Almighty Lord, thy further grace impart!
And with that help the wonder shall be seen
Fulfilled, the hope accomplished; and thy praise
Be sung with transport and unceasing joy.

-Whence but from Thee, the true and only God,
And from the faith derived through Him who bled
Upon the Cross, this marvellous advance
Of good from evil; as if one extreme

Were left—the other gained.—O Ye, who come
To kneel devoutly in yon reverend Pile,
Called to such office by the peaceful sound
Of Sabbath bells; and Ye, who sleep in earth,
All cares forgotten, round its hallowed walls!
For You, in presence of this little Band
Gathered together on the green hill-side,
Your Pastor is emboldened to prefer
Vocal thanksgivings to the eternal King;

Whose love, whose counsel, whose commands have made
Your very poorest rich in peace of thought

And in good works; and Him, who is endowed
With scantiest knowledge, Master of all truth
Which the salvation of his soul requires.
Conscious of that abundant favor showered
On you, the Children of my humble care;-
On your Abodes, and this beloved Land,

Our birth-place, home, and country, while on Earth
We sojourn,-loudly do I utter thanks

With earnest joy, that will not be suppressed.
These barren rocks, your stern inheritance;
These fertile fields that recompense your pains;
The shadowy vale, the sunny mountain-top:
Woods waving in the wind their lofty heads,
Or hushed; the roaring waters, or the still;
They see the offering of my lifted hands-
They hear my lips present their sacrifice-
They know if I be silent, morn or even :

For, though in whispers speaking, the full heart
Will find a vent; and Thought is praise to Him,

Audible praise, to Thee, Omniscient Mind,

From Whom all gifts descend, all blessings flow!"

Very few poets are more practical than Wordsworth. His pages are crowded with sententious maxims, with clear, compact, and beautifully expressed truths. We will take a few at random.

O Sir! the good die first,
And they whose hearts are dry as summer dust
Burn to the socket.

But know we not that he, who intermits
The appointed task and duties of the day,
Untunes full oft the pleasures of the day
Checking the finer spirits that refuse
To flow, when purposes are lightly changed?
The food of hope

Is meditated action; robbed of this

Her sole support, she languishes and dies.

Rightly is it said

That man descends into the VALE of years;
Yet have I thought that we might also speak,
. And not presumptuously I trust, of age,

As of a final EMINENCE, though bare
In aspect and forbidding, yet a point
On which 'tis not impossible to sit
In awful sovereignty-a place of power-
A throne, which may be likened unto his,
Who, in some placid day of summer, looks
Down from a mountain top.

Our life is turned

Out of her course, wherever man is made
An offering, or a sacrifice, a tool

Or implement, a passive thing employed
As a brute mean, without acknowledgment
Of common right or interest in the end.

The primal duties shine aloft, like stars;
The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless,
Are scattered at the feet of man, like flowers.

Say, what is honor? "Tis the finest sense
Of justice which the human mind can fraine,
Intent each lurking frailty to disclaim,
And guard the way of life from all offence
Suffered or done.

-Sweetest melodies

Are those that are by distance made more sweet;
Whose mind is but the mind of his own eyes

He is a slave: the meanest we can meet !

Our limits forbid us to proceed further. The task is pleas ant, and we have not known where to stop, or what to extract.

Our copy of the Excursion is full of pencillings. Then there are the " Brothers," "Ode on the Intimations of Immortality from the Recollections of Childhood," "Ode to Duty." Several of the "Sonnets to Liberty," and the "Evening Voluntaries," in the last volume; all of these we should have been glad to have copied. It is truly refreshing to read such poetry. It calms the spirit, and fills it with charity towards all mankind. It is employing the music of angels in impressing great truths on the mind. It purifies the domestic affections, and fills them with a serene and blessed light. It prepares the mind for the worship of the only FAIR and the only GooD. It teaches to discriminate sacred poetry with true taste. Wordsworth, like Milton, is a Hebrew in soul. He knows well how to play on David's harp of solemn sound.

We ought, perhaps, to suggest to our readers the importance of studying the Prefaces of Wordsworth. To a full appreciation of his merits, they are indispensable. If the reader should not agree with all the positions there laid down, it is but right that the poet should be heard on a subject which he has closely studied for forty or fifty years, and eloquently illustrated. We had prepared a view of his theory, with corresponding illustrative extracts from his poems, but on the whole concluded it best to withhold it. If what we have done shall be the means of directing one of our readers to the writings of this truly great poet from whose pen have flowed

The highest, holiest raptures of the lyre,
And wisdom married to immortal verse,

we shall receive an abundant reward.

1

ARTICLE VIII.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

1.-Introduction to the Criticism and Interpretation of the Bible, Designed for the use of theological students, Bible classes, and high schools, by C. E. Stowe, Prof. of Bib. Lit., in Lane Seminary, Cincinnati. Vol. 1. pp. 276. Cincinnati Corey, Fairbank & Webster.

THE object of this work is to give a brief and clear statement of the principles and facts most necessary to be known, preparatory to the critical study of the Scriptures. The author has aimed to combine thorough investigation and a simple mode of exhibition, with the hope that the book may meet the wants of the theological student and the critical scholar, and, at the same time be easily accessible to both teacher and pupil in the Bible class, the Sabbath school, and the family. The first two chapters are upon Revelation, the language in which it is given, and its peculiarities in respect to interpretation. The next two are employed in proving the genuineness of the Pentateuch, and in vindicating it from objections. The fifth chapter discusses the origin and early progress of alphabetic writing. The sixth and seventh are employed on the Gospels; the eighth and ninth on the Apocalypse; the tenth in a comparison of the pagan and Hebrew prophets; the three remaining chapters are on the doctrine of inspiration, and on miracles. The second volume, which will be published during the winter, will contain a history of the text of the Old and New Testaments, a brief account of the principal manuscripts and critical editions, and a particular introduction to the remaining books of the Bible, similar to those given in the first volume, to the Pentateuch, the Gospels, and the Apocalypse. In the arrangement of topics, the author has endeavored to adopt that method, by which the discussion of each preceding subject will throw most light on the succeeding, and the greatest clearness be secured with least of repetition.

Perhaps we can best show the character of the work by giving a brief synopsis of a single chapter. We will take the Interpretation of the Apocalypse. Having proved unanswerably

in the eighth chapter, the genuineness of the book, the author proceeds in the beginning of the ninth, to make some remarks on its general design. All interpreters agree substantially that it is the general object of the book to encourage Christians in times of persecution and trouble by showing to them the present and final rewards of all the faithful friends of Christ; and to excite them to vigilant watchfulness and prayer by pointing out the dreadful punishments which await all the enemies of the Gospel. This is common ground on which all are agreed to stand. Difference of opinion has arisen in making the application of its symbolic language, to particular events of subsequent history. The difficulty and obscurity which envelope the book, arise from its being read with the idea that each of its symbols must be appropriated to some one corresponding event of history, and that the book is valuable only as a collection of predictions, which have had, or are to have, punctual and literal accomplishment. The book ought to be read, partly, as containing vivid pictures of eternal realities, adapted for immediate practical effect. It is entirely an Asiatic production and corresponds to the Asiatic taste. Its symbolical language is derived principally from the Old Testament prophecies, modified and ornamented according to the genius and purposes of the writer. Eichhorn regards it as a regular drama.

The following outline of the contents is given. 1. Vision of the Redeemer in the isle of Patmos, with seven epistles to the seven Asiatic churches. (1-3). 2. Scene changes to heaven. Vision of the throne of God, with the surrounding worshippers -the book with seven seals-the Lamb, and preparation for the great events to follow, by the opening of the first six seals, (4-7). 3. The seventh seal opened-all heaven is silent-seven angels appear with seven trumpets, and by seven blasts of the trumpets, the great city spiritually called Sodom and Egypt is destroyed (8-11). 4. Vision of the woman and her child, for whose destruction a dragon is watching (12). 5. Vision of the monster rising out of the sea-of the Lamb, with his elect, on Mount Zion-the proclamation of the three angels, and the destruction of the monster by the seven angels pouring out seven vials (13-16). 6. Vision of a woman on a scarlet colored beast, occupying the place of the marine monster-her city, Babylon, destroyed-lamentations on earth-triumph and exultation in heaven (18, 19: 10). 7. Vision of the victorious Word, the King of kings, with new