it is fhut up within the circle of felf, and lofes all tenderness and compaffion when it looks towards others. Hence arifes all that mifery which difturbs and diforders public and private, civil and religious life. 'Tis this that makes us fevere and unforgiving, and that raifes every trifling offence into a crime not to be pardoned. 'Tis this that has many times unpeopled mighty nations, and that has fhamefully made a pure and facred religion the pretence for the most outrageous barbarities.'

It ought to be added, that these evils, fo terrible and fo true, are the confequence of not exerting thofe powers, and improving those advantages, which the Creator has given to man for fuch good purposes.

Though Mr. C.'s pofitions be often liable to objection, the moft perfuafive and edifying reflections and exhortations follow; and difcouraging as may be his views of the moral state of man, he evidences the moft earneft defire that the evil might be remedied, and manifefts an unbounded with for the happinefs of all his fellow-creatures: as may be feen by a fhort extract from a fermon in which he pleads against cruelty and perfecution; (vol. i. p. 3.)

To fee how the gofpel abhors this wretched difpofition, let us caft our eyes on the conduct and precepts of our bleffed Lord, whereby we fhall fee how he himself acted towards mankind, how he taught and commanded thofe that followed him to act also. The Son of man came indeed not to deftroy mens' lives, but to fave them. Overflowing with love and goodnefs, he came here among us, that he might give ftrength to them that were weak, peace to them that were disturbed, and life to them that were dead. came to fcatter every bleffing, light, life, and happiness through the whole creation. He came as the glorious, gracious, univerfal Saviour, as the angel of the covenant of love. He wished, and oh, may what HE wifhed be one day accomplished, that none fhould die, but that all should repent and live.'

He

The difcourfes on charity, as it is defcribed by St. Paul, in 1 Cor. xiii. are excellent: adapted to convince, to warm, and to excite to practice. We think that the author, before he had enlarged on the different branches, fhould have explained the word (ayann) as fignifying love, a charitable, a Chriftian, and, we may add, a divine temper, comprehending all that is defirable for this the facred writer muft have intended; and hereby is afforded a moft ftriking view of the true defign and tendency of the Chriftian doctrine. In thefe fermons, fo worthy, in general, of attentive regard, and, if thus regarded, fo likely to have the happiest effect, we still find fome intimation of the writer's peculiar turn, when he proceeds as follows; (vol. ii. p. 72.)

In the next branch the Apoftle advances ftill farther, and produces a power of this divine grace, which feems one of its most ef fential

fential characters: " Charity feeketh not her own." This operation of charity can only fpring up from the profound eft depth of divine wisdom. It is one of thofe practical mysteries, of which the gofpel fometimes fpeaks, and leaves it to the hearer to comprehend or not. The ftate of his own foul must determine how far he is capable of penetrating into fuch lofty truths. Thence comes the evangelic declaration fo well understood by them who are advanced unto the measure of the ftature of the fulness of Chrift: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!" I will on this occafion endeavour to imitate this fearful reverence of things facred, and not attempt to unfold what is known far better by the righteous, than by me the humbleft of their admirers, but what no tongue can explain to the corrupt. These will feek their own with unrestrained vehemence, till our world fhall be no more inhabited, though men or angels held out to them, in all its amiable colours, a virtue which greatly knows how to facrifice its own. But as fome doctrines are above the understandings of fome hearers, fo fome graces are much farther above their hearts. We will leave then this noble, perhaps this highest branch of charity, which once feemed to affume an human form in the perfog of Jefus Chrift; we will leave it to be cultivated by the few eminent fervants of God among us, in their blessed progrefs towards perfection. And to the reft we will not unfold the awful doctrine, leaft they should look at it and pollute it. We will not caft this precious gofpel-pearl before them, left they should trample it under their unhallowed feet: we will obey the wife injunction, and will not give that which is holy to thofe, to whom it is not meet to give the holy thing.'

Can any one deem the reafon, here affigned for not explaining the paflage, fufficient? Surely all his hearers were not to be numbered with fwine! The more ignorant they were, the more, we fhould fuppofe, they required his affiftance! Nor does it appear that the expreffion, which he declines to illuftrate, can be accounted myftical, nor unintelligible.

The fermon on the ten lepers, one only of whom, and he a Samaritan, returned to exprefs thankfulness for his recovery, has confiderable merit, as may appear from a fhort paragraph or two; (vol. i. p. 214.)

Let it not be faid, that among Chriftian men, more than elfewhere, the name of the Almighty is profaned; let it not be faid that, fatisfied with the poor external of religion, Chriftians difregard the fpirit thereof; and far beyond any others make a mock of the mighty, facred object of all religion. Let not fuch reproach be thrown on the difciples of the holy Jefus, as if they were impious beyond other men. Even Nature teaches adoration and gratitude to the Lord of Nature. He that formed us has woven into our frame, a profound reverence of the great Former, and has implanted in ue irradicable, grateful fentiments for all his goodness to us. Thus you fee though the Jews learned no humility, no gratitude, yet the Samaritan, ignorant as he was then thought, misinformed as he is now reckoned, yet the Samaritan was deeply impreffed with both. Ee 3 The

The Almighty himself taught him and he was obedient to the divine Instructor. The pride of religion would make the Jews brand him with the factious name of heretic, or fchifmatic, but were he heretic or fchifmatic, he offered to Heaven as grateful a facrifice, as was ever laid on the altar at Jerufalem, by prophet, or by faint. The contentions about the forms of religion deftroy its effeace.Authorifed by the example of Jefus Chrift, we will fend men to the Samaritan to find out how to worship. Though your church was pure, without fpot or imperfection, yet if your heart is not turned to God, the worship is hateful, and the prayers are an abomination. The homage of the darkeft Pagan, worshipping he knows not what, but fill worshipping the unknown power that formed him. if he bows with humility, if he praifes with gratitude, his homage will afcend grateful up to heaven: while the dead careless formality of prayer, offered up in the proudest Chriftian temples, fhall be rejected as an offering unholy. For think you that the Almighty efteems names and fects? No: it is the beart that he requires; it is the heart alone that he accepts. And much confolation does this afford to the contemplative mind of man. We may be very ignorant in fpiritual matters, if that ignorance cannot be removed, and yet may be very safe. We may not know in what words to clothe our defires in prayer; or where to find language worthy of being prefented to the Majefty of Heaven. But amidst the clouds that furround us, here is our comfort: in every nation he that worshippech with humility, worshippeth aright; he that praifeth with gratitude, praifeth well. The pride of establishments may defpife him; but the wisdom and the righteoufnels of heaven will hear and will approve him. It was to the humble, thankful Samaritan, though feparated from the true church; yet, it was to him alone, because he alone returned to glorify God, that Jefus Chrift faid, Arife, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Thus in a moment vanished, and became of no effect, the temple of the Jews, built by prophetic direction; its ritual given by their illuminated legiflator; all gave way to the profound humility, and the fublime gratitude of what they called an unbeliever, of what Jefus Chrift called the only faithful fervant of God among them.'

Such paffages, and feveral fuch might be collected, difcover the wife, chriftian, and ufeful, preacher. Whatever his peculiar attachments or prejudices might be, we cannot conceive that a man, who expreffes himself with fuch warm propriety on the fubject of Chriftian good-will, could be any other than a fincere and zealous friend to the liberty, comfort, and welfare, of all his fellow-creatures.

ART. VI. The Aboriginal Britons: a Poem. By George Richards, A. B. Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. 4to. 1s. 64. Riving

tons.

THI

1791.

HIS poem was publicly recited at Oxford, during the laft
Act, in confequence of a prize, which was the donation

of

of fome unknown perfon, having been adjudged to its author. From an attentive perufal of it, we have no reason to fuppofe that the Oxford judges were partial in their decifion; for we have feldom read a compofition of the fame length that poffeffed more juftness of thought, or more vigour of imagination. The fubject is novel and curious; and the manner in which Mr. R. has treated it, does great credit to his judgment. The Aboriginal Britons are confidered with refpect to their domeftic. and martial life, their internal diffentions, behaviour after a defeat, treatment of their captives, their religious opinions and ceremonies, and their ideas of the tranfmigration of the foul. Mr. R. clofes his poem by drawing a strong picturefque contraft between favage and refined liberty.

The following is the portrait of an ancient Briton, which has all the martial ferocity and terrible graces of the original: Rude as the wilds around his fylvan home

In favage grandeur fee the Briton roam:

Bare were his limbs, and ftrung with toil and cold,
By untam'd Nature caft in giant mould.

O'er his broad brawny fhoulders, loosely flung,
Shaggy and long, his yellow ringlets hung.
His waist an iron-belted falchion bore,
Maffy, and purpied deep with human gore;
His fcarr'd and rudely painted limbs around
Fantastic horror-ftriking figures frown'd,
Which monfter-like, ev'n to the confines ran
Of Nature's work, and left him hardly Man.
His knitted brows and rolling eyes impart
A direful image of his ruthlefs heart;
Where war, and human bloodshed*, brooding lie
Like thunders, lowering in a gloomy fky.'

After an animated defcription of the fanguinary and barbarous manner in which the Briton engaged in battle, and came off conqueror, he is introduced, after a defeat, amid the following grand and romantic fcenery:

When o'erthrown

More keen and fierce the flame of freedom fhone.

Ye woods, whofe cold and lengthened tracks of shade
Rofe on the day, when fun and flars were made!
Waves of Lodore, that from the mountain's brow
Tumble your flood, and shake the vale below!
Majestic Skiddaw, round whofe trackless steep,
Mid the bright funfhine darkfome tempefts fweep!
To you the patriot fled, his native land

He fpurn'd, when proffered by a conqueror's hand,
In you to roam at large; to lay his head
On the bleak rock, unclad, unhous'd, unfed.

* We have fome doubts as to the propriety of this image.

E e 4

Hid

Hid in the aguifh fen, whole days to reft,
The numbing waters gathered round his breast;
To fee defpondence cloud each rifing morn,
And dark despair hang o'er the years unborn.
Yet here, e'en here, he greatly dar'd to lie,
And drain the lufcious dregs of liberty.
Outcast of Nature, fainting, wafted, wan,

To breathe an air his own, and live a Man.'

The contrast between the liberty of favages and that polished freedom which refults from civilization, is drawn in a masterly ftyle. The latter is introduced in a manner eminently poetical, and the clofing idea of the piece is truly fublime:

-Full many a dark and ftormy year

She dropt o'er Albion's ifle the patriot tear,
Retir'd to mountains from the craggy dell,
She caught the Norman curfeu's tyrant knell:
Sad to her view the baron's castle frown'd
Bold from the fteep, and aw'd the plains around;
She forrowing heard the papal thunders roll,
And mourn'd th' ignoble bondage of the foul;
She blush'd, O Cromwell, blufh'd at Charles's doom,
And wept, mifguided Sydney, o'er thy tomb!

But now reviv'd, fhe boafts a purer caufe
Refin'd by fcience, form'd by generous laws;
High hangs her helmet in the banner'd hall,
Nor founds her clarion but at Honor's call,
Now walks the land with olive chaplets crown'd,
Exalting worth and beaming fafety round;
Sees barren waftes with unknown fruitage bloom,
Sees labour bending patient o'er the loom;
Sees science rove through academic bowers,
And peopled cities lift their fpiry towers;
Trade fwells her fails, wherever ocean rolls,
Glows at the line, and freezes at the poles,
While through unwater'd plains and wondering meads,
Waves not its own the obedient river leads.

But chief, the godlike Mind which bears imprefs'd
Its Maker's glorious image full confefs'd,

Nobleft of works created, more divine

Than all the flarry worlds that nightly shine;
Form'd to live on, unconscious of decay,
When the wide univerfe fhall melt away;
The Mind which hid in favage breafts of yore
Lay, like Golconda's gems, a useless ore,
Now greatly dares fublimeft aims to scan,
Enriches Science, and ennobles Man,

Unveils the femblance which its God beftow'd,

And draws more near the fource from whence it flow'd.'

In the general eaft of verfification and thought, we difcern a happy refemblance of Pope and Goldfmith. If there be any

defigned