xii.
A wretched wife. Now may the prosperous winds
Speed thee La Fayette! to that happier shore
Where Priestly dwells, where Kosciusko rests
From holy warfare. Persecuted men!
Outcasts of Europe! sufferers in the cause
Of Truth and Freedom! ye have found a home,
And in the peaceful evening of your days
A high reward is yours, the blessedness
Of self-applause.
Speed thee La Fayette! to that happier shore
Where Priestly dwells, where Kosciusko rests
From holy warfare. Persecuted men!
Outcasts of Europe! sufferers in the cause
Of Truth and Freedom! ye have found a home,
And in the peaceful evening of your days
A high reward is yours, the blessedness
Of self-applause.
Of self-applause. Is it not strange, my friend,
If ought of human folly could surprize,
That men should with such duteous zeal observe
Each ideot form, each agonizing rite
Of Pagan faith, whilst there are none who keep
The easy precepts of the Nazarene,
The faith that with it brings its own reward,
The law of peace and love?—But they are wise
Who in these evil and tumultuous times
Heed not the world’s mad business: chiefly they
Who with most pleasant labouring acquire
If ought of human folly could surprize,
That men should with such duteous zeal observe
Each ideot form, each agonizing rite
Of Pagan faith, whilst there are none who keep
The easy precepts of the Nazarene,
The faith that with it brings its own reward,
The law of peace and love?—But they are wise
Who in these evil and tumultuous times
Heed not the world’s mad business: chiefly they
Who with most pleasant labouring acquire
