PREFACE. Though divine the theme, 'Tis not in artful measures, in the chime And idle tinkling of a minstrel's lyre, To charm His ear, whose eye is on the heart, Whose frown can disappoint the proudest strain, THE following Poem is submitted to the public with great deference. The sublimity of the theme increases the responsibility of the Author, and renders him anything but sanguine as to the result. To those who may accuse him of arrogance, he can only reply, that he has approached his subject with no irreverent thought, or careless speed; nor is he aware that any available source, whereby light could be thrown on doctrine, scenę, or character, has been left unconsulted. What the delay of years might have effected, to render it more worthy the public attention, he will not venture to suggest. The Horatian advice, though often the critic's precept, has rarely been the poet's example: time and circumstance are to be duly estimated; and, in the present instance, it is hoped that some allowances will be made for the vivid impression produced on the mind from our earliest years, by the awful drama of the Redeemer's life; and also for the impulse of feelings accustomed to reflect on sacred themes,-which might demand a seraph's tongue, Were they not equal to their own support, And therefore no incompetence of mine Could do them wrong.-WORDSWORTH. ‹ To inbreed and cherish in a great people the seeds of virtue and public civility, to allay the perturbations of the mind, and set the affections in right tune; to celebrate in glorious and lofty hymns the throne and equipage of God's almightiness, to sing victorious agonies of saints and martyrs, the deeds and triumphs of just and pious nations doing valiantly against the enemies of Christ; lastly, whatsoever in religion is holy and sublime, in virtue amiable or grave; whatever hath passion or admiration in all the changes of that which is called fortune from without; or the wily subtleties or refluxes of man's thoughts from within,—all these things with a solid and tractable smoothness to paint out and describe,'-is the true aim of poetry, as set forth by the loftiest of all poets. To aspire after this, can form no man's disgrace; he may not secure fame, but assuredly he partakes a higher reward than reputation can bestow, while he endeavours to promote that elevation of mind, which constitutes the true enjoyment of a being whose destiny survives the world. Commenta opinionum delet dies, naturæ judicia confirmat.* On attacks, personal or otherwise, the Author has nothing to remark; nor does he wish to sully, by acrimonious discussion, pages dedicated, he fondly hopes, to a better and nobler purpose. If his writings and character have been misrepresented by anonymous foes, it is gratifying to remember, that they have neither subdued exertion, nor perverted his mind; much less have they lost him the esteem and friendship of many of the good and great of his country, which, but for his productions, he had never enjoyed. * Cicero. Lincoln College, Oxon, 1832. |