And wove his garland of the lightning's wing, In sportive twist-the lightning's fiery wing, Which, as the footsteps of the dreadful God, Marching upon the storm in vengeance seemed Then turned, and with the grasshopper, who sung His evening song, beneath his feet, conversed. Suns, moons, and stars, and clouds his sisters were; Rocks, mountains, meteors, seas, and winds, and storms, His brothers-younger brothers, whom he scarce As equals deemed. All passions of all men- But back into his soul retired, alone, Dark, sullen, proud; gazing contemptuously "As some fierce comet of tremendous size, To which the stars did reverence, as it passed; So he through learning, and through fancy took His flight sublime; and on the loftiest top Of Fame's dread mountain sat: not soiled, and worn, As if he from the earth had laboured up; To bursting nigh, to utter bulky words "Great man! the nations gazed, and wondered much, And praised and many called his evil good. He died--he died of what? Of wretchedness. Died all but dreary solitary pride; A wandering, weary, worn, and wretched thing; earth. His groanings filled the land, his numbers filled: And yet he seemed ashamed to groan. Poor man! Ashamed to ask, and yet he needed help. "Proof this, beyond all lingering of doubt, That not with natural or mental wealth, Was God delighted, or his peace secured. That not in natural or mental wealth, Was human happiness or grandeur found. Attempt how monstrous! and how surely vain! With things of earthly sort, with aught but God, With ought but moral excellence, truth and love, To satisfy and fill the immortal soul! And with the unsubstantial shade of Time, pp. 185-192. "The joys of time, her joys of native growth," are the theme to which the poem changes in the fifth book, and very beautifully does the Bard of Earth expatiate on the "Loves, friendships, hopes, and dear remembrances- tears The kind embracings of the heart-and hours Of happy thought-and smiles coming to And glories of the heaven and starry cope Above, and glories of the earth beneath, The rays that wandered through the gloom Of mortal life,-wells of the wilderness." Although we have already been somewhat liberal of extracts, it would be injustice to pass over the following exquisite apostrophe to Love, and the noble passage on Friendship, which occurs a little further on. "Hail, holy love! thou word that sums all bliss! Gives and receives all bliss; fullest when most Thou givest. Spring-head of all felicity! Deepest when most is drawn. Emblem of God! Overflowing most when greatest numbers drink. Essence that binds the uncreated Three; On earth mysterious, and mysterious still * "Not unremembered is the hour when friends Met; friends but few on earth, and therefore dear. Sought oft, and almost sought as oft in vain: Much beautiful, and excellent, and fair seen More beautiful, or excellent, or fair These I remember, these selectest men; theirs. For all are friends in heaven; all faithful friends; And many friendships in the days of Time Begun, are lasting here, and growing still: So grows ours evermore, both theirs and mine." pp. 212-214. Towards the close of this book, the Millennial age, the "sabbath-day of all the earth," is described in the glowing language of Scripture prophecy, not, however, as future, but as past. Mr. Pollok has cautiously adhered to the representations of the inspired volume; and the judgment he has shown in this part of the poem, is highly commendable. The book closes with recording that "Messiah reigned; And Earth kept Jubilee a thousand years." In the Sixth Book, the harp "resumes its tone of wo." The Millennium being past, A complete relapse is described occurred into every description of guilt. We do not now stop to ind far the Scriptures countenance this r tion. But it is for "a little seas signs of the approaching catastrop tailed with great force, and in a hig poetry. In the midst of the narr trumpet sounds, that "calls to eveni heaven;" and the theme is suspend scribe the varied employments of t inhabitants," all active, all engage pursuit, not happy else." A bard of that night the boundless song;-and concludes with the hymn of praise, Isaiah's harp, which "all in heaven In the Seventh Book, the narrativ ed. Suddenly, the dread arrest is the wheels of nature. Every liv stands still, in dreadful silence. "Hope died in every breast; and or Came fear and trembling: none to bour spoke; Husband thought not of wife, nor o The mother, nor friend of friend, nor In horrible suspense all mortals stoo And as they stood and listened, cha heard Rolling in heaven: revealed in flam The angel of God appeared in statu Blazing; and lifting up his hand on By Him that lives forever, swore, t Should be no more. Throughou heard, And sighed." Another angel, after a pause, app poem requires us to speak of the a as past-and blew the trump of C sound of which "The dead awoke, and all the living The change which fell upon wither infancy, the diseased, deformed, i newly sheeted corpse, the bleedir men new fallen in battle, contend and the gaunt anatomy beneath th scalpel,-is vividly pourtrayed. suppress what follows. "Now starting up among the living Appeared innumerous the risen dea Each particle of dust was claimed: For ages trod beneath the careless Of men, rose organized in human The monumental stones were rolle The doors of death were opened; dark The caravan that in mid journey sunk By nature, whom fierce winter seized, and froze Beneath all visible retired, none went Thy dead arise...................................................... .Sudden arose From out their watery beds, the ocean's dead, Renewed, and on the unstirring billows stood, From pole to pole, thick covering all the sea; Of every nation blent, and every age." In the two succeeding books, the description, all the varieties of character distinguishing the of the congregated myriads is pursued through several classes of mankind. "It was a congregation vast of men, * * * * Of all mankind! innumerable throng! And on his memory threw the snow of ages-Thus stood they mixed! all generations stood All cities fell, and threw their buried millions forth; while, with the works of man, "Tree, herb, and flower, and every fowl of heaven, And fish, and animal, the wild and tame, At length, suddenly, the angelic host descend to execute the high and awful commission to separate, to right and left, the good and the bad, to meet no more; "These ne'er again to smile, nor those to weep." Another breathless pause; and then, And on each hand dividing good and bad,— From the last book we shall make no extract. It opens with a solemn and devout invocation of Divine assistance in attempting the ineffable theme. The judge descends; the sentence is pronounced upon the accursed and the blessed; their doom is consummated. The Bard of Earth concludes his awful narrative feeling in which any one who has a heart to feel, must find himself at closing the work will both disincline and disqualify him to exercise the critical function. Hereafter, we may be able to detect all sorts of faults in Mr. Pollok's noble poem; but we confess, that at present, we cannot shake ourselves free from the spell which either his genius or his theme has cast upon us. We had intended to offer some remarks upon the opinions of the Author relative to the Millennial age, and some other points connected with the prophetic discoveries of Scripture; but these we must now defer till we resume the general subject of prophecy. The Author of Palingenesia contends for the identity of the Day of Judgment and the Millennium, and speaks of "The fixed duration of the judgment day.” Mr. Pollok's poem will answer an important end, by serving to counteract such visionary absurdities. In no light, perhaps, does he appear to greater advantage, than in comparison with those writers who have ventured upon the awful theme before him. The exquisite felicity of the fiction by which he transports his readers into a higher atmosphere, to -regions mild of calm and serene air, Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot Which men call Earth," in order to listen to the accents of an immortal, places the Poet on a vantage ground which enables him almost to defy criticism. Nothing can be more admirable than the propriety and dignity with which the whole subject is treated. Compare the Author's manner for a moment with the courtly style of Young, who, even in singing of the Last Day, could not forget to make his bow. "This mighty scene I next presume to draw; Attend, great Anna! with religious awe." Or, to take a fairer instance,-his description of the Resurrection: "Now monuments prove faithful to their trust, meet The distant head; the distant legs the feet. The puerile extravagance and littleness of this picture, so unworthy of the Author of the Night Thoughts, may serve at least to illustrate the difficulty of describing so unimaginable a scene, at once with force of conception and propriety. Mr. Pollok is always master of his imagination, always intent upon his great purpose. Even his inaccuracies appear intentional; for instance, his systematic sacrifice of grammar to euphony, in substituting, after the relative, the third for the second person of the verb. "That morning, than that slumber'd not before, Nor slept." "Thou sitt'st on high and measu nies." But we are forgetting our promise: scend to verbal criticism, so as to ex selves to the Author's sarcasm on the "simple race of men, w One only art, which taught them stil Whate'er was done, might have be done." This, in the present case, we feel tion to say. We have, on the contra sitation in expressing our decided c that "The Course of Time" is the fi which has appeared in any language radise Lost; and without meaning to that it discovers genius superior to th ton, it is, of the two, the poem of should ourselves prefer to have been t Our readers may, if they please, in decision to an infirmity of judgment that which led our great poet to give dise Regained the preference amon compositions. Mr. Pollok has succee Dante,-not for lack of native powe want of better guidance than the dim tered lights of that dark age,-faile could imagine a purgatory, and cr guage; he was the Michael Angelo but he was only a poet. Milton was a saint as well as a patriot, a the well as a poet, with the immense ad living in the full light of the Reform Christian poet, in the present day, ever, still higher advantages. If th be unfavourable in some respects t play of originality, there can be n that it is far more advanced in script ledge. The palmary merit of M work, is, that he has so constantly pathless course by the Bible;-that e in his poem which is fiction, is kep nate, the mere drapery of truth. breathes the inspiration, not of the fount, but of Siloa's brook,-of th which makes glad the city of God. not refuse credit to his representati has devoutly sought, not in feigned but on his bended knees, the unct Holy One, which will sufficiently a his having so far transcended the lo of earthly wing. It is, in fact, a poe we dare not speak lightly, believing only written with the highest and 1 tives, but adapted to leave the mo impressions on the heart. It is poe mistake not, of the highest order, c to the noblest object, and ensuring thor the purest and most permanen It is with sincere regret that we readers, that subsequently to the the above article, we have heard t spectable and highly gifted autho Course of Time," is no more. The the Rev. Robert Pollok, at the e twenty-eight, took place on the 1 tember, at Shirly Common, near So at which place he had arrived, on! from Scotland to Italy, for the reco health. From the Christian Review. BIBLICAL RESEARCHES AND TRAVELS IN RUSSIA; including a Tour in the Crimea, and the Passage of the Caucasus: with Maps and Plates. By E. Henderson. London: Nisbet. 8vo. pp. 538. 1826. LETTERS ON THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF SOUTH AMERI CA. Written during a Residence of nearly Seven Years in Buenos Ayres, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. By James Thomson. London: Nisbet. 12mo. pp. 296. We can hardly imagine a subject of more sublime interest than that which the volumes before us introduce to our contemplation. The diffusion of knowledge, even in its lowest elements, can hardly fail to be considered as an object of very high importance to mankind. The enlargement of the bounds of science, the spread of intellectual energy, the discovery of new principles in nature or new powers in man, have a stronger hold upon our interest. But we feel a yet higher and deeper delight in reading the history of those who, at different periods of the world, have visited the dark corners of the earth, and, by the light of their genius, their intrepidity, and laborious research, have taught their fellow-beings the truths they had discovered. The sages of antiquity, travelling from country to country, inquiring after and diffusing knowledge; the scholars of the middle ages, rousing in the schools and universities the slumbering spirit of philosophy; the travellers of a later period;-the astronomers of one country, measuring the earth; the naturalists of another, exploring her deep vales and untrodden glens; and the geologist of a third, penetrating into her centre;-all these are objects of our high regard, and we read their histories with a never-failing interest. But if it be thus with the promoters of human knowledge, or the imperfect systems of human philosophy, there must ever be a sublime feeling of admiration attached to the efforts that are made in spreading the clear and glorious light of a pure and Divine Religion. With the Scriptures in his hand, the Christian philosopher has a text-book of morality confessedly superior to any system that human ingenuity has contrived. If he would civilize, therefore, a barbarous people; if he would introduce among them order and social comfort, and raise them in the scale of human existence; he has no foundation so sure as that laid in the morality of his system. But, while in this point of view he ranks above all who have sought to extend the civilization of mankind, he has a new and higher object to accomplish, for which he alone possesses full and ample materials. The Book from which he draws his wisdom, as a teacher of mankind, is the true oracle of their protracted wandering, to leave but this blessing of a plain Christian behind: to do this, we feel that a man deserves the veneration of his race, and the admiration of all to whom truth and charity are dear. With these feelings, we have received no ordinary pleasure in the perusal of the works which head our present article. They have led us forth with the sower; made us companions of his toil through the day of labour; taught us to look forward with hope for the spring-tide and harvest of Divine truth, and to pray more earnestly that our lot may be with those who shall bring home their sheaves rejoicing. Were this the only point gained in the publication of such works as those before us, it would be amply sufficient to reward their authors; but there are other advantages consequent upon their production, of an equally important nature. The reports of societies are necessarily confined to the immediate objects of their formation; must always consist of details and minute statements; and are totally unfitted for conveying a clear and comprehensive view of the considerations branching from the main subject. To supply their deficiencies, we require a wide and personal observation, or the results of observations carried on with all the advantages of a cultivated and enlarged understanding. This is necessary to further the designs of societies formed for the enlargement of scientific discovery-it is necessary to promote the aims of literary investigation; and it is equally so in carrying on the great designs of Bible and Missionary exertions. We want a something, which a few detached anecdotes; a sermon, however eloquent, or an address, however persuasive, can never supply: we want to feel ourselves present in the scene of the missionaries' labour, and to form our own views and make our own theories in respect to the exertions that are to be made in future Much, we believe with confidence, may be done by the sole operation of spiritual devotedness, but we believe, with equal confidence, that more may be done when, in addition to this principle of life and energy, the infinite variety of means are skilfully employed, which the situation of the world and the enlargement of human science present for the purposes of Christian benevolence. Narrow views on such a subject as this, are, next to spiritual coldness, above all things to be deprecated. The united zeal and talents of the most gifted among men, might be well employed in the promotion of its success, and find an ample scope and an ample reward for the noblest of their exertions. Political wisdom will no where gain so fair a guerdon, as among those whom she has taught to labour profitably in the world for the world's salvation; learning will in no cause have better reason for exertion, than when seated henaath |