Of Doubt and Credulity

'Tis frequently of bad eventTo give or to withhold assent.Two cases will th' affair explain--The good Hippolytus was slain;In that his stepdame credit found,And Troy was levell'd with the ground;Because Cassandra's prescious careSought, but obtain'd no credence there.The facts should then be very strong,Lest the weak judge determine wrong:But that I may not make too freeWith fabulous antiquity,I now a curious tale shall tell,Which I myself remember well.An honest man, that loved his wife,Was introducing into lifeA son upon the man's estate.One day a servant (whom, of late,He with his freedom had endu'd)Took him aside, and being shrewd,Supposed that he might be his heirWhen he'd divulged the whole affair.Much did he lie against the youth,But more against the matron's truth:And hinted that, which worst of allWas sure a lover's heart to gall,The visits of a lusty rake,And honour of his house at stake.He at this scandal taking heat,Pretends a journey to his seat;But stopp'd at hand, while it was light,Where, on a sudden, and by night,He to his wife's apartment sped,Where she had put the lad to bed,As watchful of his youthful bloom.While now they're running to the room,And seek a light in haste, the sire,No longer stifling of his ire,Flies to the couch, where grouping round,A head, but newly shaved, he found;Then, as alone, he vengeance breath'd,The sword within his bosom sheath'd--The candle ent'ring, when he spiedThe bleeding youth, and by his sideThe spotless dame, who being fastAsleep, knew nothing that had pass'd,Instant in utmost grief involved,He vengeance for himself resolved;And on that very weapon flew,Which his too cred'lous fury drew.Th' accusers take the woman straight,And drag to the centumvirate;Th' ill-natured world directly builtA strong suspicion of her guilts,As she th' estate was to enjoy--The lawyers all their skill employ;And a great spirit those exertWho most her innocence assert.The judges then to Cæsar pray'dThat he would lend his special aid;Who, as they acted upon oath,Declared themselves extremely lothTo close this intricate affair--He, taking then himself the chair,The clouds of calumny displaced.And Truth up to her fountain traced."Let the freedman to vengeance go,The cause of all this scene of woe:For the poor widow, thus undone,Deprived of husband and of son,To pity has a greater pleaThan condemnation, I decree--But if the man, with caution due,Had rather blamed than listen'd toThe vile accuser, and his lieHad strictly search'd with Reason's eye,This desp'rate guilt he had not known,Nor branch and root his house o'erthrown."Nor wholly scorn, nor yet attendToo much at what the tatlers vend,Because there's many a sad neglect.Where you have little to suspect;And treach'rous persons will attaintMen, against whom there's no complaint.Hence simple folks too may be taughtHow to form judgments as they ought,And not see with another's glass;For things are come to such a pass,That love and hate work diff'rent ways,As int'rest or ambition sways.Them you may know, in them confide,Whom by experience you have tried.Thus have I made a long amendsFor that brief style which some offends.