275 Review. Satan; a Poem. In our perusal, we have found much to admire, and much, to condemn. It abounds with beauties, and also with the virus of moral contamination. It seems to combine "some of the best and some of the worst qualities" of the noble poet. His name, however, is more than sufficient to ensure an extensive sale; and few, perhaps, among the numerous admirers of his poetry, but will be anxious to possess these Letters, and biographical notices. In the latter, from the pen of Mr. Moore, no attempts have been made to vindicate the deformities of his Lordship's morals; and we consider the omission not less honourable to the principles of the biographer, than the arrangement of the materials is reputable to his talents and his fame, though standing among the foremost poets of the age in which he lives. REVIEW.-Satan; a Poem. By Robert Montgomery. 12mo. pp. 390. Maunder, London. 1830. THE author of this volume having, by his former publications, secured an honourable niche in the temple of fame, great expectations will always be excited by every article which he sends into the world. On the present occasion, solicitude is awakened with peculiar intensity. The name of his hero communicates to the reader a kind of poetic inspiration, through which he is prepared for great exploits; so that while Ion weak wings from far," he follows the enchanter's flight, it is with a full persuasion, that he shall behold his muse soaring "Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues 66 Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme." Satan is a very notorious character, of extensive dominion, and of large acquaintance. To his moral features very few are entire strangers; and unless the lineaments of his countenance are faithfully preserved, many will entertain doubts if he ever sat to Mr. Montgomery for his likeness. There can be no question, that his infernal majesty may be exhibited in a great variety of attitudes. Cloven feet, a long tail, and a frightful pair of horns, are not essential to the fidelity of representation. He may transform himself into an angel of light, visit the pulpit, the senate, or the bar, or admire the paintings at Somerset-house, without displaying those terrific appendages to which fanciful superstition has given a 'monstrous birth. There are not many positions in which he can be placed, that will be wholly inconsistent with his real character; and with almost any mode of 276 conduct, it would be easy to incorporate many of his striking peculiarities. What fable has attributed to Proteus of old, may be affirmed of him without fiction or hyperbole, through all the intermediate gradations," from "a stripling cherub" visiting Uriel in the sun, to "a roaring lion," roaming the earth, "seeking whom he may devour.' When the name of Satan first appeared before us in the titlepage, fancy immediately depicted him as glorying in fields of battle, delighting in rivers of human blood, originating the intrigues of courts, generating despotism, slavery, anarchy, and national commotions on an extended scale, and exulting over the miseries of a distracted world. Through the same magical optic, we beheld him presiding at the gaming table, frequenting masquerades, amusing listening audiences with the speeches of mimic heroes on the stage, inspiring passion with ferocity, promoting assassination, duelling, and suicide, and encouraging drunkenness, midnight revels, and criminal excesses in all their varieties. Over these, and over all the numerous vices which deform the human character, though located in operation, rather than diminutive in turpitude, we expected to behold him glow with rapture, and "Grin horrible a ghastly smile." On turning, however, to the pages of this poem, we found that the author had, in many respects, taken a very different view of this "chief of many throned powers," and exhibited him with features, which many, who would disclaim the character of devils, would be almost proud to own. The whole is divided into three books, in each of which, Satan is the only personage who either meditates or speaks. It is a long soliloquy, which proceeds from beginning to end, without any interruption, containing observations on historical incidents, on passing occurrences, and on events which are as yet embosomed in futurity. To the dark workings of the infernal mind, no one is presumed to be privy; the poet has therefore a fair opportunity of representing Satan under the influence of feelings, and as uttering expressions, which he can have no inducement to disguise. Thus circumstanced, we feel no astonishment, that he should bear his testimony to the truths of Revelation, and half regret the miseries, as well as triumph over the degraded condition, of human nature. If the keen vibration of bright truth be Hell," we may well allow Satan in solitude to become a genuine moralist, and even à preacher of righteousness, when there is no 277 Review.-Satan; a Poem. $278 hearer to be benefited by his discourse. In | Life-winged monsters, ravenously wild, And yet a curse is on thee!-'tis the curse Save to the storminess of Nature's ire. "Hath gentleness redeem'd the guilt of old? "And such, a wanderer o'er the earth, The viewless power, I've dared to draw, And humanly have given birth To all he FELT and all he saw." In the first Book, Satan, standing on the mountain-head, where he tempted the Saviour, and was foiled by him, takes a cursory review of the world, and looks back, through the vista of departed ages, on the most renowned kingdoms of the earth, which having lived their day and disappeared, furnish a certain presage, that every thing beneath the sun being in a state of mutation, will finally sink in the vortex of time, and retire from the empire of visible existence. This universal desolation, he not only infers from analogy, but from the language of inspiration, in which he "Is visioned as the Prince of air, A spirit that would crush the universe, And battle with eternity." In his gloomy retrospection, and while moralizing on various events, Columbus appears on the stage of existence, and his discovery of America leads the fiend to the following observations on this great achievement, connected with some of its effects and consequences:— "Thou hugest region of the quarter'd globe, Where all the climates dwell, and Nature moves In majesty,-hereafter, when the tides Of circumstance have roll'd their changing years, Whose stately poplars clothe their heads with And dignify creation as they stand; Or in the rain-floods,-rivers where they fall!- Of them, whose brows were bold as heaven, whose Oft tamed the woods,--whose feet outfled the winds own, "And some are Britons, who enslave the free; Then boast not, England! while a Briton links The chain of thraldom, glory can be thine. Vain are thy vows, thy temples, and thy truths That hallow them, while yet a slave exists Who curses thee: each curse in heaven is heard ; 'Tis seal'd, and answer'd in the depths below! "From dungeon and from denjthere comes a voice On God himself a sacrilege commits; His place Mr. Montgomery's principles and The preceding extract can hardly fail to talents in a very favourable light. reasonings are clear and natural, his feelings on slavery impassioned, indignant, and humane; his accusations against Britons more than merited, and his lines dignified, glowing, and harmonious. His description of India is full of vigour. Her mountains, capabilities, and the superstitions of her inhabitants, are encircled with wreaths of poetic laurels. Ancient Rome rises before us in hoary grandeur, and the mind is awakened to pensive reflection on contrasting her former with her present degraded state. The Second Book is more ethical and didactic than the First. In these departments Satan ranges uncontrolled, and delivers his sentiments in language that may be supposed to portray the inward workings of a mind alienated from good, yet 279 Review.-Satan; a Poem. awed into a transient abandonment of dissimulation, by the overwhelming force of truth. On exploring the sources of moral phenomena, as displayed in the conduct of mankind, the arch-fiend discovers in his train of ministers, Pride, Ambition, Avarice, Envy, Lust, and Jealousy. These he apostrophizes; to these he acknowledges his obligations; and to their active operation he admits that he is much indebted for the wide diffusion of his empire, and its stability among mankind. Atheism also comes in for its share of praise, but the eulogy bestowed on its abettors, is such a felicitous compound of approbation and contempt, that we quote the following lines: "An Atheist,-he hath never faced an hour, And not belied the name he bore. His doubt Is darkness from the unbelieving will Begot, and oft a parasite to sin Too dear to be deserted,-for the truth That unveils Heaven and her immortal thrones, The primeval state of man, the infernal machinations which introduced moral evil, and some of the immediate effects of sin, present themselves to the mental eye of Satan in his retrospection of ancient great events. Christianity also claims a place in his reflections, and to the Saviour of mankind he yields a sort of involuntary and reluctant homage. "The Saviour, Son of the Most High, enthroned 1 saw him when immensity his voice Bear on my brow the lightnings that he wreaked, p. 183-185. The world thus morally surveyed, Satan towards the termination of this book, withdraws his attention from other objects, and meditating on himself, and on the relation in which he stands to the Almighty, thus pours forth the agonized feelings which burn within. The lines are majestic and awful, and derive an indescribable pathos from those mingled emotions of pride, terror, indignation, sorrow, and despair, which live in every sentence. "Thou dread Avenger! ever-living One! Lone Arbiter! Eternal, Vast, and True; The soul and centre of created things In atoms or in worlds, around whose throne Eternity is wheel'd; who look st-and life Appears; who frown'st, and life hath pass'd away! Thou God-I feel thine everlasting Curse, Yet wither not: the lightnings of Thy wrath. 280 From whence the universe of life was drawn! That consummation! Worlds to worlds Repeat it, angels and archangels veil Of Sanctities, chief Hierarch, I stood While bow'd the heavens, and echoed Deity! Within me; an ambition, huge and high In fnll intensity before me tower'd, And fronted pride against Omnipotence ! Amid the skies; then frown'd embattled hosts, But why recount it? we were disarray'd, Ere that day come; severe and dread the strife "A doleful midnight to cerulean day And queen it bravely o'er the universe! As vast in their creative range of power, Be mean or mighty, wise or worthless still,— Till thou be tenantless, a welt'ring mass The Third Book bears, in several respects, a strong resemblance to she second, 281 Review.-Materialism Refuted. so that many remarks which have been made on that, are applicable to this. Enough, however, still remains, to render the dissimilarity quite apparent. In some respects the reasoning is more abstract and philosophical, and in others the objects are more specific and local. England undergoes a long investigation, and, with all her excellencies, advantages, and pretensions to sanctity and virtue, furnishes Satan with more occasions for smiles than tears, Money, we are told, the "god of England seems;" and the Thespian dome, among others, is frequented by " a sensual tribe 282 but regrets that so many should enlist under the banners of salvation. On these topics, however, we have no room for any further extracts, and very little for additional remarks. We have perused this poem with much attention and interest, and have, on the whole, been highly gratified with its contents. In some parts, however, the description of scenery appears to be redundant; occasionally Satan assumes an attitude better calculated to excite our pity, than to secure our indignation; and several paragraphs might be found, in which we insensibly forget the speaker, and are involuntarily led to think, that the poet has taken the place of his hero. More than once have we thus been brought to a pause, but the reflection of a few moments In England, fashion also holds her court, dissipating the clouds, consistency of chaand here religion lends a garment to hypo-racter has speedily resumed its station. crisy. Glory, Pleasure, Learning, Power, and Fame, are among the idols which are worshipped, and the streets of her metropolis teem with crime. But this the author shall express in his own language :— Convened to hear romantic harlots sing, p. 273. "Thou English Babylon! The Book of Life And sheds her hottest tear. See! as they rush, A boon in God's name asks :-but let her die, See how the hard and greedy worldlings crowd, On the luminous side of England, it is but fair to state, that Satan is taught to cast some frowning and unpleasant glances. He rejoices that the truths promulgated are so generally neglected and disbelieved, This poem embraces a vast fund of materials, which are at once diversified and important. The sentiments are bold, masculine, and energetic. The language is always harmonious, frequently elegant, and sometimes sublime. It is a work which genius may be proud to own, and one which will augment, rather than diminish, the author's reputation. REVIEW.-Materialism Refuted, in a Series of Observations on Time and Eternity; Space and Extension; Matter and Motion; Light and Darkness; from which a conclusive proof is drawn, that neither the Universe, nor any of its Materials, can have always existed. By Joseph Unwin. 8vo. pp. 72. Hurst and Chance. London. 1829. SHOULD any of our readers be disposed to estimate the value of a book by the number of its pages, an attentive perusal of the thin volume before us, will effectually correct the error. Its title exhibits the land of promise beaming in perspective, and the conclusion at which it aims is too momentous not to summon all the energies of the soul to the subjects proposed for investigation. Under this impression, and with expectations highly excited, we have followed the author through his chapters and sections, and in the result we feel some surprise that our sanguine anticipations have not been disappointed. Within so narrow a compass as seventytwo pages, it is not to be expected that Mr. Unwin has examined all the topics which stand connected with Matter, Motion, Time, and Eternity; or that he has analyzed the various objections to which ingenious 283 Reviews.-Sermons on Intemperance. sophistry has given birth. This is a task which no human effort can perform; but we feel no hesitation in avowing our full conviction, that he has made good his conclusion-that "neither the universe nor any of its materials can have always existed." The views which the author has taken of Space, Duration, Time, and Eternity, have in them much novelty; but it is of such a character as to strengthen, not impair the cogency of his reasonings. The following extract, from the first section in his concluding observations, can hardly fail to confirm our favourable opinion of the author's talents, and to exalt his treatise in the estimation of the reader: "If time be without beginning, it was always without beginning; or it could not now be so. Now, from what has been shewn, it is evident, that there cannot be any one point taken in time without beginning; when past time will not then be as inexhaustible as it now is; or when past time will not then be as inexhaustible as it ever will be. No truth can stand on surer foundations than this, that time has, and ever will have, two limits. For let past time be considered under the idea of a right line, having only one end, and surely it will not be said that past time, having only one end, is not in similar circumstances to a right line having only one end. Now it has been clearly proved, that any right line, having only one end, is inex. haustible and one having no ends at all can be no more. Wherefore, any time without beginning is inexhaustible: and time having neither beginning nor end, cannot be more. Whence it follows, that time never can have been open to increase it never can have been open to increase with less than two limits; but it never had more than one, consequently past time can never have been open to increase. Nor will time to come ever be open to increase for it will never be open to increase with less than two limits: but it can never have more than one. Wherefore, it follows unavoidably, that there has not been a period in past time, when the universe had not then existed as long as it now has; and that there never will be a period in time to come, when the universe will have then existed longer than it now has.-Now, because this conclusion cannot be true, the premises must be false. Time has two limits, and for ever will have two: as motion cannot be brought into operation at all as an exhauster, of what has only one end; it never can have been in operation as a generator, of what has only one end."- p. 62. To survey the author's reasonings in all their acuteness, and to communicate a clear conception of the premises on which his ultimate conclusion is founded, it would be necessary to transcribe nearly all his book. The arguments, though distinct as parts, are linked together by indissoluble ties, and Do portion can be detached without breaking the chain, and thereby injuring the whole. We have perused what he has advanced with admiration, and think it calculated to inundate the field of scepticism with a flood of light. During the whole course of our wanderings through the thorny regions of metaphysics, we have rarely seen profound argument conducted with less ostentation, or with more ability. Nothing extraneous is 284 suffered to intrude on the question at issue, to divert the attention, of either writer or reader, from the paths which are conducting both to the ultimate result. The distance between the premises and conclusion is confined within narrow limits; and in the examination of all the links in the chain, should any one escape the mental eye, the journey will not be long, should the reader find it needful to retrace his steps, to recover what he had either overlooked or lost. In doing this, he will find an ample compensation for a momentary exertion; it will shew, as he advances, the solid foundation on which he treads; and render impregnable the conviction, in which his mind will find repose. He will be compelled to assent to a few simple propositions, namely, that something must have existed from eternity, of which space and eternity are the mediums,-that infinity must be predicated of this something which has thus existed,that neither the universe, nor any of its materials, can be this something, because they cannot always have existed ;—and, as the inevitable consequence, that this something is God. REVIEW.-Six Sermons, on the Nature, Occasions, Signs, Evils, and Remedy of Intemperance. By Lyman Beecher, D.D., Boston, United States. pp. 112. - Notices respecting Drunkenness, and the means employed for restraining the evil. By a Medical Practitioner. pp. 31.-On the Extent and Remedy of National Intemperance. By John Ďunlop, Esq. pp. 124. Whittaker, London, 1829. EVERY reasonable person will allow, that intemperance is an evil of the most gigantic magnitude; involving, by its destructive influence, individuals and families in misery, and extending its awful consequences into another world. In the United States this prevailing vice has awakened the solicitude of laymen and divines, to devise means for checking its progress; and, through their laudable exertions, 500 temperance societies, including 100,000 members, have been formed in various parts. Of these societies the fundamental rule is, that all their members engage to abstain from the use of ardent spirits, unless for medicinal purposes, and also to relinquish all intoxicating liquors, agreeably to given laws, by which they all profess to be governed. Already have these establishments been productive of incalculable benefits, and from their rapid increase they promise to effect a moral revolution among all classes of the community. |