Margaret had found faith, and her enraptured soul indulged in holy transports.[758]
Word Divine, Jesus the Salvator,
Only Son of the eternal Pater,
The first, the last; of all things renovator,
Bishop and king, and mighty triumphator,
From death by death our liberator.
By faith we're made the sons of the Creator.
From this time a great change took place in the Duchess of Alençon:—
Though poor, and weak, and ignorant I be,
How rich, how strong, how wise I am in Thee![759]
But the power of sin was not yet subdued in her. She found a struggle, a discord in her soul that alarmed her:[760]—
In spirit noble,—but in nature slave;
Immortal am I,—tending to the grave;
Essence of heaven,—and yet of earthly birth;
God's dwelling place,—and yet how little worth.
Margaret, seeking in nature the symbols that might express the wants and affections of her soul, chose for her emblem (says Brantôme) the marigold, "which by its rays and leaves, has more affinity with the sun, and turns wherever he goes."[761]—She added this device:—
Non inferiora secutus,
I seek not things below,
"as a sign," adds the courtly writer, "that she directed all her actions, thoughts, desires, and affections, to that great sun which is God; and hence she was suspected of being attached to the Lutheran religion."[762]
MARGARET'S CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE.