SENSIBLE, 
Reader, yo 〈…〉 note that thy 〈…〉 tleman did 〈…〉 me from FARNE 〈…〉 barrel of 〈◊〉 and Corm 〈◊〉 eggs, by th' 〈…〉ing of wh〈◊〉 have attain 〈…〉 the understand 〈◊〉 of many 〈◊〉 which our 〈◊〉 an 〈…〉 do speak 〈◊〉 about LON 〈…〉  Reasonable, Affable, Amiable, Acceptable, minded Honourable, in Wit, judgement, and Understanding Able, Robert Ruyg Gentleman, Rear Adelantado of the HOLY ISLAND, the FAIRNE, and the STAPLES, on the Coast of NORTHUMBRIA.  
NO Hanging, Tap'strie, Quilt, or Coverlet,  
This dedication of my wit could get:  
No Mattress, Blanket, Sheet, or Featherbed,  
Could have these labours of my working head:  
But (cold by Nature) from my Nurse's dug,  
My inclination still hath loved a Rug:  
Which makes my thankful Muse thus bold to be,  
To consecrate this worthless work to thee;  
Thou that within those happy Isles dost bide,  
Which Neptune's waves do from our land divide,  
Wherein the Holy Island stands a Fort  
That can defend, and injuries retort,  
That doth command a goodly Haven nigh,  
Wherein a hundred Ships may safely lie:  
Thou in the 
〈…〉 Fairn Island 〈…〉 7. mile the Holy into the sea, Holy Island seven miles Berwick. 〈…〉 Fairne all of Sea-fowle in such a 〈◊〉 nce, as you 〈…〉 step but Eggs or 〈◊〉: They miss lay on Saint 〈◊〉 es day, and might after 〈…〉 as there is 〈◊〉 to be seen. 〈◊〉 taple Lands 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉, and stand 〈◊〉 mile from it 〈…〉 he sea, where 〈◊〉 wle upon the 〈…〉 are so thick 〈◊〉 upon the 〈◊〉 and upon the 〈◊〉 & with such 〈◊〉sitie build 〈◊〉 ests, as the 〈◊〉 man cannot 〈◊〉 hat egg in 〈◊〉 place again 〈…〉 once taken 〈…〉 abide in the 〈◊〉 place Upon 〈◊〉 flight the sea 〈◊〉 covered for 〈…〉 a mile, and 〈◊〉 eavens above 〈◊〉 obscured for present.  Farne and Staples bear'st such sway,  
That all the dwellers there do thee obey;  
Where Fowl are all thy fair inhabitants,  
Where thou (Commander of the Cormorants,)  
Grand Governor of Gulls, of Geese and Ganders,  
O'er whom thou art none of the least Commanders,  
Whereas sometimes thou canst not stir thy legs,  
But thou must tread on tributary Eggs,  
For they like honest, true, plain dealing folks,  
Pay thee the Custom of their Whites and Yolkes,  
Which to thy friends oft times transported be,  
As late thou sent'st a barrel full to me:  
And in requital to so good a friend,  
This Prisone, and this Hanging here I send.  
Because within the 
b There is but one house there, all the dwellers else being Sea-sowle, who will her know offences nor punishments.  Fairne and Staples too,  
The dwellers do as they do please to do;  
Their pride and lust, their stealing & their treason,  
Is all imputed to their want of reason;  
I therefore have made bold to send thee this,  
To show them what a jail and Hanging is.  
Thou hast from Hermes sucked the Quintessence  
Of quick Invention, and of Eloquence,  
And thou so well dost love good witty Books,  
That makes thee like Apollo in thy looks:  
For Nature hath thy Visage so much graced,  
That there's the Ensign of true friendship placed.  
A Chaulkie face, that's like a Pewter spoon,  
Or Buttermilk, or Green cheese, or the Moon,  
Are either such as kill themselves with care,  
Or hidebound miserable wretches are.  
Give me the man whose colour and prospect,  
Like Titan when it doth on Gold reflect,  
And if his purse be equal to his will,  
he'll then be frolic, free, and jovial still:  
And such a one (my worthy friend) art thou,  
To whom I dedicate this Pamphlet now;  
And I implore the Heavens to prove so kind,  
To keep thy state according to thy mind.  
Yours, with my best wishes, JOHN TAYLOR.   

THE VIRTUE of a JAIL, and necessity of Hanging.  

MY free born Muse of Bondage rudely treats,  
And strange vagaries in my Brainpan beats:  
Whilst I unmask, unuisor, or unveil,  
The virtues of a jailor, and a jail;  
And then of Hanging, and the Hangman's Art  
My lines do end, and at the Gallows part.  
First I do find, in Histories enrolled,  
jails for antiquity, are very old:  
For joseph was in Prison, (false accused,  
That he his Master's Wife would have abused.)  
And all the world doth understand, a Prison  
Is not an upstart Fable, newly risen.  
And jeremy, was under bolts and locks,  
By Pashur once imprisoned in the 
jer. 22.2.  stocks:  
And after that he twice was put in 
Chap. 32. Chap. 37.  Thrall,  
For true foretelling Israel, Iudah's fall.  
The Sacred Histories do well declare,  
That Prisons for their time most ancient are.  
Yet though my lines do speak of jails, I see  
That mine invention and my Muse is free:  
And I do find the name of Prisone, frames  
Significant Alluding Anagrams.   
As thus.  

1. PRISONE. Anagramma. NIP SORE.  

12. Anagrams of jails, jailors & Sergeants.  THere men are Nipped with mischiefs manifold,  
With loss of freedom, hunger, thirst, & cold▪  
With Mourning shirts, and sheets, & lice some store;  
And thus a Prison truly doth Nip sore.   

2. PRISONE. Anagramma. IN ROPES.  
Again the very word portends small hopes,  
For he that's in a Prisone is In Ropes.   

3. PRISONE. Anagramma. IN PROSE.  
TO all good verses Prisons are great foes,  
And many Poets they keep fast In Prose.   

4. PRISONE. Anagramma. NO PRIZE.  
INdeed it is no profit, or No Prize,  
But woeful purchase of calamities.  
The name of jails (by letters transposition)  
Doth very well discover their condition.   

5. JAILS. Anagramma. I SLAY.  
ANd well it doth befit it every way,  
The Nature of all jails is still to slay:  
There are men slain most strange tormenting ways,  
In name, fame, state, and life, with long delays.   

6. BONDAGE. Anagramma. BANDOG.  
ANd Bondage like a Bandog still doth gnaw,  
Fangd with the tusks of the biting law.   

7. JAILER. Anagramma. I rail.  
THis doth befit the jailer wondrous trim,  
He at the prisoners rails, and they at him.   

8. ARRESTING. Anagramma. A STINGER.  
A Resting very well with this agrees,  
It is A Stinger worse than Wasps or Bees.   

OR, 9 ARRESTING. Anagramma. IN GRATES.  
THis very word includes poor prisoners fates,  
Arresting briefly claps 'em up In Grates.   

10. SERGEANT. Anagramma. IN ARESTE.  
TO turn this word unto the very best,  
A Sergeant In Areste doth breed unrest.   

OR, 11. SERGEANT. Anagramma. IN TEARS.  
IN cares and Tears he leaves men to lament,  
When Credit, Coin, and goods, and all is spent.   

12. WARDS. Anagramma. DRAWS.  
A Prisoners purse is like a Nurse, for why  
His Ward or lodging draws or sucks it dry:  
A Iu●y here of Anagramms you see,  
Of Sergeants and of ●ailes empaneled be,  
And now my pen intends to walk a station,  
And talk of Prisons in some other fashion.  
That jails should be, there is Law, sense and reason,  
To punish Bawdry, Cheating, Theft and Treason,  
Though some against them have invective been,  
And called a jail a magazine of sin,  
An University of Villainy,  
An Academy of foul blasphemy,  
A sink of drunkenness, a den of thieves,  
A Treasury for Sergeants and for Shreeves,  
A Mint for Bailiffs, Marshals men and jailors,  
Who live by losses of captived bewailers:  
A Nurse of Roguery, and an earthly hell,  
Where Devils or jailers in men's shapes do dwell:  
But I am quite contrary to all this,  
I think a jail a School of virtue is,  
A house of study and of contemplation,  
A place of discipline and reformation,  
There men may try their patience, and shall know,  
If they have any friends alive or no:  
There they shall prove if they have fortitude,  
By which all crosses stoutly are subdued,  
A Prison leads the Creditor unto  
His cozening debtor, that would him undo,  
'tis Physic that preserves a common wealth,  
Fowl Treasons snaffle and the curb of stealth,  
The whip of hellish pride, the scourge of lust,  
The good man's help in plaguing the unjust.  
Were thieves and Villains not in prison put,  
A world of Throats (past number) would be cut:  
For when diseases are grown desperate, than  
They must have desperate Remedies, and when  
Men mend not for Reproof, or Admonition,  
A jail than is the Surgeon or Physician.  
The roaring Knave, that like a Horse or Mule,  
His parents, master, or no friends could rule,  
But that he daily would be drunk and swear,  
And like a demy-devill domineer,  
Though to good course he never meant to bend him,  
A prison at the last will mend or end him. 
Excellent reformation●   
The deeds of darkness that do hate the light,  
Frays, brawls & bloodshed which start out by night:  
The watch like cunning Fowlers lie in wait,  
And catch these Woodcocks in their Sprindges straight,  
These Birds are in the jail mewed up from riot,  
Where they may learn more manners and be quiet.  
A Iails a glass wherein old men may see,  
The blemish of their youth's deformity;  
And young men quickly may perceive from thence,  
The way to wisdom and experience.  
And though the lights of prisons are but dim,  
A prisoners candle yet may show to him  
At midnight, without light of Sun or Moon,  
More than he ever could perceive at noon;  
It shows the fleeting state of earthly pelf,  
It makes him wisely learn to know himself,  
The world unto his view it represents,  
To be a Map or mass of discontents,  
It shows his feigned friends like Butterflies,  
That dogged his summer of prosperities:  
And in a word it truly doth set forth  
The world, and all that's in it nothing worth.  
These things unto a wiseman's judgement brings,  
A ha●e to earth, and love to heavenly things.  
T'a wise man nothing in a jail doth bide,  
But it to some good use may be applied:  
He hears a Ruffian swear, and so doth hear  
That he doth stand in fear, and hate to swear,  
He spies another drunk, and so doth spy  
That such unmanly beastliness he'll fly.  
He notes the curtal Cans half filled with froth,  
Tobacco piping hot, and from them both  
His judgement doth discern, with wisdom's eye,  
The world is vapour, froth, and vanity.  
His homely Bed and Vermins sundry forms,  
Doth make him mind his grave, & crawling worms;  
The Spider's Cobweb, Lawn, or Tapestry,  

There are too few that make this good use of imprisonment.  Shows odds 'twixt Idleness and Industry.  
The Churlish Keepers, rattling chains and fetters,  
The Hole or Dungeon for condemned debtors,  
Blaspheming wretches of all grace bereaven,  
Doth make him think on hell and wish for heaven.  
And thus though wise men's corpse in prison be,  
Their minds are still at liberty and free.  
Besides Experience daily teacheth this,  
The Soul a Prisoner in the Body is:  
Our Reason should the Keeper be to guide,  
The Heart doth lodge within the Master's side▪  
The Brains the Knight's Ward may be termed fit,  
There lies the Understanding and the Wit:  
The Dungeons where the Prisoners starve and die,  
Is in the Breast where sad despair doth lie:  
Our Sins the Manacles, and Bolts and Ginos,  
Which fetter us in bondage all our lives:  
Sad melancholy sorrow, grief and care,  
Continual waiters in those Prisons are,  
Our partial self-love all our crimes excusing,  
Our Consciences true evidence accusing,  
Our sighs and tears the Messengers we send  
To God, that all our sorrows may have end,  
And then through faith and hope we do believe,  
To gain a pardon better than reprieve,  
Than lastly death doth free the soul from thrall,  
And makes a jail delivery unto all.  
Thus is our flesh the walls, our bones the grates,  
Our eyes the windows, and our mouths the gates,  
The Nose the Chimney, 
Or stomach  Kitchen is the breast,  
Our tongue the taster of the worst and best,  
Our hands the Carvers, teeth the Cooks to mince,  
The diet of a Peasant or a Prince;  
Our hunger is best sauce, as I do think,  
Our bellies sellers where we lay our drink:  
And in these corpse of ours deciphered thus,  
Our souls are prisoners unto all of us.  
As grace guides us, so we by grace guide them,  
The way unto the new jerusalem.  
Stern rugged winter, with frosts, storms and gusts,  
Close prisoners yearly in the earth it thrusts, 
The earth Prison.   
Herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, & worms till sun & rain  
With Summer's heat doth bail them forth again.  
But of all men alive, 
A straight 〈◊〉 is a Tailor Prison.  I find a Tailor  
Is an approved artificial jailer:  
Some do commit themselves unto his charge,  
And may but will by no means go at large.  
I have seen many in the Tailor's jails,  
Have laboured till they sweat with tooth and nails,  
(The whilst a man might ride five miles at least)  
To get their clothes together on the breast,  
And being then in prison buttoned up,  
So close that scarcely they could bite or sup,  
Yet I have heard their pride how loud it lied,  
Protesting that their clothes were made too wide:  
These men love bondage more than liberty,  
And 'tis a gallant kind of foolery,  
When thus amongst themselves they have a Law,  
To deck and daub the back, and pinch the Maw.  
Me thinks their souls should be in mighty trouble,  
Poor Animals, they are imprisoned double;  
In Corpse and Clothes, and which is true and plain,  
They seem to take great pleasure in their pain.  

Shooma 〈…〉 rs Prison.  A shoemaker's a kind of jailer too,  
And very strange exploits he dares to do:  
For many times he hath the power and might,  
To clap into his Stocks a Lord or Knight,  
The Madam and the Maid he cares not whether,  
He lays them all fast by the heels in leather.  

●●uth and ●●nesty pri●●ners.  Plain Honesty and Truth, both Prisoners are,  
Although they seldom come unto the bar,  
Yet are they kept so closely day and night,  
That in an age they scarcely come in sight.  
And but for many of our Country's pillars,  
True Tailors, Weavers, and clean fingered Millers,  
Good Sergeants and kind Brokers did relieve them,  

●●●hard case.  I know not who would any comfort give them.  
No doubt but many a Lass that fain would wed,  
Is her own jailer to her maiden head, 
A maid●● head of times 〈◊〉 Prisoner   
With much unwillingness she keeps it close,  
And with her heart she'll gladly let it lose.  
But look to't wenches, if you give it scope,  
'Tis gone past all recovery, past all hope,  
Much like old Time which ceaseless doth run on,  
But never doth return once being gone.  
The Gowt's a saucy Prisoner, 
The G 〈…〉 Prisone State.  and will have  
His keepers to maintain him fine and brave;  
His jailors shall no needy beggars be,  
But men of honour and of high degree,  
And over them he bears such great command,  
That many times they can nor go nor stand;  
And if he would break jail and fly, 'tis thought,  
He by his keepers never should be sought.  
And money is close Prisoner I think sure, 
Money close P●●●●ner.   
Where no man can its liberty procure:  
The Devil's Stewards and his Bailifeses vow,  
That moneys freedom they will not allow,  
Unless unto a Miser or a Whore,  
But by all means fast hold it from the poor.  
I wish Coin were as painful as the Gout, 
Amen▪   
To ●hose that hoard it; and I make no doubt  
But miserable jailers' would agree  
To open their Prisons, and let money flee.  
And were it not a lamentable thing,  
That some great Emperor or some mighty King  
Should be imprisoned by a vassal slave,  
And lodged alive (as 'twere within his Grave.)  
Such is the case of Silver and of Gold,  
The chiefest of all metals fast in hold,  
And darkness lies held in the Miser's stocks,  

〈…〉 and 〈…〉 kept in 〈…〉 age by 〈…〉.  In steel and iron bars, and ●o●ts and locks.  
Though gold and silver royal metals be,  
Yet are they slaves to iron as we see.  
But leaving Gold and Gout, ●e turn my pen,  
To what I have digressed from jails and men:  
Let man examine well himself, and he  

〈…〉 men 〈…〉 their 〈…〉 even 〈…〉.  Shall find himself his greatest enemy;  
And that his loss of liberty and pelf,  
He can accuse none for it, but himself;  
How passions, actions, and affections cluster,  
And how to ruinate his state they muster,  
His frailty arms his members and his senses,  
To undertake most dangerous pretences.  
The back oft tempts him unto borrowed bravery,  
And all his body suffers for't in slavery;  
His Belly tempts him to superfluous fare,  
For which his corpse lies in a jailors snare;  
His Eyes from beauty to his heart draws lust,  
For which he's often into prison thrust,  
His Ears give credit to a knave or thief,  
And's body suffers for his ears belief.  
His Tongue much like a Hackney goes all paces,  
In City, Country, Court and Camp, all places,  
It gallops and false gallops, trots and ambles,  
One pace or other still it runs and rambles;  
Of Kings and Princes states it often prattles,  
Of Church and Commonwealth it idly rattles,  
Of passing of its word and suretiships,  
For which at last the jail the Carcase nips.  
Man's Hands have very oft against him warred,  
And made him of his liberty debarred:  
A stab, a blow, a d●shing of a pen,  
Hath clapped him closely in the jailors den.  
The Feet which on the ground men daily tread,  
The way to their captivity do lead.  
Now for the inward faculties, I find  
Some lie in Prison for their haughty mind,  
Some for their folly, some because too wise,  
Are mewed up in the jailors custodies;  
Some for much gaming or for recreation,  
Do make a jail their homely habitation;  
And thus it plainly may be proved well,  
Man's greatest foes within himself do dwell.  
And now two contraries I will compare,  
To show how like and how unlike they are:  
A jail, our birth, our death, and setting free,  
These four do all agree and disagree;  
For all degrees, our birth and life we know  
Is natural, 
We are al● borne in form, an● come into world of fashion, we die 〈◊〉 leave the world in●●●nite way  one way, for high and low:  
But death hath many thousand ways and snares,  
To take our lives away all unawares.  
And therefore of our lives it is no doubt,  
That there's but one way in and many out,  
But to a jail there's many ways to win,  
Ten thousand tricks and sleights to clap men in:  
And there's but one way out as I do know,  
Which is by satisfying what we owe.  
O west thou the law thy life, dispatch and pay,  
And from the Prison thou art freed away:  
Dost thou owe money, quickly pay thy score,  
And farewell, go thy ways man, there's the door.  
As men in all that's ill, are Satan's Apes,  
So sundry sins bring death in sundry shapes;  
Life from the God of life, which is but one,  
To all degrees one way gives life alone.  
And so our several frailties, several ways  
Our wretched Carcases in prison lays,  
But there's but one way out that e'er I saw,  
Which is by satisfying of the law.  
The faults we do in spring-time of our youth,  
In Summer of our manhood gather growth:  
Then Harvests middle age doth make them ripe,  
Which winters old age doth in prison gripe;  
And thus the very seasons of the year,  
Fit emblems of our thraldom do appear.  

〈…〉 To 〈…〉  In London and within a mile, I ween,  
There are of jails or Prisons full eighteen,  
And sixty Whipping-posts, and Stocks and Cages,  
Where sin with shame and sorrow hath due wages.  

〈…〉 des Pole 〈…〉, Parti 〈…〉, Hal 〈…〉, jave 〈…〉, Battle 〈…〉, Cros 〈…〉 ves, half 〈…〉 es, Pistols 〈…〉 d Pettro 〈…〉 s.  For though the Tower be a Castle Royal,  
Yet there's a Prison in't for men disloyal:  
Though for defence a Camp may there be fitted,  
Yet for offence, men thither are committed.  
It is a house of fame, and there is in't  
A Palace for a Prince, a Royal Mint,  
Great Ordnance, Powder, Shot, Match, Bills and Bows,  
Shafts, swords, pikes, lances, shovels, mattocks, crows,  
Bright armour, muskets, ready still I say,  
To arm one hundred thousand in a day.  
And last it is a Prison unto those  
That do their Sovereign or his laws oppose.  
The Gatehouse for a prison was ordained, 
2 The 〈◊〉 house.   
When in this land the third king Edward reigned:  
Good lodging rooms, and diet it affords,  
But I had rather lie at home on boards.  
Since Richard's reign the first, 
3 Th● Fleet.  the Fleet hath been  
A Prison, as upon records is seen,  
For lodgings and for bowling, there's large space,  
But yet I have no stomach to the place.  
Old Newgate I perceive a thievish den, 
4 New 〈…〉   
But yet there's lodging for good honest men.  
When second Henry here the Sceptre swayed,  
Then the foundation of that gate was laid.  
But sixty six years ere our Saviour's birth,  
By Lud was Ludgate founded from the earth, 
5 Lud 〈…〉   
No jail for thieves, though some perhaps as bad,  
That break in policy, may there be had.  
The Counter in the Poultry is so old, 
6 Pe 〈…〉 Count 〈…〉   
That it in History is not enrolled.  
And Woodstreet Counters age we may derive, 
7 woe 〈…〉 street.   
Since Anno fifteen hundred fifty five.  
For me the one's too old, and one's too new,  
And as they bake a God's name let them brew.  
Bridewell unto my memory comes next; 
8 Bri 〈…〉   
Where idleness and lechery is vexed:  
This is a royal house, of state and port,  
Which th'eight king Henry built, and there kept Court.  
King Edward somewhat ere his timeless fall,  
Gave it a way to be an Hospital,  
Which use the city puts it well unto,  
And many pious deeds they there do do:  
But yet for Vagabonds and Runagates,  
For Whores, and idle knaves, and such like mates,  
'Tis little better than a jail to those,  
Where they chop chalk, for meat and drink and blows.  
In this house those that against their wills do dwell,  
Love well a Bride (perhaps) but not Bridewell.  

White 〈…〉, King's 〈…〉, Ma● 〈…〉 a, 〈…〉ter, and 〈…〉  Five jails or Prisons are in Southwark placed,  
The Counter (once S. Margret's Church defaced)  
The Marshalsea, the King's Bench and White Lion,  
Where some like Tantalus, or like Ixion,  
The pinching pain of hunger daily feel,  
Turned up and down with fickle Fortune's wheel:  
And some do willingly make there abode,  
Because they cannot live so well abroad.  
Then there's the Clinke, where handsome lodgings be,  

The hole ● Kathe●●●●.  And much good may it do them all, for me.  
Cross but the Thames unto S. Katherins then,  
There is another hole or den for men.  

East 〈…〉 chfield 〈…〉.  Another in East-Smithfield little better,  
Will serve to hold a thief or paltry debtor.  

New 〈…〉.  Then near three Craves a jail for Heretics,  
For Brownists, Familists, and Schismatics.  

The 〈…〉 Went 〈…〉.  Lord Wentworths' jail within White Chapel stands,  
And Finsbury, God bless me from their hands.  
These eighteen jails so near the City bounded,  
Are founded and maintained by men confounded:  
As one man's meat may be another's bane,  
The keepers full, springs from the prisoners wane▪  
This hath been still the use, and ever will,  
That one man's welfare, comes from others ill.  
But (as I said) man's self is cause of all  
The miseries that to him can befall.  
Note but our corpse, how every member lies,  
Their several offices, and faculties:  
And our own judgement will inform us than,  
The likeness 'twixt a prison and a man:  
For as man hath his limbs and linaments,  
His sinews, muscles, nerves, and ligaments:  
His Panicles, his Arteries, his Veins,  
His joints, his membranes, and his beating brains:  
So hath a jail, 
Were 〈…〉 for the 〈…〉 jail 〈…〉 have 〈…〉  Writs, Warrants, and Attachements,  
Aresting, Actions, Hues, Cries, & Appeachments:  
With Garnish, Sharing fees, and Habeas Corpus,  
(Which feeds some jailors fatter than a Porpus)  
And last for everlasting Executions,  
Until the prisoners bodies dissolutions;  
And if a man be hurt in leg or arm,  
Or head, or heel, 'tis said the man hath harm:  
If inward grief do pinch in any part,  
The anguish is a terror to the heart,  
And should a jail want these things named before,  
It quickly would be miserable poor:  
Like men dismembered or of sense bereft,  
With scarcely any life or being left.  
For in man's corpse (like prisoners) always lies  
His virtues, and his foul iniquities.  
And which of these his fancy liketh best,  
Shall still be kept in bondage, or released.  
As Wisdom, Bounty, and Humanity.  
(Despised in these days of vanity)  
Some keep so close, not suffering them to walk,  
So much as in bare thoughts, or deeds, or talk;  
Whilst Folly, and close fisted Niggardize,  
With Barbarism, have ease and liberties.  
Faith, Hope, and Charity, are penned up close,  
And doubt, despair, and cruelty let loose.  
Lust revel's it, rich clad in Robes of Pride:  
Friendship, and Love, are liberty denied.  
Whereby the liberal Arts in number seven,  
Are of their liberal liberties bereaven,  
The whilst the seven delightful deadly sins  
The game and glory, of the whole world wins.  
The Cardinal virtues, at unworthy prices,  
Are made but vassals to all Carnal vices.  
The Muses are mewed up, with woes and wants,  
Whilst fortune follows knaves, and Ignorants;  
And thus within man's little Commonweal,  
He like a partial jailor oft doth deal:  
Permits his goodness never to appear,  
And lets his badness ramble any where.  
So Roarers, rascals, Bankrupts politic,  
With money, or with friends will find a trick  
Their jailor to corrupt, and at their will  
They walk abroad, and take their pleasure still:  
Whilst naked virtue, beggarly, despised,  
Beleaguered round, with miseries surprised,  
Of hope of any liberty defeated,  
For passing of his word is merely cheated:  
And dungeond up, may tell the walls his moans,  
And make relation to the senseless stones,  
Where sighs and groans, and tears may be his feast,  
Whilst man to man, is worse than beast to beast.  
Till death he there must make his sad abode,  
Whilst craft and cozenage walk at will abroad.  
Thus these comparisons do well agree,  
Man to a jail may fitly likened be:  
The thought whereof may make him wish with speed  
To have his prisoned soul released and freed.  
Thus jails and meditations of a jail,  
May serve a Christian for his great avail.  
But now my Muse, thus long in bondage penned,  
Begins to think of her infranchizement:  
And having of a Prison spoke her part,  
She mounts unto the Hangman and his Art.    

THE NECESSITY of Hanging.  
OF Hangings there's diversity of fashions,  
Almost as many as are sundry Nations.  
For in the world all things so hanged are,  
That any thing unhanged is strange and rare.  
Earth hangs in the concavity of Water,  
And Water hangs within the Airy matter,  
The Air hangs in the Fiery continent:  
Thus Element doth hang in Element,  
(Without foundation) all the Massy Globe  
Hangs, which the skies encompass like a Robe.  
For as an 
Simile.  egg, the yolk within the white,  
The white within the skin's enuelloped quite,  
The skin within the shell doth outmost lie:  
e'en so these Elements hang midst the sky.  
First all the world where mortals live, we see  
Within the Orb of Luna Hanged be;  
Above her Mercury his course doth steer,  
And next above him is bright Venus' Sphere.  
And in the fourth, and middle firmament,  
Sol keeps his hot and fiery Regiment.  
Next above that runs Mars, that star of war,  
Beyond him jupiter, that jovial star,  
Than last is sullen Saturn's ample bounds,  
Who once in thirty years the world surrounds;  
This earthly Globe (for which men fight and brawl)  
Compared to Heaven, is like an Attom small,  
Or as a Needles point compared to it, 
All the world is in comparison for greatness to the Heavens as a handwo●●● or a Nit may be compared to the world. We live in ● Hanging world.   
So it to Heaven may be compared fit,  
And it doth Hang, and hath its residence  
I'th' centre of the skies circumference.  
Thus to prove Hanging natural, I prove,  
We in a Hanging world do live and move.  
Man is a little world, wherein we see,  
The great world's abstract or epitome,  
And if we note each linament and limb,  
There are not many parts unhanged of him,  
His hair which to his head and beard belongs,  
Hangs, if not turned up with the Barber's tongs,  
His arms, his hands, his legs and feet we know▪  
Do all hang pendant downwards as they grow,  
there's nothing of him that doth hanging skip,  
Except his ears, his neither teeth and lip,  
And when he's crossed or sullen any way,  
He mumps, and lours, and Hangs the Lip, they say:  
That I a wise man's sayings must approve,  
Man is a tree, whose root doth grow above  
Within his brains, whose sprigs & branches round,  
From head to foot grow downward to the ground.  
Thus world to world, and man to man doth call,  
And tells him Hanging is most natural:  
The word Dependant doth inform our reason,  
That Hanging will be never out of season.  
All that depends doth hang, which doth express,  

Rich men are poor men's Gallows. All Dependants are Hangers on.  That Great men are like jybbets for the less.  
It is an old phrase, many years passed gone,  
That such a Lord hath many hangers on;  
Thereby describing, that all men's Attendants  
As it were hangers on, were called Dependants:  
And sure of all men, they are best indeed,  
Who have most hangers on to clothe and seed;  
For he that hath the means, and not the grace,  
To help the needy, is a Miser base.  
he's no good Steward, but a hateful Thief,  
That keeps from good Dependants their relief:  
And of all the thieves, he hanging doth deserve,  
Who 
* That's a Rogue.  hath the power to feed, and lets men starve.  
To end this point, this consequence I'll grant,  
He that hath wealth, no Hangers on can want;  
For since the time that mankind first began,  
It is a destiny ordained to man,  
The mean upon the mighty should depend,  
And all upon the Mightiest should attend.  
Thus through all ages, Countries and dominions,  
We each on other hang like Ropes of Onions.  
Some wealthy slaves, whose consciences condemn,  
Will hang themselves, lest others hang on them;  
And some spend all on Hangers on so fast,  
That they are forced to steal, and hang at last.  
If they from these Extremes themselves could wean,  
There is betwixt them both a Golden mean,  
Which would direct their superfluities,  
They would not hang themselves for niggardize,  
Nor wastefully or prodigally spend,  
Till want bring them to hanging in the end,  
And they and many others, by their purse,  
Might scape that hanging which is called a curse.  
There's many a 
* That's an Ass.  Gallant, made of fool and feather,  
Of Gold and Velvet, Silk and Spanish leather,  
Whose ragged Hangers on have moved my mind,  
To see pride go before, and shame behind,  
With scarce a button, or an Elbow whole,  
A breech, or any shoe that's worth a sole:  
Those are like Golden jybbets, and their Trains  
Are like poor tattered thieves hanged up in chains.  
He that doth suffer Whores, or thieves, or Knaves,  
Base flattering Villains, or such kind of slaves,  
To hang upon him, and knows what they are,  
That man unto a Gallowse I compare.  
That Vintner I account no friend of mine,  
Who for good money, draws me scurvy wine,  
And by the rule of Conscience (not of Law)  
That he is fitter made to hang, than draw.  
The Lawyer that at length doth spin men's causes,  
With false delays, and dilatory clauses,  
Who makes a trade to broach and draw contention,  
For him a hanging were a good prevention.  
But holla, Muse come back, you bear my Rhyme  
To hanging in good earnest ere the time.  
There are a many sorts of hangings yet  
Behind, which I by no means must forget:  

A Swing or stretch for exercise and wealth.  One hanging is a necessary thing,  
Which is a pretty Gambol, called a Swing,  
And men of good repute I oft have seen  
To hang, and stretch, and totter, for the spleen,  
This hanging is a military course,  
Not by the Law, but strength of arms, and force:  
Thus every morning for a little spurt,  
A man may hang himself, and do no hurt.  
This hanging oft (like Tyburn) hath a trick,  
Saves charge of physic, or of being sick.  
Besides the word Hang is so much in use,  
That few or none will take't as an abuse;  
It doth a great man's kindness much approve,  
When he shall bid a man Be hanged in love;  
And with some men 'tis common courtesy,  
To say, Farewell, be hanged, that's twice God ●wy.  
The pictures of the dearest friends we have,  
Although their corpse are rotten in the grave,  
We hang them for a reverend memory,  
To us and unto our posterity.  
Some hang their wives in picture, which have cause  
To hang their persons, were't not for the laws:  
Some hang their heirs in picture, who would fain  
Wish their good fathers hanged, their lands to ga●ne.  
I oft have seen good garments for men's wearing,  
Have very thriftily been hanged to airing,  
And I have seen those garments (like good fellows)  
Hang kindly with their master at the Gallowse,  
And then into the Hangman's Wardrobe drop,  
Have been again hanged in a Brokers shop,  
Which after by a Curpurse bought might be,  
And make another journey to the Tree,  
'twixt which, and 'twixt the Broker, it might go  
Or ride, some twelve or thirteen times, or more.  
Thus th'hangman's harvest, and the Brokers grow,  
They reap the crop, which sin and shame doth sow,  
There are rich Hangings made of Tapestry,  
Of Arras, and of brave embroidery,  
Those are for Princes, and for men of worth,  
T'adorn their Rooms, and set their greatness forth.  
But as dead bones in painted Tombs do bide,  
These 
* If all traitors, Hypocrites, flatterers, extortioners, oppressors, Br●betakers, Cheaters, Panders, Bawds, etc. were hanged up in the woods on several Trees, there is no Arras, or Tapestry can grace and adorn, in Prince's Court as those Hangings could become a Commonwealth.  Hangings, filthy rotten walls do hide.  
A Heart's horn to a post fast nailed on,  
Serves well for men to Hang their hats upon:  
But if they knew their heads would serve the turn,  
They would not shift their hats from horn to horn.  
men's swords in Hangers Hang, fast by their side,  
Their Stirrups Hang, when as they use to ride:  
Our Coneys and our Deer, are Hanged in toils,  
Our meat hangs o'er the fire when as it boiles;  
Our light Hangs in the Lantern, all men sees  
Our frui● we eat was hanged upon the trees,  
Signs hang on posts show where as tradesmen dwells,  
In steeples all men know are Hanged the Bells,  
The scales or balance hangs where things are weighed,  
Goods Hanged in Cranes, that's in or out conue●'d;  
Yards, sails, shears, tacks, lists, caskets, bolins, braces,  
Are fitly hanged in their convenient places.  
The compass that directs where winds do blow,  
Is Hanged upon the Needle's point we know:  
In stately buildings, Timber, Led and Stone,  
Are Hanged and hoist, or Buildings would be none.  

〈…〉 is an 〈…〉 my of 〈…〉 anging.  Our Maps wherein the world described be,  
Are all Hanged up against the walls we see:  
Our Cazements Hang as they do open and shut,  
Our Curtains Hang, which 'bout our beds we put,  
Our Hogs are Hanged, else Bacon we might look,  
Doors Hang on Hinges, or I am mistook,  
And many a trusty Padlock Hangs no doubt,  
To let in honest men and keep Knaves out.  
Sea Cabins Hang, where poor men sleep & rest,  
Our Cloaks Hang on our backs 'tis manifest;  
The Vial, Cittern, the Bandore and Lute,  
Are cased or uncased, all Hanged up and mute,  
Our Linen (being washed) must Hang to dry,  
Or else Lice will Hang on and multiply:  
Thus hang's beneficial to all States,  
Whilst Gods dread curse Hangs o'er the reprobates.  
And as for those that take my Lines amiss,  
And will be pleased to be displeased with this,  
For groats a piece, nay less, for three pence either,  
I'll give them all leave to to be Hanged together;  
Since Hanging then is proved so natural,  
So beneficial, so general,  
So apt, so necessary, and so fit,  
Our reason tells us we should honour it.  
It is a good man's life, and 'tis their death,  
That rob and rifle men of goods and breath:  
This kind of Hanging all offences ends,  
From which God ever bless me and my friends.  
I from the Hangman this conclusion draw,  
He is the fatal period of the Law:  
If thieves or traitors into mischief run,  
If he have done with them, than they have done.  
'Tis often seen that many hapless men  
Have been condemned and Judged, reprieved again  
And pardoned, have committed new transgressions,  
And in again oft many a Size and Sessions:  
When many warnings mend them not therefore  
Th● Hangman warns them, they offend no more.  
he's the Catastrophe and Epilogue  
Of many of the desperate Catalogue;  
And he is one that cannot wanted be,  
But still God keep him far enough from me.   

THE DESCRIPTION of Tyburn.  
I Have heard sundry men oft times dispute  
Of trees that in one year will twice bear fruit.  
But if a man note Tyburn, 'twill appear,  
That that's a tree that bears twelve times a year.  
I Muse it should so fruitful be, for why  
I understand the root of it is dry,  
It bears no leaf, no blossom, or no bud,  
The rain that makes it fructify is blond.  
I further note the fruit which it produces,  
Doth seldom serve for profitable uses:  
Except the skilful Surgeon's industry,  
Do make Defection or Anatomy.  
It blossoms, buds, and bears, all three together,  
And in one hour, doth live, and die, and wither.  
Like Sodom Apples, they are in conceit,  
For touched they turn to dust and ashes straight.  
Besides I find this Tree hath never been  
Like other fruit trees, walled or hedged in,  
But in the high way standing many a year,  
It never yet was robbed, as I cou●d hear.  
The reason is apparent to our eyes,  
That what it bears are dead commodities:  
And yet sometimes (such grace to it is given)  
The dying fruit is well prepared for heaven,  
And many times a man may gather thence  
Remorse, devotion, and true penitence.  
And from that Tree, I think more souls ascend  
To that Celestial joy, which ne'er shall end:  
I say more souls from thence to heaven do come,  
Than from all 
Except Paul's churchyard and not Gregory's, 〈…〉 many in 〈…〉 & then 〈…〉 there; whom I do 〈◊〉 believe have ●ules. Also I except the 〈◊〉 at Salisbury, with all Cathedral Churchyards, and others, where any body dwells, if it be but a Summer, or a Sexton.  Churchyards throughout christendom  
The reason is, the bodies all are dead,  
And all the souls to joy or woe are fled.  
Perhaps a week, a day, or two, or three,  
Before they in the Churchyards buried be.  
But at this Tree, in twinkling of an eye,  
The soul and body part immediately,  
There death the fatal parting blow doth strike,  
And in Churchyards is seldom seen the like.  
Besides, they are assisted with the alms  
Of people's charitable Prayers, and Psalms,  
Which are the wings that lift the hou'ring spirit,  
By faith, through grace, true glory to inherit.  
Concerning this dead fruit, I noted it,  
In stead of paste it's put into a pit,  
And laid up carefully in any place,  
Yet worm-eaten it grows in little space.  
My understanding can by no means frame  
To give this Tyburn fruit a fitter name,  
Than Meddlers, for I find that great and small  
(To my capacity) are Meddlers all.  
Some say they are Choked pears, and some again  
Do call them Hearty Chokes, but 'tis most plain,  
It is a kind of Medler it doth bear,  
Or else I think it never would come there.  
Moreover where it grows I find it true,  
It often turns the Herb of Grace to Rue.  
Amongst all Potherbs growing on the ground,  
Time is the least respected, I have found,  
And most abused, and therefore one shall see  
No branch or bud of it grow near this Tree:  
For 'tis occasion of man's greatest crime,  
To turn the Use, into Abuse, of Time.  
When Passions are let loose without a bridle,  
Then precious Time is turned to Love and Idle:  
And that's the chiefest reason I can show,  
Why fruit so often doth on Tyburn grow.  
There are inferior Gallows which bear  
(According to the season) twice a year:  
And there's a kind of waterish Tree at Wapping,  
Whereas Sea-theeves or Pirates are catched napping:  
But Tyburn doth deserve before them all  
The title and addition capital,  
Of Arch or great Grand Gallowse of our Land,  
Whilst all the rest like ragged Laqueyes stand;  
It hath (like Luna) ‛ full, and change, and quarters,  
It (like a Merchant) monthly trucks and barters;  
But all the other Gallows are fit,  
Like Chapmen, or poor Pedlars unto it.  
Thus jails and jailors being here explained,  
How both are good, and for good use ordained,  
All sorts of Hanging which I could surmise,  
I likewise have described before your eyes;  
And further having showed what Tyburn is,  
With many more inferior Gallowsis,  
My pen from paper with this Prayer doth part,  
God bless all people from their sin's desert.  
FINIS.