To His Grace Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury

[ZaunköniG]

To His Grace Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury

Prelate, whose steady hand and watchful eye
The sacred vessel of religion guide,
Secure from superstition's dangerous tide
And fateful rocks of infidelity;
Think not, in this bad age of obloquy,
When Christian virtues Christians dare deride
And worth by party zeal alone is tried,
To escape the poisoned shafts of calumny;
No--though the tenor of thy blameless life,
Like His whose flock is to thy care consigned,
Be spent in teaching truth and doing good,
Yet, amongst the sons of bigotry and strife
Thou too, like Him, must hear thy good maligned,
Thy person slandered, and thy truths withstood.