were welcomed by the poet with all his usual ardour, and treated with all his customary power, the reader has nothing to regret on the score of poetry; while, in regard to the labour, and, it may be, the disgust spared him, he has often good reason for self-congratulation, on having the thinly-scattered gems brought together, and placed, as it is hoped they are here, in no disadvantageous juxtaposition. Of many of the poems now before him, theology— sometimes purely technical theology-being the basis, some repetition of subject-matter may probably be met with. Even such repetitions, however, acquire an interest from variety of treatment; and of this, at least, the editor can give assurance, that though there may appear a recurrence of the same particular doctrine or religious sentiment, in no case will it be found to be merely a portion of a system of divinity put into verse. The same thought may reappear; but it will be rendered unwelcome by no sameness or poverty of language -by no monotony of illustration. In a word, among the numerous writers from whose remains the selection has been compiled, it is believed that there is scarcely one unentitled to the honours of a true and genuine poet. The grapes have, in nearly every instance, been gathered from a fertile soil, and off the true heaven-planted vine; nor will the judicious guest be disposed to complain, if, as on that account it may happen, the variety of flavour

be less than the extent of the vineyard might seem to promise.

In pointing out the different treatment of religious subjects by our elder poets on the one hand, and those of the present day on the other, as consisting chiefly in the simple plainness with which those peculiar dogmas are stated by the former, contrasted with the timid mention of, and distant allusions to them, which we meet with in the more popular works of the latter; it is by no means designed to intimate an opinion, either that poets should restrict themselves to sacred subjects, or that no subjects can with propriety be so styled, but such as directly refer to the doctrines of revelation. Whatever the cause may be, the fact is observable, that, in our own and recent times, the efforts of those writers who have chosen exclusively pious subjects, have been crowned by no great degree of success. From our modern hymns and other religious lyrics, especially, the spirit of poetry has too commonly been banished; and, instead of the vivid descriptions-the intensity of sorrow or supplication-the heart-felt glow of genuine pietywhich distinguish the lyric portions of the inspired volume, and which have been faithfully reflected by not a few of our native writers, we are too frequently presented with mere dry technicalities, reduced to indifferent verse.

It should be the business of the poet to consecrate all nature and all life, with their infinite

forms, and inexhaustible stores of suggested thoughts and feelings, to the service of God. The remark applies with peculiar force to these later times; because a thousand fountains of knowledge, concealed in earlier periods, have been broken up for us, each of which, however earthly its source may be, murmurs poetry, and sparkles in the light of religion, for him who is fitly endowed with eye and ear for "all sweet sights and harmonies." The piety which seeks expression in numbers, is not narrow or exclusive. Let but the poet be a profoundly religious man; and, although his immediate subject have little to do with the Bible, and still less with the theological systems constructed from it, he has but to throw into it the whole energies of his heart and intellect, in order to render it a worthy offering to his Creator, and to be entitled to a place in the catalogue of sacred bards. Man is a religious creature, but not religious merely. The religious is the highest tendency of our being; it will ever carry forward, with the greatest force, minds the most divinely gifted; and, therefore, in proportion as we cultivate and exalt our humanity, will the numbers of those increase, who deeply feel its influence. The period may arrive, when it would seem monstrous, if the hand that swept the lyre should fail to harmonize its tones to the melodies of heaven. Yet is it not every poet that can consecrate a lay to the service of truth, and virtue, and his fellow-mortals, who, like

the unapproachable Milton, may be permitted to presume into the heaven of heavens;" it is not every hand possessed of a certain practised skill, that is competent to wield the harp of David; nor every voice to which the Creator has imparted its share of tuneableness, adapting it in humble strains to sing his praise, that fitly may be lifted up in the chorus of archangels. Unreasonable were it to lament that all poets have not chosen, and at all times, themes merely Christian. Had they but followed the dictates of that loftier nature, in which resides the unabused strength of the poetical temperament, it had been enough. All poetry, composed in this spirit, is essentially, though not professedly, sacred. It is the fashionable creed, that by looking upon nature in the light of scientific investigation, we may make discoveries of the Divine Being. The present is not the place to call in question this opinion-to suggest a doubt respecting the value of the "inductive method," as applied to enquiries after the highest, or spiritual truth. But for the purposes of poetry, the principle is certainly a just one: he who, with a sincere and pious mind, sounding the depths of his own heart, or interrogating the magnificent phenomena of creation, utters the result in fervent song, cannot choose but proclaim the glory of the Author of nature and Creator of mankind. Every sound poet, who does justice to his own faculties, and to the great subjects prepared for their exercise, is of a

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sacred order, Let us not, then, seek to limit the sphere of the child of song, save by a deep sense of the worthiness and responsibility of his calling. Free let him remain to shift his delighted" glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;" to expatiate unfettered, wherever nature invites, or imagination. bears him. Truth, for him that has the sagacity to discover, and the heart to love it, is everywhere to be met with; and wherever its elements exist, whether visibly without, or in the hidden recesses of the soul itself, it there presents a fit subject for those intellectual combinations and mental colourings of its phenomena, which constitute the practice of the poetic art: and truth is ever sacred, ever divine-it is, under another name, religion!

But while a sincere and truth-loving spirit is required in the sacred poet, neither must a corresponding temper be wanting in the reader of sacred verse. In the minds of many whom these volumes may reach, there will be habits of thought to be broken up, and settled opinions to be shaken, before they can be justly estimated or adequately enjoyed. The inequalities of the verse, presenting amid much sweetness and tenderness occasional instances of rudeness and asperity, a phraseology sometimes uncouth and antiquated,-modes of viewing the subjects presented, more natural to a past than to the present generation;-all these will be impediments in the way of the general reader. But the greatest obstacle to a just appreciation