 | Poems on Affairs of State |  |
[In Parem imperium habet Par]
Roundhead,1
In Parem imperium habet Par,Vi & armis we will bring Peers to the Bar,
For 500 absolute Kings we are.
2
The Speaker Pope-like is servus servorum,Both make their Electors fall down before 'um,
And pay excessive Fees when they adore 'um,
3
For Papal Power we care not a Louse,We are the sole infallible House,
Whom God made a Man, we can soon make a Mouse.
116
4
If a Cavalier strikes Jack-Presbyter's CurFor biting his Heels, we'l hector you Sir;
Seize him Serjeant at Arms. He dares not stir.
5
Know Phillips and Stavell, late Heads of a Jury,The Commons assembled cannot endure ye
For putting the House in a very great Fury:
6
We've voted you both the Sons of Perdition,For abhorring the Subjects Right to Petition,
And make you pray and pay for Remission.
Cavalier.
7
I will be loyal to good Charles the Second;If this amongst my Errors be reckon'd,
Be it known to the House I'll venture my Neck on't.
8
I highly prize the Petition of Right,And for Magna Charta to Death I will fight,
But not against the King by this Light.
9
A Petition offer'd doth honour the King,Under God it speaks him the Sovereign Spring;
'Tis the Manner I blame distinct from the Thing.
10
Infallibility, I do declare,I cannot subscribe to; Wi. William's Chair,
As I will not be rude to't, I'll not worship there.
11
I value Cæsar's Smile and his Nod;And if he whip me, I'll kiss the Rod,
For Heaven's Vicegerent is an Earthly God.
12
The Commons I grant have a very great Charter,But not the power to Hang, Draw, and Quarter,
To prevent which St. Charles dy'd a Martyr.
117
13
I confess I never knew till this Hour;That the Commons had a Satanical Power;
For the Serjeant walks seeking whom to devour.
14
I own the House an Assembly most awful,But should they vote Alewives to fill Pots but half-full,
Will it presently follow that Cheating is Lawful?
15
Or if they vote a Buzzard no Bird,Or that a Sirreverence is not a Turd;
I'll acquiesce if it stinks not when stir'd.
16
The King I resolve to venture my Life for,Against such as seek to make him a Cypher,
And by his leave, my Lawful Right strive for.
17
The Rump-Saints lull us asleep with their Charms,And make us new Prisons to keep us from harms,
Where Topham's both Jaylor and Serjeant at Arms.
18
If this be the present Commons Intention,They need not so far to strain their Invention;
All's done by a Bill of Comprehension.
19
When for no crime I great Fees disburseTo the Serjeant at Arms, 'tis no better nor worse
Than the Highway Law, Deliver your Purse.
20
At this rate standing up for Freedom,The King's Subjects neither value nor need 'um;
'Twere well if they sent a Surgeon to bleed 'um.
21
When Charles commended the state of Tangier,The House like deaf Adders stopped their Ear;
Because the King mov'd it, they resolv'd not to hear.
118
22
But when a 2d or 3d Message was sent,They remonstrance at large how things at home went;
And mov'd for a Fast. God grant they repent.
| Poems on Affairs of State | |