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The sceptics who would not believe Columbus.Some people would impose now with authority,Turpin’s or Monmouth Geoffry’s Chronicle;Men whose historical superiorityIs always greatest at a miracle.But Saint Augustine has the great priority,Who bids all men believe the impossible,Because ’tis so. Who nibble, scribble, quibble, heQuiets at once with “quia impossibile.”And therefore, mortals, cavil not at all;Believe: – if ’tis improbable, you must,And if it is impossible, you shall:’Tis always best to take things upon trust.I do not speak profanely to recallThose holier mysteries which the wise and justReceive as gospel, and which grow more rooted,As all truths must, the more they are disputed (16.4.31-6.48)Byron misremembered Augustine in place of Tertullian, 223 but the whole passage isnonetheless a consideration of bases of belief, and particularly of dogmatism, which isat odds with Idealism and with the poet’s views of religion and religious belief asexpressed throughout his work. The irony in the sixth stanza in particular is directedat this form of belief which has no basis beyond what is taught. Interestingly, themodal “shall” in line 43 could be predictive rather than jussive, declaring that peoplehave a consistent habit of believing the impossible, just as they have a habit ofpromising repentance which they will never effect (5.6.47-8). The poem’scommentary would then focus on general human psychology, one of Byron’sfavourite topics.223 De Carne Christi 5.4, “Certum est, quia impossibile est”: ‘it is certain, because it is impossible [andso no one would have just made it up]’.144