THE ASSOCIATION: OR,
LIBERTY
and
LOYALTY.
VERSES occasion'd by The present Unnatural
REBELION.
By THEOPHILUS CIBBER.
— coorta est
Seditio, Saevitque animis ignobile vulgus.
VIRG.
— ne tanta animis assuescite Bella;
Neu Patriae Validas in vicera vertite vires.
VIRG.
Kind Patrons take this Poem in good Part,
And spare bad Numbers for an honest Heart.
ROWE.
LONDON: Printed for W. BICKERTON, in the
Temple Exchange,
opposite St.
Dunstan
's Church,
Fleet-street.
M.D.CC.XLV.
A Speech of Lord
Hastings,
in ROWE'S JANE SHORE.
"REMEMBER him, the Villain, righteous Heaven,
"In thy great Day of Vengeance: Blast the Traitor
"And his pernicious Councels; who for Wealth,
"For Power, the Pride of Greatness, or Revenge,
"Would plunge his native Land in Civil Wars.
"Have we so soon forgot those Days of Ruin,
"When
York
and
Lancaster
drew forth their Battles!
"When, like a Matron, butcher'd by her Sons,
"And cast beside some common Way a Spectacle
"Of Horror and Affright to Passers by,
"Our groaning Country bled at every Vein,
"When Murders, Rapes, and Massacrees prevail'd;
"When Churches, Palaces and Cities blas'd;
"When Insolence and Barbarism triumph'd,
"And swept away Distinction; Peasants trod
"Upon the Necks of Nobles; low were laid
"The reverend Crosier, and the holy Mitre,
"And Desolation cover'd all the Land:
"Who can remember this, and not, like me,
"Here vow to sheath a Dagger in his Heart,
"Whose damn'd Ambition would renew those Horrors,
"And set, once more, that Scene of Blood before us?
To the Candid Reader.
AFTER a Series of Misfortunes, and meeting with the most ungenerous Treatment, from some whom I least suspected, and least deserv'd it from, I feel the additional Grievance of being a Prisoner in the
Fleet
; tho' I have assign'd Two Thirds of my future Salary for the Payment of my Debts, if my Creditors will be so good to allow me Liberty to work for them, as well as myself: While I seem to complain of Want of Lenity in some, Gratitude obliges me to acknowledge the Favour shewn me by others; as Several, whose Demands on me are largest, have not only the Humanity to come into this Proposal themselves, but have endeavour'd to instil the same generous Sentiments into the rest. Yet a few are unkind enough to have continu'd me (for these five Months past) in a Place, where I am incapable of geting Bread, either for myself or Children. The Mind may be free, tho' the Body's confin'd; as a Proof of which, I employ'd a little of my Leisure in the few following Lines: If they in any Degree prove acceptable to the Publick, I am over pay'd.
My Impatience to attest my Loyalty and Affection to the Person of his Majesty and the present Establishment, may, perhaps, make me too quick in the Publication of what I have thus loosely thrown on Paper, and the Consciousness of my Inability to perfect the Task I have undertaken, require some Apology; — Let the Honesty of the Intention plead my Excuse: If I am found to be a good Subject, I'll not repine at being thought an indifferent Poet. I think, at this Juncture, it becomes not an
Englishman
to be totally silent, unwatchful, or inactive; Neutrality, at this Crisis, is a Crime: And may we not reasonably suspect those Gentry are not quite sound of Heart, who, like their politick Friend
Scrub
in the
Stratagem,
resolve
"to say nothing till they're sure of a Peace?"
THE ASSOCIATION: OR,
LIBERTY
and
LOYALTY.
WRONGS to redress, and Justice to maintain,
Has been the Business of our Sovereign's Reign;
The Injur'd from Oppression's Sword to save,
To punish Vice, and to reward the Brave;
His Subjects from Invasions to defend,
And his Allies, in their Distress, befriend;
Unbiass'd to assert the general Good,
For
Europe
's Safety to
expend his Blood:
To fix the Ballance of her Power his View;
That golden Point unerring to pursue,
Was the first End that Providence design'd,
When for Benificence she form'd his Mind.
Well this appear'd, when
Gallic
Arms, of late,
Join'd with
Bavarian,
threaten'd
Europe
's Fate;
Hungaria
's Princess desolate remain'd,
Her Legions slaughter'd, and her Treasures drain'd;
When her Allies fraternal were afraid,
To send that Queen her stipulated Aid,
Touch'd with Compassion,
generous Brunswick
came,
And poiz'd the Balance steady on the Beam.
Thousands of
Gauls
lay stretch'd along the Plain,
Thousands were drown'd repassing thro' the
Mayne
;
And while those
Gauls
precipitately ran,
They hop'd more Mercy from the Deep than Man:
So, when a
Priest-rid Tyrant
heretofore,
The
Papal Power
attempted to restore,
Soon as he saw
brave Nassau
's Troops advance,
He fled for Refuge to the Arms of
France.
O, may
our Monarch
still, by Deeds the same,
Protect this Kingdom, gain a deathless Name,
And with
immortal William,
share
immortal Fame.
While
England
's Safety
George
's Thoughts controul,
(The fav'rite in felt Impulse of his Soul)
That Trade may flourish, Peace may be restor'd,
HE, to the
Empire
gives a
Sovereign Lord
;
Nor Toil, nor Treasure spares: Yet, strange to tell!
A ranc'rous Rebel Rabble Rout, from Hell,
Flatter'd by
Rome,
cajol'd by treach'rous
France,
Our fertil Fields to waste, with hasty Strides advance;
A medley, mischief-making, motley Crew,
Un-hos'd, un-breech'd,—some shod;—but, those, how few!
Begot by Rapes, by Rapine fed, they prove,
Without Wit wicked, Lustful without Love;
Of mongrel
French
and
Scotch,
a Mixture bad,
Half-blooded, and cross-bred, from Sires run mad;
Train'd in Hypocrisy, that impious Evil!
They
God
affront, yet meanly fear the
Devil!
Lawless Banditti, who, abandon'd, dare
Miscall base Robbery, and foul Murder, War;
Tyrants at heart, ungenerously brave,
They fight not to protect, but to enslave;
Should they succeed (which Heaven avert!) their Fate
Now mark, how just! which they'll repent too late;
Frantic, fool-hardy, bigot-blinded Elves,
The Snares, for others laid, entrap themselves:
To glut the Malice, and the Pride, they come,
Of
Paris, Madrid,
and insatiate
Rome.
Now, all their papal Puppet-shews display'd,
That tinsel'd Trump'ry which supports their Trade;
Monks
teach deluded Mortals to believe,
They merit Heav'n, who Hereticks deceive:
"Again religious Fires prepare to shine,
"And Inquisitions plead their Right Divine."
England,
provok'd, now feels, one generous Soul
Inspires each honest Heart, to loyalize the Whole;
From
northern Tweed,
far as the
eastmost Thames,
A Patriot-Passion every Breast inflames:
The
healthy Hunters,
whose high mettled Blood
Late swept the Vale, or beat the neighb'ring Wood,
To chase the
wily Fox,
quick catch th' Alarm;
Themselves, their
Tenants,
and their
Huntsmen
arm:
In full Career, their Coursers scour the Plain,
To seek a
more pernicious savage Train.
The
Farmer,
strait, unyokes the generous Steed,
Who, from his tramel'd Harness, being freed,
Snuffs up the Air, and jocund, neighs aloud,
Of his new Trappings and arm'd Master proud;
Both find their Bosoms with new Spirit fill'd,
And march to guard the Lands they lately till'd:
Divines
and
Nobles, Gentry, Merchants, All,
Chearful associate
at their
Country
's Call;
Without Distinction, dauntless issue forth,
To dare the
Desparadoes
of the
North.
O thou, great God of Battles, stretch thy Hand,
All pow'rful, to preserve this threaten'd Land;
All Hearts, all Hands unite; support the Cause
Of Loyalty, Religion, Freedom, Laws!
O'er our courageous Chiefs, may'st thou preside,
Our Councils thy unerring Wisdom guide;
Nor let dire Faction, more, this happy Realm divide!
FINIS.