The Vicar Of Bray

In good King Charles's golden days, When loyalty no harm meant; A furious High-Church man I was, And so I gain'd preferment. Unto my flock I daily preach'd, Kings are by God appointed, And damn'd are those who dare resist, Or touch the Lord's anointed. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoever king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir! When Royal James possess'd the crown, And popery grew in fashion; The penal law I houted down, And read the declaration: The Church of Rome, I found would fit, Full well my constitution, And I had been a Jesuit, But for the Revolution. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir! When William our deliverer came, To heal the nation's grievance, I turned the cat in pan again, And swore to him allegiance: Old principles I did revoke, Set conscience at a distance, Passive obedience is a joke, A jest is non-resistance. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir! When glorious Anne became our queen The Church of England's glory, Another face of things was seen, And I became a Tory: Occasional conformists base, I damn'd, and moderation, And thought the Church in danger was, From such prevarication. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir! When George in pudding time came o'er, And moderate men looked big, sir, My principles I chang'd once more, And so became a Whig, sir: And thus preferment I procur'd, From our faith's great defender, And almost every day abjur'd The Pope, and the Pretender. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir! The illustrious House of Hanover, And Protestant succession, To these I lustily will swear, Whilst they can keep possession: For in my faith, and loyalty, I never once will falter, George, my lawful king shall be, Except the times should alter. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir!