XIII

CASUAL INCITEMENT

A BRIGHT-HAIRED company of youthful slaves,
Beautiful strangers, stand within the pale
Of a sad market, ranged for public sale,
Where Tiber's stream the immortal1 City laves :
ANGLI by name; and not an ANGEL waves
His wing who could seem lovelier to man's eye 2
Than they appear to holy Gregory;
Who, having learnt that name, salvation craves
For Them, and for their Land. The earnest Sire,

His questions urging, feels, in slender ties
Of chiming sound, commanding sympathies ;
DE-IRIANS he would save them from God's IRE;
Subjects of Saxon ÆLLA—they shall sing
Glad HALLE-lujahs to the eternal King!

*

5

IO

1 1827.

2 1837.

glorious

His wing who seemeth lovelier in Heaven's eye

1822.

1822.

* The story is told of Gregory who was afterwards Pope, and is known as Gregory the Great, that "he was one day led into the market-place at Rome to look at a large importation from abroad. Among other things there were some boys exposed for sale like cattle. He was struck by the appearance of the boys, their fine clear skins, their flaxen or golden hair, and their ingenuous countenances; so that he asked from what country they came; and when he was told from the island of Britain, and were Angles, he played upon the word and said, 'Well may they be so called, for they are like Angels.' Then demanding from what province they were brought, the answer was from Deira'; and in the same humour he observed that rightly might this also be said, for de Dei ira, from the wrath of God were they to be delivered. And when he was told that their King was Ælla, he replied that Hallelujahs ought to be sung in his dominions. This trifling sprung from serious thought. From that day the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons became a favourite object with Gregory." (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i. pp. 22, 23.)-ED.

PAULINUS

15

XIV

GLAD TIDINGS

FOR ever hallowed be this morning fair,
Blest be the unconscious shore on which ye tread,
And blest the silver Cross, which ye, instead
Of martial banner, in procession bear;

The Cross preceding Him who floats in air,
The pictured Saviour!-By Augustin led,
They come and onward travel without dread,
Chanting in barbarous ears a tuneful prayer—
Sung for themselves, and those whom they would
free!

Rich conquest waits them :-the tempestuous sea
Of Ignorance, that ran so rough and high
And heeded not the voice of clashing swords,
These good men humble by a few bare words,
And calm with fear of God's divinity.*

5

IO

XV

PAULINUS

BUT, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall,
Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school
Of sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule,
Who comes with functions apostolical?

*Augustin was prior of St. Gregory's Monastery, dedicated to St. Andrew in Rome, and was sent by Gregory in the year 597 with several other monks into Britain. Ethelbert was then king of Kent, and, as they landed on the Isle of Thanet, he ordered them to stay there. According to Bede, "Some days after, the king came into the island and ordered Augustin and his companions to be brought into his presence. They came bearing a silver cross for their banner, and an image of our Lord and Saviour painted on a board; and singing the litany they offered up their prayers to the Lord for the eternal salvation both of themselves and of those to whom they were come." (Ecclesiastica Historia gentis Anglorum, book i. chap. xxv.)--ED.

Mark him,* of shoulders curved, and stature tall, 5
Black hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek,
His prominent feature like an eagle's beak;
A Man whose aspect doth at once appal
And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans
Toward the pure truths1 this Delegate propounds,
Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds
With careful hesitation,-then convenes
A synod of his Councillors :-give ear,
And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear!†

IO

XVI

PERSUASION

"MAN'S life is like a Sparrow, mighty King!
"That-while at banquet with your Chiefs you sit

1 1832.

Towards the Truths

1822.

* The person of Paulinus is thus described by Bede, from the memory of an eye-witness :-"Longæ staturæ, paululum incurvus, nigro capillo, facie macilenta, naso adunco, pertenui, venerabilis simul et terribilis aspectu."— W. W. 1822.

Paulinus won over Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, to the Christian faith, and baptized him "with his people," A.D. 627. (See The AngloSaxon Chronicle.)-En.

See the original of this speech in Bede.-The Conversion of Edwin, as related by him, is highly interesting-and the breaking up of this Council accompanied with an event so striking and characteristic, that I am tempted to give it at length in a translation. "Who, exclaimed the King, when the Council was ended, shall first desecrate the altars and the temples? I, answered the Chief Priest; for who more fit than myself, through the wisdom which the true God hath given me, to destroy, for the good example of others, what in foolishness I worshipped? Immediately, casting away vain superstition, he besought the King to grant him what the laws did not allow to a priest, arms and a courser (equum emissarium); which mounting, and furnished with a sword and lance, he proceeded to destroy the Idols. The crowd, seeing this, thought him mad-he however, halted not, but, approaching, he profaned the temple, casting against it the lance which he had held in his hand, and, exulting in acknowledgment of the worship of the true God, he ordered his companions to pull down the temple, with all its enclosures. The place is shown where those idols formerly stood, not far from York, at the source of the river Derwent, and is at this day called

CONVERSION

17

4

"Housed near a blazing fire-is seen to flit "Safe from the wintry tempest. Fluttering,1 "Here did it enter; there, on hasty wing, "Flies out, and passes on from cold to cold; "But whence it came we know not, nor behold "Whither it goes. Even such, that transient Thing,

“The human Soul; not utterly unknown

"While in the Body lodged, her warm abode ; "But from what world She came, what woe or weal "On her departure waits, no tongue hath shown; "This mystery if the Stranger can reveal, "His be a welcome cordially bestowed!"

5

ΙΟ

XVII

CONVERSION *

PROMPT transformation works the novel Lore;
The Council closed, the Priest in full career
Rides forth, an armèd man, and hurls a spear

1 1837.

"That, stealing in while by the fire you sit

Housed with rejoicing Friends, is seen to flit
Safe from the storm, in comfort tarrying.

1822.

Gormund Gaham [W. W. 1822], ubi pontifex ille, inspirante Deo vero, polluit ac destruxit eas, quas ipse sacraverat aras." The last expression is a pleasing proof that the venerable monk of Wearmouth was familiar with the poetry of Virgil.-W. W. 1832.

The following is Bede's account of the speech of "another of the king's chief men The present life of man, O king, seems to me in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit, at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad." The sparrow, I say-flying in at one door, and immediately out at another whilst he is within, is safe from the misty storm; but, after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, and of what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If therefore this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed."-ED. * See Wordsworth's note to Sonnet xvI.-Ed.

VOL. VII

C

To desecrate the Fane which heretofore

He served in folly. Woden falls, and Thor
Is overturned: the mace, in battle heaved
(So might they dream) till victory was achieved,
Drops, and the God himself is seen no more.
Temple and Altar sink, to hide their shame
Amid oblivious weeds, "O come to me,

5

10

Ye heavy laden!" such the inviting voice
Heard near fresh streams;* and thousands, who rejoice
In the new Rite-the pledge of sanctity,
Shall, by regenerate life, the promise claim.

XVIII

APOLOGY

NOR Scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend
The Soul's eternal interests to promote :
Death, darkness, danger, are our natural lot;
And evil Spirits may our walk attend
For aught the wisest know or comprehend;
Then be good Spirits free 1 to breathe a note
Of elevation; let their odours float
Around these Converts; and their glories blend,
The midnight stars outshining,2 or the blaze
Of the noon-day. Nor doubt that golden cords
Of good works, mingling with the visions, raise
The Soul to purer worlds: and who the line
Shall draw, the limits of the power define,
That even imperfect faith to man affords?

5

ΙΟ

*The early propagators of Christianity were accustomed to preach near rivers, for the convenience of baptism.-W. W. 1822.