270
JOAN OF ARC.
The assembled fathers of the Christian church 185
Pronounced that man accurs'd whose impious hand
Should point the murderous weapon. Such decrees
Befits the men of God to promulgate:
Them it befits to wash their hands of blood,
And with a warning voice, tho' haply vain, 190
To cry aloud and spare not! "Woe to them
Whose hands are full of blood! Woe, saith the Lord,
To them who fast for strife, that they may smite[1]
With the arm of wickedness."
An English King,
The lion-hearted Richard, their decree 195
First broke, and heavenly retribution doom'd
His fall by the keen quarrel; since that day
Pronounced that man accurs'd whose impious hand
Should point the murderous weapon. Such decrees
Befits the men of God to promulgate:
Them it befits to wash their hands of blood,
And with a warning voice, tho' haply vain, 190
To cry aloud and spare not! "Woe to them
Whose hands are full of blood! Woe, saith the Lord,
To them who fast for strife, that they may smite[1]
With the arm of wickedness."
An English King,
The lion-hearted Richard, their decree 195
First broke, and heavenly retribution doom'd
His fall by the keen quarrel; since that day
Frequent
- ↑ Line 193. The fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah was the appointed lesson for our general fast in 1793. The tenor of the chapter is such as almost to prove an ironical intention in whoever selected it. "Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke." Verses 4, 5, 6.
