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ART. IV. Charles Lever; or, the Man of the Nineteenth Century. By the Rev. W. GRESLEY, M. A., Prebendary of Lichfield. London: Burns. 1841.

2. The Chartist; or, the Life and Death of James Arnold; shewing the Progress and Results of Chartism. London: Painter. 1841.

MR. GRESLEY is one of the most popular writers of our time. It would seem, indeed, as if the high intellectual powers which he possesses, his talents, nay, more, his genius-for it may with truth be said he exhibits striking indications of the latter gift-had been called forth by the circumstances of the age. In proportion as evil principles and opposition to the good old institutions of our country have manifested themselves, so in like degree has he come forth to wage war with these enemies of our peace and welfare. Nor is the conflict by any means unequal, for he has proved himself fully able to cope with the most dangerous of them. Indeed, the more hazardous the contest, and the greater the difficulties which it has presented, the more vigour and resolution has he displayed. His courage rises with each successive attack upon the ark of our strength; truly may he be said to go forth in the spirit of the Christians of ancient time, having put on the whole armour of God, that he may be able to withstand in the evil day, having his feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, and bearing on his arm the shield of faith, wherewith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And let it not be thought, by those who are yet unacquainted with his writings, that we have haply indulged in too confident a tone when speaking of their merits. Let them lose no time in judging for themselves, and we are well assured the results will bear us out. Let them read "The Portrait of an English Churchman," the first of Mr. Gresley's works in what may be called his own peculiar class (although he had previously distinguished himself in branches of composition more directly connected with his own profession), in which he has described with so much feeling, earnestness, and truth, the conduct to be pursued by an upright and consistent member of our Holy and Apostolic Church ;-"Clement Walton," in which he has delineated the same character, in a still more direct and particular manner, and in a wider and more extensive sphere of action-one, indeed, which embraces almost every possible combination of circumstances in which such an individual can be placed ;—or "The Siege of Lichfield," where, in a very delightful fiction, a great part of which is more or less connected with the events of

the great Rebellion against the martyred Charles, he has displayed, in the most graphic and lively manner, the effects of those evil principles which produced the civil war, and overturned the Monarchy and the Church, and which, springing into existence again in our own time, through the arts and machinations of crafty, designing, and wicked men, have been combated with so much force and vigour, as we have said, in his previous works. Let them study these with attention, and they will soon become convinced of the sterling value which belongs to the writings of Mr. Gresley, and of the important, we do not hesitate to say, the inestimable service which he has rendered to his countrymen, by creating, as it were, a class of composition in which a very charming fiction is made to embody lessons for the guidance of the mind in every character and station which its possessor can assume;—whether as a statesman, engaged in the conduct of political affairs; as a man of business, occupied in the employments of the world; as a man of letters; in the more useful station of a country gentleman; or in the most important of all characters, the member of that most pure and apostolic branch of Christ's Holy Church which is planted in this land;-and all with the greatest skill, and the most nice and accurate adaptation to the feelings belonging to every station and situation of life.

In "Charles Lever," Mr. Gresley has added a new feature to his original plan, and very judiciously, as we think. In his former works he was contented, in a certain degree, with acting on the defensive, with regard to those great moral and religious principles which he advocated; but in the volume before us he has assumed an offensive position, and has gone boldly into the enemy's camp. He has detected and exposed the wicked and execrable doctrines of Chartism and Socialism, which are passing over the land, and withering and blasting up the surface wherever they touch, whether in the goodly city, or in the fair and pleasant fields of our country. He has dragged them forth from their secret recesses, and has held them up to the loathing and abhorrence of his countrymen. The object of this tale cannot be better explained than in the language of the author in the Preface:

“The following tale is designed to set forth in their true colours the dangers to which our ill-cemented social system exposes the most numerous and important class in society-dangers to which they become victims, not so much from natural causes as from defective education, want of access to sound religious instruction, popular fallacies and prejudices, never more abundant than at present; all which are fostered by a corrupt and venal press, by the harangues of the infidel lecturer

and the false liberal, and the numerous other destructive tendencies which are rife in the nineteenth century. It is not meant that inducements to good are not also abundant: on the contrary, the word of God is spread through the land; the Church is putting forth her powers; education is assuming a sounder and deeper character; the press is extensively employed by the agents of good as well as by those of evil; we have much cause for hope as well as fear. The scene will be laid in various departments of life, with a view to shew the mutual bearing of different classes on each other; how ambition and laxity of principle in the rich lead to the demoralization of the poor; how the demoralization of the poor reverts most certainly and perniciously on those above them; nay, how even good men, if unfortunately biassed in their judgment by prevailing errors, may most unconsciously promote the general evil; and, lastly, how in God's revealed religion, and in his Catholic Church, the only remedy or palliative of these evils is to be found."

There is a great deal of truth and justice in this statement, and the promise held out in it is amply fulfilled in the tale itself. It is, indeed, a tale capable of teaching every class, and we only hope that a willing disposition may be shewn to receive the lessons which it conveys. The introductory chapter is very much to our taste. The author (or rather the relator of the tale, who speaks in this section in the first person) pays a visit to an old college friend whom he had not seen for many years, Mr. Merton, the Vicar of Laxington. On the morning after his arrival he accompanies his friend to the daily prayers in his church. "Is it not your hour for prayers?" I asked. "Yes; will not you accompany me to church?" "To church? most willingly; but that is a new arrangement." "Rather, an old one revived," answered my friend. "Well, we will talk about that afterwards; it is a good custom, at any rate." We agree with him; it is, indeed, a good custom, and one which cannot fail to produce the best results. It gives us infinite pleasure to observe the rapid manner in which it is spreading through the country. Let not the parochial clergyman be disheartened if at the first revival of this ancient custom of our Church he views around him, perhaps, but few persons to mingle in prayer and praise to the Most High. The number of worshippers will increase, he may be assured, in the course of a very short time, when the apparent novelty has subsided, and his parishioners have begun to accommodate their habits and occupations in such a manner as to allow them to partake of this act of worship.

"On entering the church I was much struck with the extreme beauty and propriety of its arrangements, which I afterwards learned was chiefly owing to the taste and zeal of my friend. Basil Merton was, in truth, a most zealous church-restorer in every sense of the word;

not only of its tone and spirit, and of its forgotten or neglected usages, but of the smallest points of order or decoration. He would often use the expression of George Herbert: There is nothing little in God's service. On first obtaining the living he had laid out a considerable sum in restoring and beautifying the church, before he had spent one shilling on his own parsonage; and, by the example of his continued liberality, had induced his parishioners to take a pride in their place of worship, and endeavour to make it more worthy of Him whose it was. Many pieces of beautiful moulding and tracery, and a handsome roof of carved oak, which the ignorance of former church wardens had plastered up, were brought out and restored to view; several tall unsightly pews had been lowered to the height of the rest; a beautiful gothic window, of the best stained glass which could be obtained in these degenerate days, shed a calm and rich lustre from the east end."

After describing the manner in which the service was performed, and the various classes of which the congregation was composed (we wish we had room to extract the passage), he says there was one group which engaged his particular attention:

"It consisted of a young man, who supported the tottering steps of an aged woman, apparently his mother, and led her to her place with a mixture of respect and affection which much delighted me. The young man's features were intelligent and strongly marked-the sort of features which, when once seen, are not easily forgotten. Grief or passion appeared to have made deep furrows; yet was there a mild and subdued lustre in his eye, which spoke of storms subsided and a heart at rest. In outward appearance he was decent and respectable, seeming, by his dress, to be a better sort of mechanic. I made particular enquiry respecting him. That (said my friend) is my most regular attendant at the daily prayers: he generally brings his aged mother with him; but when she is prevented from coming by her infirmities, still he himself is always punctual. He is a man who has seen great changes in life. In early youth he had been led into deep errors, but is now, if any man ever was, a sincere penitent-a lost sheep brought back to the fold.' My friend gave me some further account of the young man, which so much interested me, that, during my visit at Laxington, I made acquaintance with him, and learned the history of his life from his own lips. On my return home I wrote down the particulars of his story in the following narrative, which may be described as the life of a man of the nineteenth century."

Our readers will, of course, have discovered that this person is Charles Lever, the subject of the tale which follows. This individual was the son of a respectable tradesman in the town of Laxington. Both his parents were members of the Church of England at the period of his birth, and continued so for some years afterwards; but after a time the father-as he professed, from a dislike to the manner of preaching of the clergyman of

his parish, the predecessor of Mr. Merton, but in reality from an impatience of any check or restraint, and a sort of restless appetite for change and excitement, not uncommon, we fear, amongst persons of his class, more particularly when, as he was, they happen to be inclined to liberalism-left the Church, in opposition to the wishes of his wife, who was attached to its worship, and became a Dissenter :—

"And so (in the emphatic language of Mr. Gresley) these poor uninstructed people separated themselves from the Church of their country, the true branch of Christ's Apostolic Church in England, in sheer ignorance of their danger and sinfulness. They cut themselves off from the prayers of the Church universal, from the holy sacraments, the communion of the faithful-and what for Just that John Lever might be gratified with having his ears tickled by a more agreeable preacher, and be a more consequential person than he was before."

With regard to the last reason, it seems that at a vestry meeting he had proposed a resolution which was not seconded. What a reason for becoming a schismatic! Mr. Gresley's observations on this subject are excellent; we only wish we could give them at length. Charles Lever, who was a quick, intelligent lad, was by no means unobservant of his father's proceedings, and although disposed to think his mother in the right in her opposition to her husband's separation from the Church, yet was a strong impression made on him by his father's conversation on the subject, which, as we shall see, produced such consequences as might have been expected. One of the most immediate effects resulting from the change of faith in the parents of Charles Lever was exhibited in the change which took place in his associates. Among the most intimate friends of John Lever was Joseph Franklin, a respectable farmer, who was also related to his wife. Mr. Gresley is so successful in his delineation of the character of this person, and it is one which we look upon with so much respect, moreover, he bears so important a part in the tale, that we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of extracting the description of this old-fashioned

yeoman:

"Franklin was a good specimen of an English yeoman-of what English yeomen once were, and what, I verily believe, many still are. [We think we can vouch for this from our own experience]. For it is in this class, more than in any other, that, as it would seem by a merciful arrangement of Providence, the old national character is preserved. There it is that much of the real strength and stamina of the nation still dwell. Call their feelings and notions prejudices, if you please; but they are of a thousand times more value than all the newfangled nonsense of modern days. Franklin was honest, upright, independent, industrious; his character was known and respected in