A Metrical Version of the Book of Psalms, composed for Private Meditation or Public Worship. By FRANCIS SKURRAY, B.D. London: Pickering.

MR. SKURRAY must take his place among that numerous company of Psalm versifiers to whom we can only award the praise of meaning well. We do not profess to have read every translation in this volume; but so far as we have examined it, we have discovered none of that poetic colour and fire of thought which the subject so eminently requires. The fact is, that the prose version of the Psalms in our Prayer Books is infinitely more poetical than this metrical translation of Mr. Skurray. Take the first passages that occur

to us:

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the water side, that will bring forth his fruit in due season."

"Whose foliage quivers o'er the stream,
Fann'd by the breezes, and whose root
Protrudes its branches to the beam,
Which ripens blossoms into fruit."

Again, how the simple pathos

In what poetical writer did Mr. Skurray ever find it said that the root of a tree protruded its branches? of the original is diluted and swallowed up in this paraphrase:"I am weary of crying; my throat "Weary of tears, I cannot cry, is dry, my sight faileth me, for waiting so long upon my God."

My tongue is mute, my throat is dry;
And dizziness confounds my sight,
From waiting on my soul's delight."

This is not transposing prose into poetry, but changing poetry into prose. Mr. Skurray may, however, comfort himself with recollecting that he has only failed where men of the highest talent have failed before him. We verily believe that Addison was the only English writer who could have produced a harmonious, natural, and devotional version of the Psalms in metre; he had a poetic eye as well as a poetic ear; he could see the charm of a picture, and transfer it. It is almost impossible that he could have obliterated any picturesque feature of this beautiful allegory, as Mr. Skurray has done :

Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine upon the walls of thine house; thy children like the olive branches round about thy table."

"Thy wife shall be as is the vine,

That boasts of fruit upon the wall; Thy children shall around thee twine, Like olive wreaths that deck thy hall." Appended to the version of the Psalms are some original compositions upon sacred subjects; but they are pervaded by the same prosaic lethargy. Surely no writer, however enamoured of his own compositions, can suppose that such a couplet as this belongs to poetry:

"Let not that earthly vulture care,
Obtrude its visitations there."

Nor do we think that the idiom of our language will permit even a poet to say of the gate of the heavenly Jerusalem, that

"Angels stand to sentinel the way."

We may appear to have spoken severely of Mr. Skurray's attempt on rhyme, but we are sorry to see a writer, who might probably promote the cause of piety in his prose, doing anything but advance the cause of psalmody in his verse.

The Life of William Wilberforce. By his Sons, ROBERT ISAAC WILBERFORCE, B.A., and SAMUEL WILBERFORCE, M.A. New edition, abridged. London: Seeley, Burnside, and Seeley. WHEN the life of Mr. Wilberforce, in all its length and breadth, first appeared, we rendered that respectful attention to it which the memory of a good, and if a good then a great man, so unquestionably deserved. We contemplated Mr. Wilberforce in relation to his time and his contemporaries, and having composed, so to speak, a historical picture, we endeavoured to indicate to our readers some features in the intellectual and moral physiognomy of those illustrious persons who occupy so prominent a place in the history of the close of the eighteenth and the commencement of the nineteenth century. Among the portraits thus brought together it is impossible, we think, for the most negligent spectator not to be struck with the sweet expressions of Christian meekness, and earnest charity, and warm devotion which illuminates the inward features of Wilberforce. In the tumult of party and the virulence of polemics, it is, indeed, delightful to behold one face shining with light from heaven -to hear one voice referring every human event to the providential government of a Divine Creator and Preserver, looking down from his everlasting throne upon "all sorts and conditions of men." We hailed the "Life of Mr. Wilberforce" for its subject: this work itself disappointed our expectations. It was elaborate, without embracing a satisfactory view or analogy of the life and character of him whom it professed to estimate; and it was minute, without reflecting his manner, his feelings, his thoughts, or his infirmities. The "Life of Wilberforce" was exactly the book to be abridged: there was a succulence in it which required to be compresssd. The editors, we suppose, were not insensible to the popular wish, and accordingly, in the present thick volume of five hundred and sixty pages, we are presented with all that was interesting and important in the five volumes through which the original narrative was extended. The spirit of the biography has gained strength in proportion as the weaker element, with which it was rinsed, had evaporated. The name of Wilberforce is already written upon the heart of his country. Of the life of such a man no person ought to be ignorant; and the present memoir supplies all the information that we can hope to receive.

A Sermon preached at Ripon Cathedral, Jan. 8, 1843, at the Ordination of the Lord Bishop of Ripon. By the Rev. J. W. WHITESIDE, A. M. London: Whittaker. 1843.

THIS sermon was published at the request of the individuals ordained on this occasion. The subjects discussed are, "The Christian Minister's Call, his Duties and Encouragements." The text is 1 Tim. iv. 15, 16. In describing the minister's call, the author states that the episcopacy is of divine origin, and that the position is proved by holy Scripture and Catholic antiquity. We recommend the sermon as containing a condensed view of the arguments on this important question. Its tone and spirit are admirable.

A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Three Dioceses of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, at the Primary Metropolitical Visitation, in the Autumn of the year 1842 and the Spring of 1843. By DANIEL, Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India. London: Seeley. THIS is a very important document. It presents, perhaps, the most complete picture of the state of the Church in India that has for a long period been submitted to the British public. As Metropolitan, the Bishop of Calcutta exercises a jurisdiction over the Indian dioceses similar to that of our archbishops in England and Ireland. The Charge was delivered at various places in all the dioceses. But besides the Charge, as it was delivered, there is a vast body of notes, and also an introduction, addressed to the Bishops of Madras and Bombay. In the introduction the Bishop alludes to the Tracts for the Times at considerable length; but, after condemning their errors, he expresses his belief that they will not prevail, and that the people will not renounce their Protestant principles. It was in India, several months since, that the Bishop of Calcutta so expressed himself. But how are his views confirmed by recent events! The tide is now set in directly against the Tracts, and parties who once favoured them are now shaping their course differently. We fully concur with his lordship that the system will not continue.

It is gratifying to find the progress of truth in India so extensive. The Bishop gives most valuable details of the state of missions, as well as of religion in general. His lordship's avowal of his views on the question of Episcopal government is most valuable at the present moment; while his censures of the sect called the "Plymouth Brethren" will tend very materially to open the eyes of the people to their grievous errors. "I cannot conceal my judgment (says the Bishop, speaking of this sect), that they manifest the most deplorable ignorance, conceit, and presumption. They overturn at once all order, all churches, all sacraments, all means of grace-the very perpetuity of the moral law itself; under the name of the Spirit, they deify self; claiming the Bible as their only rule, they substitute their ignorant perversions of its meaning." This picture is quite correct; and we rejoice that it has been decreed by such a skilful hand. In the Charge, and especially in the appendix, the Bishop enters fully into the errors of the Tracts for the Times. These portions will be perused with much interest, as indeed will be the entire Charge.

The Union Version of the Psalms, in various Metres. Aylott. THIS unassuming little volume is not intended to supersede the versions, or selections from versions of Psalms, now generally introduced into our churches; but it will be found both an elegant and a pleasing companion for the closet. And it is no small recommendation of this "Union Version," that nearly the whole of the Psalms here versified or imitated are the productions of clerical and lay members of the Church of England; and among them we recognize the productions of Addison, Dr. Woodforde, Merrick, Charles Wesley, Goode, and Tollet. The volume is very neatly printed; and, what is no mean recommendation, it is a cheap one. We wish it an extensive circulation.

An Essay on the Relation in which the Moral Precepts of the Old and New Testaments stand to each other. To which was adjudged the Hulsean Prize for the year 1842. By JOHN DAVIES, B.A., Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Curate of St. Giles in the Fields, London. Cambridge: Deighton. One vol., Svo. 1843.

It may not be known to some of our readers that, about seventy years since, the Rev. John Hulse, of Elworth, in the county of Chester, founded a prize, now amounting to about one hundred pounds yearly, payable out of his estates, unto such learned and ingenious persons in the University of Cambridge, under the degree of Master of Arts, as should compose for the current year the best dissertation, in the English language, on the Evidences in general, or on the Prophecies or Miracles in particular, or any other particular argument, whether the same be direct or collateral proofs of the Christian religion, in order to evince its truth and excellence. The trustees are the Vice-Chancellor, and the Masters of Trinity and St. John's, and the subject proposed by them for the year 1842 was the following:-"What is the Relation in which the Moral Precepts of the Old and New Testament stand to each other?" We presume that, in selecting this very important subject for discussion, the trustees acted under the general words we have placed in italics, since it does not belong either to the evidences of Christianity, to the prophecies, or to the miracles: but it does fall under the general clause of "any other particular argument"-in order to evince the truth and excellence of Christianity.

Mr. Davies has produced an essay of great power and value, and to him was adjudged the Hulsean prize of last year. We cannot, of course, pronounce any opinion on the essays of his competitors -but they must indeed have been admirable, before they could have equalled the one now before us. Mr. Davies has arrived at the logical and Christian conclusion, that the relation subsisting between the moral precepts of the Old and New Testaments is one of substantial identity, connected, on the part of Christianity, with an ampler extent and fulness; by an argument the most clear, precise, and well sustained. He has investigated the origin and nature of law; pointed out the distinction between positive and moral precepts; discussed the nature of the Jewish and Christian dispensations, as revelations of divine truth; proved the substantial identity of the two dispensations as systems of moral precepts; laid open the fact of the greater fulness and extent of Christian morality; compared the principles and motives of morality under the Jewish and Christian dispensations; and presented the objects or ultimate ends of moral actions under them both. He has thus demonstrated that these two dispensations are but successive expansions of one great system; the rising of the light from the dawn of day, to the noontide brightness; the flow of the stream from the fountain head, to the breadth of the majestic river. Such essays as this deserve success, and we heartily desire for Mr. Davies the success he deserves.

Caste and Slavery in the American Church. By a CHURCHMAN. New York and London: Wiley and Putnam. 1843.

It appears from this pamphlet, that a man of colour was refused admission into the Theological Seminary. The reasons for refusal were not assigned, but it subsequently appeared that he was rejected simply because he was a man of colour. It is stated, too, that some of the trustees admitted that they acted from dread of popular prejudice. The writer of this pamphlet, therefore, demands that the true reason should be stated. The circumstance, indeed, presents a fearful picture of American feeling on the question of slavery. Grateful indeed should we be to find them unanimously coming forward for its abolition. All parties are alike implicated; and it must strike grief into the hearts of Englishmen to know that slavery still exists in America-the land which boasts so much of freedom. Would that they might copy the example of the mother country! It appears from this pamphlet, that in some cases coloured persons are not permitted to be interred in the same burial-ground with the whites.

The History of the Church of Scotland, from the Reformation to the present time. By THOMAS STEPHEN, Med. Lib., King's College, London. Part I. London: Lendrum.

THE first part of this work brings the history of the Scottish Church down to its establishment in the year 1560; and judging from the specimen before us, it will give a minute and candid account of the ecclesiastical affairs of Scotland. It is written with temper and calmness, and bespeaks considerable research and industry in the compilation of facts. The part contains seven sheets of letter-press, and a fine engraving of Cardinal Beaton; and each part will contain a portrait of some of the principal personages mentioned in the work. We shall watch its progress.

Mesmerism the Gift of God; in Reply to "Satanic Agency and Mesmerism" a Sermon said to be preached by the Rev. Hugh M.Neile. In a Letter to a Friend, by a Beneficed Clergyman. London: Painter.

THIS pamphlet is cleverly written, and certainly places Mr. M'Neile in a dilemma. It is not our intention to go into the subject matter of the Letter, but we would advise those who may have read the sermon to read the remarks of A Beneficed Clergyman."

Although we have devoted an extra sheet to this number of the Church of England Quarterly Review, we find it impossible to notice all the books and pamphlets we have received. Two engravings from Mr. Boys, one the whole-length portrait of Sir Robert Peel, and the other a full-length portrait of the Duke of Wellington, as Master of the Trinity Corporation, which deserve a more extended notice than we can afford them at this time, are reserved for our next publication.