During the month of December 1820, I accompanied a much-beloved and honoured Friend in a walk through different parts of his estate, with a view to fix upon the site of a new Church which he intended to erect. It was one of the most beautiful mornings of a mild season, our feelings were in harmony with the cherishing influences of the scene; and such being our purpose, we were naturally led to look back upon past events with wonder and gratitude, and on the future with hope. Not long afterwards, some of the Sonnets which will be found towards the close of this series were produced as a private memorial of that morning's occupation.

The Catholic Question, which was agitated in Parliament about that time, kept my thoughts in the same course; and it struck me that certain points in the Ecclesiastical History of our Country might advantageously be presented to view in verse. Accordingly, I took up the subject, and what I now offer to the reader was the result.

When this work was far advanced, I was agreeably surprised to find that my friend, Mr. Southey, had been engaged with similar views in writing a concise History of the Church in England. If our Productions, thus unintentionally coinciding, shall be found to illustrate

each other, it will prove a high gratification to me, which I am sure my friend will participate. W. WORDSWORTH. RYDAL MOUNT, January 24, 1822.

For the convenience of passing from one point of the subject to another without shocks of abruptness, this work has taken the shape of a series of Sonnets: but the Reader, it is to be hoped, will find that the pictures are often so closely connected as to have jointly the effect of passages of a poem in a form of stanza to which there is no objection but one that bears upon the Poet only its difficulty. W. W.

Most of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets were composed in 1821, but there were some additions made at a later date. The date of composition of a few is conjectural. The fact that his brother Christopher had published an Ecclesiastical Biography may have influenced him to write these sonnets. One should read in this connection Aubrey de Vere's Legends of Saxon Saints. The motto, after George Herbert, was added in 1827. See Herbert's Church Porch, II. 5-6.

SONNET II. Line 6. Did holy Paul, etc. Stillingfleet adduces many arguments in support of this opinion, but they are unconvincing. The latter part of this Sonnet refers to a favourite notion of Roman Catholic writers, that Joseph of Arimathea and his companions brought Christianity into Britain, and built a rude church at Glastonbury; alluded to hereafter, in a passage upon the dissolution of monasteries. W. W.

SONNET III. Line 1. seamew-white. This water-fowl was, among the Druids, an emblem of those traditions connected with the Deluge that made an important part of their mysteries. The Cormorant was a bird of bad omen. W. W.

SONNET V. Line 2. Snowdon's wilds. See "The Prelude," xiv. 1-62. Brigantian coves. The Brigantes were the hill-men whom the Romans could not conquer.

Line 8. Iona's coast. See sonnets on Iona, 1833.

Line 10. lays. Taliesin was the Cymric bard who sang the deeds of his chief Urien in his struggle against the Angles.

SONNET VI. Line 11. St. Alban was the first Christian martyr in Britain.

Line 13. That Hill, whose flowery platform,

etc.

This hill at St. Alban's must have been an object of great interest to the imagination of the venerable Bede, who thus describes it, with a delicate feeling, delightful to meet with in that rude age, traces of which are frequent in his works:- "Variis herbarum floribus depictus imò usquequaque vestitus, in quo nihil repentè arduum, nihil præceps, nihil abruptum, quem lateribus longè latèque deductum in modum æquoris natura complanat, dignum videlicet eum pro insitâ sibi specie venustatis jam olim reddens, qui beati martyris cruore dicaretur." W. W.

SONNET IX. Line 10. forced farewell. Roman forces in Britain were called home to protect

the imperial city against the barbarians. The Britons then became prey to Picts and Angles. SONNET X. Line 1. Aneurin. The Cymric bard who chronicled the struggle between Britons and Teutons in Strathclyde in his poem "The Gododin."

Line 12. Plinlimmon. The Cymric bards, Urien, Taliesin, Lywarch Hew, and Merlin, came from Wales.

SONNET XI. Line 2. hallelujahs. The Britons sought aid of Germanus, and as he led his forces against Picts and Saxons he ordered them to shout Hallelujah three times, on hearing which the enemy fled.

Lines 1, 2.

By men yet scarcely conscious of a care For other monuments than those of Earth.

ob

The last six lines of this Sonnet are chiefly from the prose of Daniel; and here I will state (though to the Readers whom this Poem will chiefly interest it is unnecessary) that my obligations to other prose writers are frequent, ligations which, even if I had not a pleasure in courting, it would have been presumptuous to shun, in treating an historical subject. I must, however, particularise Fuller, to whom I am indebted in the Sonnet upon Wicliffe and in other instances. And upon the acquittal of the Seven Bishops I have done little more than versify a lively description of that event in the MS. Memoirs of the first Lord Lonsdale. W. W.

SONNET XII. The convent of Bangor was attacked by Ethelforth while the monks were praying for safety; then the monastery with all its memorials was destroyed.

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***Ethelforth reached the convent of Bangor, he perceived the Monks, twelve hundred in number, offering prayers for the success of their countrymen: "If they are praying against us,' he exclaimed, they are fighting against us; and he ordered them to be first attacked: they were destroyed; and, appalled by their fate, the courage of Brocmail wavered, and he fled from the field in dismay. Thus abandoned by their leader, his army soon gave way, and Ethelforth obtained a decisive conquest. Ancient Bangor itself soon fell into his hands, and was demolished; the noble monastery was levelled to the ground; its library, which is mentioned as a large one, the collection of ages, the repository of the most precious monuments of the ancient Britons, was consumed; half-ruined walls, gates, and rubbish were all that remained of the magnificent edifice.' See Turner's valuable history of the Anglo-Saxons.

"Taliesin was present at the battle which preceded this desolation.

"The account Bede gives of this remarkable event suggests a most striking warning against National and Religious prejudices." W. W. SONNET XIII. Alluding to the familiar story

of Gregory setting free the Angle youths exposed for sale at Rome.

SONNET XV. The person of Paulinus is thus described by Bede, from the memory of an eye-witness: "Longæ staturæ, paululum incurvus, nigro capillo, facie macilenta, naso adunco, pertenui, venerabilis simul et terribilis aspectu. W. W.

King Edwin was converted by Paulinus.

SONNET XVI. Line 1. Man's life is like a Sparrow. See the original of this speech in Bede. The Conversion of Edwin, as related by him, is highly interesting -and the breaking up of this Council accompanied with an event so striking and characteristic, that I am tempted to give it at length in a translation. "Who, exclaimed the King, when the Council was ended, shall first desecrate the altars and the temples? I, answered the Chief Priest; for who more fit than myself, through the wisdom which the true God hath given me, to destroy, for the good example of others, what in foolishness I worshipped? Immediately, casting away vain superstition, he besought the King to grant him what the laws did not allow to a priest, arms and a courser (equum emissarium); which mounting, and furnished with a sword and lance, he proceeded to destroy the Idols. The crowd, seeing this, thought him madhe, however, halted not, but, approaching, he profaned the temple, casting against it the lance which he had held in his hand, and, exulting in acknowledgment of the worship of the true God, he ordered his companions to pull down the temple, with all its enclosures. The place is shown where those idols formerly stood, not far from York, at the source of the river Derwent, and is at this day called Gormund Gaham, ubi pontifex ille, inspirante Deo vero, polluit ac destruxit eas, quas ipse sacraverat aras. The last expression is a pleasing proof that the venerable monk of Wearmouth was familiar with the poetry of Virgil. W. W.

SONNET XVII. Line 11. such the inviting voice, etc. The early propagators of Christianity were accustomed to preach near rivers, for the convenience of baptism. W. W.

SONNET XIX. Having spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temperance of the clergy of those times, Bede thus proceeds: - "Unde et in magna erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis, aut monachus__adveniret, gaudenter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, accur rebant, et flexâ cervice, vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedicti, gaudebant. Verbis quoque horum exhortatoriis diligenter auditum præbebant." Lib. iii. cap. 26. W. W.

SONNET XXII. Bede lived at the monastery of Jarrow on the Tyne. See Aubrey de Vere, Legends of Saxon Saints, "Bede's Last May." SONNET XXIV. See Charles Kingsley, Roman and Teuton, "The Monk as Civilizer.'

Line 2. The people work like congregated bees. See, in Turner's History, vol. iii. p. 528,

the account of the erection of Ramsey Monastery. Penances were removable by the performance of acts of charity and benevolence. W. W.

SONNET XXVI. See Alfred the West Saxon King, McFayden.

Line 10. pain narrows not his cares. Through the whole of his life, Alfred was subject to grievous maladies. W. W.

SONNET XXIX. Line 1. Woe to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey! The violent measures carried on under the influence of Dunstan, for strengthening the Benedictine Order, were a leading cause of the second series of Danish invasions. See Turner. W. W.

Line 3. Rovers. The Danes.

SONNET XXX. Alluding to the old ballad which Canute composed when being rowed by Ely where he heard the monks chanting.

"Merie sangen the Muneches binen Ely." SONNET XXXI. Line 1. woman-hearted. “He was of a gentle and pious nature: not clever, but meek and good."- M. J. GUEST.

SONNET XXXIII. Line 14. The decision of the Council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe. W. W.

SONNET XXXVI. This order came from Innocent III. because King John forbade Langton to land in England.

SONNET XXXVII. See Aubrey de Vere, Saint Thomas of Canterbury, and Tennyson, Thomas à Becket.

PART II.

SONNET III. Line 1. "Here Man more purely lives," etc. 'Bonum est nos hic esse, quia homo vivit purius, cadit rarius, surgit velocius, incedit cautius, quiescit securius, moritur felicius, purgaturcitius, præmiatur copiosius."- BERNARD.

This sentence," says Dr. Whitaker, “is usually inscribed in some conspicuous part of the Cistertian houses." W. W.

SONNET VI. Line 4. St. George's Chapel, Windsor.

SONNET XI. Line 9. Valdo. Peter Waldo, a rich merchant, who founded the order of poor men of Lyons.

SONNET XIV. Among those martyrs of whom Milton sings in his Sonnet on the Late Massacre in Piedmont were followers of Waldo.

Line 8. Whom Obloquy pursues, etc. The list of foul names bestowed upon those poor creatures is long and curious; and, as is, alas too natural, most of the opprobrious appellations are drawn from circumstances into which they were forced by their persecutors, who even consolidated their miseries into one reproachful term, calling them Patarenians, or Paturins, from pati, to suffer.

"Dwellers with wolves, she names them, for the pine
And green oak are their covert; as the gloom
Of night oft foils their enemy's design,
She calls them Riders on the flying broom
Sorcerers, whose frame and aspect have become
One and the same through practices malign."

W. W.

SONNET XV. This alludes to the influence of Archbishop Chichele on Henry V. to make war in France, which ended at Agincourt.

SONNET XVI. See note to "Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle."

SONNET XXI. Lines 7, 8. And the green lizard, etc. These two lines are adopted from a MS., written about the year 1770, which accidentally fell into my possession. The close of the preceding Sonnet on monastic voluptuousness is taken from the same source, as is the verse, 'Where Venus sits," etc., and the line, “Once ye were holy, ye are holy still," in a subsequent Sonnet. W. W.

Line 10. Waltham. On the Lea, in Essex. Line 14. Glastonbury, built by Joseph of Arimathea as the legend goes.

SONNET XXXI. Line 1. Quoted from Wordsworth's "Selections from Chaucer Modernized," stanza IX. of "The Prioress's Tale.'

Line 9. Edward became king at the age of ten. He founded the famous Charity School, Christ's Hospital in London, and many other schools in England.

SONNET XXXII. Influenced by Cranmer Edward signed the warrant for her execution. SONNET XXXIII. Edward reigned only six years, and at his death the Roman Catholic worship was restored.

SONNET XXXIV. Latimer and Ridley were burned together at Oxford in front of Balliol College - where now stands the Martyr's Memorial.

Line 4. One (like those prophets), etc. "M. Latimer suffered his keeper very quietly to pull off his hose, and his other array, which to looke unto was very simple: and being 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 hee 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 be put out.""- Fox's Acts, etc.

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 an humble Welsh fisherman. W. W.

SONNET XXXV. Cranmer's statue is included in the Memorial at Oxford.

SONNET XXXVI. Under Mary hundreds of the clergy sought refuge on the Continent. They returned on the ascension of Elizabeth.

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Line 9. speculative notions. Alluding to the discussion aroused by Knox's suggestion of modification of the Prayer Book, for which he left Frankfort and went to Geneva." KNIGHT.

SONNET XXXVIII. Line 7. alien storms. Foreign intrigues against the Queen and those of Mary Queen of Scots.

Line 12. foul constraint. This may refer to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.

SONNET XXXIX. Line 5. The gift exalting, etc. "On foot they went, and took Salisbury in their way, purposely to see the good Bishop, who made Mr. Hooker sit at his own table; 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 forgot to give him money; which when the Bishop had considered, he 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 hand a walking-staff, with which he professed he had travelled through many parts of Germany; and he said, Richard, I do not give, but 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 ten 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 Richard Hooker. W. W.

SONNET XLI. Line 2. sects. Nonconformists.

Line 10. craftily incites, etc. A common device in religious and political conflicts.-See Strype in support of this instance. W. W

Line 13. new-born Church. The Church Reformed of the previous sonnet, which Wordsworth originally wrote New-born Church.

SONNET XLIII. Line 1. Virgin Mountain. The Jung-frau.

SONNET XLV. In this age a word cannot be said in praise of Laud, 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 his vindication to observe that his errors were the most excusable of all those 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 evidently saw that the public 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."ˆ W. W.

PART III.

SONNET III. A vivid picture of the Restoration.

Line 12. "Duke of York received into the Church of Rome."- KNIGHT. SONNET IV. Lines 6, 7.

"Now blind, disheartened, shamed, dishonoured, quelled,

To what can I be useful? Wherein serve My nation, and the work from Heaven inspired?" MILTON. SONNET VI. Results of the Act of Uniformity.

SONNET VII. Lines 1-3. See Milton, "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont."

SONNET VII. The indignation of the people forced the authorities to set free the Bishops who refused to be party to James II.'s Declaration of Indulgences.

SONNET IX. Line 13. King James II. SONNET XI. Alluding to Sacheverell's preaching in regard to the Act of Toleration which made him a popular hero.

SONNET XIII. American episcopacy, in union with the church in England, strictly belongs to the general subject; and I here make my acknowledgments to my American friends, Bishop Doane, and Mr. Henry Reed of Philadelphia, for having suggested to me the propriety of adverting to it, and pointed out the virtues and intellectual qualities of Bishop White, which so eminently fitted him for the great work he undertook. Bishop White was consecrated at Lambeth, Feb. 4, 1787, by Archbishop Moore; and before his long life was closed, twenty-six bishops had been consecrated in America by himself. For his character and opinions, see his own numerous works, and a Sermon in commemoration of him, by George Washington Doane, Bishop of New Jersey." W. W.

SONNET XV. The earliest Episcopal Bishops in America were Dr. Seabury of Connecticut, and Dr. White of Pennsylvania.

SONNET XVIII. Line 1. A genial hearth, etc. Among the benefits arising, as Mr. Coleridge has well observed, from a Church establishment of endowments corresponding with the wealth of the country to which it belongs, may be reckoned as eminently important the examples of civility and refinement which the clergy stationed at intervals afford to the whole people. The established clergy in many parts of England have long been, as they continue to be, the principal bulwark against barbarism, and the link which unites the sequestered peasantry with the intellectual advancement of the age. Nor is it below the dignity of the subject to observe that their taste, as acting upon rural residences and scenery, often furnishes models which country gentlemen, who are more at liberty to follow the caprices of fashion, might profit by. The precincts of an old residence

must be treated by ecclesiastics with respect, both from prudence and necessity. I remember being much pleased, some years ago, at Rose Castle, the rural seat of the See of Carlisle, with a style of garden and architecture which, if the place had belonged to a wealthy layman, would no doubt have been swept away. A parsonage house generally stands not far from the church; this proximity imposes favourable restraints, and sometimes suggests an affecting union of the accommodations and elegancies of life with the outward signs of piety and morality. With pleasure I recall to mind a happy instance of this in the residence of an old and much-valued Friend in Oxfordshire. The house and church stand parallel to each other, at a small distance; a circular lawn, or rather grass-plot, spreads between them; shrubs and trees curve from each side of the dwelling, veiling, but not hiding, the church. From the front of this dwelling no part of the burial-ground is seen; but as you wind by the side of the shrubs towards the steepleend of the church, the eye catches a single, small, low, monumental headstone, moss-grown, sinking into and gently inclining towards the earth. Advance, and the churchyard, populous and gay with glittering tombstones, opens upon the view. This humble and beautiful parsonage called forth a tribute, for which see the sonnet entitled "A Parsonage in Oxfordshire," p. 602. W. W.

SONNET XXXII. This is still continued in many churches in Westmoreland. It takes place in the month of July, when the floor of the stalls is strewn with fresh rushes; and hence it is called the "Rush-bearing." W. W.

It is now observed at Grasmere as a Children's Festival. See Canon Rawnsley, Life and Nature at the English Lakes, “Rushbearing."

SONNET XXXV. Line 10. Teaching us to forget them or forgive. This is borrowed from an affecting passage in Mr. George Dyer's history of Cambridge. W. W.

SONNET XXXVII. Lines 2-5.

had we, like them, endured, etc. See Burnet, who is unusually animated on this subject; the east wind, so anxiously expected and prayed for, was called the "Protestant wind." W. W.

SONNET XXXIX. This and the following refer to the church to be erected by Sir George Beaumont at Coleorton.

SONNET XL. Line 9. Yet will we not conceal, etc. The Lutherans have retained the Cross within their churches: it is to be regretted that we have not done the same. W. W.

SONNETS XLIII.-XLV. Unless one has passed some time in the presence of England's noble castles and inspiring cathedrals, one is apt to wonder at the place they occupy in the literature and the life of her people. Wordsworth, in reverencing King's College Chapel, - the noblest and most inspiring structure ever erected for collegiate worship, has yielded to the spell of this human past. The history of this magnificent chapel, the last of the thoroughly medi

æval structures erected at Cambridge, is exceedingly interesting.

SONNET XLVI. Line 5. Or like the Alpine Mount, etc. Some say that Monte Rosa takes its name from a belt of rock at its summit - a very unpoetical and scarcely a probable supposition. W. W.

This series of Sonnets, while containing many poems of the first quality, is of less distinction than any other owing partly to the fact, as Wordsworth himself pointed out, "that there is unavoidably in all History, -except as it is a mere suggestion, - something that enslaves the fancy.'