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.
His frame is tied; firm from the naked feet To the bare head, the victory complete; The shrouded Body, to the Soul's command, Answering 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 attestation !T
REVIVAL OF POPERY.
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.
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: Which few can hold committed to a fight That shows, ev'n on its better side, the might Of proud Self-will, Rapacity, and Lust, 'Mid clouds enveloped of polemic dust, Which showers of blood seem rather to incite Than to allay. - Anathemas are hurled From both sides; veteran thunders (the brute test Of Truth) are met by fulminations new- Tartarian flags are caught at, and unfurled Friends strike at Friends - the flying shall pursue · And Victory sickens, ignorant where to rest!
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 partake, Corded, and burning at the social stake:" Earth never witnessed object more sublime In constancy, in fellowship more fair!
ENGLISH REFORMERS IN EXILE.
SCATTERING, like Birds escaped the Fowler's net, Some seek with timely flight a foreign strand Most happy, re-assembled in a land
By dauntless Luther freed, could they forget Their Country's woes. But scarcely have they met, Partners in faith, and Brothers in distress, Free to pour forth their common thankfulness, Ere hope declines; their union is beset
With speculative notions rashly sown,
Whence thickly-sprouting growth of poisonous weeds; Their forms are broken staves; their passions steeds That master them. How enviably blest
Is he who can, by help of grace, enthrone The peace of God within his single breast!
OUTSTRETCHING flame-ward his upbraided hand (O God of mercy, may no earthly Seat Of judgment such presumptuous doom repeat!) Amid the shuddering throng doth Cranmer stand; Firm as the stake to which with iron band
HAIL, Virgin Queen! o'er many an envions 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
† For the belief in this fact, see the contemporary Historians.
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; For, wheresoe'er she moves, the clouds anon Disperse; or, under a divine constraint, Reflect some portion of her glorious light.
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.
METHINKS that I could trip o'er heaviest soil, Light as a buoyant Bark from wave to wave, Were mine the trusty Staff that JEWEL gave To youthful HOOKER, in familiar style The gift exalting, and with playful smile:* For thus equipped, and bearing on his head The Donor's farewell blessing, can he dread Tempest, or length of way, or weight of toil? 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.
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 Hugenots 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, 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.
† A common device in religious and political conflicts-See Stype in support of this instance.
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 Recalls 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 name; 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 forbear 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?
AFFLICTIONS OF ENGLAND.
HARP! could'st thou venture, on thy boldest string, The faintest note to echo which the blast Caught from the hand of Moses as it past O'er Sinai's top, or from the Shepherd King, Early awake, by Siloa's brook, to sing
Of dread Jehovah; then, should wood and waste Hear also of that name, and mercy cast Off to the mountains, like a covering
Of which the Lord was weary. Weep, oh! weep, Weep with the good, beholding King and Priest Despised by that stern God to whom they raise Their suppliant hands; but holy is the feast He keepeth; like the firmament his ways, His statues like the chambers of the deep.
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. Substance she seemed (and that my heart betrayed, 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, 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.
PATRIOTIC SYMPATHIES.
LAST night, without a voice, this Vision spake Fear to my Spirit— passion that might seem Wholly dissevered from our present theme; Yet, my beloved Country, I partake Of kindred agitations for thy sake; Thou, too, dost visit oft my midnight dream; Thy glory meets me with the earliest beam Of light, which tells that morning is awake. If aught impair thy beauty or destroy, Or but forbode destruction, I deplore With filial love the sad vicissitude;
If thou hast fallen, and righteous Heaven restore The prostrate, then my spring-time is renewed, And sorrow bartered for exceeding joy.
CHARLES THE SECOND.
WHO comes with rapture greeted, and caress'd With frantic love - his kingdom to regain? Him Virtue's Nurse, Adversity, in vain Received, and fostered in her iron breast: For all she taught of hardiest and of best, Or would have taught, by discipline of pain And long privation, now dissolves amain,
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,
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."
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.
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 tempest 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 Iures not from what they deem the cause of God.
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 (By constant impulse of 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 righteous hope, Conqueror beloved! expected anxiously!
The vacillating Bondman of the Pope
Shrinks from the verdict of his steadfast eye.
PERSECUTION OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANTERS.
WHEN Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry,
The majesty of England interposed
OBLIGATIONS OF CIVIL TO RELIGIOUS LIBERTY UNGRATEFUL Country, if thou e'er forget
And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were The sons who for thy civil rights have bled!
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,
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.
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.
WALTON'S BOOK OF LIVES.
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. 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.
ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA.
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,, 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 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.
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, Stands at the Bar, absolved by female eyes Mingling their glances with grave flatteries Lavished on Him—that England may rebel Against her ancient virtue. HIGH and Low, Watch-words of Party, on all tongues are rife;
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 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. So Truth and Love By Conscience governed do their steps retrace.—
As if a Church, though sprung from heaven, must owe Fathers! your Virtues, such the power of grace,
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; Secs spires fast sinking-up again to start! And strives the towers to number, that recline O'er the dark steeps, or on the horizon line Striding with shattered crests his eye athwart. So have we hurried on with troubled pleasure: Henceforth, as on the bosom of a stream
Their spirit, in your Children, thus approve. Transcendent over time, unbound by place, Concord and Charity in circles move.
American episcopacy, in union with the church in England, strictly belongs to the general subject; and I here make my acknowledgments to my American friends, Bishop Doane, and Mr. Henry Reed of Philadelphia, for having suggested to me the propriety of adverting to it, and pointed out the virtues and intellectual qualities of Bishop White, which so eminently fitted him for the great work he undertook. Bishop White was consecrated at Lambeth, Feb. 4, 1787, by Archbishop Moore; and before his long life was closed, twenty-six bishops had been consecrated in America, by himself. For his character and opinions, see his own numerous Works, and a Sermon
in commemoration of him, by George Washington Doane, Bishop of New Jersey.'
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