Acts 23:12: Nothing they could by tumult gain

Nothing they could by tumult gain,
And legal process was but vain,
The wretch unfit to live they know,
Yet still he lives their church's foe:
When neither mob nor council kill,
Inspired with most infernal zeal,
Lo, to their last resource they fly,
And Paul shall by assassins die.

As champions for the church they stand,
An oath unites the sacred band,
The holy league is sworn, and now
They must perform their pious vow,
They cannot weakly change their mind;
The solemn covenant is sign'd,
And earth and hell have both decreed
A stubborn heretic to bleed.