REPROOF.

BUT what if One, through grove or flowery mead,
Indulging thus at will the creeping feet
Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet
Thy hovering Shade, O venerable Bede!
The saint, the scholar, from a circle freed
Of toil stupendous, in a hallowed seat

Of learning, where thou heard'st the billows beat
On a wild coast, rough monitors to feed
Perpetual industry. Sublime Recluse!

The recreant soul, that dares to shun the debt
Imposed on human kind, must first forget
Thy diligence, thy unrelaxing use

Of a long life; and, in the hour of death,
The last dear service of thy passing breath?1

SAXON MONASTERIES, AND LIGHTS AND
SHADES OF THE RELIGION.

By such examples moved to unbought pains,
The people work like congregated bees; 2
Eager to build the quiet Fortresses
Where Piety, as they believe, obtains

From Heaven a general blessing; timely rains
Or needful sunshine; prosperous enterprise,
And and equity.—Bold faith! yet rise
peace,
The sacred Structures for less doubtful gains.
The Sensual think with reverence of the palms
Which the chaste Votaries seek, beyond the grave;

If penance be redeemable, thence alms

Flow to the Poor, and freedom to the Slave;

And, if full oft the sanctuary save

Lives black with guilt, ferocity it calms.

MISSIONS AND TRAVELS.

NOT sedentary all: there are who roam
To scatter seeds of Life on barbarous shores;
Or quit with zealous step their knee-worn floors
To seek the general Mart of Christendom;
Whence they, like richly-laden Merchants, come
To their beloved Cells:-or shall we say
That, like the Red-cross Knight, they urge their way,
To lead in memorable triumph home
Truth-their immortal Una? Babylon,
Learned and wise, hath perished utterly,
Nor leaves her Speech one word to aid the sigh
That would lament her;-Memphis, Tyre, are gone
With all their Arts,--but classic Lore glides on
By these Religious saved for all posterity.

ALFRED.

BEHOLD a Pupil of the Monkish gown, The pious ALFRED, King to Justice dear; Lord of the harp and liberating spear; Mirror of Princes! Indigent Renown

'He expired dictating the last words of a translation of St John's Gospel.

See in Turner's History, vol. iii, p. 528, the account of the erection of Ramsey Monastery. Penances were removable by the performances of acts of charity and benevolence.

Might range the starry ether for a crown
Equal to his deserts, who, like the year,
Pours forth his bounty, like the day doth cheer,
And awes like night with mercy-tempered frown.
Ease from this noble Miser of his time

No moment steals; pain narrows not his cares.
Though small his kingdom as a spark or gem,
Of Alfred boasts remote Jerusalem,

And Christian India, through her wide-spread clime,
In sacred converse gifts with Alfred shares.

HIS DESCENDANTS.

CAN aught survive to linger in the veins
Of kindred bodies-an essential power
That may not vanish in one fatal hour,
And wholly cast away terrestrial chains?
The race of Alfred covets glorious pains
When dangers threaten, dangers ever new!
Black tempests bursting, blacker still in view!
But manly sovereignty its hold retains;
The root sincere, the branches bold to strive
With the fierce tempest, while, within the round
Of their protection, gentle virtues thrive;
As oft, 'mid some green plot of open ground,
Wide as the oak extends its dewy gloom,
The fostered hyacinths spread their purple bloom.

INFLUENCE ABUSED.

URGED by Ambition, who with subtlest skill
Changes her means, the Enthusiast as a dupe
Shall soar, and as a hypocrite can stoop,
And turn the instruments of good to ill,
Moulding the credulous People to his will.
Such DUNSTAN :-from its Benedictine coop
Issues the master Mind, at whose fell swoop

The chaste affections tremble to fulfil

Their purposes. Behold, pre-signified,

The Might of spiritual sway! his thoughts, his dreams,
Do in the supernatural world abide :

So vaunt a throng of Followers, filled with pride
In shows of virtue pushed to its extremes,
And sorceries of talent misapplied.

DANISH CONQUESTS.

WOE to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey! 2
Dissension checks the arms that would restrain
The incessant Rovers of the Northern Main;
And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway:
But Gospel-truth is potent to allay
Fierceness and rage; and soon the cruel Dane
Feels, through the influence of her gentle reign,

His native superstitions melt away.

Thus, often, when thick gloom the east o'ershrouds,
The full-orbed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear
Silently to consume the heavy clouds;
How no one can resolve; but every eye

Through the whole of his life, Alfred was subject to grievous maladies.

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.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST.

THE woman-hearted Confessor prepares
The evanescence of the Saxon line.
Hark! 't is the tolling Curfew! the stars shine,
But of the lights that cherish household cares
And festive gladness, burns not one that dares
To twinkle after that dull stroke of thine,
Emblem and instrument, from Thames to Tyne,
Of force that daunts, and cunning that ensnares!
Yet as the terrors of the lordly bell,
That quench, from hut to palace, lamps and fires,
Touch not the tapers of the sacred quires,
Even so a thraldom studious to expel
Old laws and ancient customs to derange,
Brings to Religion no injurious change.

THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT.

« And shall,» the Pontiff asks, « profaneness flow

<< From Nazareth-source of Christian Piety,
<< From Bethlehem, from the Mounts of Agony
And glorified Ascension? Warriors go,

<< With prayers and blessings we your path will sow;
« Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye
«Have chased far off by righteous victory
<< These sons of Amalec, or laid them low!»
« GOD WILLETH IT,» the whole assembly cry;
Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds!
The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply;—
« God willeth it,» from hill to hill rebounds,
And in awe-stricken Countries far and nigh
Through «Nature's hollow arch,» the voice resounds. 2

CRUSADES.

THE Turbaned Race are poured in thickening swarms
Along the West; though driven from Aquitaine,
The Crescent glitters on the towers of Spain,
And soft Italia feels renewed alarms;

1 Which is still extant.

2 The decision of this council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe.

The scimitar, that yields not to the charms
Of ease,
the narrow Bosphorus will disdain;
Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain
Their tents, and check the current of their arms.
Then blame not those who, by the mightiest lever
Known to the moral world, Imagination,
Upheave (so seems it) from her natural station
All Christendom :-they sweep along-(was never
So huge a host!)-to tear from the Unbeliever
The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.

RICHARD I.

REDOUBTED King, of courage leonine,

I mark thee, Richard! urgent to equip
Thy warlike person with the staff and scrip;
I watch thee sailing o'er the midland brine;
In conquered Cyprus see thy Bride decline
Her blushing cheek, love-vows upon her lip,
And see love-emblems streaming from thy ship,
As thence she holds her way to Palestine.
My Song (a fearless Homager) would attend
Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press
Of war,
but duty summons her away

To tell, how finding in the rash distress

Of those enthusiast powers a constant Friend, Through giddier heights hath clomb the Papal sway.

AN INTERDICT.

REALMS quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace,
The Church, by mandate shadowing forth the power
She arrogates o'er heaven's eternal door,
Closes the gates of every sacred place.
Straight from the sun and tainted air's embrace
All sacred things are covered: cheerful morn
Grows sad as night-no seemly garb is worn,
Nor is a face allowed to meet a face
With natural smile of greeting. Bells are dumb;
Ditches are graves-funereal rites denied;
And in the Church-yard he must take his Bride
Who dares be wedded! Fancies thickly come
Into the pensive heart ill fortified,

And comfortless despairs the soul benumb.

PAPAL ABUSES.

As with the stream our voyage we pursue,
The gross materials of this world present
A marvellous study of wild accident;
Uncouth proximities of old and new;
And bold transfigurations, more untrue
(As might be deemed) to disciplined intent
Than aught the sky's fantastic element,
When most fantastic, offers to the view.
Saw we not Henry scourged at Becket's shrine?
Lo! John self-stripped of his insignia;-crown,
Sceptre and mantle, sword and ring, laid down
At a proud Legate's feet! The spears that line
Baronial Halls, the opprobrious insult feel;
And angry Ocean roars a vain appeal.

SCENE IN VENICE.

BLACK Demons hovering o'er his mitred head,
To Cæsar's Successor the Pontiff spake;
<<< Ere I absoive thee, stoop! that on thy neck
Levelled with Earth this foot of mine may tread.>>>
Then, he who to the Altar had been led,

Hle, whose strong arm the Orient could not check,
fle, who had held the Soldan at his beck,
Stooped, of all glory disinherited,
And even the common dignity of man!
Amazement strikes the crowd;-while many turn
Their
eyes away in sorrow, others burn
With scorn, invoking a vindictive ban
From outraged Nature; but the sense of most
In abject sympathy with power

is lost.

PAPAL DOMINION.

UNLESS to Peter's Chair the viewless wind
Must come and ask permission when to blow,
What further empire would it have? for now
A ghostly Domination, unconfined

As that by dreaming Bards to Love assigned,
Sits there in sober truth-to raise the low,
Perplex the wise, the strong to overthrow-
Through earth and heaven to bind and to unbind!
Resist the thunder quails thee!-crouch-rebuff
Shall be thy recompense! from land to land
The ancient thrones of Christendom are stuff
For occupation of a magic wand,

And 't is the Pope that wields it,-whether rough
Or smooth his front, our world is in his hand!

PART II.

Who in their private Cells have yet a care

Of public quiet; unambitious Men,
Counsellors for the world, of piercing ken;
Whose fervent exhortations from afar
Move Princes to their duty, peace or war;
And oft-times in the most forbidding den
Of solitude, with love of science strong,
How patiently the yoke of thought they bear!
How subtly glide its finest threads along!
Spirits that crowd the intellectual sphere
With mazy boundaries, as the Astronomer
With orb and cycle girds the starry throng.

OTHER BENEFITS.

AND not in vain embodied to the sight
Religion finds even in the stern Retreat
Of feudal Sway her own appropriate Seat;
From the Collegiate pomps on Windsor's height,
Down to the humble altar, which the Knight
And his Retainers of the embattled hall
Seek in domestic oratory small,

For prayer in stillness, or the chanted rite;
Then chiefly dear, when foes are planted round,
Who teach the intrepid guardians of the place,
Hourly exposed to death, with famine worn,
And suffering under many a perilous wound,
How sad would be their durance, if forlorn
Of offices dispensing heavenly grace!

CONTINUED.

AND what melodious sounds at times prevail !
And, ever and anon, how bright a gleam
Pours on the surface of the turbid Stream!
What heartfelt fragrance mingles with the gale

REIGN OF CHARLES I.

CISTERTIAN MONASTERY.

« Here Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall,
More promptly rises, walks with nicer heed,
More safely rests, dies happier, is freed
Earlier from cleansing fires, and gains withal
A brighter crown.»-On yon Cistertian wall
That confident assurance may be read ;
And, to like shelter, from the world have fled
Increasing multitudes. The potent call
Doubtless shall cheat full oft the heart's desires;
Yet, while the rugged age on pliant knee
Vows to rapt Fancy humble fealty,
A gentler life spreads round the holy spires;
Where'er they rise, the sylvan waste retires,
And aery harvests crown the fertile lea.

For where, but on this River's margin, blow
Those flowers of Chivalry, to bind the brow
Of hardihood with wreaths that shall not fail?
Fair Court of Edward! wonder of the world!
I see a matchless blazonry unfurled
Of wisdom, magnanimity, and love;
And meekness tempering honourable pride;
The Lamb is couching by the Lion's side,
And near the flame-eyed Eagle sits the Dove.

CRUSADERS.

NOR can Imagination quit the shores
Of these bright scenes without a farewell glance
Given to those dream-like Issues-that Romance
Of many-coloured life which Fortune pours
Round the Crusaders, till on distant shores
Their labours end; or they return to lie,
The vow performed, in cross-legged effigy,
Devoutly stretched upon their chancel floors.
Am I deceived? Or is their requiem chanted
By voices never mute when Heaven unties
Her inmost, softest, tenderest harmonies;
Requiem which Earth takes up with voice undaunted,
When she would tell how Good, and Brave, and Wise,
For their high guerdon not in vain have panted!

A greedy flame; the pompous mass proceeds:
The Priest bestows the appointed consecration;
And, while the Host is raised, its elevation
An awe and supernatural horror breeds,
And all the People bow their heads, like reeds
To a soft breeze, in lowly adoration.

This Valdo brooked not. On the banks of Rhone
He taught, till persecution chased him thence,
To adore the Invisible, and Him alone.
Nor were his Followers loth to seek defence,
Mid woods and wilds, on Nature's craggy throne,
From rites that trample upon soul and sense.

WARS OF YORK AND LANCASTER. THUS is the storm abated by the craft Of a shrewd Counsellor, eager to protect

The Church, whose power hath recently been checked,
Whose monstrous riches threatened. So the shaft
Of victory mounts high, and blood is quaffed

In fields that rival Cressy and Poictiers-
Pride to be washed away by bitter tears;
For deep as hell itself, the avenging draught
Of civil slaughter! Yet, while Temporal power
Is by these shocks exhausted, Spiritual truth
Maintains the else endangered gift of life;
Proceeds from infancy to lusty youth;
And, under cover of this woeful strife,
Gathers unblighted strength from hour to hour.

WALDENSES.

THESE who gave earliest notice, as the Lark
Springs from the ground the morn to gratulate;
Who rather rose the day to antedate,

By striking out a solitary spark,

When all the world with midnight gloom was dark1 These Harbingers of good, whom bitter hate

In vain endeavoured to exterminate,
Fell Obloquy pursues with hideous bark,'
But they desist not; and the sacred fire,
Rekindled thus, from dens and savage woods
Moves, handed on with never-ceasing care,
Through courts, through camps, o'er limitary floods;
Nor lacks this sea-girt Isle a timely share
Of the new Flame, not suffered to expire.

WICLIFFE.

ONCE more the Church is seized with sudden fear,
And at her call is Wicliffe disinhumed:
Yea his dry bones to ashes are consumed,
And flung into the brook that travels near;
Forthwith, that ancient Voice which Streams can hear,
Thus speaks, (that Voice which walks upon the wind,
Though seldom heard by busy human kind,)

As thou these ashes, little Brook! wilt bear
Into the Avon, Avon to the tide

Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas,

Into main Ocean they, this Deed accurst

An emblem yields to friends and enemies
How the bold Teacher's Doctrine, sanctified
By Truth, shall spread throughout the world dispersed.>>

ARCHBISHOP CHICHELY TO HENRY V.

WHAT Beast in wilderness or cultured field
The lively beauty of the Leopard shows?
What Flower in meadow-ground or garden grows
That to the towering Lily doth not yield?
Let both meet only on thy royal shield!

Go forth, great King! claim what thy birth bestows;
Conquer the Gallic Lily which thy foes
Dare to usurp;-thou hast a sword to wield,
And Heaven will crown the right.»-The mitred Sire
Thus spake-and lo! a Fleet, for Gaul addrest,
Ploughs her bold course across the wondering seas;
For, sooth to say, ambition, in the breast
Of youthful Heroes, is no sullen fire,

But one that leaps to meet the fanning breeze.

CORRUPTIONS OF THE HIGHER CLERGY.

your estate;

« Woɛ to you, Prelates! rioting in ease
And cumbrous wealth-the shame of
You on whose progress dazzling trains await
Of pompous horses; whom vain titles please,
Who will be served by others on their knees,
Yet will yourselves to God no service pay;
Pastors who neither take nor point the way
To Heaven; for either lost in vanities
Ye have no skill to teach, or if ye know
And speak the word--» Alas! of fearful things
'Tis the most fearful when the People's eye
Abuse hath cleared frem vain imaginings;
And taught the general voice to prophesy
Of Justice armed, and Pride to be laid low.

ABUSE OF MONASTIC POWER. AND what is Penance with her knotted thong, Mortification with the shirt of hair,

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.

Vigils, and fastings rigorous as long,

If cloistered Avarice scruple not to wrong
The pious, humble, useful Secular,

And rob the People of his daily care,

Scorning that world whose blindness makes her strong? Inversion strange! that unto One who lives

For self, and struggles with himself alone,