3
But petitions against it were sent in so fast,
That the table could not them contain at the last;
So they ⟨were⟩ oblig'd to pile them in the hall,
Yet still they proceeded in spite of them all.
For statesmen and landholders all did agree,
To starve the poor tradesman, you ⟨plainly⟩ may see;
Yet without such people they never could stand,
And that they will find, when they're forc'd from this land.
Ye statesmen and courtiers pray be not so fast,
On your constituents such insults to cast,
But feelingly ponder the case of the poor,
Whose fervent petitions are now at your door.
For twenty long years we great hardships have borne,
By laws made for raising the price of the corn,
Of which it appears many thousands of bolls
Have in granaries been kept till unfit for our mouths.
Ye judges and rulers, a word in your ear,
There are many old laws in our country, I hear,
For punishing those who provisions forestall,
Pray execute these, and relieve us from thrall.
It is not many years since petitions were sent,
