his business was to defend his own friends; but we must add, that he would have done himself honour by making at least some general reference to the Author's virulent prejudice and consequent unfairness towards the Dissenters and Calvinists. We have ourselves abstained from remarking upon Mr. Southey's delinquencies in this respect, not merely because the occasion has seemed little deserving of the labour of a detailed refutation; nor because an efficient refutation would have required the adduction of facts and documents which must have exceeded ten times our limits; but chiefly because we would avoid the expression of any feeling, and the discussion of any topic, not of common interest to all those who stand together in the defence and profession of the Christian faith. Mr. Watson, perhaps unnecessarily, bestows a long note upon the Editor of a large Volume now before us; the title of which we would not place at the head of this article, both because we would fain not associate Mr. Southey with the Vicar of Manaccan and St. Anthony, and because no good could possibly result from the attempt to reason or expostulate with a man, the malignity of whose temper has long since broken through all restraints, and trampled down all decencies. We might hope that the perusal of Mr. Polwhele's Notes, Introduction, and Appendix, would inspire Mr. Southey with a salutary shame in the recollection of some parts of the Life of Wesley. It is true that his stronger sense, his better taste, and his milder nature, afford ground of distinction between himself and Mr. Polwhele; but surely a wise and pious man would be anxious to stand at a further remove than is at present apparent, from so shameless a calumniator. Men of this class, in all ages of the Church, have presumed very far upon the impunity with which they have found they might malign those who have been obviously more righteous than themselves. They have never perceived that this impunity results, not only from the support and suffrage of that great majority of mankind who have always hated truth and goodness; nor only from the spirit of the offended party, which indisposes and unfits them for retaliation; but chiefly, from the silent intervention of Divine Providence, which, in regard to its ultimate designs, most often bars the natural course of present retribution; reserving the full vindication of the just to the fearful arrangements of the future world. We should have deemed it a great impertinence on the present occasion, to charge ourselves with the task of vindicating the characters of the venerable Founders of Methodism. That fame which these men sought, is safe. Nor could any apology render their true praise, or the real principle of their excellence, intelligible to those who must be left still to perplex themselves in attempting to explain a course of action, the motives of which are beyond their sphere. Not less inappropriate or gratuitous would it have been, to obtrude comments upon the present state, the prospects, or the merits of the Wesleyan body. It is true, we have seen something both of the exterior and of the interior of Methodism; and that too in those parts of the country where it has most fully developed its peculiarities. And it would not have been difficult to fill our pages with an array of choice instances and significant anecdotes, so coloured and arranged as to give plausible support to any one out of five or six theories, which we might have chosen to propound and defend. It would have been easy, for example, to prove, by incontestable facts,' that Methodism is doing much less substantial good than its eager friends pretend; and equally so, to prove, on the contrary, that Methodism is effecting infinitely greater good than its adversaries imagine, than they are even able to understand, or have the grace to acknowledge when it cannot be denied. It might have been proved, that Methodism is threatening to become an unmanageable empire within the Empire; or, proved, that Methodism, during seasons of imminent political peril, has held otherwise formidable masses of the people in quiet submission to" the powers that be," and that it is still a trusty anchor of the State. Again, it might have been proved, that the Wesleyan Clergy are acquiring and exercising over their people a spiritual tyranny, which threatens to produce the extravagances of ghostly pretension on the one side, and a fatal surrender of conscience, of faith, and of personal religion on the other; and it might have been proved, too, that the spirit of religious liberty which exists in this country, together with the collision with surrounding evangelical communities, would render the attempt to realize such a dominion as nugatory as the supposition of it is absurd. It might, again, have been proved, that the ecclesiastical form of the Wesleyan body is unfavourable to that reflected and corrective influence of the laity upon their teachers, which affords the only real, though it be an untangible security for the preservation or restoration of purity of doctrine; or it might have been proved rather, that the collateral existence of pure Christianity under a diversity of modes, almost wholly neutralizes the private and peculiar influence of the ecclesiastical constitution of a sect, surrounded by other sects, and secures sound doctrine to the people, whatever perils the faith may be thought to incur inter reverendissimos.' We remit, however, the discussion of all such topics to the occasions when they may be called for. Readers to whom the facts of the work before us have long been familiar, will, of course, feel less concerned with its subject and matter, than with its spirit and tendency. They may give the Author credit (generally) for his good intentions, admire his technical ability as a writer, and rejoice in that extent of candour to which his moral perceptions have conducted him. They will wish him courage to pursue his own concessions. But they will think it a debt to truth, to reprehend that undetermined character in the Life of Wesley, which too forcibly suggests the idea of a perplexity in the Author's mind, less creditable to a man than mere infirmity of judgement. The Pharisees were once required to declare their opinion of the ministry of John; but, stifling present convictions, and looking further than honest men are wont to look, to the consequences of a concession on either side, the Pharisees professed that they knew not what to think! on the subject. Thus too, when this plain question is put to Mr. Southey, The preaching of the Methodists, whence was it, from Heaven or of men? He seems to reply, I cannot 'tell.' Art. II. The Angel of the World; an Arabian Tale: Sebastian; a Spanish Tale: with other Poems. By the Rev. George Croly, A.M. 8vo. pp. xii, 182. Price 8s. 6d. London. 1820. MR R. CROLY has not the knack of telling a story: it is, indeed, a rare accomplishment. But what is a man of letters to do, who has got a certain portion of marketable talent,, and finds himself at a loss in what shape to work up the material to the best advantage? Tales are the order of the day, as epics and descriptive poems were the rage in former days. Tales are the happiest expedient imaginable for filling out a volume it is but to open Boccaccio, or the Koran, or the Arabian Nights Entertainments, or some one of the old Chronicles, or old Burton, and there you shall find ready to your hand both text and frame-work, like the skeleton of a sermon; and the industrious versifier has little left to do, but to find epithets, hard words, and rhymes, together with a quantum suff. of sentiment, and to square and polish his materials. "Arabian 'literature,' says our learned Orientalist, abounds in tales of this order, and even of superior pathos, variety, and grandeur.' The world,' he adds, have been wearied by the boundless ex'aggeration and figurative extravagance of the Indian and 'Persian poetry. The true mine is Arabia.'The scholar who may turn his attention to Arabian poetry, &c.-If Mr. Croly is an oriental scholar, we cannot too highly commend his praise-worthy abstinence from any display, either in his poem or his notes, of his acquisitions: we should not have learned from them, that he is more deeply read in Arabian literature than any one might be by means of Sale's Koran. If he is not, he ought not to have felt himself authorised to draw the nice distinction which he does between Persian and Arabian poetry, or to have been so rash as to make his appeal to Sir W. Jones, who, in one of his Dissertations, has these words: Such in part' (the metaphysical theology of the Sufi's) is 'the wild and enthusiastic religion of the modern Persian poets, especially of the sweet Hafiz, and the great Maulavi. Such is the system of the best lyric poets of India.' The distinction drawn by Mr. Croly is the more startling at first view, since the work from which he has taken the materials of his tale, can scarcely be exceeded in respect of boundless ex'aggerations, and figurative extravagance,' and cold and wretched bombast, by any thing even in the Sungskrit scriptures. But we bow to our Author's more accurate acquaintance with these poetical mines.' The names of Haruth and Maruth, the two angels who, according to Mahommedan belief, were sent from heaven to judge the crimes of men, but did not execute their commissions as they ought, are familiar to the readers of Thalaba. To Mr. Croly we are indebted for the novel information, that the story is one ' of those modifications of the history of the fall of Lucifer and 'the temptation in Paradise, which make up so large a portion of Asiatic mythology.' These two fictitious personages, the Poet has taken the freedom to reduce into one; and he has taken such other liberties with the fable, in mercy to the propensities of Christendom,' and in adaptation to his own ideas of good taste, as leave behind very little to remind us either of the Koran or of the Author's admiration for Arabian poetry: we are apt to think much more of Lalla Rookh. The Angel of the World' is introduced throned on his judgement-seat, awaiting with rather undignified impatience, like a hungry judge, the hour of sunset when he might break up his court. "The sun was slowly sinking to the west, The Angel sat absorbed in lofty thought, He paused, and sank, half wrath, half pity, on his throne." This pilgrim is veiled, and when the veil is withdrawn, ruby lips and so forth, discover the semblance of woman. The frail angel gazes, grows faint, sighs and looks, blushes, and, like the Macedonian monarch, -unable to conceal his pain, Sighed and looked, and sighed again.' A succession of tragical incidents, intended as lessons to warn him of his peril, now take place; the mirage, the simoom, the sand-storm, and the shooting stars; all in vain he is irrecoverably enamoured, and, though the thought does occur to him that the enchantress is either more or less than woman, she has only to feign a faintingfit, (a very natural resource,) in order to master his angelic nature so far as to lead him to drain off a cup of forbidden wine. · Th' Enchantress smiled, as still in some sweet dream, And breathless pressing, with her ringlets. fair, From his bright eyes the tears of passion and despair.' All was not yet lost; but the wilful young man-we beg pardon, we mean angel-is so bent on his own destruction, that, in the very presence of the punisher of sin,' he 6 Strain'd with wild arms his love, and joy'd to be undone." The solemn, stern, unearthly glare' of his companion, and her gathering look of scorn, produce but a momentary vacillation he repeats, to save her, the words of might, graved on the throne of Solomon, which it is the sin of sins' to utter; and the storm of vengeance bursts upon his head. But, strange to say, sentence is past upon him by his temptress. Th' Enchantress stood before him; two broad plumes |