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EBBA 32300

Huntington Library - Bindley (formerly Luttrell)
Ballad XSLT Template
:
Stephen Colledges
GHOST
TO THE
FANATICAL
CABAL.

FRom the unfathomd Bowels of those cells,
Where death and everlasting horror dwells,
I come with timely notice to prevent
A restless and eternal discontent,
Least you (my once belovd) too late repent.
What ere the great designing Grandees said,
My willing soul officiously obeyd,
I was an active Puppet and was proud,
To squeak out Treason to the listning Croud,
Whilst S--- behind the Curtain sate,
And taught my busie babling tongue to prate,
But now my Quondam Tutor give that ore,
And trust your vain projecting head no more;
Though with deliberation you assayl,
Think how the Silver slime betrays the Snail.
Tell Dr. Titus and without offence
To his imaginary Reverence.
Twere better that the truth had been exposd
As naked as himself and as disclosd:
It was imprudence in him and a freik
To stretch the Plot so far to make it break.
Poor Implement to some designing head,
And then by fairer promises betrayd.
Let M------ curb ambition least it grow,
And only swell him high to hurl him low,
The Eagles lawful brood can only gaze
Like unconcernd Spectators at the Rayes,
Too weak his eyes, his countenance too down
To look against the Lustre of a Crown.
Now for the scribling Tribe, my last advice
Is seasonable Caution to be nice,
Too boldly in their function they transgress,
Too fatally Licentious is the Press.
The giddy and believing Rout they please
With Mercuryes and Impartiallities,
Whilst into the unpleasant Dose is thrown
Protestancy to make the Cup go down;
I filld a Bumper to the Rising Sun,
And drank Sedition till I was undone.

But now my conscious soul repines in vain,
Repentance only aggravates the pain,
The fatal Doom can never be retrievd,
Murther may sooner hope to be reprievd.
How durst these parched Lips pronounce such things
Against the best & worthiest of Kings?
I must that sacralegious Arm condemn,
Dares spoile his temples of the Diadem,
That Ornament was Heavens sole gift, & why
Did we Supream Authority deny?
With what ill Genius were we possest
To force his Royal Brother from his breast:
No sooner we Petitiond, but hed give;
Till we incroachd upon Prerogative,
Then when he saw what Mysteries were meant.
He, tender of his honour, did resent;
And pulld our Battel Architecture down,
Erected in defiance to his Crown.
But hold, approaching day peeps through the Skie,
And whispers to the guilty Ghosts to fly.
My date of times expird, and I must go,
The Cock with his third Summons tells me so.
Now must I stalk and like a Goblin rove
Through wayless paths and melancholy Groves
Down to the deep Abyss where discord reigns,
And Treasons punisht with eternal pains.
There, no kind Ignoramus can restore
My drooping Vitals and allay the sore,
Instead of Acclamations and applause
Which my attempting rashness usd to cause
Nought but the Yells of furies now I hear,
And crawlling Snakes shall hourly hiss despair.
This, this will be your Doom if you proceed,
Your Polliticks will fail you when you need,
Divine severity must be your fate
With a Relentless Never for the Date.


FINIS.
Printed for A. Turner, 1681.

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