to the conclusion that the day is at hand when the Lord will favour Zion, than immediately, again like the prophet, he sets his face unto the Lord to seek by prayer and supplication the fulfilment of his promise, is answered by being made the main instrument of establishing a mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and almost as it were with his dying breath bequeaths to the church the result of many years of careful and patient inquiry, commending to them also that which lay so near his own heart, the salvation of the seed of Abraham. We can most cordially unite in the language of the author of the introduction to this volume, when he says,

"I trust that the following work, combined with the general aspect of the times, and the solemn circumstances in which it appears as well as its own contents, and the high esteem in which Mr Wodrow was held by so many Christian ministers in Scotland, will all serve to give an impulse to the study of prophecy, fulfilled and unfulfilled, in this land. It is matter of joy, that the tendency in this direction, on the part of the ministry of the Free Church of Scotland and their people, is so strong and growing. It is possible that the comparative indifference with which the word of prophecy has long been regarded in this part of the kingdom, may have been one of the reasons why God has allowed the changes to overtake us under which we suffer; at least, we have no reason to doubt that He will overrule the trials of the church, to lead all her office-bearers and members to study more the instruction which he has provided for them in the prophetic record. It should never be forgotten, that while prophecy is, in all circumstances, one of the main pillars of the external evidence of revelation, it is also specially designed to console and animate the church of God in times of trouble; the trials of the present are softened by the prospects of the future. Hence it is that so much of prophecy was given to the church of old while in a state of suffering; and that in subsequent ages it has been studied most when the clouds began to lour and prepare for the tempest." Pp. xvii, xviii.

In several points, no doubt, we dissent from the views laid down in this volume, and indeed it could not be expected that it should be otherwise, in regard to a subject involving so many difficulties. Some of these differences of opinion we have already expressed; had we been able to pursue the subject farther, others would have emerged, as a quotation which we shall make immediately will show; but in every instance there is so much of the Christian and the gentleman apparent, that even where we differ we are not inclined to dispute. It would not, however, be fair to withhold from our readers the author's sentiments on a point which creates considerable interest at the present day.

"It will be seen that the question involves the whole of what has been termed, rather inappropriately, the Millennarian controversy; for that controversy is not whether there is to be a Millennium, that is allowed on all hands, but whether, during this period, the Lord is to reign in per

son on the earth. To enter at large on this controversy would divert me too much from my present object: it would require a separate work for its thorough discussion. I simply state my own conviction, that while there are some passages which seem to favour the idea that there is to be a personal reign of the Messiah, yet taking together the whole of what Scripture has revealed on the subject, I have come to the conclusion, that this reign, while most real, will not be personal or immediate; and that the passages alluded to may be reconciled to the scope, without much difficulty. I cannot, however, enter on proof." P. 116.

This is a fair and candid statement, unmingled either with bitterness or misrepresentation. For a reason which will be immediately apparent, we add another passage on the same subject.

"The effect, however, of the manifested presence of the High and Lofty One, whose name is Holy, both on the prophet and the apostle, was to overpower them with dread. Dr Owen well remarks, in his valuable work on 'The Glory of Christ,' that if favoured individuals like these, long accustomed to intimate communion with God, could not endure such discoveries of his glory, how are we to imagine it possible that that glory should be unfolded, as Millennarians suppose, and that men of ordinary mould should be able to live in the full blaze of a light inaccessible, and whose brightness is by us inconceivable? To be able to bear the sight of this ineffable glory, these clay tabernacles must be taken down, and spiritual bodies given, fashioned like unto his own glorious body, according to that mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself." Pp. 151, 152.

It does seem strange, that the writer of this passage should have been so ignorant of the opinions held by those who are called Millennarians, as not to know, that it is a fundamental part of their scheme that the resurrection of the just as well as the coming of Christ in glory must precede the millennium: that these clay tabernacles shall be taken down, and spiritual bodies given in the very hour when Christ comes again.

Here then we should have concluded our observations, had it not been that the publication of this volume has originated a controversy in regard to which, were we to say nothing, an erroneous conclusion might be drawn from our silence. As it is, we shall say no more than may be simply sufficient to secure us against such misinterpretation. At the time of the disruption in May 1843, Mr Wodrow was on his death-bed, nor did he, so far as we know, during the few weeks that elapsed between that event and his departure, intimate any opinion regarding it. He died then in communion with the Establishment. For ourselves, we cannot entertain a doubt that had he been longer spared to the Church, he would have cast in his lot with those who saw it to be their duty to break off their connection with the state. A letter has indeed been published written by him to a friend after the Convocation of November 1842, in which

he seems to express his dissent from certain positions which he understood to be involved in the resolutions of that body. As a layman he could not be present at the meeting of the Convocation, and perhaps had he enjoyed the opportunity of hearing the discussions which took place, and which were never published to the world, he might have come to see that there was no difference between his views and theirs. At least, we can honestly say, that we subscribe to all that is laid down in the letter to which we have alluded, while at the same time we adhere to the resolutions of the Convocation. But at all events these slight points of difference could have had no practical effect on the question of separation. There are several ministers belonging to the Free Church who held and who continue to hold the same views as Mr Wodrow, but who nevertheless did not remain behind their brethren. And as a conclusive proof as to where the sympathies of our departed brother lay, we may mention that shortly before his death, when the disruption was plainly inevitable, he took steps, evidently in the prospect of that event, to vest certain funds for the Jewish Mission, so that they might be at the disposal of the Missionaries themselves, and not, as before, of the Committee of the General Assembly.

Lon

ART. V.-Poems, chiefly of early and late years; including_the Borderers, a Tragedy. By WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. don: Moxon, 1842.

NOT less than fifty years have passed away since the publication of the first volume that bore upon its title-page the name of William Wordsworth. During all that lengthened period has his life been devoted to literature, undisturbed by want, unimpeded by toils and duties of a different kind, absolutely free to follow the promptings of genius. Rarely has it been the lot of a poet to enjoy circumstances so favourable in every respect to the development of his powers, and the prosecution of his mental labours. And it cannot be uninteresting or unimproving to trace his progress, and inquire into the result; the more especially as his works have long ere now obtained their position among British classics, and must continue to affect more or less the mind of the community.

William Wordsworth was born at Cockermouth, in Cumberland, in the spring of 1770. His first poetical production appeared in 1793, when he was of course in his twenty-third year, under the unassuming title of Descriptive Sketches in Verse.' These poems were characterised chiefly by smooth and harmonious versification, a keen perception of the beauties of nature, and very considerable

powers of description, but without any of those peculiarities of system or language by which many of his subsequent poems were distinguished. They reminded the reader of Goldsmith, and also to some extent of Cowper, though without any thing like servile imitation of these poets. So far it could not easily have been conjectured that Wordsworth was soon to come forward as the leader of a poetic system, which, from the district where he generally resided, was termed the Lake School of Poetry.' It was however, from the first, apparent, that he had abandoned the artificial style of Pope and his imitators, and was resolved to look on nature with his own eyes, and describe with simple earnestness, and at the same time with unfettered energy, what he saw and felt. This, too, must be borne in mind, that not only had Cowper led the way to a more natural style of English poetry, but at the same time the French Revolution had given an impulse to the mind and feelings of entire Europe, inducing almost every man to abandon the ancient paths of thought, and to seek for something of greater freshness and power. Nor can it be doubted, that the intimacy which early began to link together such men as Coleridge, and Southey, and Wordsworth, all men of decided genius, and full of the ardent aspirations of youth, exercised great influence in moulding the minds of all-not by casting them into one model, but by training each into a vigorous and steady exertion of what belonged peculiarly to himself, in the same manner as athletic exercises leave to each youth his own configuration of frame, but knit them into compacter strength.

The most direct result of this intimacy appeared in the poetical volume entitled Lyrical Ballads,' chiefly composed by Wordsworth, but containing some poems by Coleridge also. No sooner was this volume published, than it was assailed by a perfect storm of criticism. This was partly called forth by a prose preface, in which Wordsworth boldly promulgated his poetical system, denounced the commonly recognised rules of criticism, and censured the prevailing artificial style of what is termed poetical diction.' Professed critics could not tamely permit their province to be thus invaded by a poet, who, in their opinion, ought rather to have humbly waited their award of praise or censure; and every effort was made to exterminate the daring invader. Confident, however, in the truth of his own principles, he continued to compose and produce poems of similar character, marked by all the peculiarities which had been so vehemently assailed, but interspersed by some which proved that he could produce strains of a higher mood when he pleased. In some subsequent publications, he entirely abandoned the affected simplicity which had so greatly offended the critics, as in the White Doe of Rylstone,' and produced a poem of such beauty and pathos, as to command almost universal approbation. At length, in 1814, he

publish published The Excursion,' in which he manifestly and intentionalÎy put forth all the strength of his genius. A more respectful tone was then assumed by the critics, who were constrained to feel that their antagonist was too powerful to be crushed.

During the course of the period which has elapsed between that and the present time, Wordsworth has published no poem of any considerable length. He has not, however, been idle. Several additions to his very numerous and varied minor poems have appeared, partly in separate volumes, and partly inserted in republications of former works. In 1842, the volume named at the head of this article was published; and we resolved to avail ourselves of its appearance, as presenting a suitable opportunity for instituting an inquiry into the real merits and demerits of Wordsworth's poetry, Events to which we need not particularly refer, have hitherto defeated our intention; and we now resume it with a chastened and almost melancholy conviction, that in all likelihood to him, as also to us, the time has come to bid to poetry and to criticism of that description a long farewell.

Of the volume immediately before us we have not much to say; nor is it necssary, as we purpose taking a wider range. Enough to state, that it contains some very beautiful minor poems, not unworthy of Wordsworth's best days; and that the tragedy, although not without passages of high poetic merit, proves beyond all dispute that its author's genius was essentially undramatic. Meditation, not action, is the characteristic of his poetry; and instead of showing us that his persons feel, he sets them to describe and analyze their feelings. But we turn from this volume, and direct our view to those general principles on which Wordsworth constructed his poetic sys

tem.

We have already alluded to the early intimacy which existed between Coleridge and Wordsworth. To that we may ascribe no slight share of the first formation of that poetical system, of which Wordsworth came to be regarded as the leader. Coleridge says, that their joint production, the Lyrical Ballads, were intended as an experiment, whether subjects which from their nature rejected the usual ornaments and extra-colloquial style of poems in general, might not be so managed, in the language of ordinary life, as to produce the pleasurable interest which it is the peculiar business of poetry to impart.' Wordsworth himself, in one of his prefaces, says, The principal object which I proposed to myself in these poems was, to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them throughout, as far as was possible, in a selection of language really used by men, and at the same time to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way;