 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
277
TOLERATION.
Yet; let not such aggression's baffled scheme,Incite to act unjustly: tolerate,
(And rather half in love than half in hate),
Whatever Conscience may her duty deem,
From God's full truth, to man's most empty dream:
Where reason and religion can, convince;
No less ethereal weapons may convert:
Meanwhile, let each, the peasant as the prince,
Work for the weal of all, and no man's hurt:
With the true papist, if a patriot too,
Live well in peace as fellow-citizen;
But for yon traitorous undermining crew,—
Send them to Rome, to do as Romans do,
To earn God's judgment, and the scorn of men!
| Three Hundred Sonnets | |