For all she taught of hardiest and of best, 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! But for what gain? if England soon must sink Into a gulf which all distinction levels-
That bigotry may swallow 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
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; Yet not alone, nor helpless to repel
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.'
THERE are no colours in the fairest sky
So fair as these. The feather, whence the 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.
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 tempests 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 COVENANTERS.
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.
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
Swerves not, (how blest if by 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 stedfast hope, Conqueror beloved! expected anxiously! The vacillating Bondman of the Pope Shrinks from the verdict of his stedfast eye.
OBLIGATIONS OF CIVIL TO RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
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.
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