A Feast for Wormes: Section 10

The Prince and people fasts, and prayes;
God heard, accepted, lik'd their wayes:
Vpon their timely true repentance,
God rever'st, and chang'd his sentence.

THen suddenly, with holy zeale inflam'd,
He caus'd a generall Act to be proclaim'd,
By sage advice, and counsell of his Peeres;
" Let neither man, or child, of youth, or yeares,
" From greatest in the Citie, to the least,
" Nor Herd, nor pining Flocke, nor hungry beast,
" Nor any thing that draweth ayre, or breath,
" On forfeiture of life, or present death,
" Presume to taste of nourishment, or food,
" Or move their hungry lips to chew the cud;
" From out their eyes let Springs of water burst,
" With teares (or nothing) let thē slake their thirst:
" Moreo're, let every man (what e're he be)
" Of higher quality, or low degree,
" D'off all they weare (excepting but the same
" That nature craves, & that which covers shame)
" Their nakednesse with sackcloth let them hide,
" And mue the vest'ments of their silken pride;
" And let the brave cariering Horse of Warre,
" (Whose rich Caparisons, and Trappings are
" The glorious Wardrobe of a Victors show)
" Let him disrobe, and put on sackcloth too;
" The Oxe (ordain'd for yoke) the Asse (for load)
" The Horse (as well for race, as for the roade)
" The burthren-bearing Camell (strong and great)
" The fruitfull Kine, and every kinde of Neate,
" Let all put sackcloth on, and spare no voyce,
" But cry aloud to heaven, with mighty noise;
" Let all men turne the bias of their wayes,
" And change their fiercer hands to force of praise:
" For who can tell, if God (whose angry face
" Hath long bin waining from us) will embrace
" This slender pittance of our best indeavour?
" Who knowes, if God will his intent persever?
" Or who can tell, if he (whose tender love
" Transcends his sharper Iustice) will remove
" And change his high decree, & turn his sentence
" Vpon a timely, and unfain'd repentance?
" And who can tell, if heaven will change the lot,
That we, and ours may live, and perish not?
So God perceiv'd their workes, & saw their waies,
Approv'd the faith, that in their workes did blaze,
Approv'd their works, approv'd their workes the ra-ther
because their faith & works wēt both together:
He saw their faith, because their faith abounded;
He saw their works, because on faith they grounded
He saw their faith, their workes, and so relented,
H'approv'd their works, their faith, & so repented;
Repented of the plagues they apprehended;
Repented of the evill, that he intended:
So God the vengeance of his hand withdrew,
He tooke no forfeiture, although 'twere due;
The evill, that once hee meant, he now forgot,
Cancell'd the forfeit bond, and did it not.