And so against all righteous things We’ve struggled from the first, sir, To vex and thwart the better kings, And sided with the worst, sir. In reign of Anne, ’twas one of us,[33] Gave notice to the foe, sir, Against his port and arsenal We aimed a warlike blow, sir; And thus were lost, in dire defeat, Eight hundred sailors bold, sir―― But what of that, when France’s bribe Our “noble duke” consoled, sir? Betrayal of the State’s designs By this colossal traitor―― What wonder now the lordlings praise His humble imitator! With George the Third it was essayed To purge our code from blood, sir, But we the arm of mercy stayed, Its efforts all withstood, sir; To hang for e’en a paltry theft―― Though tempted sore by hunger―― Was God’s own justice, so it seemed To every boroughmonger. And so poor wretches, one or more, At every fair or wake, sir, Performed “the dance without a floor,” Our thirst for blood to slake, sir. Yet had the self-same laws been tried On us without distinction, Their action surely had implied The peerage’s extinction. But while the gallows we upheld, “Offence’s gilded hand,” sir, Had all our lordly acres swelled With thefts of common land, sir. While wicked prizes thus we claw, And justice shove aside, sir “Not ’gainst the law, but by the law,” Has ever been our guide, sir. When Pitt the Irish Parliament Resolved to bring to London, He had to buy their peer’s consent Or else his scheme was undone, So English coronets galore Were scattered through their tribe, sir, Besides a million pounds or more―― Their stipulated bribe, sir. And by this opportunity They drove their dirty trade, sir, To show to all posterity How lords and dukes are made, sir. When Wesleyans and Baptists, too, For right of education, At public universities Did press their application, ’Twas we their just demand refused―― Denied their common right, sir, And all our special powers abused To gratify our spite, sir. When Jews to sit in Parliament Had duly been elected, ’Twas we kept shut the Commons’ door, Their right to vote rejected.