The Protestant Address, ON HIS MAJESTY'S CALLING A Free-Parliament.
NOW English Braves the utmost point have gain'd,
That Magna Charta, or the Laws contain'd.
The great supporter of our Liberty;
The Mighty Sanhedrim, Select and Free;
The true Dispensitory of our Laws,
Shall clear our Jealousies, and plead our Cause:
To stop the Current of a Civil-War,
What more cou'd Heav'n, or a Just King declare?
When Pagan Darkness had o're-cast the Land,
Loud Storms did Rage with a prevailing hand;
Amid'st the Clouds of Lightning, and of Smoke,
In a slow Voice, the God-like Monarch spoke;
"England, Rejoyce; hence Banish all Despair;
"Thy Crys are heard; Thy Breaches I'll repair:
"What Lords and Prelates oft Implor'd in vain,
"Without Petitioning, you now Obtain.
"Tho' Prayer prevails, 'tis not th' officious Saint,
"But the Gods Bounty condescends to grant.
He spake, and strait the Storm did disappear;
The Cloud disperst, and all the Heavens were clear.
The chearful Voice of a Free-Parliament,
As swift as Lightning, thro' the Nation went:
The grateful Summons reacht the Belgick Band,
And did extend thro' all the spacious Land;
Beyond Domestick, ev'n to Foreign Powers,
The Joy and Terror of the Neighbouring Shores.
Let France alone dread the Eternal Voice,
Whil'st Holland, joyn'd with England, does rejoyce.
A Parliament! What Charms does that imply?
Our Lives, our Laws, Religion, Liberty;
Whatever else to English-Men is dear,
As in its proper Region, center here.
The Nerves of War, the Sinews of our Peace,
Redresser of the Nations Grievances;
The great Catholicon; a Compound sure,
Which does to each Disease apply a Cure;
To Purge the Land o'th' Roman Legion,
A Bolus for the Whore of Babylon.
Asserter of the King and Peoples Right;
And, with Success, can Crown the doubtful Fight.
'Twas This, when false Achitophels took place,
And many a Loyal Peer was in Disgrace;
When Pagan Blindness did the Night begin,
And Priests from Tyber, like a Stream, broke in.
'Twas This, the very Name of Parliament,
When Factious Tumults Rag'd, and Discontent,
To the appeasing of the Lawless Crowd,
Restor'd the Day, and did disperse the Cloud.
A brighter Sun, and a serener Sky,
Succeeds the Storm, and does our Peace imply.
When Foreign Streams the Land had over-flown,
The fatal Sword was in our Bowels drawn;
When Orange with his War-like Troops, came o've
The Belgick Lyon did begin to Rore;
When to his Aid lost Macklesfield did run,
To be Reveng'd, or to have Justice done:
Ev'n then a Parliament (such are these Charms!)
Allay'd the Fury of the Belgick Arms.
Encircled here, we'll fear no other Blows;
Their Swords their Hearts engag'd in the same cause
The bare Proclaiming of a Free-Election,
Brought the Invading-Foe to our Protection.
What Mysteries are here! A Foreign Prince
England Invades, for English-Mens Defence!
A Formidable Army in the Rere,
With many a Noble Potentate and Peer;
Shamburg, Nassaw, and Staremberg the Great,
(Whose very Presence is a sure Defeat,)
Their Arms, inur'd to Conquest, will lay down;
No violation to the British Crown:
Come only to Espouse the English Cause,
The Protestant Religion, and the Laws;
By Reason, not by Combat, to perswade,
Against the Foes that wou'd those Rights Invade.
This Sovereign, this sole Expedient,
Is founded in a Legal Parliament.
May this Conjunction of the higher Sphears
Dispel our groundless Jealousies and Fears;
And may the wond'rous Year of Eighty Eight,
In England once again set all things Right.
FINIS.
LONDON, Printed for H. R. in the Year 1688.