THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION.

(Stanzas to a Lady.)

By H. BRANDRETH, jun. Author of "Field Flowers," "Sylla," &c. "TIS not that I love thee because thou art fair,

Since thousands the frail gift of Beauty may share;

No-'tis for a gift that has ne'er been subdued
By time or by trouble; -'tis that thou art good.

For thou hast a goodness of feeling, of heart,
Time serves but to hallow, that ne'er may depart;
'Neath the blue sky of joy, 'mid the tempest of woe,
It sparkles around thee and gladdens thy brow.

And whence does that goodness of feeling arise,
The friend's admiration, the stranger's surprise?
It is that Religion, all goodness enshrined-
As she watched o'er thy cradle-herself in thy mind.

She grew with thy growth, she increased with thy years,
Thy smiles were all hers, as all hers were thy tears;
Each virtue she strengthen'd with power from above,
Nor was there a failing she did not reprove.

But, oh! 'twas a feeling I never had known,
"Till writ, by thy hand, on my heart, as on stone;
And now 'tis a feeling, a knowledge, no strife
Can banish, can lessen, in death or in life.

And well I remember when, led by thy hand,
I marked the first dawn of her beauties expand;
I bowed down to earth, it so dazzled my sight,
For it came like the form of some spirit of night.

The dark mists of Error are passing away,
Already are past-lo! it bursts into day;
Unclouded, unbounded, one glorious whole,
The Sun of Religion beams full on the soul!
Well, too, I remember me,-can I forget?
When o'er me the waves of Adversity met,
Whose hand and whose presence, as madly still raved
Around me the tempest, supported and saved.

I prayed in my anguish, looked up, and an Ark
With a Noah rode high o'er the billows all dark,
And he smiled as he gazed on the bright token bow-
That Ark was Religion, its Noah wert thou!

And what is Religion? go, speed thee and ask
The captive that labours in chains at his task;
Go, ask of the orphan, the widow,-of all
On whom the dark storms of Adversity fall.

They'll tell thee Religion is that which alone

Beams the bright ray of Hope when all other has flown;
That bids us no more for Mortality live,

But die, and its foibles forget and forgive.

"Tis the Olive of Peace 'mid the wide waste of War,

The shrine that the pilgrim has sought from afar,

The fair land of promise that gladdens the eye,

The fount in the desert that never is dry.

"Tis that which upholds us, 'tis that which can sooth, In sorrow, in sickness, our pillow can smooth;

That one mighty power which comes only to save"Where, Death, is thy sting? where thy victory, Grave?" June, 1827.

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PREFACE.

BIOGRAPHY has always formed a distinguishing feature of the Gentleman's Magazine; and in this First Part of our Ninety-seventh Volume we have devoted a considerable portion of our pages to the Obituary. The most prominent character is the late illustrious and lamented Duke of York-the zealous and noble-minded defender of the Protestant Church, and the uncompromising opponent of Popery. His loss will long be lamented by every friend of the Establishment, and his memory will remain embalmed in the grateful recollections of an admiring people.-Literature has to lament the loss of a Mitford, a Kitchiner, an Evans, a Jones, a Benger, &c.; and Science will long deplore the absence of a Brun, a Bode, a La Place, a Robertson, a Beethoven, and a Flaxman, whose talents and services to the community, individually, our Biographer has faithfully recorded. The memoir of Joseph Cradock, esq. (the associate of Johnson, Garrick, Goldsmith, and other distinguished members of the celebrated Literary Club,) occupies an ample space in our pages, and will be perused with feelings of interest by all the admirers of that particular æra in which he flourished. Amongst the gallant sons of departed worth are the names of Hastings, Stewart, Twiss, and Markham,-the relation of whose manly virtues and heroic deeds will be read with the most lively emotions by the latest posterity. Many individuals, distinguished for talent and private worth, connected with the Church, the Law, or other respectable situations in life, have likewise received that tribute from our Biographer's pen which their respective merits demanded. As the Gentleman's Magazine has always maintained an acknowledged superiority over all cotemporary Publications in biographical literature, it has been, and always will be, our principal aim not only to preserve but to increase its reputation in this important department. For this purpose we shall always thankfully receive, from our numerous friends and correspondents, every species of information relative to distinguished deceased individuals.

The successful progress which the Commissioners for the Building of New Churches have made in that grand national undertaking,-so important to the interests of the Establishment and the people at large, -has induced us to devote some portion of our pages to the subject. In addition to the New Churches which were described and graphically illustrated in our preceding Volumes, we have, in the present Part, given Views of St. George's, Camberwell; St. Mark's, Kennington; St. John's, Hoxton; St. Barnabas's Chapel, Old Street; St. John's, Wa

terloo Road; and St. Luke's, Norwood. The drawings were taken and the engravings executed by artists of talent, and the accompanying descriptions were written by a gentleman of considerable scientific and architectural knowledge.

The Catholic Question, in the early part of the Parliamentary Session, considerably agitated the public mind; but, as we anticipated, the Papistical faction was thwarted in its objects, and the cause lost, in the House of Commons, by a majority of four; though, in 1825, the question was carried in their favour by a majority of twenty-seven! "The outrageous conduct of the Jesuits, Apostolics, and other Papistical factions (observes our Reviewer in p. 283), have happily exposed the falsehood and prevarication which the Catholic Association and their Reverend Expounders attempted to impose upon the unsuspecting portion of the community; and it affords us some degree of satisfaction to reflect that we were amongst the first to call the attention of the Public and other contemporary Journalists to the insidious manoeuvring, previous to the late Parliamentary Election, of the Popish Prelacy and their devoted minions. The fate of the Catholic Question has proved that those Papistical manifestoes were disbelieved; and that such attempts at imposition were only calculated to injure the cause they were intended to promote."

The late changes in the Administration, and the Bill for the admission of Foreign Grain, have chiefly occupied the attention of the two Houses of Parliament, almost to the exclusion of many other pressing affairs. We regret that the Corn Bill introduced by Ministers should have been so pertinaciously opposed by the House of Lords as to cause its ultimate defeat; the temporary measure for the release of Bonded Corn, however, will prevent any serious consequences which the rejection of the original Bill might have produced; and we sincerely hope, that in the ensuing Session the question will be settled on a permanent basis, agreeably to the wishes of both the manufacturing and agricultural interests.

MINOR CORRESPONDENCE.

We have referred the article in the Christian Review, No. I. p. 70, to the Reverend Gentleman who wrote the Critique inculHis answer is: "You know that pated. am the author of a work of Divinity, which shows that I must have studied the subject very minutely. It is impossible to notice the angry writer's remarks at sufficient length, except in the form of a Review of this new Journal, which from page 35, I find, attacks also the Quarterly Theological Reviewers. I shall no further anticipate the intended article, than by one remark, viz. that the sentiments and words of Bishop Tomline are called, in p. 74, blasphemies."-The errors of Calvinism, to which we object, are pointed out in our Review of Dean Graves on Predestination, in our present Number, p. 38.

J. N. BREWER solicits "information relative to the biography of the late Charles Smith, M. D. Dr. Smith was author of the Histories of Cork, Waterford, and Kerry, published about the middle of the last century, under the sanction of the PhysicoHistorical Society of Dublin. His works are unquestionably the best efforts made in the Irish topographical literature of his age; and his name and merits deserve respectful attention from every succeeding writer on the antiquities and topography of the interesting country which he employed his leisure in describing."-The same Correspondent observes, "I trust that the days in which the rich fields of Irish topography experience neglect, are quickly passing away. As regards my own humble endeavours to make Ireland better and more justly known to the English public, permit me to observe, that in addition to the two volumes already published, I have nearly ready for the third volume of the work in press which I am engaged, termed the "Beauties of Ireland," being descriptive, antiquarian, and topographical notices of each county.'

the

We shall be happy to publish the remarks on Anglo-Saxon Coins, offered by Mr. Lindsey of Cork, relying on his having consulted former writers on the subject, and particularly the series of articles by Mr. Woolstone in the first Part of our last year's Volume.

E.T. PILGRIM observes, "Your Correspondent, A Constant Reader,' asks why a Bishop, who is the son of a Peer, is styled the Honourable and Right Reverend, instead of the Right Reverend and Honourable?'-and why a Privy Councillor should be styled Right Honourable,' whilst the son of a Peer, who takes precedence of him,

has only the title of Honourable?'-The answer in both cases is plain and simple. The title of Honourable' being hereditary in the son of a Peer, it takes precedence of Right Reverend,' subsequently engrafted thereon, but not, like the former, a natural and unalienable right. The same argument will apply to the term 'Right Honourable,' as given to a Privy Councillor." A JUBILEAN Corespondent Capt. Saunders, has not apsays, "If your intelligent prised you of the intended dramatic procession to be given at Stratford on Avon on the next Anniversary Birth-day of their immortal Bard, grand preparations are now making by the beg leave to inform you that Shakspearian Society of that place towards a splendid celebration of the day; and a very handsome subscription has already been entered into, to defray incidental expenses. Many spirited members of the Society have engaged to take characters in the scenic procession, and several gentlemen in the immediate neighbourhood have kindly promised to patronise the dramatic exhibition. I understand that a programme will speedily be published by the managing Committee, and circular letters will be sent to the principal Actors in the kingdom, soliciting the favour of their presence and assistance on the occasion. The Stratfordonians are all on the alert, and I am happy to find that the nubility and gentry of the county are expected to honour the Jubilee with their patronage, whilst the Mayor and Aldermen of the Borough, &c. have kindly offered to take the lead in the proposed pageant, which I am told will be very splendid and eccentric." I. A. R. points out Moore's Fables for the Female Sex (IX) : a plagiarism in The buds, the blossoms, and the flowers.' Survey the gardens, fields, and bowers, In Randolph's Poems (1652) are to be found, page 97:

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View all the fields, survey the bowers,
The buds, the blossoms, and the flowers.'

SEXAGENARIUS "believes the first lines of the poem of Cowper, which, as they marked as being unintelligible, should be: stand in your last volume, p. 337, were re

Mortals, around your destin'd heads Wide fly the shafts of death.' Which would render them English, if not poetical. Some would perhaps have substituted above for around, as a contrast to beneath, in the fourth line. But this is all poetical fancy, and hypercriticism, which may perhaps be disdained."