SPENCE'S SONGS,

A Barber to Spence said one Day, The times they are still getting worse, Nor can I perceive any way, How we're to get rid of this curse; In politics I took delight, But now I'm quite in desperation, My hopes they are all sunk in night, I care not what comes of the nation, Tally heigh ho ye know, Tally heigh ho the barber, Tally heigh ho ye know, The times they are still getting harder.

My family and I are near starv'd, No cloaths can we get to our back, The tax gatherers come every day, And rents they are quite on the rack: Great hopes of amendment I had, But now I am all in despair, Enough 'tis to drive a man mad, To think how we all saddled are. Tally heigh ho &c.

Chear up man said Spence, never fear, You soon will have my constitution, And then you will end all your care, So happily in the fruition. The barber then flew in a rage, And cry'd this he never should see, We live in too wicked an age, To suffer such justice to be. Tally heigh ho ye know &c.

Said Spence, if a few hearty men, Said come let us have Spence's system, What would your behaviour be then, Would you hinder or would you assist'm? 2 Said Strap then I could not oppose, My interest would not allow me, I never can count them my foes, Who wish with such bliss to endow me. Tally heigh ho ye know &c.

Your int'rest you know now said Spence, Is the interest of nine tenths the nation, Then pray now if you've common sense, Shew no more of your desperation; The time you may shortly expect, When men of prime courage you'll see, Occasion then do not neglect, When fortune will set you all free. Tally heigh ho ye know &c.

When all feel alike in a cause, Small trouble's requir'd in teaching, A song that attracts their applause, Is better than speeches or preaching; Let's hear then no more of despair, But sing your dear rights to each other, 'Till all think alike every where, Even from one Land's end to the other. Tally heigh ho ye know &c.

Ye maidens fair and matrons kind, Come listen unto me, While I relate the joys we'll find, On Spence's Jubilee. This Jubilee when all are free, We'll dance the roundalay, With music sweet, the morn we'll greet, Of that great happy day.

It is our right to have and hold, The Land on which we dwell, And share the rents as Spence has told, Land none may buy or sell, This Jubilee when &c.

Dame nature did this right bestow, When first the world began; Can Landlords better titles shew, 'Tis the whole rights of man. This Jubilee, &c.

Come lend your aid ye lovely fair, Assistance give it free; 3 Then opposition who will dare, When sex's both agree. With trumpet's sound, the Land around; Call forth each Family, To take the rent the quarter's spent, This is the Jubilee.

This reign of plenty, peace and love, The good have long foretold; A bless'd millenium will prove, To mankind young and old. No more distress all happiness, From Landlords once set free, The bells shall ring we'll dance and sing, On Spence's Jubilee.

YE Children of men I pray you attend, Hear what I've to say, a willing ear lend, I'll shew the dire vengeance which on you awaits In following the sins, which a Just God, most hates, Sing Fa-la ye men of renown.

The cruelty and violence in seizing the ground, The cause chiefly was of the old world being drown'd; The Brutish usurpers then swelling with pride, Thought it high renown o'er their fellows to ride.

These warriors, these giants, these heroes of old, Corrupted the manners of all we are told; Now violence and robbery only have charms, All honour's confined to the curs'd trade of arms.

Now war being the fashion and Plunder the trade, The world is as wicked as it can be made, All now were ambitious of being mighty men, At butchering their fellows—oh! what a world then!

These monsters although great in each other's eyes, God blush'd for, and did the proud reptiles despise; Heart sick of their Baseness, these men of renown, He like rats and like vermine did all of them drown.

No part in this plunder and violence had Noah, For he was a Just man^* the text tells us so; Nor lost by it, No—See his vast recompense, The whole world had he for his inheritance. Then here if you please, is a man of renown.

4 A warning then take now my dear fellow men, Don't tempt the Almighty with such deeds again; The field getting trade abolish it quite, Dividing your rents and then all will be right. Nor e'er strive more to be men of renown.

D'YE wish to be happy and free, I'll tell you the way to begin it, 'Tis only with Spence to agree, And it may be done in a minute,. The author of nature we know, Made all, both the Land and the Ocean, And on us the same did bestow, To the end of all time as a portion. Tol de rol &c.

But oh! so rebellious is man, The gift of his all wise Creator, As soon as the world had begun, Confused and destroyed in each feature; 'Till Moses the Prophet of old, By holy Divine inspiration, Commanded Land should not be sold, But equally shared by the nation. Tol de rol &c.

Sure 'twas by a power Divine, Lycurgus the sage of old Greece, Contrived his Laws to combine, That each one of Land had a piece; Which could not be mortgag'd or sold, Nor seiz'd on by Nobles or Kings, Had then Spence's system been told, We ne'er had been plagued with such things. Tol de rol &c.

Then the father of Nature ordain'd, His blessings on all to dispense, And how to enjoy them proclaim'd, By his servant the good Tommy Spence; Each parish a corporate band, On kindness and brotherhood bent, To farmers to let out their Land, That all may partake of the rent. Tol de rol &c.

5

One night as a slumb'ring I lay on my bed, A notable Vision came into my Head; Methought I saw Numbers forth going to teach, And Justice and Peace among mankind to preach, Saying "Men mind your Interest if you've Common sense, And hearken to Reason and Friend Thomas Spence."

TUNE — DERRY DOWN.

"Lo! See but how Eden Spence has set in View, And who keeps us from it, he has shewn us too; The Cherubim Gentry with their Flaming Sword, Encamp right before it all with one Accord."

"See these Sons of Anak, by Force and by Might, Keep our promis'd land, unto which they've no Right; Even Towns which we've builded and fields that we've dres'd, While we all like Strangers are quite dispossess'd."

"Then hark back to this Guide who has spied out the Land, So plain he instructs you, you must understand; Take Courage, these Giants we're able to rout, Their walls must fall down if we give but a shout."

"Then rise, take Possession, the whole Human Race, No wilds we've to traverse we're at home in each Place; The Cities are ours when we please, where we Live, And Fields without Purchase we've Nothing to give."

"With Sorrow no more then, we'll eat of the ground, The Curse being removed from all the world round; The end of Oppression and Lordship being come, We'll then all rejoice in the bless'd millenium."

"No Shame of Reproach can attach to this cause, In forming Society, by such Just Laws; All but some vile Judas must wish us Success, And ages to come our Names they will bless."

"Now what is there wanting of you careless Men, But only your Countenance to us to lend; The Business is done if you only approve, And every Obstacle straight will remove."

TUNE — THE LILLIES OF FRANCE

I beheld till these Preachers were well understood When the People in all Places arose like a Flood All ancient Oppression were then swept away, And Virtue and Freedom for ever did sway. 6 Then Men mind you Interest if you've common Sense And hearken to Reason and Friend Thomas Spence.

SEE! Tyrants struck with Wonder, The foam and rage like Thunder, Lest Man his Chains should sunder, And learn his Rights to scan; Proclaiming War and Death, Lest Freedom should have Breath, And Nations should agree, Sir, In kind Fraternity, Sir, For ever to be free, Sir, Upon our Godlike plan.

Is this the Age of Reason, When Truth is out of Season, And God's Commands High Treason, From Justice gone astray? Is it not Heaven's Decree That Mankind should be Free? Then be no longer mute, Sir, The Holy Cause dispute, Sir, And all will reap the Fruit, Sir, The Burden of my Lay.

What meant that Hesitation, Throughout the Gallic Nation, To claim Emancipation, When Justice gave Command? Read! Mark! and understand, That Common right in Land, Should be in every Nation, Through time's Continuation, All other Reformation, Is built upon the Sand.

The Gallic Revolution, Pretended Restitution, But where's their Distribution On the Agrarian Plan? They wanted Tommy Spence, To teach them Common Sense, And then their Hills and Dales, Sir Their Rivers Plains and Fields, Sir, Had not been bought at Sales, Sir, They're just where they began.

7 All you who yield Applause, Sir, To equal Rights an Laws, Sir, And wish to plead the Cause, Sir, Of those who suffer wrong? Come join the Patriot Band, Proclaim your Right in Land, The real Rights of Man, Sir, Is the Spencean Plan, Sir, Proclaim it where you can, Sir, In never ceasing Song.

ART thou a poor but honest Man, Sorely oppress' and a' that, Attention give to Spence's plan, 'Twill chear thy Heart for a' that! For a' that and a' that, Though it landlords gripe and a' that, I'll shew thee friend before we part, The Rights of Man and a' that.

The Rights of Man is in the Soil, An equal Share and a' that, For Landlords no one ought to toil, 'Tis Imposition and a' that! Yes a' that and a' that, Their Title Deeds and a' that, Howe'er they got them matters not, The Land is ours for a' that.

Bold Spence has shewn the way to fix, Our Happiness and a' that, And Liberty with Interest mix, His Parish Plan will shew that! Yes a' that and a' that, Divide the Rents and a' that, What God has given all should enjoy, And all the world should know that.

Then Let us Pray that come it may, As come it will for a' that, When Spence's Plan through a' the Earth, Shall hear the Bell and a' that, For a' that and a' that, As come it will for a' that, When Man and Man the World O'er, Will Brothers be and a' that.

9

Ye Sons and Daughters of Men over the whole Earth, Hearken to a Friend. Do you not love Liberty and Property, and do not every one of you, wish to be thought of some Consequence and Estimation? If so, take my Advice, and you will quickly become again Human Creatures, enjoying as you ought the Lordship of the Earth, and the free use of your Reason. In a word you will be free and happy. But means must be used: we cannot expect Miracles. God has commanded the Use of Means and has set us the Example, they were used in spreading the Gospel—What means? why simply the means of meeting together. Both Christ and his Apostles most earnestly Exhorted their Disciples to meet together. No Religion or Opinion can be spread or continued without meetings. The Gospel would soon die away and become extinct without meetings, and so would any Sect. Are not Liberty and Property and their happy Attendants worth meeting for? Do not Men when they meet encourage each other and resolve each others Doubts and thus build one another up in their Opinions? And cannot small meetings be effected where larger Ones durst not be attempted? If but two or three meet together in so good a cause, a blessing will attend them. Even under the modern Tyrannies of China, France, Turkey &c. what could hinder small Companies from meeting, in a free and easy convivial manner, and singing their Rights and instructing each other in Songs? Can Tyrants hinder People from singing at their Work, or in their Families? If not despair no longer but begin immediately, too much time has already been lost. Sing and meet and meet and sing, and your Chains will drop off like burnt Thread.

"Let's hear then no more of Despair, But sing your dear Rights to each other; 'Till all think alike every where, Even from one Land's end to the other."