greatness and goodness of God seen in the perfection of nature, and breathing in every note the fulness of paradisiacal enjoyment. Thus (in times subsequent) poetry became successively pastoral, heroical, mythological; according to climate or condition, pacific, warlike, patriotic, domestic. And thus we may expect it to advance through every gradation of human society, till it shall finally echo the millennial worship, as it first embodied that of Paradise, and so complete the chain of harmony that runs parallel with all the gross conditions of our world, and is the high expression of its intellectual life. It matters not, then, that (as we have sought to prove) the poet is no absolute creator; that imagination itself, soaring upon its strongest pinions, cannot get beyond the regions of an objective universe; that art hath so little of her own to boast, that there is not a hue on her palette, not a note in her scale, not a word in her vocabulary, which owes not its significance and value to the stores of nature. Emphatically, GOD IS THE AUTHOR of ALL. At the bottom of every human invention or design, we may read His indelible FECIT. Through the agency of philosophers and poets HE publishes the intellectual riches of His kingdom; and thus, originating in His greatness and resulting in His glory, all things are ever proclaiming Him to be THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, THE FIRST AND the Last. It may be urged that the history of Art, and the character of its acknowledged master-pieces, do not warrant the opinion we have expressed of its high moral tendency; that instances may be adduced, both in painting and in poetry, in which, at the same time, the composition is faultless and the morality questionable. We suspect, however, that if such instances were brought forward, the perfection of their art would not bear a very severe scrutiny; but that we should discover, in every work producing dangerous or hurtful impressions, a proportionate deviation from representative truth, which rejects what is partial as virtually false. But (it is asked) may not the evil in nature be reflected in art with evil consequences? If the reflection be faithful, no; for then the real deformity of vice, the essential beauty of virtue, must certainly appear with something like scriptural truth, the accessories involved in the use of harmony serving the purpose, not of exaggeration, but of impression.* Let us take To sanction this opinion, we may adduce even an extreme case in point,-the works of Hogarth, whose literal portraiture of vice and its concomitants is so ably indicated in an Essay by the late Charles Lamb. To that production we refer the reader, as proving, in an unanswerable manner, the high rank of Hogarth in his art, and his consequent claim to the honours of a great moral painter. There is one brief passage, however, so confirmatory of the principles under review, that we must quote it here, premising that the impressions it records have rise in the last print of a series in which the painter has indeed extenuated none of the wretched circumstances concluding a riotous career:-"The misemployed, incongruous characters at the funeral, on a superficial inspection, provoke to laughter; but, when we have sacrificed the first emotion to levity, a very different frame of mind succeeds, or the painter has lost half his purpose. I never look at that wonderful assemblage of depraved beings, who, without a grain of reverence or pity in their perverted minds, are performing the sacred exteriors of duty to the relics of their departed partner in folly, but I am as much moved to sympathy, from the very want of it in them, as I should be by the finest representation of a virtuous death-bed surrounded by real mourners, pious children, weeping friends,-perhaps more, by the very contrast. What reflections does it not awake of the dreadful, heartless state in which a creature must have lived who in death wants the accompaniment of one genuine tear! That wretch who is removing the lid of the coffin to gaze upon the corpse with a face which indicates a perfect negation of all goodness or womanhood-the hypocrite an example. There is a work which, though grossly immoral in its tendency, has been styled "the greatest English poem produced in the present century." Now we may readily concede that it displays, in surpassing abundance, the poetical resources of Lord Byron; but we deny that it is a great poem at all; for, in common with all the productions of his Lordship, -who certainly had not the highest order of poetical intellect, nor was even faithful in the use of that with which he was intrusted,-it bears the character of advocacy, rather than of inspiration. As his other effusions are so many special pleadings for some particular form of vice, whether Pride, Misanthropy, or Unbelief, so this (being no exception from his rule of composition) is nothing more than a vivid ex-parte statement in behalf of Pleasure, wherein all the lassitude, disappointment, humiliation, selfreproach, danger, and destruction, incident to a selfish and voluptuous career, are altogether banished from the view, and the better judgment is overborne by a constant appeal to the sensual part of our nature; or, if this be intermitted for a moment, (on a principle not unknown to the brute creation,) our moral sense, whose voice is a whisper needing a serious silence to be heard, is confounded by a ribald wit that is "ingenious, wonderful, and good for nothing." We cannot deny the abundant riches of the author's imagery, the ripeness of his observation, his mastery of rhyme and rhythm, his fertility of wit, and his prodigal power of sarcasm. The poem in question is also remarkable for its felicity of expression, its truthfulness of detail, and its harmony of grouping; and from it might be selected a matchless series of pictures, characters, and sketches, which must separately influence the mind in an agreeable and improving manner. But if we consider the poem as a whole, and naturally look for that moral coherence with which all great works (the heathen not excepted) are invested by virtue of their consistent truth, must we not pronounce it an utter failure? True, it is professedly unfinished, and some allowance may be granted on the score of incompleteness: yet so loose is the structure, and so unsatisfactory the aim, that its tissue of brilliant falsehoods may as well terminate where it does as in any possible conclusion we may conceive. Yet the poetic faculty is continually at work; as certain bees, which revel only in the most noxious plants, use diligently their imbibing and secreting power, although the product is poison, and not honey. In bringing this lengthened exordium to a close, and applying the principles adduced to the works of Mr. Wordsworth, it is proper to remark that those principles appear, on a first view, to regard only the style and burden of poetry in its epic walks; and that some poetic compositions necessarily want that grand morale which arises from absolute receptiveness on the part of the poet, and perfect vraisemblance on that of his work. A lyrical effusion, for example, is not easily tested by the same appeal to nature which is suggested by narrative or dramatic composition. In the latter cases the poet comes out of himself, and marshals his fellow-men in the order they observe in life; while in the former he sings immediately from his own heart, and, the profounder the depths of individual feeling from which his sentiments arise, the more welcome and delighting is his strain. And yet, upon close examination, we shall find that the excellence Parson and his demure partner-all the fiendish group-to a thoughtful mind present a moral emblem more affecting than if the poor, friendless carcass had been depicted as thrown out to the woods, where wolves had assisted at its obsequies, itself furnishing forth its own funeral banquet." of both species of poetry depends upon the observance of that æsthetic rule upon which we have so much insisted; for the impassioned lyric must be as genuine and unargued an expression of personal (and, at the same time, universal) experience, as the narrative poem must be of human character developed in events. We have, therefore, elicited a principle common to all genuine poetry; namely, that it is authoritative and oracular, approving itself authentic by the response of our own nature, rather than by an appeal to force of argument. (To be continued.) SELECT LIST OF BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED, WITH CHARACTERISTIC NOTICES. [The insertion of any article in this List is not to be considered as pledging us to the approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice of our favourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.] Hat The XVIIIth Chapter of Leviticus not the Marriage Code of Israel. By J. P. Brown Westhead, M.P. chards. The materials of this argument were collected with a view to a speech in Parliament on Mr. Stuart Wortley's Bill. The honourable Member for Knaresborough endeavours to prove, "1. That even if the 18th chapter of Leviticus were the Marriage Code of the Hebrew nation, it is not binding upon Christians. 2. That the argument that affinity and consanguinity are to be treated as equivalent and identical grounds of relationship-is entirely untenable. 3. That the New-Testament Scriptures afford no instruction in support of that Table of kindred and affinity, wherein whosoever are related are forbidden by the Church of England to marry toge ther. 4. That, on the contrary, John the Baptist admitted the legality of the marriage of Philip with his niece Herodias. And, lastly, that the 18th chapter of Leviticus never was the Marriage Code of the Hebrew nation." summary we quote from pages 26, 27. Its fourth article is sustained, in Mr. Westhead's judgment, by the words of John to Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife;" words, however, which may have served the Baptist's design of rebuking Herod, without characterising the domestic life of Philip. The other propositions are entitled to more serious discussion. They point to issues of vast moment; and all who desire to see the original This inquiry presented in its variety of aspects, will add Mr. Westhead's pamphlet to their references. The talents and virtues of the writer, as well as the care and ingenuity he displays, enforce the claim for a ready and respectful audience. If an opinion be sought of us as to the merits of the controversy, we must say that we have not the happiness of acquiescing in the views of our esteemed friend. There are difficulties, it is certain, on both sides: he who is unaware of these has given very inadequate attention to the subject. Yet, considering that, if Leviticus xviii. does not fix the degrees within which marriage may not be contracted, we have no code in Holy Scripture bearing on that important social question;-considering, again, the peril to morality likely to accrue from any apparent relaxation of a universal rule, as in the case, here assumed, of its legislative proclamation with special and superior reference to a class of transgressions ;-considering, again, that the argument on the other side rests on verses 6 17, not on verse 18-of which the marginal reading is entitled, on the ground of a prevailing idiom, to the gravest respect;-considering that, in the twelve verses just mentioned, the general injunction of verse 6 seems to be applied alike to relationships of affinity, and to those of consanguinity;-considering the strong light cast by verse 16 on a case corresponding to that which many are now striving to legalise; and, at the same time, the consequences of rejecting the fair implication of the details given;and, once more, considering that, so far as we may reverently trace the reasons of these inhibitory laws, (especially as tending to enlarge connexions of amity among mankind, and to guard the sanctity of all familiar intercourse,) those reasons seem to bear with equal force on the two relationships,-we find ourselves shut up to conclusions different from those which Mr. Westhead advocates. For these reasons, as respectively applicable, we cannot think this section of Leviticus either a mere amplifying of the seventh commandment, or a code exclusively Jewish. Mr. Westhead, inclining to the former view, is, of course, at the utmost remove from those who think it either ceremonial or municipal. In the remarks which have been bestowed on its prevailing phraseology, -as though it necessarily implied opprobrium, there will appear to many an extreme of verbal criticism; but, at all events, they cannot be allowed to foreclose the examination,-since, if this particular table of law means what it has been extensively held to mean, the inculpatory sense applies. Objections drawn from primeval usage, and from the special provision made in Deut. xxv. 5, are greatly relieved-if they do not entirely fade away-when we consider that a code of degrees (so to speak) is liable to occasional exception, as partaking largely of the character which our moralists have termed positive; that is, deriving its obligation from revealed law, however its wisdom and goodness may be subsequently illustrated by the advantages it confers. And, finally, the practice of the Jews, and the indulgent opinion of their Rabbins,-an opinion, be it remarked, contrary to the steadfast judgment of the Karaites, or Scripturists, the sect that maintained the authority of the sacred text alone,afford very precarious premisses for any syllogism in casuistry. On a matter which has divided, and is still dividing, the ripest minds, it becomes us to speak with much diffidence; and we are desirous that any suggestions of ours should be weighed with the utmost impartiality. But, while expressing dissent from Mr. Westhead, we think it due, and courteous also, to indicate some of the leading considerations which influence our judg ment. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D. By his Son-in-law, the Rev. William Hanna, LL.D. Vol. II. Published for Thomas Constable, by Sutherland and Knox, Edinburgh; Hamilton, Adams, and Co., London. In announcing this continuation of a deeply-interesting work, it may suffice just now to repeat the respectful notice given in our January Number. The second volume comprises records of a most important period of Dr. Chalmers's ministerial and literary life. We look with more than common interest for the sequel; and, hoping to give more adequate attention to the complete biography, beg meanwhile earnestly to commend the series. "It is written :" or, Every Word and Expression contained in the Scriptures proved to be from God. From the French of Professor Gaussen. Bagsters.-A treatise of pre-eminent worth, which we are glad to see in a third and cheaper English edition. It is not easy to find anything, on the grand subject to which it relates, better adapted to rebuke certain flimsy theories of the present day. Our own views of Perfect Inspiration have been stated with sufficient distinctness, especially in our last volume, pages 191-193; and, may be permitted us to say, we rejoice in the circulation and influence of a book in which those views are elucidated and confirmed by an eloquent foreigner. Discourses on Holy Scripture, with Notes and Illustrations. By John Kelly, Minister of Crescent Chapel, Everton. John Snow. Of these Discourses, the first and second present a good summary of argument on the Canon of Holy Scripture; the third and fourth ably take up the question of Inspiration; and the rest are devoted to a practical application of the whole subject. Mr. Kelly speaks with power. His book indicates, throughout, the orthodox and logical Preacher; while it shows that his discriminating eye is open to the phases of modern speculation, as bearing on Revealed Truth. The copious "Notes" shed valuable illustration on many biblical points of great interest. To the eighth, (H,)—pp. 312—339,—we call the attention of those who-tempted to mistake the cloudy for the grand, omne ignotum pro mirifico-are at all captivated by the unsatisfactory theories of Inspiration (or, more accurately, of NoInspiration) put forth by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mr. Morell. The Works of John Owen, D.D. Edited by the Rev. William H. Goold, Edinburgh. Vol. I. Johnstone and Hunter. The design of the spirited publishers to bring out a "Standard Library of British Divines," merits all encouragement. This volume, commended by the illustrious name of John Owen, begins their series. Theological readers will not ask for fresh criticism on the defects, or on the transcendent merits, of the eminent Puritan. It is enough to say, that we expect much advantage from a revived attention to his writings, especially from the study of his treatises on experimental religion. In one fine octavo, we have here a "General Preface" by the Editor, well adapted to conciliate the esteem and confidence of the reading public,-a beautiful sketch of Dr. Owen's Life, prepared by the Rev. Andrew Thomson, B.A., of Edinburgh, and extending to one hundred pages,the "XPIETOAOгIA,”—the appropriate sequel (though not professedly such) of "Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ," and "Two Short Catechisms." Sacred Lays and Lyrics. By John A. Latrobe, M.A., Incumbent of St. Thomas', Kendal, Author of "The Solace of Song." Seeleys.-Much sweet and truly Christian verse; of which an example or two, happily diversifying these columns, will supersede the reviewer's function : The Life, Letters, and Opinions of William Roberts, Esq. Edited by his Son, Arthur Roberts, M.A., Rector of Woodrising, Norfolk, and formerly of Oriel College, Oxford. 8vo. Seeleys.Mr. Roberts (who lived to see his eightythird year, and died in 1849) was educated at Oxford, where he became an accomplished scholar. He embraced the profession of the law, and was called to the bar; but his chief devotion, both in choice and practice, was to literature. For some years he was one of the Bankruptcy Commissioners, and one of the Commissioners for inquiring into Public Charities. He wrote several works of considerable value in his own profession. He was the Editor of the British Review. He likewise conducted through the press that series of periodical papers which usually, under the title of "The Lookeron," stands at the close of those British Classical Essays which begin with "The Tatler." To the public he is perhaps best known as the Editor of the Memoirs of Hannah More, and as the author of "The Portraiture of a Christian Gentleman. He was a sincere Churchman, of the true school of the first Reformers, a Protestant on principle, and devoutly and consistently evangelical. To Popery he was opposed with an enlightened firmness, arising from his conviction of its unscriptural character, and of the danger to which it exposes not only the secular, but more especially the spiritual, interests |