CRITICAL NOTICES. ART. I.-Theologische Studien und fourth number of the Review just published. The first paper forms the concluding part of an article by Nitzsch, ou the Religious Ideas of the Ancients, continued from No. III. It contains a number of striking remarks on the character of religious sentiment and worship among the ancients, and endeavours to trace the relation in which the different systems of Grecian philosophy stood to what the moderns have called the philosophy of religion. It instances the expression of religious feeling even among those who are generally considered to have dismissed all those ideas which are bound up with the veneration of a Supreme Being as intimately connected with, and influencing, the world. This paper, to our minds, conveys an admirable illustration of the fact, that if religious opinions are not placed within the control of the individual's own choice, so religious feeling is something independent of, and much deeper than, the speculative opinions with which it is combined. The remarks on the Mysteries are among the most interesting parts of the essay. The second article is a critical dissertation on a work of John Scotus on the Sacrament, which was hitherto supposed to have been lost, but which is here all but proved to have never existed, while the treatise ascribed to Scotus is traced to Ratramnus as its author. This paper, by F. W. Laufs, Cand. Theol., which evinces considerable ingenuity and extensive reading, may serve as a specimen of the accuracy with which the details of literary history are cultivated by the German theological writers. Professor Hagenbach has communicated some observations on the proper division of periods in the history of doctrinal theories, and Dr. Ullmann has published for the first time, what he calls a Relic of Melancthon, a few sentences which he wrote in a book presented to a friend, and which breathe the mild and Christian spirit of the Reformer. Among the reviews, perhaps the most interesting is a notice by Ullmann of a little work by the veuerable Münter: FRID. MÜNTERI Episcopi Icelandiæ, Notitia Codicis Græci, Evangelium Johannis variatum continentis. Havniæ, 1828. pp. 36, 8vo. The manuscript in question is preserved in the King's Library at Paris, and was first collated by Professor Hohlenberg, of Copenhagen. It coutains the Gospel of John, but with numerous alterations, which are evidently intended to take away the character of supernatural agency from the narration of the miracles, and the stamp of orthodoxy from the doctrinal parts. A few instances must here suffice. John ii. 11, the MS. reads, εφανέρωσε την μαθησιν αυτού instead of day. Ch. vi. 9, the number of loaves and fishes is omitted, and every thing removed that would give an extraordinary character to the transaction, no mention being made of the miraculous agency of Christ, but only of his pihayOpera The assertion that Lazarus was actually dead, (ch, xi. 13—16,) is omitted, and the story of the Resurrection is removed altogether. Upon the whole, this would appear to be one of the most extraordinary literary forgeries that was ever attempted; and we confess that we are looking, with no ordinary curiosity, to the next number of the magazine, in which Ullmann promises to state his opinion as to the time and circumstances under which this singular document was first penned. Dr. Sack has reviewed the work of the Rev. A. F. L. Gemberg on the National Church of Scotland; Lücke has given a short critique of Winer's Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians; and Nitzsch on the Comparative Sketch of the Doctrine of the Gnostics, and the System of Schleiermacher, by Professor Baur, of Tübingen. But these are matters which are not to be disposed of en passant; and we have only left ourselves room to say, that among the most attractive papers, we consider the survey of the the ological literature of Denmark and Sweden during the years 1826 and 1827, to be entitled to particular attention. We understand that a survey of the recent theological literature of England is preparing for the next number. teresting public festivals which has occurred for many years. The Report is prefaced by an introduction narrating the formation of the United Committee, which joined as the representatives of almost all the organized Dissenting bodies, with a number of stewards selected from the influential Dissenters of every part of England, in proceedings calculated to give the most favourable impression of the opinions of the whole body on questions of vital importance to the cause of religious liberty, and to rescue it from the unfavourable representations which it had been the policy of some to disseminate. The United Committee in their introduction thus speak their own and their constituents' sentiments: "The Dissenters are well aware that whenever they or their descendants shall look back upon this interesting period, the remembrance of the eloquent, publicspirited, and virtuous men who took the prominent part on that occasion, must be accompanied with such respectful and thankful homage as it becomes them to offer, and their noble and illustrious advocates to receive * They feel indeed that public opinion had long, in a considerable degree, controlled and counteracted those obnoxious statutes which visited consistency and integrity with shame and reprobation. They know that the Legislature only completed and set the seal of its authority to a change which justice and charity had been long previously working; and they value their own success more truly and more dearly, because they consider it is a proof of the nearer approach of that happy day when all authoritative interference on the part of one man with the faith of another shall finally cease. calm and tranquil results of the change which has been accomplished in their behalf as evidence of the groundlessness of those fears, and the shortsightedness of those menaces, which opposed their emancipation; and are strengthened in their previous conviction that the sympathies and good affections of mankind form a stronger and steadier boud of union than their jealousies and antipathies; and that the state can hold no firmer securities for the obedience and the services of any of its subjects than their political equality and common con; sent. The blessings they enjoy they the more earnestly desire and strive to diffuse; and they will hail that diffusion with pleasure, growing with its extension, and enduring with its permanency!" ART. II.-Report of the Speeches and Proceedings at a Dinner to commemorate the Abolition of the Sacramental Test, 18 June, 1828, at Freemasons' Hall, H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex in the Chair taken in short-hand by Mr. Gurney. London, published for the United Committee, &c. 1828. THIS interesting pamphlet presents a permanent record of one of the most in They regard the ART. III.-On Sudden Death: a Sermon, preached in the Old Jewry Chapel, Jewin Street, on Sunday, September 21st, 1828, occasioned by the Death of Mr. John Keep, for many years Precentor of that Chapel. By David Davison, A. M. 8vo. Pp. 24. On the Consolations of the Gospel: a Sermon preached in the Old Jewry Chapel, Jewin Street, on Sunday, October 5th, 1828, occasioned by the Death of Joseph Yallowley, Esq., Treasurer of the Old Jewry Society. By David Davison, A. M. 8vo. Pp. 28. IT was a remarkable and affecting circumstance that the first of these sermons, occasioned by the sudden death of the Precentor of the Jewin Street Chapel, was listened to with peculiar interest by Mr. Yallowley, its Treasurer; and that he also, within the following week, received a like instantaneous summons to the presence of his Judge. The preacher had an arduous and solemn task on both occasions: on the last he must have felt it overpoweringly so. How he acquitted himself is best shewn by a reference to these discourses, which are every way worthy of a Christian minister; serious, earnest, appropriate, affecting, and deeply impressive. The first is from 1 Sam. xx. 3:-" There is but a step between me and death." The second from 1 Thess. iv. 14:-" For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." The conclusion of this discourse, in which a faithful and interesting character is drawn of Mr. Yallowley, was inserted, by the author's permission, prior to the publication of the sermon, in our last volume, pp. 788-790. We recommend both discourses as eminently calculated to make a salutary and permanent impression on the attentive reader. ART. IV.-A Tract on Family Religion; containing Remarks on the following subjects: Example, Precepts, Company and Conversation, Family Prayer, Reading the Scriptures, Amusements. By C. P. Valentine, Minister of the Gospel.Pp. 16. Hunter. The title is a sufficient analysis of the contents of this pious and sensible little publication. It is altogether practical, the writer having purposely, and we think very judiciously, avoided controversy. Its spirit and manner may be judged of by the following remarks on "Company and Conversation:" cretion as to what company he intro"Every man may use his own disduces into his family; he has also some control over the kind and character of the conversation that is held in his house: it is of great consequence that both these be respectable and virtuous. "He who introduces into his family men of licentious morals and exceptionable conduct, acts much the same part as the man in the fable who brought home a snake. Evil communications corrupt good manners.' Manners and morals, in the opinion of the ancients, were identical; and no one can doubt that when the manners become corrupted, the morals are in great danger. A man of staid and decided moral character will always be careful to let it be known, that in his presence vice may not plead its cause with impunity, and that they who cannot discourse with decorum and decency are no fit companions for him. "It must, however, be admitted, that the good taste of the age in which we live has succeeded in banishing from all reputable society low and vulgar conversation; and the one thing still wanting, as it seems to me, is to send to the same oblivion that conversation which affords too strong a tendency to a love of worldly pleasures and scepticism in religion. It is well to set our faces against cant, and an untimely obtrusion of sacred subjects; but in doing this, let us not forget to season our discourse with the feelings and sentiments of true and religious men."-Pp. 10, 11. ART. V.-Sketches in Verse, from the Historical Books of the Old Testament. By J. Brettell. Hamilton, Adams, and Co., Paternoster Row, THE first of these spirited and clever sketches is a poetical paraphrase of part of the history of Pharaoh and Moses. The opening description of the "Land of the Nile" is in very good taste, and written with energy; as is also that of those "Mountains of Stone"-the Pyramids, from which we extract lines: a few "Vast tombs! too spacious far for man, Whose relics ask of earth no ample span But despots, e'en in death, grasp all they can. "Yes, they shall live-if life it be, To toil incessant night and day- Scoop out the valley for a lake, They sink to unregarded graves. Dare they to murmur when they're chid? Their hands shall raise a Pyramid!" "Pyramid" is a climax not to be paralleled, but "chid" is a base rhyme. "The Song of Moses and the Israelites" is written with force, but "Shakspeare had it first," and we cannot listen to it whilst "Sound the loud Timbrel" is ringing in our ears. The other subjects are, "Balak and Balaam," "The Blessings and Curses," "The Withered Hand," and "The Death of Abijah." There is much strength and beauty in "The Blessings;" the metre is appropriately chosen ; but "The Curses" would have been better in the heroic measure, and we think some effect would have been produced by the diversity. The author has made too frequent use of inversion, which should only be considered as a dernier ressort; it savours of latinity. But little use has been made hitherto of the historical parts of the Old Testament for those poetical purposes to which many passages in them are so well adapted; we therefore recommend the present little work as having some originality of design, as well as being talented in its execution, ART. VI.-The Anniversary. The Keepsake. The Bijou. MORE Annuals! "Another and an other still succeeds," and, like the setting sun, as we approach towards the close of them, they seem more splendid than ever. We can only afford, however, a very brief notice of what may be deemed peculiar and characteristic in those which are named at the head of this article. The Anniversary, edited by Allan Cunningham, makes its first appearance this year, and a very handsome appearance it makes. The engravings, considered merely as works of art, are only rivalled by those of the Keepsake. Here our praise of them must end, for the subjects are generally such as to excite less interest than those of almost any one of the Annuals, of humbler price and pretension, which we noticed last month; and we confess that there is yet so much of the child in us as to make us always look after the subject of an engraving as well as the execution. Nor can any degree of excellence in the latter satify us, if it be not, as we think, worthily bestowed. To those who think differently, mended, and its decorations cannot but the Anniversary may be safely recomyield them a very high gratification. An exception from the above remark must be made in behalf of "The Travelled Monkey," by Gibbon, from Landseer, and "Pickaback," by Rolls, from Westall. As to "Chillon" and "Newstead Abbey," they may be in "the gayest," certainly not in the "happiest, attitude of things." Indeed, their "attitude" is more like that of sitting up to receive company than any thing else. The Presentation Vignette is very pretty, and ingeniously contrived so as "to suit the presentation of the volume with the recurrence of any particular day in the year." There is very little in the literary part of the Anniversary which deserves notice. The description of Abbotsford, by an American, is the best prose article, and very pleasant gossip. The Rev. Edward Irving's "Tale of the Times of the Martyrs" is tolerable; and, no doubt, true, inasmuch as he gives the solemn pledge of his "faith as a Christian man and a minister," that he has "invented nothing and altered nothing." He might, with advantage, have "altered" some of the affectations of which, after this, we cannot charge him with the invention. Lord Byron's "Letter on Economy" is clearly genuine. The poetry is but mid dling. Several pretty songs and descriptive pieces, connected with the engravings, are spoiled by being twisted at the end into a compliment to the artist. There is, however, a song by the editor, "The Warrior," which is not spoiled by any thing; and his tale of "The Magic Bridle" would have made Burns, drunk or sober, call him brother. The Keepsake well supports the character it gained last year by the surpassing beauty of its decorations, and has well and amply redeemed itself from the disgrace of inattention to the literary department. As a collection of welltold tales, it is beyond all competition. There are three (besides "A Scene at Abbotsford") by the Author of Waverley, and not unworthy of him. "The HalfBrothers," by Banim; "The Sisters of Albano," and "Ferdinando Eboli," by Mrs. Shelley; "Apropos of Bread," by Lord Nugent; "The Legend of Killarney," by T. H. Bayly; "Clorinda," by Lord Normanby; and "The Old Gentleman,” (“O breathe not his name!") by Theodore Hook; are all excellent, though in very different ways. The poetry, especially that of Mr. Coleridge, disappoints the expectations raised by the names in the list of contributors. The following sonnet, by Wordsworth, is an exception: "A GRAVESTONE UPON THE FLOOR IN THE CLOISTERS OF WORCESTER CATHEDRAL. 'Miserrimus!' and neither name nor date, Prayer, text, or symbol, grav'n upon the stone; Nought but that word assign'd to the unknown, impossible not to mention "Anne Page and Slender" (from Richter, by Rolls). Shakspeare has never been more nobly illustrated. The painter's apprehension of character, and his embodying of that conception in the two admirably contrasted figures, are alike perfect. The Bijou is perhaps unfortunate, so far as our report is of any importance, in being the last to come under our notice, when the eye and mind are alike satiated with the varied beauties of its predecessors. It has the further disadvantage of presenting itself immediately after the two publications which, as they are the most expensive, (the Anniversary and Keepsake are a guinea each, the other Annuals twelve shillings,) are also the most superb of the whole; and, moreover, it made so successful a debût last year, and had so much advantage over almost all its competitors, that our expectations were excited in, it may be, a very unreasonable degree. The candid reader must make what deduction he thinks proportionate and proper on these accounts from our expression of disappointment both at its literary articles and its decorations. And in that expression we must not include the portrait of Lord Durham's son, from a painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence; a very interesting tale by Mr. T. Roscoe ("Agnes"); the story of the Stranger Patron, and some minor pieces by Mrs. Hemans, Miss E. Taylor, and Montgomery,-the original Montgomery, not him of the Puffiad. There is also a very graphic and spirited description of the battle of Trafalgar. Indeed, if there be any taste to which the Bijou is peculiarly adapted, it must be to the naval and military taste. Of several articles it is difficult to guess any reason for their insertion, unless it be that they emanated from, and are adapted to, the average intellect of that heroic profession. Let them but "fit audience fiud," aud the sea song and the sword song may do marvellous execution. How times change! A few years ago, and such a volume as this, over which we are grumbling, would have been received with rapturous praises of the beauty of its appearance and the spirit of the publisher. It would have deserved them, and would have had them now, but that the publisher, and other publishers, have, by their liberal doings, made us fastidious. We are not so ungracious as to reproach them very severely on that score; and we take leave of them all, wondering to what pitch of beauty and splendour they will contrive to raise the Annuals of next year. |