William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.
The Commons’ Petition to King Charles II.John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–1680)
I
Our Sovereign may be our slave;
And humbly beg, that he may be
Betrayed by us most loyally;
And if he please once to lay down
His sceptre, dignity, and crown;
We’ll make him, for the time to come,
The greatest Prince in Christendom!
Charles, at this time, having no need,
Thanks you as much as if he did.