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When in that Remedy all hope was plac'd,
Which was, or should have been at least, the last.
Here was that Charter seal’d, wherein the [1]Crown
All marks of Arbitrary Power lays down:
Tyrant and Slave, those Names of hate and fear,
The happier Style of King and Subject bear:
Happy when both to the same Centre move,
When Kings give Liberty and Subjects Love.
Therefore not long in Force this Charter stood;
Wanting that Seal, it must be seal’d in Blood.
The subjects arm’d, the more their Princes gave,
Th' advantage only took the more to crave.
Till King's by giving, gave themselves away,
And even that Power that should deny, betray.
"Who gives constrain'd, but his own Fear reviles,
"Not thank'd, but scorn’d; nor are thy Gifts, but Spoils.
Thus Kings, by grasping more than they could hold,
First made their Subjects by Oppression bold:
And popular Sway, by forcing kings to give
More than was fit for Subjects to receive,
Ran to the same Extreames; and one Excess
Made both, by striving to be greater, less.
When a calm River rais'd with sudden rains,
Or snows dissolv’d, o'erflows the adjoyning Plains,
The Husbendmen with high-rais'd banks secure
Their greedy Hopes, and this be can endure;
But if with Bays and Dams, they strive to force
His Chanel to a new or narrow Course;
No longer then within his Banks he dwells,
First to a Torrent, then a Deluge swells:
Stronger and Fiercer! by Restraint he roars,
And knows no Bound, but makes his Powers his Shores.
Which was, or should have been at least, the last.
Here was that Charter seal’d, wherein the [1]Crown
All marks of Arbitrary Power lays down:
Tyrant and Slave, those Names of hate and fear,
The happier Style of King and Subject bear:
Happy when both to the same Centre move,
When Kings give Liberty and Subjects Love.
Therefore not long in Force this Charter stood;
Wanting that Seal, it must be seal’d in Blood.
The subjects arm’d, the more their Princes gave,
Th' advantage only took the more to crave.
Till King's by giving, gave themselves away,
And even that Power that should deny, betray.
"Who gives constrain'd, but his own Fear reviles,
"Not thank'd, but scorn’d; nor are thy Gifts, but Spoils.
Thus Kings, by grasping more than they could hold,
First made their Subjects by Oppression bold:
And popular Sway, by forcing kings to give
More than was fit for Subjects to receive,
Ran to the same Extreames; and one Excess
Made both, by striving to be greater, less.
When a calm River rais'd with sudden rains,
Or snows dissolv’d, o'erflows the adjoyning Plains,
The Husbendmen with high-rais'd banks secure
Their greedy Hopes, and this be can endure;
But if with Bays and Dams, they strive to force
His Chanel to a new or narrow Course;
No longer then within his Banks he dwells,
First to a Torrent, then a Deluge swells:
Stronger and Fiercer! by Restraint he roars,
And knows no Bound, but makes his Powers his Shores.
FINIS
- ↑ Magna Charta
