Queen Elizabeths Day:
OR,
The Down-fall of the Devil, Pope, and Pretender
To the Tune of Bonny Dun-dee.
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I.
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LET us sing to the Memry of glorious Queen Bess,
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Who long did the Hearts of her Subjects possess,
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And whose mighty Actions did to us secure
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Those many great Blessings which now do endu[re]
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For she then did lay that solid Foundation,
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On which our Religion is fixt in this Nation;
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For Popry was put into utter Disgrace,
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And Protestantism set up in its place.
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II.
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But could she have lived as a Looker-on,
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Until this good Time, to see how shes out-done;
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She must have acknowledgd that nothing she dard,
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Could be with the present great Actions compard:
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For altho she did reign in Times that were evil,
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She never did seize the Pope or the Devil,
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Nor save the Priests or Pretender from Flame,
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Nor Right unto any such Images claim.
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III.
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But now, God be thanked, we know what we do,
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Which many wise Governments never did know;
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For we have discoverd a damnd Whiggish Plot,
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To burn the Pope, and the Devil knows what,
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Besides the Pretender, and four Jesuits,
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Four Cardinals also, and four other Priests,
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In all fifteen Images, made up of Straw,
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Which are not allowed by any known Law.
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IV.
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And therefore a Council was calld, for to know
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What in this Conjuncture was fit for to do;
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And after a long and a learned Debate,
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Orders were given to a Secrtary of State,
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That he shoud a Messenger at dead of Night send,
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With some Grenadeers, to secure and defend
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These dangerous Figures from Fighting and Thrall,
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And lodge them ins Office adjoining Whitehall.
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V.
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Where will sit a Committee tenquire the Reason,
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And know if the Prisners are guilty of Treason;
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Who made the fine Cloaths; and if by any Law
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They dard to make such Statues of Straw:
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And if they cannot prove themselves innocent,
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Oh, then theyll be had before the P--t:
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And Justice will there be impartially had,
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Which will make the Nation rejoice and be glad.
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1711
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