Ecclesiastical Sketches.'

A verse may catch a wandering Soul, that flies
Profounder Tracts, and by a blest surprise
Convert delight into a Sacribce.

Of Liberty, and smote the plausive string
ADVERTISEMENT.

Till the check'd torrent, proudly triumphiug,
Won for herself a lasting resting-place:

Now seek upon the heights of Time the source DURING the month of December, 1820, I accompanied of a Holy River, op whose banks are found a much loved and honoured Friend in a walk through Sweet pastoral flowers, and laurels that have crowad different parts of his Estate, with a view to fix upon Full of the unworthy brow of lawless force; the site of a New Church which he intended to erect. Where, for delight of him who tracks its course, It was one of the most beautiful mornings of a mild Immortal amaranth and palms abound. season, – our feelings were in harmony with the cherishing influences of the scene; and, such being our purpose, we were naturally led to look back upon past events with wonder and gratitude, and on the future

CONJECTURES. with hope. Not long afterwards, some of the Sonnets which will be found towards the close of this Series If there be Prophets on whose spirits rest were produced as a private memorial of that morning's What Powers, presiding o'er the sacred Well

Past things, reveal'd like future, they can tell occupation. The Catholic Question, which was agitated in Parlia- with its first bounty. Wandering through the West,

Of Christian Faith, this savage Island bless'd ment about that time, kept my thoughits in the same course; and it struck me that certain points in the

Did holy Paul' a while in Britain dwell, Ecclesiastical History of our Country might advan- And call the Fountain forth by miracle, tageously be presented to view in Verse. Accordingly Or He, whose bonds dropped off, whose prison doors

And with dread signs the nascent Stream invest? I took up the subject, and what I now offer to the

Flew Reader was the result.

open,

by an Angel's voice unbarrd ? When this work was far advanced, I was agreeably Storm-driven, who, having scen the cup of woe

Or some of humbler name, to these wild shores surprised to find that my Friend, Mr Southey, was engaged, with similar views, in writing a concise History The precious Current they had taught to flow?

Pass from their Master, sojourn'd here to guard
of the Church in England. If our Productions, thus
unintentionally coinciding, shall be found to illustrate
each other, it will prove a high gratification to me,
which I am sure my Friend will participate.

TREPIDATION OF THE DRUIDS.
W. WORDSWORTH.

Screams round the Arch-druid's brow the SeamexiRydal Mount, January 24, 1822.

white
As Mevai's foam; and tow'rd the mystic ring

Where angurs stand, the future questioning,
PART I.

Slowly the Cormorant aims her heavy flighet,
Portending ruin to each baleful rite,

That, in the lapse of ages hath crept o'er
FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY Diluvian truths, and patriarchal lore.
INTO BRITAIN, TO THE CONSUMMATION

Haughty the Bard ;-can these meek doctrines blight

His transports? wither his heroic strains ?
OF THE PAPAL DOMINION.

But all shall be fulfilld ;-The Julian spear
INTRODUCTION.

A way first open'd: and, with Roman chains,

The tidings come of Jesus crucified ; I, who accompanied with faithful

pace

They come—they spread the weak, the suffering, hear; Cerulean Duddon from his cloud-fed spring,

Receive the faith, and in the hope abide.
And loved with Spirit ruled by his to sing
Of mountain quiet and boon nature's grace;

Stillingfleet adduces mans arruments in support of this oplak. I, who essay'd the nobler Stream to trace

but they are unconvincing. The latter part of this Sonnet refers to

a favourite notion of Catholic Writers, that Joseph of Arimatha For the convenience of passing from one point of the subject to and his companions brought Christianity into Britain, and bala another without shocks of abruptness, this work has taken the shape rude Church at Glastonbury; alluded to bereafter, in a passage apa of a series of Sonnets : but the Reader, it is hoped, will find that the op the dissolution of Monasteries. pictures are often so closely connected as to have the effect of a

* This water-fowl was, among the Druids, an emblem of those poem in a form of stanza, to which there is no objection but one that traditions conuected with the deluge that made an important part bears on the Poet only-its difficulty.

of their mysteries. The Cormorant was a bird of bad omce.

DRUIDICAL EXCOMMUNICATION.

Even so, in many a re-constructed fane,

Have the Survivors of this Storm renew'd Mercy and Love have met thee on thy road,

Their holy rites with vocal gratitude : Thou wretched Outcast, from the gift of fire

And solemn ceremonials they ordain And food cut off by sacerdotal ire,

To celebrate their great deliverance ; From every sympathy that man bestow'd !

Most feelingly instructed 'mid their fear, Yer shall it claim our reverence, that to God,

That persecution, blind with rage extreme, Ancient of days ! that to the eternal Sire

May not the less, through Heaven's mild countenance, These jealous Ministers of law aspire,

Even in her own despite, both feed and cheer;
As to the one sole fount whence Wisdom flow'd, For all things are less dreadful than they seem.
Justice, and Order. Tremblingly escaped,
As if with prescience of the coming storm,
That intimation when the stars were shaped ;
And still, 'mid yoo thick woods, the primal truth

TEMPTATIONS FROM ROMAN REFINEMENTS. Glimmers through many a superstitious form

WATCH, and be firm! for soul-subduing vice,
That fills the soul with unavailing ruth.

Heart-killing luxury, on your steps await.
Fair houses, baths, and banquets delicate

And temples tlashing, bright as polar ice,
UNCERTAINTY.

Their radiance through the woods, may yet suffice DARENESS surrounds us; secking, we are lost

To sap your hardy virtue, and abate On Snowdon's wilds, amid Brigantian coves,

Your love of him upon whose forehead sato Or where the solitary Shepherd roves

The crown of thorns; whose life-blood flow'd, the price Along the Plain of Sarum, by the Ghost

of your redemption. Shun the insidious arts Of Time and Shadows of Tradition, crost;

That Rome provides, less dreading from her frown And where the boatman of the Western Isles

Than from her wily praise, her peaceful gown, Slackens his course—to mark those holy piles

Language and letters ;-these, though fondly viewd Which yet survive on bleak Jona's coast.

As humanizing graces, are but parts
Nor these, nor monuments of eldest fame,

And instruments of deadliest servitude!
Nor Taliesin's unforgotten lays,
Nor characters of Greek or Roman fame,
To an unquestionable Source have led;

DISSENTIONS.
Enough--if eyes that sought the fountain-lıead,
Jo vain, upon the growing Rill may gaze.

That heresies should strike (if truth be scann'd
Presumptuously) their roots both wide and deep

Is natural as dreams to feverish sleep.
PERSECUTION.

Lo! Discord at the Altar dares to stand
LAMENT! for Diocletian's fiery sword

Uplifting tow'rd high leaven her fiery brand, Works busy as the lighting; but instinct

A cherished Priestess of the new-baptized! With malice pe'er to deadliest weapon link'd,

But chastisement shall follow peace despised.

The Pictish cloud darkens the enervate land Which God's ethereal storebouses afford :

By Rome abandon'd; vain are suppliant cries, Against the followers of the incarnate Lord

And

prayers that would undo her forced farewell, It rages ;—some are smitten in the field

For she returns not. — Awed by her own knell, Some pierced beneath the incffectual shield

She casts the Britons upon strange Allies,
Of sacred home ;- with pomp are others fored

Soon to become more dreaded enemies
And dreadful respile. Thus was Alban tried,
England's first Martyr, whom no threats could shake:

Than heartless misery call'd them to repel.
Self-offer'd Victim, for his friend he died,
And for the faith-nor shall his name forsake
That Hill, whose flowery platform seems to rise'

STRUGGLE OF THE BRITONS AGAINST THE By Nature decked for holiest sacrifice.

BARBARIANS.

Rise!-they have risen: of brave Aneurin ask
RECOVERY.

How they have scourg'd old foes, perfidious friends : As, when a storm hath ceased, the birds regain

The spirit of Caractacus defends

The Patriots, animates their glorious task;Their cheerfulness, and busily retrim

Amazement runs before the lowering casque Their nests, or chaupt a gratulating hymn

Of Arthur, bearing through the stormy field To the blue cther and bespangled plain;

The Virgin sculptured on his Christian shield :*This hill at St Alban's must have been an object of great inter- Stretch'd in the sunny light of victory bask est 10 the imagination of the venerable Bede, who ibus describes it The hosts that follow d Urien as he strode with a delicate ferlin: delightful to meet with in that rode age, traces of which are freqoror in bis works ; « Variis barbarum flori- O'er heaps of slain ;- from Cambrian wood and moss breze dopictus imò aqurquaque vestitas in quo nibil reprotè ar Druids descend, auxiliars of the Cross; atau pihil prorceps, ahitabruptum, quem lateribus longe lateque Bards, nursed on blue Plinlimmon's still abode, drdartum in modum quoris natura complanat, digoum videlicet eam pro insita sibi sperie venustatis jam olim reddeus, qui beati Push on the fight, to harps preferring swords, taartyris cruore dicaretur,

And everlasting deeds to burning words!

SAXON CONQUEST.

Angli by name; and not an Angel waves

His wing who seemeth lovelier in Heaven's eye Nor wants the cause the panic-striking aid

Than they appear to holy Gregory; Of Hallelujahs' tost from hill to hill —

Who, having learnt that name, salvation craves For instant victory. But Heaven's high will

For Them, and for their Land. The earnest Sire, Permits a second and a darker shade

His questions urging, feels in slender ties Of Pagan night. Afflicted and dismayed,

Of chiming sound commanding sympathies;
The Relics of the sword flee to the mountains:

DE-IRIANS-he would save them from God's fre;
Owretched Land! whose tears have flowed like fountains; Subjects of Saxon ÆLLA—they shall sing
Whose arts and honours in the dust are laid,

Glad Hallelujahıs to the eternal king!
By men yet scarcely conscious of a care
For other monuments than those of Earth ; ?
Who, as the fields and woods have given them birth,

GLAD TIDINGS.
Will build their savage fortunes only there ;
Content, if foss, and barrow, and the girth

For ever hallowed be this morning fair,
Of long-drawn rampart, witness what they were.

Blest be the unconscious shore on which ye trcad,
And blest the silver Cross, which ye, instead

Of martial banner, in procession bear;
MONASTERY OF OLD BANGOR.3

The Cross preceding Him who floats in air,

The pictured Saviour !-By Augustin led, Tue oppression of the tumult-wrath and scorn

They come-and onward travel without dread, The tribulation-and the gleaming blades

Chanting in barbarous ears a tuneful prayer, Such is the impetuous spirit that pervades

Sung for themselves, and those whom they would free! The song of Taliesin ; 4--Ours shall mourn

Rich conquest waits them :-the tempestuous sea
The unarmed Host who by their prayers would turn Of Ignorance, that ran so rough and high,
The sword from Bangor's walls, and guard the store And heeded not the voice of clashing swords,
Of Aboriginal and Roman lore,

These good men humble by a few bare words,
And Christian monuments, that now must burn and calm with fear of God's divinity.
To senseless ashes. Mark! how all things swerve

1 From their known course, or vanish like a dream; Another language spreads from coast to coast;

PAULINUS.'
Only perchance some melancholy Stream
And some indignant llills old names preserve,

But, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall,
When laws, and creeds, and people all are lost !

Where thoughtful Edwin tutored in the school
Of Sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule,
Who comes with functions apostolical ?

Mark him, of shoulders curved, and stature tall,
CASUAL INCITEMENT.

Black bair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek,
A BRIGHT-HAIRED company of youthful Slaves, His prominent feature like au eagle's beak;
Beautiful Strangers, stand within the pale

A Man whose aspect doth at once appal, Of a sad market, ranged for public sale,

And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans Where Tiber's stream the immortal City laves;

Towards the truths this Delegate propounds,

1

Housed with rejoicing Friends, is seen lo dit
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,
Ris be a welcome cordially bestowed !»

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 mcel
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 understand;
And vows, that bind the will, in silence made.

CONVERSION.

OTHER INFLUENCES. PROMPT transformation works the novel lore,

A1, when the Frame, round which in love we clung, The Courcil closed, the Priest in full career

Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail? Rides forth, an armed man, and hurls a spear

Is tender pity then of no avail ? To desecrate the Fane which licretofore

Are intercessions of the fervent tongue He served folly.- Woden falls-and Thor

A waste of hope!- From this sad source lave sprung is overturned ; the mace, in battle heaved

Rites that console the spirit, under grief So might they dream) till victory was achieved,

Which ill can brook more rational relief : Drops, and the God himself is seen no more.

llence prayers are shaped amiss, and dirges sung Temple and Altar siok, to hide their shame

For those whose doom is fixed! The way is smooth Amid oblivious weeds. « O come to me,

For Power that travels with the human heart: Ye heavy laden!» such the inviting voice

Confession ministers, the pang to soothe lleard dear fresh streams, '-aod thousands, who rejoice Jo him who at the ghost of guilt doth start. To the new Rite--the pledge of sanctity,

Ye holy Men, so earnest in your care, Shall, by regenerate life, the promise claim.

Of your own mighly instruments beware!

APOLOGY
Non 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 nole
Of clevation ; 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 ?

SECLUSION
LANCE, shield, and sword relinquished-at his side
A Bead-roll, in his hand a clasped Book,
Or staff more harmless than a Shepherd's crook,
The war-worn Chieftain quits the world, to bide
llis thin autumnal locks where Monks abide
In cloistered privacy. But not to dwell
In soft repose he comes. Within his cell
Round the decaying trunk of human pride,
At morn, and eve, and midnight's silent hour,
Do penitential cogitations cling:
Like ivy, round some ancient elm, they twine
In grisly folds and strictures serpentine ;
Yet, while they strangle without mercy, bring
For recompense their own perennial bowcr.

PRIMITIVE SAXON CLERGY. 2 How beautiful your presence, how benign,

CONTINUED. Servants of God! who not a thought will share

METAinks that to some vacant Hermitage tauting against ie the lance which be bad held in his band, and, My feet would rather turn-10 some dry nook Lulling in acknowledgment of the worsbip of the true God, ho Scooped out of living rock, and near a brook ordered this companions to pull down the Temple, with all its ep

Ilurled down a mountain-cove from stage to stage, elaseres. The place is shown where those idols formerly stood, not far frota York, at the source of the river Derwent, and is at ibis day

Yet tempering, for my sight, its bustling rage called Gormond Gabam..

In the soft heaven of a translucent pool; • The early properators of Christianity were accustomed to preach Thence creeping under forest arches cool, peer rivers for the convenience of baptism.

Fit haunt of shapes whose glorious equipage * laring spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temperance of the clergy of those times, Bodo thus proceeds: • L'nde etio mag

Would elevate my dreains. A beechen bowl, na erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicun- A maple dish, my furniture should be ;

cdericus aliquis, aut monachus adveniret, gaudenter ab omnibus Crisp, yellow leaves any bed; the hooting Owl tənquarn Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere persons in- My night-watch: nor should e'er the crested Fowl raivetar, accurrebant, et flexá cervice, vel manu sigoari, vel ore ittias so besedici, gaudebaut. Vorbia quoque horum exfioritoriis from thorp or vill his matins sound for me, diligenter auditum pabebant.. Lil.iil, cap. 26.

Tired of the world and all its industry,