Dryden : Absalom and Achitophel.

In friendship false, implacable in hate, Resolved to ruin or to rule the state; To compass this the triple bond he broke, The pillars of the public safety shook, And fitted Israel for a foreign yoke; Then seized with fear, yet still affecting fame, Usurped a patriot's all-atoning name.

Dryden: The Medal.

Behold him now exalted into trust; His counsels oft convenient, seldom just. E'en in the most sincere advice he gave, He had a grudging still to be a knave. The frauds he learnt in his fanatic years Made him uneasy in his lawful gears: At best as little honest as he could: And like white witches mischievouly good, To his first bias longingly he leans, And rather would be great by wicked means. Thus framed for ill he loosed our triple hold; (Advice unsafe, precipitate, and bold); From hence those tears; that Ilium of our woe: Who helps a powerful friend, forearms a foe, What wonder if the waves prevail so far, When he cut down the banks that made the bar; Seas follow but their nature to invade; But he, by art, our native strength betrayed.