And lucre love for lucre's sake,
Since we've possession, not enjoyment:
Let the times run on their course,
For oppression makes them worse,
We ne'er shall better find 'em;
Let grandees wealth and power engross,
And honour, too, while we sit close,
And laugh and take our plenteous dose
Of sack, and never mind 'em.



Ballad: Upon The General Pardon Passed By The Rump



From a broadside in the King's Pamphlets, British Museum. After
Cromwell's victory at Worcester, he prevailed on the Parliament to
pass a general, or quasi-general, amnesty for all political
offences committed prior to that time.


Rejoice, rejoice, ye Cavaliers,
For here comes that dispels your fears;
A general pardon is now past,
What was long look'd for, comes at last.

It pardons all that are undone;
The Pope ne'er granted such a one:
So long, so large, so full, so free,