"But the palace itself, though it be the work of man, and not of gods, is not less beautiful than all these aspects of nature. It is wholly built after the light and almost fantastic forms of the Persian architecture, which seem more suited to a residence of this kind than the heavier fashions of the Greek or Roman taste. Hadrian's villa is alone to be compared with it for vastness and magnificence, and that, compared with this, seems a huge prison, so gay and pleasing are the thoughts and sensations which this dream-like combination of arch upon arch of pinnacle, dome, and tower; all enriched with the most minute and costly work-inspires the mind.

"Nothing has pleased me more than at times, when the sultry heats of the day forbid alike study and recreation, to choose for myself some remote and shaded spot, and lying along upon the flowery turf, soothed by the drowsy hum of the summer insects, gaze upon this gorgeous pile of oriental grandeur, and lazily drink in the draughts of a beauty (as I believe) no where else to be enjoyed. When at such hours Julia or Fausta is my companion, I need not say in how great degree the pleasure is heightened, nor what hues of a more rosy tint wrap all the objects of the scene. Fountains here, as every where in the eastern world, are frequent, and of such size as to exert a sensible influence upon the heated atmosphere. Huge columns of the coldest water, drawn from the recesses of the mountains, are thrown into the air, and then falling and foaming over rocks rudely piled, to resemble some natural cascade, disappear, and are led by subterranean conduits to distant and lower parts of the ground. These fountains take many and fantastic forms. In the centre of the principal court of the palace, it is an enormous elephant of stone, who disgorges from his uplifted trunk a vast but graceful shower, sometimes charged with the most exquisite perfumes, and which are diffused by the air through every part of the palace. Around this fountain, reclining upon seats constructed to allow the most easy attitudes, or else in some of the apartments immediately opening upon it, it is our custom to pass the evening hours, either conversing with each other, or listening to some tale which he who thinks he can entertain the company is at liberty to relate, or gathering at once instruction and delight, as Longinus, either from his memory or a volume, imparts to us the choicest parts of the literature of Athens or of Rome. So have I heard the Edipus Tyrannus, and the Prometheus, as I never have heard them before. At such times, it is beautiful to see the group of listeners gathering nearer and nearer, as the philosopher reads or recites, and catching every word and accent of that divine tongue, as it falls from his lips. Zenobia, alone, of all who are there, ever pre

sumes to interrupt the reader with either question or comment. To her voice, Longinus instantly becomes a willing listener, and well may he; for never does she speak, at such moments, without adding a new charm to whatever theme she touches." Vol. 1. pp. 133 – 135.

As a work of art, we may safely say that this much exceeds most similar productions of the age. It will compare well with Valerius. Bulwer's "Pompeii" and "Rienzi" have perhaps more vigor; but in calmness, simplicity, truth, and unity, they are far inferior. They are wonderful and for the most part, beautiful pictures. But they are outré ; — all the materials seem carefully sought out from the marvellous recesses of human experience, as if nothing common would do. They are like some of the modern landscapes in our gallery of paintings, full of blue mists and dream-like combinations, which may be matched perhaps in nature, but if so, are of the rarest and most recondite appearances of nature. This is cheaper work, than painting her in her every-day garb, as Domenichino, and Paussin, and Claude have done. These wonder-pictures soon weary us; it does not seem as if the familiar, healthy, every-day light of the sun shone upon them, but rather as if they were lit up by some false magic light. So it is with these novels, when compared with the Tasso and Iphigenia of Goethe, or the Ivanhoe of Scott, and we may add, the Letters from Palmyra. They far exceed "Philothea," in their simplicity and in the perfect fusing and blending of their materials into a living, consistent whole. In the latter there are beauties, but ill-combined, much fine thought out of place, or forced in; and a perpetual self-consciousness of the writer appears, a constant striving for effect, which lets nothing run into any natural form. It wants that true perspective in which these Letters bring every thing before us.

Perhaps we have praised the work extravagantly. If so, we shall not regret it, so we induce many to read it. In speaking as we have, we have been true to our instinct, and have faithfully given the first impression which the book made upon us, before we set about artificially to judge it.

VOL. XXIII. -3D s. VOL. V. NO. I.

16

J. S. D.

ART. VIII. Four Lectures on the Evidences and Doctrines of the Christian Religion, By THOMAS WOOD, Minister of Stamford Street Chapel. London. 1836.

8vo. pp. 77.

THE author of these discourses is one out of four or five English divines, who have recently renounced Orthodoxy and embraced Unitarianism, at the great hazard of their worldly interests, and often at great sacrifices. The following is the account which Mr. Wood gives of the religious experiences through which he was led to adopt, and become the public and able advocate of, the sentiments he now holds.

"I was educated amongst the Calvinistic Dissenters, and exercised, in connexion with them, for about eight years, a somewhat fugitive ministry, suffering long intervals of severe illness and consequent mental depression. As I approached the termination of the period I have mentioned, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the theological creed in which I had been educated, and which I had taught to others, until I was quite unable to meet the demands made upon me constantly to reiterate from the pulpit the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism, or to cherish that sanctimonious state of the thoughts and feelings which Calvinistic Dissenters regard as essential to piety. Neither could I any longer brook the petty vexatious inquisition they impose respecting every freedom of thought or speech or carriage. It was believed by my friends and myself that in some quiet pulpit of the Established Church I might find repose and liberty. At this period I was not delivered from the prejudice which holds the Gospel to contain a system of mystical theology, although I no longer regarded the several doctrines of that theology as suitable topics for frequent pulpit discussion; I felt, therefore, no difficulty in subscribing to the articles of the Church. Application was made to the proper authority for my admission to holy orders, and I cheerfully and gratefully record the courtesy with which that application was entertained, and the generous countenance I received from several clergymen. A reasonable delay was required. I set myself to the complete revision of my religious sentiments. By the study of the Scriptures I became convinced that the New Testament contains no system of mystical theology whatever, that it asserts the distinguishing truth of the Jewish religion the unity of God; that it affirms the universal sinfulness of the human race; that it inculcates repentance towards

God, and on repentance, promises mercy; that it enjoins faith in Jesus Christ as the divinely appointed and divinely endowed Messiah; that it enforces the moral virtues as the pure sources of present happiness and everlasting good; and that it reveals the great solemn facts of the resurrection of the dead and a future judgment. This conclusion of course forbade any further thoughts of entering the Established Church. The noble simplicity of these truths, their sweet, merciful tendencies, imparted a calm satisfaction, a holy liberty to my mind, which the sterner temper of the Calvinistic system had never inspired. Three years have since elapsed; I have read much on them, and thought much on them; my first impressions have been greatly deepened. I believe these truths to be most valuable ; I believe they constitute pure religion; I believe they are the means by which the human race will yet be rescued from idolatry, and error, and vice, and from the immense portion of unhappiness consequent on these; I therefore appear before you this morning as their advocate." - pp. 2 – 4.

The first lecture is on the Divine Origin of the Christian Religion; the second is on the Unity of God; the third, on the Way of Salvation; and the fourth and last, on the Moral Influences of the Unitarian and Athanasian Opinions contrasted. On neither of these subjects does the writer find occasion for the display of much originality, or profound learning, or for the higher flights of eloquence; but the thoughts are strong, and the style for the most part clear and forcible, and the performance in all respects highly creditable. It will be read by many; and by none without advantage, as may be shown by a few extracts better than by a general description of the work.

We suspect there is more in the warning which Mr. Wood utters in regard to the probable consequences of the total overthrow of the Establishment, than many of our Unitarian friends in England are prepared properly to appreciate.

"It may appear to some persons the mere anticipations of timidity to expect, in this age, penal censure on account of religious opinions, but the signs of the times are not entirely free from intimations of such an evil. The Church of England has long stood in our midst as a tower of strength, for generations the fastness of bigotry and luxury, yet sometimes the abode of piety and virtue, and latterly of toleration. The stream of ages rolling by its base is gradually swelling to a torrent which threatens its foundations, and will assuredly sweep off those

remnants of things which have passed away, and which the same stream brought down from a remote antiquity and deposited and heaped around it. It may be, that in the hour of her peril she may be cleansed from her impurities, and her pride, and her Athanasian heresy, and remain amongst us as a place of refuge, around which many of the friends of religion and peaceful freedom will be found to muster, and which may yet hold in check the inroads of fanatical intolerance. But she may be utterly overthrown. Then will blaze forth that hot zeal for a stern theology which has long smouldered in the hearts of a large and increasingly powerful body of our countrymen, the avowed advocates of liberty, yet the enemies of every free thought, who eschewing subscription to church articles, bind themselves, and would, if possible, bind all men by a creed far more narrow, far more severe."

p. 7.

In the lecture on the Unity of God, after mentioning some of the numerous and conflicting explications of the Trinity given by the old defenders of that doctrine, he thus proceeds:

"The Trinitarians of our time adopt none of these hypotheses; they distinctly renounce them all. They profess not, indeed, to explain their opinions. They acknowledge that they themselves do not understand them. They consider them as sacred mysteries which are utterly beyond human comprehension. What, then, do they affirm? They say, we read in the Scriptures that God is one, and we believe that truth. We understand also from the Scriptures that Jesus Christ is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God, and we believe those truths also. Yet we do not think that there are three Gods, but that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, are in a manner altogether beyond our comprehension, but one God. We think it wrong to invent any hypothesis on the subject, since we find none in the Scriptures. We can give to our own minds no explanation of this holy mystery, so of course can offer none to the minds of others. We receive and teach the simple facts as we find them in Scripture. The simple facts! What are these simple facts? First, that the Scriptures teach that God is one. Granted. Second, that they teach that Jesus Christ is God. Denied - but for the present granted. Third, that they teach that the Holy Spirit is God. Denied but for the present granted too. Well, these are all the facts. That God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, are not three Gods, but one God, is no Scripture fact. This is a mere assertion a poor inference of the Trinitarian himself. A logical, necessary inference? By no means. The only logi

-