But temperaunce, said he, with golden squire, / Betwixt them both can measure out a meane.

The government has earmarked a paltry $1.2 million . . ., not enough to properly fund even the state-run counseling centers—the only institutions with the authority to put battered children into protective custody.

You told a lie, an odious damned lie: / Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie!

So the tightrope these unmean men must walk drew taut.