So may the Devil I Respite their souls from Heaven!"; Hellas, 657, "Bask in the [deep] blue noon divine"; Julian and Maddalo, 218, where "Moans, shrieks, and curses, and blaspheming prayers" is absent in the earlier editions though required for the rhyme; so lines 299-301 of the Letter to Maria Gisborne.
In the first centuries of the Christian era, apostasy was most commonly induced by persecution, and was indicated by some outward act, such as offering incense to a heathen deity or blaspheming the name of Christ.'
A counter fanaticism was aroused in them, and for years the Martyrs of Cordoba continued to force the often reluctant cadis to behead them, by blaspheming the Prophet.