The Press.
London, England, 1858-10-09 00:00:00

THE PItE S S, OCTOBER 9, 1858.

Liturgical services consisting of composed
prayers, of portions of lloly Writ, collects,
epistles, gospels, along with hymns, the sermon,
the service being aided by sacred music.
This variety acknowledged by the Church has
been too often neglected by the writers of
volumes meant to assist in religious contempla-
tion, and it is the merit of this little work
(261 pp.) that its author has given much matter
within a moderate space. We must, however,
frankly say that Mr. Shepherd's prose is better
than his poetry. Ile is not a practised versifier,
and he does not appreciate the niceties of rhythm
with a delicately poetical ear, and many of his
stanzas are rough. The idea, however, of the
volume is excellent. It is a commentary of a
practical kind on the life and character of David,
under the heads Of "His Innocence and Peace,"
" Manhood," "Exile," "Flesh and Spirit," " Do-
mestic Troubles," " Holy Meditations," &c. &c.,
thirteen chapters being devoted to the vicissitudes
of David's life. Mr. Shepherd perfectly under-
stands the character of David. He writes of
him :

David was a man of no ordinary character. Divested,
indeed, of that spirituality which belongs to him as a
chosen instrument in the hands of Divine Providence for
the carrying on his great purpose of the redemption of the
ir.rld by the seed of the woman, as a patriot, a a•atesman,
a king, a warrior, or a poet, he may bear comparison with
any of the loftiest or most mighty of the worthies of
Greece or Rome. He was not only a patriot who drew
into one the scattered and divided tribes of Israel, as did
Egbert the opposing kingdoms of the Heptarchy in our
own country, and thus became the founder of a royal line
of kings and an united kingdom, but his dominion was
made typical of an everlasting kingdom. He stands out
pre-eminent and distinct from all others ; that in him, and
in his line, was concentrated the first, full, clear personal
identification of the great promise, which, announced in
Paradise, and repeated and enlarged in various degrees,
and nnder different circumstances, by types, and revelations,
and prophecies, to individuals, and heads of families and
tribes, was at length limited to one tribe only, and then to
one family in that tribe, the tribe of Judsh, and the family
of David. For the promise of the redemption had been
given to our first parents as the common heads of the
human race in general terms, expressed by the victory
of the seed of the woman over the old serpent.

That is the character of David considered ob-
jectively in the Jewish history, but in our age it
is the subjective character of David which comes
home most strongly to the feelings of men. As
Mr. Shepherd truly says,—
But high and distinguished u David thus was beyond
other men, as placing his family above all other families
and tribes of Israel, and making his a name of peculiar
distinction throughout all ages to the end of time, the
Spirit of God has caused his history to be written as that
of a man highly favoured indeed of God, and raised up for
great and important purposes; but a man of like passions
with ourselves, liable to sin, and guilty of grievous and
actual transgressions; and not only subject to the ‘icissi-
titles of human life, but one who experienced trials most
distressing, and calamities and sufferings in a degree not
less painful and humiliating than were his successes
glorious and triumphant. These facts are recorded with
all the plainness and sincerity of truth in the Old Testa-
ment, and the record affords a strong collateral evidence of
the authenticity of a revelation, which needed not " the
meretricious aid of ornament " to recommend it to the
adoption and acceptance of even the loftiest genius.

These views of David's life and mission are ably
elucidated in detail in this volume, and the com-
mentary is full and interesting.
We know of no living poet who could " im-
prove" the Psalms of David, as they stand in the
F.nglish Bible, by rendering them into verse. We
prefer them as they are to any ornamentation of
them by the application of sound ; and we be-
lieve that an overwhelming majority of critics
would agree with us in that opinion. We are
aware, however, that there are some persons so
enslaved by sound that they would like the whole
Bible put into English verse, and reduced to the
level of a hymnological collection. The Psalms
of David as they stand are most sublime and
affecting poetry, and considered metrically they
may be taken as blank verse of the noblest kind.
Even with reference to their language, as apart
from their though.:, we could never lower them
to mere prose compositions. If however, it
should be attempted to render them in English
verse, the adapter should carefully consider his
own poetical resources. When an actor thinks
of taking up as a specialty the delineation of
French. Scotch, or Irish character, there is
always the prime necessity of being a good
general performer, and being thoroughly conver-
sant with the business of the stage ; and trans-
lators and adapters in poetry should first possess
the " accomplishments in verse " before they
attempt to render the poetical thoughts of
others.

A more arduous poetical task could scarcely
be undertaken than to give a lyrical rendering in
English verse of the 'Psalms of David. Even
Tennyson, with all his sweetness and richness of
diction, would not, in our opinion, be equal to
such a labour. The mind of our present Lau-
reate is too delicately fashioned, his sense of the
exquisite too often borders on the finically fasti-
dious, to suit him for the office of rendering the
Psalms of David into lyrical verse. Milton,
Dryden, Gray, and Byron had that command
over grand and swelling harmonies of sound, and
that familiarity with the laws of metre, requisite
for the task. Gray was cold and classically
frigid, and both Dryden and Byron wanted that
spirituality of soul required for giving full
utterance to the upbraidings of a religious con-
science. In saying this, we do not forget that in
Tennyson's " Morte d'Arthur " there are some
noble expressions of the grandest rhythm in blank
verse ; as, for example, the opening of that fine
fragment :

So all day long the noise of battle rolled
Among the mountains by the winter sea,
Until King Arthur's table man by wan
Hal fall'n in Lyoness about their Lord
King Arthur.
And again :

Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest,
From spur to plume a star of tournament,
Shot through the lists at Camelot, and charged
Before the eyes of ladies and of kings.
Byron also, even in the "Hebrew Melodies,"
which are not amongst his greatest proofs of
power, has given some exquisite specimens of
metrical mastery. Mrs. Grant of Laggan used
to say that she could never hear or read the
lines,
Oh I weep for those that wept by Babel's stream,
without her eyes filling with tears. The last
stanza of that poem is certainly most affect-
mg:—
Tribes of the wandering feet and weary breast,
How shall ye flee away and be at rest.
The wild dove hath her nest, the Ms his cave,
Mankind their country—lsrael but the .grave I
The two concluding lines, with the pause in the
middle of the last, are very fine as specimens of
pathetic utterance ; and " The Siege of Sen-
nacherib " is a familiar instance of Byron's com-
mand of swelling verse. Dryden's notion of
turning the " Paradise Lost" of Milton into
prose verse, with rhymed couplets varied by
triplets and an occasional Alexandrine, is an
instance of bad taste, and one might therefore
doubt whether he could appreciate the austere
and noble simplicity of the Psalms of David as
they now stand in our Bible. We are, however,
firmly convinced that any English lyrical form of
the Psalms would not improve their grandeur or
sublimity of effect. If sweetness and pathos
were aimed at by the adapter of the Psalms,
he should take special care with the euphony of
his verse.
The first Psalm put into verse by Mr. Shep-
herd is the eighth—" Domine, Domine noster'
appointed to be read at Evening Prayer on the
first day of the month. Here is the way in
which Mr. Shepherd presents it :

PSALM VIII.

O Lord, oar Governor, bow excellent
In all the earth thy name ;
Who far above heaven's foftiest firmament,
Haat set thy glory's fame.
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, thou
Hast power and strength ordain'd ;
And, to bring down the proud avenger low,
Haat all thy foes reatraiu'd.
When to the heavens I lift my wondering eyes,

The work of thine own hands,
And muse upon the moon, and sun, and skies,
Ordained Is) thy commands :
Lord, what is man, that thou for him dust care,
Or visit as thine own ?
For him—though made less than the angels are--
. . .

I

Thou dost with honour crown,
And niatrat him have o'er all thy works control,
That he might subject keep
All sheep, and oxen, beasts and leather'd fowl,
And creatures of the deep.
0 Lord, our Governor, bow excellent,
In all the earth thy name !
The first stanza is unmusical; the first and third
lines do not scan to one metre ; there is a need-
less anapaest in the third line; and the Ton-
tion of the " bast" thrice in the first
es
is unpleasing. In the fourth stanza, the juxta-
position of " thoug.h" and Thou" produces
false concord ; and several ether blemishes lull

strike our ears. But a still greater fault is in the
failing to render an equivalent for the sublime
.apression in the eighth verse as it is printed in
the Bible :
The fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea : and
trhateoever walketh through the paths of the seas.
The mystical grandeur of that verse is entirely
missed in Mr. Shepherd's version.
So, also, the version of Psalm LV. runs
thus :-
0 Lord, my God, unto my prayer give ear,
And do not from my supplication turn :
Attend unto me, and my pleadings hear;
In my complaint I make a noise and mourn.
Because the enemy his voice bath raised,
Because the wicked sorely me oppress;
For they iniquity upon me cast,
And in their wrath they hate with bitterness,
My heart is sorely psin'd, even to excess,
And death's dark terrors are around me spread ;
Trembling is come on me, and fearfulnebs,
And horror bath o'erwhelmed me with dread.
Here we have most unpleasing harshness pro-
duced by the extra use of the sibilant sound
of " s." The second and fourth, along with the
first and third, lines of two of those stanzas end
in ess." This is a most glaring fault, and many
others could be cited from the whole volume.
We cannot, therefore, accept this versification
of the Psalms as an adequate poetical rendering
of their extraordinary merits. But at the same
time we think that many who would not read the
metrical versions with too critical an eye might
be pleased with them. How well Mr. Shepherd
writes prose may be seen by the following eloquent
Passage :-
- - - • • • • •

The harp of Israel is mute : but the inspired songs of
David shall never cease to affect and cheer the heart of the
earthly pilgrim. They have been the joy and delight of
countless myriads of souls through all ages. Prophets
and sages have made them their models. The Son of
David hallowed their importance by frequently using
expressions taken from them. The Apostles of the
Saviour drew largely from them, in their application of
the truth of the Old Testament perfected in the New.
They form a large portion of the public service of various
branches of the Church of Christ on earth ; and from them
in ptivate do members of all denominations of professing
Christians derive comfort and consolation, instruction
and guidance in every phase of human life. And they
shall hereafter swell the chorus of those exalted strains in
the courts of blessedness, which shall eternally be sung
by the redeemed from every nation, and kindred, and
people, to "the lion of the tribe of Judah, the rock and
offspring of David, the bright and morning star," whose
everlasting song shall be '`Amen : blessing, and glory,
and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power
and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."
As an exposition of the life and character of
the great Psalmist Mr. Shepherd's book is ad-
mirable, and as a devotional volume, suited at
once for religious elevation and reflection, we
can strongly recommend it.

My Lady. A Tale of Modern Life. Two
Vols. London : Smith, and Elder.
TRH is one of those numerous stories published
of late years in which a polished simplicity of
style, and some actual acquaintance with the
manners which the author undertakes to
delineate, prevent us from feeling wearied by the
absence of more important qualities. Works of
this character are naturally very difficult to be
criticized, for they present no salient points, and
inculcate no striking truth. Like Stone's and
Redgrave's pictures, they are charming and ele-
gant tableaus. But to have read one is to have
read all. Good taste and refinement are now so
much more widely spread than they were within
even the memory of the present generation, that
the fashionable novelist at whom Mr. Thackeray
sneers is already obsolete. No novel now that
exhibited any gross misrepresentations of polite
soeiety would have a chance of acceptance with
a publisher. While, on the other hand, the very
Fame causes which proved fatal to the drama are
beginning gradually t,) tell upon the novel. The
increasing improbability of romantic adventures
and picturesque situations, and the decadence of
mystery on all sides of us, have narrowed the
sphere, as much as the preceding cause has
tended to assimilate the style, of all contempo-
rarynovelists. We are sadly afraid that novel-
Writing is becoming mechanical ; and we must
therefore be doubly on our guard against all
stones that to a graceful and attractive setting do
not add something solid or striking in the way of
character or moral.
distinctive
repeat, it is no easy matter to say anything
distuictive of the volumes now before us. Before,
however, we attempt to do so, we must give an