The Poetical Works of The Rev. Samuel Bishop ... To Which are Prefixed, Memoirs of the Life of the Author By the Rev. Thomas Clare |
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 | The Poetical Works of The Rev. Samuel Bishop |  |
EPIGRAM CXL.
[From any Convent, a Lay-brother take]
VIRES ACQUIRIT EUNDO.
From any Convent, a Lay-brother take;
Shave close his poll, and thus a Friar he'll make:
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And a Lord Cardinal stares you in the face:
Let his red hat for three gilt crowns give scope,
And then, behold! his Holiness—the Pope!
From these three crowns, what farther progress lies?
None for the present—Princes are too wise.
Time was, when that same three-crown'd Father's pride,
Held in hard vassalage all crown'd heads beside:
But Sovereigns now observe a different trim;
Wear for themselves their crowns—and not for him!
In modern politics would he prove his skill;
His best way to keep on—is to stand still!
| The Poetical Works of The Rev. Samuel Bishop | |