Miscellanies in prose and verse on several occasions, by Claudero [i.e. James Wilson], son of Nimrod the Mighty Hunter. The Fourth Edition with large Additions |
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The serious Advice and Exhortation of the
Royal Exchange to the Cross of
Edinburgh, immediately before its execution.
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 | Miscellanies in prose and verse |  |
The serious Advice and Exhortation of the Royal Exchange to the Cross of Edinburgh, immediately before its execution.
My aged parent, hear my voice,
And cease to make this doleful noise;
Submit yourself unto your doom,
Royal Exchange comes in your room;
My polish'd stones, of modern date,
One day will share my parent's fate;
And in your fall mine own I see:
What's modern now will antient be.
All nature changes in its turn,
Worlds sometimes drown, and sometimes burn;
Yea, heav'n shrinks below the rod
Of the eternal changeless GOD.
And cease to make this doleful noise;
Submit yourself unto your doom,
Royal Exchange comes in your room;
6
One day will share my parent's fate;
And in your fall mine own I see:
What's modern now will antient be.
All nature changes in its turn,
Worlds sometimes drown, and sometimes burn;
Yea, heav'n shrinks below the rod
Of the eternal changeless GOD.
To your last words I was attent,
Which made my heart of stone relent;
Your aged speeches, full of sense,
Acquir'd by long experience,
Made zealous Whigs, and hopeful Tories,
Jointly thank you for your stories;
Both parties herein did agree,
That you was used cruelly.
When honest men are high in place,
Rogues are hung up with cover'd face;
When rogues have power, sham justice too
Will hang the honest up like you.
The Luckenbooths, Weigh-house, and Guard,
By the new scheme, will not be spar'd;
For modish people think it meet,
That houses be swept off the street.
Into my bowels as an urn,
You'll all be bury'd in your turn;
Then, phœnix-like, again you'll rise,
And soar with me into the skies.
Grand is the scheme, and its intent
Is order, use, and ornament.
My builders skill'd are in each lecture
Of masonry and architecture;
Can build a Cross, or pull it down,
And from a rock extract a town;
Can work to old taste or to new,
Therefore the antients they out-do.
Your crimes, dear father, now repent,
Mourn for the life that you have spent;
For witness often you have stood,
And have suck'd up much gentle blood.
A vi'lent death therefore you share,
That all blood-suckers may beware.
Num'rous examples testify,
That blood for blood doth vengeance cry;
None merciful will mourn the loss
Of you, a cruel bloody Cross.
Which made my heart of stone relent;
Your aged speeches, full of sense,
Acquir'd by long experience,
Made zealous Whigs, and hopeful Tories,
Jointly thank you for your stories;
Both parties herein did agree,
That you was used cruelly.
When honest men are high in place,
Rogues are hung up with cover'd face;
When rogues have power, sham justice too
Will hang the honest up like you.
The Luckenbooths, Weigh-house, and Guard,
By the new scheme, will not be spar'd;
For modish people think it meet,
That houses be swept off the street.
Into my bowels as an urn,
You'll all be bury'd in your turn;
Then, phœnix-like, again you'll rise,
And soar with me into the skies.
Grand is the scheme, and its intent
Is order, use, and ornament.
My builders skill'd are in each lecture
Of masonry and architecture;
Can build a Cross, or pull it down,
And from a rock extract a town;
Can work to old taste or to new,
Therefore the antients they out-do.
Your crimes, dear father, now repent,
Mourn for the life that you have spent;
For witness often you have stood,
And have suck'd up much gentle blood.
7
That all blood-suckers may beware.
Num'rous examples testify,
That blood for blood doth vengeance cry;
None merciful will mourn the loss
Of you, a cruel bloody Cross.
| Miscellanies in prose and verse | |