book iv

. chap. v. p. 503.)--ED.

[76] "His mind was far from being prisoned within his own island. He sent a Norwegian shipmaster to explore the White Sea.... Envoys bore his presents to the Christians of India and Jerusalem, and an annual mission carried Peter's-pence to Rome." (Green's _Short History of the English People_, i. 5.)--ED.

[77] 1827.

And Christian India gifts with Alfred shares By sacred converse link'd with India's clime. 1822

[78] "With Alfred" is in all the editions. The late Bishop of St. Andrews, Charles Wordsworth, suggested that "of Alfred" or "from Alfred" would be a better reading.--ED.

XXVII

HIS DESCENDANTS

When thy great soul was freed from mortal chains, Darling of England! many a bitter shower Fell on thy tomb; but emulative power Flowed in thy line through undegenerate veins.[79] The Race of Alfred covet[80] glorious pains[81] 5 When dangers threaten, dangers ever new! Black tempests bursting, blacker still in view! But manly sovereignty its hold retains; The root sincere, the branches bold to strive With the fierce tempest, while,[82] within the round 10 Of their protection, gentle virtues thrive; As oft, 'mid some green plot of open ground, Wide as the oak extends its dewy gloom, The fostered hyacinths spread their purple bloom.[83]

FOOTNOTES:

[79] 1837.

Can aught survive to linger in the veins Of kindred bodies--an essential power That may not vanish in one fatal hour, And wholly cast away terrestrial chains? 1822.

[80] 1832.

... covets ... 1822.

[81] In Eadward the elder, his son; Eadmund I., his grandson; Eadward (the Martyr), grandson of Eadmund I.; and Eadward (the Confessor), nephew to the Martyr.--ED.

[82] 1827.

... to thrive With the fierce storm; meanwhile, ... 1822.

[83] As, pre-eminently, in the wood by the road, half-way from Rydal to Ambleside.--ED.

XXVIII

INFLUENCE ABUSED

Urged by Ambition, who with subtlest skill Changes her means, the Enthusiast as a dupe Shall soar, and as a hypocrite can stoop, And turn the instruments of good to ill, Moulding the credulous people to his will. 5 Such DUNSTAN:--from its Benedictine coop Issues the master Mind,[84] at whose fell swoop The chaste affections tremble to fulfil Their purposes. Behold, pre-signified, The Might of spiritual sway! his thoughts, his dreams, Do in the supernatural world abide: 11 So vaunt a throng of Followers, filled with pride In what they see of virtues pushed to extremes,[85] And sorceries of talent misapplied.

FOOTNOTES:

[84] Dunstan was made Abbot of Glastonbury by Eadmund, and there he introduced the Benedictine rule, being the first Benedictine Abbot in England. His aim was a remodelling of the Anglo-Saxon Church, "for which," says Southey, "he was qualified by his rank, his connections, his influence at court, his great and versatile talents, and more than all, it must be added, by his daring ambition, which scrupled at nothing for the furtherance of its purpose." (_Book of the Church_, i. 6.) "Dunstan stands first in the line of ecclesiastical statesmen, who counted among them Lanfranc and Wolsey, and ended in Laud." "Raised to the See of Canterbury, he wielded for sixteen years, as the minister of Eadgar, the secular and ecclesiastical powers of the realm." (Green, i. 6.) In the effort to retain the ascendency he had won, he lent himself, however, to superstition and to fraud, to craft and mean device. He was a type of the ecclesiastical sorcerer.--ED.

[85] 1837.

In shows of virtue pushed to its extremes, 1822.

XXIX

DANISH CONQUESTS

Woe to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey![86] Dissension, checking[87] arms that would restrain The incessant Rovers of the northern main,[88] Helps to restore and spread a Pagan sway:[89] But Gospel-truth is potent to allay 5 Fierceness and rage; and soon the cruel Dane Feels, through the influence of her gentle reign, His native superstitions melt away. Thus, often, when thick gloom the east o'ershrouds, The full-orbed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear 10 Silently to consume the heavy clouds; _How_ no one can resolve; but every eye Around her sees, while air is hushed, a clear And widening circuit of ethereal sky.

FOOTNOTES:

[86] The violent measures carried on under the influence of _Dunstan_, for strengthening the Benedictine Order, were a leading cause of the second series of Danish invasions. See Turner.--W. W. 1822.

[87] 1837.

Dissention checks the ... 1822.

[88] _e.g._ Anlaef, Haco, Svein. (See Turner's _History of the_ _Anglo-Saxons_,