Note C — ANDREW MARVEL.
Reading edition
'No stronger satire could be penned than that descriptive of the Court of Charles, in the poem called 'Britannia and Raleigh:'—
'A colony of French possess the Court, Pimps, priests, buffoons, in privy chambers sport; Such slimy monsters ne'er approach'd a throne Since Pharaoh's days, nor so defil'd a crown; In sacred ears tyrannic arts they croak, Pervert his mind, and good intentions choak.'
But not only do the courtiers feel the lash, for when Raleigh implores Britannia to urge his duty on the king, and save him from the bad who surround him, she interrupts him with—
'Raleigh, no more! for long in vain I've try'd The Stuart from the tyrant to divide.'