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 CCXCIV.
[Within the papal jurisdiction]
ESTO PERPETUA.
Within the papal jurisdiction,
If common fame asserts no fiction,
Rome can indulgences invent
For sinning, at so much per Cent:—
A market price on pardon set;
And calculate guilt—like tare and tret.
If common fame asserts no fiction,
384
For sinning, at so much per Cent:—
A market price on pardon set;
And calculate guilt—like tare and tret.
Yet this (absurd as it appears)
Is licence, granted but for years:
Still, spite of trade so contraband,
Eternity's reckonings open stand:
Heav'n laughs to scorn such incongruities;
It's Mercy sells no perpetuities:
But, to pure faith and meek endeavour,
Gives freely—what it gives, for ever!
Is licence, granted but for years:
Still, spite of trade so contraband,
Eternity's reckonings open stand:
Heav'n laughs to scorn such incongruities;
It's Mercy sells no perpetuities:
But, to pure faith and meek endeavour,
Gives freely—what it gives, for ever!
| The Poetical Works of The Rev. Samuel Bishop | |