Howe'er performed, it was their brightest part,
That they proceeded from a grateful heart.
Cleansed in thine own all-purifying blood,
Forgive their evil, and accept their good.
I cast them at thy feet-my only plea
Is what it was-dependence upon thee:
While struggling in the vale of tears below,
That never failed, nor shall it fail me now.

Truth.

We confess that we are edified by this simple, yet sublime and holy piety.

It was from this source that Cowper drew the materials that have given to his writings the character of so elevated a morality. Too seldom, alas! have poets consecrated their powers to the cause of divine truth. In modern times, especially, we have witnessed a voluptuous imagery and appeal to the passions, in some highly-gifted writers, which have contributed to undermine public morality, and to tarnish the purity of female minds. But it is the honourable distinction of Cowper's poetry, that nothing is to be found to excite a blush on the cheek of modesty, nor a single line that requires to be blotted out. He has done much to introduce a purer and more exalted taste; he is the Poet of Nature, the Poet of the Heart and Conscience, and what is a still higher praise, the Poet of Christianity. He mingled the waters of Helicon with the hallowed streams of Siloam, and planted the cross amid the bowers of the muses. Johnson, indeed, has remarked that religion is not susceptible of poetry. If this be true, it can arise only from the want of religious authors and religious readers. But we venture to deny the position, and to maintain that religion

ennobles whatever it touches. In architecture, what building ever rivalled the magnificence of the temple of Jerusalem, St. Peter's in Rome, or the imposing grandeur of St. Paul's? In painting, what power of art can surpass the Transfiguration of a Raphael, the Ecce Homo of a Guido, or the Elevation and Descent of the Cross in a Rubens? In poetry, where shall we find a nobler production of human genius than the Paradise Lost? Again, let us listen to the language of the pious Fénelon :

"No Greek or Latin poetry is comparable to the Psalms. That which begins, The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken, and hath called up the earth,' exceeds whatever human imagination has produced. Neither Homer, nor any other poet, equals Isaiah, in describing the majesty of God, in whose presence empires are as a grain of sand, and the whole universe as a tent, which to-day is set up, and removed to-morrow. Sometimes, as when he paints the charms of peace, Isaiah has the softness and sweetness of an eclogue; at others, he soars above mortal conception. But what is there in profane antiquity comparable to the wailings of Jeremiah, when he mourns over the calamities of his people? or to Nahum, when he foresees in spirit the downfall of Nineveh, under the assault of an innumerable army? We almost behold the formidable host, and hear the arms and the chariots. Read Daniel, denouncing to Belshazzar the vengeance of God, ready to fall upon him; compare it with the most sublime passages of pagan antiquity; you find nothing comparable to it. It must be added that, in the Scriptures, every thing sustains itself; whether

we consider the historical, the legal, or the poetical part of it, the proper character appears in all."

It would be singular, if a subject which unveils to the eye of faith the glories of the invisible world, and which is to be a theme of gratitude and praise throughout eternity, could inspire no ardour in a poet's soul; and if the wings of imagination could take flight to every world save to that which is eternal. We leave our Montgomeries to refute so gross an error, and appeal with confidence to the page of Cowper.

We quote the following passage to show that religion can not only supply the noblest theme, but also communicate a corresponding sublimity of thought and language. It is the glowing and poetical description of the Millennial period. commencing with

Sweet is the harp of prophecy.

We have room only for the concluding portion

One song employs all nations, and all cry,

Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!"

The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks
Shout to each other, and the mountain tops
From distant mountains catch the flying joy;
Till nation after nation taught the strain,
Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round.
Behold the measure of the promise fill'd;
See Salem built, the labour of a god!
Bright as a sun the sacred city shines;
All kingdoms and all princes of the earth
Flock to that light; the glory of all lands
Flows into her; unbounded is her joy,
And endless her increase. Thy rams are there,
Nebaioth, and the flocks of Kedar there;

The looms of Ormus, and the mines of Ind,

And Saba's spicy groves pay tribute there.
Praise is in all her gates: upon her walls,
And in her streets, and in her spacious courts,
Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there
Kneels with the native of the farthest west;
And Ethiopia spreads abroad the hand,
And worships. Her report has travell❜d forth
Into all lands. From every clime they come
To see thy beauty, and to share thy joy,

O Sion! An assembly such as Earth

Saw never, such as Heaven stoops down to see.

Task, book vi. By this devotional strain of poetry, so adapted to the spirit of the present age, Cowper is rapidly accomplishing a revolution in the public taste, and creating a new race of readers. He is purifying the literary atmosphere from its noxious vapours. The muse has too long taken her flight downwards; Cowper leads her to hold communion with the skies. He has taught us that literary celebrity, acquired at the cost of public morals, is but an inglorious triumph, and merits no better title than that of splendid infamy. His page has fully proved that the varied field of nature, the scenes of domestic life, and the rich domain of moral and religious truth, are sufficiently ample for the exercise of poetic taste and fancy; while they never fail to tranquillize the mind, to invigorate the principles, and to enlarge the bounds of virtuous pleasure.

The writings of Cowper have also been highly beneficial to the Church of England. If he has been a severe, he has also been a faithful, monitor. We allude to such passages as the following-

There stands the messenger of truth: there stands
The legate of the skies?-His theme divine,

His office sacred, his credentials clear.
By him the violated law speaks out

Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet,
As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace.
He 'stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
Reclaims the wand'rer, binds the broken heart,
And, arm'd himself in panoply complete
Of heav'nly temper, furnishes with arms,
Bright as his own, and trains, by ev'ry rule
Of holy discipline, to glorious war,

The sacramental host of God's elect!

Are all such teachers? would to Heav'n all were!

I venerate the man,

Task, book ii.

whose heart is warm,

Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life,
Coincident, exhibit lucid proof

That he is honest in the sacred cause.

To such I render more than mere respect,

Whose actions say that they respect themselves.

But loose in morals, and in manners vain,

In conversation frivolous, in dress
Extreme-

From such Apostles, O ye mitred heads,

Preserve the church! and lay not careless hands
On sculls that cannot teach and will not learn.

There was a period when the chase was not considered to be incompatible with the functions of the sacred office. On this subject Cowper exclaims with just and indignant feeling

Is this the path of sanctity? Is this
To stand a way mark in the road to bliss?
Go cast your orders at your bishop's feet,

Send your dishonour'd gown to Monmouth-street!
The sacred function in your hands is made-

Sad sacrilege! no function, but a trade!

The Progress of Error.