The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-23 00:00:00

LIT.ERATURE.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ; a .21Taioza/ of Sacred
Verse. By the ..R.ev. Robert Montgomery.
This little volume ,nossesses many and peculiar
claims upon our attenti on and our sympathy. It is
a volume of poems by .Robert Montgomery, whose
muse has been silent for the last seven years. Its
theme is one that comes home to every Christian
amongst us, and its individual attractions are en-
hanced by the fact that this Christia.n4volume is de-
dicated to the most Christian cause of Charity. It was
of this little book that Mr. Disraeli spoke when, at
the recent festival in nid of the Brompton Hospital
for Consumption, he said, alluding to Mr. Mont-
gomery—
" The poet-preacher has placed upon the altar of this
charity a volume in which ho has embodied his own
feelings, and expressed yours. Ile has alao—one of the
most popular poets of the day—launchcd that volume
upon the waters to bring riches to your harbour, and give
its produce to fructify) our soil."
The money given to purchase this work will, there-
fore be " twice blest." It will bless those who give and
those who receive it, for the giver will thereby obtain
a manual of poetry and devotion, and the recipient
(the poor victim of consumption) will find that
shelter and assistance his sick frame snd drooping
heart so much require. One poem in this collection
peculiarly commemorates this object, aid it is, in
consequence, inscribed to Philip hose, the founder of
the hospital. It is called " The Dying Girl," and
draws a sad yet sweet picture of the decline and death
of a victim of the ecceittul disease—
With brillien .e ri her deep-set eyes
And on her ia,:c a hcalthless bloom;--
No harsh tranzi_p:ii, but a soft decay,
Like dream-born '..,nes of night that melt by dawn
away.
This dying maid& is one of the favoured one's,
whose pains are sel,:ed by all that love can devise or
wealth procure, at: her peaceful death forms indeed
a contrast to the c' rless lot of those for whom the
hospital is designe:.—

But, oh! unlike `hat beauteous maid
Who died is ..t_-cyy, truth, and prayer,
Millions expire a damp stones laid,
With none t: watch them wither ther2;—
Creedless and L: pcless, fevered, sad, and 10n...
Their life an aug,J.sh seems, their death a muffled

groan.
We have already, again and again, expressed our
anxious wishes tor the success of the romptom Hos-
pital; we can only reiterate those wishes and hope
that this volume may, in accordance with the benevo-
lent intention of its author, contribute to the assist-
ance of that very deserving charity. •To speak
now of the merits of the " Christian Lire" itself, we
may say briefly that it is a collection of beautiful and
holy thoughts, often beautifully, and always sweetly
expressed. It contains upwards of four hundred
pages, and in these are inscribed more than one hun-
dred and twenty poems. The subjects are of singular
diversity, but all tend in some way or other to illus-
trate various phases in " Christian Life." One
division, headed "My Prayer-book," for instance,
(comprising sixteen poems) refers to almost every
vicissitude of life. These various scenes are described
with a beautiful simplicity, and the high truths asso-
ciated with them all are often most happily referred
to, as, for instance, in these lines on "Baptism :"
Safe in His arms, thou mother mild,
With hope baptismal place tby child ;
And doubt not ..... . .
Henceforward, as a Priest and King
Thy babe becomes a sacred thing,
An heir of grace and glory.
In the poem commemorative of " Marriage" it is
beautifully said, in speaking of the bride's mixed
feelings of sorrow and happiness :
Our life is mystery; and the brightest joy
Tbat flushes round a feeling heart,
Seems-coldly shaded by some dim alloy,
Dooni'd never from man's world to part :
True mirth with mournfulness is oft allied,
As living babes suggest the ones who died.
And she, the bridal star of beauty now,
Oh m.irvel not, as there she kneels,
That ere the wife can dawn upon her brow,
Back to bright girlhood fancy steals ; •
Dead joys revive in tombs to fancy dear,
Melt through the heart, and mingle with a tear!
" The 'Visitation of the Sick" comes with peculiar
force from Mr. Montgomery's pen, when we remem-
ber it is his voice which so frequently ministers con-
solation to the sick and dying inmates of that hospital
of which he is so zealous a supporter. We might
quote many passages. in these four hundred pages,
in evidence of the truly Christian spirit of love and
faith with which the whole volume is suffused, or as
examples of the F.-2.e.tical h ssons gently suggested by
these poems, 11:,, `.car instance, those lines in the
stanzas comme:.: tting the " Third Beatitude—
Blessed are the :s` !"

lie ;hoe• ii %%as crucified
Throu Jut His sad career—
Whom ea.- abhorr'd, and man denied
One sy a:heti° tear,
By he•o-.i:• outrage, wrung, and hate,
This b•• ...,,n-burn lesson taught,—
That sou:.. :re not divinely
. 7ith Maleness fraught.
The Divine Tev.- surnring itze is • yet more
beautifully aline to in the to:lowing forceful