IMAGINATIVE REGRETS.
DEEP is the lamentation! Not alone From Sages justly honoured by mankind, But from the ghostly Tenants of the wind, Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous groan Issues for that dominion overthrown: Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind As his own worshippers; and Nile, reclined Upon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan Renews.-Through every forest, cave, and den, Where frauds were hatched of old, hath sorrow past— Hangs o'er the Arabian Prophet's native Waste Where once his airy helpers schemed and planned, Mid phantom lakes bemocking thirsty men, And stalking pillars built of fiery sand.
GRANT, that by this unsparing Hurricane Green leaves with yellow mixed are torn away, And goodly fruitage with the mother spray, 'T were madness-wished we, therefore, to detain, With hands stretched forth in mollified disdain, The trumpery» that ascends in bare display,- Bulls, pardons, relics, cowls black, white, and grey, Upwhirled and flying o'er the ethereal plain Fast bound for Limbo Lake.-And yet not choice But habit rules the uareflecting herd, And airy bonds are hardest to disown; Hence, with the spiritual sovereignty transferred Unto itself, the Crown assumes a voice Of reckless mastery, hitherto unknown.
TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.
BET, to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book,
lu dusty sequestration wrapt too long, Assumes the accents of our native tongue; And he who guides the plough, or wields the crook, With understanding spirit now may look Upon her records, listen to her song,
And sift her laws-much wondering that the wrong, Which Faith has suffered, Heaven could calmly brook. Transcendant Boon! noblest that earthly King Ever bestowed to equalize and bless Under the weight of mortal wretchedness!
But passions spread like plagues, and thousands wild With bigotry shall tread the Offering Beneath their feet-detested and defiled.
THE POINT AT ISSUE.
For what contend the wise? for nothing less Than that pure Faith dissolve the bonds of Sense; The Soul restored to God by evidence
Of things not seen-drawn forth from their recess, Root there, and not in forms, her holiness; That Faith which to the Patriarchs did dispense Sure guidance, ere a ceremonial fence
Was needful round men thirsting to transgress; That Faith, more perfect still, with which the Lord Of all, himself a Spirit, in the youth
EDWARD SIGNING THE WARRANT FOR THE EXECUTION OF JOAN OF KENT.
THE tears of man in various measure gush From various sources; gently overflow From blissful transport some-from clefts of woe Some with ungovernable impulse rush; And some, coëeval with the earliest blush Of infant passion, scarcely dare to show Their pearly lustre-coming but to go;
And some break forth when others' sorrows crush The sympathising heart. Nor these, nor yet The noblest drops to admiration known, To gratitude, to injuries forgiven,
Claim Heaven's regard like waters that have wet The innocent eyes of youthful monarchs driven pen the mandates, nature doth disown.
REVIVAL OF POPERY.
MELTS into silent shades the Youth, discrowned By unrelenting Death. O People keen For change, to whom the new looks always green! They cast, they cast with joy upon the ground Their Gods of wood and stone; and, at the sound Of counter-proclamation, now are seen, (Proud triumph is it for a sullen Queen!) Lifting them up, the worship to confound Of the Most High. Again do they invoke The Creature, to the Creature glory give; Again with frankincense the altars smoke Like those the Heathen served; and mass is sung; And prayer, man's rational prerogative,
Runs through blind channels of an unknown tongue.
Of Faith stand coupled for a common flight! One (like those Prophets whom God sent of old) Transfigured, from this kindling hath foretold A torch of inextinguishable light; The other gains a confidence as bold; And thus they foil their enemy's despite. The penal instruments, the shows of crime, Are glorified while this once-mitred pair
Of saintly Friends, « the Murtherer's chain partake, Corded, and burning at the social stake:>> Earth never witnessed object more sublime In constancy, in fellowship more fair!
Most happy, re-assembled in a land
By dauntless Luther freed, could they forget Their Country's woes. But scarcely have they met, Partners in faith, and Brothers in distress, Free to pour forth their common thankfulness, Ere hope declines; their union is beset With speculative notions rashly sown,
Whence thickly-sprouting growth of poisonous weeds, Their forms are broken staves; their passions steeds That master them. How enviably blest
Is he who can, by help of grace, enthrone The peace of God within his single breast!
OUTSTRETCHING flame-ward his upbraided hand (O God of mercy, may no earthly Seat Of judgment such presumptuous doom repeat!) Amid the shuddering throng doth Cranmer stand; Firm as the stake to which with iron band Ilis frame is tied; firm from the naked feet To the bare head, the victory complete; The shrouded Body, to the Soul's command, Answering with more than Indian fortitude, Through all her nerves with finer sense endued, Till breath departs in blissful aspiration: Then, 'mid the ghastly ruins of the fire, Behold the unalterable heart entire, Emblem of faith untouched, miraculous attestation!
GENERAL VIEW OF THE TROUBLES OF THE REFORMATION.
AID, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light Our mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust (While we look round) that Heaven's decrees are just: Which few can hold committed to a fight That shews, ev'n on its better side, the might Of proud Self-will, Rapacity, and Lust, 'Mid clouds enveloped of polemic dust, Which showers of blood seem rather to incite Than to allay.-Anathemas are hurled
From both sides; veteran thunders (the brute test Of Truth) are met by fulminations new— Tartarian flags are caught at, and unfurled- Friends strike at Friends-the flying shall And Victory sickens, ignorant where to rest!
ENGLISH REFORMERS IN EXILE. SCATTERING, like Birds escaped the Fowler's net, Some seek with timely flight a foreign strand;
Leing stripped into his shrowd, he seemed as comely a person to them that were present, as one should lightly see: and whereas in his clothes bee appeared a withered and crooked sillie (weak) olde man, he now stood bolt upright, as comely a father as one might lightly behold. **** Then they brought a faggotte, kindled with fire, and laid the same downe at doctor Ridley's feete. To whome M. Latimer spake in this manner, Bee of good comfort, master Ridley, and play the man wee shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never bee put out.'»-Fox's Acts,
Similar alterations in the outward figure and deportment of persons brought to like trial were not uncommon. See note to the above passage in Dr Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography, for an example in a bumbie Welsh fisherman.
For the belief in this fact see the contemporary Historians.
HALL, Virgin Queen! o'er many an envious bar Triumphant-snatched from many a treacherous wile' All hail, Sage Lady, whom a grateful Isle Hath blest, respiring from that dismal war Stilled by thy voice! But quickly from afar Defiance breathes with more malignant aim; And alien storms with home-bred ferments claim Portentous fellowship. Her silver car
By sleepless prudence ruled, glides slowly on; Unhurt by violence, from menaced taint Emerging pure, and seemingly more bright! For, wheresoe'er she moves, the clouds anon Disperse; or, under a divine constraint, Reflect some portion of her glorious light!
EMINENT REFORMERS.
METHINKS that I could trip o'er heaviest soil, Light as a buoyant Bark from wave to wave, Were mine the trusty Staff that JEWEL gave To youthful HOOKER, in familiar style The gift exalting, and with playful smile: ' For thus equipped, and bearing on his head The Donor's farewell blessing, can he dread Tempest, or length of way, or weight of toil? More sweet than odours caught by him who sails Near spicy shores of Araby the blest,
A thousand times more exquisitely sweet, The freight of holy feeling which we meet,
In thoughtful moments, wafted by the gales From fields where good men walk, or bowers wherein they rest.
On foot they went, and took Salisbury in their way, purposely to see the good Bishop, who made Mr Hooker sit at bis own talk,— which Mr Hooker boasted of with much joy and gratitude when he saw his mother and friends; and at the Bishop's parting with him, the Bishop gave him good counsel, and his benediction, but for ou to give him money; which when the Bishop had considered, be sent a Servant in all haste to call Richard back to him, and at Richard's return, the Bishop said to him, Richard, I sent for you back to lend you a horse which hath carried me many a mile, and, I thank God, with much ease,' and presently delivered into his hard a walking-staff, with which he professed he had travelled through many parts of Germany; and he said, Richard, I do not give, hat lend you my horse; be sure you be honest, and bring my horse back to me at your return this way to Oxford. And I do now give you tes groats to bear your charges to Exeter; and here is ten groats more which I charge you to deliver to your mother, and tell her, I send her a Bishop's benediction with it, and beg the continuance of her prayers for me. And if you bring my horse back to me, I will give you ten groats more to carry you on foot to the college; and so God bless you, good Richard. '-See WALTON's Life of Richar Hooker.
HOLY and heavenly Spirits as they are, Spotless in life, and eloquent as wise, With what entire affection do they prize
Their new-born Church! labouring with earnest care To baffle all that may her strength impair; That Church-the unperverted Gospel's seat; In their afflictions a divine retreat;
Source of their liveliest hope, and tenderest prayer! The Truth exploring with an equal mind, la doctrine and communion they have sought Firmly between the two extremes to steer; But theirs the wise man's ordinary lot,
To trace right courses for the stubborn blind, And prophesy to ears that will not hear.
MEN, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy Their Forefathers; lo! Sects are formed-and split With morbid restlessness,-the ecstatic fit Spreads wide; though special mysteries multiply, The Saints must govern, is their common cry; And so they labour, deeming lioly Writ Disgraced by aught that seems content to sit Beneath the roof of settled Modesty. The Romanist exults; fresh hope he draws From the confusion-craftily incites The overweening-personates the mad To heap disgust upon the worthier Cause:
Totters the Throne; the new-born Church is sad,
For every wave against her peace unites.
FEAR hath a hundred eyes that all agree To plague her heating heart; and there is one (Nor idlest that!) which holds communion With things that were not, yet were meant to be. Aghast within its gloomy cavity
That eye (which sees as if fulfilled and done Crimes that might stop the motion of the sun) Beholds the horrible catastrophe
Of an assembled Senate unredeemed From subterraneous Treason's darkling power: Merciless act of sorrow infinite!
Worse than the product of that dismal night, When gushing, copious as a thunder-shower, The blood of Huguenots through Paris streamed.
The Virgin Mountain 2, wearing like a Queen A brilliant crown of everlasting Snow, Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below Wonder that aught of aspect so serene
A common device in religious and political conflicts. Sco
Stare in support of this instance.
PREJUDGED by foes determined not to spare,
An old weak Man for vengeance thrown aside, Laud in the painful art of dying» tried, (Like a poor Bird entangled in a Snare
Whose heart still flutters, though his wings forbear
To stir in useless struggle) hath relied
On hope that conscious Innocence supplied,
And in his prison breathes celestial air. Why tarries then thy Chariot? Wherefore stay,
O Death! the ensanguined yet triumphant wheels, Which thou prepar'st, full often to convey, (What time a State with madding faction reels) The Saint or Patriot to the world that heals All wounds, all perturbations doth allay?
In this age a word cannot be said in praise of Land, or even in compassion for his fate, without incurring a charge of bigotry; but fearless of such imputation, I concur with Hume, that it is sufficient for bis vindication to observe, that his errors were the most excusable of all thos which prevailed during that zealous period. A key to the right understanding of those parts of his conduct that brought the most odium upon him in his own time, may be found in the following passage of his speech before the bar of the House of Peers. Ever since I came in place, I have laboured nothing more, than that the external publick worship of God, so much slighted in divers parts of this kingdom, might be preserved, and that with as much decency and uniformity as might be. For I eviIdently saw, that the publick neglect of God's service in the outward face of it, and the nasty lying of many places dedicated to that service, had almost cast a damp upon the true and inward worship of God, which, while we live in the body, needs external helps, and all little enough to keep it in any vigour..
AFFLICTIONS OF ENGLAND.
HARP! couldst thou venture, on thy boldest string, The faintest note to echo which the blast Caught from the hand of Moses as it past O'er Sinai's top, or from the Shepherd King, Early awake, by Siloa's brook, to sing
Of dread Jehovah; then, should wood and waste Hear also of that name, and mercy cast Off to the mountains, like a covering
Of which the Lord was weary. Weep, oh! weep, Weep with the good, beholding King and Priest Despised by that stern God to whom they raise Their suppliant hands; but holy is the feast He keepeth; like the firmament his ways, His statutes like the chambers of the deep.
Or would have taught, by discipline of pain And long privation, now dissolves amain, Or is remembered only to give zest To wantonness.-Away, Circean revels! Already stands our Country on the brink Of bigot rage, that all distinction levels
Of truth and falsehood, swallowing the good name, And, with that draught, the life-blood: misery, shame, By Poets loathed; from which Historians shrink!
YET Truth is keenly sought for, and the wind Charged with rich words poured out in Thought's defence;
Whether the Church inspire that eloquence,
Or a Platonic Piety confined
To the sole temple of the inward mind; And One there is who builds immortal lays, Though doomed to tread in solitary ways, Darkness before, and danger's voice behind!
FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE PRESENT Yet not alone, nor helpless to repel
I SAW the figure of a lovely Maid
Seated alone beneath a darksome Tree,
Whose fondly overhanging canopy
Set off her brightness with a pleasing shade.
Substance she seemed (and that my heart betrayed, For she was one I loved exceedingly);
But while I gazed in tender reverie
(Or was it sleep that with my Fancy played?) The bright corporeal presence, form, and face, Remaining still distinct, grew thin and rare, Like sunny mist; at length the golden hair, Shape, limbs, and heavenly features, keeping pace Each, with the other, in a lingering race Of dissolution, melted into air.
PATRIOTIC SYMPATHIES.
LAST night, without a voice, this Vision spake Fear to my Spirit—passion that might seem Wholly dissevered from our present theme; Yet do I love my Country-and partake Of kindred agitations for her sake; She visits oftentimes my midnight dream; Her glory meets me with the earliest beam Of light, which tells that morning is awake. If aught impair her beauty or destroy, Or but forebode destruction, I deplore With filial love the sad vicissitude;
If she hath fallen and righteous Heaven restore The prostrate, then my spring-time is renewed, And sorrow bartered for exceeding joy.
CHARLES THE SECOND.
Who comes with rapture greeted, and caress'd With frantic love-his kingdom to regain? Him Virtue's Nurse, Adversity, in vain Received, and fostered in her iron breast: For all she taught of hardiest and of best,
Sad thoughts; for from above the starry sphere Come secrets, whispered nightly to his ear;
And the pure spirit of celestial light
Shines through his soul-«< that he may see and tell Of things invisible to mortal sight.»
CLERICAL INTEGRITY.
NOR shall the eternal roll of praise reject Those Unconforming; whom one rigorous day Drives from their Cures, a voluntary prey To poverty and grief, and disrespect, And some to want-as if by tempest wrecked On a wild coast; how destitute! did They Feel not that Conscience never can betray, That peace of mind is Virtue's sure effect. Their Altars they forego, their homes they quit, Fields which they love, and paths they daily trod, And cast the future upon Providence ;
As men the dictate of whose inward sense Outweighs the world; whom self-deceiving wit Lures not from what they deem the cause of God.
PERSECUTION OF THE SCOTTISH COVENAN TERS.
When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry, The majesty of England interposed
And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were closed. And Faith preserved her ancient purity. How little boots that precedent of good,
Scorned or forgotten, Thou canst testify,
For England's shame, O Sister Realm! from wood, Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie The headless martyrs of the Covenant,
Slain by compatriot-protestants that draw From councils senseless as intolerant Their warrant. Bodies fall by wild sword-law; But who would force the Soul, tilts with a straw Against a Champion cased in adamant.
ACQUITTAL OF THE BISHOPS.
A VOICE, from long-expecting thousands sent, Shatters the air and troubles tower and spire- For Justice hath absolved the Innocent, And Tyranny is balked of her desire: Up, down, the busy Thames-rapid as fire Coursing a train of gunpowder-it went, And transport finds in every street a vent, Till the whole City rings like one vast quire. The Fathers urge the People to be still
With outstretched hands and earnest speech-in vain! Yea, many, haply wont to entertain Small reverence for the Mitre's offices, And to Religion's self no friendly will, A Prelate's blessing ask on bended knees.
WILLIAM THE THIRD.
CALM as an under current-strong to draw Millions of waves into itself, and run, From sea to sea, impervious to the sun And ploughing storm-the spirit of Nassau (By constant impulse of religious awe Swayed, and thereby enabled to contend With the wide world's commotions) from its end Swerves not-diverted by a casual law. Had mortal action e'er a nobler scope? The Hero comes to liberate, not defy; And, while he marches on with righteous hope, Conqueror beloved! expected anxiously! The vacillating Bondman of the Pope, Shrinks from the verdict of his steadfast eye.
OBLIGATIONS OF CIVIL TO RELIGIOUS LI- BERTY.
UNGRATEFUL Country, if thou e'er forget The sons who for thy civil rights have bled! How, like a Roman, Sidney bowed his head, And Russel's milder blood the scaffold wet; But These had fallen for profitless regret Had not thy holy Church her Champions bred; And claims from other worlds inspirited The Star of Liberty to rise. Nor yet (Grave this within thy heart!) if spiritual things Be lost, through apathy, or scorn, or fear, Shalt thou thy humbler franchises support, However hardly won or justly dear;
What came from Heaven to Heaven by nature clings, And, if dissevered thence, its course is short.
Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design Have we pursued, with livelier stir of heart Than his who sees, borne forward by the Rhine, The living landscapes greet him, and depart; Sees spires fast sinking-up again to start! And strives the towers to number, that recline O'er the dark steeps, or on the horizon line Striding with shattered crests the eye athwart ;- So have we hurried on with troubled pleasure:
Henceforth, as on the bosom of a stream That slackens, and spreads wide a watery gleam, We, nothing loth a lingering course to measure, May gather up our thoughts, and mark at leisure Features that else had vanished like a dream.
WALTON'S BOOK OF LIVES.
THERE are no colours in the fairest sky
So fair as these. The feather whence the pen Was shaped that traced the lives of these good men Dropped from an Angel's wing. With moistened eye We read of Faith and purest Charity
In Statesman, Priest, and humble Citizen. O could we copy their mild virtues, then What joy to live, what blessedness to die! Methinks their very names shine still and bright; Apart, like glow-worms on a summer night; Or lonely tapers when from far they fling A guiding ray; or seen, like stars on high, Satellites burning in a lucid ring Around meek Walton's heavenly memory,
A SUDDEN Conflict rises from the swell Of a proud slavery met by tenets strained In Liberty's behalf. Fears, true or feigned, Spread through all ranks; and lo! the Sentinel Who loudest rang his pulpit larum bell, Stands at the Bar-absolved by female eyes, Mingling their Light with graver flatteries, Lavished on Him that England may rebel Against her ancient virtue. HIGH and Low, Watch-words of Party, on all tongues are rife; As if a Church, though sprung from heaven, must owe To opposites and fierce extremes her life,— Not to the golden mean, and quiet flow
Of truths that soften hatred, temper strife.
PLACES OF WORSHIP.
As star that shines dependent upon star Is to the sky while we look up in love; As to the deep fair ships which though they move Seem fixed, to eyes that watch them from afar; As to the sandy desert fountains are, With palm groves shaded at wide intervals, Whose fruit around the sun-burnt Native falls Of roving tired or desultory war;
Such to this British Isle her Christian Fanes, Each linked to each for kindred services; Her Spires, her Steeple-towers with glittering vane, Far-kenned, her Chapels lurking among trees, Where a few villagers on bended knees Find solace which a busy world disdains.
PASTORAL CHARACTER.
A GENIAL hearth, a hospitable board,. And a refined rusticity, belong
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