There are the naked clothed, the hungry fed;
And Charity extendeth 2 to the dead,

Her intercessions made for the soul's rest

Of tardy penitents; or for the best

Among the good (when love might else have slept,
Sickened, or died) in pious memory kept.
Thanks to the austere and simple Devotees,

65

70

Who, to that service bound by venial fees,
Keep watch before the altars of St. Bees.

3

Are 3 not, in sooth, their Requiems sacred ties *
Woven out of passion's sharpest agonies,
Subdued, composed, and formalized by art,

75

* I am aware that I am here treading upon tender ground; but to the intelligent reader I feel that no apology is due. The prayers of survivors, during passionate grief for the recent loss of relatives and friends, as the object of those prayers could no longer be the suffering body of the dying, would naturally be ejaculated for the souls of the departed; the barriers between the two worlds dissolving before the power of love and faith. The ministers of religion, from their habitual attendance upon sick-beds, would be daily witnesses of these benign results; and hence would be strongly tempted to aim at giving to them permanence, by embodying them in rites and ceremonies, recurring at stated periods. All this, as it was in course of nature, so was it blameless, and even praiseworthy; since some of its effects, in that rude state of society, could not but be salutary. No reflecting person, however, can view 2 without sorrow the abuses which rose out of thus formalizing sublime instincts, and disinterested movements of passion, and perverting them into means of gratifying the ambition and rapacity of the priesthood. But, while we deplore and are indignant at these abuses, it would be a great mistake if we imputed the origin of the offices to prospective selfishness on the part of the monks and clergy: they were at first sincere in their sympathy, and in their degree dupes rather of their own creed, than artful and designing men. Charity is, upon the whole, the safest guide that we can take in judging our fellow-men, whether of past ages, or of the present time.-W. W. 1835.

1 1845.

The Author is aware that he is here . . . reader he feels that 1835. 2 1837.

praiseworthy; but no reflecting person can view

1835.

STANZAS SUGGESTED IN A STEAM-BOAT 355

To fix a wiser sorrow in the heart?

The prayer for them whose hour is past away
Says to the Living, profit while ye may !
A little part, and that the worst, he sees
Who thinks that priestly cunning holds the keys
That best unlock the secrets of St. Bees.

Conscience, the timid being's inmost light,
Hope of the dawn and solace of the night,
Cheers these Recluses with a steady ray
In many an hour when judgment goes astray.
Ah! scorn not hastily their rule who try
Earth to despise, and flesh to mortify;
Consume with zeal, in wingèd ecstasies
Of prayer and praise forget their rosaries,
Nor hear the loudest surges of St. Bees.

Yet none so prompt to succour and protect

The forlorn traveller, or sailor wrecked

80

85

90

On the bare coast; nor do they grudge the boon
Which staff and cockle hat and sandal shoon
Claim for the pilgrim: and, though chidings sharp 95
May sometimes greet the strolling minstrel's harp,
It is not then when, swept with sportive ease,
It charms a feast-day throng of all degrees,
Brightening the archway of revered St. Bees.

How did the cliffs and echoing hills rejoice
What time the Benedictine Brethren's voice,
Imploring, or commanding with meet pride,
Summoned the Chiefs to lay their feuds aside,
And under one blest ensign serve the Lord
In Palestine. Advance, indignant Sword!
Flaming till thou from Panym hands release
That Tomb, dread centre of all sanctities
Nursed in the quiet Abbey of St. Bees.

1 1837. Said

was past away

1835.

ΙΟΟ

105

But look we now to them whose minds from far 1
Follow the fortunes which they may not share.
While in Judea Fancy loves to roam,
She helps to make a Holy-land at home:
The Star of Bethlehem from its sphere invites
To sound the crystal depth of maiden rights;
And wedded Life, through scriptural mysteries,
Heavenward ascends with all her charities,
Taught by the hooded Celibates of St. Bees.

Nor be it e'er forgotten how by skill

Of cloistered Architects, free their souls to fill

*

With love of God, throughout the Land were raised
Churches, on whose symbolic beauty gazed
Peasant and mail-clad Chief with pious awe;

As at this day men seeing what they saw,
Or the bare wreck of faith's solemnities,
Aspire to more than earthly destinies ;

Witness yon Pile that greets us from St. Bees.2

110

115

121

125

Yet more; around those Churches, gathered Towns † Safe from the feudal Castle's haughty frowns;

On, Champions, on !—But mark! the passing Day
Submits her intercourse to milder sway,

With high and low whose busy thoughts from far 1835.

2 1845.

As through the land we seeing what they saw,

Or the bare wreck of faith's solemnities,

May lift

{the}

to

hearts

for} blissful destinies ;

Witness the remnant of thy Church, St. Bees.

Witness your works, good cœnobites of St. Bees.

(or)

As on this day we seeing what they saw,
Uplift our hearts for heavenly destinies

In field or town, 'mid mountain fastnesses,

Or on wave-beaten shores like thine, St. Bees.

C.

C.

* Compare The Virgin, in the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," Part II. xxv.— ED.

See "The English Town" in Green's Short History of the English People, ch. iv. sec. 4.-ED.

STANZAS SUGGESTED IN A STEAM-BOAT

Peaceful abodes, where Justice might uphold
Her scales with even hand, and culture mould
The heart to pity, train the mind in care
For rules of life, sound as the Time could bear.
Nor dost thou fail, thro' abject love of ease,
Or hindrance raised by sordid purposes,
To bear thy part in this good work, St. Bees.*

*

357

130

135

Who with the ploughshare clove the barren moors, And to green meadows changed the swampy shores? Thinned the rank woods; and for the cheerful grange Made room where wolf and boar were used to

range?

Who taught, and showed by deeds, that gentler

chains

Should bind the vassal to his lord's domains?
The thoughtful Monks, intent their God to please,
For Christ's dear sake, by human sympathies
Poured from the bosom of thy Church, St. Bees!

But all availed not; by a mandate given
Through lawless will the Brotherhood was driven
Forth from their cells; their ancient House laid low
In Reformation's sweeping overthrow.

140

145

But now once more the local Heart revives,

The inextinguishable Spirit strives.

150

Oh may that Power who hushed the stormy seas,

And cleared a way for the first Votaries,

Prosper the new-born College of St. Bees! †

Alas! the Genius of our age, from Schools
Less humble, draws her lessons, aims, and rules.
To Prowess guided by her insight keen
Matter and Spirit are as one Machine;
Boastful Idolatress of formal skill

* This stanza and the preceding one were added in 1845.-ED.

155

This College was founded for the education of clerks in holy orders who

did not mean to proceed to Oxford or Cambridge.-ED.

She in her own would merge the eternal will: 1
Better,2 if Reason's triumphs match with these,
Her flight before the bold credulities

That furthered the first teaching of St. Bees.*

160

XII

IN THE CHANNEL, BETWEEN THE COAST OF CUMBERLAND AND THE ISLE OF MAN

RANGING the heights of Scawfell or Black-Comb,3
In his lone course the Shepherd oft will pause,
And strive to fathom the mysterious laws

By which the clouds, arrayed in light or gloom,
On Mona settle, and the shapes assume

1 1835.

our age, her rules

From schools that scorning faith in things unseen,
Most confident when most they overween,
Would merge, idolaters of formal skill
In their own system God's eternal will.

aims and rules

Would merge, Idolaters of formal skill In her own system God's eternal will. 2 1837.

will:

Expert to move in paths that Newton trod,
From Newton's Universe would banish God.
Better,

C.

C.

1835.

1835.

5

* See The Excursion, seventh part; and "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," second part, near the beginning.-W. W. 1850.

The passages referred to are the following: The Excursion, book vii. 1. 1008, etc. (vol. v. p. 324), beginning

The courteous Knight,

and alluding to Sir Alfred Irthing; and in the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," Part II. III., IV., v., Cistercian Monastery, and Monks and Schoolmen.ED.