Classic Poem

If Losers may have leave to speak, O Laws!
For op'ning here against you, have I cause;
Since the Law is but Justice against Right,
Which Reason never does oppose to Might;
Or do, to th' Poor, or helpless Innocent,
Since that, in Practice, has no Precedent;
For Men have long found, and shall evermore,
No Right, or Reason, against Wealth, or Pow'r;
Whence 'tis (time out of mind,) the Law thought fit,
Possession against Justice to permit,
To be, at least, eleven Points of it;
The Law's the War o'th' Pen, which evermore,
Like other Wars, make Reason yield to Pow'r;
Civil Contention, Contests to prevent,
Yet them, by th' Sword of Justice, does augment;
War of the Pen, worst sort of Civil War,
To make Foes Friends, makes Friends with Friends to jar;
Worst sort of War, tho' made to keep the Peace,
Does Diff'rences, deciding them, increase;
As Constables, when they the Law wou'd lay
Down with their Staves, by hind'ring, make the Fray;
The Peace, and Heads, break with that Staff which shou'd
Keep the Peace, and withstand the shedding Blood;
War of the Pen then, is the squabling Law,
The Sword of Justice, 'gainst the Peace to draw;
War of the Pen, which, in the Name of Right,
Justice unjustly over-powers with Might;
Cause of Contention, as, first by it made,
The Curb of Pow'r, and yet Oppression's Aid;
A Civil Quarrel, and a War with Words,
More dangerous to most, than that of Swords;
Thou War in Peace! War of the Pen, and Tongue!
I'th' Name of Right, to do by Justice, Wrong;
Of which Tongue-War, as other sorts of War,
Mens Purse-Strings, but the truest Sinews are;
For as they stretch, or they contracted grow,
Men have more Pow'r, more Good, or Harm to do;
Weak Second, art thou yet, O brangling Law!
The Sword of Justice, against Pow'r to draw;
For the Weak, Innocent, and Poor, so dost,
Like all Weak Seconds, them, who trust thee most,
Still most expose to Lawless Violence,
But as they most depend on thy Defence;
Who dost Men Reason, often against Sense;
Dost Equity 'gainst Justice, often do,
And against Equity, more Justice too,
Injurious, by Legality to grow;
Thou Civil War! so, the worst sort of War,
To keep Men, for their Goods, Lives, most in fear,
The more, they Seekers of thy Justice are.
Thou Peace-making Contention! which began,
As soon as did, the busie World, and Man;
As soon, as in the World there Brothers were,
Abel , and Cain , to jar, or interfere
With one another, for their Interest,
Or Pow'r, to cavil, wrangle, or contest;
Till Thou, Law! against Reason, didst incline,
Men, to fall out, against the Laws Divine,
And bring 'em to those hard words, Mine and Thine;
When all, by Heav'ns Decree, in common was,
More to maintain Man's Innocence, and Peace;
E'er that encroaching Pow'r, or wrangling Law,
Did Peaceful Man, into Contention draw;
Or, make the dearest Brother, nearest Friend,
Agree, but with each other, to contend,
Suits to prolong, by seeking yet their End;
To make Men fall out, but, that Lawyers may,
Like Pick-pockets, to get by't, make the Fray;
The Law, Feuds it shou'd lessen, does increase;
Vexation of Mankind, meant for our Ease;
Breaker, instead of Keeper, of the Peace;
Which, our worst Danger of our Safety grows,
To make Friends fall out, for the Gain of Foes;
Thus is the Law, to helpless Innocence,
But its Betrayer, by its weak Defence;
So weak, false Seconds, as they more pretend,
To give Assistance to their injur'd Friend,
Expose the Good Cause, they but ill defend;
Thus Thou, the Law! to which, for Right we go,
Our Danger dost, of our Protection grow,
Defrauder, or Preserver, of our Right;
The worst of Tyrants, meant a Check to Might;
Dost Robbers, for their guilty Booty spare,
Of Felon's Goods, to make thy Judges share,
So Law! to keep innocent Men in fear;
Who, but the more they love, or follow Thee,
By Thee, more fin'd, and punish'd still will be;
For Thefts dost Guilt to Punishment deliver,
If the Crime be n't the Criminal's Reliever,
And does not make the Judge the Thief's Receiver;
So Thou, O Law! instead of the Defence,
Of Poor, Blind Justice, and Weak Innocence;
The Danger art, of our Stores, Lives, or Peace,
Who dost our Wants, Fears, Quarrels, more increase;
Thus art Thou, as more Law, less Equity,
Since height of Justice, is most Injury,
Possession against Right, to justifie;
Since if Possession, (as 'tis reckon'd,) be,
O lawless Law! eleven Points of Thee;
Then, a Man's Right is only less, or more,
Not as his Cause, more Justice has, but Pow'r:
You Law! for Justice then sure, cannot go,
Since height of Wrong, does height of Justice grow,
Which by most Rigour, may least Reason do:
You Justice to the Helpless most refuse,
Make your Pow'r, your Injustice's Excuse,
Will Right, with rig'rous Justice oft abuse;
And oft with Mercy and with Lenity,
Sparing bad Men, do good Men Injury;
Your Mercy, most unmercifullly so,
To th' Guilty, 'gainst the Innocent, to show;
The Weak, Poor, Innocent, by Mercy Wrong
Against Right aid, the Crafty, Bold, Rich, Strong;
For you Possession, Lawless Law! by Might,
Maintain, against all Justice, to be Right:
You do not end then Quarrels or Disputes,
But are their Maintenance, increasing Suits;
Not Fraud's Detector, but Encourager,
Truths judge not as it does to Sense appear,
Not by what True Men say, but Knaves will swear;
For to those, who most boldly Swear, or Lie,
You Right, or Wrong, will nothing e'er deny,
But Truth condemn, for too much Modesty:
The blushing Witnesses true Evidence,
Will take for Guilt, tho' Sign of Innocence;
In your Courts, (as all others) you prevent,
Claims of the Bashful, Poor, and Innocent,
For being, o'er the Bold and Lying, prevalent;
So Justice here you serve not, but command,
By Fraud and Violence begotten, and
By those, to this Day, still are you maintain'd:
Then, whence you come, you by your Practice show,
Crimes made you first, and Crimes continue you;
If we may judge you, as you judge a Cause,
By your Beginnings, O you Tyrant-Laws!
The Guilt of Justice are you, Reason's Shame,
Oppressions, under our Protection's Name,
Made by the Fearful, Guilty, Fraudulent;
Maintain'd by Force, not for the Punishment
O'th' pow'rful Guilty, but weak Innocent;
In Opposition to Tyrannic Pow'r,
I'th' Name of Right yet exercising more;
And not to right the weak Man on the strong,
But to help Pow'r, to do blind Justice Wrong;
Men's Disputes not to finish, but prolong;
Not the poor, wrong'd Defendant's Part to take,
Defendants more Complainants yet to make;
Since ev'n him, whom you do most Justice to,
You, by his gaining of his Cause, undo;
Till the Costs, which the Lands recover'd pay,
Again, the Profits of 'em take away;
Which, if he from the Lawyers does recover,
'Tis but to make 'em to the Scriv'ners over;
Who does, by's Cause's Maintenance, alone,
The Lawyer's Bus'ness, but to lose his own;
To make the Justice done him, Injury,
Equity guilty, ev'n of Champerty,
By Maintenance of Suits in Chancery;
Till by Law, Justice does Oppression grow,
Wrong'd Men, by their Relief, but quite undo,
Which robs Free-Men, and free lets Robbers go;
But Out-Laws so, from Law Protection have,
Which Cowards, or base Run-aways does save,
And hangs for standing to't, the Wrong'd, or Brave;
Against God's Law, soonest condemning him,
Who soonest does confess his Guilt, or Crime;
The Law then, Justice, against Reason is,
Makes Men, i'th' Name of Right, do more amiss;
Reward of Knaves, instead of Punishment,
Meant the Support o'th' Poor, and Innocent,
Yet does but cause the Wrong, it shou'd prevent;
Design'd for Justice, is Oppression's Aid,
Protects not good Men, nor corrects the bad;
Since without Force, good Men wou'd still be so,
The bad, but worse, for its Correction grow,
The Fraudulent more cheats, but by it too;
The Law's a Licence so, to cheat, rob, kill,
To make the rich Rogues, live unpunish'd still,
And hold, the Pow'rful, Great, can do no Ill;
To make blind Justice, break itself the Peace,
Whose Sword, our Feuds does, ending them, increase,
As did the Sword of Errant Hercules ;
Since Law-Suits, like his Hydra 's Heads, grow more,
For Executions, than they were before;
Wherefore, O Law! in vain you use your Pow'r;
For as one Suit, by th' Sword of Justice, you,
Seem to dispatch, you split it but in two;
Till more you do, you have the more to do:
The Law, so made to lessen Diff'rences,
Does them, like its Professors, more increase;
Made but to help the Weak, Oppress'd, alone,
Becomes, the worst Oppression e'er was known;
Ne'r wrongs the Rich, nor rights the Poor Man's Pleas,
To Poor Men gives not, but does Damages;
The Law itself, Injustice does imply,
Since it distinguish'd is from Equity,
So when 'tis most Law, 'tis most Injury;
Tho' still it has, for a Profession gone,
Of giving all Men, always, most their own;
Yet now, by Custom, a Profession 'tis,
To make the Lawyer's Clients Money his;
Who makes one Way, his Client's Case his own,
Whose Lands prove his, e'er t'other's Suits are done;
Since he the Profits only does receive,
Whilst the Law lasts, so does himself relieve;
Like Gamester's Box-Keepers, are Lawyers so,
Who Rich, by what does ruine others, grow;
Who sweep the Stakes, whilst the chous'd Pushers swear,
Their Gains so, but from other's Losses share:
For whosoever gets, or loses, they,
Must them for Judgment, or Attendance pay,
Tho' they their Benefactor's Right betray;
And Law, like Play, no Pushers can give over,
Gainers wou'd get more, Losers more recover;
In fine, the Law's vast Multiplicity,
Makes Law a Grievance, of a Remedy;
For as i'th' Body Natural, (we see)
Evils increas'd by Remedies to be;
Thus, in the Body Politic, the Cause
Of State-Distempers is, too many Laws.