THE EXCURSION.

BOOK VI.

THE CHURCH-YARD AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.

ARGUMENT.

Poet's Address to the State and Church of England - The Pastor not inferior to the ancient Worthies of the Church He begins his Narratives with an Instance of unrequited Love - Anguish of mind subdued- and how The lonely Miner, an Instance of Perseverance, which leads by contrast to an Example of abused talents, irresolution, and weakness. Solitary, applying this covertly to his own case, asks for an Instance of some Stranger, whose dispositions may have led him to end his days here — Pastor, in answer, gives an account of the harmonizing influence of Solitude upon two Men of opposite principles, who had encountered agitations in public life - The Rule by which Peace may be obtained expressed · and where Solitary hints at an overpowering Fatality- Answer of the Pastor- What subjects he will exclude from his Narratives - Conversation upon this Instance of an unamiable character, a Female — and why given Contrasted with this, a meek Sufferer, from unguarded and betrayed love Instance of heavier guilt, and its consequences to With this Instance of a Marriage Contract broken is contrasted one of a Widower, evidencing his faithful affection towards his deceased wife by his care of their female Children.

the Offender

233

BOOK THE SIXTH.

THE CHURCH-YARD AMONG THE

MOUNTAINS.

HAIL to the Crown by Freedom shaped — to gird
An English Sovereign's brow! and to the Throne
Whereon he sits! Whose deep Foundations lie
In veneration and the People's love;

Whose steps are equity, whose seat is law.

- Hail to the State of England! And conjoin With this a salutation as devout,

Made to the spiritual Fabric of her Church;
Founded in truth; by blood of Martyrdom
Cemented; by the hands of Wisdom reared
In beauty of Holiness, with ordered pomp,
Decent, and unreproved. The voice, that greets
The majesty of both, shall pray for both;
That, mutually protected and sustained,

They may endure as long as sea surrounds
This favoured Land, or sunshine warms her soil.

And O, ye swelling hills, and spacious plains! Besprent from shore to shore with steeple-towers, And spires whose "silent finger points to Heaven;" Nor wanting, at wide intervals, the bulk

Of ancient Minster, lifted above the cloud
Of the dense air, which town or city breeds
To intercept the sun's glad beams
may ne'er
That true succession fail of English Hearts,
Who, with Ancestral feeling, can perceive
What in those holy Structures ye possess
Of ornamental interest, and the charm
Of pious sentiment diffused afar,

And human charity, and social love.

Thus never shall the indignities of Time
Approach their reverend graces, unopposed;
Nor shall the Elements be free to hurt
Their fair proportions; nor the blinder rage
Of bigot zeal madly to overturn;

And, if the desolating hand of war
Spare them, they shall continue to bestow-
Upon the thronged abodes of busy Men
(Depraved, and ever prone to fill their minds
Exclusively with transitory things)

An air and mien of dignified pursuit ;

Of sweet civility — on rustic wilds.

- The Poet, fostering for his native land
Such hope, entreats that Servants may abound
Of those pure Altars worthy; Ministers
Detached from pleasure, to the love of gain
Superior, insusceptible of pride,

And by ambitious longings undisturbed;
Men, whose delight is where their duty leads
Or fixes them; whose least distinguished day
Shines with some portion of that heavenly lustre
Which makes the Sabbath lovely in the sight
Of blessed Angels, pitying human cares.

And, as on earth it is the doom of Truth
To be perpetually attacked by foes
Open or covert, be that Priesthood still,
For her defence, replenished with a Band
Of strenuous Champions, in scholastic arts
Thoroughly disciplined; nor (if in course
Of the revolving World's disturbances

Cause should recur, which righteous Heaven avert!
To meet such trial) from their spiritual Sires
Degenerate; who, constrained to wield the sword
Of disputation, shrunk not, though assailed
With hostile din, and combating in sight