PART III FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE PRESENT TIMES

I saw the figure of a lovely Maid Seated alone beneath a darksome tree, Whose fondly-overhanging canopy Set off her brightness with a pleasing shade. No Spirit was she; that[242] my heart betrayed, 5 For she was one I loved exceedingly; But while I gazed in tender reverie (Or was it sleep that with my Fancy played?) The bright corporeal presence—form and face— Remaining still distinct grew thin and rare, 10 Like sunny mist;—at length the golden hair, Shape, limbs, and heavenly features, keeping pace Each with the other in a lingering race Of dissolution, melted into air.

Last night, without a voice, that Vision spake Fear to my Soul, and sadness which might seem[243] Wholly[244] dissevered from our present theme; Yet, my belovèd Country! I partake[245] Of kindred agitations for thy sake; 5 Thou, too, dost visit oft[246] my midnight dream; Thy[247] glory meets me with the earliest beam Of light, which tells that Morning is awake. If aught impair thy[248] beauty or destroy, Or but forebode destruction, I deplore 10 With filial love the sad vicissitude; If thou hast[249] fallen, and righteous Heaven restore The prostrate, then my spring-time is renewed, And sorrow bartered for exceeding joy.

Who comes—with rapture greeted, and caress'd With frantic love—his kingdom to regain?[250] Him Virtue's Nurse, Adversity, in vain Received, and fostered in her iron breast: For all she taught of hardiest and of best, 5 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![251] But for what gain? if England soon must sink 10 Into a gulf which all distinction levels— That bigotry may swallow the good name,[252][253] 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 defence; Whether the Church inspire that eloquence,[254] Or a Platonic Piety confined To the sole temple of the inward mind;[255] 5 And One there is who builds immortal lays, Though doomed to tread in solitary ways,[256] Darkness before and danger's voice behind; Yet not alone, nor helpless to repel Sad thoughts; for from above the starry sphere 10 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."[257]

There are no colours in the fairest sky So fair as these. The feather, whence the pen Was shaped that traced the lives of these good men, Dropped from an Angel's wing.[259] With moistened eye We read of faith and purest charity 5 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; 10 Or lonely tapers when from far they fling A guiding ray;[260] 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,[261] And some to want—as if by tempests wrecked[262] 5 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, 10 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.

When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry, The majesty of England interposed[263] And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were closed; And Faith preserved her ancient purity. How little boots that precedent of good, 5 Scorned or forgotten, Thou canst testify, For England's shame, O Sister Realm! from wood, Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie[264] The headless martyrs of the Covenant, Slain by Compatriot-protestants that draw 10 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.

A voice, from long-expecting[266] 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 5 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, 9 With outstretched hands and earnest speech[267]—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[268] (Swerves not, how blest if by religious awe[269] 5 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; 10 And, while he marches on with stedfast hope,[270] Conqueror beloved! expected anxiously! The vacillating Bondman of the Pope[271] Shrinks from the verdict of his stedfast eye.

Ungrateful Country, if thou e'er forget The sons who for thy civil rights have bled! How, like a Roman, Sidney bowed his head,[272] And Russell's milder blood the scaffold wet;[273] But these had fallen for profitless regret 5 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, 10 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.

A sudden conflict rises from the swell Of a proud slavery met by tenets strained In Liberty's behalf. Fears, true or feigned, Spread through all ranks; and lo! the Sentinel Who loudest rang his pulpit 'larum bell 5 Stands at the Bar, absolved by female eyes Mingling their glances with grave flatteries[275] Lavished on Him—that England may rebel Against her ancient virtue. High and Low, Watch-words of Party, on all tongues are rife; 10 As if a Church, though sprung from heaven, must owe To opposites and fierce extremes her life,— Not to the golden mean, and quiet flow Of truths that soften hatred, temper strife.

Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design Have we pursued, with livelier stir of heart Than his who sees, borne forward by the Rhine, The living landscapes greet him, and depart; Sees spires fast sinking—up again to start! 5 And strives the towers to number, that recline O'er the dark steeps, or on the horizon line Striding with shattered crests his[277] eye athwart. So have we hurried on with troubled pleasure: Henceforth, as on the bosom of a stream 10 That slackens, and spreads wide a watery gleam, We, nothing loth a lingering course to measure, May gather up our thoughts, and mark at leisure How widely spread the interests of our theme.[278]

Well worthy to be magnified are they Who, with sad hearts, of friends and country took A last farewell, their loved abodes forsook, And hallowed ground in which their fathers lay; Then to the new-found World explored their way, 5 That so a Church, unforced, uncalled to brook Ritual restraints, within some sheltering nook Her Lord might worship and his word obey In freedom. Men they were who could not bend; Blest Pilgrims, surely, as they took for guide 10 A will by sovereign Conscience sanctified; Blest while their Spirits from the woods ascend Along a Galaxy that knows no end, But in His glory who for Sinners died.

From Rite and Ordinance abused they fled To Wilds where both were utterly unknown; But not to them had Providence foreshown What benefits are missed, what evils bred, In worship neither raised nor limited 5 Save by Self-will. Lo! from that distant shore, For Rite and Ordinance, Piety is led Back to the Land those Pilgrims left of yore, Led by her own free choice.[281] So Truth and Love By Conscience governed do their steps retrace.— 10 Fathers! your Virtues, such the power of grace, Their spirit, in your Children, thus approve. Transcendent over time, unbound by place, Concord and Charity in circles move.

Patriots informed with Apostolic light Were they, who, when their Country had been freed, Bowing with reverence to the ancient creed, Fixed on the frame of England's Church their sight,[282] And strove in filial love to reunite 5 What force had severed. Thence they fetched the seed Of Christian unity, and won a meed Of praise from Heaven. To Thee, O saintly White,[283] Patriarch of a wide-spreading family, Remotest lands and unborn times shall turn, 10 Whether they would restore or build—to Thee, As one who rightly taught how zeal should burn, As one who drew from out Faith's holiest urn The purest stream of patient Energy.

Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep (As yours above all offices is high) Deep in your hearts the sense of duty lie; Charged as ye are by Christ to feed and keep From wolves your portion of his chosen sheep: Labouring as ever in your Master's sight, Making your hardest task your best delight, What perfect glory ye in Heaven shall reap!— But, in the solemn Office which ye sought And undertook premonished, if unsound 10 Your practice prove, faithless though but in thought, Bishops and Priests, think what a gulf profound Awaits you then, if they were rightly taught Who framed the Ordinance by your lives disowned!

As star that shines dependent upon star Is to the sky while we look up in love; As to the deep fair ships which though they move Seem fixed, to eyes that watch them from afar; As to the sandy desert fountains are, 5 With palm-groves shaded at wide intervals, Whose fruit around the sun-burnt Native falls Of roving tired or desultory war— Such to this British Isle her christian Fanes, Each linked to each for kindred services; 10 Her Spires, her Steeple-towers with glittering vanes[284] Far-kenned, her Chapels lurking among trees, Where a few villagers on bended knees Find solace which a busy world disdains.

A genial hearth, a hospitable board, And a refined rusticity, belong[285] To the neat mansion, where, his flock among, The learned Pastor dwells, their watchful Lord.[286] Though meek and patient as a sheathèd sword; 5 Though pride's least lurking thought appear a wrong To human kind; though peace be on his tongue, Gentleness in his heart—can earth afford Such genuine state, pre-eminence so free, As when, arrayed in Christ's authority, 10 He from the pulpit lifts his awful hand; Conjures, implores, and labours all he can For re-subjecting to divine command The stubborn spirit of rebellious man?

Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear Attract us still, and passionate exercise Of lofty thoughts, the way before us lies Distinct with signs, through which in set career,[287] As through a zodiac, moves the ritual year[288] 5 Of England's Church; stupendous mysteries! Which whoso travels in her bosom eyes, As he approaches them, with solemn cheer. Upon that circle traced from sacred story We only dare to cast a transient glance, 10 Trusting in hope that Others may advance With mind intent upon the King of Glory,[289] From his mild advent till his countenance Shall dissipate the seas and mountains hoary.[290]

Dear[291] be the Church, that, watching o'er the needs Of Infancy, provides a timely shower Whose virtue changes to a Christian Flower A Growth from sinful Nature's bed of weeds!—[292] Fitliest beneath the sacred roof proceeds 5 The ministration; while parental Love Looks on, and Grace descendeth from above As the high service pledges now, now pleads. There, should vain thoughts outspread their wings and fly To meet the coming hours of festal mirth, 10 The tombs—which hear and answer that brief cry, The Infant's notice of his second birth— Recal the wandering Soul to sympathy With what man hopes from Heaven, yet fears from Earth.

Father! to God himself we cannot give A holier name! then lightly do not bear Both names conjoined, but of thy spiritual care Be duly mindful: still more sensitive Do Thou, in truth a second Mother, strive[293] 5 Against disheartening custom, that by Thee Watched, and with love and pious industry[294] Tended at need, the adopted Plant may thrive For everlasting bloom. Benign and pure[295] This Ordinance, whether loss it would supply, 10 Prevent omission, help deficiency, Or seek to make assurance doubly sure.[296][297] Shame if the consecrated Vow be found An idle form, the Word an empty sound![298][299]

From Little down to Least, in due degree, Around the Pastor, each in new-wrought vest, Each with a vernal posy at his breast, We stood, a trembling, earnest Company! With low soft murmur, like a distant bee, 5 Some spake, by thought-perplexing fears betrayed; And some a bold unerring answer made: How fluttered then thy anxious heart for me, Belovèd Mother! Thou whose happy hand Had bound the flowers I wore, with faithful tie:[300] 10 Sweet flowers! at whose inaudible command Her countenance, phantom-like, doth re-appear: O lost too early for the frequent tear, And ill requited by this heartfelt sigh!

The Young-ones gathered in from hill and dale, With holiday delight on every brow: 'Tis passed away; far other thoughts prevail; For they are taking the baptismal Vow Upon their conscious selves; their own lips speak 5 The solemn promise. Strongest sinews fail, And many a blooming, many a lovely, cheek Under the holy fear of God turns pale; While on each head his lawn-robed servant lays An apostolic hand, and with prayer seals 10 The Covenant. The Omnipotent will raise Their feeble Souls; and bear with his regrets, Who, looking round the fair assemblage, feels That ere the Sun goes down their childhood sets.

I saw a Mother's eye intensely bent Upon a Maiden trembling as she knelt; In and for whom the pious Mother felt Things that we judge of by a light too faint: Tell, if ye may, some star-crowned Muse, or Saint! 5 Tell what rushed in, from what she was relieved— Then, when her Child the hallowing touch received, And such vibration through[301] the Mother went That tears burst forth amain. Did gleams appear? Opened a vision of that blissful place 10 Where dwells a Sister-child? And was power given Part of her lost One's glory back to trace Even to this Rite? For thus She knelt, and, ere The summer-leaf had faded, passed to Heaven.[302]

By chain yet stronger must the Soul be tied: One duty more, last stage of[303] this ascent, Brings to thy food, mysterious[304] Sacrament! The Offspring, haply at the Parent's side; But not till They, with all that do abide 5 In Heaven, have lifted up their hearts to laud And magnify the glorious name of God, Fountain of Grace, whose Son for sinners died. Ye, who have duly weighed the summons, pause No longer; ye,[305] whom to the saving rite 10 The Altar calls; come early under laws That can secure for you a path of light Through gloomiest shade; put on (nor dread its weight) Armour divine, and conquer in your cause!

The Vested Priest before the Altar stands; Approach, come gladly, ye prepared, in sight Of God and chosen friends, your troth to plight With the symbolic ring, and willing hands[307] Solemnly joined. Now sanctify the bands, 5 O Father!—to the Espoused thy blessing give, That mutually assisted they may live Obedient, as here taught, to thy commands. So prays the Church, to consecrate a Vow "The which would endless matrimony make";[308] 10 Union that shadows forth and doth partake A mystery potent human love to endow With heavenly, each more prized for the other's sake; Weep not, meek Bride! uplift thy timid brow.

Woman! the Power who left his throne on high, And deigned to wear the robe of flesh we wear, The Power that thro' the straits of Infancy Did pass dependent on maternal care, His own humanity with Thee will share, 5 Pleased with the thanks that in his People's eye Thou offerest up for safe Delivery From Childbirth's perilous throes. And should the Heir Of thy fond hopes hereafter walk inclined To courses fit to make a mother rue 10 That ever he was born, a glance of mind Cast upon this observance may renew A better will; and, in the imagined view Of thee thus kneeling, safety he may find.

The Sabbath bells renew the inviting peal; Glad music! yet there be that, worn with pain And sickness, listen where they long have lain, In sadness listen. With maternal zeal Inspired, the Church sends ministers to kneel 5 Beside the afflicted; to sustain with prayer, And soothe the heart confession hath laid bare— That pardon, from God's throne, may set its seal On a true Penitent. When breath departs From one disburthened so, so comforted, 10 His Spirit Angels greet; and ours be hope That, if the Sufferer rise from his sick-bed, Hence he will gain a firmer mind, to cope With a bad world, and foil the Tempter's arts.

Shun not this rite, neglected, yea abhorred, By some of unreflecting mind, as calling Man to curse man, (thought monstrous and appalling.) Go thou and hear the threatenings of the Lord;[309] Listening within his Temple see his sword 5 Unsheathed in wrath to strike the offender's head, Thy own, if sorrow for thy sin be dead, Guilt unrepented, pardon unimplored. Two aspects bears Truth needful for salvation; Who knows not that?—yet would this delicate age 10 Look only on the Gospel's brighter page: Let light and dark duly our thoughts employ; So shall the fearful words of Commination Yield timely fruit of peace and love and joy.

To kneeling Worshippers no earthly floor Gives holier invitation than the deck Of a storm-shattered Vessel saved from Wreck (When all that Man could do avail'd no more) By him who raised the Tempest and restrains: 5 Happy the crew who this have felt, and pour Forth for his mercy, as the Church ordains, Solemn thanksgiving. Nor will they implore In vain who, for a rightful cause, give breath To words the Church prescribes aiding the lip 10 For the heart's sake, ere ship with hostile ship Encounters, armed for work of pain and death. Suppliants! the God to whom your cause ye trust Will listen, and ye know that He is just.

From the Baptismal hour, thro' weal and woe, The Church extends her care to thought and deed; Nor quits the Body when the Soul is freed, The mortal weight cast off to be laid low. Blest Rite for him who hears in faith, "I know 5 That my Redeemer liveth,"—hears each word That follows—striking on some kindred chord Deep in the thankful heart;—yet tears will flow. Man is as grass that springeth up at morn, Grows green, and is cut down and withereth 10 Ere nightfall—truth that well may claim a sigh, Its natural echo; but hope comes reborn At JESU'S bidding. We rejoice: "O Death Where is thy Sting?—O Grave where is thy Victory?"

Closing the sacred Book[311] which long has fed Our meditations,[312] give we to a day Of annual[313] joy one tributary lay; This[314] day, when, forth by rustic music led, The village Children, while the sky is red 5 With evening lights, advance in long array Through the still church-yard, each with garland gay, That, carried sceptre-like, o'ertops the head Of the proud Bearer. To the wide church-door, Charged with these offerings which their fathers bore 10 For decoration in the Papal time, The innocent Procession softly moves:— The spirit of Laud is pleased in heaven's pure clime, And Hooker's voice the spectacle approves!

Would that our scrupulous Sires had dared to leave Less scanty measure of those graceful rites And usages, whose due return invites A stir of mind too natural to deceive; Giving to[315] Memory help when she would weave 5 A crown for Hope!—I dread the boasted lights That all too often are but fiery blights, Killing the bud o'er which in vain we grieve. Go, seek, when Christmas snows discomfort bring, The counter Spirit found in some gay church 10 Green with fresh holly, every pew a perch In which the linnet or the thrush might sing, Merry and loud and safe from prying search, Strains offered only to the genial Spring.

From low to high doth dissolution climb, And sink[316] from high to low, along a scale Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail; A musical but melancholy chime, Which they can hear who meddle not with crime, 5 Nor avarice, nor over-anxious care. Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear The longest date do melt like frosty rime, That in the morning whitened hill and plain And is no more; drop like the tower sublime 10 Of yesterday, which royally did wear His[317] crown of weeds, but could not even sustain Some casual shout that broke the silent air, Or the unimaginable touch of Time.

Monastic Domes! following my downward way, Untouched by due regret I marked your fall! Now, ruin, beauty, ancient stillness, all Dispose to judgments temperate as we lay On our past selves in life's declining day: 5 For as, by discipline of Time made wise, We learn to tolerate the infirmities And faults of others—gently as he may,[318] So with[319] our own the mild Instructor deals Teaching us to forget them or forgive.[320] 10 Perversely curious, then, for hidden ill Why should we break Time's charitable seals? Once ye were holy, ye are holy still; Your spirit freely let me drink, and live!

Even while I speak, the sacred roofs of France Are shattered into dust; and self-exiled From altars threatened, levelled, or defiled, Wander the Ministers of God, as chance Opens a way for life, or consonance 5 Of faith invites. More welcome to no land The fugitives than to the British strand, Where priest and layman with the vigilance Of true compassion greet them. Creed and test Vanish before the unreserved embrace 10 Of catholic humanity:—distrest They came,—and, while the moral tempest roars Throughout the Country they have left, our shores Give to their Faith a fearless[321] resting-place.

Thus all things lead to Charity, secured By THEM who blessed the soft and happy gale That landward urged the great Deliverer's sail,[322] Till in the sunny bay his fleet was moored! Propitious hour! had we, like them, endured 5 Sore stress of apprehension,[323] with a mind Sickened by injuries, dreading worse designed, From month to month trembling and unassured, How had we then rejoiced! But we have felt, As a loved substance, their futurity: 10 Good, which they dared not hope for, we have seen; A State whose generous will through earth is dealt; A State—which, balancing herself between Licence and slavish order, dares be free.

But liberty, and triumphs on the Main, And laurelled armies, not to be withstood— What serve they? if, on transitory good Intent, and sedulous of abject gain, The State (ah, surely not preserved in vain!) 5 Forbear to shape due channels which the Flood Of sacred truth may enter—till it brood O'er the wide realm, as o'er the Egyptian plain The all-sustaining Nile. No more—the time Is conscious of her want; through England's bounds, In rival haste, the wished-for Temples rise![324] 11 I hear their sabbath bells' harmonious chime Float on the breeze—the heavenliest of all sounds That vale or hill[325] prolongs or multiplies!

Be this the chosen site; the virgin sod, Moistened from age to age by dewy eve, Shall disappear, and grateful earth receive The corner-stone from hands that build to God. Yon reverend hawthorns, hardened to the rod 5 Of winter storms, yet budding cheerfully; Those forest oaks of Druid memory, Shall long survive, to shelter the Abode Of genuine Faith. Where, haply, 'mid this band Of daisies, shepherds sate of yore and wove 10 May-garlands, there let[327] the holy altar stand For kneeling adoration;—while—above, Broods, visibly portrayed, the mystic Dove, That shall protect from blasphemy the Land.

Mine ear has rung, my spirit[328] sunk subdued, Sharing the strong emotion of the crowd, When each pale brow to dread hosannas bowed While clouds of incense mounting veiled the rood, That glimmered like a pine-tree dimly viewed 5 Through Alpine vapours. Such appalling rite Our Church prepares not, trusting to the might Of simple truth with grace divine imbued; Yet will we not conceal the precious Cross, Like men ashamed:[329] the Sun with his first smile Shall greet that symbol crowning the low Pile: 11 And the fresh air of incense-breathing morn[330] Shall wooingly embrace it; and green moss Creep round its arms through centuries unborn.

The encircling ground, in native turf arrayed, Is now by solemn consecration given To social interests, and to favouring Heaven, And where the rugged colts their gambols played, And wild deer bounded through the forest glade, 5 Unchecked as when by merry Outlaw driven, Shall hymns of praise resound at morn and even; And soon, full soon, the lonely Sexton's spade Shall wound the tender sod. Encincture small, But infinite its grasp of weal and woe![331] 10 Hopes, fears, in never-ending ebb and flow;— The spousal trembling, and the "dust to dust," The prayers, the contrite struggle, and the trust That to the Almighty Father looks through all.

Open your gates, ye everlasting Piles! Types of the spiritual Church which God hath reared; Not loth we quit the newly-hallowed sward And humble altar, 'mid your sumptuous aisles To kneel, or thrid your intricate defiles, 5 Or down the nave to pace in motion slow; Watching, with upward eye,[332] the tall tower grow And mount, at every step, with living wiles Instinct—to rouse the heart and lead the will By a bright ladder to the world above. 10 Open your gates, ye Monuments of love Divine! thou Lincoln, on thy sovereign hill! Thou, stately York! and Ye, whose splendours cheer Isis and Cam, to patient Science dear![333]

Tax not the royal Saint[334] with vain expense, With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned— Albeit labouring for a scanty band Of white-robed Scholars only—this immense And glorious Work of fine intelligence! 5 Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore Of nicely-calculated less or more; So deemed the man who fashioned for the sense These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof Self-poised, and scooped into ten thousand cells, 10 Where light and shade repose, where music dwells Lingering—and wandering on as loth to die; Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof That they were born for immortality.

What awful pérspective! while from our sight With gradual stealth the lateral windows hide Their Portraitures, their stone-work glimmers, dyed In[335] the soft chequerings of a sleepy light. Martyr, or King, or sainted Eremite, 5 Whoe'er ye be, that thus, yourselves unseen, Imbue your prison-bars with solemn sheen, Shine on, until ye fade with coming Night!— But, from the arms of silence—list! O list! The music bursteth into second life; 5 The notes luxuriate, every stone is kissed By sound, or ghost of sound, in mazy strife; Heart-thrilling strains, that cast, before the eye Of the devout, a veil of ecstasy!

They dreamt not of a perishable home Who thus could build.[336] Be mine, in hours of fear Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here; Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam; Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam 5 Melts, if it cross the threshold; where the wreath Of awe-struck wisdom droops: or let my path Lead to that younger Pile, whose sky-like dome[337] Hath typified by reach of daring art Infinity's embrace; whose guardian crest, 10 The silent Cross, among the stars shall spread As now, when She hath also seen her breast Filled with mementos, satiate with its part Of grateful England's overflowing Dead.

Glory to God! and to the Power who came In filial duty, clothed with love divine, That made his human tabernacle shine Like Ocean burning with purpureal flame; Or like the Alpine Mount, that takes its name 5 From roseate hues,[338] far kenned at morn and even, In hours of peace, or when the storm is driven Along the nether region's rugged frame! Earth prompts—Heaven urges; let us seek the light, Studious of that pure intercourse begun 10 When first our infant brows their lustre won; So, like the Mountain, may we grow more bright From unimpeded commerce with the Sun, At the approach of all-involving night.

Why sleeps the future, as a snake enrolled, Coil within coil, at noon-tide? For the Word Yields, if with unpresumptuous faith explored, Power at whose touch the sluggard shall unfold His drowsy rings. Look forth!—that Stream behold, That Stream upon whose bosom we have passed 6 Floating at ease while nations have effaced Nations, and Death has gathered to his fold Long lines of mighty Kings—look forth, my Soul! (Nor in this[339] vision be thou slow to trust) 10 The living Waters, less and less by guilt Stained and polluted, brighten as they roll, Till they have reached the eternal City—built For the perfected Spirits of the just!

Blest is this Isle—our native Land; Where battlement and moated gate Are objects only for the hand Of hoary Time to decorate; Where shady hamlet, town that breathes 5 Its busy smoke in social wreaths, No rampart's stern defence require, Nought but the heaven-directed spire, And[343] steeple tower (with pealing bells Far-heard)—our only citadels. 10

O Lady! from a noble line Of chieftains sprung,[344] who stoutly bore The spear, yet gave to works divine A bounteous help in days of yore, (As records mouldering in the Dell 15 Of Nightshade[345] haply yet may tell;) Thee kindred aspirations moved To build, within a vale beloved, For Him upon whose high behests All peace depends, all safety rests. 20

How fondly will the woods embrace This daughter of thy pious care, Lifting her[347] front with modest grace To make a fair recess more fair; And to exalt the passing hour; 25 Or soothe it with a healing power Drawn from the Sacrifice fulfilled, Before this rugged soil was tilled, Or human habitation rose To interrupt the deep repose![348] 30

Well may the villagers rejoice! Nor heat, nor cold, nor weary ways, Will be[349] a hindrance to the voice That would unite in prayer and praise; More duly shall wild wandering Youth 35 Receive the curb of sacred truth, Shall tottering Age, bent earthward, hear The Promise, with uplifted ear;[350] And all shall welcome the new ray Imparted to their sabbath-day. 40

Nor deem the Poet's hope misplaced, His fancy cheated—that can see A shade upon the future cast, Of time's pathetic sanctity; Can hear the monitory clock 45 Sound o'er the lake with gentle shock[351] At evening,[352] when the ground beneath Is ruffled o'er with cells of death; Where happy generations lie, Here tutored for eternity. 50

Lives there a man whose sole delights Are trivial pomp and city noise, Hardening a heart that loathes or slights What every natural heart enjoys? Who never caught a noon-tide dream 55 From murmur of a running stream; Could strip, for aught the prospect yields To him, their verdure from the fields; And take the radiance from the clouds In which the sun his setting shrouds.[353] 60

A soul so pitiably forlorn, If such do on this earth abide, May season apathy with scorn, May turn indifference to pride; And still be not unblest—compared 65 With him who grovels, self-debarred[354] From all that lies within the scope Of holy faith and christian hope; Or, shipwreck'd, kindles on the coast False fires, that others may be lost.[355] 70

Alas! that such perverted zeal Should spread on Britain's favoured ground![356] That public order, private weal, Should e'er have felt or feared a wound From champions of the desperate law 75 Which from their own blind hearts they draw;[357] Who tempt their reason to deny God, whom their passions dare defy,[358] And boast that they alone are free Who reach this dire extremity! 80

But turn we from these "bold bad" men;[359] The way, mild Lady! that hath led Down to their "dark opprobrious den,"[360] Is all too rough for Thee to tread. Softly as morning vapours glide 85 Down Rydal-cove from Fairfield's side,[361] Should move the tenor of his song Who means to charity no wrong; Whose offering gladly would accord With this day's work, in thought and word. 90

Heaven prosper it! may peace, and love, And hope, and consolation, fall, Through its meek influence, from above, And penetrate the hearts of all; All who, around the hallowed Fane, 95 Shall sojourn in this fair domain; Grateful to Thee, while service pure, And ancient ordinance, shall endure, For opportunity bestowed To kneel together, and adore their God![362] 100

Oh! gather whencesoe'er ye safely may The help which slackening Piety requires; Nor deem that he perforce must go astray Who treads upon the footmarks of his sires.

When in the antique age of bow and spear And feudal rapine clothed with iron mail, Came ministers of peace, intent to rear The Mother Church in yon sequestered vale;[364] Then, to her Patron Saint a previous rite 5 Resounded with deep swell and solemn close, Through unremitting vigils of the night, Till from his couch the wished-for Sun uprose. He rose, and straight—as by divine command, They, who had waited for that sign to trace 10 Their work's foundation, gave with careful hand To the high altar its determined place; Mindful of Him who in the Orient born There lived, and on the cross his life resigned, And who, from out the regions of the morn, 15 Issuing in pomp, shall come to judge mankind. So taught their creed;—nor failed the eastern sky, 'Mid these more awful feelings, to infuse The sweet and natural hopes that shall not die, Long as the sun his gladsome course renews. 20 For us hath such prelusive vigil ceased; Yet still we plant, like men of elder days, Our christian altar faithful to the east, Whence the tall window drinks the morning rays; That obvious emblem giving to the eye 25 Of meek devotion, which erewhile it gave, That symbol of the day-spring from on high, Triumphant o'er the darkness of the grave.[365]