 | The Fortunes of Faith |  |
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THE FORTUNES OF FAITH; OR,
CHURCH AND STATE.
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BOOK I.
“------Θνητοις γαρ γερα
πορων αναγκαις ταισδ' υπεζευγμαι ταλας.”
—PROM, VINC.
πορων αναγκαις ταισδ' υπεζευγμαι ταλας.”
—PROM, VINC.
“Yes, while bestowing the best gift on man,
Hapless I'm yoked 'neath these necessities.”
Amidst the world's wide waste there grows a Tree,
The shelter of woe-worn Mortality;
Where man may gather, nor despair of room,
And live upon the fruit, yet ne'er consume.
Here tempests, impotently fierce, forbear;
Nor seasons change, nor centuries impair;
It blooms of summer's endless smile secure,
Its leaf unfading, and its fruitage sure.
The Tree of Knowledge tempted, and we mourned;
The Tree of Life upsprang, and joy returned.
If man has harmed it with superfluous aid,
The fruit corrupted, and curtailed the shade,
Why judge the goodly Tree by blighted fruit?
The strength of heaven still vivifies the root,
Still, firm 'midst more than elemental strife,
Its shade is shelter and its fruit is life!
The shelter of woe-worn Mortality;
Where man may gather, nor despair of room,
And live upon the fruit, yet ne'er consume.
Here tempests, impotently fierce, forbear;
Nor seasons change, nor centuries impair;
It blooms of summer's endless smile secure,
Its leaf unfading, and its fruitage sure.
The Tree of Knowledge tempted, and we mourned;
The Tree of Life upsprang, and joy returned.
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The fruit corrupted, and curtailed the shade,
Why judge the goodly Tree by blighted fruit?
The strength of heaven still vivifies the root,
Still, firm 'midst more than elemental strife,
Its shade is shelter and its fruit is life!
Majestic Minister! Immortal Birth!
Surpassing Conqueror of oft-conquered earth!
Supreme Religion! why has Heaven allowed
Thy mighty sway, and why have mortals bowed?
What warfare tried the strength divinely given?
What conquest waited on the arms of Heaven?
Say, art thou not the Conqueror, whose fame
Was written in each Will thy words o'ercame?
The Potentate for whom each Soul's assent
Was glory peerless, sway pre-eminent?
The Sovereign honoured, yet the Subject free,
And fond and faithful through that liberty.
Yes! Man must smilingly embrace thy sway,
Delight to yield, and glory to obey,
With eyes of love thy terms of service read,
Mind seal the bond, and Heart attest the deed!
Surpassing Conqueror of oft-conquered earth!
Supreme Religion! why has Heaven allowed
Thy mighty sway, and why have mortals bowed?
What warfare tried the strength divinely given?
What conquest waited on the arms of Heaven?
Say, art thou not the Conqueror, whose fame
Was written in each Will thy words o'ercame?
The Potentate for whom each Soul's assent
Was glory peerless, sway pre-eminent?
The Sovereign honoured, yet the Subject free,
And fond and faithful through that liberty.
Yes! Man must smilingly embrace thy sway,
Delight to yield, and glory to obey,
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Mind seal the bond, and Heart attest the deed!
Yet ill at ease, though Sovereign of the Will,
Religion strangely felt ambition still;
Nor prized the power transmitted from on high,
Enamoured of inferior Sovereignty;
Embraced the offer mortal monarchs made,
Their throne ascended and their sceptre swayed.
Alas! ungrateful man had done her wrong,
Worn out the innocence that made her strong;
Imposed foul falsehood on her weakened sense,
And cursed her with degrading eminence!
Yes! poorly rich, and impotently great,
She sank her natural in her new estate,
Employed each weak device of human sense,
To rule the soul, and teach Omnipotence;
Controlled the spirit, as men sway the flesh,
And used their arms, and did their deeds afresh.
Her world-won children spoke their erring will,
Bade Conscience acquiesce and Thought be still;
Decreed the suffering, or constrained the lie,
Nor spared the immortal Soul a mortal penalty.
They called on princes to apply the rod;
Rude hands profaned the Holy Place of God;
The Child of Heaven became a thing of State,
Tool of its crimes, and partner of its fate.
Religion strangely felt ambition still;
Nor prized the power transmitted from on high,
Enamoured of inferior Sovereignty;
Embraced the offer mortal monarchs made,
Their throne ascended and their sceptre swayed.
Alas! ungrateful man had done her wrong,
Worn out the innocence that made her strong;
Imposed foul falsehood on her weakened sense,
And cursed her with degrading eminence!
Yes! poorly rich, and impotently great,
She sank her natural in her new estate,
Employed each weak device of human sense,
To rule the soul, and teach Omnipotence;
Controlled the spirit, as men sway the flesh,
And used their arms, and did their deeds afresh.
Her world-won children spoke their erring will,
Bade Conscience acquiesce and Thought be still;
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Nor spared the immortal Soul a mortal penalty.
They called on princes to apply the rod;
Rude hands profaned the Holy Place of God;
The Child of Heaven became a thing of State,
Tool of its crimes, and partner of its fate.
Yes, world-abused Religion lent her name,
To strengthen tyranny, and blazon shame,
Possessed the passions and inspired the tongue,
To awe the weak and pander to the strong,
Taught different lessons in her crowded school;
Those learned the lore of fear, and these of rule;
Tamed to her yoke, one trembling wretch obeyed,
Girt with her spoils, his fellow mortal swayed.
O yes! the common treasury of earth,
Where Soul at will laid up, at will drew forth,
Became degraded to a secret hoard,
Where priests monopolized what man had stored,
With counterfeited coin, essayed to cheat,
And punished murmurs, and enforced deceit!
To every lie corrupt Religion swore,
Kings smiled assent, and bade their slaves adore;
Whatever part capricious despots played,
She chose to conquer only by their aid;
Contemned the bloodless triumphs of the Word,
Nor tried the temper of the Gospel sword,
Nor laid soft siege where Thought and Reason dwell,
Nor cheered by Mercy, pressed the citadel,
Nor won surrender by the force of Grace,
Nor clasped the captive in a friend's embrace.
She wrote Earth's warriors on her muster roll,
With fleshly arms assailed the struggling soul,
To shake the will Earth's red artillery brought,
In warrior-fashion, stormed the hold of Thought,
Made conquering way o'er martyr-teeming graves,
And cursed her captives with the lot of slaves.
To strengthen tyranny, and blazon shame,
Possessed the passions and inspired the tongue,
To awe the weak and pander to the strong,
Taught different lessons in her crowded school;
Those learned the lore of fear, and these of rule;
Tamed to her yoke, one trembling wretch obeyed,
Girt with her spoils, his fellow mortal swayed.
O yes! the common treasury of earth,
Where Soul at will laid up, at will drew forth,
Became degraded to a secret hoard,
Where priests monopolized what man had stored,
With counterfeited coin, essayed to cheat,
And punished murmurs, and enforced deceit!
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Kings smiled assent, and bade their slaves adore;
Whatever part capricious despots played,
She chose to conquer only by their aid;
Contemned the bloodless triumphs of the Word,
Nor tried the temper of the Gospel sword,
Nor laid soft siege where Thought and Reason dwell,
Nor cheered by Mercy, pressed the citadel,
Nor won surrender by the force of Grace,
Nor clasped the captive in a friend's embrace.
She wrote Earth's warriors on her muster roll,
With fleshly arms assailed the struggling soul,
To shake the will Earth's red artillery brought,
In warrior-fashion, stormed the hold of Thought,
Made conquering way o'er martyr-teeming graves,
And cursed her captives with the lot of slaves.
When slavery stung, when Mortals would be Men,
And look to Heaven with Spirit in their ken;
When Thought rebelled against the priestly reign,
And Faith and Reason knew a smile again,
That righteous Rebel still had cause to fear,
That smile returned but not without the tear.
Nor wonder at Religion's tearful eye,
The Priest and King still smiled in company,
The adulterous tie was loosened, not destroyed,
The sin and shame were still too well enjoyed!
And look to Heaven with Spirit in their ken;
When Thought rebelled against the priestly reign,
And Faith and Reason knew a smile again,
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That smile returned but not without the tear.
Nor wonder at Religion's tearful eye,
The Priest and King still smiled in company,
The adulterous tie was loosened, not destroyed,
The sin and shame were still too well enjoyed!
E'en now the guilty Pair pursue their plan,
E'en now they gamble with the Rights of Man;
But not so fondly as they did of yore,
Nor crazed by winning, madly risk the more;
Each chance well weighed, each die discreetly tossed,
They play with caution for they late have lost.
But caution cannot mend each marring cast,
To Faith and Freedom has the fortune past.
The losing partners reck not of their fate;
The Church yet stakes her substance with the State!
Unthinking gamblers! stay while yet you can,
Nor hope to get his winnnings back from Man;
Forego your partnership, resign the game,
Ere wealth and pride are turned to want and shame—
Ere thronging losses urge the mad intent—
Ere your last chance is tried, and your last treasure spent!
E'en now they gamble with the Rights of Man;
But not so fondly as they did of yore,
Nor crazed by winning, madly risk the more;
Each chance well weighed, each die discreetly tossed,
They play with caution for they late have lost.
But caution cannot mend each marring cast,
To Faith and Freedom has the fortune past.
The losing partners reck not of their fate;
The Church yet stakes her substance with the State!
Unthinking gamblers! stay while yet you can,
Nor hope to get his winnnings back from Man;
Forego your partnership, resign the game,
Ere wealth and pride are turned to want and shame—
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Ere your last chance is tried, and your last treasure spent!
In each low gain Religion makes her own
The failing treasure, the uncertain throne,—
The power to show her face where monarchs meet,
Tread on their necks or grovel at their feet—
In all the nothingness which courts contain,
That mock her presence while they bear her train,
She blindly sought her weal to find her woe,
And smiled upon the friend to weep the foe,
In Earth-wrought robes her nakedness displayed,
In State-forged mail her want of strength betrayed;
Seemed passing slow to speed the word of God,
Yet swift to hurl the bolt, and deal the rod;
Weak to repair the soul that sin had rent,
Yet strong to break its fleshly tenement.
The failing treasure, the uncertain throne,—
The power to show her face where monarchs meet,
Tread on their necks or grovel at their feet—
In all the nothingness which courts contain,
That mock her presence while they bear her train,
She blindly sought her weal to find her woe,
And smiled upon the friend to weep the foe,
In Earth-wrought robes her nakedness displayed,
In State-forged mail her want of strength betrayed;
Seemed passing slow to speed the word of God,
Yet swift to hurl the bolt, and deal the rod;
Weak to repair the soul that sin had rent,
Yet strong to break its fleshly tenement.
Her native strength, her proper health were gone,
The vital fire from heaven but faintly shone;
Faith dwindled, Charity forbore to bloom,
Diseased Religion trembled o'er the tomb.
She fled the parent bosom of her God,
The approving smile, the love-inflicted rod,
To hang about an earthly nurse, and win
Pernicious leave to revel in each sin;
Forsook the glorious diet of the sky,
For the vile garbage of mortality;
And left her native exercise and air,
For sickly sloth and tainted atmosphere.
The vital fire from heaven but faintly shone;
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Diseased Religion trembled o'er the tomb.
She fled the parent bosom of her God,
The approving smile, the love-inflicted rod,
To hang about an earthly nurse, and win
Pernicious leave to revel in each sin;
Forsook the glorious diet of the sky,
For the vile garbage of mortality;
And left her native exercise and air,
For sickly sloth and tainted atmosphere.
Each function quite forgot its proper use,
And paid the penalty of long abuse.
How could her Heaven-created form dilate
When cramped by fondling in the lap of State?
How could she speak with free and fearless tongue,
If princes deemed her speech too loud and long,
And gave their creature the ungracious choice,
To quit their presence, or suppress her voice?
How could she strike a sin-destroying blow
When Earth impelled her on another foe,
And nerved that arm, for holier strife designed,
To smite the conscience and o'erthrow the mind?
And paid the penalty of long abuse.
How could her Heaven-created form dilate
When cramped by fondling in the lap of State?
How could she speak with free and fearless tongue,
If princes deemed her speech too loud and long,
And gave their creature the ungracious choice,
To quit their presence, or suppress her voice?
How could she strike a sin-destroying blow
When Earth impelled her on another foe,
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To smite the conscience and o'erthrow the mind?
Yet rash conceit assured her she was whole,
She styled herself Physician of the Soul,
In wilful blindness bragged where she should quake,
And gave the medicine she ought to take.
What potent spell could charm away disease
When remedies disgust, and torments please?
How could her ministers redeem their trust,
When half their faith was plighted to the dust?
How could they do the business of the sky,
And undertake a mortal ministry?
In worldly lusts and bigot wrath agree,
And emulate the men of Galilee?
Direct a court intrigue—a state affair,
And win a sinner by reproof and prayer?
Run earth's low race, by mad ambition driven,
And urge the spirit on its flight to heaven?
Or swell the thousands sealed with Mammon's seal,
And serve Jehovah with an equal zeal?
She styled herself Physician of the Soul,
In wilful blindness bragged where she should quake,
And gave the medicine she ought to take.
What potent spell could charm away disease
When remedies disgust, and torments please?
How could her ministers redeem their trust,
When half their faith was plighted to the dust?
How could they do the business of the sky,
And undertake a mortal ministry?
In worldly lusts and bigot wrath agree,
And emulate the men of Galilee?
Direct a court intrigue—a state affair,
And win a sinner by reproof and prayer?
Run earth's low race, by mad ambition driven,
And urge the spirit on its flight to heaven?
Or swell the thousands sealed with Mammon's seal,
And serve Jehovah with an equal zeal?
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Oh! fatal error, doomed to work our woe,
With deadlier strength than every other foe;
Writ in red letters on each martyr's tomb,
And dreadly glaring through each nation's gloom!
Seen in the blindness of Egyptian slaves,
Felt in the death each widowed Hindoo braves;
Forced on the kingdom of our Saviour Lord,
And blent in blasting union with his Word!
Stamped with the thunder and the fire of Rome,
And graved in blotted characters at home!
We trace thy presence by the lack of mind,
By goads that torture, and false lights that blind.
We see the Priest familiar with the King,
Behold the dungeon yawn, the pile upspring;
Compassionate the fool, to brand the knave,
And curse the tyrant, to excuse the slave.
With deadlier strength than every other foe;
Writ in red letters on each martyr's tomb,
And dreadly glaring through each nation's gloom!
Seen in the blindness of Egyptian slaves,
Felt in the death each widowed Hindoo braves;
Forced on the kingdom of our Saviour Lord,
And blent in blasting union with his Word!
Stamped with the thunder and the fire of Rome,
And graved in blotted characters at home!
We trace thy presence by the lack of mind,
By goads that torture, and false lights that blind.
We see the Priest familiar with the King,
Behold the dungeon yawn, the pile upspring;
Compassionate the fool, to brand the knave,
And curse the tyrant, to excuse the slave.
Where mystic Nile in annual deluge driven,
Bestows the harvests else denied by heaven;
There Priest and King in closest league appeared,
In proudest show their dreadful trophies reared,
Unquestioned, uncontrolled, enforced their will,
And scourged and blinded with peculiar skill.
Strong in the arm of flesh, the might of mind,
The priestly sovereigns trod upon mankind;
They courted knowledge with no common love,
In patient search with toil and trouble strove,
Hung on her looks, and glorified her name,
Yet wooed their mistress with a lustful flame.
Their love was mixed with avarice and pride,
They courted to abuse, and won to hide.
No soul might beg or borrow of their store,
Nor share their mental wealth to make it more;
They hoarded all the gold, secure of loss,
And bade the multitude collect the dross.
Bestows the harvests else denied by heaven;
There Priest and King in closest league appeared,
In proudest show their dreadful trophies reared,
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And scourged and blinded with peculiar skill.
Strong in the arm of flesh, the might of mind,
The priestly sovereigns trod upon mankind;
They courted knowledge with no common love,
In patient search with toil and trouble strove,
Hung on her looks, and glorified her name,
Yet wooed their mistress with a lustful flame.
Their love was mixed with avarice and pride,
They courted to abuse, and won to hide.
No soul might beg or borrow of their store,
Nor share their mental wealth to make it more;
They hoarded all the gold, secure of loss,
And bade the multitude collect the dross.
The sire bequeathed his priesthood to the son,
No virtue wooed it, and no merit won;
Such lineal Knowledge lost each speeding chance,
And Fraud waxed fouler by inheritance.
O! mingled vice and woe that blight and blast,
When man is sunk and shackled in the caste;
Each fettered to the craft his sires pursued,
And starved upon the bitter bread they chewed!
No joy in past, no hope for future time,
No pride in virtue, no contempt of crime,
Chains on the conscience, folly in the will,
Each grovelling lust alive, each nobler passion still!
No virtue wooed it, and no merit won;
Such lineal Knowledge lost each speeding chance,
And Fraud waxed fouler by inheritance.
O! mingled vice and woe that blight and blast,
When man is sunk and shackled in the caste;
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And starved upon the bitter bread they chewed!
No joy in past, no hope for future time,
No pride in virtue, no contempt of crime,
Chains on the conscience, folly in the will,
Each grovelling lust alive, each nobler passion still!
The Hindoo, too, has withered 'neath the curse,
Has borne it longer, and has felt it worse;
The Brahmin triumphed, and the Pariah groaned;
The people knelt enthralled, the priesthood sate enthroned
Darkness and Light in strict succession run,
And scorn and honour passed from sire to son.
Has borne it longer, and has felt it worse;
The Brahmin triumphed, and the Pariah groaned;
The people knelt enthralled, the priesthood sate enthroned
Darkness and Light in strict succession run,
And scorn and honour passed from sire to son.
But turn from realms by taint of caste defiled,
To shores o'er which the star of Freedom smiled,
Where Valour gloried in the patriot war,
And Genius nobly paid the conqueror.
No regular descent of wrong and right,
No fixed inheritance of gloom and light,
No sullen impotence, no dull despair
Were felt to gender vice and weakness there.
Mind grew by freedom—Spirit teemed with life,
Thoughts, feelings, passions mixed in noble strife;
Surpassing Genius glorified the whole,
With various eloquence addressed the soul,
Warned the dull marble, thundered from the tongue,
Glowed on the canvass, and inspired the song.
Its field was watered by a thousand streams;
Its noon was brightened by contending beams;
Not like the ray that broke Egyptian gloom,
Just caught and cherished to adorn a tomb,
In mystic words, on mouldering parchment hid,
And buried 'neath the fane or pyramid!
No, Greece a higher glory wooed and won;—
Her Mind was universal as her Sun!
It warmed the world—allowed no partial day,
(Commingling power and beauty in each ray;)
And constant to its ministry of light,
Shines on to set in time's eternal night.
To shores o'er which the star of Freedom smiled,
Where Valour gloried in the patriot war,
And Genius nobly paid the conqueror.
No regular descent of wrong and right,
No fixed inheritance of gloom and light,
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Were felt to gender vice and weakness there.
Mind grew by freedom—Spirit teemed with life,
Thoughts, feelings, passions mixed in noble strife;
Surpassing Genius glorified the whole,
With various eloquence addressed the soul,
Warned the dull marble, thundered from the tongue,
Glowed on the canvass, and inspired the song.
Its field was watered by a thousand streams;
Its noon was brightened by contending beams;
Not like the ray that broke Egyptian gloom,
Just caught and cherished to adorn a tomb,
In mystic words, on mouldering parchment hid,
And buried 'neath the fane or pyramid!
No, Greece a higher glory wooed and won;—
Her Mind was universal as her Sun!
It warmed the world—allowed no partial day,
(Commingling power and beauty in each ray;)
And constant to its ministry of light,
Shines on to set in time's eternal night.
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Bright though it be, a brighter sun has lent
Superior glory to the firmament,
Predestined in undying strength to burn,
When Time is gathered to his funeral urn.
A planet lighted at the lamp of heaven,
That takes no lustre save what God has given,
Requires no world-won priest with care unmeet,
To trim its light, and regulate its heat;
Nor asks a king to limit its career,
Control its movement and contract its sphere!
Superior glory to the firmament,
Predestined in undying strength to burn,
When Time is gathered to his funeral urn.
A planet lighted at the lamp of heaven,
That takes no lustre save what God has given,
Requires no world-won priest with care unmeet,
To trim its light, and regulate its heat;
Nor asks a king to limit its career,
Control its movement and contract its sphere!
Who drew the lustre down upon mankind,
And held a heaven-lit torch to each dark mind?
The lowly Prince of Life! he stooped to win!
No earthly pomp disguised the Heaven within;
With sin and death in holy strength he strove,
His arms were words of life and deeds of love;
Leagued fraud and force maintained a counter war,
The Cross and Grave confessed him Conqueror.
A vassal people, a world-hated race,
Won the first visit from descending grace;
He shunned the path where priests and princes ran,
And threw his mantle o'er the fisherman;
The people loved, the Pharisee abhorred;
This doomed as felon, that revered as Lord.
The banded guardians of their church and state
Repelled undying love with quenchless hate.
And why this hate?—redeeming grace was free,
They could not brook such glorious liberty!
Did statutes aggravate, and tasks oppress?
His statute was to love, his task to bless!
Did priest and ritual point the way to God?
He led the soul along a straighter road.
And held a heaven-lit torch to each dark mind?
The lowly Prince of Life! he stooped to win!
No earthly pomp disguised the Heaven within;
With sin and death in holy strength he strove,
His arms were words of life and deeds of love;
Leagued fraud and force maintained a counter war,
The Cross and Grave confessed him Conqueror.
A vassal people, a world-hated race,
Won the first visit from descending grace;
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And threw his mantle o'er the fisherman;
The people loved, the Pharisee abhorred;
This doomed as felon, that revered as Lord.
The banded guardians of their church and state
Repelled undying love with quenchless hate.
And why this hate?—redeeming grace was free,
They could not brook such glorious liberty!
Did statutes aggravate, and tasks oppress?
His statute was to love, his task to bless!
Did priest and ritual point the way to God?
He led the soul along a straighter road.
Their law was uttered in the thunder tone,
Wrapped in the flame and graved upon the stone.
Their Church and State confessed one common spring;
They knew Jehovah as their God and King.
On them the Father beamed his special smile;
With them the Sovereign used his loftiest style;
The temple splendours imaged forth his court;
Exulting liegemen thronged the high resort;
Appointed priests his ministry fulfilled,
Came when he called, and published what he willed,
And took the tithe and sacrificial due
Jehovah deigned to call his revenue.
To fix the gaze of idol-cheated eyes,
Omnipotence was dressed in earthly guise;
To give the Father to his children's view,
The Crucified each borrowed robe withdrew,
Proclaimed each soul a place of praise and prayer,
'And reared a Throne, and built a Temple there.
Wrapped in the flame and graved upon the stone.
Their Church and State confessed one common spring;
They knew Jehovah as their God and King.
On them the Father beamed his special smile;
With them the Sovereign used his loftiest style;
The temple splendours imaged forth his court;
Exulting liegemen thronged the high resort;
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Came when he called, and published what he willed,
And took the tithe and sacrificial due
Jehovah deigned to call his revenue.
To fix the gaze of idol-cheated eyes,
Omnipotence was dressed in earthly guise;
To give the Father to his children's view,
The Crucified each borrowed robe withdrew,
Proclaimed each soul a place of praise and prayer,
'And reared a Throne, and built a Temple there.
'Twas this the Priest and Scribe agreed to spurn;
'Twas this the poor disciples could not learn;
They, too, would rank him with the worldly great,
And yoke his gospel to the car of State;
They wished the Prince of Peace a man of war,
Required him to assume the Conqueror,
Turn Heaven's own strength against the heathen lord,
And bless the strife and sanctify the sword,
O'er years of shame a veil of glory cast,
And recreate the consecrated past,
Where deeds of peace and war were greatly done,
And Solomon enjoyed what David won.
'Twas this the poor disciples could not learn;
They, too, would rank him with the worldly great,
And yoke his gospel to the car of State;
They wished the Prince of Peace a man of war,
Required him to assume the Conqueror,
Turn Heaven's own strength against the heathen lord,
And bless the strife and sanctify the sword,
O'er years of shame a veil of glory cast,
And recreate the consecrated past,
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And Solomon enjoyed what David won.
He sought to rouse them from the idle dream,
And light their souls with Truth's awakening beam;
His voice upon their empty converse broke,
The kind reproof, the gentle warning spoke,
And told the worldlings as they vainly strove,
The greatest here might be the least above.
When the fond mother asked for each vain son,
Superior glory round his fancied throne;
He promised them the fortune of their chief,
Assured their souls the fellowship of grief,—
The trial here, the triumph in the skies,
A kindred warfare, and a kindred prize.
Before the Roman he pursued the strain,
Disclaimed the world, and yet professed to reign,
Required the Soul to take him for her king,
Nor wished a subject save whom Truth might bring.
And light their souls with Truth's awakening beam;
His voice upon their empty converse broke,
The kind reproof, the gentle warning spoke,
And told the worldlings as they vainly strove,
The greatest here might be the least above.
When the fond mother asked for each vain son,
Superior glory round his fancied throne;
He promised them the fortune of their chief,
Assured their souls the fellowship of grief,—
The trial here, the triumph in the skies,
A kindred warfare, and a kindred prize.
Before the Roman he pursued the strain,
Disclaimed the world, and yet professed to reign,
Required the Soul to take him for her king,
Nor wished a subject save whom Truth might bring.
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Nor only words proscribed an earthly throne,
Deeds vivified each monitory tone;
He died, and laid the vain ambition low!
He died, and left the worldlings to their woe!
He rose unseen, unhonoured, unembraced,
Save by the few his former smile had graced;
To set his proper sway supremely forth,
Withdraw his gospel from the taint of earth,
Reveal his kingdom in the opening sky,
And bid the vanquished grave express his victory.
Deeds vivified each monitory tone;
He died, and laid the vain ambition low!
He died, and left the worldlings to their woe!
He rose unseen, unhonoured, unembraced,
Save by the few his former smile had graced;
To set his proper sway supremely forth,
Withdraw his gospel from the taint of earth,
Reveal his kingdom in the opening sky,
And bid the vanquished grave express his victory.
Had the Redeemer leagued but once with earth—
Put but one ray of worldly glory forth,
Lent but a partial sanction to abuse,
And left degenerate Faith but one excuse,
That act had won a nation's bended knee,
And tamed the Priest and gained the Pharisee.
He shrank from grandeur, they repelled his claim;
He brought them liberty, they deemed it shame.
Put but one ray of worldly glory forth,
Lent but a partial sanction to abuse,
And left degenerate Faith but one excuse,
That act had won a nation's bended knee,
And tamed the Priest and gained the Pharisee.
He shrank from grandeur, they repelled his claim;
He brought them liberty, they deemed it shame.
21
We, too, have borne the burden he removed,
The tithe, the priest, the ritual re-approved,
Resumed the yoke, though Christ has set us free,
And crouched, though Paul has preached our liberty,
Condemned the Saviour in our damning creeds,
And madly impious half undone his deeds.
He met temptation, felt its various might:
A feast was offered to each appetite;
Earth vainly tried each Heaven-exalted sense;
His soul was set on holy abstinence.
The early Church was mighty by his might,
Through weal and woe, she kept her Lord in sight,
To blind her eyes the Tempter strove and failed;
With later Faith he struggled and prevailed.
Yes! partial conquest lay in store for Hell;
The Saviour triumphed, but his followers fell!
The tithe, the priest, the ritual re-approved,
Resumed the yoke, though Christ has set us free,
And crouched, though Paul has preached our liberty,
Condemned the Saviour in our damning creeds,
And madly impious half undone his deeds.
He met temptation, felt its various might:
A feast was offered to each appetite;
Earth vainly tried each Heaven-exalted sense;
His soul was set on holy abstinence.
The early Church was mighty by his might,
Through weal and woe, she kept her Lord in sight,
To blind her eyes the Tempter strove and failed;
With later Faith he struggled and prevailed.
Yes! partial conquest lay in store for Hell;
The Saviour triumphed, but his followers fell!
24
BOOK II.
ARGUMENT.
The labours of Prometheus compared with the early deeds of the Christian Church, his captivity and sufferings with her subjection to worldly power and its evil consequences, his struggle with pain, and his deliverance from bondage with the resistance offered by the spirit of Christianity to the evil influences of the world, and its final victory over them. The manner in which the State seduced the Church—the manifold evils resulting thence—the degradation of her ministers—their servility towards the prince—their dissensions with each other—the interference of the prince in settling theological discussions, and arranging articles of faith—the invention of creeds—the beginning of persecutions —the good example of St. Ambrose and St. Chrysostom insufficient to stay the general degeneracy—the monks, the worship of images, and the sale of relics, strengthen priestcraft. The degraded state of the church at the appearance of Mohammed—the probable intent and destiny of Mohammedanism. The power of the Popes, illustrated by the submission of the Emperor Henry IV;—the way in which the Roman Church availed herself of her sainted dead—the instance of Becket—the great era of Papal supremacy and corruption—the extermination of the Albigenses—the establishment of the Inquisition—Wickliff, the persecution of his followers—the martyrdom of John Huss and Jerome of Prague—the war with the Hussites—the revival of ancient learning, and the invention of printing, instrumental in urging the march of Truth.
25
“Wolves shall succeed to teachers, grievous wolves—
Who all the sacred mysteries of heaven
To their own vile advantages shall turn,
Of ?ucre, and ambition, and the truth
With superstitions and traditions taint,
Left only in those written records pure;
Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names,
Places, and titles, and with these to join
Secular power, though feigning still to act
By spiritual, to themselves appropriating
The spirit of God, promised alike and given
To all believers, and from that pretence
Spiritual laws by carnal power shall force
On every conscience.”—
Par. Lost, b. 12, v. 508—20.
Who all the sacred mysteries of heaven
To their own vile advantages shall turn,
Of ?ucre, and ambition, and the truth
With superstitions and traditions taint,
Left only in those written records pure;
Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names,
Places, and titles, and with these to join
Secular power, though feigning still to act
By spiritual, to themselves appropriating
The spirit of God, promised alike and given
To all believers, and from that pretence
Spiritual laws by carnal power shall force
On every conscience.”—
Par. Lost, b. 12, v. 508—20.
The fire-Purloiner, who awoke mankind,
And bold in mercy lighted up the mind,
Provoked the jealous gods to work his woe,
And fell their victim, yet survived their foe.
Slave of the fetter, tenant of the steep,
Denied the bliss of death, the balm of sleep,
He bore the pangs their growing hate increased,
Nor grudged the vulture its diurnal feast.
And ages saw the direful strife renewed,
Jove unappeased—Prometheus unsubdued!
The vulture sternly constant to his prey,
Prolonged the pang in impotence to slay.
Strong in the iron-will that warred with fate,
True to the love that woke Almighty hate,
The Titan triumphed in the bright offence,
Nor sued for grace, nor stooped to penitence,
Nor mourned his mercy in despairing mood,
Nor cursed the past, irresolute in good;
With tyrant might that tortured heart still strove,
Still wildly beat in brave disdain of Jove,
Sublimely soared above the wish to die,
And nobly wore its immortality.
And bold in mercy lighted up the mind,
Provoked the jealous gods to work his woe,
And fell their victim, yet survived their foe.
Slave of the fetter, tenant of the steep,
Denied the bliss of death, the balm of sleep,
26
Nor grudged the vulture its diurnal feast.
And ages saw the direful strife renewed,
Jove unappeased—Prometheus unsubdued!
The vulture sternly constant to his prey,
Prolonged the pang in impotence to slay.
Strong in the iron-will that warred with fate,
True to the love that woke Almighty hate,
The Titan triumphed in the bright offence,
Nor sued for grace, nor stooped to penitence,
Nor mourned his mercy in despairing mood,
Nor cursed the past, irresolute in good;
With tyrant might that tortured heart still strove,
Still wildly beat in brave disdain of Jove,
Sublimely soared above the wish to die,
And nobly wore its immortality.
But wrath can blast, and woe endure too long,
A hero gloried to redress the wrong.
Love hailed his advent, Pity urged his tread;
Fate winged the shaft indignant Mercy sped;
The vulture dropped, the captive burst his chain;
Heaven claimed her banished son, Prometheus smiled again!
A hero gloried to redress the wrong.
Love hailed his advent, Pity urged his tread;
Fate winged the shaft indignant Mercy sped;
27
Heaven claimed her banished son, Prometheus smiled again!
Dread fate! Love's gracious bidding to fulfil,
And win the awful meed of endless ill;
Cling to that Love unconquered through the doom,
And dare the death-pang, yet defy the tomb.
But say, can aught that Truth's stern records show,
Match the grand horror of imagined woe?
Yes! Earth has smiled in evil joy to see
A deadlier strife—a longer agony.
Sublimer Mercy triumph but to mourn,
And fiercer Wrath inflict a like return!
And win the awful meed of endless ill;
Cling to that Love unconquered through the doom,
And dare the death-pang, yet defy the tomb.
But say, can aught that Truth's stern records show,
Match the grand horror of imagined woe?
Yes! Earth has smiled in evil joy to see
A deadlier strife—a longer agony.
Sublimer Mercy triumph but to mourn,
And fiercer Wrath inflict a like return!
Death's sable pall o'er trembling nature hung,
Heaven stooped to earth—the Church of God upsprung!
Love yoked her being to this fading sphere,
Gave her an end, a hope, a triumph here;
She won the world in potency of grace,
Life in her smile, and bliss in her embrace,
Dispensed no niggard joy, no stinted love,
But led the universal march above.
Heaven stooped to earth—the Church of God upsprung!
Love yoked her being to this fading sphere,
Gave her an end, a hope, a triumph here;
She won the world in potency of grace,
Life in her smile, and bliss in her embrace,
28
But led the universal march above.
Heaven hailed the bloodless triumph half achieved,
Man dared to hope, but stricken Evil grieved,
Bewailed the darkness rent, the fetter riven,
And Earth ennobled by the sway of Heaven;
Nor boldly faced the chosen of the sky,
But wooed the victor to captivity,
Her chain a sceptre, and a throne her rock;
Doomed her to trial worse than tempest's shock,
Matured the work of woe with ruthless art,
And loosed a vulture band upon that heart;
Each lawless impulse, each unhallowed lust,
That yoke their slaves in servitude to dust—
The roving horde of passions, boldly gross,
Swift, savage, strong, impatient, ravenous;
Foul, shameless gluttons, that all good devour,
And feel it famine to forbear an hour,
Came fiercely hungry at the infernal call,
Thronged in dread revel round their fettered thrall,
Rejoiced to clutch the long-forbidden prey,
And wrung their nurture from her agony.
Man dared to hope, but stricken Evil grieved,
Bewailed the darkness rent, the fetter riven,
And Earth ennobled by the sway of Heaven;
Nor boldly faced the chosen of the sky,
But wooed the victor to captivity,
Her chain a sceptre, and a throne her rock;
Doomed her to trial worse than tempest's shock,
Matured the work of woe with ruthless art,
And loosed a vulture band upon that heart;
Each lawless impulse, each unhallowed lust,
That yoke their slaves in servitude to dust—
The roving horde of passions, boldly gross,
Swift, savage, strong, impatient, ravenous;
Foul, shameless gluttons, that all good devour,
And feel it famine to forbear an hour,
Came fiercely hungry at the infernal call,
Thronged in dread revel round their fettered thrall,
29
And wrung their nurture from her agony.
Age sped the march of age, the feast still lures;
The vulture passions prey, the Church endures;
Yes! they could blast her in their foul embrace,
Stay the strong current of spontaneous grace.
And rive her heart in endless lust of food,
Yet armed with deathless strength the Victim stood;
She bore the stamp of God, she breathed of heaven,
To quell that breath no potency was given;
Hell worked his will, the enduring Love still glowed;
The life drops streamed, but still their fountain flowed.
The vulture passions prey, the Church endures;
Yes! they could blast her in their foul embrace,
Stay the strong current of spontaneous grace.
And rive her heart in endless lust of food,
Yet armed with deathless strength the Victim stood;
She bore the stamp of God, she breathed of heaven,
To quell that breath no potency was given;
Hell worked his will, the enduring Love still glowed;
The life drops streamed, but still their fountain flowed.
But say, shall rampant Ill securely dare,
And trampled Mercy breathe a bootless prayer?
Oh no! her voice is raised, her arm is bared,
The vengeance ripe, the crowning joy prepared!
Her mighty minister, the Book of Life,
In re-awakened strength shall court the strife!
Grace claim her final triumph from the Word;
The gospel arrows smite the vulture horde;
Heaven's thunders ring upon the yielding chain;
Love wake his poeans o'er the closing pain;
The rescued Church surpass her deeds of old,
Enclose the willing world within her fold,
From lowly bonds to raptured conquest rise,
And blend her deathless being with the skies!
And trampled Mercy breathe a bootless prayer?
Oh no! her voice is raised, her arm is bared,
The vengeance ripe, the crowning joy prepared!
Her mighty minister, the Book of Life,
In re-awakened strength shall court the strife!
30
The gospel arrows smite the vulture horde;
Heaven's thunders ring upon the yielding chain;
Love wake his poeans o'er the closing pain;
The rescued Church surpass her deeds of old,
Enclose the willing world within her fold,
From lowly bonds to raptured conquest rise,
And blend her deathless being with the skies!
But cease, fond Muse, on distant bliss to dream,
That casts forbidden brightness o'er my theme;
The Child of Heaven has stooped to league with dust!
The Minister of Love betrayed her trust:
Has won the prize her earthward gaze revealed,
And reaped the fruit that sin's full harvests yield!
Truth, lift thy trumpet! sound a warning blast!
Restore the awful presence of the Past!
Expose the blighting of the gospel fruit,
Lay bare the woe of ages to its root,
Bid Evil triumph in her holy nurse,
And track through tears and blood, the speeding curse!
That casts forbidden brightness o'er my theme;
The Child of Heaven has stooped to league with dust!
The Minister of Love betrayed her trust:
Has won the prize her earthward gaze revealed,
And reaped the fruit that sin's full harvests yield!
Truth, lift thy trumpet! sound a warning blast!
Restore the awful presence of the Past!
Expose the blighting of the gospel fruit,
Lay bare the woe of ages to its root,
Bid Evil triumph in her holy nurse,
And track through tears and blood, the speeding curse!
31
The world gave way, its sceptred terrors failed,
Its mighty foe,—the woe-nursed Church prevailed.
Oh! had the careless Victor read aright
The terms her triumph won from mortal might,
Unveiled their sense, and weighed their little worth,
Her star-like lustre had not paled on earth;
Her strength had scorned the durance of a throne,
Nor angel guides, nor martyr guardians flown;
Nor Glory stung, nor Victory undone:
The field was nobly fought, but dearly won.
True; Wisdom bade the useless warfare cease,
And Hope and Mercy blessed the mutual peace;
The Church should thus have mingled with the World,
Nor Heaven and Earth in jarring league been hurled:
A distant smile been all that Kings could win,
And parted sway have spared the common sin.
Its mighty foe,—the woe-nursed Church prevailed.
Oh! had the careless Victor read aright
The terms her triumph won from mortal might,
Unveiled their sense, and weighed their little worth,
Her star-like lustre had not paled on earth;
Her strength had scorned the durance of a throne,
Nor angel guides, nor martyr guardians flown;
Nor Glory stung, nor Victory undone:
The field was nobly fought, but dearly won.
True; Wisdom bade the useless warfare cease,
And Hope and Mercy blessed the mutual peace;
The Church should thus have mingled with the World,
Nor Heaven and Earth in jarring league been hurled:
A distant smile been all that Kings could win,
And parted sway have spared the common sin.
But 'twas not thus the fires of strife should die,
Imperial Might disdained the holy tie;
Clay-kindled Faith and sway-cemented Love,
A faster bond, a stronger fetter wove,
In earthly service tasked the strength of Heaven,
And lured to sin where Death in vain had driven.
Earth's despots sued the Champion of the skies,
Preferred a vassal prayer in vanquished guise,
Resigned the sword that struck but could not harm,
Assumed the winning smile, the potent charm,
Implored such grace as sentenced felons crave,
And wept repentance o'er each martyr's grave,
Described in contrite Grief's persuasive tone,
The luring splendours of an earthly throne,
Essayed the arts that wither while they win,
And urged in Virtue's garb the suit of Sin.
Imperial Might disdained the holy tie;
Clay-kindled Faith and sway-cemented Love,
A faster bond, a stronger fetter wove,
32
And lured to sin where Death in vain had driven.
Earth's despots sued the Champion of the skies,
Preferred a vassal prayer in vanquished guise,
Resigned the sword that struck but could not harm,
Assumed the winning smile, the potent charm,
Implored such grace as sentenced felons crave,
And wept repentance o'er each martyr's grave,
Described in contrite Grief's persuasive tone,
The luring splendours of an earthly throne,
Essayed the arts that wither while they win,
And urged in Virtue's garb the suit of Sin.
The prayer was humbly made, nor nobly spurned,
No glance of scorn, no words of wrath returned;
The Victor bade her pardoned suppliant rise,
And smiled acceptance of the worthless prize:
The sceptred impotence, the courtly show,
Seemed full requital for her glorious woe;
And mitred worldlings blessed the martyr's doom,
Since Kings revered each shade, and decked each tomb.
The sceptre dropped pollution on the cross,
The Church resigned the gold to seize the dross.
No longer saints may watch, or Heaven defend,
Earth brought her strength, and princes called her friend.
For Dust and Sin she dared the wrongful deed,
From Dust and Sin she won the tainted meed.
See rampant Crime a gospel sanction claim,
And call on Heaven to bless each deed of shame!
Within the shrine Ambition spread its feast;
Gain win a faithful vassal in the priest;
Fanatic Gloom obscure the light of faith,
And bigot Fury aim the dart of death;
Frenzy exult in self-inflicted pain,
Deal the red lash and drag the clanking chain.
No glance of scorn, no words of wrath returned;
The Victor bade her pardoned suppliant rise,
And smiled acceptance of the worthless prize:
The sceptred impotence, the courtly show,
Seemed full requital for her glorious woe;
And mitred worldlings blessed the martyr's doom,
Since Kings revered each shade, and decked each tomb.
33
The Church resigned the gold to seize the dross.
No longer saints may watch, or Heaven defend,
Earth brought her strength, and princes called her friend.
For Dust and Sin she dared the wrongful deed,
From Dust and Sin she won the tainted meed.
See rampant Crime a gospel sanction claim,
And call on Heaven to bless each deed of shame!
Within the shrine Ambition spread its feast;
Gain win a faithful vassal in the priest;
Fanatic Gloom obscure the light of faith,
And bigot Fury aim the dart of death;
Frenzy exult in self-inflicted pain,
Deal the red lash and drag the clanking chain.
The guides who shewed the infant Church her path,
Nor knew the world save in its scorn and wrath;
Who swayed their flock in amplitude of love,
And asked no guerdon save the bliss above;
Who urged the Truth to victor strife with Pain,
And heavenward-speeding led the martyr train,
On world-untainted faith their empire built,
And left their heirs the grandeur and the guilt.
But these disdainful of the glory known,
The sinless sway, the unpolluted throne,
Forsook the martyr's charge, the Saviour's care
To gaze on sceptred joys and claim a share;
Found Faith the fairer for a king's embrace,
And tainted courts the favourite soil of grace,
Invested Heaven with Earth's ungenial mould,
Stamped might on right, and sanctity on gold,
For royal vices kept a sightless eye,
Excused the lust, nor shunned the revelry,
Smiled foul approval of the bigot's joy,
Nor stayed the tyrant's impulse to destroy,
Lived in his smile and withered at his frown,
Defiled the Cross, to consecrate the Crown.
Conformed their conscience to a monarch's nod,
And served the creature, to forget the God;
Or, far from courtier sin and palace broil,
With fiercer effort grasped an equal spoil.
Lo! saintly rivals claimed the people's voice;
Arms tried the cause and ratified the choice;
Ambitious fear approved what force had done;
The pastor bruised the flock his sword had won.
Nor knew the world save in its scorn and wrath;
Who swayed their flock in amplitude of love,
And asked no guerdon save the bliss above;
Who urged the Truth to victor strife with Pain,
And heavenward-speeding led the martyr train,
34
And left their heirs the grandeur and the guilt.
But these disdainful of the glory known,
The sinless sway, the unpolluted throne,
Forsook the martyr's charge, the Saviour's care
To gaze on sceptred joys and claim a share;
Found Faith the fairer for a king's embrace,
And tainted courts the favourite soil of grace,
Invested Heaven with Earth's ungenial mould,
Stamped might on right, and sanctity on gold,
For royal vices kept a sightless eye,
Excused the lust, nor shunned the revelry,
Smiled foul approval of the bigot's joy,
Nor stayed the tyrant's impulse to destroy,
Lived in his smile and withered at his frown,
Defiled the Cross, to consecrate the Crown.
Conformed their conscience to a monarch's nod,
And served the creature, to forget the God;
Or, far from courtier sin and palace broil,
With fiercer effort grasped an equal spoil.
35
Arms tried the cause and ratified the choice;
Ambitious fear approved what force had done;
The pastor bruised the flock his sword had won.
The factions in the realms of Faith and Thought,
That lightly took up arms, yet fiercely fought;
That wooed the brightness of one common blaze,
But caught its splendour in contending rays;
That searched the stores Heaven's oracles dispense,
Yet only read to find a jarring sense,
No longer tried their strength in learned strife,
Nor looked for conquest to the Book of Life,
But prayed the judgment of a mortal lord,
And left the final sentence to the sword.
That lightly took up arms, yet fiercely fought;
That wooed the brightness of one common blaze,
But caught its splendour in contending rays;
That searched the stores Heaven's oracles dispense,
Yet only read to find a jarring sense,
No longer tried their strength in learned strife,
Nor looked for conquest to the Book of Life,
But prayed the judgment of a mortal lord,
And left the final sentence to the sword.
Then priestly daring soared to higher sin;
Each jarring faction, as it chanced to win,
Strong in the monarch's aid, the courtier's smile,
Assumed the lordly tone, the tyrant-style;
Forbade devotion save in strains it taught,
Prescribed the form of faith, the flow of thought,
Exhausted guilt its despot sway to speed,
And hailed its monster offspring in the Creed,
'Gainst fancied Error dealt a stern award,
From earth's enjoyments, Heaven's salvation barred,
With impious hand the damning sentence writ,
For future sin the bigot beacon lit,
Assumed a foul monopoly of light,
And won submission from congenial Night.
Each jarring faction, as it chanced to win,
Strong in the monarch's aid, the courtier's smile,
Assumed the lordly tone, the tyrant-style;
36
Prescribed the form of faith, the flow of thought,
Exhausted guilt its despot sway to speed,
And hailed its monster offspring in the Creed,
'Gainst fancied Error dealt a stern award,
From earth's enjoyments, Heaven's salvation barred,
With impious hand the damning sentence writ,
For future sin the bigot beacon lit,
Assumed a foul monopoly of light,
And won submission from congenial Night.
Nor priests pursued the work of shame alone;
Faith took her varying fashion from the throne;
Imperial Pride its sacred skill would prove,
And match its wisdom with the light above;
Bade creed on creed the wildered world invade,
Enforced each rule that fickle fancy made,
Proposed the mitre as Submission's meed,
And doomed the Faith that would not bend to bleed:
Nor lured to sin, nor doomed to woe, in vain;
Few bore the loss, but many sought the gain;
Earth yearnings nursed the fear that Love could brave,
And saintly Champion sunk to palace slave.
Faith took her varying fashion from the throne;
Imperial Pride its sacred skill would prove,
And match its wisdom with the light above;
Bade creed on creed the wildered world invade,
Enforced each rule that fickle fancy made,
Proposed the mitre as Submission's meed,
And doomed the Faith that would not bend to bleed:
Nor lured to sin, nor doomed to woe, in vain;
Few bore the loss, but many sought the gain;
37
And saintly Champion sunk to palace slave.
As martyrs set their stedfast gaze on high,
Achieved their work with earth-averted eye,
Invoked the words of doom, the death of shame,
And hailed the bliss that beckoned through the flame;
So mitred throngs as stedfastly looked down,
Felt equal ardour for a fading crown,
Laid hold on power though sin might be the price,
And deemed the palace bondage Paradise.
Achieved their work with earth-averted eye,
Invoked the words of doom, the death of shame,
And hailed the bliss that beckoned through the flame;
So mitred throngs as stedfastly looked down,
Felt equal ardour for a fading crown,
Laid hold on power though sin might be the price,
And deemed the palace bondage Paradise.
The plague spot spread, but some repelled the taint,
Nor show of sanctity made every saint;
Grace still delayed, in sorrow to depart,
And virtue lingered in a prelate's heart,—
Upraised her voice against the rash award,
That gave an erring city to the sword,
Disdained the sovereign in the man of blood,
Imperial prayers, repentant tears withstood,
To sceptred guilt no courtly balm applied,
The kiss of peace, the cup of grace denied,
Appalled the conscience, woke its keenest sense,
Nor took regret in place of penitence,
Bade public Shame its chastening presence lend,
And in the penitent embraced the friend;
Nor made Chrysostom less divinely strong,
Stood forth in eloquent disdain of wrong,
From sceptred vices dared to rend the screen,
Brave a base court and brand a guilty queen;
Awoke imperial dread in exiled gloom,
And dealt triumphant vengeance from the tomb.
Nor show of sanctity made every saint;
Grace still delayed, in sorrow to depart,
And virtue lingered in a prelate's heart,—
Upraised her voice against the rash award,
That gave an erring city to the sword,
38
Imperial prayers, repentant tears withstood,
To sceptred guilt no courtly balm applied,
The kiss of peace, the cup of grace denied,
Appalled the conscience, woke its keenest sense,
Nor took regret in place of penitence,
Bade public Shame its chastening presence lend,
And in the penitent embraced the friend;
Nor made Chrysostom less divinely strong,
Stood forth in eloquent disdain of wrong,
From sceptred vices dared to rend the screen,
Brave a base court and brand a guilty queen;
Awoke imperial dread in exiled gloom,
And dealt triumphant vengeance from the tomb.
39
But oh! no single arm, no partial light,
Had power to stay the fall, to scare the night;
The recreant Church enjoyed the chains she wore,
And loved her worldly sway, and treasured store.
To spread that potency, to swell that hoard,
She bade perverted Faith her aid afford;
Each pious deed became a foul abuse,
Each holy feeling served for damning use.
Had power to stay the fall, to scare the night;
The recreant Church enjoyed the chains she wore,
And loved her worldly sway, and treasured store.
To spread that potency, to swell that hoard,
She bade perverted Faith her aid afford;
Each pious deed became a foul abuse,
Each holy feeling served for damning use.
The saintly men who spurned the thought of fame,
And mourned such service as the world could claim;
Who shunned each spot where mortals might intrude,
Nor sought salvation save in solitude,
And yet attracted to the desert cell
The worldly gaze they gloried to repel:
Soon craved the homage that they once had spurned,
To sovereign sway their lonely leisure turned,
Invoked auxiliar potency from pain,
Employed fast, penance, vigil, scourge and chain,
Sustained the Church, partook her guilty toil,
And claimed an equal interest in the spoil.
And mourned such service as the world could claim;
Who shunned each spot where mortals might intrude,
Nor sought salvation save in solitude,
And yet attracted to the desert cell
The worldly gaze they gloried to repel:
Soon craved the homage that they once had spurned,
To sovereign sway their lonely leisure turned,
Invoked auxiliar potency from pain,
Employed fast, penance, vigil, scourge and chain,
Sustained the Church, partook her guilty toil,
And claimed an equal interest in the spoil.
40
Above the spot where martyred dust was laid,
And grateful tears a sinless homage paid,
Inventive Priestcraft traced a bold design,
Sustained her grandeur on the rising shrine,
Enclosed a fancied image of the dead,
Around the fane a suppliant people led,
Taught Idol Prayer its impious voice to lift,
Required the praise, nor oft excused the gift;
Where Gratitude once loved, she now adored,
And gave the dead what living they abhorred.
And grateful tears a sinless homage paid,
Inventive Priestcraft traced a bold design,
Sustained her grandeur on the rising shrine,
Enclosed a fancied image of the dead,
Around the fane a suppliant people led,
Taught Idol Prayer its impious voice to lift,
Required the praise, nor oft excused the gift;
Where Gratitude once loved, she now adored,
And gave the dead what living they abhorred.
Faith lent full credence to each fraudful tale;
Deluded thousands thronged the relic sale;
Bold Priestcraft triumphed in the impious trade,
Enhanced the price that reckless Folly paid,
Caught in her waiting arms the golden shower,
And moved at will a master-spring of power.
Deluded thousands thronged the relic sale;
Bold Priestcraft triumphed in the impious trade,
Enhanced the price that reckless Folly paid,
Caught in her waiting arms the golden shower,
And moved at will a master-spring of power.
Each added gain the bigot march impelled,
Augmented sway the jealous rancour swelled,
Fanatic Hate assumed a darker hue,
Exile and fetters palled; She smote and slew!
'Twas thus that Priestcraft played her guilty game,
Her end, her arms, her triumph were the same,
Robed in the purple of a Roman lord
Or tried in conflict with a savage horde.
Sway bred corruption in her every part,
Truth mourned the gainful fraud, the relic mart;
Mourned Scripture veiled, Idolatry restored,
And Conscience taught submission by the sword.
Augmented sway the jealous rancour swelled,
41
Exile and fetters palled; She smote and slew!
'Twas thus that Priestcraft played her guilty game,
Her end, her arms, her triumph were the same,
Robed in the purple of a Roman lord
Or tried in conflict with a savage horde.
Sway bred corruption in her every part,
Truth mourned the gainful fraud, the relic mart;
Mourned Scripture veiled, Idolatry restored,
And Conscience taught submission by the sword.
But rebel Faith had sinned too deep for grace;
No sorrow could redeem, no time efface;
Indignant Justice gazed with lowering eye,
The scourge was raised, a fierce inflicter nigh!
No sorrow could redeem, no time efface;
Indignant Justice gazed with lowering eye,
The scourge was raised, a fierce inflicter nigh!
Sublime Imposture wore a prophet's name,
O'er Arab wastes in guise of conquest came,
On idol impotence devoutly trod,
Bound warring tribes in homage to one God;
Awoke the hero in the robber horde,
And gave the Sacred Book, and girded on the sword!
Yes, War must make the Imposter known to man;
From tribe to tribe the kindling summons ran;
The Desert heard, and sent her children forth,
With steed and scimeter to win the earth!
Young, fiery Zeal was there to guide each blow,
To mock the ordered ranks, the steel-clad foe.
To smile on daring that declined no deed,
And urge their victor course to lightning speed;
No stay! no bound! they won the Sacred Soil,
Scarce paused to seize, and share the Syrian spoil,
From mystic Nile to headlong Indus rushed,
Scourged Roman pride, and Persian glory crushed,
Confounded Hun and Goth with equal ease,
Spurned the Atlantic wave, and scaled the Pyrénees!
O'er Arab wastes in guise of conquest came,
42
Bound warring tribes in homage to one God;
Awoke the hero in the robber horde,
And gave the Sacred Book, and girded on the sword!
Yes, War must make the Imposter known to man;
From tribe to tribe the kindling summons ran;
The Desert heard, and sent her children forth,
With steed and scimeter to win the earth!
Young, fiery Zeal was there to guide each blow,
To mock the ordered ranks, the steel-clad foe.
To smile on daring that declined no deed,
And urge their victor course to lightning speed;
No stay! no bound! they won the Sacred Soil,
Scarce paused to seize, and share the Syrian spoil,
From mystic Nile to headlong Indus rushed,
Scourged Roman pride, and Persian glory crushed,
Confounded Hun and Goth with equal ease,
Spurned the Atlantic wave, and scaled the Pyrénees!
False guide! mysterious minister of Heaven!
Thy conquering arm, thy lengthened rule were given
To hold o'er priestly Sin a constant rod,
And bring the Church through suffering back to God.
But now when time has marked the foul revolt,
And rebel Faith begun to mourn her fault,
A deadly sleep on prostrate Islam lies;
No more the war-cry speeds, the warrior dies!
No countless throngs the circling impulse own
To press their lips upon the kiss-worn stone,
Nor fondly court the travel and the toil,
To touch the shrine that robbers dared despoil!
And oh! when Faith her last vile bond shall burst,
By power unharmed, by grandeur unaccursed,
Rent from its sphere, the Moslem star shall pale;
The bold deceit, the baleful splendour fail;
The Cross reconquer what the Crescent won,
And peace repair the wrong that war has done;
The Gospel sun regain its native sky,
And re-assume meridian potency!
Thy conquering arm, thy lengthened rule were given
43
And bring the Church through suffering back to God.
But now when time has marked the foul revolt,
And rebel Faith begun to mourn her fault,
A deadly sleep on prostrate Islam lies;
No more the war-cry speeds, the warrior dies!
No countless throngs the circling impulse own
To press their lips upon the kiss-worn stone,
Nor fondly court the travel and the toil,
To touch the shrine that robbers dared despoil!
And oh! when Faith her last vile bond shall burst,
By power unharmed, by grandeur unaccursed,
Rent from its sphere, the Moslem star shall pale;
The bold deceit, the baleful splendour fail;
The Cross reconquer what the Crescent won,
And peace repair the wrong that war has done;
The Gospel sun regain its native sky,
And re-assume meridian potency!
44
The stricken Church, of half her empire reft,
Clung to the sway her Moslem victor left,
Called Rome to struggle and prevail anew,
And all the deeds she did of old out do.
There dwelt the living Light, the breathing Soul,
The centre spring that moved the mighty whole,
There in throned pomp the Sovereign Pontiff swayed,
With skilful hand the mystic engine played!
Embraced the world within his eagle glance,
Invoked each aid, improved each favouring chance,
Intent on power the awful sentence spoke,
That doomed a people to the tyrant's yoke,
Or smiled on Freedom with approving eye
And lent her cause auxiliar sanctity!
His vassal priests denied the nuptial tie,
Lived but to work his will and share his joy;
Triumphant union knit the daring band,
And reckless Faith obeyed each foul command,
Clung to the sway her Moslem victor left,
Called Rome to struggle and prevail anew,
And all the deeds she did of old out do.
There dwelt the living Light, the breathing Soul,
The centre spring that moved the mighty whole,
There in throned pomp the Sovereign Pontiff swayed,
With skilful hand the mystic engine played!
Embraced the world within his eagle glance,
Invoked each aid, improved each favouring chance,
Intent on power the awful sentence spoke,
That doomed a people to the tyrant's yoke,
Or smiled on Freedom with approving eye
And lent her cause auxiliar sanctity!
His vassal priests denied the nuptial tie,
Lived but to work his will and share his joy;
45
And reckless Faith obeyed each foul command,
And now the Church with matchless might endowed,
Dealt fiercely with the strong, abashed the proud,
Blasted their being, trampled o'er their graves,
Sceptres her play-things! potentates her slaves!
Securely bold, she sped the stern decree
That fixed the faith, that doomed the heresy,
That set on subject thrones a changing price
And grafted holiness on gainful vice.
Dealt fiercely with the strong, abashed the proud,
Blasted their being, trampled o'er their graves,
Sceptres her play-things! potentates her slaves!
Securely bold, she sped the stern decree
That fixed the faith, that doomed the heresy,
That set on subject thrones a changing price
And grafted holiness on gainful vice.
Behold the naked emperor doomed to wait,
In freezing anguish at the pontiff's gate!
No couch but such as mother Earth may spare,
No social solace save the menial's stare!
From outward shame, from starving want released,
In kneeling guise behold him sue the priest!
Endure the harsh rebuke, the haughty frown,
Resign his sovereignty, but keep his crown,
Win from the Church a serpent-like embrace,
And part insulted with her tardy grace!
In freezing anguish at the pontiff's gate!
No couch but such as mother Earth may spare,
No social solace save the menial's stare!
From outward shame, from starving want released,
In kneeling guise behold him sue the priest!
Endure the harsh rebuke, the haughty frown,
Resign his sovereignty, but keep his crown,
46
And part insulted with her tardy grace!
In walks of state, in palaces of pride,
She reigns the Omnipotent, the Glorified!
And yet she will not rest her pinions here,
Nor bound her empire to this lower sphere.
Oh no! in sterner guise she speaks to men;
Her dread dominion mocks at mortal ken;
With victor tread she cleaves the dark unknown,
And sways and triumphs on a viewless throne;
Her quenchless torch is lit 'mid funeral gloom;
Her iron sceptre rests upon the tomb;
Sepulchral Night withdraws its veil for her,
And Death attends, obsequious Minister,
Waits but her word to strike the destined prey,
His breath her life, his gain her victory!
Ask you the secret of her mystic sway?
Go read it graven on her sainted clay!
The pomp that blazes round her living head,
But speaks the glory of her mighty Dead.
Say, lacks she strength? the Dead who cannot die,
The men who gave their brief mortality
To toil and sin, that she might bear the rod,
And vex the nations in the name of God,
Still love and watch, and labour in the grave,
And bare their shrunken arms to strike and save!
She calls—her summons rends the hovering cloud,
Warms the dull ashes, stirs the crumbling shroud!
Earth yields her captives, Death foregoes his boast!
They start to life a grim, resistless host!
Their chainless spirits walk the trembling world,
March with the sign of war and woe unfurled,
Breathe in each frailer child of dust and death
Impatient zeal and blind, adoring faith,
Hurl their collected terrors on the foes
Who spurn the yoke the Church would fain impose,
With arms that flee the hand and mock the eye,
Spoil the vain show of earthly potency,
From Court and Camp reluctant homage wring,
Disarm the Warrior and uncrown the King!
She reigns the Omnipotent, the Glorified!
And yet she will not rest her pinions here,
Nor bound her empire to this lower sphere.
Oh no! in sterner guise she speaks to men;
Her dread dominion mocks at mortal ken;
With victor tread she cleaves the dark unknown,
And sways and triumphs on a viewless throne;
Her quenchless torch is lit 'mid funeral gloom;
Her iron sceptre rests upon the tomb;
Sepulchral Night withdraws its veil for her,
And Death attends, obsequious Minister,
Waits but her word to strike the destined prey,
His breath her life, his gain her victory!
Ask you the secret of her mystic sway?
Go read it graven on her sainted clay!
The pomp that blazes round her living head,
But speaks the glory of her mighty Dead.
47
The men who gave their brief mortality
To toil and sin, that she might bear the rod,
And vex the nations in the name of God,
Still love and watch, and labour in the grave,
And bare their shrunken arms to strike and save!
She calls—her summons rends the hovering cloud,
Warms the dull ashes, stirs the crumbling shroud!
Earth yields her captives, Death foregoes his boast!
They start to life a grim, resistless host!
Their chainless spirits walk the trembling world,
March with the sign of war and woe unfurled,
Breathe in each frailer child of dust and death
Impatient zeal and blind, adoring faith,
Hurl their collected terrors on the foes
Who spurn the yoke the Church would fain impose,
With arms that flee the hand and mock the eye,
Spoil the vain show of earthly potency,
From Court and Camp reluctant homage wring,
Disarm the Warrior and uncrown the King!
48
Is this Poetic Truth? Does Fancy fly
Presumptuous o'er the realms of History?
No! let her solemn voice pursue the strain,
Recal the murdered priest, the crimsoned fane,
The spot where oft he prayed, where last he stood,
The altar hallowed by his costly blood,
The form that rots, the fame that ripens there,
The immortal dust, the imperial sepulchre!
Behold! a crownless monarch bows his head,
And bends his knee before the mighty dead;
Oh! could the gazing multitudes forget
That trembling wretch was once Plantagenet!
The Lord of many realms! the Man of might!
Fortune's spoiled child! Love's foremost favourite!
The subtle Statesman! the heroic Chief!
How tamed by fear, how stupified by grief!
No struggling hope, no stern resolve is there,
Nor majesty in woe, nor grandeur in despair!
Fast by the tomb he waits the sable throng,
Charged to exact due vengeance for the wrong;
In stern impatience to fulfil their trust,
They give the word; he grovels in the dust!
A dreadful pause.—and lo! the lash descends!
No single stroke that lordly body rends;
The bloody scourge is passed from hand to hand!
The glorious vengeance circles round the band!
Strange chance! the Saxon strikes, the Norman bleeds,
The wrong is well avenged, the righteous penance speeds!
Presumptuous o'er the realms of History?
No! let her solemn voice pursue the strain,
Recal the murdered priest, the crimsoned fane,
The spot where oft he prayed, where last he stood,
The altar hallowed by his costly blood,
The form that rots, the fame that ripens there,
The immortal dust, the imperial sepulchre!
Behold! a crownless monarch bows his head,
And bends his knee before the mighty dead;
Oh! could the gazing multitudes forget
That trembling wretch was once Plantagenet!
The Lord of many realms! the Man of might!
Fortune's spoiled child! Love's foremost favourite!
The subtle Statesman! the heroic Chief!
How tamed by fear, how stupified by grief!
No struggling hope, no stern resolve is there,
Nor majesty in woe, nor grandeur in despair!
Fast by the tomb he waits the sable throng,
Charged to exact due vengeance for the wrong;
49
They give the word; he grovels in the dust!
A dreadful pause.—and lo! the lash descends!
No single stroke that lordly body rends;
The bloody scourge is passed from hand to hand!
The glorious vengeance circles round the band!
Strange chance! the Saxon strikes, the Norman bleeds,
The wrong is well avenged, the righteous penance speeds!
And see him now, the meet submission made,
Beg peace and pardon of the awful shade,
Adore the dust of him he loathed and feared,
And kiss the tomb his quenchless hate had reared,
Pass the lone night on solemn watch intent,
And bless the hands that dealt his chastisement!
Beg peace and pardon of the awful shade,
Adore the dust of him he loathed and feared,
And kiss the tomb his quenchless hate had reared,
Pass the lone night on solemn watch intent,
And bless the hands that dealt his chastisement!
Tremendous Shade! O say, did Heaven allow,
No prophet-fire within thy soul to glow?
No raptured trance thy lofty lot unfold?
The needy fugitive enshrined in gold!
The outcast welcomed to his glorious rest!
The traitor sanctified among the blest!
Thy name a fiery bolt, a vengeful rod!
Thy sepulchre the temple of a God,
Where Faith has kindled, trembling Guilt adored,
And fondly deemed its forfeit heaven restored!
Where Pain has wept, and sought celestial balm,
And kneeling Grief enjoyed a fancied calm!
Where royal gifts have veiled each dark offence,
Ensured the pardon, sealed the penitence,
And humbler Woe preferred a meek complaint
In fond reliance on the pitying saint.
The throned Oppressor worships at thy grave,
Reveres thee stern to whelm, and strong to save,
Falls o'er thy tomb a wretch whom worlds abhor,
And lifts his head, a king! a conqueror!
No prophet-fire within thy soul to glow?
No raptured trance thy lofty lot unfold?
The needy fugitive enshrined in gold!
50
The traitor sanctified among the blest!
Thy name a fiery bolt, a vengeful rod!
Thy sepulchre the temple of a God,
Where Faith has kindled, trembling Guilt adored,
And fondly deemed its forfeit heaven restored!
Where Pain has wept, and sought celestial balm,
And kneeling Grief enjoyed a fancied calm!
Where royal gifts have veiled each dark offence,
Ensured the pardon, sealed the penitence,
And humbler Woe preferred a meek complaint
In fond reliance on the pitying saint.
The throned Oppressor worships at thy grave,
Reveres thee stern to whelm, and strong to save,
Falls o'er thy tomb a wretch whom worlds abhor,
And lifts his head, a king! a conqueror!
51
Had Heaven been graciously remiss for thee,
Left unsecured the gate of Destiny,
Allowed thy entrance, nor disdained to show
The endless triumph through the transient woe,
That sight had charmed, the suffering been forgot,
And life contemned that barred thee such a lot;
Each dark assassin seemed to work thy weal;
Rest, vengeance, glory hung upon the steel;
The death-film gathered o'er thy raptured eye,
And resignation brightened into joy!
Left unsecured the gate of Destiny,
Allowed thy entrance, nor disdained to show
The endless triumph through the transient woe,
That sight had charmed, the suffering been forgot,
And life contemned that barred thee such a lot;
Each dark assassin seemed to work thy weal;
Rest, vengeance, glory hung upon the steel;
The death-film gathered o'er thy raptured eye,
And resignation brightened into joy!
And She, for whom her champion feared no foe,
For whom his life was linked to want and woe,
For whom his soul disdained the sceptred yoke,
Scorned the dark threat, and braved the mortal stroke,
Say, did the Church applaud in dull amaze,
Nor share the homage, nor partake the blaze?
No! she defied his foes, and wore his plume,
Wielded at will the terrors of his tomb,
Strong in his strength, confounded human force,
And strode to conquest o'er her Martyr's corpse!
For whom his life was linked to want and woe,
For whom his soul disdained the sceptred yoke,
Scorned the dark threat, and braved the mortal stroke,
Say, did the Church applaud in dull amaze,
Nor share the homage, nor partake the blaze?
No! she defied his foes, and wore his plume,
Wielded at will the terrors of his tomb,
Strong in his strength, confounded human force,
And strode to conquest o'er her Martyr's corpse!
52
Then came her height of sin, her palmy hour,
Her noon of pride, her surfeit-draught of power
Then fierce Ambition aimed at double rule;
'Twas not enough that kings should play the tool,
Divide their sovereignty, forget their pride,
And kneel and tremble round their sacred guide!
No! she must wield their sword and shame their state,
Chief among kings and Tyrant of the great!
Claimed as her own, their realms, and treasured store,
Exacted tribute for the crowns they wore;
Or, sterner proof of mastery to impart,
Assumed a right to wrong each kingly heart,
Raised her rude hand to burst Earth's holiest tie,
Waged war with Love, and won the victory!
Her noon of pride, her surfeit-draught of power
Then fierce Ambition aimed at double rule;
'Twas not enough that kings should play the tool,
Divide their sovereignty, forget their pride,
And kneel and tremble round their sacred guide!
No! she must wield their sword and shame their state,
Chief among kings and Tyrant of the great!
Claimed as her own, their realms, and treasured store,
Exacted tribute for the crowns they wore;
Or, sterner proof of mastery to impart,
Assumed a right to wrong each kingly heart,
Raised her rude hand to burst Earth's holiest tie,
Waged war with Love, and won the victory!
No dizzy height of power she dared not reach,
No foul abuse of faith she feared to preach;
To track each step and scrutinize each deed,
Mark woe on woe and crime on crime succeed,
Were task too long to suit the impatient Muse,
The ear would tire, and jealous Truth excuse.
To riestly rule the State-bred curse fast clung;
High o'er her march a blood-red banner hung;
Did Reason stir, or purer Faith oppose,
The sword was drawn, the fiery pile uprose;
If Man careered in Truth's forbidden field,
And read the Word that selfish fear concealed,
Pale Priestcraft rose to arms, nor smote a few;
The vengeance spread, the sacred carnage grew!
Blind Ignorance prolonged the monster-reign,
And gave to sway-nursed Vice a deeper stain.
No foul abuse of faith she feared to preach;
To track each step and scrutinize each deed,
Mark woe on woe and crime on crime succeed,
53
The ear would tire, and jealous Truth excuse.
To riestly rule the State-bred curse fast clung;
High o'er her march a blood-red banner hung;
Did Reason stir, or purer Faith oppose,
The sword was drawn, the fiery pile uprose;
If Man careered in Truth's forbidden field,
And read the Word that selfish fear concealed,
Pale Priestcraft rose to arms, nor smote a few;
The vengeance spread, the sacred carnage grew!
Blind Ignorance prolonged the monster-reign,
And gave to sway-nursed Vice a deeper stain.
All Europe wakened at the bigot cry,
Assumed the cross in hate of heresy,
And poured from every realm a warrior-swarm,
To blast the land that Light presumed to warm.
Oh! mark the thrilling horror of that tone,
“Slay, slay them all! the Lord shall know his own.”
The willing swords that surely sped the doom,
The fiery waste, the universal tomb!
Nor here expend the tear, nor waste the curse;
Reserve indignant grief for deeds still worse!
Perverted Zeal invoked a new ally,
And dared the crowning guilt, the grand enormity!
The dread Tribunal rose, and Truth was mute—
Adulterous Church and State, behold your foulest fruit!
True; kindred Night and bigot Wrath stood forth
To speed the throes and hail the monster-birth;
But oh! had Faith in single strength remained,
Nor earthly might enforced what priests ordained,
No Soul-Inquisitors had toiled so well
In love of Heaven to do the work of Hell,
Wrought their fell will where none could bar the doom,
Bestowed the lingering death, or living tomb,
Fed on the captive tear, the rack-wrung cry,
And drunk from woe infernal ecstasy!
Assumed the cross in hate of heresy,
And poured from every realm a warrior-swarm,
To blast the land that Light presumed to warm.
Oh! mark the thrilling horror of that tone,
“Slay, slay them all! the Lord shall know his own.”
54
The fiery waste, the universal tomb!
Nor here expend the tear, nor waste the curse;
Reserve indignant grief for deeds still worse!
Perverted Zeal invoked a new ally,
And dared the crowning guilt, the grand enormity!
The dread Tribunal rose, and Truth was mute—
Adulterous Church and State, behold your foulest fruit!
True; kindred Night and bigot Wrath stood forth
To speed the throes and hail the monster-birth;
But oh! had Faith in single strength remained,
Nor earthly might enforced what priests ordained,
No Soul-Inquisitors had toiled so well
In love of Heaven to do the work of Hell,
Wrought their fell will where none could bar the doom,
Bestowed the lingering death, or living tomb,
55
And drunk from woe infernal ecstasy!
The engine worked; affrighted Truth seemed crushed,
Her light obscured, her warning trumpet hushed,
But still the light in scattered rays would break;
In trembling tones the voice of Mercy speak;
Men hailed that voice and gathered round that light,
Though priests stood near with state-forged swords to smite!
Truth stole a march on bigot Power and Pride,
And champions grew and martyrs multiplied!
Her light obscured, her warning trumpet hushed,
But still the light in scattered rays would break;
In trembling tones the voice of Mercy speak;
Men hailed that voice and gathered round that light,
Though priests stood near with state-forged swords to smite!
Truth stole a march on bigot Power and Pride,
And champions grew and martyrs multiplied!
Chief of the band and foremost of the search,
A son of England braved the angry church,
With mitred enmity our Wickliffe strove,
And rent from truth the veil that Priestcraft wove;
Power threw her shield before his reverend head,
And Vengeance stayed to light upon the dead!
But ah! no kindred grace his followers spared;
Priests aimed the sword that vassal princes bared;
The Serf and Noble equally withstood;
One cause conjoined their hearts, one stake allied their blood!
A son of England braved the angry church,
With mitred enmity our Wickliffe strove,
And rent from truth the veil that Priestcraft wove;
Power threw her shield before his reverend head,
And Vengeance stayed to light upon the dead!
But ah! no kindred grace his followers spared;
Priests aimed the sword that vassal princes bared;
56
One cause conjoined their hearts, one stake allied their blood!
The faith they loved, the martyred pangs they bore,
In blended glory graced a foreign shore;
Two Men of God stood forth, nor spoke in vain;
Bohemia gathered round the mighty Twain!
Assembled prelates trembled in their state,
In fear of heresy suppressed their hate,
Lured with feigned love the noble pair to die,
And sanctified imperial perjury;
Nor deemed their work completed in the deed!
The pastors slain, they doomed the flock to bleed.
That doom was soon reversed, their champions bled;
Hosts fell before the band that Zisca led,
Chosen of freedom, glorified of war!
The sightless guide, the lifeless conqueror!
Yet priestly fraud regained what force had lost;
Unhallowed Discord vexed the victor host;
Faith madly drew a suicidal sword,
And cursed the yoke her bootless strife restored.
In blended glory graced a foreign shore;
Two Men of God stood forth, nor spoke in vain;
Bohemia gathered round the mighty Twain!
Assembled prelates trembled in their state,
In fear of heresy suppressed their hate,
Lured with feigned love the noble pair to die,
And sanctified imperial perjury;
Nor deemed their work completed in the deed!
The pastors slain, they doomed the flock to bleed.
That doom was soon reversed, their champions bled;
Hosts fell before the band that Zisca led,
Chosen of freedom, glorified of war!
The sightless guide, the lifeless conqueror!
Yet priestly fraud regained what force had lost;
Unhallowed Discord vexed the victor host;
57
And cursed the yoke her bootless strife restored.
But Truth the warrior's arm could well forego,
In holier panoply she met the foe;
Mind lent each subtle aid, each deep resource,
And shamed the brutal impotence of force.
The olden Wisdom that unheeded slept,
While the last Cæsars to their ruin crept,
Woke as the Moslem scaled the imperial wall,
And winged its flight where waiting votaries call,
Gave Thought a second life, a noble aim,
And sped the truths that Time would soon proclaim.
In holier panoply she met the foe;
Mind lent each subtle aid, each deep resource,
And shamed the brutal impotence of force.
The olden Wisdom that unheeded slept,
While the last Cæsars to their ruin crept,
Woke as the Moslem scaled the imperial wall,
And winged its flight where waiting votaries call,
Gave Thought a second life, a noble aim,
And sped the truths that Time would soon proclaim.
While Italy her youthful zeal expressed
In bursting homage to her glorious guest,
Teutonic skill the master-marvel wrought,
Supremely magnified Creative Thought,
To draw its chariot winged coursers lent,
And made its mighty arm omnipotent!
As the red beacon shot from Ida's height,
Blazed as it flew and woke contagious light,
Sprang with mysterious bound from steep to steep,
Swept in far-streaming splendour o'er the deep,
Announced the fall of Troy to raptured Greece,
Proclaimed the triumph and assured the peace:
So travelled Thought; so blazed its winged car,
In strength a sun, in speed a shooting star,
Shone o'er the city, vivified the field,
O'er mountain-bound, o'er ocean-barrier wheeled,
From pole to pole in lightning-guise was whirled,
Woke slumbering soul, illumed a darkened world!
In bursting homage to her glorious guest,
Teutonic skill the master-marvel wrought,
Supremely magnified Creative Thought,
58
And made its mighty arm omnipotent!
As the red beacon shot from Ida's height,
Blazed as it flew and woke contagious light,
Sprang with mysterious bound from steep to steep,
Swept in far-streaming splendour o'er the deep,
Announced the fall of Troy to raptured Greece,
Proclaimed the triumph and assured the peace:
So travelled Thought; so blazed its winged car,
In strength a sun, in speed a shooting star,
Shone o'er the city, vivified the field,
O'er mountain-bound, o'er ocean-barrier wheeled,
From pole to pole in lightning-guise was whirled,
Woke slumbering soul, illumed a darkened world!
Yes! Truth might speak the words that could not die,
Nor Genius doubt its immortality,
Both bravely soar on Heaven-aspiring wing,
And mock the pointless shaft of priest and king!
Nor Genius doubt its immortality,
Both bravely soar on Heaven-aspiring wing,
And mock the pointless shaft of priest and king!
The inhabitants of Thessalonica having slain some imperial officers in a tumult, the Emperor Theodosius without inquiring into the circumstances, gave orders for a general massacre. On the execution of these orders Ambrose accusing the Emperor, excluded him from the Church and refused him a share in the communion—(ακοινωνητον εποιησε) and he (the Emperor) publicly confessed his sin in the Church.—Sozomen. Eccl History, lib. 7, cap. 25.
Gibbon (cap. 32) has fairly told the chequered story of St. Chrysostom his sudden elevation to the bishopric of Constantinople, his strong denunciation of vice, his opposition to the profligate court of the Emperor Arcadius, his disputes with the licentious Empress Eudoxia, his deposition and forcible removal from Constantinople, the tumultuous rising of the people, and the speedy and triumphant return of their pastor, his final banishment his courage and endurance in exile, the cruel treatment that accelerated his death, (A. D. 407,) and the public homage paid to his memory by Theodosius Il., who strove to expiate the evil deeds of his parents, Arcadius and Eudoxia, by heading the adoring procession, which conducted the remains of the persecuted saint to a magnificent sepulchre in Constantinople.
The Emperor, or rather usurper Maximus, was (in the words of Gibbon, cap. 27.) the first among the Christian princes who shed the blood of his Christian subjects on account of their religious opinions! Priscilian, bishop of Avila, in Spain, who held Gnostic sentiments, was with six of his followers executed at Treves, by the sentence of the Prœtorian prœfect, (A. D. 385.)
Every pilgrim to the Kaaba or Temple at Mecca is bound to kiss the celebrated black stone, which is said to have dropped from heaven at the Creation.
Mecca was plundered by the Wahabees, A.D. 1802, Medina with Mohammed's tomb shared the same fate in the following year.
“From the fifth to the thirteenth century there was not a single conquest that was not profitable to the court of Rome, as well as to those who had effected it by the lance and the sword.” Thierry's History of the Norman Conquest. (Translation.) For the justice of this remark, we will only appeal to the conquests of the Normans in the two Sicilies, England and Ireland.
Witness the alliance of Pope Alexander III. with the league of Lombard Cities, in their struggle with Frederick Barbarossa, and the countenance afforded by Innocent III. to the Barons of England, in their contest with John.
At this time Henry was at war with his son, his barons, and the king of France, abhorred by his subjects, forsaken by his friends. At the news of his humiliation all England rose in his favour, and gave him a complete victory over his enemies. It was reported that on the day of penance, William king of Scotland was taken prisoner by his lieutenant in Northumberland.
“The marriages of kings were sanctified or reprobated, their issue legitimated or bastardized, and the succession to their thrones established or rendered precarious, according to the humour or interest of the reigning pontiff.”—Black's Com., Book 3, c. 7.
The terrible events of the crusades against the Albigenses, are finely related by Sismondi, Hist. des Fran. tom. 6, part 3, cap. 23, et seq.
“Cædite! nam novit Dominus, qui sunt ejus;” the answer returned by Arnold Amalric, legate of the Pope, to the Crosses, who on the capture of Beziers, A.D. 1209, asked him how they could distinguish the true believers from the heretics. His mandate was literally fulfilled, not a soul was left alive in Beziers, seven thousand corpses lay in one church. The whole number of the slain is computed by some at fifteen thousand, by some at sixty thousand. The town was then burned. Sismondi. Hist. des Fran. tom. 6, part 3, cap. 24.
To complete the destruction of the Albigenses, the Inquisition was first permanently established at Toulouse, November A.D. 1220, Sismondi. Hist. des Fran. tom. 7, part 4, c. 2.
“The invention of printing in the modern sense from moveable letters, has been referred by most to Gutenberg, a native of Mentz, but settled at Strasburg.”—Hallam's Intro. Europ. Liter. vol. i, c. 3, p. 207.
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BOOK III.
ARGUMENT.
The Reformation—its objects and effects. The principle of Protestantism—the abandonment of that principle by the Protestants—consequences of that step. England peculiarly unfortunate in this respect—the mean origin of the present establishment—its frequent changes—founded by Henry VIII. overthrown by Mary, restored by Elizabeth— its dependence on the crown and independence on the people. The Puritans introduce a popular Reformation— their character, their union with the friends of civil freedom, and persecution by Charles I. and Laud. The civil war— the Independents—their merit as champions of religious liberty, their character as soldiers, their enthusiasm as devotees, their errors. The Restoration—renewed power and intolerance of the establishment—the death of Sir Henry Vane—the varied excellence of that statesman. Milton— his dislike of Establishments, his faith in the cause of Freedom. That cause advances in spite of various checks, such as the persecuting statutes of 1662, 4, 5, the enormities perpetrated upon the Scotch Presbyterians, and the penal enactments against the Irish Catholics—the inefficacy of those statutes to extirpate Catholicism. The evil deeds of Popery in the countries where she remained connected with the State, Phillip II., Alva, the Spanish Inquisition, St. Barthelemi, Revocation of the edict of Nantes. Present improvement—remaining evils—the discord in the Establishment arising from the extravagant pretensions of some of its members, friendly to Freedom—bright prospects of Faith.
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“The Bible, interpreted by their own understanding, is the Religion of
Protestants. As far as the principle is adhered to, we may distinguish
ourselves by the denomination of the sect. And happy would it have
been for their posterity had that illustrious company, entitled “Reformers,”
protested with the same firmness against exercising authority in
matters of faith, that they did against submitting to it.”—Garnham.
It came, the Fateful Morn, the Reckoning Day!
When Justice dealt in wrath with Priestly Sway,
Unveiled her crimes, reviewed the dread amount,
Compelled the Sinner to a full account,
Searched to convict, and noted to condemn,
Swept the rank off-shoots from the goodly stem,
Passed damning sentence on each baleful art
That lent unseemly power its strength and smart;—
The sense-alluring rite, the graceless gaud,
The gainful guile, the world-deluding fraud,
That raised to Heaven the sinning saints of earth,
And stamped on vulgar dross fictitious worth,
The idle faith on fast and penance built,
The wild impunity of saintly guilt,
Grace sought from sin, salvation bought and sold,
And crimes allowed, and Hell excused for gold!
When Justice dealt in wrath with Priestly Sway,
Unveiled her crimes, reviewed the dread amount,
Compelled the Sinner to a full account,
Searched to convict, and noted to condemn,
Swept the rank off-shoots from the goodly stem,
Passed damning sentence on each baleful art
That lent unseemly power its strength and smart;—
The sense-alluring rite, the graceless gaud,
The gainful guile, the world-deluding fraud,
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And stamped on vulgar dross fictitious worth,
The idle faith on fast and penance built,
The wild impunity of saintly guilt,
Grace sought from sin, salvation bought and sold,
And crimes allowed, and Hell excused for gold!
Religion often times half waked before
Refused to rot in sloth a moment more,
Upsprang indignant from the Pontiff's feet,
In righteous horror shunned the judgment seat
Where kingly terrors smiled on mitred sin,
Went home to man and sate and smiled within;
Glanced on the senseless Slaves that bowed and knelt
To light the souls of Men who thought and felt;
Nor sought from ignorance unhallowed sway,
Nor fostered gloom in selfish dread of day,
No bootless pledge, no clay-writ charter took,
Won light and victory from the Holy Book,
On gospel coin the Heaven-wrought stamp revealed,
Disclaimed what priests had forged and princes sealed,
In front of Power the gage of battle cast,
And bade despairing Gloom enjoy the past!
Refused to rot in sloth a moment more,
Upsprang indignant from the Pontiff's feet,
In righteous horror shunned the judgment seat
Where kingly terrors smiled on mitred sin,
Went home to man and sate and smiled within;
Glanced on the senseless Slaves that bowed and knelt
To light the souls of Men who thought and felt;
Nor sought from ignorance unhallowed sway,
Nor fostered gloom in selfish dread of day,
No bootless pledge, no clay-writ charter took,
Won light and victory from the Holy Book,
On gospel coin the Heaven-wrought stamp revealed,
Disclaimed what priests had forged and princes sealed,
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And bade despairing Gloom enjoy the past!
Truth lit her signal fire! the Glory spread!
Glad nations swelled the march that Luther led;
From heart to heart contagious rapture thrilled;
Spontaneous Love its mighty task fulfilled;
See Reason, pressed beneath a lightened load,
Breathe freer air and choose a wider road!
Faith lift her wings, Devotion learn to live,
And thought reclaim each lost prerogative!
Glad nations swelled the march that Luther led;
From heart to heart contagious rapture thrilled;
Spontaneous Love its mighty task fulfilled;
See Reason, pressed beneath a lightened load,
Breathe freer air and choose a wider road!
Faith lift her wings, Devotion learn to live,
And thought reclaim each lost prerogative!
The Priest and Pontiff looked unheeded on;
The Prince was with them, but the People gone!
They sued the law, but Conscience mocked its yoke;
They drew the sword, but Man repelled its stroke.
See Truth's intrepid sons return the blow,
Enjoy the conflict and confound the foe!
Disdain obedience to each base behest,
'Gainst faith-constraining potency protest,
And leave their sons a consecrated name—
The Christian freeman's boast, the soul-enslaver's shame!
The Prince was with them, but the People gone!
They sued the law, but Conscience mocked its yoke;
They drew the sword, but Man repelled its stroke.
See Truth's intrepid sons return the blow,
Enjoy the conflict and confound the foe!
Disdain obedience to each base behest,
'Gainst faith-constraining potency protest,
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The Christian freeman's boast, the soul-enslaver's shame!
But soon the simple glory gave offence;
Men bore the name, but recked not of the sense;
Oppression frowned where Freedom's smile had glanced,
And Fear in equal march with Hope advanced.
Truth scarce withstood a parricidal blow;
The champion turned, the friend became the foe:
Yes, they who hailed the strife and led the van,
Presumed to stay the Heavenward march of man,
Still chose to wait on Power, and herd with kings,
Bade Faith suspend her flight and stoop her wings,
Restored her to a throne she inly scorned,
Renewed the sin she loathed, the woe she mourned,
And rudely bore the heart-upspringing flower
To spend its fragrance in a State-built bower;
Invoked the world to share the gospel-light
Yet doomed the souls that saw not with their sight,
Disowned the deeds whereby they won their name,
Esteemed such glory, borne by others, shame,
Refused the charity they oft implored,
And smote the noble zeal they once adored.
Men bore the name, but recked not of the sense;
Oppression frowned where Freedom's smile had glanced,
And Fear in equal march with Hope advanced.
Truth scarce withstood a parricidal blow;
The champion turned, the friend became the foe:
Yes, they who hailed the strife and led the van,
Presumed to stay the Heavenward march of man,
Still chose to wait on Power, and herd with kings,
Bade Faith suspend her flight and stoop her wings,
Restored her to a throne she inly scorned,
Renewed the sin she loathed, the woe she mourned,
And rudely bore the heart-upspringing flower
To spend its fragrance in a State-built bower;
Invoked the world to share the gospel-light
Yet doomed the souls that saw not with their sight,
Disowned the deeds whereby they won their name,
Esteemed such glory, borne by others, shame,
65
And smote the noble zeal they once adored.
Had Earth improved the warning of the past—
Light blazed unclouded; fearless Love stood fast;
No worldly lust the mighty movement stayed;
Truth uttered all her will, and Man obeyed,
Clung to the hopes spontaneous zeal inspired,
Pursued the work, undaunted and untired,
Rent from the Church her weakness, guilt and shame,
And hurled to dust her State-supported frame;
Peace o'er the world securer rule had borne,
Sway-spotted Faith a whiter garment worn,
Fair Liberty less oft put mourning on.
And Truth's bright presence more divinely shone!
Light blazed unclouded; fearless Love stood fast;
No worldly lust the mighty movement stayed;
Truth uttered all her will, and Man obeyed,
Clung to the hopes spontaneous zeal inspired,
Pursued the work, undaunted and untired,
Rent from the Church her weakness, guilt and shame,
And hurled to dust her State-supported frame;
Peace o'er the world securer rule had borne,
Sway-spotted Faith a whiter garment worn,
Fair Liberty less oft put mourning on.
And Truth's bright presence more divinely shone!
But England most the stubborn taint defiled;
Light faintly dawned, and Freedom feebly smiled;
There wanton Power a selfish strife began,
Usurped the right that Heaven designed for man,
Nor doomed the Church at Truth's soul-stirring call,
Nor armed with righteous judgment wrought her fall,
In sullen spite its guardian arm withdrew,
In lust condemned, in thirst of gain o'erthrew,
In base regret a mimic fabric reared,
Retained each vice to Tyranny endeared,
Recast the Church in Earth's debasing mould,
And raised the New an image of the Old,
In form and spirit balefully akin,
Though branded by a baser origin!
Light faintly dawned, and Freedom feebly smiled;
There wanton Power a selfish strife began,
Usurped the right that Heaven designed for man,
66
Nor armed with righteous judgment wrought her fall,
In sullen spite its guardian arm withdrew,
In lust condemned, in thirst of gain o'erthrew,
In base regret a mimic fabric reared,
Retained each vice to Tyranny endeared,
Recast the Church in Earth's debasing mould,
And raised the New an image of the Old,
In form and spirit balefully akin,
Though branded by a baser origin!
Darest, thou, presumptuous Child of Lust and Law,
From olden time thy fabled lineage draw,
With bootless art thy nakedness disguise,
And veil in borrowed pomp thy dark deformities?
A Tyrant's mingling passions brought thee forth;
Congenial Courtiers shouted at the birth;
Obsequious Senates, at thy Sire's behest,
Prepared the dainty fare, the purple vest,
Sustained thy infancy with trembling care,
Bestowed what royal spoilers deigned to spare,
Upreared thy throne where mightier guilt had been,
Induced the will and gave the power to sin;
Or guided by the varying rod of power,
Despoiled thee of thy lust polluted dower,
Evoked thine ancient rival from the tomb,
In servile penitence reversed her doom,
Her guiltless woe, their sinful deeds deplored,
The pomp, the wealth, the potency restored,
Refixed each stake, rekindled every fire,
Nor grudged a boon that vengeance could require!
From olden time thy fabled lineage draw,
With bootless art thy nakedness disguise,
And veil in borrowed pomp thy dark deformities?
A Tyrant's mingling passions brought thee forth;
Congenial Courtiers shouted at the birth;
67
Prepared the dainty fare, the purple vest,
Sustained thy infancy with trembling care,
Bestowed what royal spoilers deigned to spare,
Upreared thy throne where mightier guilt had been,
Induced the will and gave the power to sin;
Or guided by the varying rod of power,
Despoiled thee of thy lust polluted dower,
Evoked thine ancient rival from the tomb,
In servile penitence reversed her doom,
Her guiltless woe, their sinful deeds deplored,
The pomp, the wealth, the potency restored,
Refixed each stake, rekindled every fire,
Nor grudged a boon that vengeance could require!
But soon uncertain power resumed her frown;
The Church changed close upon the changing Crown;
Faith once again her borrowed fashion turned;
The younger triumphed, and the elder mourned;
The vanquished Parent served her rebel Child;
On her indulgent princes softly smiled;
Unblushing Senates played their wonted part,
Bound up her wounds, and lulled their passing smart,
On ancient Faith a galling yoke imposed,
And shut her in the tomb they late unclosed;
Ensured the rival Church due pomp and pay,
Confirmed her title to the shifting sway,
Forged fetters for the soul that would not bow,
And gave her all that statutes can bestow!
The Church changed close upon the changing Crown;
68
The younger triumphed, and the elder mourned;
The vanquished Parent served her rebel Child;
On her indulgent princes softly smiled;
Unblushing Senates played their wonted part,
Bound up her wounds, and lulled their passing smart,
On ancient Faith a galling yoke imposed,
And shut her in the tomb they late unclosed;
Ensured the rival Church due pomp and pay,
Confirmed her title to the shifting sway,
Forged fetters for the soul that would not bow,
And gave her all that statutes can bestow!
And this was all she had—sway, riches, shame!
She missed the universal heart-acclaim;
A Courtier bowed assent, a King approved,
A Statesman strengthened, but no People loved:
Was ampler Grace bestowed on other lands,
And England left to curse unloosened bands?
She missed the universal heart-acclaim;
A Courtier bowed assent, a King approved,
A Statesman strengthened, but no People loved:
Was ampler Grace bestowed on other lands,
And England left to curse unloosened bands?
69
O no! at glorious distance from the throne,
Unheeded Truth the goodly seed had sown,
Matured the harvest and prepared the feast,
Nor stayed her hand in terror of the priest,
Stood forth contemning wealth, confronting power,
And courted danger in its darkest hour!
Unheeded Truth the goodly seed had sown,
Matured the harvest and prepared the feast,
Nor stayed her hand in terror of the priest,
Stood forth contemning wealth, confronting power,
And courted danger in its darkest hour!
Her stubborn sons, who mocked the Roman foe,
And hoped and prayed and urged her overthrow,
Preferred the prayer and bore the toil in vain,
Still dragged a fragment of the broken chain,
And saw the mighty Despot droop and die,
To curse a meaner tyrant's cruelty!
When monarchs spoke, whate'er such speeches meant,
The upstart Church was ready to assent;
The prince might rob, the people vainly cry;
Her courtly birth begot servility,
And more than half the evil deeds of Rome
Provoked successful rivalry at home.
And hoped and prayed and urged her overthrow,
Preferred the prayer and bore the toil in vain,
Still dragged a fragment of the broken chain,
And saw the mighty Despot droop and die,
To curse a meaner tyrant's cruelty!
When monarchs spoke, whate'er such speeches meant,
The upstart Church was ready to assent;
The prince might rob, the people vainly cry;
Her courtly birth begot servility,
And more than half the evil deeds of Rome
Provoked successful rivalry at home.
70
On fearless, fervent foes her wrath was spent;
Of deep, stern faith their dress was eloquent;
They won the name a kindred race had borne,
And wore in honour what was given in scorn.
Devoutly resolute, austerely good,
Their conscience sickened at the courtly food;
They would not deem tyrannic Rome subdued,
And mark her form retained, her sins renewed;
Saw kindred error through the faint disguise,
Gave stern expression to their sad surprise,
With growing wrongs assumed a fiercer tone,
And bore their boding murmurs to the throne.
Of deep, stern faith their dress was eloquent;
They won the name a kindred race had borne,
And wore in honour what was given in scorn.
Devoutly resolute, austerely good,
Their conscience sickened at the courtly food;
They would not deem tyrannic Rome subdued,
And mark her form retained, her sins renewed;
Saw kindred error through the faint disguise,
Gave stern expression to their sad surprise,
With growing wrongs assumed a fiercer tone,
And bore their boding murmurs to the throne.
No cold World-Wisdom on their spirits wrought;
No prudent Fear its selfish lessons taught;
If broken Law or wounded Conscience urged,
From sombre rest heroic souls emerged,
Opposed to all a scheming Church could try,
Unsullied worth, unbending constancy,
Dared and endured in hate of priestly wrong,
Nor cared how much they bore, nor asked how long!
Nor light the weight, nor short the term of woe;
The mitred tyrants feared each humble foe,
Marked the long strides soul-waking Freedom took,
Shrank from her touch and trembled at her look,
Claimed well-earned succour from the worldly great,
And sought no champion but the Sword of State.
No prudent Fear its selfish lessons taught;
If broken Law or wounded Conscience urged,
From sombre rest heroic souls emerged,
Opposed to all a scheming Church could try,
Unsullied worth, unbending constancy,
71
Nor cared how much they bore, nor asked how long!
Nor light the weight, nor short the term of woe;
The mitred tyrants feared each humble foe,
Marked the long strides soul-waking Freedom took,
Shrank from her touch and trembled at her look,
Claimed well-earned succour from the worldly great,
And sought no champion but the Sword of State.
The succour came! the sword forsook its sheath!
Kings held the blade and prelates twined the wreath;
Their eager hate provoked no common strife,
Nor sought a single or ignoble life;
Two glorious Beings lured the wanton sword;
The Best Beloved of Heaven were well abhorred.!
Pale, bleeding Freedom for a moment swooned;
Religion writhed beneath a constant wound.
Grief drew more close the well-acquainted Pair;
Each loved in each a fellow sufferer;
Together then in woful plight they crept,
Perchance a moment too, together wept,
At first, though gladly, yet with fear, communed,
In whispers told the woe, in secret showed the wound,
Enquired who worked each other's woe? and why?
And learned to curse the common enemy!
By frequent converse grew more bold and proud,
Discoursed and grieved, complained and cursed aloud;
Nor only thus expressed returning life,
But moved in wrath, and started up for strife,
Marched on abreast, in hope and aim allied,
The tyrant Priest, the tyrant King defied!
Kings held the blade and prelates twined the wreath;
Their eager hate provoked no common strife,
Nor sought a single or ignoble life;
Two glorious Beings lured the wanton sword;
The Best Beloved of Heaven were well abhorred.!
Pale, bleeding Freedom for a moment swooned;
Religion writhed beneath a constant wound.
Grief drew more close the well-acquainted Pair;
Each loved in each a fellow sufferer;
Together then in woful plight they crept,
Perchance a moment too, together wept,
72
In whispers told the woe, in secret showed the wound,
Enquired who worked each other's woe? and why?
And learned to curse the common enemy!
By frequent converse grew more bold and proud,
Discoursed and grieved, complained and cursed aloud;
Nor only thus expressed returning life,
But moved in wrath, and started up for strife,
Marched on abreast, in hope and aim allied,
The tyrant Priest, the tyrant King defied!
The glorious Champions braved no timid foes;
The stubborn Tyrants dealt no harmless blows;
Ah! veteran Vice too many a battle won,
And valiant Virtue sometimes seemed undone!
The Priest and King impressed dishonoured Law,
And wrung base service from her wonted awe;
In Treachery's foul armour proudly shone,
Found Cruelty a seemly champion,
In Torture smiled upon a dear ally,
Imployed the scourge, the brand, the pillory,
Called Public Shame to wring a deeper groan
The groan its victim's, but the shame its own,
And bade him rot at home, a soulless slave,
Or bear his conscience o'er the western wave.
The stubborn Tyrants dealt no harmless blows;
Ah! veteran Vice too many a battle won,
And valiant Virtue sometimes seemed undone!
The Priest and King impressed dishonoured Law,
And wrung base service from her wonted awe;
In Treachery's foul armour proudly shone,
Found Cruelty a seemly champion,
73
Imployed the scourge, the brand, the pillory,
Called Public Shame to wring a deeper groan
The groan its victim's, but the shame its own,
And bade him rot at home, a soulless slave,
Or bear his conscience o'er the western wave.
Was bondage then the portion of our Isle?
What! did her children on their fetters smile,
In patient sufferance take each proffered creed,
Or useless martyrs bow their necks and bleed?
No! they were men to court the holy strife,
And purchase freedom at the price of life,
Provoke Oppression to an equal field,
And force a priest to weep, a king to yield!
What! did her children on their fetters smile,
In patient sufferance take each proffered creed,
Or useless martyrs bow their necks and bleed?
No! they were men to court the holy strife,
And purchase freedom at the price of life,
Provoke Oppression to an equal field,
And force a priest to weep, a king to yield!
Mysterious Valour! foster-child of Faith!
Cradled in fervid thought, matured in Death!
'Twas thine to bear a conquest-dinted sword,
Refer each righteous triumph to the Lord,
Loose civil thraldom, set the conscience free,
Impair the double life of Tyranny,
O'erwhelm the throne beneath a transient shock,
Compel the trial and command the block,
Tame courtier mettle, soil the noble's plume,
Decree the guilty Church no gentle doom,
Despoil her wealth, give despot priests their due,
And true to Heaven, unfettered Faith renew.
Cradled in fervid thought, matured in Death!
74
Refer each righteous triumph to the Lord,
Loose civil thraldom, set the conscience free,
Impair the double life of Tyranny,
O'erwhelm the throne beneath a transient shock,
Compel the trial and command the block,
Tame courtier mettle, soil the noble's plume,
Decree the guilty Church no gentle doom,
Despoil her wealth, give despot priests their due,
And true to Heaven, unfettered Faith renew.
Devout enthusiasts! matchless sons of war!
Whom bigots still malign and priests abhor;
Despite their hate a rare renown is yours
Which will not die while deathless Truth endures!
Ye felt the sin of force, the shame of creeds,
Loathed the foul chaff on which the bigot feeds,
A stronger, ampler, nobler diet sought,
And willed that Man should worship as he thought.
Whom bigots still malign and priests abhor;
Despite their hate a rare renown is yours
Which will not die while deathless Truth endures!
Ye felt the sin of force, the shame of creeds,
Loathed the foul chaff on which the bigot feeds,
A stronger, ampler, nobler diet sought,
And willed that Man should worship as he thought.
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This cause their strength, this liberty their boast,
What valour could confront the saintly host?
No dull machines! no vulgar warriors they!
Seasoned with blood, and satisfied with pay!
No soldier passions taint their dread employ,
Nor wanton slaughter yields unhallowed joy;
They spurn the palling stimulant of lust,
Nor bound their wishes to the meed of dust,
Demand the conflict for a nobler prize,
And seek their crowning guerdon in the skies.
What valour could confront the saintly host?
No dull machines! no vulgar warriors they!
Seasoned with blood, and satisfied with pay!
No soldier passions taint their dread employ,
Nor wanton slaughter yields unhallowed joy;
They spurn the palling stimulant of lust,
Nor bound their wishes to the meed of dust,
Demand the conflict for a nobler prize,
And seek their crowning guerdon in the skies.
Survey their camp! no tumult shocks the eye,
Unseemly brawl, or drunken revelry;
No impious oath grates harshly on the ear,
But prayerful silence reigns unbroken there;
See, side by side in meaning contrast laid,
Life-giving word and death-dispensing blade!
In mystic trance the raptured warrior kneels;
O'er all his soul the bright delusion steals;
Each sense absorded, his heaving heart outpoured,
He joys in fancied commune with the Lord.
Mark on his changing cheek, his brightening eye
The bursting hope, the speechless ecstasy!
O'er each wild hope these waking dreams reveal,
Distempered Faith has set her burning seal;
The vision warms! she greets the expected day,
And thanks the Saviour's smile and shares his sway!
Unseemly brawl, or drunken revelry;
No impious oath grates harshly on the ear,
But prayerful silence reigns unbroken there;
See, side by side in meaning contrast laid,
Life-giving word and death-dispensing blade!
In mystic trance the raptured warrior kneels;
O'er all his soul the bright delusion steals;
Each sense absorded, his heaving heart outpoured,
He joys in fancied commune with the Lord.
76
The bursting hope, the speechless ecstasy!
O'er each wild hope these waking dreams reveal,
Distempered Faith has set her burning seal;
The vision warms! she greets the expected day,
And thanks the Saviour's smile and shares his sway!
But ere that Faith, with wild, diffusive glow,
Lights her impatient votaries to the foe,
Devotion's impulse wakens every tongue;
The stern enthusiasts kindle into song;
In deepening notes their rugged anthems pour,
High o'er the trumpet's blast, the cannon's roar,
Pray ere they fall beneath its fiery breath,
And close the Book of Life to march on death!
Lights her impatient votaries to the foe,
Devotion's impulse wakens every tongue;
The stern enthusiasts kindle into song;
In deepening notes their rugged anthems pour,
High o'er the trumpet's blast, the cannon's roar,
Pray ere they fall beneath its fiery breath,
And close the Book of Life to march on death!
But Truth their various errors would not hide;
They sinned, and Heaven protracted rule denied;
Insulted Freedom cursed their tyrant-chief,
O'ertasked Devotion murmured for relief;
Religion frighted in her gloomy dress,
And Reason sickened at each wild excess.
Revolted feeling swept their strength away;
The people willed that kings again should sway,
In reckless trust expressed their mad delight,
Nor asked a pledge, nor registered a right.
Securely throned, the Monarch hailed the priest,
Replaced the purple, and respread the feast;
(He scarce could sin without his ready tool,)
The grasping Church resumed her baleful rule,
Refused to gather wisdom from her woe,
Renewed the crimes that wrought her overthrow,
Recalled each woe that darker times had known,
And in the race of guilt outran the throne.
They sinned, and Heaven protracted rule denied;
Insulted Freedom cursed their tyrant-chief,
O'ertasked Devotion murmured for relief;
77
And Reason sickened at each wild excess.
Revolted feeling swept their strength away;
The people willed that kings again should sway,
In reckless trust expressed their mad delight,
Nor asked a pledge, nor registered a right.
Securely throned, the Monarch hailed the priest,
Replaced the purple, and respread the feast;
(He scarce could sin without his ready tool,)
The grasping Church resumed her baleful rule,
Refused to gather wisdom from her woe,
Renewed the crimes that wrought her overthrow,
Recalled each woe that darker times had known,
And in the race of guilt outran the throne.
Their opening deed was worthy of the Twain;
According vengeance doomed the spotless Vane.
Patrician patriot, court-acquainted saint,
Who mingled with the world, but caught no taint!
Sublimely eloquent and purely wise,
He gained in Glory's race, when Virtue won the prize
Disarmed by mercy, yet unmoved by fear,
True to each right that Conscience counted dear,
Bold when a tyrant's deeds provoked the strife,
He gave to Freedom all his glorious life.
He braved a stormy ocean from his youth,
His pilot, Virtue, and his beacon, Truth;
His soul was bright beneath the darkest sky;
His Faith was fervour mixed with charity,
Reproached fanatic hate, ascetic gloom,
Forbore to shrink yet trembled to presume.
He felt that Freedom was the life of Faith,
Born at one birth, alike exempt from death,
Served with one service, courted with one love,
The same their labour here, the same their crown above!
According vengeance doomed the spotless Vane.
Patrician patriot, court-acquainted saint,
Who mingled with the world, but caught no taint!
Sublimely eloquent and purely wise,
He gained in Glory's race, when Virtue won the prize
78
True to each right that Conscience counted dear,
Bold when a tyrant's deeds provoked the strife,
He gave to Freedom all his glorious life.
He braved a stormy ocean from his youth,
His pilot, Virtue, and his beacon, Truth;
His soul was bright beneath the darkest sky;
His Faith was fervour mixed with charity,
Reproached fanatic hate, ascetic gloom,
Forbore to shrink yet trembled to presume.
He felt that Freedom was the life of Faith,
Born at one birth, alike exempt from death,
Served with one service, courted with one love,
The same their labour here, the same their crown above!
Sublime religion! heart-ennobling creed!
Here lay his strength, hence sprang each deathless deed;
'Twas this the poet praised, the friend revered,
The tyrant hated and the fearless feared;
Twas this the prelate loathed, the monarch doomed,
Yet quenchless Hope her votary's soul illumed;
When low Ambition played the traitor part,
And warriors quailed, he wore a dauntless heart;
When vengeful Power proscribed the cause he loved,
Unworthy Death the willing witness proved.
That Hope gave brightness to the dungeon-rock,
Smiled at the sentence, glorified the block,
To opening time a prophet-gaze applied,
And gave her son the victory, though he died!
Here lay his strength, hence sprang each deathless deed;
'Twas this the poet praised, the friend revered,
The tyrant hated and the fearless feared;
79
Yet quenchless Hope her votary's soul illumed;
When low Ambition played the traitor part,
And warriors quailed, he wore a dauntless heart;
When vengeful Power proscribed the cause he loved,
Unworthy Death the willing witness proved.
That Hope gave brightness to the dungeon-rock,
Smiled at the sentence, glorified the block,
To opening time a prophet-gaze applied,
And gave her son the victory, though he died!
The Martyr fell; but He, the mighty Bard
Who shared that Faith, yet missed its dread reward,
How bore his heart the sensual despots reign?
His fellow freemen exiled, fettered, slain,
His loved Republic now a thankless theme,
Her name a mock, her memory a dream,
The soul-enslavers busy at their work,
And Faith required to stoop, or forced to lurk!
Immortal and inseparable Pair!
Fair Faith and Freedom! dear to him ye were!
The mind that kindled when the eye was spent,
And reared its evershining monument,
Could stand in presence of the bright To Be,
Forestall the business of Futurity,
Breathe joyous verdure o'er a waste of woe,
Scare haughty Darkness with its seraph glow,
Watch Despot Power gasp out its last foul breath,
Give struggling Priestcraft to the gripe of Death,
Join every tyranny, to doom them all,
And smile with Freedom at each foeman's fall;
Endure each living ill in cheerful mood,
And part in glorious certainty of good!
Who shared that Faith, yet missed its dread reward,
How bore his heart the sensual despots reign?
His fellow freemen exiled, fettered, slain,
His loved Republic now a thankless theme,
Her name a mock, her memory a dream,
80
And Faith required to stoop, or forced to lurk!
Immortal and inseparable Pair!
Fair Faith and Freedom! dear to him ye were!
The mind that kindled when the eye was spent,
And reared its evershining monument,
Could stand in presence of the bright To Be,
Forestall the business of Futurity,
Breathe joyous verdure o'er a waste of woe,
Scare haughty Darkness with its seraph glow,
Watch Despot Power gasp out its last foul breath,
Give struggling Priestcraft to the gripe of Death,
Join every tyranny, to doom them all,
And smile with Freedom at each foeman's fall;
Endure each living ill in cheerful mood,
And part in glorious certainty of good!
And on the Glory came! As o'er his song
Malignant Hate vain silence would prolong,
Till, shame unloosed, according Pœans burst
From raptured tongues that dared not praise at first;
So trembling Tyranny her venom breathed,
To blast the other glory he bequeathed,
Frowned on the righteous Cause the Bard adored,
And loathed the Light his various genius poured.
Yet still that Cause was strong, that Light endured;
Weak bigots only for a time obscured;
Bold Liberty her utmost had not dared,
Nor Truth toiled on as far, and then despaired.
Ah! true; her after march was sad and slow,
Checked by the traitor, troubled by the foe!
Yet on she urged her Heaven-attended course,
The voice of Conscience stayed the arm of Force,
Each year saw struggling Faith a chain unbind,
And fear and tyranny alike declined.
Malignant Hate vain silence would prolong,
Till, shame unloosed, according Pœans burst
From raptured tongues that dared not praise at first;
81
To blast the other glory he bequeathed,
Frowned on the righteous Cause the Bard adored,
And loathed the Light his various genius poured.
Yet still that Cause was strong, that Light endured;
Weak bigots only for a time obscured;
Bold Liberty her utmost had not dared,
Nor Truth toiled on as far, and then despaired.
Ah! true; her after march was sad and slow,
Checked by the traitor, troubled by the foe!
Yet on she urged her Heaven-attended course,
The voice of Conscience stayed the arm of Force,
Each year saw struggling Faith a chain unbind,
And fear and tyranny alike declined.
But Priestcraft would not own and weep her fault,
Cursed in each claim of Conscience a revolt,
With more than words the hallowed claim repelled,
In impotent disdain each right withheld,
Essayed rash conflict with an adverse age,
And scattered blots on history's fairer page;
Though Love and Knowledge spurned her as they grew,
Her old ally, obsequious Law, stood true:
In martyr guise the great Two Thousand smiled,
When statutes doomed and jealous hate exiled,
Preferred the painful service of their Lord
To ritual servitude their hearts abhorred,
And led the faithful flock that would not flee,
Where envy might not vex their liberty!
Yet here malignant priests and cringing Law
Combined to blast the men they could not awe,
Unfettered prayer, spontaneous homage banned,
Smote stubborn piety with vengeful hand,
And chased our fathers from each cherished seat
Which home endeared, where bitter toil was sweet.
Bereft alike of sanctuary and home,
Reduced to pray by stealth; compelled to roam,
No light affliction glorified our sires,
Though spared convincing racks, and cleansing fires!
Cursed in each claim of Conscience a revolt,
With more than words the hallowed claim repelled,
In impotent disdain each right withheld,
Essayed rash conflict with an adverse age,
And scattered blots on history's fairer page;
82
Her old ally, obsequious Law, stood true:
In martyr guise the great Two Thousand smiled,
When statutes doomed and jealous hate exiled,
Preferred the painful service of their Lord
To ritual servitude their hearts abhorred,
And led the faithful flock that would not flee,
Where envy might not vex their liberty!
Yet here malignant priests and cringing Law
Combined to blast the men they could not awe,
Unfettered prayer, spontaneous homage banned,
Smote stubborn piety with vengeful hand,
And chased our fathers from each cherished seat
Which home endeared, where bitter toil was sweet.
Bereft alike of sanctuary and home,
Reduced to pray by stealth; compelled to roam,
83
Though spared convincing racks, and cleansing fires!
Here mitred tyrants scourged their victims well;
The sister realm a darker tale can tell;
Worn Caledonia felt the harpy brood,
They multiplied her pangs and drank her blood!
Nor mind can half conceive, nor words convey
The full idea of their demon-sway.
The people, severed from the rites they loved,
Were bound by forms their prelate-lords approved;
The hired apostate aimed each bigot blow,
And half excused the swords that laid him low;
The land, congenial home for Turkish slaves,
Was stocked with dungeons and laid out in graves!
The sister realm a darker tale can tell;
Worn Caledonia felt the harpy brood,
They multiplied her pangs and drank her blood!
Nor mind can half conceive, nor words convey
The full idea of their demon-sway.
The people, severed from the rites they loved,
Were bound by forms their prelate-lords approved;
The hired apostate aimed each bigot blow,
And half excused the swords that laid him low;
The land, congenial home for Turkish slaves,
Was stocked with dungeons and laid out in graves!
O yes! recal the consecrated wild
Where Faith broke forth, unfettered, undefiled!
The lonely rapture of the rustic throng,
The potency of prayer, the joy of song,
Words of salvation from the lips they loved,
And courage heightened and faint zeal reproved!
Then as devotion warms and rapture speeds,
In swift succession note the tramp of steeds,
The sudden gleam of arms, the boding shout,
The charge, the blow, the struggle, and the rout,
The pastor slaughtered ere his prayer was done,
The mingling anthem silenced by the gun,
Saints bold to suffer, butchers prompt to slay,
And crowds to deadlier vengeance borne away!
Where Faith broke forth, unfettered, undefiled!
84
The potency of prayer, the joy of song,
Words of salvation from the lips they loved,
And courage heightened and faint zeal reproved!
Then as devotion warms and rapture speeds,
In swift succession note the tramp of steeds,
The sudden gleam of arms, the boding shout,
The charge, the blow, the struggle, and the rout,
The pastor slaughtered ere his prayer was done,
The mingling anthem silenced by the gun,
Saints bold to suffer, butchers prompt to slay,
And crowds to deadlier vengeance borne away!
Forejudged, foredoomed, behold them made to wait
While legal murderers aggravate their fate;
There peace of soul and raptured blaze of eye;
Here venomed hate and brutal ribaldry;
The tempted treason, the perfidious lure;
Strength to contemn and virtue to endure;
By changing torture that endurance tried,
And death thrice vanquished ere the victim died,
The soul from 'neath her fleshly garment rent,
Pangs feebly strong, and vengeance vainly spent!
Yes! more than vainly! with each deed of blood
Revolted Faith at fiercer distance stood;
Oppression lurked where once its car careered;
The tyrant fled, the prelate disappeared.
While legal murderers aggravate their fate;
There peace of soul and raptured blaze of eye;
Here venomed hate and brutal ribaldry;
The tempted treason, the perfidious lure;
Strength to contemn and virtue to endure;
By changing torture that endurance tried,
And death thrice vanquished ere the victim died,
85
Pangs feebly strong, and vengeance vainly spent!
Yes! more than vainly! with each deed of blood
Revolted Faith at fiercer distance stood;
Oppression lurked where once its car careered;
The tyrant fled, the prelate disappeared.
The bloodless strife that broke the iron rule,
And chased from either realm the bigot fool,
That raised the law above a king's control,
And left a lightened load upon the soul,
On Erin none but blasting gifts bestowed;
Hate-blended terror framed the monstrous code,
Nor only stripped the tree of Freedom bare,
But breathed o'er Life's whole bloom a blighting air—
To more than woe the odious race consigned,
Proscribed the needful nurture of the mind,
Refused the seeds of knowledge leave to fall,
And made the schoolmaster a criminal;
Waged war with nature, loosed her dearest tie,
Withdrew his offspring from the parent's eye,
Lit round each household hearth unnatural fires,
And taught the children to despoil their sires,
Gave partial justice yet the suit compelled,
The title barred, the heritage withheld,
Forbade the priest to bear his woe about,
And smote the rash despair that ventured out!
And chased from either realm the bigot fool,
That raised the law above a king's control,
And left a lightened load upon the soul,
On Erin none but blasting gifts bestowed;
Hate-blended terror framed the monstrous code,
Nor only stripped the tree of Freedom bare,
But breathed o'er Life's whole bloom a blighting air—
To more than woe the odious race consigned,
Proscribed the needful nurture of the mind,
Refused the seeds of knowledge leave to fall,
And made the schoolmaster a criminal;
Waged war with nature, loosed her dearest tie,
Withdrew his offspring from the parent's eye,
86
And taught the children to despoil their sires,
Gave partial justice yet the suit compelled,
The title barred, the heritage withheld,
Forbade the priest to bear his woe about,
And smote the rash despair that ventured out!
Surpassing tyranny! infernal laws!
Unthinking Hate once gave you loud applause;
When all beside renounced the wrathful mood,
A State-corrupted Church could call you good,
Hail in your sway her glory and her gain,
And justify the sin and nurse the bane!
Unthinking Hate once gave you loud applause;
When all beside renounced the wrathful mood,
A State-corrupted Church could call you good,
Hail in your sway her glory and her gain,
And justify the sin and nurse the bane!
Yet stupid tyrants missed the meed they sought,
Their various arms no suasive terror wrought;
The stricken flock still loved their father's fold,
Still closed their ears on truth oppressors told,
The Saints and Virgin wrongly still revered,
Nor left the olden Church that woe endeared.
Their various arms no suasive terror wrought;
The stricken flock still loved their father's fold,
Still closed their ears on truth oppressors told,
The Saints and Virgin wrongly still revered,
Nor left the olden Church that woe endeared.
87
But though her portion here was want and woe,
Though doomed to drag the chain and bear the blow,
In other climes a queenly crown she wore,
And there returned the blow that here she bore.
Where monarchs yet rejoiced to call her kin,
And freely gave a fellowship of sin,
She spoke her will; obedient despots urged,
And tortures wrung and fiery vengeance purged—
A Philip served her at no trifling cost,
Nor grudged the realm his blind obedience lost;
An Alva gloried in the trust he bore,
And writ her foul decrees in Belgic gore;
Hell-trained Inquisitors unpeopled Spain,
And ground the land that owned her special reign;
A frantic throng was welcomed to her ranks;
A throned assassin won her damning thanks;
A perjured queen and tainted courtiers wrought
The deeds her precepts hallowed while they taught,
And Murder swept along his midnight path
To smite unguarded guests, and glut long-smothered wrath!
Though doomed to drag the chain and bear the blow,
In other climes a queenly crown she wore,
And there returned the blow that here she bore.
Where monarchs yet rejoiced to call her kin,
And freely gave a fellowship of sin,
She spoke her will; obedient despots urged,
And tortures wrung and fiery vengeance purged—
A Philip served her at no trifling cost,
Nor grudged the realm his blind obedience lost;
An Alva gloried in the trust he bore,
And writ her foul decrees in Belgic gore;
Hell-trained Inquisitors unpeopled Spain,
And ground the land that owned her special reign;
A frantic throng was welcomed to her ranks;
A throned assassin won her damning thanks;
A perjured queen and tainted courtiers wrought
The deeds her precepts hallowed while they taught,
And Murder swept along his midnight path
To smite unguarded guests, and glut long-smothered wrath!
88
But Murder could not crush; an age rolled on,
And still the bigots had not wholly won;
But fixed in wrath Oppression watched her time,
Contending Churches were alike in crime,
And Britain doomed the Catholic to woe,
While France as foully wronged the Huguenot!
The priest required; the splendid despot willed;
Obedient Guilt their joint behest fulfilled;
Force threw the net perverted Law had spun;
Gold, threats and chains but scanty converts won;
The man was doubly wronged, the father tried,
He lost his children, or his soul belied;
Armed ruffians to the work of grace were sent,
Lust, rapine, murder backed each argument;
To crown each wrong, the sheltering charter fell;
Lone Ruin frowned where prayer was wont to swell;
No secret haunt was left to stricken Faith,
Each act of worship was a cause of death;
Unyielding crowds the path of exile trod,
And parted with their homes to keep their God!
And still the bigots had not wholly won;
But fixed in wrath Oppression watched her time,
Contending Churches were alike in crime,
And Britain doomed the Catholic to woe,
While France as foully wronged the Huguenot!
The priest required; the splendid despot willed;
Obedient Guilt their joint behest fulfilled;
Force threw the net perverted Law had spun;
Gold, threats and chains but scanty converts won;
The man was doubly wronged, the father tried,
He lost his children, or his soul belied;
Armed ruffians to the work of grace were sent,
Lust, rapine, murder backed each argument;
To crown each wrong, the sheltering charter fell;
Lone Ruin frowned where prayer was wont to swell;
No secret haunt was left to stricken Faith,
Each act of worship was a cause of death;
Unyielding crowds the path of exile trod,
And parted with their homes to keep their God!
89
But stern requital came; the tyrants wept!
O'er priest and king a vengeful tempest swept;
The smitten Church in lingering penance lay,
Rose in fair guise and lost exclusive sway.
O'er priest and king a vengeful tempest swept;
The smitten Church in lingering penance lay,
Rose in fair guise and lost exclusive sway.
But nobler Freedom steals upon our Isle;
Priests yet control and priestly lusts defile;
The Church still covets—shuts the dungeon gate
On those whom Conscience arms against the rate,
Exacts a price for what they do not buy,
And spares her wealth to rob their poverty!
To worse offences Lucre blinds her eyes;
To guard his scanty gains the peasant dies;
The sword and gun decide her wrongful claim,
And widowed wail too surely speaks her shame.
Yet Conscience joys in freedom long refused,
And priests regret the power they once abused;
Time's pruning hand redundant statutes lops;
Each burden less fatigues, each fetter drops.
Priests yet control and priestly lusts defile;
The Church still covets—shuts the dungeon gate
On those whom Conscience arms against the rate,
Exacts a price for what they do not buy,
And spares her wealth to rob their poverty!
To worse offences Lucre blinds her eyes;
To guard his scanty gains the peasant dies;
The sword and gun decide her wrongful claim,
And widowed wail too surely speaks her shame.
Yet Conscience joys in freedom long refused,
And priests regret the power they once abused;
90
Each burden less fatigues, each fetter drops.
Our fathers sorrowed that their sons may smile;
To work our endless gain they lost awhile;
Their strife with tyranny has set us free;
Their wrongs and perils won our victory;
And yet they felt a want their children share;
They bore a mark of vassalage we bear.
They saw the Church a creature of the State,
Bewailed her impotence, endured her hate,
And strained their eyes through distant time to see
Religion equal, undefiled and free.
They walked by faith, and died beneath its light;
O may our equal faith be lost in sight!
To work our endless gain they lost awhile;
Their strife with tyranny has set us free;
Their wrongs and perils won our victory;
And yet they felt a want their children share;
They bore a mark of vassalage we bear.
They saw the Church a creature of the State,
Bewailed her impotence, endured her hate,
And strained their eyes through distant time to see
Religion equal, undefiled and free.
They walked by faith, and died beneath its light;
O may our equal faith be lost in sight!
Nor seems this prayer to want the “Yes” of Heaven;
To Discord's rule the hostile camp is given;
Rash malcontents a mutiny provoke,
Complain that Conscience bears too light a yoke,
The licence of the rebel Soul lament,
Defame their Church as basely lenient,
Her scanty graces mark with jealous eye,
Grow madly amorous on Tyranny,
Devise dishonour to the Light they shun,
Discover dimness in the Gospel Sun,
The midnight tapers' treacherous glare display
To do the office of the Lord of Day,
Pray back the Past with all its cloudy train,
And bid Truth's brightening sky grow dark again.
They fain would fright the Soul with noisy wrath,
Exhaust their impotence, to stop her path,
Arrest her as some disobedient thrall,
And drag her back, a fettered criminal!
To Discord's rule the hostile camp is given;
Rash malcontents a mutiny provoke,
Complain that Conscience bears too light a yoke,
91
Defame their Church as basely lenient,
Her scanty graces mark with jealous eye,
Grow madly amorous on Tyranny,
Devise dishonour to the Light they shun,
Discover dimness in the Gospel Sun,
The midnight tapers' treacherous glare display
To do the office of the Lord of Day,
Pray back the Past with all its cloudy train,
And bid Truth's brightening sky grow dark again.
They fain would fright the Soul with noisy wrath,
Exhaust their impotence, to stop her path,
Arrest her as some disobedient thrall,
And drag her back, a fettered criminal!
Hail, gracious Discord! help to set us free!
Be cruel to thyself, blind Bigotry!
To suicidal wrath inflame thy crew,
And leave for Truth but little work to do!
Reluctant priests may struggle still for sway,
And despots aid, but Heaven must win the day!
Their hosts the captives of its sword and shield!
Their vanquished lusts the trophies of the field!
No rival sect dominion seek to win,
And brand the sinner yet repeat the sin;
Faith quaff exhaustless sustenance from Love,
Nor own a Sovereign but her Lord above!
Be cruel to thyself, blind Bigotry!
To suicidal wrath inflame thy crew,
And leave for Truth but little work to do!
Reluctant priests may struggle still for sway,
And despots aid, but Heaven must win the day!
92
Their vanquished lusts the trophies of the field!
No rival sect dominion seek to win,
And brand the sinner yet repeat the sin;
Faith quaff exhaustless sustenance from Love,
Nor own a Sovereign but her Lord above!
The derivation of this title is easy; Henry VIII. got tired of Catherine and lusted after Anne Boleyn; the pope Clement VII. would not give way to his lust; the Church of Rome was pulled down; the lust was gratified, and the existing Establishment set up.
The remainder of the title is amply set forth in Stat. 24 Hen. VIII c. 12; 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19, 29, 21; 26 Hen. VIII. c. 1, 3, 14; 27 Hen. VIII. c. 28; 31 Hen. VIII. c. 13, 14; 1 Edw. VI. c. 1, 2; 2 Edw. VI. c. I, 2, & 3; Edw. VI. c. 21; 3 & 4 Edw. VI. c. 10, 12; 5 & 6 Edw. VI. c. 12.
Statute 1 Mary, c. 2, undoes what Edward's parliament had done; and Stat. 1 & 2, Philip and Mary, c. 8, repeals every act against the Church of Rome which Henry VIII. had forced upon the pliant legislature.
Stat. 1. Eliz e. 1, 2, 4, 19, etc. make vain the labours of Mary, and set the present Establishment up again.
The term “Puritans” by which the Episcopalians contemptuously denominated our Non-conforming forefathers had been applied to the Albigenses 400 years before by their Catholic oppressors.
The various evil doings of Charles I. Strafford and Land, such as the exaction of ship-money, the government of Ireland, the persecution of the Puritans, the war with Scotland, &c., all required the wrongful ministry of Law.
The case of Pryme, Bastwick and Burton is well known, who for calleged libel were deprived of their ears, branded in the forehead, put in the pillory, fined £10,000, and imprisoned in different dungeons.
The words of Cromwell to Vane, when he turned out the long Parliament, “The Lord deliver me from Sir Harry Vane” are expressive at once of hate and fear. He farther expressed his feelings by arbitrarily imprisoning Sir Henry on account of a pamphlet the latter had published, entitled “the Healing Question,” and by harassing him with unjust and expensive law suits regarding the title of his estates, with the intent to ruin his fortune.
He was confined 1660-2 in a castle on the Scilly Islands till a parliament base enough to sanction his murder could be assembled and wrought upon.
Non compliance with the celebrated act of Uniformity (13 & 14 Car. II. c. 4) cost 2000 ministers their livings.
The act against conventicles, 16 Car. 11, c. 2, forbids all assemblies for worship, unless according to the forms established by law, and punishes such offences with fine and imprisonment.
The Five Mile act, 17 Car. 11, c.4 prohibits all nonconforming preachers to abide anywhere within five miles of their former ministerial residence, and denounces penalties against disobedience.
James Sharp, once a Presbyterian delegate, but raised to the archbishoprick of St. Andrews, on condition of persecuting his former fellow worshippers, was murdered on the Magus Moor in Fife, A.D. 1679, by some of those whom his savage oppression had driven to desperation.
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BOOK IV.
ARGUMENT.
Spontaneous Love contrasted with State-supported Religion— the nature, beauty, and efficacy of the former principle. Its power manifested in the Creation, in the life of Christ, the labours of his Apostles and in the early triumphs of Christianity—almost stifled in the rude embrace of the world and assailed by the Church it had founded. Its persecutions, its endurance, its vitality, its mighty struggles, its gradual triumphs. Its peculiar successes in our age and country—the institution of Sunday Schools—the abolition of Slavery—the victories of Missionary warfare—Conclusion.
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Η αγαπη ουδεποτε εκπιπτει
Love never faileth.
—St. Paul.
—St. Paul.
As Israel turned in triumph from the waste,
Closed her long wandering, doubt and terror chased,
Smiled on the dewless sky and burning sand
In bursting prospect of the Promised Land,
And passed from peril, weakness, want and toil,
To strength and glory on a happier soil;
So joys the Muse, that, loth to take her way
In dreary converse with Faith-cumbering Sway,
Hang on its steps through changing age and clime,
Nor lose the track of blood, the scent of crime,
Turns, o'er a path where angel forms might move,
To trace the triumphs of Spontaneous Love,
And parts at length from Thraldom, Woe and Strife,
To walk with Freedom, Happiness and Life.
Closed her long wandering, doubt and terror chased,
Smiled on the dewless sky and burning sand
In bursting prospect of the Promised Land,
And passed from peril, weakness, want and toil,
To strength and glory on a happier soil;
So joys the Muse, that, loth to take her way
In dreary converse with Faith-cumbering Sway,
Hang on its steps through changing age and clime,
Nor lose the track of blood, the scent of crime,
96
To trace the triumphs of Spontaneous Love,
And parts at length from Thraldom, Woe and Strife,
To walk with Freedom, Happiness and Life.
Spontaneous Love inspires! the Master-Good
Whose bounties beggar praise and gratitude!
A Sovereign Presence, too divine and high
For Mortal Royalty's mean company!
Man's gain, God's glory all its state affairs!
Wise Faith, brave Holiness its ministers!
Time waxes old in wonder of the Reign
That only feels his power to prove it vain;
Yes! mighty Love uncrowns each Rival Will!
When Death himself resigns,—imperial still!
No earth-born Glory this—it beamed on high!
Its dwelling, Heaven! its time, Eternity!
Lived in Jehovah, mingled with his might,
Woke life and rapture through the realms of light,
Nor kept its bliss-creating presence there,
Bore other joys for other spheres to share,
Lit rayless darkness, moved upon the flood,
Built ordered worlds where sovereign Chaos stood,
Through latent life in kindling vigour ran,
Gave form to dust and breathed a soul in man;
Nor e'en from fallen man withdrew its care,
Through vice and woe still saw its image there,
Still sought to bless the being it conferred,
Nor gladly punished when its offspring erred.
Whose bounties beggar praise and gratitude!
A Sovereign Presence, too divine and high
For Mortal Royalty's mean company!
Man's gain, God's glory all its state affairs!
Wise Faith, brave Holiness its ministers!
Time waxes old in wonder of the Reign
That only feels his power to prove it vain;
Yes! mighty Love uncrowns each Rival Will!
When Death himself resigns,—imperial still!
No earth-born Glory this—it beamed on high!
Its dwelling, Heaven! its time, Eternity!
Lived in Jehovah, mingled with his might,
Woke life and rapture through the realms of light,
Nor kept its bliss-creating presence there,
Bore other joys for other spheres to share,
97
Built ordered worlds where sovereign Chaos stood,
Through latent life in kindling vigour ran,
Gave form to dust and breathed a soul in man;
Nor e'en from fallen man withdrew its care,
Through vice and woe still saw its image there,
Still sought to bless the being it conferred,
Nor gladly punished when its offspring erred.
Spontaneous Mercy dropped the bread from Heaven,
Enlarged the life its primal act had given,
Revealed the light by prophet-bards foretold,
And breathed its likeness into mortal mould;
Dwelt, full and perfect with the Son of God,
Blessed whom he chose and followed where he trod,
Marked every word, ennobled every thought
Each suffering bore, each work of wonder wrought,
Rebuked the Pharisee, withstood the Priest,
Bestowed a blessing on the parting feast,
Wept in the garden, met the traitor kiss,
Stayed the prompt champion, chid the vengeful wish,
Bowed to the judgment, hung upon the tree,
Despised the shame, endured the agony—
Besought Jehovah for the obdurate foes
Who sealed their doom in triumph o'er his woes,
Spoke fond remembrance to the faithful band
Who watched in tortured love his falling sand,
Proved every woe that frenzied man could try,
And won o'er sin a death-bought victory!
Endured a passing slumber in the grave,
Then woke no more to die, but still to save!
Revived the troubled hearts that failed before,
Dealt of its strength and promised ampler store,
Rose with the cloud that bore him from their sight,
Beamed in his parting smile and winged his heavenward flight!
Enlarged the life its primal act had given,
Revealed the light by prophet-bards foretold,
And breathed its likeness into mortal mould;
Dwelt, full and perfect with the Son of God,
Blessed whom he chose and followed where he trod,
Marked every word, ennobled every thought
Each suffering bore, each work of wonder wrought,
Rebuked the Pharisee, withstood the Priest,
Bestowed a blessing on the parting feast,
Wept in the garden, met the traitor kiss,
Stayed the prompt champion, chid the vengeful wish,
98
Despised the shame, endured the agony—
Besought Jehovah for the obdurate foes
Who sealed their doom in triumph o'er his woes,
Spoke fond remembrance to the faithful band
Who watched in tortured love his falling sand,
Proved every woe that frenzied man could try,
And won o'er sin a death-bought victory!
Endured a passing slumber in the grave,
Then woke no more to die, but still to save!
Revived the troubled hearts that failed before,
Dealt of its strength and promised ampler store,
Rose with the cloud that bore him from their sight,
Beamed in his parting smile and winged his heavenward flight!
Yet all the Glory would not homeward go!
Revering followers caught a kindred glow;
Truth warmed their lips; the world began to lower;
Spontaneous Love waged victor war with Power—
Mocked the vain bolts its angry rival hurled,
And sent its swordless champions o'er the world,
Gave heart and hope to face the heathen Lord,
Bestowed a shield impervious to his sword,
Decreed their toil a life-extending length,
Assured their souls a toil-o'ercoming strength,
Strewed fadeless roses on the thorny road,
And bore the cross, and smiled beneath the load!
To Want and Woe vouchsafed its sleepless care,
Sought dungeon gloom and won new triumphs there—
Drew joy from durance, ministered in pain,
Bade fettered captives swell the convert train,
Poured on the guilty soul unwonted calm,
Twined round the felon's brow a martyr's plam,
And crowned its glory with a conquering smile,
Though doomed to glut the beast and feed the pile!
Revering followers caught a kindred glow;
Truth warmed their lips; the world began to lower;
Spontaneous Love waged victor war with Power—
99
And sent its swordless champions o'er the world,
Gave heart and hope to face the heathen Lord,
Bestowed a shield impervious to his sword,
Decreed their toil a life-extending length,
Assured their souls a toil-o'ercoming strength,
Strewed fadeless roses on the thorny road,
And bore the cross, and smiled beneath the load!
To Want and Woe vouchsafed its sleepless care,
Sought dungeon gloom and won new triumphs there—
Drew joy from durance, ministered in pain,
Bade fettered captives swell the convert train,
Poured on the guilty soul unwonted calm,
Twined round the felon's brow a martyr's plam,
And crowned its glory with a conquering smile,
Though doomed to glut the beast and feed the pile!
Stern Trials! mighty Triumphs! well ye prove
How surely strove the men who freely love;
Pride, Wealth and Power stood forth, relentless foes;
Chains, torture, death, congenial arms they chose;
Yet Faith waxed strong; gain followed from each loss;
Earth bowed in joy before the love-borne cross.
But worldly lusts would fain corrupt that joy;
Power mix with gospel gold its base alloy,
Usurp the sacred service of the Lord,
And emulate the deeds it once abhorred,
Divide the burden Mercy singly bore,
And join the crown of thorns to that which monarchs wore!
How surely strove the men who freely love;
Pride, Wealth and Power stood forth, relentless foes;
Chains, torture, death, congenial arms they chose;
100
Earth bowed in joy before the love-borne cross.
But worldly lusts would fain corrupt that joy;
Power mix with gospel gold its base alloy,
Usurp the sacred service of the Lord,
And emulate the deeds it once abhorred,
Divide the burden Mercy singly bore,
And join the crown of thorns to that which monarchs wore!
Vain emulation! sword and sceptre failed
Where words had won, and gentleness prevailed;
Bold Wrong could ill perform the work of Right;
The burden tired that Love had found so light;
The crown was rifled of each Heaven-set gem;
Faith blushed beneath a foreign diadem.
Where words had won, and gentleness prevailed;
Bold Wrong could ill perform the work of Right;
The burden tired that Love had found so light;
The crown was rifled of each Heaven-set gem;
Faith blushed beneath a foreign diadem.
Spontaneous Mercy left its loved abode;
A Rival triumphed where its car once rode;
The erring church obeyed a faithless guide,
In place of Heaven a sterner guardian tried.
Sway-nurtured Vice defiled each better deed,
And scattered tares where Faith had sown her seed.
Scarce was the waste reclaimed, the savage won,
When Lust of Gain undid what Grace had done:
The Priest aspired; he clamoured for the tithe,
Reaped sinful harvests with unsparing scythe,
Back to his Gods the indignant Convert drove,
Prolonged the terrors of the idol grove,
Nor fixed the cross, till battle cleared the way,
Steel brought him gold, and blood ensured him sway.
A Rival triumphed where its car once rode;
The erring church obeyed a faithless guide,
In place of Heaven a sterner guardian tried.
101
And scattered tares where Faith had sown her seed.
Scarce was the waste reclaimed, the savage won,
When Lust of Gain undid what Grace had done:
The Priest aspired; he clamoured for the tithe,
Reaped sinful harvests with unsparing scythe,
Back to his Gods the indignant Convert drove,
Prolonged the terrors of the idol grove,
Nor fixed the cross, till battle cleared the way,
Steel brought him gold, and blood ensured him sway.
Spontaneous Love at gloomy distance kept,
Unheedful slumbered, or half-waking wept—
Wept o'er its noon of sway so bright and brief,
Yet would not wholly spend itself in grief,
Broke dreary silence with a warning cry,
Exchanged dull torpor for keen agony,
Was shunned where once desired, and cursed where blest;
Blood spoke a deadlier pang than tears expressed!
Oh yes! the child it reared, the Church it built,
Conspired its doom and schemed unnatural guilt;
Love's ingrate offspring cast her parent off,
Repaid each nameless care with curse and scoff;
Forgiveness won no mercy from the child;
Her hand insulted while her tongue reviled;
Incessant woe sublime endurance tried,
And fire and sword confessed the Parricide!
Unheedful slumbered, or half-waking wept—
Wept o'er its noon of sway so bright and brief,
Yet would not wholly spend itself in grief,
Broke dreary silence with a warning cry,
Exchanged dull torpor for keen agony,
Was shunned where once desired, and cursed where blest;
Blood spoke a deadlier pang than tears expressed!
102
Conspired its doom and schemed unnatural guilt;
Love's ingrate offspring cast her parent off,
Repaid each nameless care with curse and scoff;
Forgiveness won no mercy from the child;
Her hand insulted while her tongue reviled;
Incessant woe sublime endurance tried,
And fire and sword confessed the Parricide!
Yet then the immortal Parent could not hate;
Though rebel Faith her impious wrath might sate,
Spontaneous Love still laboured to reclaim,
Prayed on the rack and pardoned in the flame;
Yet prayed and pardoned with no trembling grace;
Bold was its speech and high its heavenward pace—
Its kingdom spread as Truth's red seed was sown,
It grasped a sceptre and it filled a throne—
The Stake and Pile!—no fitting ensigns these!
No pomp to lure, no courtly shew to please!
And yet sublime Ambition sought to win
The dreadful eminence of braving sin!
Though rebel Faith her impious wrath might sate,
Spontaneous Love still laboured to reclaim,
Prayed on the rack and pardoned in the flame;
Yet prayed and pardoned with no trembling grace;
Bold was its speech and high its heavenward pace—
Its kingdom spread as Truth's red seed was sown,
It grasped a sceptre and it filled a throne—
The Stake and Pile!—no fitting ensigns these!
No pomp to lure, no courtly shew to please!
And yet sublime Ambition sought to win
The dreadful eminence of braving sin!
103
Ah! terrible was Love's hard strife with Death!
The pang, twin-born with each heroic breath!
Each wound seemed mortal, yet Love would not die,
But watched and toiled and hoped in agony!
It moved if Man would deign to will its care,
Omnipotent, all-seeing, every where,
Stood forth for Heaven in solitary might,
Nor left its charge, though all around was night.
In Earth's worst woe its potency redeemed!
In Light's obscurest ray its presence beamed!
In every broken tone of Truth it spoke!
Its hand was raised to meet each tyrant stroke!
The pang, twin-born with each heroic breath!
Each wound seemed mortal, yet Love would not die,
But watched and toiled and hoped in agony!
It moved if Man would deign to will its care,
Omnipotent, all-seeing, every where,
Stood forth for Heaven in solitary might,
Nor left its charge, though all around was night.
In Earth's worst woe its potency redeemed!
In Light's obscurest ray its presence beamed!
In every broken tone of Truth it spoke!
Its hand was raised to meet each tyrant stroke!
And though that hand was oft upraised in vain,
And Darkness deemed her mighty Rival slain,
From death-like sleep immortal Mercy rose
To bring new blessings and endure new woes,
Resign the plam when conquest seemed its own,
And lose the harvest when the seed had grown.
And Darkness deemed her mighty Rival slain,
From death-like sleep immortal Mercy rose
To bring new blessings and endure new woes,
Resign the plam when conquest seemed its own,
And lose the harvest when the seed had grown.
104
But yet that seed was sown, that prize was sought;
Love well improved the lore Misfortune taught,
Learned holier daring from redoubled woe,
From fiery trial caught a deepened glow,
In glory as in suffering greatly grew,
And thrived beneath the bolts the bigots threw.
It nursed a traitor-hope when Wickliffe shone,
And trembling Darkness scarce maintained her throne!
It smiled when Luther wrung a loud, long cry
From the sharp pangs of stricken Tyranny,
Scared from their lone repast the sated brood,
And filled the soul with long forbidden food!
It joyed when banded nations joined the feast,
And ate in presence of the powerless Priest!
It mourned when Faith again intrigued with power
To keep a portion of her forfeit dower,
Refused to linger where Compulsion reigned,
And wept indignant when that dower remained!
Love well improved the lore Misfortune taught,
Learned holier daring from redoubled woe,
From fiery trial caught a deepened glow,
In glory as in suffering greatly grew,
And thrived beneath the bolts the bigots threw.
It nursed a traitor-hope when Wickliffe shone,
And trembling Darkness scarce maintained her throne!
It smiled when Luther wrung a loud, long cry
From the sharp pangs of stricken Tyranny,
Scared from their lone repast the sated brood,
And filled the soul with long forbidden food!
It joyed when banded nations joined the feast,
And ate in presence of the powerless Priest!
It mourned when Faith again intrigued with power
To keep a portion of her forfeit dower,
Refused to linger where Compulsion reigned,
And wept indignant when that dower remained!
Yet though the Priest still wore the courtly vest,
And Faith still strove, oppressing and oppressed;
Though Tyranny her foul desires still nursed,
Man hailed the growing impotence she cursed.
Love's power had once been tried, its presence felt,
And grateful nations had in welcome knelt;
Confined enjoyment but provoked desire;
The blessing half bestowed was sought entire.
A mighty means, a faithful guide was given,
To master Earth and bring her near to Heaven;
Man read the Book that priests had shut and sealed;
In God's own mirror Mercy shone revealed;
Love held its Charter up, nor paled nor shook;
God would not vainly write his Statute Book!
Imperial Darkness could return no more;
The creeping pace and frequent halt of yore
No longer bred delay: Love walked and ran,
The Infant hastened to assume the Man;
And passing great that manhood sure must be,
So bright and strong had been its infancy!
And Faith still strove, oppressing and oppressed;
105
Man hailed the growing impotence she cursed.
Love's power had once been tried, its presence felt,
And grateful nations had in welcome knelt;
Confined enjoyment but provoked desire;
The blessing half bestowed was sought entire.
A mighty means, a faithful guide was given,
To master Earth and bring her near to Heaven;
Man read the Book that priests had shut and sealed;
In God's own mirror Mercy shone revealed;
Love held its Charter up, nor paled nor shook;
God would not vainly write his Statute Book!
Imperial Darkness could return no more;
The creeping pace and frequent halt of yore
No longer bred delay: Love walked and ran,
The Infant hastened to assume the Man;
And passing great that manhood sure must be,
So bright and strong had been its infancy!
Spontaneous Grace in gentle strength has grown;
Each year some added gain and glory shown.
Our day has dawned beneath its special smile;
Its noblest triumphs glorified our Isle;
Its ceaseless care the sabbath doubly blest,
Arrayed in holier garb the day of rest—
Supplied the graceless offspring of the poor
With food that fills, with treasures that endure,
Enjoyed the labour, but forgot the price,
Implanted Virtue in the fields of Vice,
Writ thousand names in life's unfading scroll,
And nursed each mind and catered for each soul!
No State-paid priest devised the holy scheme,
Nor struck the rock of Life, nor forced the stream;
Spontaneous Love the gracious stroke applied,
The dry, despairing desert satisfied,
In mortal ministers, immortal lives,
Adds gift to gift, and hallows all it gives!
Each year some added gain and glory shown.
106
Its noblest triumphs glorified our Isle;
Its ceaseless care the sabbath doubly blest,
Arrayed in holier garb the day of rest—
Supplied the graceless offspring of the poor
With food that fills, with treasures that endure,
Enjoyed the labour, but forgot the price,
Implanted Virtue in the fields of Vice,
Writ thousand names in life's unfading scroll,
And nursed each mind and catered for each soul!
No State-paid priest devised the holy scheme,
Nor struck the rock of Life, nor forced the stream;
Spontaneous Love the gracious stroke applied,
The dry, despairing desert satisfied,
In mortal ministers, immortal lives,
Adds gift to gift, and hallows all it gives!
Our crowning shame is past! the slave is free!
What quelled his wrong and won his liberty?
Did mitred chiefs the bloodless crusade lead,
In Truth's bold tone for trampled Mercy plead?
From Faith's high places did the thunder peal?
And wealth-swoln priests the cup of mercy deal?
Oh no!—they shrank in terror from the toil;
Such virtue grew not in so worn a soil!
By free, unfettered Love the deed was done;
A nation willed; and lo! a nation won!
With ruthless Gain waged long and deadly war,
And smiled at length a bleeding Conqueror!
What quelled his wrong and won his liberty?
Did mitred chiefs the bloodless crusade lead,
In Truth's bold tone for trampled Mercy plead?
107
And wealth-swoln priests the cup of mercy deal?
Oh no!—they shrank in terror from the toil;
Such virtue grew not in so worn a soil!
By free, unfettered Love the deed was done;
A nation willed; and lo! a nation won!
With ruthless Gain waged long and deadly war,
And smiled at length a bleeding Conqueror!
Lo! the bright chariot of Salvation speeds,
Faith, Hope, and Charity its winged steeds!
Careers o'er western waste and southern Isle
Where wanton lusts and idol rites defile,
And flashes fire along its boundless track—
No fraud can turn, nor force can drive it back!
The Gospel runs the circuit of the globe—
Lo! vernal earth assumes the immortal robe!
Each tongue receives the Word, each nation reads;
The Church advances, as the State recedes.
What mighty arm unsheathes the gospel sword?
What matchless influence multiplies the Word?
Leads forth the car of Grace to ride our sphere,
And reins the steeds and arms the charioteer?
Does state-dowered Faith her teeming treasures pour,
To Gospel warfare consecrate her store,
Redeem the evil by some partial good,
And stint her feasts to give the hungry food?
Faith, Hope, and Charity its winged steeds!
Careers o'er western waste and southern Isle
Where wanton lusts and idol rites defile,
And flashes fire along its boundless track—
No fraud can turn, nor force can drive it back!
The Gospel runs the circuit of the globe—
Lo! vernal earth assumes the immortal robe!
Each tongue receives the Word, each nation reads;
The Church advances, as the State recedes.
What mighty arm unsheathes the gospel sword?
What matchless influence multiplies the Word?
108
And reins the steeds and arms the charioteer?
Does state-dowered Faith her teeming treasures pour,
To Gospel warfare consecrate her store,
Redeem the evil by some partial good,
And stint her feasts to give the hungry food?
'Tis not for Sin the Gospel seed to sow;
The toil and triumph glorify her foe!
Spontaneous Love achieves the labour here,
Uplifts the cross that Power would faint to rear,
Brings sickly Earth the medicine of Heaven,
And heals each wound that sway-cursed Faith has given;
Each speeding deed shall shame the latest done,
Nor conquest weary till the world be won!
The toil and triumph glorify her foe!
Spontaneous Love achieves the labour here,
Uplifts the cross that Power would faint to rear,
Brings sickly Earth the medicine of Heaven,
And heals each wound that sway-cursed Faith has given;
Each speeding deed shall shame the latest done,
Nor conquest weary till the world be won!
The Church has sinned and loved; her path been traced
O'er smiling garden and o'er cheerless waste;
My parting strains would fix upon her mind
The Saviour oft forgot, yet ever kind,
And seek to image forth their holy tie
From Life's chief bloom and sovereign fragrancy.
Nor this a likeness Fancy's touch has wrought;
E'en Scripture deigns to consecrecate the thought
That deems the Church a young, unspotted bride,
The Virgin Consort of the Crucified,
And blends each element of wedded bliss
To signify a joy sublime as this!—
The mighty love that triumphs in his charge,
Prevents each wish and deems no gift too large;
The trustful tenderness which meets that love,
Nor knows a wish her Lord could disapprove;
The fond anxiety that guards and guides,
Directs each step and wins her while it chides;
The sweet submission that exults to yield,
Requires his hand and smiles beneath his shield;
The mutual intercourse sublime and free,
That lifts her soul, nor sinks his dignity;
The joy in giving and receiving good,
The smile of grace, the sense of gratitude!
So bright, so blissful was their early tie;
The Church waxed strong because her Lord was nigh!
O'er smiling garden and o'er cheerless waste;
My parting strains would fix upon her mind
The Saviour oft forgot, yet ever kind,
109
From Life's chief bloom and sovereign fragrancy.
Nor this a likeness Fancy's touch has wrought;
E'en Scripture deigns to consecrecate the thought
That deems the Church a young, unspotted bride,
The Virgin Consort of the Crucified,
And blends each element of wedded bliss
To signify a joy sublime as this!—
The mighty love that triumphs in his charge,
Prevents each wish and deems no gift too large;
The trustful tenderness which meets that love,
Nor knows a wish her Lord could disapprove;
The fond anxiety that guards and guides,
Directs each step and wins her while it chides;
The sweet submission that exults to yield,
Requires his hand and smiles beneath his shield;
The mutual intercourse sublime and free,
That lifts her soul, nor sinks his dignity;
The joy in giving and receiving good,
The smile of grace, the sense of gratitude!
110
The Church waxed strong because her Lord was nigh!
But soon Temptation winged a deadly dart;
A Paramour possessed her traitor heart;
With fevered lips she kissed the hand of Power,
Required a mortal spouse, an earthly dower,
In wild caprice renounced the bond of Grace,
And harlot-like endured the World's embrace!
But short the harmony of loveless lust;
Unblest enjoyment heralded disgust:
A world-won Mistress felt each worldly want;—
She learned to covet; he refused to grant,
Assailed her freedom and withheld her right;
She crossed his will and oft usurped his might.
They frowned, they fought, nor pitied, nor forgave,
Each played by turns the tyrant and the slave;
She wantoned with the State, yet loathed at heart;
They could not harmonize, but would not part:
Nor ought could calm that wrath, that strife suspend,
Save mutual hate and terror of the Friend
Who could not stand in shameful silence by,
And slothfully abhor their infamy!
In vain they hurled the bolt and stained the sword;
That still, small voice yet whispered “seek thy Lord!”
Spontaneous Love! a fast, fond friend wast thou!
Brave virtue then has made thee mighty now;
The jarring Pair must part; indulgence tire;
The Sinner mourn, the Penitent aspire!
Returning angels hasten on the day,
When Love's bright star shall light her homeward way,
Nor mortal lure, nor alien lust divide
The Lord of Glory from his contrite bride!
Resume thy wedding robe, Redeemed of Heaven!
The future smiles, the past is all forgiven!
Substantial glory shines again for thee,
And Love's new life is immortality!
A Paramour possessed her traitor heart;
With fevered lips she kissed the hand of Power,
Required a mortal spouse, an earthly dower,
In wild caprice renounced the bond of Grace,
And harlot-like endured the World's embrace!
But short the harmony of loveless lust;
Unblest enjoyment heralded disgust:
A world-won Mistress felt each worldly want;—
She learned to covet; he refused to grant,
Assailed her freedom and withheld her right;
She crossed his will and oft usurped his might.
They frowned, they fought, nor pitied, nor forgave,
Each played by turns the tyrant and the slave;
She wantoned with the State, yet loathed at heart;
They could not harmonize, but would not part:
Nor ought could calm that wrath, that strife suspend,
Save mutual hate and terror of the Friend
111
And slothfully abhor their infamy!
In vain they hurled the bolt and stained the sword;
That still, small voice yet whispered “seek thy Lord!”
Spontaneous Love! a fast, fond friend wast thou!
Brave virtue then has made thee mighty now;
The jarring Pair must part; indulgence tire;
The Sinner mourn, the Penitent aspire!
Returning angels hasten on the day,
When Love's bright star shall light her homeward way,
Nor mortal lure, nor alien lust divide
The Lord of Glory from his contrite bride!
Resume thy wedding robe, Redeemed of Heaven!
The future smiles, the past is all forgiven!
Substantial glory shines again for thee,
And Love's new life is immortality!
END OF THE FORTUNES OF FAITH.
137
THE RIGHTS AND GLORY OF WOMAN.
139
Can Woman love, yet discontent profess?
Can Woman smile, yet talk of powerlessness?
Know half her heart, yet deem such knowledge nought?
Think worthily, nor prize the imperial thought?
Look through her own full depths, and there descry
The royal residence of Purity—
Yes! feel her heart the holiest shrine save One,
That eager Worship loves and grows upon;
Yet call on justice? yet for glory sigh?
Yet weep the woful weight of tyranny?
And careless of her proper wealth, complain
That Man is master in his own domain?
Can Woman smile, yet talk of powerlessness?
Know half her heart, yet deem such knowledge nought?
Think worthily, nor prize the imperial thought?
Look through her own full depths, and there descry
The royal residence of Purity—
Yes! feel her heart the holiest shrine save One,
That eager Worship loves and grows upon;
Yet call on justice? yet for glory sigh?
Yet weep the woful weight of tyranny?
And careless of her proper wealth, complain
That Man is master in his own domain?
140
Would Woman madly deal with God's great plan,
Pretend identity of lot with Man,
Grope o'er the path that shines for him alone,
Distract him on his way, and lose her own?
In search of equal rights discover strife,
And spoil the holy melody of Life?—
Derange the strings whose varying tones agree
To breathe one full, surpassing harmony,
Ring out confusion, Earth's best music mar,
And force upon the world an endless jar?
Pretend identity of lot with Man,
Grope o'er the path that shines for him alone,
Distract him on his way, and lose her own?
In search of equal rights discover strife,
And spoil the holy melody of Life?—
Derange the strings whose varying tones agree
To breathe one full, surpassing harmony,
Ring out confusion, Earth's best music mar,
And force upon the world an endless jar?
Can Woman thanklessly esteem a wrong
The kind diversity that makes her strong?
Man loves in Woman the contrasted fate—
The tear, the smile, he cannot imitate,
The soft, pure light, his duller heart must want,
The grace of which his strength is ignorant!
These plead her cause with eloquent effect;
Man feels the magic of the dialect;—
Her helpless modesty the master-spell!
Her tender weakness all-invincible!
The kind diversity that makes her strong?
Man loves in Woman the contrasted fate—
The tear, the smile, he cannot imitate,
The soft, pure light, his duller heart must want,
The grace of which his strength is ignorant!
These plead her cause with eloquent effect;
Man feels the magic of the dialect;—
Her helpless modesty the master-spell!
Her tender weakness all-invincible!
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What charm does Woman's native region want?
Why tempts she fortune as an emigrant?
How sweet her dwelling in the happy vale!
How winged with health the fragrance of the gale!
Surprising folly! that would drive her hence
To climb a rough and sultry eminence,
Provoke the native life in vigour there,
And droop and dwindle in the unkindly air,
Transplant the sweetness where it will not live,
And all the glory to corruption give:—
Expose the verdant tenderness to fade
In life's dry heat, for want of shower and shade,—
Invite the fair, bright purity to trust
For kindly keeping to the world's thick dust,—
Allure some sordid sweat from Gain's hot press
To spoil the self-abjuring holiness,—
And call upon the full, o'erflowing heart
With all its sweet magnificence to part!
Why tempts she fortune as an emigrant?
How sweet her dwelling in the happy vale!
How winged with health the fragrance of the gale!
Surprising folly! that would drive her hence
To climb a rough and sultry eminence,
Provoke the native life in vigour there,
And droop and dwindle in the unkindly air,
Transplant the sweetness where it will not live,
And all the glory to corruption give:—
Expose the verdant tenderness to fade
In life's dry heat, for want of shower and shade,—
Invite the fair, bright purity to trust
For kindly keeping to the world's thick dust,—
Allure some sordid sweat from Gain's hot press
To spoil the self-abjuring holiness,—
And call upon the full, o'erflowing heart
With all its sweet magnificence to part!
O Woman! Woman! is this folly thine?
For Man's rough labour does thy softness pine,
Life's fiercer struggle view with longing eye,
And envy Faction all its misery?
Ah! mark the price thy envy has to pay!
Man's feeble Rival soon must fall his Prey.
What! scornest thou thy own good sword and shield
To snatch at weapons which thou canst not wield,
Forsake thy fast, impregnable defence,
And abdicate thy sweet omnipotence?
Oh! swell not rashly the front ranks of Life,
But, like fair Sabine virtue, part the strife,
Compel the charm-won, vanquished War to cease,
And speed, the Angel of the meek-eyed Peace!
For Man's rough labour does thy softness pine,
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And envy Faction all its misery?
Ah! mark the price thy envy has to pay!
Man's feeble Rival soon must fall his Prey.
What! scornest thou thy own good sword and shield
To snatch at weapons which thou canst not wield,
Forsake thy fast, impregnable defence,
And abdicate thy sweet omnipotence?
Oh! swell not rashly the front ranks of Life,
But, like fair Sabine virtue, part the strife,
Compel the charm-won, vanquished War to cease,
And speed, the Angel of the meek-eyed Peace!
Kind Beauty once her kindling presence lent
To grateful Valour in the tournament,
Determined fortune with her potent eye,
And smiled the champion on to victory!
Yet on this glory gone no grief be spent:
The world is but a sterner tournament.
Brave Virtue strives, the noblest champion there;
No holy help let gazing Beauty spare!
Yes! may she follow Virtue through the field,
Repair its shivered spear, its broken shield!
Her trustful look each coming terror stop,
On every wound her tearful balm fast drop,
New prowess give her smiles their meet reply,
And Victor-Virtue thank its bright ally!
To grateful Valour in the tournament,
Determined fortune with her potent eye,
And smiled the champion on to victory!
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The world is but a sterner tournament.
Brave Virtue strives, the noblest champion there;
No holy help let gazing Beauty spare!
Yes! may she follow Virtue through the field,
Repair its shivered spear, its broken shield!
Her trustful look each coming terror stop,
On every wound her tearful balm fast drop,
New prowess give her smiles their meet reply,
And Victor-Virtue thank its bright ally!
O Woman! what is more to Heaven akin?
The outward beauty sanctified within—
Words of chief price from lips that most invite,—
The soft, bright eye, a lamp of holy light,—
No ray of loveliness extinct or dull,—
Form, face, mind, heart and soul, all beautiful!
The spirit, as its dwelling, bright and fair,
Both richly sweet, both nobly regular!
The outward beauty sanctified within—
Words of chief price from lips that most invite,—
The soft, bright eye, a lamp of holy light,—
No ray of loveliness extinct or dull,—
Form, face, mind, heart and soul, all beautiful!
The spirit, as its dwelling, bright and fair,
Both richly sweet, both nobly regular!
Thus Woman, dares fond Trust interpret thee;
Approve the interpreter's fidelity,
Acquit of folly the admiring sense,
Nor disappoint the pious reverence.
Rest safe and glorious on the holy ground,
Nor scare the multitudes that kneel around;
Refuse to venture out 'mid Life's rude stir,
Nor make a rival of each worshipper!
Approve the interpreter's fidelity,
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Nor disappoint the pious reverence.
Rest safe and glorious on the holy ground,
Nor scare the multitudes that kneel around;
Refuse to venture out 'mid Life's rude stir,
Nor make a rival of each worshipper!
But yet presume not to affront the sky,
Nor wish our reverence idolatry;
Yield, yield to God! O! spare the Master-Love,
Nor stop all entrance for the light above!
Yes! help the soul to trim its holy light
And keep the temple more divinely bright!
Thus nobly, Woman, thy command declare!
Thus sweetly, loftily, thy glory wear!
God will exalt his deputy in thee,
And Man enjoy thy gracious potency!
Nor wish our reverence idolatry;
Yield, yield to God! O! spare the Master-Love,
Nor stop all entrance for the light above!
Yes! help the soul to trim its holy light
And keep the temple more divinely bright!
Thus nobly, Woman, thy command declare!
Thus sweetly, loftily, thy glory wear!
God will exalt his deputy in thee,
And Man enjoy thy gracious potency!
Need I call upon Livy to explain how the fair Sabines, whom the robber-Romans had so treacherously carried off, rushed between their contending husbands and fathers, and wept and prayed them into peace?
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FREEDOM IN MISFORTUNE.
146
I
Sweet Freedom! slow may be thy step and sad,Long the dark day, and strong the evil fate,
The glory of thy face no longer glad,
And Friendship false, and Enmity elate;
Yet still I love thee, Dear Unfortunate!
Fair Mourner! fair, as when thine eye looked proud;
All-beautiful, as in thy high estate;
Yes! dear, as when thy joyous laugh was loud,
And round thy beauty knelt a fond, admiring crowd.
147
II
The love, that found thy smiles delicious food,Should prize the grateful nurture of thy tears,
With tender skill contrive thy grief some good,
And hold the word of kindness to thy fears.
O happy Mourner! whom true Love reveres
And makes as blest as thou canst bear to be;
Thy sadness charms, thy helplessness endears;
Yes! kinder feel the storms that howl o'er thee,
Than the soft summer air that breathes on Tyranny.
III
Look up, sweet Freedom! let not Sorrow findIts open book too dreadful for thy view;
Majestic Student! gather up thy mind,
And read the bitter volume bravely through.
Nought writ therein will startle thee as new:
Alas! too learned in the lore of Woe
Thy life has been; this lesson adds but few
To former pains; a little more to know
Is toil thy mighty mind can safely undergo
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IV
Immortal Freedom! let not Sorrow dieWithout the peace a useful life must lend;
Its healing virtue to thy hurts apply,
And thank the freedom of the rough, kind friend.
Yes! dear affliction shall in glory end;
Thy life its happiest day has yet to see,
When the fond hearts that feel it sweet to spend
Their love upon the woe that hallows thee,
Shall triumph in thy joy, imperial Liberty!
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