THE CHURCH-YARD AMONG
THE MOUNTAINS.
Poet's Address to the State and Church of EnglandThe Pastor not inferior to the ancient Worthies of the Church-He begins his Narratives with an instance of unrequited Love-Anguish of mind subdued-and howThe lonely Miner-An instance of perseverance-Which leads by contrast to an example of abused talents, irresolution, and weakness-Solitary, applying this covertly to his own case, asks for an instance of some Stranger, whose dispositions may have led him to end his days here -Pastor, in answer, gives an account of the harmonising influence of Solitude upon two men of opposite principles, who had encountered agitations in public life -The rule by which Peace may be obtained expressed, and where-Solitary hints at an overpowering Fatality -Answer of the Pastor-What subjects he will exclude from his Narratives-Conversation upon this-Instance of an unamiable character, a Female, and why givenContrasted with this, a meek sufferer, from unguarded and betrayed love-Instance of heavier guilt, and its consequences to the Offender-With this instance of a Marriage Contract broken is contrasted one of a Widower, evidencing his faithful affection towards his deceased wife by his care of their female Children.
THE CHURCH-YARD AMONG
THE MOUNTAINS.
HAIL to the crown by Freedom shaped-to gird Poet's An English Sovereign's brow! and to the throne address Whereon he sits! Whose deep foundations lie to the In veneration and the people's love; Whose steps are equity, whose seat is law. -Hail to the State of England!
With this a salutation as devout,
Made to the spiritual fabric of her Church; Founded in truth; by blood of Martydom Cemented; by the hands of Wisdom reared 10 In beauty of holiness, with ordered pomp, Decent, and unreproved. The voice, that greets The majesty of both, shall pray for both; That, mutually protected and sustained, They may endure long as the sea surrounds This favoured Land, or sunshine warms her soil.
And O, ye swelling hills, and spacious plains! Besprent from shore to shore with steeple-towers, And spires whose "silent finger points to heaven; Nor wanting, at wide intervals, the bulk
State and Church of England
May our of ancient minster, lifted above the cloud churches Of the dense air, which town or city breeds ever have worthy To intercept the sun's glad beams—may neʼer ministers! That true succession fail of English hearts, Who, with ancestral feeling, can perceive What in those holy structures ye possess Of ornamental interest, and the charm Of pious sentiment diffused afar, And human charity, and social love.
-Thus never shall the indignities of time Approach their reverend graces, unopposed; Nor shall the elements be free to hurt Their fair proportions; nor the blinder rage Of bigot zeal madly to overturn; And, if the desolating hand of war Spare them, they shall continue to bestow, Upon the thronged abodes of busy men (Depraved, and ever prone to fill the mind Exclusively with transitory things) An air and mien of dignified pursuit ; Of sweet civility, on rustic wilds.
The Poet, fostering for his native land Such hope, entreats that servants may abound Of those pure altars worthy; ministers Detached from pleasure, to the love of gain Superior, insusceptible of pride,
And by ambitious longings undisturbed; Men, whose delight is where their duty leads Or fixes them; whose least distinguished day Shines with some portion of that heavenly lustre Which makes the sabbath lovely in the sight 51 Of blessed angels, pitying human cares.
-And, as on earth it is the doom of truth To be perpetually attacked by foes Open or covert, be that priesthood still, For her defence, replenished with a band Of strenuous champions, in scholastic arts Thoroughly disciplined; nor (if in course Of the revolving world's disturbances Cause should recur, which righteous Heaven avert! 60
To meet such trial) from their spiritual sires Degenerate; who, constrained to wield the sword Of disputation, shrunk not, though assailed With hostile din, and combating in sight Of angry umpires, partial and unjust; And did, thereafter, bathe their hands in fire, So to declare the conscience satisfied: Nor for their bodies would accept release; But, blessing God and praising him, bequeathed With their last breath, from out the smouldering flame, 70
The faith which they by diligence had earned, Or, through illuminating grace, received, For their dear countrymen, and all mankind. O high example, constancy divine !
Even such a Man (inheriting the zeal And from the sanctity of elder times Not deviating,- -a priest, the like of whom, If multiplied, and in their stations set, Would o'er the bosom of a joyful land Spread true religion and her genuine fruits) 80 Before me stood that day; on holy ground Fraught with the relics of mortality,
Such a
one was the Pastor then present
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