Spurned by No! they have oftener sank beneath the ban man. Of jealous hate, and most tyrannic laws. When Ferdinand, ambitious of th' applause Of Rome's proud Pontiff1, that pretended saint! XLI. So, as already rhym'd in Raymond's lay, The Hebrews sped in horrible dismay; Their choice, or famine, flames, or to enrol 1 It was in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain (when so many extraordinary events occurred), that, at the instigation of Sextus VI. the then Pope, the expulsion, or rather the pillage and banishment, of the Jews took place from that country. The plea urged by the King was religion, but it is believed that a stronger motive was the occasion of the unfeeling act, his appropriating to himself much of the wealth of a people who had become rich by industry and commerce. That wealth, the wretched Jews, through patient pain, Had gain'd, but friendless, could not long maintain. XLII. Begone despair! There's glory in the thought! Has not God promis'd, ye shall yet be brought, Into one fold?-then Peace to Israel ! Yes! the Almighty said, "I'll gather1 thee,” Tho' impious men dare mock, and scoffers rail : Let but the nations2 do their part, and see Hope for 1 Jeremiah, chap. xxiii. verses 2, 3. 2 It were needless to advert at length here to what has lately been done or left undone in England, and in other countries, towards the conversion of the Jews. On this subject the learned Mr Simeon has expressed himself very forcibly in his Hora Homiliticæ (vol. iii. Appendix, p. 483.) “God sent Moses and Aaron to bring his people out of Egypt; and, shall we use such lukewarm means to gather them from their dispersion, and restore them to the enjoyment of his favour? Is it not greatly to be lamented, that Christians should feel so much backwardness in this work ?—— far, indeed, beyond any thing they testify in reference to the Gentiles." XLIII. A lady's candour. Why plays that smile around my Alice lip? Forsooth, she has such charms as might enchant May tell a tale, which could e'en damp or daunt Then, who would sport the joke?—who make the pun? XLVI. Patience. A truce, fair prattler-there's a time for all. Long e'er again upon the rushing Rhine, We shall have steam'd or steer'd our way to Basle, Thy hapless fate-still hastening to decline, XLV. And driv'n they were, with all their useful arts', In spite of strenuous 2 hands and cordial hearts, Did not good Herman 3 labour to protect An impolitic act. 1 The Protestants, many thousands in number, having been driven from Cologne in 1618, retired to Elberfeld, Dusseldorf, and Mulheim; a circumstance which was prejudicial to the commerce of Cologne, by depriving her of a great many industrious and useful artisans. 2 Long previous to the final expulsion of the Protestants from Cologne, the Reformation had many zealous supporters there. 3 The Elector Herman de Wied was, in the latter part of his life, a zealous advocate in the cause of the Protestants, and was aided in the support given to them by the amiable and enlightened Melancthon, also by Bucer; so they would in all probability have succeeded, if the Pope Paul III. and the Emperor Charles V. and almost all the clergy, had not violently opposed them. A. D. 1546.-Nouveau Merian, p. 303. We also know, from the same author, that the celebrated Archbishop Gebhard, who married the beautiful Countess of Mansfield, was an ardent advocate in favour of the Reformation, in 1577. He it was, who, having made an attempt to render the Electorate of Cologne hereditary in his family, was deposed in 1583. H From Papal scowl; or the yet threatening glave, More powerful still of mad ambitious slave 1? XLVI. We grow wise. The game lost by a revoke. The world is wiser grown, in these our times— A wisdom won from ages of misdeed; Nor longer punishes, as worst of crimes, What's but the varying form of Christian creed. "Henri le Grand,"-and who of sounder head?Bestow'd religious liberty, and brought A mighty empire to approve the meed; Till Louis-ignorant, doting, or untaught— 1 Charles V. 2 It was in 1598 that Henry IV. of France passed the famous Edict of Nantz, in favour of the Protestants, which granted every thing that they could reasonably demand; not only securing to them the full exercise of their religion, but a share in the administration of justice. 3 It was in October 1685, that Louis XIV., soon after the death of his wise minister Colbert, who had encouraged the industry and ingenuity of the French Protestants, revoked the Edict of Nantz, an act particularly injurious to France, by depriving her of upwards of six hundred thousand of her most useful subjects. |