*_To the Daisy_.

[IX.] This and the other poems addressed to the same flower were composed at Town-End, Grasmere, during the earlier part of our residence there.

I have been censured for the last line but one, 'thy function apostolical,' as being little less than profane.

How could it be thought so?
The word is adopted with reference to its derivation, implying something sent on a mission; and assuredly, this little flower, especially when the subject of verse, may be regarded, in its humble degree, as administering both to moral and to spiritual purposes.
429._Matthew_.

[X.] In the school [of Hawkshead] is a tablet, on which are inscribed, in gilt letters, the names of the several persons who have been schoolmasters there since the foundation of the school, with the time at which they entered upon and quitted their office.