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leagued itself with corruption and tyranny ; the fall of the Papal power ; the uprooting' of monastic superstitions the regular , yet obvious
development of the spirit of reform ; — what a variety of thoughts to dwell upon ! What virtues , wliether gentle or heroic ; what vices , whether timid or daring * , are not to be found among the actors in the great moral combat
spread over so many generations—a combat between the usurping strength of the few , and the suffering patience , or the indignant restlessness , of the many—between improvement and the
sinister interests which are opposed to all improvement ? That combat still rages ; and we may say , in perfect security , that Wordsworth ' s sympathies are not now where they would
have been , had the events passing around us at this moment been the events of centuries gone by . In truth , since Wordsworth changed his politics , his writings have lost much of their charm . When he goes far hack into other days , and moves out
of the influence of present prejudices , he can be led by all the glowing inspiration of his genius ; but when he approaches modern times , he dares not—he dares not give vent to the thoughts that must intrude on him . He would hurl no denunciations like
these at the clergy of his day , however richly deserved , or obviously invited : " Woe to you , Prelates ! rioting in ease And cumbrous wealth—the shame of your estate ; urn on whose progress dazzling trains
await Of pompous horses ; whom vain titles please , Who will be served by others on their knees , Yet will yourselves to Cod no service
p Pay ; castors who neither take nor point the way To heaven ; for either lost in vanities * e have no skill to teach , or if ye know All < l speak the word . " I \ 53 .
Now , however , every thing is as it sho uld be—just as it should be . Bisho ps are neither too wealthy nor too Proud , nor too worldly : they have l ? ? to des P " aft the vanities ° « hs shtful world ; " they ask for 0 prostration of the understanding
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and the will . " In justice we must notice here , that the Bishops of the Catholic Church ( especially in the Peninsula ) form a singular contrast to
the Episcopal bench at home ; they are unaffected , enlightened , accessible ; they leave no vast wealth accumulated " in the church ' s service" to their heirs : and be it reinemhprfiH . th *» ir heirs ; and be it rememberedtheir
, authority is of a much higher character than any that is claimed by the mitred prelates of the Anglican Church . We stumble at the very threshold . Here is a poet that tells us , in these our €€ evil days / ' that " Liberty has found its natural resting-place in
victory" ( p . 3 ) . What ! when Europe is filled with one indignant cry , —though smothered , not less indignant—that a horde of despots have dared , and , alas , too successfully dared , to stem the progress of " the noble stream" of freedom : when hundreds of thousands
of hired and brutal soldiery are leagued against the progress of human right and human happiness ; when Finland and Poland and Italy and Holland and Greece—not to speak of France and Germany—are writhing under an accursed yoke ; and every colour of
the map marks some region enslaved or enslaving ;—in such a moment are we taunted with the triumphs of liberty ? But what cares Wordsworth for liberty ? Yes ! while its influence
was employed against that illegitimate robber who betrayed again and again the cause of which he ought to have been the foremost champion , Wordsworth had sympathy and poetry with which to hallow it : but where is his
anger , where are his execrations now , when tyranny is no longer grounded on the tangible principle of force , but on the horrible and execrable plea of divine and legitimate right ? He visits
Holland—her glories are in the dust , her people are in sackcloth and ashes , —has he breathed a thought of indignation ? He crosses Germany—her citizens have been cozened and
betrayed by their tyrants , —has he one anathema in store ? He passes the Alps and sings the Jung-frau . He sees Switzerland crowded with the persecuted heroes of freedom , —has he one tone of pity ? He treads the land of Alfieri and Fillacaja , — he knows it is crushed and trampled on by the savages of Hungary , by Croatesf and the barbarians of the Darrube , —
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Retiietb . —* Wordsivorth ' s Ecclesiastical Sketches . SBt
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VUL xvii . 3 a
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1822, page 361, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2513/page/41/
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