Far other fame the Christian doctrine gain'd,
From Heaven transmitted, and by Heaven maintain'd,
With scepter'd arrogance to vex the earth,
Yet most those realms which gave his grandeur birth,
To make divided Faith and Virtue foes,
On its firm base no second David rose:
Yet from this pure and unpolluted source,
Ere long, the streams in a perverted course
Ran foul: Fanatics soon began to call
Merit a sound, Religion all in all;
Infuriate Priests the bonds of nature tore,
And Persecution drench'd the world with gore.
Arm'd with the Cross, o'er Asia's ravag'd lands,
See sainted Champions pour their desperate bands,
A dreaming Hermit leads them, and aloud
Preaches salvation to the frantic crowd:
Zeal whets the poniard, and with ruthless joy
They come, they sack, they ravish, they destroy.