at it which way I will, is a most circumstances; but they relate to exact picture of my dear uncle. Dr. Gill, a man whose name is the Those bands I made him." I am afraid, Sir, I trespass too much on the limits of your Magazine,* with the recital of such trivial It is a singular coincidence that the individual who formerly conducted this periodical, whose sudden death was announced in our last number; and the individual who! at present conducts it, were both born under the same roof, as was the venerable subject of this narration. property, not of the Baptist deno- THOS. QUIN. REVIEW. A Universal Prayer, Death, a Vision of creating; and yet he may be altogether considered to have no charms, merely because the latter has already had sufficient opportunity to satiate himself with them. If these observations be correct, it will appear, we think, that many persons may be endued with feelings which spring from the same source as those which enliven the conceptions of the the cause of his thoughts, it would very likely happen that they were such as THOUGH We do not give an unqualified would fail to influence his fellow being assent to Dr. Johnson's observation, in a similar way. That which, on acthat "devotional poetry is unsatisfac- count of its novelty and freshness, might tory," we fear that it contains more of produce in him an exuberance of detruth than most persons are disposed to light, would by another, perhaps, be acknowledge. We do not, indeed, say, that the inspirations of poetry are denied to him whose mind is deeply imbued with the spirit of religion, because we are convinced that the latter is almost necessarily productive of the former; for no man, we apprehend, can be conversant with the sublime and interesting truths of religion, without having his imagination excited, and his poct or the painter, but who are neverfeelings animated. But it is one thing to be possessed of those thoughts and sentiments which are the natural effects of poetical feeling, and another to embody them in verse. An individual circumstances which produced them are may be endued with such elements of different. If, indeed, poetry were, as mind, that, when surveying some grand is too often thought, the mere language and imposing spectacle of nature, his of feeling, it might be of little conse whole soul may kindle into ecstasy, and he may give birth to those noble aspirations, and those sublime and elevated conceptions, that may raise him for the time above the common lot of humanity, and place him in a world of his own theless altogether destitute of those other moral elements which are necessary to the poetic character. The feelings in both are of a kindred nature, but the quence whence it emanated, inasmuch as the contemplation of objects the most insignificant or the most grand, might in different individuals produce the same effects, according to their dif. ferent temperaments. Poetry, however, But has a much higher office than this, as it a proportionate sublimity of thought and is the language of taste, of imagination, lofty imagination, to treat it in such a and of intellect. Its distinguishing way as it deserves, and he seems to us, character is combination; an union in therefore, to labour to summon up all one picture of objects of so interesting his abilities to his assistance. and striking a kind, that they cannot though his talents are not of such an fail to rivet the attention of every one. order as ought to be lightly esteemed, But to do this, it requires the exercise they are not such as capacitate him to of much more than one faculty. Judg. carry into effect the purposes even of ment is as necessary as sensibility, a his own mind. He has no vivid and refined and delicate taste should ac- distinct impression of the majesty of company the play of imagination. If those attributes which he invokes, though this be not the case, we shall have a he manifests a consciousness, acquired combination of scenes, each one perhaps perhaps by reading or from some other striking in itself, but in the whole so source, that angels' tongues would pouranomalous, and of so contradictory a tray them but faintly. He has no fervid nature, as to neutralize the very effects and glowing imagination, nor does he which they were intended to produce. throw into his verse that depth of feelNow it is our opinion, that there is no ing and that sensibility of mind, which species of poetry which more impera- would imply that he realized what he tively demands the exercise of these attempts to describe. talents than religious poetry, and that how much soever sensibility a man be possessed of, while giving utterance to the devotional feelings of his heart in verse, it will avail him very little if he be at the same time destitute of a nice and discriminating judgment. it to His eloquence is not that of the heart; does not appear to be even natural him, but it seems as though it were borrowed for the occasion. It is not, therefore, of that kind which is best suited to the subject, and we feel consequently, that it is as well fitted to These observations have been called adorn and celebrate any other, as that forth by the perusal of the work now to which he has applied it. While trybefore us, and which will, we think, ing to grasp those thoughts which reprove both their correctness and im- fuse to come at his bidding, the cfforts portance. We cannot deny that Mr. of his intellect appear powerless, and Montgomery is possessed of some of the effusion of his feelings, such as they those qualities of mind, which form the are, tame and vapid. The sense which character of some poets; but we are he has of the exalted nature of his subbound to acknowledge, that he is very ject, induces him to use his utmost enfar from realizing our opinion of what deavours to give it that exaltation which a poet of the class to which he has at- it demands, but as he has no bold and tached himself should be. It is of course, nervous thoughts, nor a fervid and glownatural that we should expect in pe- ing fancy, he is obliged to indulge in rusing the first poem in the series, to tedious and lengthened descriptions, have our minds raised far above the and to express that by circumlocution, level to which they are wont to be ele- which ought to be done with terseness vated, to " pass beyond the bounds of and vigour. We may, perhaps, be sinspace and time," and to be enabled to gular in our opinions, but we do cerhold communion with those high, but tainly think that the profusion of attriunseen realities, which "fit us to hold butes which the author ascribes to the high converse' with our God." The an- Deity, tend in no degree to increase thor has certainly attempted all that the the effect which he intended to promost daring spirit would demand of him, duce, and one or two of them might asbut his success is not such, we think, as suredly be dispensed with, as included to justify the extent of his daring. He in the ideas which others conveyed. feels evidently, that he has a sublime We however, will quote the part to subject to deal with, and that it requires which we allude, that our readers may judge of the fairness of our criticism. | prehend, being sufficiently compre It is the opening passage in the poem-hended in the two preceding it. "Primeval power, Almighty and Supreme, Mr. Montgomery, to proceed to notice But we ought, perhaps, in justice to some of the other poems of his book which contain more favourable specimens of his talent than the one to which we have hitherto confined our attention. Now the word "supreme" might evidently be spared, inasmuch as the ing, that though each of the other pieces We cannot, however, help complainterm "Almighty" includes the same has several beautiful passages, the idea, for a being cannot be omnipotent, whole of them nevertheless abound in without being at the same time supreme. the same species of verbosity and heaThe same observation might be made viness which appears in the others. The with almost as much propriety upon the fault, we think, with the author, is, that words "primeval power," "eterne," he has too high an opinion of his own and "Uncreated God," as each term talents, and that in aiming to make suggests similar thoughts, though un-impressions which he has not force and doubtedly, there is a slight shade of vigour enough of thought and character difference in their meaning. We would to make, he becomes tame and powernot notice faults like these, did they occur but seldom, but we assure our readers that the passage which we have chosen is a fair specimen of the author's mode of writing. There occur in every page many more words than are necessary to convey his meaning, and the consequence is, that those passages are the most weak and destitute of spirit, which he intended to make the most vivid, and to produce the deepest impression. The following is the prayer poured forth on behalf of our coun-making the selection, since they are for try: "Magnific King of kings, aud Lord of lords! Mantle our cherish'd Country with Thy Of glory; may she prosper in the pride The majesty of Justice, and of Trath; less. His excellencies alone manifest themselves when he is content to take a humbler sphere than that which he is ambitious of assuming, when he restrains his inclination to be imaginative, and consents to be pleasing. On these occasions he oftentimes manifests much beauty, and a propriety of thought and feeling which cannot fail to fascinate, and attract admiration. We could find numerous passages which highly delight us, and the only difficulty we have is in the most part long, and their beauty is liable to be marred by their being severed. We take, however, the following lines, which occur in the poem on death, and form part of the description of the progress of consumption, which is bringing a very interesting female to the tomb : -She dies As gently as delicious sound,--not false Now had the author stopped at the seventh line, we should say that he had And dim-eyed Eve, and all the inward gleams done very well. The third line is sin-Of rapture, darted from regretted joys,— gularly beautiful and expressive, though Delight her still: and oft when twilight the idea is by no means novel. The last five lines, however, we treat as mere surplusage, the meaning, we ap comes, She'll gaze upon the damask glow of heaven 'Tis but a pleasing echo of the past, A music rolling from remember'd hours!" There are many passages which are as beautiful, and perhaps even more so, than the foregoing; and there are some which are of a more elevated cast. The following lines are descriptive of the reception which a funeral has from the multitude: : enhance its value in our esteem, are the acuteness with which Mr. Gibbs follows pædobaptism to its ultimate consequences, and the boldness with which he exhibits the evils that must necessarily arise to Christianity, from the substitution of any human device for the ordinance of Jesus Christ, however unimportant it may appear to those who are accustomed to look only at the On with the mourning train !—the crowd" outward appearance." The tendency if divide Before them with a busy hum, then close These extracts are, we think, sufficient to shew the peculiar nature both of Mr. Montgomery's excellencies and defects. Phere are several smaller pieces of composition, which in our opinion are not the least beautiful in the volume. ↑ Before we leave Mr. Montgomery, we must observe that much plagiarism is apparent throughout the whole of the volume. We do not mean to say that he has employed other authors' words to convey their sentiments, but he has borrowed very largely of the latter, and made sometimes but a very slight modiification of the former. On the whole, though we cannot consent to place Mr. Montgomery in that class of poets, among whom he has chosen to rank himself, we think that if he can be made to perceive what is the real nature of his talents, and will, instead of attempting to soar where he cannot maintain his elevation, content himself with his proper sphere, and assiduously cultivate those talents with which he is endued, he will not fail to excite that admiration to which his abilities entitle him. A Defence of the Baptists; or the Baptism of Believers by Immersion shewn to be the only Baptism of the Christian Dispensation. By GEORGE GIBBS. Second edition enlarged. London: Simpkin and Marshall. (Continued from p. 113.) Resuming our notice of this excellent -work, we observe, that what principally of pædobaptism to lessen the importance of the Christian dispensation, from its frequent appeals to Old Testament authority, and the contrariety and unattainableness of the arguments advanced in its support, to those who are unacquainted with the technicalities of theological dispute, are objections very powerfully urged against the validity of infant sprinkling; but Mr. Gibbs brings forward charges of a graver import. From the inconnexion of infant baptism with the possession of personal religion, and the involuntary mode of its application, its indispensable necessity to the constitution of a national church, and its intimate affinity to Arminian principles, are very forcibly pointed out : "The theory of pædobaptism," says Mr. G. "is only adapted to the constitution of a national church; it has a manifest tendency therefore necessarily opposed to the spirit to unite the church and the world, and is and principles of dissent. Why do we dissent from the church of England? because it is an ecclesiastical political institution, which in its constitution and government is diverse from that kingdom which is not of this world. We believe that the church of Christ is congregational, composed of persons professing faith in his name; that its laws are derived from the sacred canon of the New Testament; that its jurisdiction is spiritual; and that the Lord Jesus is its head but not so a national church-she records as her members, all the subjects of strangers to God, and enemies to true relithe realm, the greater part of whom are gion; her Christianity is political; her do minion is secular; her laws emanate from some worldly prince or ambitious pontiff, who is constituted her head; his sceptre is the organ of government; his creed the standard of her faith. To such a church, Pædobaptism is an appropriate, nay an essential appendage. It is that mystic rite by which the king and the subject, the saint and the infidel, are incorporated into one body, and are alike pronounced children of God, members of Christ, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven! It is the charm, whose magic spell holds in unison these remote and jarring elements; it is the seal of priestly dominion over the consciences of men; the mark by which they are recognized as belonging to that chartered ecclesiastical corporation, which denounces all who dare to question her infallibility as schismatics, heretics, and apostates; as worthy of pains, penalties, and death!" pp. 232, 3. "There are other consequences connected with Infant Baptism which are overlooked by the Calvinistic Pædobaptist, and which are at variance with the whole of his religious system. It destroys the distinction between the church and the world maintain ed in the Scriptures. It practically denies par ordinance as affording an opportunity of addressing parents on the duties of their parental character-then we declare that the application of water to the infant for such a purpose merely, is not infant baptism; it is a service, called indeed by that name, but not practised till of late by any body of professing Christians in any age or country. It is the mere act of sprinkling a child's face: it is a ceremony sui generis, differing in its nature, use, and design, from that general system of Pædobaptism which is a rite instituted as an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace;' and not to teach parents their duties in relation to their children!" p. 341. This is a startling view of the consequences of pædobaptism, and one which ought to make those who sincerely desire to "follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth," pause before they pronounce either upon the unimportance of the baptismal rite, or upon the validity of infant sprinkling. Mr. G. after thus exhibiting the ultimate influence of pædobaptism, proceeds to examine the various arguments by which its advocates have endeavoured to support their system. The analogical deductions from the Jewish proselyte baptism, the Abrahamic covenant, and the rite of circumcision, are fully examined and refuted; but as there is of necessity in this part of our author's book, somewhat of "a thrice slaying of the slain," we shall content ourselves with the following extract in reference to that lately erected strong hold of his opponents, the Abrahamic covenant: the doctrines of personal election and ticular redemption, for there can be no election to a particular benefit of which all are partakers this universality of grace is strongly implied in the administration of Infant Baptism, and it is the prominent doctrine of those national establishments which pronounce every subject of their spiritual jurisdiction, a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of hea ven. Thus it is we find personal election, particular redemption, and justification by faith, denied by the Romish and episcopalian clergy in general-for how can they hold doctrines so subversive of the opinion that every child is made a subject of grace by baptism? The fact is, that Infant Baptism, traced to its source, and followed to its legitimate "We are willing to go the whole length consequences, will be found to arise out of of our Independent brethren in acknowledgthe most subtle system of Arminian policying, that this was a most glorious discovery ever devised; and to be the most powerful practical expedient for supporting and propagating the doctrines of universal grace and general redemption, within the compass of human agency. It proceeds upon the general principle, not only that all men are alike eligible to salvation, but that grace, of which baptism is the outward sign and seal, is conferred upon all men." p. 240. "Should the Calvinistic Pædobaptist, who sees the connection between the practice of Infant Baptism and the two grand points of Arminian theology, assert, that he does not admit the baptismal regeneration of the church of England, nor yet the baptismal covenant relation so zealously maintained by the Independents, but that he regards the of God's purposes of grace and mercy in Christ Jesus, which were to be accomplished in the fulness of the times; but we deny the truth of their position, that it was the covenant of grace established and ratified with Abraham and the whole of his natural posterity; and this we do for the following obvious reasons. First: The new covenant was to embrace both Jews and Gentiles, and was to be acted upon agreeably to this its intended latitude immediately it was ratified by that sacrifice which was to establish its authority, and perpetuate its efficacy. Now the covenant which was fulfilled with the Jews as the children of Abraham did not extend to the Gentiles, and therefore could not be that covenant of grace which was |