[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_, book ii. chaps. iii., viii., ix.)--ED. [89] 1837. And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway; 1822. XXX CANUTE A pleasant music floats along the Mere, From Monks in Ely chanting service high, While-as Canùte the King is rowing by: "My Oarsmen," quoth the mighty King, "draw near, "That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!"[90] He listens (all past conquests and all schemes 6 Of future vanishing like empty dreams) Heart-touched, and haply not without a tear. The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir is still,[91] While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along, Gives to that rapture an accordant Rhyme.[92][93] 11 O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime And rudest age are subject to the thrill Of heaven-descended Piety and Song. FOOTNOTES: