From a collection of Historical and State Poems, Satyrs, Songs, and
Epigrams, by Ned Ward, A. D. 1717.
WHAT is a Whig? A cunning rogue
That once was in, now out of vogue:
A rebel to the Church and throne,
Of Lucifer the very spawn.
A tyrant, who is ne’er at rest
In power, or when he’s dispossess’d;
A knave, who foolishly has lost
What so much blood and treasure cost.
A lying, bouncing desperado,
A bomb, a stink-pot, a granado;
That’s ready primed, and charged to break,
And mischief do for mischief’s sake:
A comet, whose portending phiz
Appears more dreadful than it is;
But now propitious stars repel
Those ills it lastly did fortel.
’Twill burst with unregarded spight,
And, since the Parliament proves right,
Will turn to smoke, which shone of late
So bright and flaming in the State.