A crown of sedge the phantom seem'd to wear; And black-wing'd tempests round the mountain lour.' p. 38. After the promulgation of his embassy, he sinks upon the stream, Like to the cloud of evening charged with rain, The rain-bow colours of his wings of mist,' p. 48. Of the anger of Pharnaces when surrounded with the rebel satraps, it is said, • Thus glares the rising orb of fiery Mars Of Ferro, to the west, no harbour near, Eye the red planet, and forebode the storm.' p. 60. Our last example shall be taken from the visit of Pharnaces to the cave of the Vola. Alone, but dauntless, down the drear descent The monarch journey'd; and the flames grown faint, Now flashing on the rocks in paly gleams, Like the sheet-light'nings of a summer eve, Play'd harmless o'er his head. Thus in the caves It will be seen, that however beautiful these similies may be in themselves, and however appropriately introduced, they are rather too much in the same latitude. There is likewise a Miltonism which occurs somewhat too frequently; once would sufficiently recal the original to mind. Pale was each ghastly face, if face it were, That each dim shadow show'd, but dimly seen.' p. 109. • Ere nature or the universe itself Had being, ancient Chaos reign'd, if reign It might be call'd, when all was uproar dire.' p. 114, VOL. VIII. N.S. H These, however, are trifling defects, which are dwelt upon from no invidious motive. Were it necessary to adduce more passages to justify the praise we have bestowed upon this poem, we might quote the description of the mist, raised by the genius of Gotha, and dispersed by Brumal Bor,' immediately before the appearance of the fictitious Odin, or the reasoning by which Pharnaces, like all men who, conscious of wrong, seek rather for precedents in it, than for rules of equity, strives to deJude himself into the belief that in the assumption of Divine honours, he only follows the example of other men, whose ambition had availed itself of the superstitious veneration of their people, as an instrument of perpetuating their fame among surrounding nations. The passages, however, which are the finest as connected with the main work, are generally those which suffer most from being detached from their connexion. We have already shewn sufficient cause for our opinion, that Sir William Drummond will, by the publication of his Odin, add the reputation of a poet to that which he has long enjoyed as a scholar, an antiquary, and a critic. Art. XII Apostolical Preaching considered, in an Examination of St. Paul's Epistles. By Rev. J. B. Sumner, M.A. Second Edition. 8vo. Price 9s. Hatchard. 1817. THE predominant influence of the Pulpit over the prevailing religious opinions of a nation, presents an impressive view of the importance of the preacher's office. It is in this the politician finds his reasons for subjecting the Church to the influence of the Crown; that so mighty a machine may, at least to a certain extent, be at the command of the civil magistrate, and be made to contribute to fortify, and if needs be, to extend legitimate authority. There is indeed occasion to fear, that such is the highest and most commanding aspect the Pulpit ever assumes in the apprehension of the generality of Statesmen. But the Christian Philanthropist must perceive that the very crowns and thrones to which the influence of the Christian Ministry may be made subservient, are frail, like their occupiers, and that if there are not higher and nobler considerations surrounding the ministry of the Gospel, and investing it with more important associations, it must sink into the insignificance of secular instrumentality, and partake in the common vanity and mortality of all the instruments, and materials, and objects of worldly greatness. He traces the importance of the preacher's office, in the magnitude and duration of those personal consequences which must result to the preacher himself, and to every one of his auditors; consequences which must be associated with the immortality of the soul, the com plexion of its eternal destiny, and the final manifestation of the favour, or the displeasure of the Deity. Here the faithful preacher of the Gospel must discern the great burden and weight of the ministerial function, and by such considerations alone will he be disposed to estimate the responsibility of his office. His true glory will be sought in an association with the Son of God, who, when he condescended to sustain the office of the Preacher, imparted to it a dignity which elevates it above all worldly employments, and connects it with his counsels, as an indispensable link in that chain of Divine dispensations, by which the souls of men are to be introduced to eternal life, and on which are suspended the glories of that higher economy. The authority of his office, he will not be content to derive from a lower mandate than that by which it was said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature;" and which, by placing his ministry in immediate subjection to the Son of God, virtually prohibits the control of all worldly authorities. Hence follows an inference of the greatest importance, and one which we are aware leads to widely different results in the apprehension of two considerable classes of real Christians. It must be obvious from the influence of the preacher's office over the public sentiment, the public character, and the eternal interests of a people, that it is a matter of no trifling concern to provide an adequate degree of sound, useful, religious instruction. But who are to be invested with the high character of curators of these fountains and streams of religious knowledge, which are to intersect the land in all directions, and communicate fertility to the moral soil?-We must confess that to us it seems that legislative interference was never more misplaced or more misused, than in venturing on this point to encroach upon that sacred and Divine province, which belongs exclusively to the Head of the Church. We have heard much of the wisdom of our Ancestors in entrusting this high authority to the magisterial or political head of the state, upon the ground that the superior wisdom of that head must be the best security for the adequate qualification of Christian teachers. But when we consider that kings and civil rulers are themselves to be the objects of ministerial instruction, and that this investiture with secular distinction does not raise them a single step in the school of Christianity, and that though they may have more worldly, it does not follow that they have an atom more of heavenly wisdom, than the meanest of their subjects whose teachers they claim the right of appointing, we are compelled to infer that they possess no exclusive endowments, and certainly no Divine authority, for assuming to themselves the care of the public instruction. Besides, when we review the syste matic, and formal, and intolerant procedure which such an arrangement requires, it seems to us to comport but very imperfectly, with those various shades of doctrine, practice, and discipline, which will inevitably prevail; which Christianity itself evidently admits among the most sincere of its professors, and which it were neither. wise nor benevolent to wish to coerce into an unmeaning and unnatural uniformity. Christianity, as a personal system, admits of these shades; and why should the policy of kings seek to abridge them? If the Head of the Church qualifies and thrusts forth labourers into his harvest, differing in inferior points, but all faithfully labouring for him, and upon his authority, where is the wisdom or justice of that policy which raises one class above all the rest, and by giving them a charter of worldly influence and authority, virtually persecutes, and degrades, and rejects all the other classes of the Great Proprietor's labourers? Why should civil rulers at all interfere to elevate or depress any of his servants? Why should not the people be left to choose and to provide their own teachers, under the supreme guidance of the Head of the Church, who has promised to send them "pastors after his own "heart?" There is one supreme Curator of public instruction, from whom the teachers receive both the matter and the authority of their Mission; and to Him an unshackled and unbiassed appeal should be open to all parties. Why should it be said, the people are inadequate judges of what sort of instruction is best for them? They are surely as competent judges of the contents of the sacred volume, as either king, lords, or commons. And, after all, every truly Protestant principle requires what we are advocating, that the only standard of preaching should be the Bible, and that the ultimate judges of the agreement of preaching with that standard, should be the people instructed. For the preacher himself has not the shadow of authority, when he advances beyond the contents of the sacred volume. Why then, we ask in addition, should Jaboured arguments be conducted to prove the agreement of certain classes of teachers with a human standard adopted in any particular nation by the civil rulers, when those standards may be as various as the meridians of the places at which they prevail? All such standards appear to us futile and delusive, and calculated to operate in no way but as impediments to the progress of "the truth as it is in Jesus." Why should one set of teachers be allowed to arrogate to themselves the epithet authorized, when they have only been touched by human,-we wish not to offend, by episcopal hands? Why must the public veneration be attracted to them, and liberty of conscience be prostrated at their feet, when they have neither any moral or any intellectual endowments which raise them above the ordinary level of educated men ? We have been led into these reflections, by a sentiment which has some hold of the mind of Mr. Sumner, though evidently, it does not so completely possess his understanding as it does those of many of his brethren. We saw a bulky pamphlet some time ago, entitled, "The Claims of the Church of Eng"land to be considered the only authorized interpreter of Scrip"ture;" and this is the reiterated language of a vast majority of the clergy and of all the bishops; so that the pretension to infallibility seems to be the incurable taint which infects all endowed establishments. 1. Mr. Sumner insinuates, in his preface, that the Articles and Formularies are effectual promoters of soundness and uniformity of doctrine; and he makes it an inference much to the credit of those Articles, that a recent secession of several high-Calvinistic ministers from the communion of the Church, arose from the utter incompatibility of high Calvinism with those Articles. He says, I am well aware that I have been led to treat of some questions upon which it becomes us to inquire humbly, rather than to decide positively; neither is it probable that I should have ventured to enter upon them at all, had not my attention been forcibly directed, by ac. cidental circumstances, towards that high tone of Calvinistic preaching which has recently ended in a partial secession from our Established Church, with whose tenets it was justly felt to be incompatible.' Preface, p. 4. We really have seen no reason for ascribing the secession of those gentlemen to their high doctrinal views; for if they had entertained no other peculiarities of sentiment, they might, with a clear conscience, have retained their livings; for they certainly had as good ground to consider the Articles to be Calvinistic, as others have to consider them as being Arminian. But the tendency of Mr. Sumner's remark is completely counteracted by the fact, that a far greater number of high Calvinists, and men too of unblemished reputation, still continue to hold their benefices with a good conscience, without feeling the incompatibility of their doctrines with the Articles, Creeds, and Formularies of the Church. We do not consider it as fair in argument, to make so strong an inference from so weak a case, in favour of the fullfaced opposition of the Articles to Calvinism. Moreover, Mr. S. has made this an occasion not merely of displaying the authorities and examples' which, as he conceives, discountenance and condemn a high tone of Calvinistic preaching, the abuses of Calvinism, but Calvinism in toto, from beginning to end; and this in no measured phrase, but sometimes with a more sweeping |