Hark! while abandon'd principle bewails, Oh, mystery vast! the chieftain by whose hand, His Country's Saviour, WELLINGTON! 'tis He, Her safe-guards crash; his thousand laurels droop!-pp. 41, 42. No sooner was the Catholic Bill matured into an Act of Parliament, than great and universal disorder sprang up in every kingdom in the world. The Ottoman trembles before the Russian, the Bourbon is banished from the Gallic throne, and King George, "the fourth loved monarch of the Brunswick line," was consigned to dust. Belgium, in the meantime, rose like a troubled ocean, whilst ill-fated Poland is given up to grief; destructive fires blaze about the agricultural districts; fierce tornadoes tear up the produce of the sugar-cane islands; and lastly, to crown the misery of the country, the wild cry of reform is shouted from crowded street to echoing glen. Another ill remains, however, to be summed up, as coincident with those already lamented, namely, the condition of Ireland, of which the reverend bard thus gives us a description: And turn to Erin, restless as the surge, What peace? what rest? while Babel's whoredoms still, Repose, farewell! when factious brawlers vile, Supremely lord it o'er the spell-bound isle: While wretched compromise, her wounds to heal, Brings God-denying error to unite Her killing plague, to Neologian night! Bids each with blazon'd blasphemy combine, Blest Truth to poison, at her source divine; And leave the hapless island to deplore Heaven's glorious lamp, receding from her shore!-p. 43. Many of the controverted points of discipline and religion are interwoven by our author with the general subjects of his poem. He points out the utility of that sacred awe with which all who enter a cathedral must be inspired; he touches on the introduction of psalmody, and praises it as an auxiliary to devotion; and after noticing the songs of Moses and Miriam, and of other Scripture characters, he proceeds to dwell on the beauty and excellence of the Psalms. From psalmody he transfers his attention to preaching in cathedrals, and draws a signal contrast between the early preachers and those of modern times. In vindicating the propriety of the honours and titles of the church governors, our curate is at the pains to show, that the whole order of nature, the existence of kings on earth and of angels in heaven, incontestibly prove, by analogy, the policy of retaining those distinctions. One of the most striking pieces of novelty to be met with in this poem, is the discovery that England is one of the ten horns mentioned by Daniel the prophet. He next endeavours to show that the pretensions of the Romish church were protested against long before the Reformation; and he tells us, in choice hexameters, that Aidan observed Easter at a different time from Rome-that Alcuin opposed the worship of images-that Alfred protected Scotus, who opposed transubstantiation-that Athelstan promoted the translation of the Scriptures-that an earl of Mercia encouraged the marriage of the clergy-and that Archbishop Wulstan caused the writings of Alfred to be read, because they were adverse to transubstantiation. The author then passes through the series of historical events which succeeded, until the time of the Reformation, paying due tributes to the memories of the "martyrs,' Rogers, Bishop Hooper, Taylor, Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer. Biographical sketches are next given of some of the bishops who made themselves eminent soon after the Reformation. Of Grindall he says: First, holy Grindall, Anglian Eli, bears 'Mid fears and fightings, every Church's cares. With head by more than four-score winters snow'd; Thy wise remonstrance to the injur'd Queen, Thy name from charge of trust betray'd shall screen. Tho' bold, respectful; tender, tho' severe; To warn tho' prompt, reluctant to complain; And when inflicting, clearly suffering, pain.-pp. 108, 109. Sandys is the next in the eulogistic list : Then Sandys comes, who Sorrow's cup had drain'd, And by that discipline his tutor❜d heart, Pause on the blest confession that he gave.-pp. 107-109. The inward wheels, and main-spring to repair.-p. 111. These extracts will be sufficient to convey a general impression of the style and power of the author. We cannot, however, dismiss this work without bestowing what we deem to be a merited censure on the spirit and uncharitable feeling by which the writer appears to be actuated. The historical matter, which he employs as the machinery of his poem, consists, for the most part, of calumnies and other misrepresentations of the church of Rome, which, in the opinion of enlightened Protestants, deserve only contempt. Nevertheless, our rustic curate, for whom in vain time passes in its course, bringing its changes and improvements, still clings to the impressions received in his nurse's arms; and in his enthusiasm in adhering to these early prejudices, absolutely forgets his duty, both as a man and a minister of the benevolent religion of christianity. NOTICES. ART. XIII.-Abolition of the Poor Laws, &c. with an Appendix, containing an Account of the Labourers' Friend Society. London: Jackson and Walford. 1833. "THE object of the Labourers' Friend Society, is to establish a system whereby the allotment, at fair rents, of small portions of land to the labourer shall be made. These allotments are to extend to a quantity which shall constitute a small farm or homestead; or they shall be of such an amount only as deserves the name of cottage-garden. There are facts stated in the pamphlet before us, which justify the belief that such a system as this would do infinite good. One case is quite sufficient, and to that we shall now direct the reader's attention. A proprietor of an estate in Wiltshire has made a statement, which we have abridged, merely retaining the facts: He says, During the last ten years I have tried the plan of letting portions of land to the poor at a fair rent. My land consists of 1000 acres pasture, 350 arable, 100 heath, and 50 wood and other waste land. The estate is a manor in itself, and also a tithing, namely, having no overseers and a chapel, but not maintaining its poor. When I obtained it, it had been long neglected. The owner was a widow lady, who held it for sixty years, and visited it just once, and no more. No resident clergyman, no mansionhouse, were to be found on the spot; but there was a deep soil, and roads altogether unpassable for any sort of vehicle. I succeeded to the property in VOL. II. (1833) No. II. 1816, and in 1820 enclosed it by Act of Parliament. The 100 acres of heath were very indifferent, wet land; but capable of producing corn by management and some expense. The commissioner advised me to set apart eight acres of this land for the poor of the tithing. It is to the distribution of this small plot of ground that I am particularly anxious to draw attention. Several friends endeavoured to dissuade me from this application. They have now for ten years, however, been most successfully cultivated, and have proved a source of comfort to my village population, and happiness to myself. My village is a good deal scattered; the population about 160 souls; and the heads of the cottage families, about eighteen. The land was, upon an average, about a quarter of a mile from each cottage. The price of this heath, to the farmer, was 16s. per acre, for a term of fourteen years-a moderate rent, in consideration of its being cleansed from the heath, furze, and briars. The cottagers had it at the same rent, but from year to year only; no stipulation was made with the latter that in no event should they receive parish relief, while holding the land -no threat that, if they should accidentally require such aid, they should be expelled from their holding-nothing, in short, to awaken their fears, or alarm their jealousies. No cottager had more than half an acre; some, indeed, rather less, according to the strength of the family; a few declined it, and what they refused was given to others. In the spring, then, of 1820, these U allotments were measured, dug, and planted with potatoes. In the autumn of that year, I fitted up a cottage in the village for my own residence, during three months of the autumn, which professional engagements allowed me to enjoy in the country; and from this time I speak of these things from personal observation. I believe I am correct in saying that, in 1820, not one of these humble tenants had either a pig-stye, or a pig. The crops of potatoes for the first year, the produce of the fresh soil, were very abundant. In the following year, and ever since, with slight exceptions, the land has been cropped as follows:-One half of the half acre, viz. one quarter wheat, and one quarter potatoes; about half the latter portion bears a coarse and very prolific potatoe for the pig; the remainder, a better sort, for the family. From this one quarter of an acre of wheat, after reserving enough to exchange with some farmer for fresh seed, together with the potatoes, a great progress is made towards the sustenance of the family for the whole year. I must remind you, that my restricted quantity of land does not prevent the earning of weekly wages besides. The stubble is carefully cut and stacked, with which the pig is foddered till Christmas, when he is generally killed, and the manure is thus procured for the following sea farmer. I have known only one instance of these humble cultivators receiving parish relief—a man seventy-five years of age, who disabled his hand by the breaking of a rail. The rent has been most cheerfully and regularly paid, without any request for reduction; although all my farmers' rents, since 1821, have been lowered 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 per cent.; and although the wages which they may have earned have been on a very reduced, infinitely too reduced, a scale. Thus, then, for ten years, has this plan been fairly tried, and has perfectly answered. I have never seen a failing crop; on the contrary, the produce of the spade has exceeded, by at least a fourth, that of the plough over the neighbouring hedge, on precisely the same soil. The gentleman who has made this communication states, that he has been enabled to trace a very decided moral result from his arrangements. Upon his first residing in the village, he found the people neglected, poor, uncivil, thieves, poachers, mischievous, and idle; but now they are certainly contented, civil, laborious, and honest. Eight years ago he suffered for encouraging the good and punishing the dissolute, and had his plantations twice broken down and destroyed; but during the late tumults, the villagers came forward on two occasions to protect his property. Such scenes as these are worthy of contemplation; and the ultimate effect on the public mind must be good and profitable to the improvement of the human race. The condition of the labouring poor in this country cannot be too frequently urged on the attention of its more intelligent inhabitants, because the sooner a remedy is discovered for the moral disease by which they are nigh overwhelmed, the sooner shall we all get rid of the |