CASUAL INCITEMENT.

A BRIGHT-HAIRED company of youthful Slaves,

tains:

†The last six lines of this Sonnet are chiefly from the prose of Daniel; and here I will state (though to the Readers whom this Poem will chiefly interest it is unnecessary) that my obligations to other Prose Writers are frequent, -obligations which, even if I had not a pleasure in courting, it would have been presumptuous to shun, in treating an historical subject. I must, however, particularise Fuller, to whom I am indebted in the Sonnet upon Wicliffe and in other instances. And upon the acquittal of the Seven Bishops I have done little more than versify a lively description of that event in the Memoirs of the

first Lord Lonsdale.

Ethelforth reached the convent of Bangor, he perceived the Monks, twelve hundred in number, offering prayers for the success of their countrymen: if they are praying against us,' he exclaimed, they are fighting against us; and he ordered

them to be first attacked: they were destroyed; and, appalled

by their fate, the courage of Brocmail wavered, and he fled from the field in dismay. Thus abandoned by their leader, nis army soon gave way, and Ethelforth obtained a decisive conquest. Ancient Bangor itself soon fell into his hands, and was demolished; the noble monastery was levelled to the ground: its library, which is mentioned as a large one, the collection of ages, the repository of the most precious monuments of the ancient Britons, was consumed; half-ruined walls,

XIV.

GLAD TIDINGS

FOR ever hallowed be this morning fair,
Blest be the unconscious shore on which ye tread,
And blest the silver Cross, which ye, instead
Of martial banner, in procession bear;
The Cross preceding Him who floats in air,
The pictured Saviour! By Augustin led,
They come and onward travel without dread,
Chanting in barbarous ears a tuneful prayer,
Sung for themselves, and those whom they would free!
Rich conquest waits them: the tempestuous sea
Of Ignorance, that ran so rough and high,
And heeded not the voice of clashing swords
These good men humble by a few bare words,
And calm with fear of God's divinity.

gates, and rubbish, were all that remained of the magnificent edifice." -See Turner's valuable History of the Anglo-Saxons.

The account Bede gives of this remarkable event, suggests a most striking warning against National and Religious prejudices.

Taliesin was present at the battle which preceded this desolation.

XV.

PAULINUS.*

BUT, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall,
Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school
Of Sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule,
Who comes with functions apostolical?

Mark hin, of shoulders curved, and stature tall,
Black hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek,
His prominent feature like an eagle's beak;
A Man whose aspect doth at once appal
And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans
Tow'rd the pure truths this Delegate propounds,
Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds
With careful hesitation, then convenes
A synod of his Counsellors: - give ear,
And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear:

XVI.

PERSUASION.

"MAN'S life is like a Sparrowt, mighty King!
"That, stealing in while by the fire you sit
"Housed with rejoicing Friends, is seen to flit
"Safe from the storm, in comfort tarrying.
"Here did it enter there, on hasty wing,

Flies out, and passes on from cold to cold; "But whence it came we know not, nor behold "Whither it goes. Even such that transient Thing, "The human Soul; not utterly unknown "While in the Body lodged, her warm abode; "But from what world She came, what woe or weal "On her departure waits, no tongue hath shown; "This mystery if the Stranger can reveal, "His be a welcome cordially bestowed!"

NOR scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend
The Soul's eternal interests to promote:
Death, darkness, danger, are our natural lot;
And evil Spirits may our walk attend
For aught the wisest know or comprehend;
Then be good Spirits free to breathe a note
Of elevation; let their odours float
Around these Converts; and their glories blend,
Outshining nightly tapers, or the blaze

Of the noon-day. Nor doubt that golden cords
Of good works, mingling with the visions, raise
The soul to purer worlds: and who the line
Shall draw, the limits of the power define,
That even imperfect faith to Man affords?

XIX.

PRIMITIVE SAXON CLERGY.§

How beautiful your presence, how benign,
Servants of God! who not a thought will share
With the vain world; who, outwardly as bare
As winter trees, yield no fallacious sign
That the firm soul is clothed with fruit divine!
Such Priest, when service worthy of his care
Has called him forth to breathe the common air,
Might seem a saintly Image from its shrine
Descended: - happy are the eyes that meet
The Apparition; evil thoughts are stayed
At his approach, and low-bowed necks entreat
A benediction from his voice or hand;
Whence grace, through which the heart can under

stand;

And vows, that bind the will, in silence made.

The early propagators of Christianity were accustomed to preach near rivers, for the convenience of baptism.

Having spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temper. ance of the clergy of those times, Bede thus proceeds: — " Unde et in magna erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis, aut monachus adveniret, gauden ter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, accurrebant, et flexa cervice, vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedici, gaudebant. Verbis quoque horum exhortatoriis diligenter auditum præbebant." Lib. iii. cap. 26

BEHOLD a Pupil of the Monkish gown,
The pious ALFRED, King to Justice dear!
Lord of the harp and liberating spear;
Mirror of Princes! Indigent Renown
Might range the starry ether for a crown
Equal to his deserts, who, like the year,
Pours forth his bounty, like the day doth cheer,
And awes like night with mercy-tempered frown.
Ease from this noble Miser of his time

No moment steals; pain narrows not his cares.*
Though small his kingdom as a spark or gem,
Of Alfred boasts remote Jerusalem,

And Christian India, through her wide-spread clime,
In sacred converse gifts with Alfred shares.

XXIX.

DANISH CONQUESTS.

WOE to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey !t
Dissension checks the arms that would restrain
The incessant Rovers of the Northern Main;
And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway :
But Gospel-truth is potent to allay

Fierceness and rage; and soon the cruel Dane
Feels, through the influence of her gentle reign,
His native superstitions melt away.

Thus, often, when thick gloom the east o'ershrouds,
The full-orbed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear
Silently to consume the heavy clouds;

How no one can resolve; but every eye
Around her sees, while air is hushed, a clear
And widening circuit of ethereal sky.

XXVII.

HIS DESCENDANTS.

CAN aught survive to linger in the veins
Of kindred bodies an essential power
That may not vanish in one fatal hour,
And wholly cast away terrestrial chains?
The race of Alfred covet glorious pains
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.

XXX. CANUTE.

A PLEASANT music floats along the Mere,
From Monks in Ely chanting service high,
Whileas Canùte 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.

Their purposes. Behold, pre-signified,

XXXI.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST. THE Woman-hearted Confessor prepares The evanescence of the Saxon line. Hark! 't is the tolling Curfew! the stars shine, But of the lights that cherish household cares And festive gladness, burns not one that dares

The violent measures carried on under the influence of

ing cause of the second series of Danish Invasions.-See Turner. ¡

“AND shall," the Pontiff asks, "profaneness flow "From Nazareth- source of Christian Piety, "From Bethlehem, from the Mounts of Agony "And glorified Ascension? Warriors, go, "With prayers and blessings we your path will sow; "Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye "Have chased far off by righteous victory "These sons of Amalec, or laid them low!" "GOD WILLETH IT," the whole assembly cry; Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds! The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply; "God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds, And, in awe-stricken Countries far and nigh, Through "Nature's hollow arch" the voice resounds.*

XXXV.

AN INTERDICT.

REALMS quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace,
The Church, by mandate shadowing forth the power
She arrogates o'er heaven's eternal door,
Closes the gates of every sacred place.
Straight from the sun and tainted air's embrace
All sacred things are covered: cheerful morn
Grows sad as night—no seemly garb is worn,
Nor is a face allowed to meet a face
With natural smile of greeting. Bells are dumb
Ditches are graves
- funereal rites denied;
And in the Church-yard he must take his Bride
Who dares be wedded! Fancies thickly come
Into the pensive heart ill fortified,
And comfortless despairs the soul benumb.

XXXIII. CRUSADES.

THE turbaned Race are poured in thickening ewarms
Along the West; though driven from Aquitaine,
The Crescent glitters on the towers of Spain;
And soft Italia feels renewed alarms;
The scimitar, that yields not to the charms
Of ease, the narrow Bosphorus will disdain;
Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain
Their tents, and check the current of their arms.
Then blame not those who, by the mightiest lever
Known to the moral world, Imagination,
Upheave (so seems it) from her natural station
All Christendom: - they sweep along (was never
So huge a host!)—to tear from the Unbeliever
The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.

XXXVI.

PAPAL ABUSES.

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.