Set thy face against them as a flint: but be not numbered with Abiram.
Daniel nobly disobeyed; but not from a spirit of sedition:
And Azarias shouted from the furnace,—I will not bow down, O KING.
If truth must be sacrificed to unity, then faithfulness were folly;
If man must be obeyed before God, the martyrs have bled in vain:
Yet none of that blessed army reviled the rulers of the land,
They were loud and bold against the sin, but bent before the ensign of authority.
Honesty, scorning compromise, walketh most suitably with Reverence;
Otherwise righteous daring may show but as obstinate rebellion:
Therefore, suffer not thy censure to lack the savour of courtesy,