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
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 D'er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestrown, Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts Aliens, is God's good winter for their haunts.
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
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 Proceeds from infancy to lusty youth; Maintains the else endangered gift of life; And, under cover of this woeful strife, Gathers unblighted strength from hour to hour.
ONCE more the Church is seized with sudden And at her call is Wicliffe disinhumed: fear, 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.'
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!
The Dragon quelled; and valiant Margaret Whose rival sword a like Opponent slew: And rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted Queen Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene, Who in the penitential desert met
THREATS come which no submission may as- Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew !
No sacrifice avert, no power dispute; The tapers shall be quenched, the belfries mute, And, 'mid their choirs unroofed by selfish rage, The warbling wren shall find a leafy cage; The gadding bramble hang her purple fruit; And the green lizard and the gilded newt Lead unmolested lives, and die of age. The owl of evening and the woodland fox
MOTHER! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied; Woman! above all women glorified, Our tainted nature's solitary boast; Purer than foam on central ocean tost; Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast; Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween, Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend, As to a visible Power, in which did blend All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee Of mother's love with maiden purity, Of high with low, celestial with terrene!
NOT utterly unworthy to endure Was the supremacy of crafty Rome; Age after age to the arch of Christendom Aerial keystone haughtily secure ;
Supremacy from Heaven transmitted pure, As many hold; and, therefore, to the tomb Pass, some through fire-and by the scaffold
Like saintly Fisher, and unbending More. "Lightly for both the bosom's lord did sit Upon his throne;"unsoftened, undismayed By aught that mingled with the tragic scene Of pity or fear; and More's gay genius played With the inoffensive sword of native wit, Than the bare axe more luminous and keen.
IMAGINATIVE REGRETS.
DEEP is the lamentation! Not alone From Sages justly honoured by mankind; But from the ghostly tenants of the wind, Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous groan Issues for that dominion overthrown: Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind As his own worshippers: and Nile, reclined Upon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan Renews. Through every forest, cave, and den, Where frauds were hatched of old, hath sorrow past--
Hangs o'er the Arabian Prophet's native Waste, Where once his airy helpers schemed and planned
'Mid spectral lakes bemocking thirsty men, And stalking pillars built of fiery sand.
"SWEET is the holiness of Youth"-so felt Time-honoured Chaucer speaking through that Lay
By which the Prioress beguiled the way, And many a Pilgrim's rugged heart did melt. Hadst thou, loved Bard! whose spirit often dwelt
In the clear land of vision, but foreseen King, child, and seraph, blended in the mien Of pious Edward kneeling as he knelt In meek and simple infancy, what joy For universal Christendom had thrilled Thy heart! what hopes inspired thy genius, skilled
(O great Precursor, genuine morning Star) The lucid shafts of reason to employ, Piercing the Papal darkness from afar!
EDWARD SIGNING THE WARRANT FOR THE EXECUTION OF JOAN OF KENT. THE tears of man in various measure gush From various sources; gently overflow From blissful transport some-from clefts of woe Some with ungovernable impulse rush; And some, coëval with the earliest blush Of infant passion, scarcely dare to show Their pearly lustre-coming but to go; And some break forth when others' sorrows crush The sympathising heart. Nor these, nor yet
The noblest drops to admiration known, To gratitude, to injuries forgiven- Claim Heaven's regard like waters that have wet The innocent eyes of youthful Monarchs driven To pen the mandates nature doth disown.
THE saintly Youth has ceased to rule, discrowned By unrelenting Death. O People keen For change, to whom the new looks always green!
Rejoicing did they cast upon the ground Their Gods of wood and stone; and, at the sound
Of counter-proclamation, now are seen, (Proud triumph is it for a sullen Queen !) Lifting them up, the worship to confound Of the Most High. Again do they invoke The Creature, to the Creature glory give ; Again with frankincense the altars smoke Like those the Heathen served; and mass is sung;
And prayer man's rational prerogative, Runs through blind channels of an unknown tongue.
How fast the Marian death-list is unrolled ' See Latimer and Ridley in the might Of Faith stand coupled for a common flight! One (like those prophets whom God sent of old) Transfigured, from this kindling hath foretold A torch of inextinguishable light; The Other gains a confidence as bold; And thus they foil their enemy's despite. The penal instruments, the shows of crime, Are glorified while this once-mitred pair Of saintly Friends the "murtherer's chain par- take,
Corded, and burning at the social stake:" Earth never witnessed object more sublime In constancy, in fellowship more fair!
OUTSTRETCHING flame-ward his upbraided hand
(O God of mercy, may no earthly Seat
HAIL, Virgin Queen! o'er many an envious bar Triumphant, snatched from many a treacherous wile!
All hail, sage Lady, whom a grateful Isle Hath blest, respiring from that dismal war Stilled by thy voice! But quickly from afar Defiance breathes with more malignant aim ; And alien storms with home-bred ferments claim Portentous fellowship. Her silver car, By sleepless prudence ruled, glides slowly on; Unhurt by violence, from menaced taint Emerging pure, and seemingly more bright: Ah! wherefore yields it to a foul constraint Black as the clouds its beams dispersed, while shone,
Of judgment such presumptuous doom repeat !) Amid the shuddering throng doth Cranmer By men and angels blest, the glorious light?
Firm as the stake to which with iron band His frame is tied; firm from the naked feet To the bare head. The victory is complete; The shrouded Body to the Soul's command Answers with more than Indian fortitude,
Through all her nerves with finer sense endued, Till breath departs in blissful aspiration: Then, 'mid the ghastly ruins of the fire, Behold the unalterable heart entire, Emblem of faith untouched, miraculous attesta-
GENERAL VIEW OF THE TROUBLES OF THE REFORMATION.
AID, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light, Our mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust (While we look round) that Heaven's decrees are just:
METHINKS that I could trip o'er heaviest soil, Light as a buoyant bark from wave to wave, To youthful HOOKER, in familiar style Were mine the trusty staff that JEWEL gave The gift exalting, and with playful smile: For thus equipped, and bearing on his head Tempest, or length of way, or weight of toil?— The Donor's farewell blessing, can he dread More sweet than odours caught by him who sails
Near spicy shores of Araby the blest, A thousand times more exquisitely sweet, The freight of holy feeling which we meet, In thoughtful moments, wafted by the gales From fields where good men walk, or bowers wherein they rest.
MEN, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy Their forefathers; lo! sects are formed, and split
With morbid restlessness ;-the ecstatic fit Spreads wide; though special mysteries multiply,
The Saints must govern, is their common cry; And so they labour, deeming Holy Writ Disgraced by aught that seems content to sit Beneath the roof of settled Modesty. The Romanist exults; fresh hope he draws From the confusion, craftily incites The overweening, personates the mad- To heap disgust upon the worthier Cause: Totters the Throne; the new-born Church is sad For every wave against her peace unites.
FEAR hath a hundred eyes that all agree To plague her beating heart; and there is one (Nor idlest that!) which holds communion With things that were not, yet were meant to be.
Aghast within its gloomy cavity
That eye (which sees as if fulfilled and done Crimes that might stop the motion of the sun) Beholds the horrible catastrophe
Of an assembled Senate unredeemed From subterraneous Treason's darkling power: Merciless act of sorrow infinite!
Worse than the product of that dismal night, When gushing, copious as a thunder-shower, The blood of Huguenots through Paris streamed.
THE JUNG-FRAU AND The fall of the RHINE NEAR SCHAFFHAUSEN.
THE Virgin Mountain,* wearing like a Queen A brilliant crown of everlasting snow, Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below Wonder that aught of aspect so serene Can link with desolation. Smooth and green, And seeming, at a little distance, slow, The waters of the Rhine; but on they go Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen; Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood, The Jung-frau
Turned to a fearful Thing whose nostrils breathe Blasts of tempestuous smoke-wherewith he tries
To hide himself, but only magnifies;
And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe, Deafening the region in his ireful mood.
TROUBLES OF CHARLES THE FIRST.
EVEN Such the contrast that, where'er we move, To the mind's eye Religion doth present; Now with her own deep quietness content; Then, like the mountain, thundering from above Against the ancient pine-trees of the grove And the Land's humblest comforts. Now her mood
Recals the transformation of the flood, Whose rage the gentle skies in vain reprove, Earth cannot check. O terrible excess Of headstrong will! Can this be Piety? No-some fierce Maniac hath usurped her
And scourges England struggling to be free: Her peace destroyed! her hopes a wilderness! Her blessings cursed - her glory turned to shame
PREJUDGED by foes determined not to spare, An old weak Man for vengeance thrown aside, Laud, "in the painful art of dying" tried, (Like a poor bird entangled in a snare Whose heart still flutters, though his wings for- bear
To stir in useless struggle) hath relied On hope that conscious innocence supplied, And in his prison breathes celestial air. Why tarries then thy chariot? Wherefore stay. O Death! the ensanguined yet triumphant wheels,
Which thou prepar'st, full often, to convey (What time a State with madding faction reels) The Saint or Patriot to the world that heals All wounds, all perturbations doth allay?
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