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The man with christian perseverance fir'd ,
Check'd but not stop'd; retarded but not tir'd;
Straiten'd by foes, yet sure of a retreat,
In Heav'n's protection rests securely great :
Hears ev'ry sharp alarm without dismay;
Midst dangers dauntless, and midst terrors gay;
Indignant of obstruction glows his flame,
And, struggling, mounts to Heav'n, from whence it came:
Oppress'd it thrives; its own destroyers tires,
And with unceasing fortitude aspires.
When man desponds, [of human hope bereft,]
Patience and Christian heroism are left.

Ibid. C. 35, No. 2. Ibid. C. 18. No. 2.

Let Patience be thy first and last concern;
The hardest task a Christian has to learn !

Life's pendulum in th'other world shall make
Advances, on the side it now goes back.

By force, a virtue of celestial kind
Was never storm'd; by art 'tis undermin'd .

Perseverance is an image of eternity.” St. Bernard.

“The greatest safety man can have is to fear nothing but God.”
Senec. “Human fear depresses, the fear of God exhilarates.”
Cassian.

Imitat. of Christ, L. III, C. 5. Ibid. C. 19, No. 1.

See also Caussin's Holy Court, Part I, L. 3, Sect. 32, Fol. 1650.

“True christian piety was never made a real captive; it may be killed, but cannot be conquered.” St. Jerom.