A collection of poems on Several Occasions Publish'd in the Craftsman. By Caleb D'Anvers of Gray's Inn, Esq [i.e. Nicholas Amhurst] |
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THE INSCRIPTION, Which was lately found on a
Large MARBLE PILLAR Amongst some RUINS at WHITEHALL.
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 | A collection of poems on Several Occasions |  |
THE INSCRIPTION, Which was lately found on a
Large MARBLE PILLAR Amongst some RUINS at WHITEHALL.
21
ATTEMPTED in ENGLISH.
Stands to perpetuate Wolsey's daring Crimes;
Who long, by wicked Arts, of Power possess'd,
(The Lust of Plunder raging in his Breast)
Rais'd this Imperial Dome, more vain than wise,
Amidst the Widow's Tears and Orphan's Cries;
With boundless Wealth and wild Ambition cloy'd,
He Fame alike and Infamy enjoy'd;
Rapacious, guileful, insolent of Heart,
He fondly boasted Ciceronian Art;
His poor fallacious, tinsel Eloquence
Tickled the Ear, but ne'er inform'd the Sense;
A specious, empty, puzzling Rote of Words.
His Genius scorn'd the mean Restraints of Truth.
Good Nature, Reason, Argument and Sense
Were all supply'd with shameless Impudence;
A Purple Robber; who, for impious Gain,
Saw his poor Country bleed through every Vein;
And though in Peace, as He himself confess'd,
With all the Miseries of a War oppress'd;
Whilst his voracious Tribe grew fat with Spoil,
And flourished on the Shipwreck of our Isle;
Rash to provoke, and yet afraid of War;
He sued for Peace with Bribes and Sordidness of Prayer.
With never-fading Wreaths and Trophies crown'd,
The just Revenge of Arms, which Heaven supply'd,
By base, inglorious Treaties He deny'd,
Saw their old Honour and their Trade decay,
To Friends and Foes, by Turns, a despicable Prey.
The Scandal, Curse and Grievance of the Times,
Abhorr'd by all, suspected by the Crown,
By his own Weight He rush'd impetuous down;
Soon as He fell, with abject Fears dismay'd,
He all the Coward, all the Wretch betray'd,
More Meanness shew'd, a more dejected Mind,
Than Insolence before, when unconfin'd,
And, his own Will the Law, he triumph'd o'er Mankind.
Be warn'd by his Example, shun his Fate.
Eachard says, that his annual Incomes equall'd, if not exceeded the Revenues of the Crown. See his History, Vol. I. Pag. 633.
See the same Author concerning his Methods of amassing Riches by racking the People , Vol. I. Pag. 636.
It is well known that he took Pensions from several foreign Princes, particularly from the Emperour and the French King, and alternately involved this Nation in expensive Wars with those Princes, as his own Interest or Passion guided him.
He was one of the greatest Engrossers of those Times; being, Bishop of Tournay, Bishop of Lincoln, and Archbishop of York; with which he held the Bishopricks of Winchester and Durham and the Abby of St. Albans in commendum, and the Bishopricks of Bath, Worcester and Hereford in Farm. Besides all these, He was a Cardinal, and Legate a Latere from the Pope, Lord High Chancellor of England, and had monopolized the Disposal of all the Ecclesiastical Benefices and most of the civil Offices, Honours and Preferments. See the same Author, Vol. I. Pag. 363.
| A collection of poems on Several Occasions | |