Page:The Hind and the Panther - Dryden (1687).djvu/70

But strive t'evade, and fear to find 'em true,
As conscious they were never meant to you:
All which the mother church asserts her own,
And with unrivall'd claim ascends the throne.
So when of old th' Almighty father sate
In Council, to redeem our ruin'd state,
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Millions of millions at a distance round,
Silent the sacred Consistory crown'd,
To hear what mercy mixt with Justice cou'd propound.
All prompt with eager pity, to fulfill
The full extent of their Creatour's will:
But when the stern conditions were declar'd,
A mournful whisper through the host was heard,
And the whole hierarchy, with heads hung down,
Submissively declin'd the pondrous proffer'd crown.
Then, not till then, th'eternal Son from high
Rose in the strength of all the Deity;
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Stood forth t'accept the terms, and underwent
A weight which all the frame of heav'n had bent,
Nor he Himself cou'd bear, but as omnipotent.

Now