English

A POEM BY THE JESUIT GRESSET .

Ens original Ennocence.

A LAS ! what evils I discern in
Too great aNaptitude for learning!
And fain would all the ills unravel
That aye ensue from foreign travel;
Far happier is the man who tarries
Quiet within his household " Lares: "
Read, and you'll find how virtue vanishes,
How foreign vice all goodness banishes,
And how abroad young heads will grow dizzy;
Proved in the underwritten Odyssey.

In old Nevers, so famous for its

In the Chapet of our Lady of Montserral.

When at thy shrine, most holy maid!
The Spaniard hung his votive blade,
And bared his helmed brow —
Not that he feared war's visage grim,
Or that the battle-field for him
Had aught to daunt, I trow;

" Glory! " he cried, " with thee I've done!
Fame! thy bright theatres I shun,
To tread fresh pathways now:
To track thy footsteps, Saviour God!
With throbbing heart, with feet unshod:

Joseph OF A RIMATHEA . N ICODEMUS .

S EE , citizens, we Pilate's bounty bear:
Without a suit men cannot man inter.
The Roman progeny nor freely will
Do what is good; nor, unrewarded, ill.
Nothing is now in use but barbarous vice:
They sell our blood, on graves they set a price.

N ICODEMUS .

O Joseph, these vain ecstasies refrain!
But if it seem so pleasant to complain,
Let Rome alone, and seek a nearer guilt:
His Blood not Romulus' sons, but Abraham's, spilt.

First N UNCIUS . Chorus OF J EWISH W OMEN . Second N UNCIUS .

I FROM the horrid'st act that ever fed
The fire of barbarous rage at length am fled;
Yet O too near! The object still pursues,
Floats in mine eyes, and that sad scene renews.

Chorus .

Art thou a witness of His misery?
Saw'st thou the Galilean Prophet die?

First N UNCIUS .

Those savages, to Scythian rocks confin'd,
Who know no God, nor virtue of the mind,

Judas . C ALAPHAS .

Y OU who preserve your pure integrity,
O you whose crimes transcend not credit, fly
Far from my presence; whose envenom'd sight
Pollutes the guilty! Thou, who wrong and right
Distinctly canst discern; whose gentle breast
All faith hath not abandon'd, but art blest
With children, brothers, friends; nor hast declin'd
The sweet affections of a pious mind;
Shut up the winding entry of thine ear,
Nor let the world of such a bargain hear.
A sin so horrible should be to none

THE SECOND ACT.

Peter .

Y OU offspring of bloodthirsty Romulus,
Foes to sweet peace, to our Great God, and us,
And you profaner sacrificers, who
With subtil mischief guiltless blood pursue;
Since you would not refuse to bind the hands
Of Innocence, on me impose your bands:
Seize on the guilty; he who hath refus'd
His Lord and Master, by himself accus'd.
The ills yet suffer'd, I deserve to bear
For looking on; what follows, for my fear.

THE FIRST ACT.

J ESUS .

O THOU Who govern'st what Thou didst create
With equal sway, Great Arbiter of fate,
The world's Almighty Father; I, Thy Son,
Though born in time, before his course begun;
Thus far my deeds have answer'd Thy commands:
If more remain, My zeal prepared stands
To execute Thy charge; all that I fear,
All that I hate, I shall with patience bear;
No misery refuse, no toil, nor shame.

O THOU , Who art inthron'd on high,
In peace now let Thy servant die,
Whose hope on Thee relies:
For Thou, Whose words and deeds are one,
At length hast Thy salvation shown
To these my ravish'd eyes.

By Thee, before Thy Hands display'd
The heavens, and earth's foundation laid,
Unto the world decreed
A Lamp to give the Gentiles light;
A Glory, O how infinite!
To Israel's faithful seed.

My ravish'd soul extols His Name
Who rules the world's admired frame:
My spirit, with exalted voice,
In God my Saviour shall rejoice:
Who hath His glorious beams display'd
Upon a poor and humble maid.
Me all succeeding ages shall
The Blessed Virgin-Mother call.
The Great great things for me hath wrought;
His sanctity past human thought.
His mercy still reflects on those
Who in His truth their trust repose.
He with His arm hath wonders shown,
The proud in their own pride o'erthrown,

Part I.

G REAT God, with terror I have heard Thy doom,
The fearful punishments that are to come:
Yet in the midst of those devouring years,
Then when Thy vengeance shall exceed our fears,
Thy work in us revive; confirm our faith,
And still remember mercy in Thy wrath.
God came from Theman, and the Holy One
From Paran's mountain, where His glory shone,
Which fill'd the heav'ns themselves with brighter rays,
And all the earth replenish'd with His praise.