The Oxfordshire NINE. April 1705.
[_]
The attribution of this poem is questionable.
Perusing the List of the Tackers in Print,
And carefully marking what Members were in't,
Some Names I observ'd to most Counties did fall:
But Oxford afforded no fewer than All.
Nine Members, Nine Tackers. And more had there been,
And their Number as great as their Spirits were keen:
Or had this small County, more fierce than the rest,
But sent up as many as some in the West:
A desperate Risque we had presently run
Of the League being broke, and the Nation undone.
Then let us be grateful, and thank Heaven for't,
Since their Heads were so hot, that their Hands were so short.
But will this agree with their Courtship, thought I,
When the Queen was harangu'd, and extol'd to the Sky,
In her way to the Bath by the Literate Fry?
Or can we imagine it mightily sutes
With Thanks for her Gift of the Tenths, and First-fruits?
Unless it be grateful in Sons of the Church
Their best Benefactors to leave in the Lurch;
And when for their sakes she had lessen'd her Store,
To shut up the Purse and supply Her no more.
For clogging it so as she cannot comply,
Is just the same thing as quite to deny.
And Tantalus Story again to revive,
By giving Her that which She cannot receive.
For if a good Bill with another be join'd,
It should be with One of a sutable Kind:
But to yoak it with what is not proper to pass,
Is next to the yoaking an Ox with an Ass;
Or to imitate Him, who in Story is said
To couple together the Quick and the Dead.
Or will it agree with their Blenheim Address,
Of Speeches and Verses sent Post from the Press;
Out-running poor Cambridg in Loyal Pretence,
And before her in Haste, as behind her in Sense?
Will not this make their Poetry backward to chime,
And turn to Burlesque all Addison's Rhyme?
Extolling our Valour, and mighty Success,
When they shew by their Tacking they wish it were less:
Or commending our Cause, when with the same Breath
By stopping our Mony they starve it to Death.
Unless they suppose the Nine Muses alone
Would ballance the Hurt the Nine Members had done:
Or the Queen were so weak as to wink at the Wrong,
Forget the Affront, and be pleas'd with a Song.
But still I was poring, and sought to Divine
What Mystery lay in the Number of Nine:
I thought the Nine Muses might serve for the feat,
Since there they have chosen their antient Seat.
But I found my Mistake e're I went very far:
For Tacking tends only to Discord and Jar.
The famous Nine Worthies ran next in my Mind;
But little Agreement in this I could find:
Since nothing less worthy could ever be seen,
Than to fetter a Just and a Generous Queen.
Nor trust Her with Mony to manage the Sword,
But on the condition of breaking her Word.
Or what could they offer less Worthy and Brave,
Than to hazard a Land they were chosen to save?
Or dangerous Tricks, and Experiments try,
Exposing us all to the Chance of a Die,
And venture at once both the Church and the State,
When they saw the French Hannibal stand at the Gate.
But still may our Queen twice a Conqueror prove;
Of her Foes by her Arms, and her Subjects by Love.
The last is the noblest we know of the two;
But I fear She will find 'tis the hardest to do.
Yet let not Her Majesty wholly despair,
Tho bravest Attempts the most difficult are:
For as in Eighth Henry our Roses combin'd,
And in our First James the two Kingdoms were join'd:
Who knows but our ANNE may by Heav'n be decreed
To close the wide Wounds of a Nation that bleed?
An Union that is of Importance so high:
Nor that of our Roses, nor Realms can out-vie.
A Victory equal to Blenheim Success;
And justly deserving a Triumph no less.
And what from Her Reign we must hope for alone:
For She by her Sweetness must do it, or None.
Let us hope then and pray our next Senate may be
As zealous for Peace and Agreement as She:
And that our Electors may open their Eyes;
And think it no shame at the last to grow wise.
Or if some of that List to the House should be sent;
Let us pray they may see their Mistake, and repent:
And the powerful Charms of her Excellent Reign
May sweeten their Tempers, and fetch them again:
Until, with a Blush, they reflect on that Vote,
As a taking three Kingdoms at once by the Throat:
And the only Unkindness that ever was shown
To the Kindest of Queens, since She sat on the Throne:
And may so regret the Indignity past,
That as 'twas the First, so it may be the Last.
