characterised most of the leading reformers of that day;" though he honourably exempts Coverdale from this grave accusation. Now on this point we are forced into open collision with our author; since, without evidence, we cannot believe that fanaticism constituted a prominent characteristic of the leading reformers. It is well known they were men of superior talents and of great acquirements that there were giants in those days;" and though having just emerged from the darkness and errors of popery, they had many im portant lessons to learn; yet, as the light of divine truth broke in upon their minds, they not only believed and practised the newlydiscovered doctrines of holy writ, but they also defended them with an honest zeal and devoted firmness, the sincerity of which was proved by the many privations and sufferings they endured with unshaken faith and most rational calmness. Was this their fanaticism! O that the "stern spirit of religion," so conspicuous in them, were equally characteristic of our times. It might be stigmatized as fanaticism, or denounced as dangerous to church and state: yet, we think, it would tend, in no ordinary degree, not only to subvert formality and hypocrisy, profaneness and infidelity, but also to give energy and prosperity to the church of God, and diffuse peace and happiness throughout the community. This would enable learned prelates to see, that the absurd dogmas of socialism, with other erroneous principles, are to be suppressed, not by the sword of the magistrate, or the strong arm of the civil power, but by promoting the piety and intelligence of the people.

Although our author complains of his materials being scanty, yet he has discovered commendable industry and research, and has brought from obscurity the contents of many original documents, affording the reader high gratification. We wish that he had given not merely the substance of these, but had made a greater selection of their choicest passages, which would, in our opinion, have increased the value of the work. Other documents, equally interesting and curious, have escaped his notice, the use of which would have greatly contributed to improve the work. Should another edition be called for, which we hope may be very soon, we cheerfully direct the author's attention to these biographical remains.* Notwithstanding the defects we have noticed, the narrative is highly honourable to Coverdale, and creditable to the anthor; and, in conclusion, we cordially recommend the work to our readers, especially to those who wish to obtain an accurate acquaintance with the first translations of the Holy Scriptures which were penned in our mother tongue; its attentive perusal, we doubt not, will be equally gratifying and profitable.

* Lansdowne's MSS. Vol. vi. No. 85. vii. 60, 67.-Lambeth MSS. Vol. 959. No. 58. Miscellaneous MSS. p. 122.-The last is a copy, and is deposited in Williams's Library, Redcross Street, London.

The Pleasures of Piety: a Poem in Ten Books. By the Rev. Robert Wilson, A. M., Greenock. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. London: Hamilton and Co. 1840.

Ir was Gibbon who said that the genius of Milton was cramped by the system of our religion. The remark was worthy of an infidel worthy of one whose soul felt nothing of the inspiration of true piety, and who was therefore constitutionally disabled from appreciating the grand and cheering truths of revelation. It is certain that, in the Book of God, there are richer stores of poetic material -more food for the contemplative mind-a wider field for the healthful exercise of the imagination, than in all other books besides. To say nothing of the "enthusiasm of poetry" in the descriptions of nature which you find in the "Song of Songs," nor of the lofty imagery in connection with profoundly philosophical thinking, which abounds in the Book of Job; nor of the gorgeous dress in which the prophets have clothed so many of their predictions; to say nothing, in short, of the style in which the Bible is written, it is sufficient to observe that the truths it reveals, being of all truths the noblest, as well as the most extensively interesting, are of all truths the most worthy to be the theme of the poet's song. It is a wretched error to suppose that the genius of Christianity is not suited to poetry. The streams of Helicon and Pierus supply a draught grateful only to those who have never tasted the richer and purer waters that flow from "the fountain of eternal love." "If some passionate admirers of antiquity seem to lament the fall of paganism as fatal to poetry, to painting, and to sculpture, a more liberal and enlightened spirit of criticism may rather believe, what is very possible to demonstrate, that Christianity can hardly be more favourable to purity of morals, than it may be rendered to the perfection of these delightful arts."*

Not the least pleasing characteristic of the present age, is that it manifests an increasing taste for religious poetry. The fact is to be taken as an evidence that pure and undefiled religion is at least not decreasing among the bulk of the people. That, in particular quarters, the taste is still fearfully vitiated, is, indeed, too evident to be denied; but, judging from a general survey of society, we should say that, in so far as taste for poetry may be taken as a criterion, matters are assuming a more favourable aspect. The moral feculence produced by the libidinous and profane writings of Ramsay, and Burns, and Byron, is beginning to work off, and a pure and healthy stream is found flowing in channels where lately nothing but polluted water was to be seen.

Among the religious poems which have recently issued from the press, few are so well calculated to gratify this increasing taste as "The Pleasures of Piety." It is from the pen of a talented Scotch minister of the United Secession Church"- -a church which has produced several poets of no mean name. Michael Bruce and

• Hayley.

Robert Pollok are already well known to the lovers of religious poetry, and we are mistaken if the name of Robert Wilson is not destined to be equally celebrated. "The Pleasures of Piety" is a

poem of no ordinary merit. It is of the school of Pollok, chastened by the pure and dignified spirit of Cowper. We have no extravagant flights of fancy, for against these the author has studiously guarded, yet it is impossible to read the poem without perceiving that the writer is a favourite with the Muses, and especially with her whom Tasso apostrophises in these beautiful lines:

"O Musa, tu che di caduchi allori
Non circondi la fronte in Elicona
Ma su nel Cielo infra i beate chori
Hai di stelle immortali aurea corona."

Gier. lib. Cant. Prim. Stan. 2.

The plan of the poem is, in our opinion, exceedingly judicious. The poet has divided his work into ten books, each of which is de voted to a separate branch of the system of our religion. We can afford to give only a very few short extracts, and these we select not because we deem them the best specimens of the poem, but because they admit of being easily detached. In the first and second books our attention is called to the existence and character of God, the doctrine of the soul's immortality, and the pleasure to be derived from the pious contemplation of these important and interesting truths. In the third book the poet turns to the visible creation. "The common air, the earth, the skies," pass in review before him, and while his descriptions frequently remind us of Thomson in his happiest mode, the reflections are not unworthy of the author of the Task. Having "ushered in the Spring" with her "graceful leaves" and "glowing blossoms," he proceeds as follows:

""Twas in that gladsome season that I saw
The fair Emilia on her dying bed.
Around her mother's lonely cottage stood
Some aged elms, and through their flickering leaves,
The Sun's last ray play'd on her pallid cheek,
And sparkled on the chilly drops that stood
On her cold brow, thick as the evening dew
On the white roses, which in clusters hung
Around her open casement, where the breeze,
Effusive entering, with sweet odour fill'd
The little chamber where she dying lay.
Bright was her soft blue eye, and brighter still
It shone, as Death, with his dark pall, approach'd
More near; as the sweet modest star of eve
With growing lustre shines, while darksome night
Advances slowly; and, with lingering steps,
Day, down the mountains of the gorgeous west,
Withdraws reluctant. With untiring care,
And kindly looks of never-wearying love,
Her widowed mother watch'd beside her couch;
For all her youthful friends afar had fled,
And left her, as is left the stricken deer.
Yet mourn'd she not their absence; for she knew
Her great Redeemer liv'd, and now was near

To comfort her in death, when human aid
No longer could avail."

"From such a scene, 'tis sad to turn the eye
To the sick chamber, where the mother sits,
Close by the death-bed of her darling child,
Essaying, vainly, with some light romance,
Or trivial conversation, to allay

The agitations of a guilty soul,

Just hovering on eternity's dread brink,
And ready to be hurried to the bar-
The awful bar-of an offended God!
O, fatal sympathy! O, cruel care!
To cheat the dying with delusive dreams
Of health returning, when the mortal foe
Stands grimly by; and, with his icy hand,
Is stopping life's warm current at the heart,
And changing every feature of the face!

"But why such strange solicitude to veil
Both from your own, and from your children's view,
The future world? Has heaven for you no charms?
Has hell no terrors? Has the Lamb of God,
Now standing 'midst his Father's glorious Throne,
For you no winning aspect? Do your souls,
All cover'd o'er with sin's polluting stains,
Not need the virtue of his cleansing blood,
To wash them pure, that, unasham'd, they may
Appear before the presence of their God,
With joy exceeding; and for ever dwell
In heaven, with holy angels, and with souls
Of men redeem'd?"

The influence of religion in purifying the affections of the heart, forms the theme of the fourth book. The subject is not very fully treated, but such points as are adverted to are exceedingly well managed. The hollow friendships of the world are graphically exposed, and an affecting narrative, illustrating the power of religion in securing domestic happiness, is very felicitously introduced. The following is the reflection which the narrative suggests:

""Tis thine, Religion, kindly to impart

A joy serene to the ingenuous mind
Of the poor labourer, while toiling hard
To earn with honesty his children's bread.
Sour Discontent, or bitter Envy, ne'er
Disturbs the pious hind. The honours all,
And high distinctions of this fleeting world,
To him appear like bubbles gay, which rise,
In quick succession, on the passing stream,
And, dancing for a moment, in the rays
Of the bright Sun, evanish quite,

As they had never been. The only wealth
Worth his ambition, in heaven's storehouse lies,
And, by the bounteous Maker of the world,
Thence offer'd freely to the sons of men;
Alike to him who lowly ploughs the soil,
And him who rules high on a regal throne."

In the fifth, sixth, and seventh books the poet descants on the pleasure derived from reading sacred narrative, embracing the history of the patriarchs, the captivity in Egypt, history of the Jews, and that of the New Testament particularly, as it bears on the character of Christ. Cowper has drawn a very impressive and powerful sketch of what a preacher should be. Our readers may compare Cowper's sketch with a somewhat similar one which occurs in Mr. Wilson's seventh book. The latter is drawn not from the character of Paul, but from that of our divine Redeemer. Mr. Wilson's description is longer and not quite so pointed, but it is more practical, and, in our opinion, does not suffer by the comparison. The effects of the gospel on men as individuals and as members of civil society, form the subject of the eighth book, while the last two, the ninth and tenth, are respectively devoted to a contemplation of the general resurrection, and the future residence of the just in heaven. We cannot afford room for any more extracts. We cordially recommend the work to our readers. Those who are in the habit of giving presents to young people, whether in testimony of affection or as rewards of merit, will find "The Pleasures of Piety" well adapted to their purpose. It inculcates the great principles of genuine religion, announcing them in such language, and investing them with such imagery, as to render them at once striking and agreeable. It contains much true poetry, without any bombast. Perhaps its chief fault is, that the author, through fear of soaring beyond the bounds of sober imagination, has now and then plucked too many feathers from the wing of his muse. The first object of poetry, undoubtedly, is to please; and hence, where the ear is not gratified, nor the imagination appealed to, nor the sympathies of the heart awakened, there is no true poetry. At the same time it cannot be denied that harmonious numbers and splendid imagery are of little value, unless when used as the vehicles of instruction. We seldom find poets too exclusively didactic, but nothing is more common than to find them running into the opposite extreme. Sir W. Scott, for instance, whose poetical works are among the most popu lar in our language, cannot be said to have added much to our public virtue, and still less has he contributed to strengthen our religious principle. The reason is, that while he excels in describing external nature, or in unfolding the incidents of some moving tale, he almost totally avoids moral or didactic reflection. With the power of a magician he summons into our view the scenery and the inhabitants of Fairy-land, or spreads before us in living colours the wildest, the most varied, the most picturesque of old Scotland's landscapes. But all the while his sympathy is not with our moral or religious feelings He speaks to our perceptions of the grand or the beautiful, of the chivalrous or the heroic, of the passionate or the tender, but he never calls into exercise our perception of spiritual things.

Here, indeed, is the advantage which religious poets will always possess over those who are conversant only with secular themes. The circumstance of its speaking to the heart and conscience must always give to didactic poetry, if not a more immediate, at least a