A SUPPLEMENT TO THE Ass' Complaint against Balaam;  
Or the Cry of the COUNTRY AGAINST Ignorant and Scandalous Ministers.  

A Vaunt ye smooth-tongued flatterers of the age;  
Praesto ye meal-mouthed Prophets; clear the Stage;  
Enter the Ass again, who (though he Kneel  
Unto the Higher Powers) lifts up his Heel  
Against all those who make God's house a Den  
Of 
* It hath been a Den of Lay Thiefs too long already.  Clergy Thiefs; Have at them once again.  
— But hark; I hear a Country Parish cry,  
" Were ever Christians in such slavery?  
" Must we be taught by an illiterate Bear?  
" He Preach? he'll only teach our Boys to swear.  
— Is then your Priest a Swearer? Ha— must he  
That taunts a Bishop taste a Pillory?  
And 'tis but Just, and right; Yet who controls  
Him who Blasphemes the Bishop of our Souls?  
What? Is an oath less penal than a word?  
Or is the Servant greater than his Lord?  
No; He that swears commits the fouler Sin,  
And more deserves to lose his ears then—  
— 'Tis true Seditious Spirits, that Deny  
Obedience to the Sacred Hierarchy,  
Merit Severe Correction, let them haeed;  
They're the Disturbers both of Church and State;  
Yet Praelat's Zeal would be much better shown  
In striking Gods offenders then their own,  
— Nay, Gods are theirs; for he that wears lawn sleeves  
Like Christ is murdered 'twixt a brace of Thiefs,  
Both show their enmity, but Divers ways,  
The Presbyter Denies, but This betrays;  
Now tell me (gentle Reader) which were Greater,  
The sin of Judas, or the crime of Peter?  
— Then let the Bishops cast them out, for thus  
They do but Justice to themselves and us;  
Like the wise Mariners, who, to appease  
The fury of the raging Winds, and Seas,  
Threw Ionas overboard; such was hi●●  
There was no Cannon Law to keep him in.  
Nor is it reason all should be maintained  
I'th' Church, who took Degrees, and were Ordained;  
For He that after proves a Drunken Beast,  
Degrades himself from Man, much more from Priest  
And such they were who caused our Bloody War,  
When Levy's tribe were kicked by Issacar;  
For though Men speak with a not so my Sons,  
Yet God reproved them with the voice of Guns.  
fanatics, those Philistines, won the field,  
Whilst our poor Israel were forced to yield;  
For Eli's boys had lost the Ark of God,  
Each Phinehas begat an Ichabod.   

Then Oh ye Bishops heal these sad disasters,  
We do not call for Rectors but for Pastors.  
A Priest should lead his Parish as a guide,  
Not leap upon their galled backs and ride,  
For 'tis our Mother Church's grand disgrace,  
That these black patches stick upon her face.   Written by Lewis Griffin.