A
SONG
UPON
INFORMATION.
To the Tune of, Conventiclers are grown so Brief.
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I.
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INforming of lates a Notable Trade;
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For he that his Neighbor intends to invade,
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May pack him to Tyburn (no mores to be said)
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Such Power hath Information:
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Be Good, & be Just, & Fight for your King,
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Or stand for your Countrys Honour;
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Your sure, by precise Information, to swing;
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Such Spells she hath got upon Her.
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II.
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To Six Hundred and Sixty, from Forty One,
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She left not a Bishop, nor Clergy-Man;
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But compelld both Church and State to run,
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By the Strength of the Non-Conformist:
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The Dean and Chapter, Scepter and Crown,
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(The Lords and Commons snarling)
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By blest Information, came tumbling down;
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Fair Fruits of an over-long Parling.
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III.
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Twas This that summond the Bodkins all,
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The Thimbles, and Spoons, to the City-Hall;
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When St. Hugh to the Babes of Grace did call,
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To prop up the Cause that was sinking:
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This made the Coblar take the Sword,
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The Pedlar, and the Weaver,
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By the Power of the Spirit, and not by the Word,
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Made the Tinker wear Cloak and Beaver.
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IV.
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Tis Information from Valle-do-Leed,
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Makes Jesuits, Fryars, and Monks to Bleed,
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Decapitates Lords, and what not indeed,
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Doth such Damnable Information.
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It Cities Burns, and sticks not to boast,
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Without any Mincing or Scruple;
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Of Forty Thousand Black Bills by the Post,
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Brought in with the Devils Pupil.
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V.
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This Imp with her Jealousies and Fears,
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Puts all Men together by the Ears,
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Strikes at Religion, and Kingdoms tears,
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By Voting against the Brother.
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This makes Abhorrers, makes Lords Protest,
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They know not why, nor wherefore:
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This strikes at Successuon, but aims at the Rest;
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Pray look about you therefore.
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VI.
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This raiseth Armies in the Air,
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Imagining more than you need have to fear;
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Keeps Horse under Ground, and Arms to tear
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The Cities and Towns in sunder.
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Tis this made the Knight to Newark run,
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With his Fidus Acates behind him;
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Who brought for the Father, one more like the Son,
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The Devil and Zeal did so blind him.
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VII.
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It Whips, it Strips, it Hangs, and Draws,
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It Pillories also without any Cause,
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By Falsly Informing the Judges and Laws,
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With a Trick from Salamanca:
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This Hurly-Burlys all the Town,
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Makes Smith and Harris prattle;
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Who spare neither Cassock, Cloak, nor Gown,
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In their Paltry Tittle Tattle.
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VIII.
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Tis Information Affrights us all;
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By Information, we Rise and Fall;
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Without Information, theres no Plot at all:
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And all is but Information.
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That Pickering stood in the Park with a Gun,
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And Godfrey, by Berry, was Strangled;
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Twas from Information such Stories begun,
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Which the Nation so much have Entangled.
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