113

 113. Apostacy  FRANCE! I will think of thee as what thou wast,  When Poictiers show'd her zeal for the true    creed; Or in that age, when Holy Truth, though cast  On a rank soil, yet was a thriving seed, Thy schools within, from neighbouring countries    chased;  E'en of thy pagan day I bear to read, Thy Martyrs sanctified the guilty host, The Sons of blessèd John, rear'd on a western    coast.  I dare not think of thee as what thou art,  Lest thoughts too deep for man should trouble    me. It is not safe to place the mind and heart  On brink of evil, or its flames to see, Lest they should dizzy, or some taint impart,  Or to our sin a fascination be. And so in silence I will now proclaim Hate of thy present self, and scarce will sound thy   name [n.].

   Off the French coast .  June 26, 1833.

 Note

 Vide note at page 153 [verse 98].