WHAT I HAVE HEARD.

I've heard the merry voice of spring,
When thousand birds their wild notes fling
Here and there, and every where,
Stirring the young and lightsome air ;-
I've heard the many-sounding seas,
And all their various harmonies;→→→
The tumbling tempest's dismal roar,
On the waste and wreck-strewed shore-
The howl and the wail of the prisoned waves,
Clamouring in the ancient caves,

Like a stifled pain that asks for pity.
And I have heard the sea at peace,
When all its fearful noises cease,

Lost in one soft and multitudinous ditty,

Most like the murmur of a far-off city :-
Nor less the blither notes I know,
To which the inland waters flow,-
The rush of rocky-bedded rivers,
That madly dash themselves to shivers ;
But anon, more prudent growing,
O'er countless pebbles smoothly flowing,
With a dull continuous roar,
Hie they onward, evermore :
To their everlasting tune,
When the sun is high at noon,

The little billows, quick and quicker,
Weave their mazes thick and thicker,
And beneath, in dazzling glances,
Labyrinthine lightning dances,
Snaky network intertwining,

With thousand molten colours shining:
Mosaic rich with living light,
With rainbow jewels gaily dight—
Such pavement never, well I ween,
Was made by monarch or magician,
For Arab or Egyptian queen;
'Tis gorgeous as a prophet's vision.
And I ken the brook, how sweet it tinkles,
As cross the moonlight green it twinkles,
Or heard, not seen, 'mid tangled wood,
Where the soft stock-dove lulls her brood,
With her one note of all most dear-
More soothing to the heart than ear.
And well I know the smothered moan
Of that low breeze, so small and brief,
It seems a very sigh, whose tone
Has much of love, but more of grief.
I know the sound of distant bells,
Their dying falls and gusty swells;

That music which the wild gale seizes,
And fashions howsoe'er it pleases.

And I love the shrill November blast,
That through the brown wood hurries fast,
And strips its old limbs bare at last;
Then whirls the leaves in circling error,
As if instinct with life and terror-
Now bursting out enough to deafen
The very thunder of the heaven;
Now sinking dolefully and dreary,
Weak as a child of sport a-weary.
And after a long night of rain,
When the warm sun comes out again,
I've heard the myriad-voiced rills,
The many tongues of many hills,
All gushing forth in new-born glory,
Striving each to tell its story-
Yet every little brook is known
By a voice that is its own,
Each exulting in the glee
Of its new prosperity.'

Here are some lines in a graver strain, which will at all events find their way to the heart.

REGENERATION.

'I need a cleansing change within;

My life must once again begin.

New hope I need; and hope renew'd,
And more than human fortitude;

New faith, new love, and strength to cast
Away the fetters of the past.

Ah! why did fabling Poets tell,
That Lethe only flows in Hell?
As if, in truth, there was no river,
Whereby the leper may be clean,

But that which flows, and flows for ever,
And crawls along, unheard, unseen,

Whence brutish spirits, in contagious shoals,

Quaff the dull drench of apathetic souls.

Ah no! but Lethe flows aloft

With lulling murmur, kind and soft
As voice which sinners send to heaven,
When first they feel their sins forgiven;
Its every drop as bright and clear
As if indeed it were a tear,
Shed by the lovely Magdalen
For Him who was despised of men.

It is the only fount of bliss.
In all the human wilderness.

It is the true Bethesda-solely
Endued with healing might, and holy :

Not once a year, but evermore ;

Not one, but all men to restore.'

We must again advert to the noble sonnets: there are about forty of them, each a gem of poetry, perfect in the setting, and relieving each other by their varied character; forming altogether a series sufficient to redeem this beautiful species of poem from the imputation of being a foreigner to our language, or unsuited to English versification. We must make room for two more.

SONNET V.

What was it wakened first the untried ear

Of that sole man who was all human kind?

Was it the gladsome welcome of the wind,
Stirring the leaves that yet were never sere?
The four mellifluous streams which flowed so near,
Their lulling murmurs all in one combined?
The note of bird unnamed? The startled hind
Bursting the brake-in wonder, not in fear,
Of her new lord? Or did the holy ground
Send forth mysterious melody to greet
The gracious pressure of immaculate feet?
Did viewless seraphs rustle all around,
Making sweet music out of air as sweet?
Or his own voice awake him with its sound?'

The mellow year is hasting to its close.
The little birds have almost sung their last;
Their small notes twitter in the dreary blast
That shrill-piped harbinger of early snows.
The patient beauty of the scentless rose,
Oft with the Morn's hoar chrystal quaintly glass'd,
Hangs, a pale mourner for the summer past,
And makes a little summer where it grows.
In the chill sunbeam of the faint brief day,
The dusky waters shudder as they shine;
The russet leaves obstruct the straggling way
Of oozy brooks, which no deep banks define,
And the gaunt woods, in rugged, scant array,

Wrap their old limbs with sombre ivy twine.'

It will be seen that this publication is announced as Vol. I. Should it be favourably received, it is to be shortly followed by another; in which, if no more be accomplished, a higher strain ' is certainly attempted'. We claim the fulfilment of the promise, and hold the Author to his engagement to endeavour to

excel himself. Let him shake off all that would be a drag upon his honourable ambition, and surprise and rejoice his friends by redeeming the time of power' spent

In idly watering weeds of casual growth,-
Till wasted energy to desperate sloth
Declined, and fond self-seeking discontent.'

His brother Derwent is setting him an honourable example.

Art. IV. 1. A Theological Dictionary, containing Definitions of all religious and ecclesiastical Terms; a comprehensive View of every Article in the System of Divinity; an impartial Account of all the principal Denominations which have subsisted in the Religious World from the Birth of Christ to the present Day; together with an accurate statement of the most remarkable Transactions and Events recorded in Ecclesiastical History, and a biographical Sketch of such Writers as have exerted a decided Influence in the field of Theological Science. By the late Rev. Charles Buck. A new and greatly enlarged Edition; by the Rev. Dr. Henderson, Theological Tutor of Highbury College. 8vo, pp. 945. Price 18s. London, 1833.

2. A Biblical and Theological Dictionary: explanatory of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Jews, and neighbouring Nations. With an Account of the most remarkable Places and Persons mentioned in Sacred Scripture; an Exposition of the principal Doctrines of Christianity; and Notices of Jewish and Christian Sects and Heresies. By Richard Watson. Royal 8vo., pp. 1063. Price 11. 5s. London, 1832.

3. Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, by the late Mr. Charles Taylor, with the Fragments incorporated. The whole condensed and arranged in Alphabetical Order; with numerous additions. Illustrated with Maps and Engravings on Wood. Second Edition. Royal 8vo., pp. 964. Price 17. 4s. London, 1832.

4. Part I. of an Encyclopædia Ecclesiastica; or a complete History of the Church containing a full and compendious Explanation of all Ecclesiastical Rites and Ceremonies; a distinct and accurate Account of all Denominations of Christians, from the earliest Ages to the present Time; together with a Definition of Terms occurring in Ecclesiastical Writers. By Thomas Anthony Trollope, LL.B. late Fellow of the New College, Oxford, Barrister at Law. 4to., Price 17. London, 1833.

A

LTHOUGH these works contain many features in common, it will be obvious, that they are publications of not precisely similar character. A Biblical Dictionary is a very different thing from a Theological one; and each of these differs materially from an Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia. Buck's Theological

Dictionary is, indeed, also a Dictionary of Ecclesiastical information. At the time of its original publication, it was quite a desideratum; of which full proof has been offered by its extraordinary sale. Besides six editions in this country, upwards of 50,000 copies have been circulated in the United States of America. Great commendation is due to the diligence of research and general fairness of the original Compiler, which, notwithstanding the subsequent appearance of similar works, have continued to secure for it a very general reception among different sections of the religious public; so that the demand for copies has constantly been on the increase. The Dictionary, however, it must be confessed, stood in urgent need of a thorough revision, to adapt it to the present more advanced state of knowledge, and it admitted, in many respects, of material improvements. We are glad that the task of re-casting the work has been committed to such competent and judicious hands. Dr. Henderson might fairly put in a claim to co-authorship, and he has certainly doubled the value of the Dictionary by his additions and amendments. The ex

tent of these will be learned from the Preface.

The present Editor has considerably altered several of the original articles, especially such as related to foreign divinity; the circumstances connected with the different religious establishments in Christendom; the history, views, and usages of the different parties that have seceded from these establishments; the literature of theology; and other subjects of a kindred nature. Several that appeared to be of minor importance he has omitted, in order to make room for the insertion of others, of higher and more general interest. The number of additional articles in the present edition amounts to nearly FIVE HUNDRED.

'One totally new feature of the Work, as it now appears, is its Biographical department. Readers who have not the command of biographical dictionaries, are frequently at a loss in regard to dates, places, and other circumstances connected with the history of divines and others, to whom reference is currently made, both in conversation and in books on religious subjects. Yet, to supply this want within a reasonable compass, has been found to be a matter of no small difficulty. The selection has been regulated by a regard to the prominent station, the literary eminence, or the celebrated character of the individual; and those writers only have been made the subject of biographical notice, who have exerted, to a considerable extent, a decided influence over the religious opinions and practices of certain sections or communities, in the age in which they lived, and in after times. See the articles, AUGUSTINE, BARCLAY, CALVIN, EDWARDS, KNOX, SANDEMAN, WESLEY, WHITFIELD, &c.

In preparing the additional articles, the Editor has availed himself of various sources which were not in existence in Mr. Buck's time, or to which he could not obtain access; and he flatters himself that the extent to which he has carried the improvements will meet the approbation of general readers.'