XIX.

APOLOGY.

Nor utterly unworthy to endure
Was the supremacy of crafty Rome;
Age after age to the arch of Christendom
Aerial keystone haughtily secure ;
Supremacy from Heaven transmitted pure

As many hold; and, therefore, to the tomb

Pass, some through fire- -and by the scaffold some-
Like saintly Fisher, and unbending More.
Lightly for both the bosom's lord did sit
Upon his throne;" unsoftened, undismayed
By aught that mingled with the tragic scene
Of pity or fear; and More's gay genius played
With the inoffensive sword of native wit,

Than the bare axe more luminous and keen.

XX.

IMAGINATIVE REGRETS.

DEEP is the lamentation! Not alone
From Sages justly honoured by mankind,
But from the ghostly Tenants of the wind,
Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous groan
Issues for that dominion overthrown:
Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind
As his own worshippers; and Nile, reclined
Upon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan
Renews.-Through every forest, cave, and den,
Where frauds were hatched of old, hath sorrow past -
Hangs o'er the Arabian Prophet's native Waste
Where once his airy helpers scheme d and planned,
'Mid phantom lakes bemocking thirsty men,
And stalking pillars built of fiery sand.

XXI.

REFLECTIONS.

GRANT, that by this unsparing Hurricane
Green leaves with yellow mixed are torn away,
And goodly fruitage with the mother spray,
"Twere madness-wished we, therefore, to detain,
With hands stretched forth in mollified disdain,
The "trumpery" that ascends in bare display,-
Bulls, pardons, relics, cowls black, white, and grey,
Upwhirled and flying o'er the ethereal plain
Fast bound for Limbo Lake. And yet not choice
But habit rules the unreflecting herd,

And airy bonds are hardest to disown;
Hence, with the spiritual sovereignty transferred
Unto itself, the Crown assumes a voice
Of reckless mastery, hitherto unknown.

XXII.

TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.

BUT, to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book,
In dusty sequestration wrapt too long,

Assumes the accents of our native tongue;

And he who guides the plough, or wields the crook, With understanding spirit now may look

Upon her records, listen to her song,

And sift her laws-much wondering that the wrong, Which Faith has suffered, Heaven could calmly brook. Transcendant Boon! noblest that earthly King Ever bestowed to equalize and bless

Under the weight of mortal wretchedness!

But passions spread like plagues, and thousands wild

With bigotry shall tread the Offering

Beneath their feet-detested and defiled.

XXIII.

THE POINT AT ISSUE.

FOR what contend the wise? for nothing less
Than that pure Faith dissolve the bonds of Sense;
The Soul restored to God by evidence

Of things not seen- drawn forth from their recess,
Root there, and not in forms, her holiness;
That Faith which to the Patriarchs did dispense
Sure guidance, ere a ceremonial fence

Was needful round men thirsting to transgress;
That Faith, more perfect still, with which the Lord
Of all, himself a Spirit, in the youth

Of Christian aspiration, deigned to fill

The temples of their hearts-who, with his word Informed, were resolute to do his will,

And worship him in spirit and in truth.