with its own capitals and italics, from the Weekly Dispatch of October 24, 1830. I do not know that I ever saw any thing of this paper, except the fragment which has accidentally fallen into my hands, and which contains the following article, which, while it purports to be a review, is, I presume, an advertisement of a new publication :— "OLD BOOTY; OR, THE DEVIL AND THE BAKER.-Kidd, Old Bondstreet.-The Devil is in the booksellers at present-their shop-windows are filled with Devil's Walks, Devil's Visits, and Devil's Doings of all sorts. Verily, Old Nick is in high favour-his Satanic Majesty must wonder what the Devil is come to this most Christian community. Montgomery, in prosing poetry, painted him as a long-winded Methodist parson.-O. Smith has walked the boards of most of our metropolitan theatres, the living personification of the Devil in all colours; and the exquisite pencil of Cruikshank has been employed in embodying the conceptions of a score of puny rhymesters who have thought proper to perpetrate a long list of infernal cheap poems relative to the "sayings and doings" of that most interesting personage, who, as Scripture tells us, "goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour!" There is an old proverb which tells us that "Death and the Devil are not to be trifled with." We suppose, however, that this piece of ancestral wisdom has lost its force in these March-of-Intellect days. Modern authors do trifle with the Devil most unblushingly. In good truth we must say there has been something too much of this: surely Satan has been sufficiently persecuted by the "small poets" of this era; we beg of them to have pity upon him for their own sakes; have they no fear of his future vengeance, that they thus, day by day, persist in publishing nonsense in his name? The little poem now under consideration is from the pen of a dramatic writer, who, for reasons best known to himself, has thought proper to assume the appellation of W. T. Moncrieff, Esq., what his real name is we do not happen to recollect. The anecdote on which the poem is founded is well known to the lovers of the marvellous, and was hardly worth repeating. The rhymes in which it is here conveyed are worthy of the subject, and the engravings, from designs by Cruikshank, are in strict keeping with the horrible taste of the present day. With this praise, such as it is, Old Booty and his devilry may rest content.'" We have, here, to observe that the above article, or advertisement, odiously profane and irreverent as it is,-contains certain cautions, which, come from what quarter they may, are not at all unworthy of attention from those persons, who, at any time, may be tempted to indulge in licentious fancies, touching very awful matters. The writer (Eruvin) then proceeds to say," On this point, I will only, at present, add my conviction, that the great and crowning device of Satan will be, (may I not say has been?) to persuade mankind of his non-existence." And this reminds us, very forcibly, of a saying once addressed by old John Newton, to his congregation at St. Mary Woolnoth;-"I am sadly afraid that some persons, now present, may be strongly disposed to doubt the personal existence of the devil. He wo'nt take it amiss!" Now, we would, very respectfully, recommend one simple question to the consideration of Mr. Barham's most devoted admirers and friends; namely, whether his imagination has not gone into much "the same excess of riot," as that which is so justly complained of, and stigmatized, by Eruvin ?--whether he has not written certain things which, although "not taken amiss" by the dark and dreadful personage to whom they relate, must certainly be "taken very much amiss" by all who are anxious for deliverance from the craft, and subtlety, and malice, of that same personage? Not that we would, on any account whatever, insinuate that Mr. Barham, or any clergyman of the Church of England, could entertain serious doubts as to the personal existence of the great adversary of God and man! On the contrary, we will imagine (and there is nothing at all improbable in the supposition) that a serious and sober-minded parishioner of Mr. Barham's had heard him preaching, earnestly and impressively, on a Sunday, from the pulpit of St. Mary Magdalene, or St. Gregory, upon the very text above adverted to,-Be sober, be viligant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, stedfast in the faith. (1 Pet. v. 8, 9.) We will not dwell upon all the tremendous topics with which the preacher would naturally illustrate the subject of his discourse: they will rush, at once, into the memory of every one, who is but tolerably conversant with the Scriptures. But we will, next, imagine that the same parishioner, on the very day after hearing the sermon, should chance to open the Tales and Legends of "Thomas Ingoldsby," and to light, for instance, on "The Brothers of Birchington." And let us further suppose, that, after perusing that very edifying "Legend," he were to be told, for the first time, that its author, "Thomas Ingoldsby," was, in fact, no other than his own respected pastor, the Rev. Richard Harris Barham, the self-same person who, on the preceding day, had faithfully set before him the terrors and dangers of the warfare against our "ghostly enemy." What would be the astonishment and consternation of the worthy man, at this discovery! For, what is the scene which the narrative in question exhibits to us? Why, no other than St. Thomas à Becket fiercely calling the devil to account, for carrying off a wrong man by mistake! It is with inexpressible sorrow and reluctance that we produce a syllable of this deplorable trash: but a specimen or two may be necessary, in order that the public may judge whether, or not, our censures are too grave. "When a crafty old hound Claps his nose of the ground, Then, throws it up boldly, and bays out 'I've found ;' To business he went; 'You scoundrel, come here, Sir'-('twas Nick that he meant);- Hanging his ears Yet dissembling his fears, Ledger in hand, straight 'Auld Hornie' appears. With that sort of half-sneaking, half-impudent look, Bankrupts sport, when cross-questioned by Creswell or Cooke." Again, "I'm vexed beyond bounds You should have such good grounds For complaint; I would rather have given five pounds; I'll make, with much pleasure, and put in the News. Much good that will do! An 'apology,' quoth-a; and, that too from you! Bring back your stol'n goods, thief!-produce them in court!" There is a good deal more, ejusdem farraginis! But we cannot prevail upon ourselves to transcribe another line. And, these are the amenities of literature, with which the pastor of a parish recreates his spirits, during the intervals of leisure from the work of his sacred office! These are,-not merely brief and sportive sallies, such as will, alas! sometimes escape the lips even of wiser and sadder men, in their more unguarded moments;-they are compositions of some length, deliberately penned by a clergyman, with a view to circulation, and to popularity! It may, perhaps, be alleged that similar eruptions of a light, and even a licentious humour, are by no means without precedent; and that "Thomas Ingoldsby" is not the first ecclesiastic who ever took liberties with subjects of deep and solemn importance. And this, unhappily, it would be vain to deny. The mediæval times, it is true, had their Walter de Mapes. A later age rejoiced in the exquisite buffooneries, and, we must add, in the foul ribaldries, of Doctor Francis Rabelais. The last century produced its Lawrence Sterne,-whom, at times, we are, all of us, tempted to pardon, for the sake of his inimitable creations of "Uncle Toby," and "Corporal Trim." And, doubtless, the list might easily be lengthened. But, to this consideration there is one very short answer:-"Nay,-if the devil hath given the proofs for sin"-(or precedents for sin)" thou wilt prove this!" If example is to be admitted, in justification of delinquency of any kind, the cause of righteousness and holiness will be desperate indeed! We cannot forbear to take this opportunity of expressing a wish that no such phenomenon as a novel-writing parson had ever been known in literary history. We cannot but regard that species of composition as lying quite out of the region of clerical duty or propriety. The general tendency of the fiction may chance to be unexceptionable enough. But, in order to be keenly entertaining, it must savour, more or less rankly, of the things of this world. The clergy are in full possession of much higher and holier ground; and the cultivation of this, their own peculium, will furnish ample scope for all their powers of intellect and imagination. The Tales of Sir Walter Scott have often been extolled at least for their comparative abstinence from exhibitions injurious to morality or religion. And yet, we must confess, that we should scarcely have been well pleased if the Great Unknown had turned out, after all, to be an ecclesiastic! Splendid as those miracles of creative genius may be, we should have regretted to behold their strange fires mingling with the hallowed flame of the altar. It should always be borne in mind, that a clergyman has one vocation, and one only. Whereas, the most virtuous and conscientious writer of fictions has, most usually, two vocations: one of which is, to instruct and to improve mankind; the other, to provide mirthful or exciting recreation, for a very capricious, motley, and miscellaneous sort of public; and, moreover, that, of these two vocations, the latter is exceedingly apt to supplant and put aside the former. Which of the two predominates in the productions we have been considering, has, we trust, been made sufficiently manifest by our preceding exposition. It is, we presume, quite needless for us to declare that our remarks have been dictated by no spirit of ill-will, or of hostility towards the memory of Mr. Barham. He appears to have been a very cordial, frank, and benevolent kind of man. His biographer assures us, that his family were devotedly attached to him, and that he never lost a friend. Still, we must take his writings even as we find them. And, those writings have impressed us with deep regret, that, among the friends whom he retained to the last, no one should have been found faithful enough to twitch his ear, and to hold his hand, and to animate him with a higher and worthier ambition, and to whisper to him of a better inspiration than even that which presides at the meetings of the "Garrick Club!" ART. IV.-1. The Psalms in Hebrew, with a Critical, Exegetical, and Philological Commentary by the Rev. GEORGE PHILLIPS, B.D., Author of "The Elements of Syriac Grammar," Fellow and Tutor of Queens College, Cambridge, and Rector of Sandon, Essex. 2 Vols. Parker, London, 1846. 2. A Translation of the Book of Psalms from the Original Hebrew, with Explanatory Notes, by WILLIAM FRENCH, D.D., Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, and Canon of Ely, and the Rev. GEORGE SKINNER, late Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College. Parker, London. New Edition, 1842. It has been well remarked of the Book of Psalms by the author of the first of these works, that "The Sublime Poetry which characterises these sacred songs, the pious and noble sentiments they contain, the diversity of subjects on which they treat, and the copiousness of instruction to be derived on all the relations existing between God and man, must ever secure for them, from every believer in the Bible, the greatest attention and most profound respect. "Whatever be the circumstances of life in which a person may be placed, whether he is oppressed by bodily affliction, loss of estate, hostility of the world, or domestic troubles; or whether, on the contrary, he has been mercifully preserved from the evils of life, and has enjoyed in an eminent degree the bounties of Providence, he is sure to find in the Psalms his particular case represented, and from them he may gather expressions of prayer or praise, according to the circumstances of his condition, which he may profitably use in his devotional exercises." Hence it has arisen that no portion of the Old Testament has been so many times translated', and has so often exercised the 1 From the year 1744 to 1830 no less than twelve new translations of the Psalms have been published in England, besides numerous metrical versions not translated immediately from the Hebrew, viz. :— Mudge, 4to. 1744. Edwards, 8vo. 1755. Fenwicke, 8vo. 1759. Merrick, 4to. 1768. (verse.) Geddes, 8vo. 1807. French and Skinner, 8vo. 1830. |