The Steps, whereby Matters were carried on to this deſperate Iſſue, were finall in the Beginning, and, to common Obſervers, perhaps not viſible: But Men of more Sagacity and Penetration, eaſily perceived the fatal Tendency of Sedition, even at its firſt ſetting out; and, as they perceived, with all, the Inſufficiency of the Labours of the Pulpit, or any ſerious Treatiſes, to ſuppreſs the growing Hydra, ſo they employed the ſeveral Wits of the Age, Men famous for their Writings, as well as for their Loyalty, to expoſe its Deformity, as a proper Object both of Horror and Ridicule: And queſtionless, their Endeavours would have had their intended Effect, had not its Poiſon been a little too far radicated, for any Medicine whatſoever to expel.
At this Time, with this View, and by Perſons of this Character, were the following Songs and Poems compoſed: And, as they aroſe from particular Incidents, which, however minute in themſelves, gave Occaſion, more or leſs, to the Grand Reſtoration, ſo, by a due Peruſal of them; a Perſon may be let into the Proſpect of ſome ſecret Springs and Movements, which have eſcaped the Obſervation of our larger Hiſtorians, and is a Branch of Knowledge, not unbecoming the Search of the Curious.
It
