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you have been entirely ignorant till within a fortnight! The Messrs. Jones, Higginson, Kewley, Roe, Cowan, Seabrook, Waldie, Mence, &c. &c. &c., who figure in this writer's pages, are, we suppose, or ought to be, celebrated characters; but it is our misfortune to be in somewhat the same predicament as Mr. Thom himself was in regard to the author of the "Dissertation." We e were never before aware of their existence. We trust that we shall not be considered as influenced in these passing remarks by any wish to "burk" Mr. Thom's book; a wicked practice which he attributes to critics in general, in their dealings with his productions, and which cannot be too much reprobated. We are rather of opinion, on the other hand, that this work will not experience that disagreeable fate, which is technically termed, 'falling dead from the press;" that it will be handed down to posterity. Its biographical mementos of the author's innumerable friends amongst the Joneses, Higginsons, Smiths, Kewleys, &c., is almost certain to procure a sale amongst those respectable gentlemen whose names have thus had actually the honour of being "in print," in genuine, bona fide, "pica type!" The year 1848 will be to numbers of these men an eventful era in their lives: Higginson and Smith will stand an inch higher in their shoes henceforth; and we have no doubt that Mr. Thom's work will be bequeathed by many a parent to his children, with honest pride, as a kind of heir-loom-a proof of family respectability.

III. -Sertum Ecclesiæ: the Church's Flowers. Edinburgh: Grant. London: Rivingtons.

THIS Volume comprises a selection of Scriptural texts, and of the poetry of our best writers, adapted to most of the Festivals and Saints' days in the year; and a special flower is assigned to, and represented at, the beginning of each particular day. There is something rather fanciful in this; but the volume is a pretty one, and the poetry is apparently well selected. It is published for a charitable object-to obtain the means of educating a young person whose parents were formerly in affluence. And we can assure our benevolently-disposed readers, that their guinea bestowed in aid of this charitable object, will make them all proprietors of a tasteful and elegant volume.

By

IV.-Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers, and other Poems. WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN. Blackwoods: Edinburgh and London.

WE have been much interested by all we have read of this volume of poems, which possesses decidedly far more of the fervour and passion of true poetry, than any volume we have perused for a

considerable time. We gather from the name of Aytoun that the author is connected by family associations with the old and romantic scenes of Scottish history which his muse delights to pourtray in all their living colours. His sympathies are all with the Scottish cavaliers, as every poet's, of course, must be. In the introduction to one of these poems on "Charles Edward at Versailles," we find the following affecting anecdote :—

"Mr. Greathead, a personal friend of Mr. Fox, succeeded, when at Rome, in 1782 or 1783, in obtaining an interview with Charles Edward; and being alone with him for some time, studiously led the conversation to his enterprise in Scotland, and to the occurrences which succeeded the failure of that attempt. The prince manifested some reluctance to enter upon these topics, appearing at the same time to undergo so much mental suffering, that his guest regretted the freedom he had used in calling up the remembrance of his misfortunes. At length, however, the prince seemed to shake off the load which oppressed him; his eye brightened, his face assumed unwonted animation, and he entered upon the narrative of his Scottish campaigns with a distinct but somewhat vehement energy of manner-recounted his marches, his battles, his victories, his retreats and his defeats-detailed his hair-breadth escapes in the Western Isles, the inviolable and devoted attachment of his Highland friends; and at length proceeded to allude to the terrible penalties with which the chief among them had been visited. But here the tide of emotion rose too high to allow him to go on-his voice faltered, his eyes became fixed, and he fell convulsed on the floor. The noise brought into the room his daughter, the Duchess of Albany, who happened to be in an adjoining apartment. Sir,' she exclaimed, 'what is this? You have been speaking to my father about Scotland and the Highlanders! No one dares to mention this subject in his presence.'

With this introduction we quote a few lines from Mr. Aytoun's poem on Charles Edward at Versailles on the anniversary of Culloden:

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Phantom-like, as in a mirror,

Rise the grisly scenes of death-
There before me, in its wildness,
Stretches bare Culloden's heath:
There the broken clans are scatter'd,
Gaunt as wolves and famine-eyed,
Hunger gnawing at their vitals,

Hope abandon'd—all but pride-
Pride-and that supreme devotion
Which the Southron never knew,
And the hatred, keenly rankling
'Gainst the Hanoverian crew.
Oh, my God! are these the remnants,
These the wrecks of the array,
That around the royal standard
Gather'd on the glorious day,
When in deep Glenfinnan's valley,
Thousands on their bended knees,
Saw once more that stately ensign
Waving in the northern breeze?

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Hark! the bagpipe's fitful wailing :
Not the pibroch loud and shrill,
That with hope of bloody banquet,
Lured the ravens from the hill;
But a dirge both low and solemn,
Fit for ears of dying men,
Marshall'd for their latest battle,
Never more to fight again.
Madness-madness! why this shrinking?

Were we less inured to war

When our reapers swept the harvest
From the field of red Dunbar ?
Bring my horse, and blow the trumpet!
Call the riders of Fitz-James:

Let Lord Lewis head the column !
Valiant chiefs of mighty names-
Trusty Keppoch! Stout Glengarry!
Gallant Gordon! Wise Lochiell !-
Bid the clansmen hold together,

Fast, and fell, and firm as steel !"

We wish that space would permit us to quote more of this fine poem. But what has been said will, we trust, induce the reader to open the book when he meets with it, and Mr. Aytoun needs

no more.

v.-The Path of Life. London: Masters.

A SIMPLY and beautifully written Allegory, in which the course of various classes of Christians is pourtrayed. This little book seems adapted for circulation amongst young persons of some little education; it is scarcely suited to the labouring class.

VI.-Loci Communes. Common-Places delivered in the Chapel of Christ's College, Cambridge. By C. A. SWAINSON, M. A., and A. H. WRATTISLAW. London: Parker.

THIS little volume contains a series of short Essays, chiefly on religious subjects. It is very pleasing and healthy in its tone, and free from all party bias, while it inculcates sound doctrine on various points, though the narrow limits of the Essays preclude any very profound discussion.

VII.-L'Anima Amante; or, The soul-loving God. Translated from the Italian of the Very Rev. J. B. PAGANI, Provincial of the Order of Charity in England. London: Burns.

THIS is a very respectable book of religious reading, suited to the taste of pious persons in the Roman communion. It presents no features which distinguish it from the common run of such books. There is much in it which is exactly what is found in similar books written by persons of widely different religious opinions from that of the author, intermingled with a good deal of that kind of "oh!" and "ah!" style, which is peculiar to Romish writers; and, as usual, copiously interlarded with edifying anecdotes of the saints, which one involuntarily distrusts as one reads them. Anecdotes are, indeed, a staple commodity in Romish books of devotion, and assertions on matters of fact like the following:

"Jesus has placed his beloved Mother on a throne of glory, elevated far above all the choir of heaven, at his own right hand. There, seated as a queen, clothed with the splendour of the sun, having in her hand a brilliant diadem of twelve stars, with the moon for her footstool, she now enjoys the clearest vision, the nearest, the fullest participation of the glories of her Divine Son."—p. 227.

Here are certain facts very minutely detailed, even to the number of stars which adorn the Virgin Mary's diadem. We should be glad to know where Mr. Pagani has learnt all this, or whether he lays claim to special revelation on the subject. We are bound to presume that statements on so grave a point

would scarcely be thrown out without any authority whatever. If then the statement is believed to be true, where are the proofs of its truth?

We cannot, for our own part, admire the devotional phraseology of this volume, such for instance as :—

"O my Jesus, transfix my heart and my inmost soul with the dart of Thy love! Make me to languish with desire after Thee, my life, and aspire continually after Thy heavenly tabernacles, that I may enjoy Thee eternally with Thy blessed Mother, and all thy Angels and Saints.' -p. 58.

We cannot help thinking that such addresses are in the worst possible tone-indeed, almost revolting to Christian feeling.

Mr. Pagani states the doctrine of the Mass in such terms as are distinctly and directly contradictory to the doctrine of St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, who teaches us that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sin was only once offered. The contrast presented by the following passages is very striking :

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"Who can describe the glory and holiness of our altars upon which is daily accomplished the great mystery which was consummated at Golgotha? We offer each day, the very same Victim which was offered upon the altar of the Cross. We possess constantly in our temples a Mediator. . . who, for the sins of the people, offers Himself to the Father, holy, innocent, undefiled This is the oblation which appeases the wrath of God, and reconciles the world to Him."-Anima Devota, pp. 169,

170.

"Christ is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. . . Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

"This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins."

"By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

"Without shedding of blood is no remission."-Hebrews ix. 24 -28; x. 10-14; ix. 22.

It is to language like that of Mr. Pagani that the Church of England refers in the 31st Article, where "the sacrifices of Masses,

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