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There is a simple and earnest tone of religious feeling in some of his poems, particularly in one on the Sabbath: speaking of the value and delight of a day set apart for the free enjoyment of the "common air, the sea, and sky," to those confined through the working week in the baleful atmosphere of the dense and crowded city.

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Sabbath! thou art my Ararat of life,

Smiling above the deluge of my cares;

My only refuge from the storms of strife;

Where constant hope her noblest aspect wears,
When my torn mind its broken strength repairs,
And volant Fancy breathes a sweeter strain.

Calm season! when my thirsting spirit shares
A draught of joy, unmixed with aught to pain,
Spending the quiet hours 'mid Nature's green domain.
"Once more the ponderous engines are at rest,

Where Manufacture's mighty structures rise;
Once more the babe is pillowed at the breast,
Watched by a weary mother's yearning eyes:
Once more to purer air the artist flies,
Loosed from a weekly prison's stern control,
Perchance to look abroad on fields and skies;
Nursing the germs of freedom in his soul,-
Happy if he escape the thraldom of the bowl.

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"God of the boundless universe! I come

To hold communion with myself and Thee!
And, though excess of beauty makes me dumb,
My thoughts are eloquent with all I see.
My foot is on the mountains-I am free
And buoyant as the winds that round me blow;
My dreams are sunny as yon pleasant lea,
And tranquil as the pool that sleeps below,

Whilst, circling round my heart, a poet's raptures glow.

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Full rich and joyous, on th' enamoured ear;

While, through the wondrous halls where Memory dwells, A thousand visions of the past career,

A thousand joys and griefs in dreamy forms appear.

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My heart's religion is an earnest love

Of all that's good and beautiful and true!
My noblest temple is this sky above-

This vast pavilion of unclouded blue ;
These mountains are my altars, which subdue
My wildest passions in their wildest hours;

My hymn is ever many-voiced and new,

From bird and bee, from wind and wave, it pours;

My incense is the breath of herbs, leaves, fruits, and flowers.

Blest Sabbath-time! on life's tempestuous ocean

The poor man's only haven of repose;

Oh! thou hast wakened many a sweet emotion
Since morning's sun upon thy being rose.
Now thou art gently wearing to a close:
Thy starry pinions are prepared for flight,
A dim forgetfulness within me grows,
External things are stealing from my sight:

Good night! departing sabbath of my soul, good night!"

p. 1—20. There is something of the same style of thought in a Sketch amongst the Hills:

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'Oh, is it not religion to admire,

O God, what thou has made, in field and bower,
And solitudes from man and strife apart;

To feel within the soul the wakening fire
Of pure and chastened pleasure, and the power
Of natural beauty on the tranquil heart;
And then to think that our terrestrial home
Is but a shadow still of that which is to come?

"This is the fitting temple of high thought
And glorious emotion,-the true place
Of Adoration silent and sincere ;

For all that the Eternal Hand had wrought,

Having the form of grandeur and of grace,
Reminds us of a happier, holier sphere,-

Fills us with wonder, strengthens hope and love,

While the wrapt soul aspires to brighter things above."

p. 84.

These poems seem to us remarkably free from faults of style, though the ideas are sometimes repeated in different forms,

which will necessarily be the case when one set of thoughts and anxieties is forced upon the mind; and the theme Prince dwells upon is the misery of his fellow-beings, arising from their defective education and evil habits. He repeats to them again and again, that happiness is not to be found in the gratification of evil passions, nor freedom won, still less secured, by acts of violence, which in their state of suffering offer too strong a temptation and too ready a means of proving to their rulers that they will not submit tamely to chains and starvation.

But with all this deep feeling for his class, there is no mixture of envy towards those above him-no desire that all should be reduced to one level-no Utopian dreams of universal wealth and freedom from hardships. Even with regard to his own children, in an address to a little girl of eight years old, he ends thus::

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But though he may sometimes give way to despondency, in his life as well as his poetry, he is supported and inspired by strong confidence that the time is fast approaching when education will enlighten those sunk in ignorance, emancipating them from the worst evils of their condition, improvidence and vice; and obliging their rulers to set commerce free, and give to all who will work food and occupation. We will close with a poem, the only one we have given entire.

"Who are the Free?

They who have scorned the tyrant and his rod,
And bowed in worship unto none but God;
They who have made the conqueror's glory dim,
Unchained in soul, though manacled in limb;
Unwarped by prejudice, unawed by wrong,
Friends to the weak, but fearless of the strong;-
They who could change not with the changing hour,
The self-same men in peril and in power;
True to the law of Right-as warmly prone
To grant another's as maintain their own ;
Foes of oppression wheresoe'er it be :-

These are the proudly Free!

Who are the Great?

:

They who have boldly ventured to explore

Unsounded seas, and lands unknown before;

VoL. IV. No. 16.-New Series.

P

Soared on the wings of science wide and far,
Measured the sun, and weighed each distant star,
Pierced the dark depths of Ocean and of Earth,
And brought unwonted wonders into birth;
Repelled the pestilence—restrained the storm,
And given new beauty to the human form;
Wakened the voice of Reason, and unfurled
The page of truthful Knowledge to the world ;-
They who have toiled and studied for mankind,
Aroused each slumbering faculty of mind,
Taught us a thousand blessings to create,—
These are the nobly Great!

"Who are the Wise?

They who have governed with a self-control
Each wild and baneful passion of the soul;
Curbed the strong impulse of all fierce desires,
But kept alive affection's purer fires;
They who have passed the labyrinth of life
Without one hour of weakness or of strife;
Prepared each change of fortune to endure,
Humble though rich, and dignified though poor;
Skilled in the latent movements of the heart—
Learned in that lore which Nature can impart ;
Teaching that sweet Philosophy aloud
Which sees the 'silver lining' of the cloud,
Looking for good in all beneath the skies,-
These are the truly Wise !

"Who are the Blest?

They who have kept their sympathies awake,
And scattered good for more than custom's sake,
Steadfast and tender in the hour of need,

Gentle in thought, benevolent in deed;

Whose looks have power to make dissension cease, Whose smiles are pleasant and whose words are peace.

They who have lived as harmless as the dove,

Teachers of Truth and ministers of love;

Love for all moral power, all mental grace,

Love for the humblest of the human race,

Love for the tranquil joy which virtue brings,

Love for the Giver of all goodly things;

True followers of that soul-exalting plan

Which Christ laid down to bless and govern man ;
They who can calmly linger at the last,
Survey the future and recall the past;
And with that hope that triumphs over pain,
Feel well assured they have not lived in vain,
Then wait in peace their hour of final rest :—
These are the only Blest!"-p. 21.

E.

ART. VIII.-HISTORY OF THE PLANTING AND TRAINING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH BY THE APOSTLES. By Dr. AUGUSTUS NEANDER, Ordinary Professor of Theology in the University of Berlin, Consistorial Counsellor, &c. Translated from the Third Edition of the original German, by J. E. RYLAND. 2 vols. Edinburgh: Thomas Clark, 38, George-street. 1842.

THE appearance of these volumes in the English language will be hailed with welcome by every real lover of truth, and by every friend to theological inquiry who is in any degree acquainted with the character of their author. It must be a no less pleasing subject of reflection to all liberal minds that they are issued under the superintendence of orthodox parties; containing as they do much with which no existing denomination in England will completely agree, and very much that will prove highly offensive to minds totally unaccustomed to a free examination of the contents of Scripture. They form the 35th and 36th No. of Clark's Edinburgh Biblical Cabinet: a series which has already shown marks of a liberal spirit, by including some of the writings of Ware and Channing; but which has never previously published any work so bold and dispassionate in its investigations into the acts, customs, and sentiments of the sacred writers as the one before us.

The value of a work like this depends first upon the character and talents of its author, and next upon the accuracy of the translator. On subjects which require a vast extent of reading, a free unbiassed judgment, and a powerful and comprehensive mind, it is very little becoming a critic to judge the value of literary productions by any consideration of the results which have been arrived at. Nor is it possible to enter into details respecting the various items which have been examined, to form the premises upon which the author has based his conclusions. One grand requisite in such cases appears to be a full confidence in the learning, judgment, and impartial candour of the writer in question. In any other way to judge the work before us would imply that the critic was more competent to decide upon the real opinions that were held in the days of the Apostles, and therefore upon the interpretation of Scripture, than one who has devoted his whole lifetime, with indefatigable perseverance and extensive resources before him, to this one subject. If we adopt anything like the candid spirit of Dr. Neander, we shall at least wait, before we condemn any one conclusion of our

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