Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Ver. 9. Persecuted, but not forsaken] The Church may be shaken, not shivered; persecuted, not conquered. (Concuti, non excuti.) Roma cladibus animosior, said one; it is more true of the Church. She gets by her losses, and, as the oak, she taketh heart to grace from the maims and wounds given her. Duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus.
" Niteris incassum Christi submergere navem:
Fluctuat, at nunquam mergitur illa ratis: "
as the pope wrote once to the Great Turk.
Cast down, but not destroyed] Impellere possunt, said Luther of his enemies, sed totum prosternere non possunt: crudeliter me tractare possunt, sed non extirpare: dentes nudare, sed non devorare: occidere me possunt, sed in totum me perdere non possunt. They may thrust me, but not throw me; show their teeth, but not devour me; kill me, but not hurt me.