kindled by religious persecution; and where it does not cause an oper revolt,, it is sure to diffuse an angry ferment, and to engender hypo-, crisy, which, by gradually undermining principle, may prove more destructive than the bitterest hostile contention. And so far as re ligion is made a tool for political purposes, the same, or other con. sequences no less mischievous, may be expected to follow.' On the topic of subscription to articles of faith, Mr. Bates evinces considerable liberality. In the room of the present subscriptions, he purposes to substitute these Formula: "I believe that the holy scriptures, as they are commonly received among protestants, contain all things necessary to salvation; so that, whatsoever is not read therein, nor proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. And I declare my sincere intention, seriously to study the sacred scriptures, and to instruct the people in the same, according to my best abilities." Should the question respect an admission to minister in the church of England in particular, why might not the following, or some similar declaration, be thought satisfactory? "I am persuaded that the doctrine of the church of England is so pure and orthodox, - that whosoever believes it, and lives according to it, shall be saved; and that there is no error in it, which may necessitate any man to dis turb the peace, or renounce the communion of it." When Bishop Saunderson, who was a good man, and a skilful casuist, was con, sulted upon this formula by some divines who proposed it, as one to which they were willing to agree, he answered, "I never subscribed in any other sense myself." Or why might not Chillingworth's form of subscription be admitted, as expressed in these words? "I do verily believe the church of England a true member of the church (universal); that she wants nothing necessary to salvation, and holds nothing repugnant to it." Either of these forms might be thought sufficiently high for any church that makes no claim to infallibility, and might help to relieve the scruples of some wise and good men.' We recommend to general perusal the whole of this section, on the most effectual methods by which an established church may support herself under a complete toleration,' and which thus closes: A national church, formed according to the above rules-in her doctrine sound and evangelical, equally remote from a dry heathen morality and a wild enthusiasm, from Pharisaic confidence and An. tinomian presumption; in her instruction of children familiar and catechetical ;-in her public teaching, plain and expository ;-in her worship, pure and devotional;-in her discipline, strict without ri gourin her ministers, exhibiting her pastoral care, as well as her aptitude to teach :-in her pretensions, reserved and modest ;-in her conduct towards other churches, candid and liberal;--and, in the last place, in her terms of admission to her communion, moderate without laxity; neither so narrow as to make it difficult for wise and good men men to enter without some wound to their conscience, nor so wide, as to allow an easy ingress to the profane and the profligate. - A church that bears these characters, and answers to this description, can have nothing to fear from the most complete toleration; she would have few separatists from her communion, at least, few of such as held the faith in a pure conscience; and as to the conventicles of heresy and schism, they would have no other effect, than to draw off those noxious humours and inflammable spirits, which, if retained, would only have served to corrupt her purity, or disturb her peace.' Though we do not concur with all the principles of the present volume, we admit that its tendency is on the whole excellent. The points on which we do not coincide with the author are chiefly speculative; and on those which are practical we seldom have occasion to differ from him. If his creed embraces articles which we think the scriptures do not sanction, and his notions be more rigid than those which that code in our opinion inculcates, we are fully persuaded of his sincerity, and are confident that he principally cherishes them because he is satisfied that they elevate and meliorate our nature. Some of the political counsels here imparted, if taken detached from others, might be misconstrued and abused:. but, if the nature and effect of the whole be considered, every candid person will allow that they strongly tend to render men more patriotic citizens as well as loyal and dutiful subjects. The work strongly impresses the reader with a persuasion of the integrity and worth of the author. אן ART. IX. Poems written at Lanchester, by John Hodgson, Clerk. Crown 8vo. pp. 133. 4s. Boards. Longman and Co. 1807. this little volume, Mr. Hodgson's muse for the first time meets the public eye, and is devoted chiefly to descriptive poetry; a path to fame which has not of late been very successfully pursued, though Mr. H. cannot be said to have found it untrodden. Nevertheless, to the observing eye and susceptible soul of real genius, Nature presents herself in forms ever new and interesting, and we do not hesitate to rank Mr. H. among her true and favoured votaries. His first and longest poem is intitled Woodlands,' which is the name of an estate situated near Lanchester in the County of Durham. Prior to 1779, this spot was a wild uncultivated heath: but, under the fostering care of the proprietor, Mr. White, it has assumed a very different appearance; and it is stated that this gentleman's improvements have obtained the gold medal of the society in the Adelphi ten times, and their silver medal once. To these respectable testimonials, Mr. Mr. White may now add the not less flattering tribute of the poem before us; in which his new creation is hailed in verse that ought to be as lasting as his Oaks. Mr. Hodgson introduces his subject by representing himself as seeking relief from the tedium of a sleepless night, by sending forth his imagination' to take a survey of this now interesting spot; the former desolate appearance of which is characterized by these appropriate and well, selected features: Not thirty suns have yet, in annual round, Gone to yon starry pastures, where the goat Eternal habitation holds, and muffling up The face of morning with a lowering veil, Down from the gushing cat'racts of the sky Pours his dark torrent, since no hedge or tree, Nothing but heath, agrostis, hardy plant, And rush, delighting in the foulest swamps, Covered the spot, which now employs my song. It was a dreary scene, where oft at night Th' unsteady glare, that mocks the traveller's eye, And, as approaching twilight threw its shades No bleating of a hungry flock at eve; No roar of guns t'affright the jocund lark, Or stop the blackbird's song: the fearful grouse And rudely pushed into inclement skies.' This description is succeeded by a very animated comparison: And rushing now on fancy's airy mind, And, as an eagle, when a shepherd tries To mountains, brushed by surlier winds, and where, Midst clouds and naked rocks, she sits, The concluding line is, however, evidently borrowed from Mrs. Barbauld's beautiful metaphorical description of the planet Saturn, "in sullen majesty an exiled Queen," and this is not the only instance of imitation to be found in this poem. The double image, with which Mr. H. illustrates his position that contrast teaches us the worth of things,' is a close though spirited translation of the beginning of the second book of Lucretius. A few other resemblances, which we have traced, are probably accidental. The subsequent description and apostrophe abound in elegance and pathos : Now Flora, loveliest of the train of spring, Her temples wreathed with many a blushing flower Meek offspring of the earth, your fragrance breathe Is still as white, as beautiful, as sweet, And (hardiness may laugh) but I have thought, Of Of life, and implicate your bleeding stems, Many passages might be adduced, of nearly equal merit with the foregoing; particularly the personification of the winds, at p. 12, 13: the description of spring, cheerfulness, and pleasure, p. 13, 14; the apostrophe to spring, p. 17, to the sun p. 33, and to winter p. 45: but we cannot forbear to insert the highly finished picture of the plantations at Woodlands: Spread, like a mantle, o'er yon sloping hills The forest now appears. It feels the vernal lymph And pleased, its dappled liv'ry reassumes. Unfolds his princely honors; and the lime Extends the branches of his gradual wheels, While we admire the taste and sensibility which mark these extracts, we believe that Mr. H.'s acquaintance with men and manners is rather circumscribed; which we infer from the vague and inaccurate nature of his remarks on these subjects, contained in the concluding pages of the poem. This is a deficiency which time and study would no doubt in a great measure supply, but we are of opinion that Mr. H. is destined 8 |