The helm of Rome, when gowns not arms repell'd The fierce Epirot and the African bold, The drift of hollow states hard to be spell'd, Move by her two main nerves, iron and gold, In all her equipage: befides to know Both spiritual pow'r and civil, what each means, 10 7. Then to advife &c] In the Manufcript there was at first And instead of Then: but afterwards it was corrected as it ftands in the printed copies. But in the remainder of these two verses, as they ftand in the printed copies, the meter is fpoil'd in one, and the fenfe in the other. Then to advife how war may be beft upheld, Afterwards thus 5 What -befides to know Both fpiritual pow'r and civil, what each means Thou haft learn'd well, a praise which few have won. At laft it was corrected, as we have caused it to be printed. 13. Therefore on thy firm hand &c] Thefe two lines are infinitely better in the Manuscript than in the printed editions; Therefore on thy right hand religion leans, * Among our author's state-letters there are feveral in Cromwell's name addrefs'd to the Duke of Savoy, and other potentates and ftates, complaining of this perfecution of the proteftants. His letter to the Duke of Savoy begins thus. "Redditæ funt nobis Genevâ "&c. Letters have been fent us from Geneva, as alfo from the Dauphinate, and many other places bordering upon your territories, wherein we are given to understand, What fevers each, thou haft learn'd, which few have The bounds of either sword to thee we owe: [done: Therefore on thy firm hand religion leans XVIII. On the late maffacre in Piemont. Avenge, O Lord, thy flaughter'd faints, whose bones Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold; 66 "ftand, that fuch of your Royal Highness's fubjects as profefs the reform'd religion, are "commanded by your edict and by your authority, within three days after the promulgation of your edict, to depart their native "feats and habitations, upon pain of capital punishment, and forfeiture of all their for"tunes and estates, unless they will give fecurity to relinquish their religion within 20 "days, and embrace the Roman catholic "faith. And that when they apply'd them"felves to your Royal Highness in a moft fuppliant manner, imploring a revocation "of the faid edict, and that being receiv'd "into priftin favor, they might be restored "to the liberty granted them by your prede"ceffors, a part of your army fell upon them, "moft cruelly flew feveral, put others in "chains, and compell'd the reft to fly into "defert places and to the mountains cover'd " with fnow, where fome hundreds of fami"lies are reduced to fuch diftrefs, that it is greatly to be feared, they will in a short "time all miferably perifh, thro' cold and "hunger. &c." Thefe letters are dated in May 1655, and about the fame time it is ·66 pro Ev'n bable this fonnet was compos'd, which was added in the edition of 1673. 1. Avenge, O Lord, &c] Nor was this prayer in behalf of the perfecuted proteftants entirely without effect. For Cromwell exerted himself in their favor, and his behaviour in this whole tranfaction is greatly to his honor, even as it is related by an hiftorian, who was far from being partial to his memory. "Nor would the Protector be backward in "fuch a work, which might give the world "a particular opinion of his piety and zeal "for the proteftant religion; but he pro"clam'd a folemn fast, and caused large con"tributions to be gather'd for them through" out the kingdom of England and Wales. "Nor did he rest here, but fent his agents to "the Duke of Savoy, a prince with whom he had no correfpondence or commerce, "and the next year fo engag'd the Cardinal "of France, and even terrify'd the Pope him"felf, without fo much as doing any favor to "the English Roman catholics, that that "Duke thought it neceffary to restore all that " he had taken from them, and renew'd all "those privileges they had formerly enjoy'd. Yyy " So Ev'n them who kept thy truth fo pure of old, When all our fathers worshipt stocks and stones, Forget not in thy book record their groans. Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold Slain by the bloody Piemontese that roll'd Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 5 To Heav'n. Their martyr'd blood and afhes fow 10 O'er all th' Italian fields, where still doth fway The triple Tyrant; that from these may grow A hundred fold, who having learn'd thy way Early may fly the Babylonian woe. XIX. On his blindness. When I confider how my light is spent Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And Alpinos incolas orthodoxam religionem antiquitus profitentes, the inhabitants at the feet of the Alps, ancient profeffors of the orthodox faith; and afterwards in the fame letter, apud quos noftra religio vel ab ipfis Evangelii primis doctoribus tradita per manus & incorrupte fervata, vel multo ante quam apud ceteras gentes finceritati priftinæ reftituta eft, among whom our religion was either diffeminated by the first doctors And that one talent which is death to hide, To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, left he returning chide; And post o'er land and ocean without reft; XX. To Mr. LAWRENCE. Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous son, doctors of the Gofpel, and preferv'd from the defilement of fuperftition, or else reftor'd to its priftin fincerity long before other nations obtain'd that felicity. 14. -the Babylonian woe.] The woes denounced against Rome, under the name of Babylon, in Scripture. 3. And that one talent which is death to hide,] 5. IO Where Where shall we fometimes meet, and by the fire The frozen earth, and clothe in fresh attire 5 Of Attic tafte, with wine, whence we may rife 10 To hear the lute well touch'd, or artful voice Warble immortal notes and Tuscan air? He who of thofe delights can judge, and spare XXI. + To CYRIAC SKINNER. Cyriac, whose grandfire on the royal bench 6. Favonius] The fame as Zephyrus, or the western wind that blows in the fpring. Plin. Lib. 16. Sect. 39. Hic eft genitalis fpiritus mundi, a fovendo dictus, ut quidam exiftimavere. Flat ab occafu æquinoctiali, ver inchoans. And fo Lucretius I. 10. Nam fimul ac fpecies patefacta eft verna diei, Et referata viget genitabilis aura Favoni. 8. that neither fow'd nor fpun.] Alluding to Mat. VI. 26, 28. they sow not, neither do they fpin. Of + Cyriac Skinner was the fon of William Skinner Efq; and grandfon of Sir Vincent Skinner, and his mother was Bridget, one of the daughters of the famous Sir Edward Coke Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Mr. Wood informs us that he was one of Harrington's political club, and fometimes held the chair; and farther adds, that he was a merchant's fon of London, an ingenious young gentleman, and scholar to John Milton. Athen. Ox. Vol. 2. P. 591. No wonder then that |