Of some stern castle, mouldering on the brow hill or bank of rugged stream.
The foot-path faintly marked, the horse-track wild, And formidable length of plashy lane,
(Prized avenues ere others had been shaped Or easier links connecting place with place) Have vanished—swallowed up by stately roads Easy and bold, that penetrate the gloom
Of Britain's farthest glens. The Earth has lent Her waters, Air her breezes; and the sail Of traffic glides with ceaseless intercourse, Glistening along the low and woody dale; Or in its progress, on the lofty side
Of some bare hill, with wonder kenned from far.
Meanwhile, at social Industry's command, How quick, how vast an increase! From the germ Of some poor hamlet, rapidly produced
Here a huge town, continuous and compact,
Hiding the face of earth for leagues—and there,
Where not a habitation stood before,
Abodes of men irregularly massed
Like trees in forests,-spread through spacious tracts, O'er which the smoke of unremitting fires Hangs permanent, and plentiful as wreaths Of vapour glittering in the morning sun. And, wheresoe'er the traveller turns his steps, He sees the barren wilderness erased,
Or disappearing; triumph that proclaims
How much the mild Directress of the plough Owes to alliance with these new-born arts!
-Hence is the wide sea peopled,—hence the shores Of Britain are resorted to by ships
Freighted from every climate of the world With the world's choicest produce.
Of keels that rest within her crowded ports, Or ride at anchor in her sounds and bays; That animating spectacle of sails
That, through her inland regions, to and fro Pass with the respirations of the tide, Perpetual, multitudinous! Finally,
Hence a dread arm of floating power, a voice Of thunder daunting those who would approach With hostile purposes the blessed Isle, Truth's consecrated residence, the seat Impregnable of Liberty and Peace.
And yet, O happy Pastor of a flock Faithfully watched, and, by that loving care And Heaven's good providence, preserved from taint ! With you I grieve, when on the darker side
Of this great change I look; and there behold Such outrage done to nature as compels
The indignant power to justify herself;
Yea, to avenge her violated rights,
For England's bane.-When soothing darkness spreads
O'er hill and vale," the Wanderer thus expressed
His recollections, "and the punctual stars,
While all things else are gathering to their homes, Advance, and in the firmament of heaven Glitter-but undisturbing, undisturbed'; As if their silent company were charged With peaceful admonitions for the heart Of all-beholding Man, earth's thoughtful lord; Then, in full many a region, once like this The assured domain of calm simplicity And pensive quiet, an unnatural light Prepared for never-resting labour's eyes Breaks from a many-windowed fabric huge; And at the appointed hour a bell is heard, Of harsher import than the curfew-knoll That spake the Norman Conqueror's stern behest---- A local summons to unceasing toil! Disgorged are now the ministers of day;
And, as they issue from the illumined pile,
A fresh band meets them, at the crowded doorAnd in the courts-and where the rumbling stream, That turns the multitude of dizzy wheels,
Glares, like a troubled spirit, in its bed
Among the rocks below. Men, maidens, youths,
Mother and little children, boys and girls, Enter, and each the wonted task resumes Within this temple, where is offered up To Gain, the master idol of the realm, Perpetual sacrifice. Even thus of old Our ancestors, within the still domain Of vast cathedral or conventual church,
Their vigils kept; where tapers day and night On the dim altar burned continually,
In token that the House was evermore
Watching to God. Religious men were they ; Nor would their reason, tutored to aspire Above this transitory world, allow
That there should pass a moment of the year, When in their land the Almighty's service ceased.
Triumph who will in these profaner rites Which we, a generation self-extolled, As zealously perform! I cannot share His proud complacency :-yet do I exult, Casting reserve away, exult to see
An intellectual mastery exercised O'er the blind elements; a purpose given, A perseverance fed; almost a soul
Imparted to brute matter. I rejoice, Measuring the force of those gigantic powers,
That by the thinking mind have been compelled To serve the will of feeble-bodied Man.
For with the sense of admiration blends
The animating hope that time may come When, strengthened, yet not dazzled, by the might Of this dominion over nature gained,
Men of all lands shall exercise the same
In due proportion to their country's need ; Learning, though late, that ali true glory rests, All praise, all safety, and all happiness,
Upon the moral law. Egyptian Thebes,
Tyre, by the margin of the sounding waves, Palmyra, central in the desert, fell;
And the Arts died by which they had been raised, -Call Archimedes from his buried tomb
Upon the grave of vanished Syracuse,
And feelingly the Sage shall make report How insecure, how baseless in itself, Is the Philosophy whose sway depends On mere material instruments;-how weak Those arts, and high inventions, if unpropped By virtue. He with sighs of pensive grief, Amid his calm abstractions, would admit That not the slender privilege is theirs To save themselves from blank forgetfulness!"
When from the Wanderer's lips these words had fallen, I said, "And, did in truth those vaunted Arts Possess such privilege, how could we escape Sadness and keen regret, we who revere, And would preserve as things above all price, The old domestic morals of the land, Her simple manners, and the stable worth That dignified and cheered a low estate? Oh! where is now the character of peace, Sobriety, and order, and chaste love, And honest dealing, and untainted speech, And pure good-will, and hospitable cheer; That made the very thought of country-life
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