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And ruin'd many a family,
For nought but non-conformity;
If hirelings they would not hear,
Their purse he punish'd most severe:
He made the south of Scotland feel
His griping claws were made of steel,
They were so crooked hard, and sharp,
They pierc'd men's substance to the heart.
The king's commission while he did bear,
Men loft their conscience, life, or gear.
But Charles too soon him discarded,
Yet I his kindness well rewarded;
And this I hope he'll not deny,
Since now he lives as well as I.
Fletcher, my friend, he was the first,
As advocate who did insist
Against the Whigs in the king's name,
To bring them to an open shame;
Charles my son did him instal,
To bring these rebels under thral,
Who still for covenants were pleading,
To justify their old proceeding.
He laboured very earnestly
To please his sovereign and me,
By rooting out brave Presbytery,
And planting noble Prelacy;
By shutting up in prison strong
These men who did my interest wrong,
And thirsting for the blood of them
Who did my government contemn;
His malice was so set on fire
