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VERSES Humbly presented to the KING At His Arrival in HOLLAND:

After the DISCOVERY Of the late horrid CONSPIRACY Against His most Sacred Person.

1 YE careful Angels whom eternal Fate
2 Ordains on Earth and humane Acts to wait;
3 Who turn with secret Power this restless Ball;
4 And bid determin'd Empires rise and fall:
5 Your sacred Aid religious Princes own
6 When first they merit, then ascend the Throne:
7 But Tyrants dread you, lest your just Decree
8 Transfer the Power, and set the People free.
9 See rescu'd BRITAIN, at your Altars bow,
10 And hear her hymns your happy care avow.
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11 That yet her Axes and her Rods support
12 Her Judges hand, and grace her awful Court,
13 Where Law with all her pompous terrour stands
14 To wrest the Dagger from the Traitours hands,
15 Where rigid Justice reads the fatal Word,
16 Poises the Ballance first, then draws the Sword.
17 To your blest guidance She her safety owns,
18 That she can sep'rate Parricides from Sons,
19 And boldly give those Criminals their doom,
20 Who would, like Nero, rip their Parents womb:
21 That, Death and Hell disarm'd, She lives and reigns,
22 Her freedom Kept by Him who broke her chains.
23 And thou, blest Guardian, destin'd to defend
24 That Sacred Life on which all ours depend:
25 Thou sure, whose charge of old was Israel's Court,
26 When sent from Heav'n great David's strong support,
27 Thy arm unseen eluded cruel Saul,
28 And struck the useless Javelin to the Wall.
29 Thy later care o'er WILLIAM'S Temples held
30 On Boyn's propitious Banks the heav'nly Shield,
31 When EUROPE pale betwixt two Armies stood,
32 And trembling BRITAIN doubted to be good,
33 Till Miracles did WILLIAM'S right declare,
34 And Cannons mark't whom they were bid to spare.
35 Still, blessed Angel, be thy care the same,
36 Be WILLIAM'S Life untouch'd as is his Fame:
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37 Let Him own Thine as BRITAIN owns his Hand;
38 And save the King, as He has sav'd the Land.
39 We Angels forms in pious Monarchs view,
40 We reverence WILLIAM, for He acts like You;
41 Like You commission'd to chastize and bless,
42 He must avenge the World, and give it Peace.
43 Our Prayers are heard, new Miracles are shown,
44 The Powers that rescu'd will preserve the Throne:
45 The Hero dear to Earth, by Heav'n belov'd,
46 By troubles must be vex't, by dangers prov'd;
47 His Foes must contribute to make Him great,
48 And fix his Glory sure on their defeat.
49 So tho' with sudden rage the Tempest comes,
50 Tho' the Winds roar, and tho' the Water foams,
51 Fair BRITAIN on the angry Sea looks down,
52 And smiling sees Her Rebel Subject frown;
53 Heav'n in assaulting Her confirms her power,
54 The Waves but whiten Her triumphant Shore;
55 In vain they would advance, in vain retreat,
56 Broken they dash and perish at Her feet.
57 'Tis done, once more thro' BRITAIN's joyful Sea
58 Her glorious Monarch plows his Prosp'rous way,
59 Arm'd with those Fleets who have in thunder said
60 To distant Worlds, whose Empire they obey'd:
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61 He lands, and sees united Nations stand,
62 Their parts of Glory dealt by His command,
63 Their glowing Brests with fresh Ideas fir'd,
64 How WILLIAM conquer'd, and how FRANCE retir'd,
65 When fixt as Fate he stood in Namurs Field,
66 Till Rocks and Floods and Fire were taught to yield,
67 Till Flanders freed the Hero's arm confest,
68 But trembled for the Courage which she blest.
69 He comes; pale GALLIA dreads his Arms a-far,
70 And bent on Parricide refuses War,
71 But 'well she knows his Vengeance n'er will tread
72 Those Paths of horrour which her guilt has led.
73 The Trumpets Sounds shall tell the arming Foe
74 When WILLIAM meditates the noble Blow,
75 Before the foremost Troops in open fight
76 The Hero's arm shall prove the Monarchs right.
77 'Tis done, and EUROPE freed must own his hand,
78 Whilst THAMES shall flow, or BRITAINS Empire stand.

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Title (in Source Edition): VERSES Humbly presented to the KING At His Arrival in HOLLAND: After the DISCOVERY Of the late horrid CONSPIRACY Against His most Sacred Person.
Author: Matthew Prior
Themes:
Genres: ode; Pindaric ode; address

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Source edition

Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721. Verses humbly presented to the King at his arrival in Holland after the discovery of the late horrid conspiracy against His most Sacred Person / by Mr. Prior. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson ..., 1696. [6] p. (ESTC R21156; OTA A55913)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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