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.
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,
Hark! 'tis 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, Offorce 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, To Creed or Ritual brings no fatal change.
COLDLY we spake. The Saxons, overpowered By wrong triumphant through its own excess, From fields laid waste, from house and home devoured
By flames, look up to heaven and crave redress From God's eternal justice. Pitiless Though men be, there are angels that can feel
The Might of spiritual sway! his thoughts, his For wounds that death alone has power to heal,
A PLEASANT music floats along the Mere, From Monks in Ely chanting service high, While-as Canute the King is rowing by : "My Oarsmen,' quoth the mighty King, "draw near,
That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!"
He listens (all past conquests and all schemes Of future vanishing like empty dreams) Heart-touched, and haply not without a tear. The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir is still, While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along,
Gives to that rapture an accordant Rhyme. O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime And rudest age are subject to the thrill Of heaven-descended Piety and Song.
THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
THE Woman-hearted Confessor prepares The evanescence of the Saxon line.
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.
BLACK Demons hovering o'er his mitred head, To Cæsar's Successor the Pontiff spake ; "Ere I absolve thee, stoop! that on thy neck Levelled with earth this foot of mine may tread."
Then he, who to the altar had been led,
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 un- bind!-
Resist the thunder quails thee!--crouch-rebuff
Shall be thy recompence! from land to land The ancient thrones of Christendom are stuff
For occupation of a magic wand, And 'tis the Pope that wields it :—whether Or smooth his front, our world is in his hand ! rough
And Chastity finds many a sheltering bower. Realm there is none that if controul'd or sway'd By her commands partakes not, in degree, Of good, o'er manners, arts, and arms, diffused: Yes, to thy domination, Roman See,
He, whose strong arm the Orient could not Tho' miserably, oft monstrously, abused
By blind ambition, be this tribute paid.
CISTERTIAN MONASTERY.
"HERE Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall,
More promptly rises, walks with stricter heed, More safely rests, dies happier, is freed Earlier from cleansing fires, and gains withal A brighter crown."-Ön 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 aëry harvests crown the fertile lea.
MONKS AND SCHOOLME.
RECORD We too, with just and faithful pen, That many hooded Cenobites there are, 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.
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 humbler 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!
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 That swells the bosom of our passing sail! 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.
FURL we the sails, and pass with tardy oars Through these bright regions, casting many a glance
Upon the dream-like issues--the romance Of many-coloured life that 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 un- daunted,
When she would tell how Brave, and Good, and Wise,
For their high guerdon not in vain have panted!
As faith thus sanctified the warrior's crest While from the Papal Unity there came, What feebler means had fail'd to give, one aim Diffused thro' all the regions of the West; So does her Unity its power attest
By works of Art, that shed, on the outward frame
Of worship, glory and grace, which who shall blame
That ever looked to heaven for final rest? Hail countless Temples! that so well befit Your ministry; that, as ye rise and take Form, spirit,and character, from holy writ, Give to devotion, wheresoe'er awake, Pinions of high and higher sweep, and make The unconverted soul with awe submit.
Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root In the blest soil of gospel truth, the Tree, (Blighted or scathed tho' many branches be, Put forth to wither, many a hopeful shoot) Can never cease to bear celestial fruit. Witness the Church that oft-times, with effect Dear to the saints, strives earnestly to eject Her bane, her vital energies recruit. Lamenting, do not hopelessly repine When such good work is doomed to be undone, The conquests lost that were so hardly won:- promises vouchsafed by Heaven will shine In light confirmed while years their course shall
ENOUGH! for see, with dim association The tapers burn; the odorous incense feeds 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 brooks not. On the banks of Rhone He taught, till persecution chased him thence, To adore the Invisible, and Him alone. Nor are his Followers loth to seek defence, 'Mid woods and wilds, on Nature's craggy throne,
From rites that trample upon soul and sense.
BUT whence came they who for the Saviour Lord
Have long borne witness as the Scriptures teach ?
Ages ere Valdo raised his voice to preach In Gallic ears the unadulterate Word, Their fugitive Progenitors explored Subalpine vales, in quest of safe retreats Where that pure Church survives, though sum- mer heats
Open a passage to the Romish sword, Far as it dares to follow. Herbs self-sown, And fruitage gathered from the chesnut wood. Nourish the sufferers then; and mists, that brood O'er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestrown, Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts Aliens, is God's good winter for their haunts.
PRAISED be the Rivers, from their mountain springs
Shouting to Freedom, "Plant thy banners
To harassed Piety, "Dismiss thy fear, And in our caverns smooth thy ruffled wings!" Nor be unthanked their final lingerings- Silent, but not to high-souled Passion's ear- 'Mid reedy fens wide-spread and marshes drear, Their own creation. Such glad welcomings As Po was heard to give where Venice rose Hailed from aloft those Heirs of truth divine Who near his fountains sought obscure repose, Yet came prepared as glorious lights to shine, Should that be needed for their sacred Charge; Blest Prisoners They, whose spirits were at large!
THOSE had given earliest notice, as the lark Springs from the ground the morn to gratulate; Or rather rose the day to antedate, By striking out a solitary spark,
When all the world with midnight gloom was dark.
Then followed the Waldensian bands, whom Hate
In vain endeavours to exterminate, Whom 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.
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
CORRUPTIONS OF THE HIGHER CLERGY.
"WOE to you, Prelates! rioting in ease And cumbrous wealth-the shame of your
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 from 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, Wan cheek, and knees indúrated with prayer, 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, The amplest share of heavenly favour gives; That to a Monk allots, both in the esteem Of God and man, place higher than to him Who on the good of others builds his own!
For their abode the shrines of Waltham choose: Proud Glastonbury can no more refuse To stoop her head before these desperate shocks-
She whose high pomp displaced, as story tells, Arimathean Joseph's wattled cells.
THE lovely Nun (submissive, but more meek Through saintly habit than from effort due To unrelenting mandates that pursue With equal wrath the steps of strong and weak) Goes forth-unveiling timidly a cheek Suffused with blushes of celestial hue, While through the Convent's gate to open view Softly she glides, another home to seek. Not Iris, issuing from her cloudy shrine, An Apparition more divinely bright! Not more attractive to the dazzled sight Those watery glories, on the stormy brine Poured forth, while summer suns at distance shine,
And the green vales lie hushed in sober light!
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