1.
Methought I heard a stir of hasty feet,
And horses tramp'd and coaches roll'd along,
And there were busy voices in the street,
As if a multitude were hurrying on;
A stir it was which only could befall
Upon some great and solemn festival.
2.
Such crowds I saw, and in such glad array,
It seem'd some general joy had fill'd the land;
Age had a sunshine on its cheek that day,
And children, tottering by the mother's hand,
Too young to ask why all this joy should be,
Partook it, and rejoiced for sympathy.
3.
The shops, that no dull care might intervene,
Were closed; the doors within were lined with heads;
Glad faces were at every window seen,
And from the cluster'd house-tops and the leads,
Others, who took their stand in patient row,
Look'd down upon the crowds that swarm'd below.
4.
And every one of all that numerous throng
On head or breast a marriage symbol wore;
The war-horse proudly, as he paced along,
Those joyous colors in his forelock wore,
And arch'd his stately neck as for delight,
To show his mane thus pompously bedight.
5.
From every church the merry bells rung round
With gladdening harmony heard far and wide;
In many a mingled peal of swelling sound,
The hurrying music came on every side;
And banners from the steeples waved on high,
And streamers flutter'd in the sun and sky.
6.
Anon the cannon's voice in thunder spake;
Westward it came; the East returned the sound;
Burst after burst the innocuous thunders brake,
And roll'd from side to side with quick rebound.
O happy land, where that terrific voice
Speaks but to bid all habitants rejoice!
7.
Thereat the crowd rush'd forward one and all,
And I too in my dream was borne along.
Eftsoon, methought, I reach'd a festal hall,
Where guards in order ranged repell'd the throng,
But I had entrance through that guarded door,
In honor to the laureate crown I wore.
8.
That spacious hall was hung with trophies round,
Memorials proud of many a well-won day:
The flag of France there trail'd toward the ground;
There in captivity her Eagles lay,
And under each, in aye-enduring gold,
One well-known word its fatal story told.
9.
There read I Nile, conspicuous from afar;
And Egypt and Maida there were found;
And Copenhagen there and Trafalgar;
Vimeiro and Busaco's day renown'd;
There too was seen Barrosa's bloody name,
And Albuhera, dear-bought field of fame.
10.
Yon spoils from boastful Massena were won;
Those Marmont left in that illustrious fight
By Salamanca, when too soon the sun
Went down, and darkness hid the Frenchman's flight.
These from Vittoria were in triumph borne,
When from the Intruder's head Spain's stolen crown was torn.
11.
These on Pyrene's awful heights were gain'd,
The trophies of that memorable day,
When deep with blood her mountain springs were stain'd.
Above the clouds and lightnings of that fray,
Wheeling afar the affrighted eagles fled;
At eve the wolves came forth and prey'd upon the dead.
12.
And blood-stain'd flags were here from Orthies borne,
Trampled by France beneath her flying feet;
And what before Thoulouse from Soult were torn,
When the stern Marshal met his last defeat,
Yielding once more to Britain's arm of might,
And Wellington in mercy spared his flight.
13.
There hung the Eagles which, with victory flush'd,
From Fleurus and from Ligny proudly flew,
To see the Usurper's high-swollen fortune crush'd
Forever on the field of Waterloo, —
Day of all days, surpassing in its fame
All fields of elder or of later name!
14.
There, too, the painter's universal art
Each story told to all beholders' eyes;
And Sculpture there had done her fitting part,
Bidding the forms perdurable arise
Of those great Chiefs who in the field of fight
Had best upheld their country's sacred right.
15.
There stood our peerless Edward, gentle-soul'd,
The Sable Prince, of chivalry the flower;
And that Plantagenet of sterner mould,
He who the conquer'd crown of Gallia wore;
And Blake, and Nelson, Glory's favorite son,
And Marlborough there, and Wolfe, and Wellington.
16.
But from the statues and the storied wall,
The living scene withdrew my wondering sense;
For with accordant pomp that gorgeous hall
Was fill'd; and I beheld the opulence
Of Britain's Court, — a proud assemblage there,
Her Statesmen, and her Warriors, and her Fair.
17.
Amid that Hall of Victory, side by side,
Conspicuous o'er the splendid company,
There sat a royal Bridegroom and his Bride;
In her fair cheek, and in her bright blue eye,
Her flaxen locks, and her benignant mien,
The marks of Brunswick's Royal Line were seen.
18.
Of princely lineage and of princely heart,
The Bridegroom seem'd, — a man approved in fight,
Who in the great deliverance bore his part,
And had pursued the recreant Tyrant's flight,
When, driven from injured Germany, he fled,
Bearing the curse of God and Man upon his head.
19.
Guardant before his feet a Lion lay,
The Saxon Lion, terrible of yore,
Who, in his wither'd limbs and lean decay,
The marks of long and cruel bondage bore;
But broken now beside him lay the chain,
Which gall'd and fretted late his neck and mane.
20.
A Lion too was couch'd before the Bride;
That noble Beast had never felt the chain;
Strong were his sinewy limbs and smooth his hide,
And o'er his shoulders broad the affluent mane
Dishevell'd hung; beneath his feet were laid
Torn flags of France, whereon his bed he made.
21.
Full different were those Lions twain in plight,
Yet were they of one brood; and side by side
Of old, the Gallic Tiger in his might
They many a time had met, and quell'd his pride,
And made the treacherous spoiler from their ire,
Cowering and crippled, to his den retire.
22.
Two forms divine on either side the throne,
Its heavenly guardians, male and female stood;
His eye was bold, and on his brow there shone
Contempt of all base things, and pride subdued
To wisdom's will: a warrior's garb he wore,
And H ONOR was the name the Genius bore.
23.
That other form was in a snow-white vest,
As well her virgin loveliness became;
Erect her port, and on her spotless breast
A blood-red cross was hung: F AITH was her name,
As by that sacred emblem might be seen,
And by her eagle eye, and by her dove-like mien.
24.
Her likeness such to that robuster power,
That sure his sister she might have been deem'd,
Child of one womb at one auspicious hour.
Akin they were, yet not as thus it seem'd;
For he of V ALOR was the eldest son,
From Arete in happy union sprung.
25.
But her to Phronis Eusebeia bore,
She whom her mother Dice sent to earth;
What marvel then if thus their features wore
Resemblant lineaments of kindred birth,
Dice being child of Him who rules above,
V ALOR his earth-born son; so both derived from Jove.
26.
While I stood gazing, suddenly the air
Was fill'd with solemn music breathing round;
And yet no mortal instruments were there,
Nor seem'd that melody an earthly sound,
So wondrously it came, so passing sweet,
For some strange pageant sure a prelude meet.
27.
In every breast methought there seem'd to be
A hush of reverence mingled with dismay;
For now appear'd a heavenly company
Toward the royal seat who held their way;
A female Form majestic led them on, —
With awful port she came, and stood before the Throne.
28.
Gentle her mien, and void of all offence;
But if aught wrong'd her, she could strike such fear,
As when Minerva, in her Sire's defence,
Shook in Phlegraean fields her dreadful spear.
Yet her benignant aspect told that ne'er
Would she refuse to heed a suppliant's prayer.
29.
The Trident of the Seas in her right hand,
The sceptre which that Bride was born to wield,
She bore, in symbol of her just command,
And in her left display'd the Red-Cross shield.
A plume of milk-white feathers overspread
The laurell'd helm which graced her lofty head.
30.
Daughter of Brunswick's fated line, she said,
While joyful realms their gratulations pay,
And ask for blessings on thy bridal bed,
We, too, descend upon this happy day; —
Receive with willing ear what we impart,
And treasure up our counsels in thy heart!
31.
Long may it be ere thou art call'd to bear
The weight of empire in a day of woe!
Be it thy favor'd lot meantime to share
The joys which from domestic virtue flow,
And may the lessons which are now impress'd,
In years of leisure, sink into thy breast.
32.
Look to thy Sire, and in his steady way,
As in his Father's he, learn thou to tread;
That thus, when comes the inevitable day,
No other change be felt than of the head
Which wears the crown; thy name will then be blest
Like theirs, when thou, too, shalt be call'd to rest.
33.
Love peace and cherish peace; but use it so
That War may find thee ready at all hours;
And ever when thou strikest, let the blow
Be swift and sure: then put forth all the powers
Which God hath given thee to redress thy wrong,
And, powerful as thou art, the strife will not be long.
34.
Let not the sacred Trident from thy hand
Depart, nor lay the falchion from thy side!
Queen of the Seas, and mighty on the land,
Thy power shall then be dreaded far and wide:
And trusting still in God and in the Right,
Thou mayst again defy the World's collected might.
35.
Thus as she ceased, a comely Sage came on,
His temples and capacious forehead spread
With locks of venerable eld, which shone
As when, in wintry morns, on Skiddaw's head
The cloud, the sunshine, and the snow unite,
So silvery, so unsullied, and so white.
36.
Of Kronos and the Nymph Mnemosyne
He sprung, on either side a birth divine;
Thus to the Olympian Gods allied was he,
And brother to the sacred Sisters nine,
With whom he dwelt in interchange of lore,
Each thus instructing each for evermore.
37.
They call'd him Praxis in the Olympian tongue;
But here on earth E XPERIENCE was his name.
Whatever things have pass'd to him were known,
And he could see the future ere it came;
Such foresight was his patient wisdom's meed, —
Alas for those who his wise counsels will not heed!
38.
He bore a goodly volume, which he laid
Between that princely couple on the throne.
Lo, there my work for this great realm, he said,
My work, which with the kingdom's growth has grown,
The rights, the usages, the laws wherein
Blessed above all nations she hath been.
39.
Such as the sacred trust to thee is given,
So unimpair'd transmit it to thy line:
Preserve it as the choicest gift of Heaven,
Alway to make the bliss of thee and thine:
The talisman of England's strength is there, —
With reverence guard it, and with jealous care!
40.
The next who stood before that royal pair
Came gliding like a vision o'er the ground;
A glory went before him through the air,
Ambrosial odors floated all around,
His purple wings a heavenly lustre shed
A silvery halo hover'd round his head.
41.
The Angel of the English Church was this,
With whose divinest presence there appear'd
A glorious train, inheritors of bliss,
Saints in the memory of the good revered,
Who, having render'd back their vital breath
To Him, from whom it came, were perfected by Death.
42.
Edward the spotless Tudor, there I knew,
In whose pure breast, with pious nurture fed,
All generous hopes and gentle virtues grew;
A heavenly diadem adorn'd his head, —
Most blessed Prince, whose saintly name might move
The understanding heart to tears of reverent love.
43.
Less radiant than King Edward, Cranmer came,
But purged from persecution's sable spot;
For he had given his body to the flame,
And now in that right hand, which, flinching not,
He proffer'd to the fire's atoning doom,
Bore he the unfading palm of martyrdom.
44.
There too came Latimer, in worth allied,
Who, to the stake when brought by Romish rage,
As if with prison weeds he cast aside
The infirmity of flesh and weight of age,
Bow-bent till then with weakness, in his shroud
Stood up erect and firm before the admiring crowd.
45.
With these, partakers in beatitude,
Bearing like them the palm, their emblem meet,
The Noble Army came, who had subdued
All frailty, putting death beneath their feet:
Their robes were like the mountain snow, and bright
As though they had been dipp'd in the fountain, springs of light.
46.
For these were they who valiantly endured
The fierce extremity of mortal pain,
By no weak tenderness to life allured,
The victims of that hateful Henry's reign,
And of the bloody Queen, beneath whose sway
Rome lit her fires, and Fiends kept holyday.
47.
O pardon me, thrice holy Spirits dear,
That hastily I now must pass ye by!
No want of duteous reverence is there here;
None better knows nor deeplier feels than I
What to your sufferings and your faith we owe,
Ye valiant champions for the truth below!
48.
Hereafter, haply, with maturer care,
(So Heaven permit,) that reverence shall be shown.
Now of my vision I must needs declare,
And how the Angel stood before the throne,
And, fixing on that Princess, as he spake,
His eye benign, the awful silence brake.
49.
Thus said the Angel — Thou to whom one day
There shall in earthly guardianship be given
The English Church, preserve it from decay!
Ere now for that most sacred charge hath Heaven
In perilous times provided female means,
Blessing it beneath the rule of pious Queens.
50.
Bear thou that great Eliza in thy mind,
Who from a wreck this fabric edified;
And H ER who, to a nation's voice resign'd,
When Rome in hope its wiliest engines plied,
By her own heart and righteous Heaven approved,
Stood up against the Father whom she loved.
51.
Laying all mean regards aside, fill Thou
Her seats with wisdom and with learned worth;
That so, whene'er attack'd, with fearless brow
Her champions may defend her rights on earth;
Link'd is her welfare closely with thine own;
One fate attends the Altar and the Throne!
52.
Think not that lapse of ages shall abate
The inveterate malice of that Harlot old;
Fallen though thou deem'st her from her high estate,
She proffers still the envenom'd cup of gold,
And her fierce Beast, whose names are Blasphemy,
The same that was, is still, and still must be.
53.
The stern Sectarian in unnatural league
Joins her to war against their hated foe;
Error and Faction aid the bold intrigue,
And the dark Atheist seeks her overthrow,
While giant Zeal in arms against her stands,
Barks with a hundred mouths, and lifts a hundred hands.
54.
Built on a rock, the fabric may repel
Their utmost rage, if all within be sound;
But if within the gates Indifference dwell,
Woe to her then! there needs no outward wound!
Through her whole frame benumb'd, a lethal sleep,
Like the cold poison of the asp, will creep.
55.
In thee, as in a cresset set on high,
The light of piety should shine far seen,
A guiding beacon fix'd for every eye:
Thus from the influence of an honor'd Queen,
As from its spring, should public good proceed, —
The peace of Heaven will be thy proper meed.
56.
So should return that happy state of yore,
When piety and joy went hand in hand;
The love which to his flock the shepherd bore,
The old observances which cheer'd the land,
The household prayers which, honoring God's high name,
Kept the lamp trimm'd and fed the sacred flame.
57.
Thus having spoke, away the Angel pass'd
With all his train, dissolving from the sight:
A transitory shadow overcast
The sudden void they left; all meaner light
Seeming like darkness to the eye which lost
The full effulgence of that heavenly host.
58.
Eftsoon, in reappearing light confess'd,
There stood another Minister of bliss,
With his own radiance clothed as with a vest.
One of the angelic company was this,
Who, guardians of the rising human race,
Alway in Heaven behold the Father's face.
59.
Somewhile he fix'd upon the royal Bride
A contemplative eye of thoughtful grief;
The trouble of that look benign implied
A sense of wrongs for which he sought relief,
And that Earth's evils which go unredress'd
May waken sorrow in an Angel's breast.
60.
I plead for babes and sucklings, he began,
Those who are now, and who are yet to be;
I plead for all the surest hopes of man,
The vital welfare of humanity:
Oh! let not bestial Ignorance maintain
Longer within the land her brutalizing reign.
61.
O Lady, if some new-born babe should bless,
In answer to a nation's prayers, thy love,
When thou, beholding it in tenderness,
The deepest, holiest joy of earth shalt prove,
In that the likeness of all infants see,
And call to mind that hour what now thou hear'st from me.
62.
Then seeing infant man, that Lord of Earth,
Most weak and helpless of all breathing things,
Remember that as Nature makes at birth
No different law for Peasants or for Kings,
And at the end no difference may befall,
The " short parenthesis of life " is all.
63.
But in that space, how wide may be their doom
Of honor or dishonor, good or ill!
From Nature's hand like plastic clay they come,
To take from circumstance their woe or weal;
And as the form and pressure may be given,
They wither upon earth, or ripen there for Heaven.
64.
Is it then fitting that one soul should pine
For lack of culture in this favor'd land? —
That spirits of capacity divine
Perish, like seeds upon the desert sand? —
That needful knowledge in this age of light
Should not by birth be every Briton's right?
65.
Little can private zeal effect alone;
The State must this state-malady redress;
For as, of all the ways of life, but one —
The path of duty — leads to happiness,
So in their duty States must find at length
Their welfare, and their safety, and their strength.
66.
This the first duty, carefully to train
The children in the way that they should go;
Then of the family of guilt and pain
How large a part were banish'd from below!
How would the people love with surest cause
Their country, and revere her venerable laws!
67.
Is there, alas! within the human soul
An inbred taint disposing it for ill?
More need that early culture should control
And discipline by love the pliant will!
The heart of man is rich in all good seeds;
Neglected, it is choked with tares and noxious weeds.
68.
He ceased, and sudden from some unseen throng
A choral peal arose and shook the hall;
As when ten thousand children with their song
Fill the resounding temple of St. Paul; —
Scarce can the heart their powerful tones sustain; —
" Save, or we perish! " was the thrilling strain.
69.
" Save, or we perish! " thrice the strain was sung
By unseen Souls innumerous hovering round;
And whilst the hall with their deep chorus rung,
The inmost heart was shaken with the sound;
I felt the refluent blood forsake my face,
And my knees trembled in that awful place.
70.
Anon two female forms before our view
Came side by side, a beauteous couplement;
The first a virgin clad in skyey blue;
Upward to Heaven her steadfast eyes were bent,
Her countenance an anxious meaning bore,
Yet such as might have made her loved the more.
71.
This was that maiden, " sober, chaste, and wise, "
Who bringeth to all hearts their best delight:
" Though spoused, yet wanting wedlock's solemnize; "
" Daughter of Caelia, and Speranza hight,
I knew her well as one whose portraiture
In my dear Master's verse forever will endure.
72.
Her sister, too, the same divinest page
Taught me to know for that Charissa fair
" Of goodly grace and comely personage,
Of wondrous beauty and of bounty rare,
Full of great love, " in whose most gentle mien
The charms of perfect womanhood were seen.
73.
This lovely pair unroll'd before the throne
" Earth's melancholy map, " whereon to sight
Two broad divisions at a glance were shown, —
The empires these of Darkness and of Light.
Well might the thoughtful bosom sigh to mark
How wide a portion of the map was dark.
74.
Behold, Charissa cried, how large a space
Of Earth lies unredeem'd! Oh, grief to think
That countless myriads of immortal race,
In error born, in ignorance must sink,
Train'd up in customs which corrupt the heart,
And following miserably the evil part!
75.
Regard the expanded Orient, from the shores
Of scorch'd Arabia and the Persian sea,
To where the inhospitable Ocean roars
Against the rocks of frozen Tartary;
Look next at those Australian isles, which lie
Thick as the stars that stud the wintry sky; —
76.
Then let thy mind contemplative survey
That spacious region, where, in elder time,
Earth's unremember'd conquerors held the sway;
And Science, trusting in her skill sublime,
With lore abstruse the sculptured walls o'erspread,
Its import now forgotten with the dead.
77.
From Nile and Congo's undiscover'd springs
To the four seas which gird the unhappy land,
Behold it left a prey to barbarous Kings,
The Robber, or the Trader's ruthless hand:
Sinning and suffering, every where unbless'd,
Behold her wretched sons, oppressing and oppress'd!
78.
To England is the Eastern empire given,
And hers the sceptre of the circling main;
Shall she not then diffuse the word of Heaven
Through all the regions of her trusted reign, —
Wage against evil things the hallow'd strife,
And sow with liberal hand the seeds of life!
79.
By strenuous efforts in a rightful cause,
Gloriously hath she surpass'd her ancient fame,
And won in arms the astonish'd World's applause.
Yet may she win in peace a nobler name,
And Nations, which now lie in error blind,
Hail her the Friend and Teacher of Mankind!
80.
Oh! what a part were that, Speranza then
Exclaim'd, to act upon Earth's ample stage!
Oh! what a name among the sons of men
To leaves, which should endure from age to age!
And what a strength that ministry of good
Should find in love and human gratitude!
81.
Speed thou the work, Redeemer of the World!
That the long miseries of mankind may cease!
Where'er the Red Cross banner is unfurl'd
There let it carry truth, and light, and peace!
Did not the Angels who announced thy birth
Proclaim it with the sound of Peace on Earth?
82.
Bless thou this happy Island, that the stream
Of blessing far and wide from hence may flow!
Bless it that thus thy saving Mercy's beam
Reflected hence may shine on all below!
T HY KINGDOM COME! THY WILL BE DONE , O L ORD !
A ND BE THY H OLY N AME THROUGH ALL THE WORLD ADORED !
83.
Thus as Speranza cried; she clasp'd her hands,
And heavenward lifted them in ardent prayer.
Lo! at the act the vaulted roof expands, —
Heaven opens, — and in empyreal air
Pouring its splendors through the inferior sky
More bright than noon-day suns the C ROSS appears on high.
84.
A strain of heavenly harmony ensued,
Such as but once to mortal ears was known, —
The voice of that Angelic Multitude,
Who, in their Orders, stand around the Throne;
Peace UPON E ARTH , G OOD W ILL TO M EN ! they sung,
And Heaven and Earth with that prophetic anthem rung.
85.
In holy fear I fell upon the ground,
And hid my face, unable to endure
The glory, or sustain the piercing sound;
In fear and yet in trembling joy, for sure
My soul that hour yearn'd strongly to be free,
That it might spread its wings in immortality.
86.
Gone was the glory when I raised my head;
But in the air appear'd a form half seen,
Below with shadows dimly garmented,
And indistinct and dreadful was his mien:
Yet, when I gazed intentlier, I could trace
Divinest beauty in that awful face.
87.
Hear me, O Princess! said the shadowy form,
As, in administering this mighty land,
Thou with thy best endeavor shalt perform
The will of Heaven, so shall my faithful hand
Thy great and endless recompense supply; —
My name is DEATH: THE LAST, BEST FRIEND AM I!
Methought I heard a stir of hasty feet,
And horses tramp'd and coaches roll'd along,
And there were busy voices in the street,
As if a multitude were hurrying on;
A stir it was which only could befall
Upon some great and solemn festival.
2.
Such crowds I saw, and in such glad array,
It seem'd some general joy had fill'd the land;
Age had a sunshine on its cheek that day,
And children, tottering by the mother's hand,
Too young to ask why all this joy should be,
Partook it, and rejoiced for sympathy.
3.
The shops, that no dull care might intervene,
Were closed; the doors within were lined with heads;
Glad faces were at every window seen,
And from the cluster'd house-tops and the leads,
Others, who took their stand in patient row,
Look'd down upon the crowds that swarm'd below.
4.
And every one of all that numerous throng
On head or breast a marriage symbol wore;
The war-horse proudly, as he paced along,
Those joyous colors in his forelock wore,
And arch'd his stately neck as for delight,
To show his mane thus pompously bedight.
5.
From every church the merry bells rung round
With gladdening harmony heard far and wide;
In many a mingled peal of swelling sound,
The hurrying music came on every side;
And banners from the steeples waved on high,
And streamers flutter'd in the sun and sky.
6.
Anon the cannon's voice in thunder spake;
Westward it came; the East returned the sound;
Burst after burst the innocuous thunders brake,
And roll'd from side to side with quick rebound.
O happy land, where that terrific voice
Speaks but to bid all habitants rejoice!
7.
Thereat the crowd rush'd forward one and all,
And I too in my dream was borne along.
Eftsoon, methought, I reach'd a festal hall,
Where guards in order ranged repell'd the throng,
But I had entrance through that guarded door,
In honor to the laureate crown I wore.
8.
That spacious hall was hung with trophies round,
Memorials proud of many a well-won day:
The flag of France there trail'd toward the ground;
There in captivity her Eagles lay,
And under each, in aye-enduring gold,
One well-known word its fatal story told.
9.
There read I Nile, conspicuous from afar;
And Egypt and Maida there were found;
And Copenhagen there and Trafalgar;
Vimeiro and Busaco's day renown'd;
There too was seen Barrosa's bloody name,
And Albuhera, dear-bought field of fame.
10.
Yon spoils from boastful Massena were won;
Those Marmont left in that illustrious fight
By Salamanca, when too soon the sun
Went down, and darkness hid the Frenchman's flight.
These from Vittoria were in triumph borne,
When from the Intruder's head Spain's stolen crown was torn.
11.
These on Pyrene's awful heights were gain'd,
The trophies of that memorable day,
When deep with blood her mountain springs were stain'd.
Above the clouds and lightnings of that fray,
Wheeling afar the affrighted eagles fled;
At eve the wolves came forth and prey'd upon the dead.
12.
And blood-stain'd flags were here from Orthies borne,
Trampled by France beneath her flying feet;
And what before Thoulouse from Soult were torn,
When the stern Marshal met his last defeat,
Yielding once more to Britain's arm of might,
And Wellington in mercy spared his flight.
13.
There hung the Eagles which, with victory flush'd,
From Fleurus and from Ligny proudly flew,
To see the Usurper's high-swollen fortune crush'd
Forever on the field of Waterloo, —
Day of all days, surpassing in its fame
All fields of elder or of later name!
14.
There, too, the painter's universal art
Each story told to all beholders' eyes;
And Sculpture there had done her fitting part,
Bidding the forms perdurable arise
Of those great Chiefs who in the field of fight
Had best upheld their country's sacred right.
15.
There stood our peerless Edward, gentle-soul'd,
The Sable Prince, of chivalry the flower;
And that Plantagenet of sterner mould,
He who the conquer'd crown of Gallia wore;
And Blake, and Nelson, Glory's favorite son,
And Marlborough there, and Wolfe, and Wellington.
16.
But from the statues and the storied wall,
The living scene withdrew my wondering sense;
For with accordant pomp that gorgeous hall
Was fill'd; and I beheld the opulence
Of Britain's Court, — a proud assemblage there,
Her Statesmen, and her Warriors, and her Fair.
17.
Amid that Hall of Victory, side by side,
Conspicuous o'er the splendid company,
There sat a royal Bridegroom and his Bride;
In her fair cheek, and in her bright blue eye,
Her flaxen locks, and her benignant mien,
The marks of Brunswick's Royal Line were seen.
18.
Of princely lineage and of princely heart,
The Bridegroom seem'd, — a man approved in fight,
Who in the great deliverance bore his part,
And had pursued the recreant Tyrant's flight,
When, driven from injured Germany, he fled,
Bearing the curse of God and Man upon his head.
19.
Guardant before his feet a Lion lay,
The Saxon Lion, terrible of yore,
Who, in his wither'd limbs and lean decay,
The marks of long and cruel bondage bore;
But broken now beside him lay the chain,
Which gall'd and fretted late his neck and mane.
20.
A Lion too was couch'd before the Bride;
That noble Beast had never felt the chain;
Strong were his sinewy limbs and smooth his hide,
And o'er his shoulders broad the affluent mane
Dishevell'd hung; beneath his feet were laid
Torn flags of France, whereon his bed he made.
21.
Full different were those Lions twain in plight,
Yet were they of one brood; and side by side
Of old, the Gallic Tiger in his might
They many a time had met, and quell'd his pride,
And made the treacherous spoiler from their ire,
Cowering and crippled, to his den retire.
22.
Two forms divine on either side the throne,
Its heavenly guardians, male and female stood;
His eye was bold, and on his brow there shone
Contempt of all base things, and pride subdued
To wisdom's will: a warrior's garb he wore,
And H ONOR was the name the Genius bore.
23.
That other form was in a snow-white vest,
As well her virgin loveliness became;
Erect her port, and on her spotless breast
A blood-red cross was hung: F AITH was her name,
As by that sacred emblem might be seen,
And by her eagle eye, and by her dove-like mien.
24.
Her likeness such to that robuster power,
That sure his sister she might have been deem'd,
Child of one womb at one auspicious hour.
Akin they were, yet not as thus it seem'd;
For he of V ALOR was the eldest son,
From Arete in happy union sprung.
25.
But her to Phronis Eusebeia bore,
She whom her mother Dice sent to earth;
What marvel then if thus their features wore
Resemblant lineaments of kindred birth,
Dice being child of Him who rules above,
V ALOR his earth-born son; so both derived from Jove.
26.
While I stood gazing, suddenly the air
Was fill'd with solemn music breathing round;
And yet no mortal instruments were there,
Nor seem'd that melody an earthly sound,
So wondrously it came, so passing sweet,
For some strange pageant sure a prelude meet.
27.
In every breast methought there seem'd to be
A hush of reverence mingled with dismay;
For now appear'd a heavenly company
Toward the royal seat who held their way;
A female Form majestic led them on, —
With awful port she came, and stood before the Throne.
28.
Gentle her mien, and void of all offence;
But if aught wrong'd her, she could strike such fear,
As when Minerva, in her Sire's defence,
Shook in Phlegraean fields her dreadful spear.
Yet her benignant aspect told that ne'er
Would she refuse to heed a suppliant's prayer.
29.
The Trident of the Seas in her right hand,
The sceptre which that Bride was born to wield,
She bore, in symbol of her just command,
And in her left display'd the Red-Cross shield.
A plume of milk-white feathers overspread
The laurell'd helm which graced her lofty head.
30.
Daughter of Brunswick's fated line, she said,
While joyful realms their gratulations pay,
And ask for blessings on thy bridal bed,
We, too, descend upon this happy day; —
Receive with willing ear what we impart,
And treasure up our counsels in thy heart!
31.
Long may it be ere thou art call'd to bear
The weight of empire in a day of woe!
Be it thy favor'd lot meantime to share
The joys which from domestic virtue flow,
And may the lessons which are now impress'd,
In years of leisure, sink into thy breast.
32.
Look to thy Sire, and in his steady way,
As in his Father's he, learn thou to tread;
That thus, when comes the inevitable day,
No other change be felt than of the head
Which wears the crown; thy name will then be blest
Like theirs, when thou, too, shalt be call'd to rest.
33.
Love peace and cherish peace; but use it so
That War may find thee ready at all hours;
And ever when thou strikest, let the blow
Be swift and sure: then put forth all the powers
Which God hath given thee to redress thy wrong,
And, powerful as thou art, the strife will not be long.
34.
Let not the sacred Trident from thy hand
Depart, nor lay the falchion from thy side!
Queen of the Seas, and mighty on the land,
Thy power shall then be dreaded far and wide:
And trusting still in God and in the Right,
Thou mayst again defy the World's collected might.
35.
Thus as she ceased, a comely Sage came on,
His temples and capacious forehead spread
With locks of venerable eld, which shone
As when, in wintry morns, on Skiddaw's head
The cloud, the sunshine, and the snow unite,
So silvery, so unsullied, and so white.
36.
Of Kronos and the Nymph Mnemosyne
He sprung, on either side a birth divine;
Thus to the Olympian Gods allied was he,
And brother to the sacred Sisters nine,
With whom he dwelt in interchange of lore,
Each thus instructing each for evermore.
37.
They call'd him Praxis in the Olympian tongue;
But here on earth E XPERIENCE was his name.
Whatever things have pass'd to him were known,
And he could see the future ere it came;
Such foresight was his patient wisdom's meed, —
Alas for those who his wise counsels will not heed!
38.
He bore a goodly volume, which he laid
Between that princely couple on the throne.
Lo, there my work for this great realm, he said,
My work, which with the kingdom's growth has grown,
The rights, the usages, the laws wherein
Blessed above all nations she hath been.
39.
Such as the sacred trust to thee is given,
So unimpair'd transmit it to thy line:
Preserve it as the choicest gift of Heaven,
Alway to make the bliss of thee and thine:
The talisman of England's strength is there, —
With reverence guard it, and with jealous care!
40.
The next who stood before that royal pair
Came gliding like a vision o'er the ground;
A glory went before him through the air,
Ambrosial odors floated all around,
His purple wings a heavenly lustre shed
A silvery halo hover'd round his head.
41.
The Angel of the English Church was this,
With whose divinest presence there appear'd
A glorious train, inheritors of bliss,
Saints in the memory of the good revered,
Who, having render'd back their vital breath
To Him, from whom it came, were perfected by Death.
42.
Edward the spotless Tudor, there I knew,
In whose pure breast, with pious nurture fed,
All generous hopes and gentle virtues grew;
A heavenly diadem adorn'd his head, —
Most blessed Prince, whose saintly name might move
The understanding heart to tears of reverent love.
43.
Less radiant than King Edward, Cranmer came,
But purged from persecution's sable spot;
For he had given his body to the flame,
And now in that right hand, which, flinching not,
He proffer'd to the fire's atoning doom,
Bore he the unfading palm of martyrdom.
44.
There too came Latimer, in worth allied,
Who, to the stake when brought by Romish rage,
As if with prison weeds he cast aside
The infirmity of flesh and weight of age,
Bow-bent till then with weakness, in his shroud
Stood up erect and firm before the admiring crowd.
45.
With these, partakers in beatitude,
Bearing like them the palm, their emblem meet,
The Noble Army came, who had subdued
All frailty, putting death beneath their feet:
Their robes were like the mountain snow, and bright
As though they had been dipp'd in the fountain, springs of light.
46.
For these were they who valiantly endured
The fierce extremity of mortal pain,
By no weak tenderness to life allured,
The victims of that hateful Henry's reign,
And of the bloody Queen, beneath whose sway
Rome lit her fires, and Fiends kept holyday.
47.
O pardon me, thrice holy Spirits dear,
That hastily I now must pass ye by!
No want of duteous reverence is there here;
None better knows nor deeplier feels than I
What to your sufferings and your faith we owe,
Ye valiant champions for the truth below!
48.
Hereafter, haply, with maturer care,
(So Heaven permit,) that reverence shall be shown.
Now of my vision I must needs declare,
And how the Angel stood before the throne,
And, fixing on that Princess, as he spake,
His eye benign, the awful silence brake.
49.
Thus said the Angel — Thou to whom one day
There shall in earthly guardianship be given
The English Church, preserve it from decay!
Ere now for that most sacred charge hath Heaven
In perilous times provided female means,
Blessing it beneath the rule of pious Queens.
50.
Bear thou that great Eliza in thy mind,
Who from a wreck this fabric edified;
And H ER who, to a nation's voice resign'd,
When Rome in hope its wiliest engines plied,
By her own heart and righteous Heaven approved,
Stood up against the Father whom she loved.
51.
Laying all mean regards aside, fill Thou
Her seats with wisdom and with learned worth;
That so, whene'er attack'd, with fearless brow
Her champions may defend her rights on earth;
Link'd is her welfare closely with thine own;
One fate attends the Altar and the Throne!
52.
Think not that lapse of ages shall abate
The inveterate malice of that Harlot old;
Fallen though thou deem'st her from her high estate,
She proffers still the envenom'd cup of gold,
And her fierce Beast, whose names are Blasphemy,
The same that was, is still, and still must be.
53.
The stern Sectarian in unnatural league
Joins her to war against their hated foe;
Error and Faction aid the bold intrigue,
And the dark Atheist seeks her overthrow,
While giant Zeal in arms against her stands,
Barks with a hundred mouths, and lifts a hundred hands.
54.
Built on a rock, the fabric may repel
Their utmost rage, if all within be sound;
But if within the gates Indifference dwell,
Woe to her then! there needs no outward wound!
Through her whole frame benumb'd, a lethal sleep,
Like the cold poison of the asp, will creep.
55.
In thee, as in a cresset set on high,
The light of piety should shine far seen,
A guiding beacon fix'd for every eye:
Thus from the influence of an honor'd Queen,
As from its spring, should public good proceed, —
The peace of Heaven will be thy proper meed.
56.
So should return that happy state of yore,
When piety and joy went hand in hand;
The love which to his flock the shepherd bore,
The old observances which cheer'd the land,
The household prayers which, honoring God's high name,
Kept the lamp trimm'd and fed the sacred flame.
57.
Thus having spoke, away the Angel pass'd
With all his train, dissolving from the sight:
A transitory shadow overcast
The sudden void they left; all meaner light
Seeming like darkness to the eye which lost
The full effulgence of that heavenly host.
58.
Eftsoon, in reappearing light confess'd,
There stood another Minister of bliss,
With his own radiance clothed as with a vest.
One of the angelic company was this,
Who, guardians of the rising human race,
Alway in Heaven behold the Father's face.
59.
Somewhile he fix'd upon the royal Bride
A contemplative eye of thoughtful grief;
The trouble of that look benign implied
A sense of wrongs for which he sought relief,
And that Earth's evils which go unredress'd
May waken sorrow in an Angel's breast.
60.
I plead for babes and sucklings, he began,
Those who are now, and who are yet to be;
I plead for all the surest hopes of man,
The vital welfare of humanity:
Oh! let not bestial Ignorance maintain
Longer within the land her brutalizing reign.
61.
O Lady, if some new-born babe should bless,
In answer to a nation's prayers, thy love,
When thou, beholding it in tenderness,
The deepest, holiest joy of earth shalt prove,
In that the likeness of all infants see,
And call to mind that hour what now thou hear'st from me.
62.
Then seeing infant man, that Lord of Earth,
Most weak and helpless of all breathing things,
Remember that as Nature makes at birth
No different law for Peasants or for Kings,
And at the end no difference may befall,
The " short parenthesis of life " is all.
63.
But in that space, how wide may be their doom
Of honor or dishonor, good or ill!
From Nature's hand like plastic clay they come,
To take from circumstance their woe or weal;
And as the form and pressure may be given,
They wither upon earth, or ripen there for Heaven.
64.
Is it then fitting that one soul should pine
For lack of culture in this favor'd land? —
That spirits of capacity divine
Perish, like seeds upon the desert sand? —
That needful knowledge in this age of light
Should not by birth be every Briton's right?
65.
Little can private zeal effect alone;
The State must this state-malady redress;
For as, of all the ways of life, but one —
The path of duty — leads to happiness,
So in their duty States must find at length
Their welfare, and their safety, and their strength.
66.
This the first duty, carefully to train
The children in the way that they should go;
Then of the family of guilt and pain
How large a part were banish'd from below!
How would the people love with surest cause
Their country, and revere her venerable laws!
67.
Is there, alas! within the human soul
An inbred taint disposing it for ill?
More need that early culture should control
And discipline by love the pliant will!
The heart of man is rich in all good seeds;
Neglected, it is choked with tares and noxious weeds.
68.
He ceased, and sudden from some unseen throng
A choral peal arose and shook the hall;
As when ten thousand children with their song
Fill the resounding temple of St. Paul; —
Scarce can the heart their powerful tones sustain; —
" Save, or we perish! " was the thrilling strain.
69.
" Save, or we perish! " thrice the strain was sung
By unseen Souls innumerous hovering round;
And whilst the hall with their deep chorus rung,
The inmost heart was shaken with the sound;
I felt the refluent blood forsake my face,
And my knees trembled in that awful place.
70.
Anon two female forms before our view
Came side by side, a beauteous couplement;
The first a virgin clad in skyey blue;
Upward to Heaven her steadfast eyes were bent,
Her countenance an anxious meaning bore,
Yet such as might have made her loved the more.
71.
This was that maiden, " sober, chaste, and wise, "
Who bringeth to all hearts their best delight:
" Though spoused, yet wanting wedlock's solemnize; "
" Daughter of Caelia, and Speranza hight,
I knew her well as one whose portraiture
In my dear Master's verse forever will endure.
72.
Her sister, too, the same divinest page
Taught me to know for that Charissa fair
" Of goodly grace and comely personage,
Of wondrous beauty and of bounty rare,
Full of great love, " in whose most gentle mien
The charms of perfect womanhood were seen.
73.
This lovely pair unroll'd before the throne
" Earth's melancholy map, " whereon to sight
Two broad divisions at a glance were shown, —
The empires these of Darkness and of Light.
Well might the thoughtful bosom sigh to mark
How wide a portion of the map was dark.
74.
Behold, Charissa cried, how large a space
Of Earth lies unredeem'd! Oh, grief to think
That countless myriads of immortal race,
In error born, in ignorance must sink,
Train'd up in customs which corrupt the heart,
And following miserably the evil part!
75.
Regard the expanded Orient, from the shores
Of scorch'd Arabia and the Persian sea,
To where the inhospitable Ocean roars
Against the rocks of frozen Tartary;
Look next at those Australian isles, which lie
Thick as the stars that stud the wintry sky; —
76.
Then let thy mind contemplative survey
That spacious region, where, in elder time,
Earth's unremember'd conquerors held the sway;
And Science, trusting in her skill sublime,
With lore abstruse the sculptured walls o'erspread,
Its import now forgotten with the dead.
77.
From Nile and Congo's undiscover'd springs
To the four seas which gird the unhappy land,
Behold it left a prey to barbarous Kings,
The Robber, or the Trader's ruthless hand:
Sinning and suffering, every where unbless'd,
Behold her wretched sons, oppressing and oppress'd!
78.
To England is the Eastern empire given,
And hers the sceptre of the circling main;
Shall she not then diffuse the word of Heaven
Through all the regions of her trusted reign, —
Wage against evil things the hallow'd strife,
And sow with liberal hand the seeds of life!
79.
By strenuous efforts in a rightful cause,
Gloriously hath she surpass'd her ancient fame,
And won in arms the astonish'd World's applause.
Yet may she win in peace a nobler name,
And Nations, which now lie in error blind,
Hail her the Friend and Teacher of Mankind!
80.
Oh! what a part were that, Speranza then
Exclaim'd, to act upon Earth's ample stage!
Oh! what a name among the sons of men
To leaves, which should endure from age to age!
And what a strength that ministry of good
Should find in love and human gratitude!
81.
Speed thou the work, Redeemer of the World!
That the long miseries of mankind may cease!
Where'er the Red Cross banner is unfurl'd
There let it carry truth, and light, and peace!
Did not the Angels who announced thy birth
Proclaim it with the sound of Peace on Earth?
82.
Bless thou this happy Island, that the stream
Of blessing far and wide from hence may flow!
Bless it that thus thy saving Mercy's beam
Reflected hence may shine on all below!
T HY KINGDOM COME! THY WILL BE DONE , O L ORD !
A ND BE THY H OLY N AME THROUGH ALL THE WORLD ADORED !
83.
Thus as Speranza cried; she clasp'd her hands,
And heavenward lifted them in ardent prayer.
Lo! at the act the vaulted roof expands, —
Heaven opens, — and in empyreal air
Pouring its splendors through the inferior sky
More bright than noon-day suns the C ROSS appears on high.
84.
A strain of heavenly harmony ensued,
Such as but once to mortal ears was known, —
The voice of that Angelic Multitude,
Who, in their Orders, stand around the Throne;
Peace UPON E ARTH , G OOD W ILL TO M EN ! they sung,
And Heaven and Earth with that prophetic anthem rung.
85.
In holy fear I fell upon the ground,
And hid my face, unable to endure
The glory, or sustain the piercing sound;
In fear and yet in trembling joy, for sure
My soul that hour yearn'd strongly to be free,
That it might spread its wings in immortality.
86.
Gone was the glory when I raised my head;
But in the air appear'd a form half seen,
Below with shadows dimly garmented,
And indistinct and dreadful was his mien:
Yet, when I gazed intentlier, I could trace
Divinest beauty in that awful face.
87.
Hear me, O Princess! said the shadowy form,
As, in administering this mighty land,
Thou with thy best endeavor shalt perform
The will of Heaven, so shall my faithful hand
Thy great and endless recompense supply; —
My name is DEATH: THE LAST, BEST FRIEND AM I!
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