Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. (1697-1729.)

Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. (1697-1729.)

Honour to all who honourably do,

Whate’er the station they in life may hold,
Prince, Peer, or Peasant; but contempt and scorn—
Bitter unbending and enduring hate
Unto the tyranny that curses man— 5
Joy when the evil lives have pass’d away
Of Princes who their subjects dare oppress,
Or Peers who use their power to injure man,
And e’en the People who will vilely crouch
To lick their tyrant’s feet, and kiss the chains 10
That bind of mind or body. Blessed he
Whom wealth and rank and power can ne’er corrupt;
Who can all fulsome flattery despise,
And only seek to bless the human race.
’T is pleasant among Princes to mark some, 15
At intervals, however rare they be,
Whose constant study was the People’s good,
Like the wise Leopold of fair Lorraine;
Restored to rule by Ryswick’s famous Treaty,
When England, Holland, France, Spain, Germany, 20
Restored the Conquests of their nine years’ War,
But could not for one moment all recall
One single life which they had ta’en away,
Or e’en the treasure wasted in the strife
Which had so cursed their lands.
How different then 25
When five years peace gave Europe sweet repose,
And when England’s Revolution stood confirm’d,
So that her Kings no longer could maintain
Strange Right Divine to rule their subjects wrong,
As lying Priests had taught them they might do, 30
With none but God to call then to account,
Their Subjects’ duty being to obey,
Without a murmur, every tyranny;
And this they blasphemed in the name of God,
’Till Cromwell’s mighty sword and James’s exile 35
Open’d men’s eyes.


Well had it been from France
Had she learn’d wisdom from our history.
But wily Richlieu used his noble gifts
For most ignoble purpose; his sole aim
Not to enlighten and raise up mankind, 40
As a true Christian must have wished to do;
But to make Learning bind the mind the more
To make the French the masters of the world
And Frenchmen helots of a despotic King.
This Cardinal that served the devil well, 45
Murd’ring or shutting up in dungeons vile
All who had manhood to oppose his guile:
So for a time success seem’d to attend
The infernal scheme, and fools did it applaud
Till, in a later age, centuries of wrong 50
Produced an outburst that appall’d the world.
How different the gracious Leopold!
Though for seven centuries his family had
Ruled in the fertile Dukedom of Lorraine,
No pride of birth or rank disturb’d his soul! 55
Finding his country—though by Nature made
A Paradise, where Plenty would reward
All useful efforts—then laid desolate,
He repeopled it with those who valued more
The arts of peace and honest industry 60
Than feats of war; Learning he gave a home;
Science and Letters foster’d were by him;
Wisely from War’s dread havoc he refrain’d;
When his more powerful neighbours broke the truce,
In eager greed to share the spoils of Spain; 65
His ev’ry thought was for his People’s good;
Searching for Merit e’en in lowly life,
And most obscure retreats, to bring it forth,
With fit reward, to the full light of day.


His throne by him was valued not a straw, 70
Save as a means to benefit mankind.
A true Freemason in his heart was he,
Although no sign or pass-word would he might know;
And with our Great Grand Master he will be
Free and Acceptable i’ the Grand Lodge Above, 75
When some who held high rank in Lodges here
May find themselves rejected: Cowans they,
Who never in their hearts were well prepared
For the true mysteries of Freemasonry.
When Death call’d hence good Leopold of Lorraine, 80
His people felt the loss alone was their’s;
And for long years the mention of his name
Would cause the tears to flow down manly cheeks,
As well as those of women. Well it were
If ev’ry ruler would the lesson learn 85
Like Leopold, to see that power is but
Entrusted to them to uphold all good
And put down evil. Though no Princes, well
Have each our own Lorraine to govern well,
And ought to ask ourselves the question now, 90
Have we been Leopolds in our domains,
Or vulgar tyrants? Each in our own sphere
May be as Leopold of fair Lorraine.

George Markham Tweddell
The Voice of Masonry, Chicago, Illinois, U.S., March 1888
Blank verse [in M/S], p. 39-43.
[Another poem on this subject appears in Vol. II, p. 131]