The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-28 00:00:00

LIIERATURE.

e

THE COURSE OF TIME.—LminoN,
There is no human composition that require::
loftier and.more'comprehensive powers than the
religious Epic. So much is expected from the
poet, who undertakes the task ; so much, varied
imagination, wild, transcendant, filling, yet grave,
consistent, and agreeing with received opinions ;-
so much decent, yet stately morality ; so much
Scriptural imagery and severe and copious
powers of thought and illustration ; that success
is, in nine cases out of ten, problematical, we
may almost add, impossible. Yet, with all these
difficulties staring him fully in the face ; - with a
mind tremblingly alive to the awful and compli-
cated nature of his subject; a poet has lately
been found daring enough to seize the harp of
Zion, and hymn with no uninspired or inglorious
voice, the Milleniuin, the Resurrection, and
the Judgment. Nay more, in the eagle.flight of
his intellect, he has even soared beyond Milton
—Angels are throughouthis spokesmen, Heaven
and Hell his scenes of action—Eternity his time ;-
lie keeps aloof from earth as from a pestilence,
wings his Way high up into the highest regions
of the Empyreum, and even stations himself full
in front of' the Almighty, whose words (strange to
say, without blasphemy) he presumes to listen to
and record. In his " Paradise Lost," Milton is
contented with giving hispoem a strong human in-
terest; hismost frequent and admired, though per-
haps itothis noblest, scenes are laid on earth, amidst
landscapes whose choicest merits arc their beauty
and luxuriance ; even .his daemons are full of hu-
manity, and his angels speak the language of
Food fellowship. In " The Course of Time" there
is little or no attempt at exciting human sympa-
thies ; the scene, as we said before, is laid exclu-
sively in Heaven ; and the time of action is sup-
poJed to be long after the destruction of the
world, when mankind have all departed to their
allotted stations in eternity. Though the Re-
surrection and the Judgment are introduced, yet
they form hut lengthy episodes, and inspire no
feelings hut that of wonder at the author's cold,
abstracted, but vigorous, imagination. Where
then, it will be asked, lies the chief merit of the
poem ? We answer, in a uniform boldness and
comprehensiveness of thought ; in a mode of ex-
pression full, redundant, yet suitable ; and, above
all, in striking powers of declamation. If Mr.
Pollok ever flags, it is assuredly not
,from
dity ; a sustained feeling of conscious 'Worth per-
vades his whole poem, and so forcibly impresses
itself on the - reader, as every where to extort
from him a recognition of its worth.
In his first. book he introduces an Angel, de-
scribing to a superior Archangel a place Aieh he
had lately passed in his progress through infinite
•••,..A*Y.acifiiit.
a 56.0 •
Suddenly before my ,eye $
A wall of fiery_ adamant SprUng up_
Wall mountainous; tremendous, flaming high
Above all flight of hope. I paused, and looked ;
And saw, where'er I looked upon that mound,
Sad figures traced in fire—uot motionless--
But imitating lifr :
Wide was the place,
And deep as wide, and ruinous as deep.
Beneath I saw a lake of burning fire, •• •
- With tempest test perpetually, and still
The waves of fiery darkness,'gsinst the rocks * -
Of dark damnation broke, and music made
of melancholy sort ; and over head, • ,
And w
all around,wind warred with wind, storm
howled
To storm, and lightning, forked lightning, crossed,
And thunder answered thunder, mutterin nds
Of sullen wrath ; and far as sight could pierce,
Or down descend in caves of hopeless depth,
Thro' all that dungeon of unfailing fire,
I 5-1 w most miserable beings walk,
Burning continually, yet unconsumll ed ;
For ever wasting, yet enduring sti;
Dyiug perpetually, yet never.dead.
Some wandered lonely in the desert times,
And some in fell encounter fiercely Tact, •
With curses loud, and blasphemies, that ntatie
The cheek of darkness pale.
The Archangel replies that this is Hell,. and,

ar'

at his earnest intreaty proceeds to acquaint his
interrogator with all the circumstances that took
place just previous and subsequent to the Mille-
nium, which events form the staple of the poem
—or the " Course of Time," as it is somewhat
vaguely styled. Alluding incidentally to the
crimes of mankind, that hastened on this Mille-
uiuni and Judgment, the Archangel observes, that
nature furnished them with perpetual monitors,
which are hinted at in the following elaborate
and highly poetic passage :--
The Seasons came and went, and went and came,
To teach men gratitude; and as they passed,
Gave warning of the lapse of time, that else
Had stolen unheeded by : the gentle flowers
Retired, and, stooping o'er the wilderness,
Talked of humility, and peace, and love.
The dews came down unseen at evening-tide,
And silently their bounties shed, to teach
Mankind unostentatious charity.
'With arm in arm the forest rose on high,
And lesson gave of brotherly regard.
And, on the rugged mountain-brow exposed,
Bearing the blast alone—the ancient oak
Stood, lifting higfa his mighty arm, and still
• To courage in distress exhorted loud.
The flocks, the herds, the birds, the streams, the
breeze,
Attuned the heart to melody and love.
Mercy stood in the cloud, with eye that wept
Essential love ; and, from her glorious bow,
Bending to kiss the earth in token of peace,
With her own lips, her gracious lips, which God
Of sweetest accent made, she whispered still,
She whispered to Revenge :—Forgire, forgive !
The Sun rejoicing round the earth, announctd
Daily the wisdom, power, and love of God.
The Moon awoke, and from her maiden face,
Shedding her cloudy locks, looked meekly forth,
And with her virgin stars walked in the heavens,
Walked nightly there, conversing as she walked,
Of purity, and holiness, and God.
In dreams and visions sleep instructed much.
Day uttered speech to day, and night to night
Taught knowledge : silence had a tongue : the grave,
The darkness, and the lonely waste, had each
A tongue, that ever said—Man! think of God !
Think of thyself I think of eternity !
Fear God, the thunders said ; fear God, the waves;
Fear God, the lightning of the storm replied ;
Fear God, deep loudly answered back to deep,
I?' -
le The remaining portions of the first volum?
describe the state of the world previous to the
Judgment-day; but though abounding in food
for thought, and felicities of expression, are cold
and indefinite, and apparently without a purpose.
The sum total is, that human nature—a very
unfounded vulgarism—is as bad as it can be ;
that philosophy is worthless, poetry superfluous ;
that nothing, in fact, is of value but religion.
Passing these eloquent but tedious diatribes, we
come to Book 6th, which details at great Tenth
the fearful signs that usher in the last day. Ihe
passages are full of sublimity, and the lines,
which we have purposely marked in Italics, as
fine as anything in English poetry :
Hark! louder on the blast, come hollow shrieks
Of dissolution ! in the fitful scowl
Of night, near and more near, angels of death
Incessant flap their deadly wings and roar
Thro' all the fevered air ; the mountains rock.
Night comes, last night; thelong dark, dark, dark night,
That has no morn beyond it, and no star.
No eye of man hath seen a night like this!
Heaven's trampled justice girds itself for fight;
Earth to thy knees, and cry for mercy! cry
With earnest heart ; for thou art growing old
And hoary, unrepented, unforgiven.
Sun ! glorying in tky strength from age to age,
Tell all the nations, tell the clouds that sit
About the portals of the east and west,
And wanton with thy golden locks, to wait
Thee not to-morrow ; for no morrow comes ;
Stars ! walking on the pa-ement of the sky ;
Out-sentinels of heaven ! watching the earth,
Cease dancing now : your lamps are growing dim.
Your groves ore dug among the dismal clouds ;
And angels are assembling round your bier.—
What harp shall sing the dying sun asleep,
And mourn behind the funeral of the moon !
Hold, hold your hands ; bold angels; God laments,
And draws a elbud of mourning round his throne ;
The Organ of eternity is mute ;
4i,nd there is silence in the Heaven of heavens.
*
The cattle looked with meaning face on man :
And there were sights that none had seen before;
And hollow, strange, unprecedented sounds:
And earnest whisperings ran along the hills
At dead of night ; and long, deep, endless sighs,
Came from the dreary vale ; and from the waste
Came horrid shrieks, and fierce unearthly groans; '
The wail of evil spirits, that now felt
• The hour of utter vengeance near at hand.
The winds from every quarter blew at once,
And shapes, strange shapes ! in winding sheets were seen,
Gliding thro' night, and singing funeral songs,
And imitating sad sepulchral rites :
And voices talked asnong the clouds ; and still
Tke words that men could catch, were spoken of them.
We have given, beyond our wont, profuse
extracts from this poem, for it is one, through
abounding in defects, of transcendant excellence.
Its author's genius, we have observed, is bold
and striking in character. The following passage,
selected from a hundred similar ones, may be
quoted in proof of our assertions. Speaking-of
a miser, he says—
He sat among his bap, and with a look
Which hell might be ashaned of; drove the poor
Away unalms'd.
Philosophy is thus summarily disposed of
A strange belief that lean'd its idiot hack
;.1,. On folly's topmost twig.
'o,t Me human heart is styled
I A temple of the Holy Ghost, and yet
••• Oft lodging fiends.
Describing Almighty wrath, the author tells us,
So saying, God grew dark with utter gloom.
This last line is as daring as any in Milton, but
though the poem abounds in such, it is never-
theless, as a whole, tedious and uninteresting.
Its chief defect is its utter absence of all charac-
ter ; there is no drama, no acting about it : all
is declamation, magnificent certainly, but chill-
ing and rhetorical. Moreover, it has no unity
of action ; no working out, as in the fall of man,
of one particular event. The subject is split into
detached- fragments ; it wants a continuous in-
terest. In his devotional temperament, the au-
thor is still more unfortunate. His is not the
calm, fervid, benignant piety of the philanthro-
pist, but the repulsive enthusiasm of the devotee;
it has A. strong sectarian spirit about it, is
uneasy, minaceous, indefinite, and " deals darn-
nation round the land" with the heartiness of a
Whitfield or an Irving. In addition to all this
we are convinced that Mr. Pollok is a man
whose mind, naturally ambitious, has been soured
by.disappointment. The spirit of his poem may
be judged of from the following passages, which
we can assure the reader convey, in a few words,
a most
im
correctan ~eanalysis
drank a cup ofearthly
o f character A It
sort,
That might not held another drop of gall';
Oh,
Or, in his deepest sorrow, laid his head
Upon a pillow, set so close with thorns,
That Might not held another prickle still.
. Ask not if these shall ever be redeemed,
They 'ls44Ar - • •
never shall.
prom the very nature of this misanthropy, Mr.
Pollok has an almost unlimited power over the
wild . and the awful ; he revels in gloom, and
displays in many places a power of sarcasm
worthy of Byron himself. A little more charity
—a little more sunshine, and a little less de-
spondency thrown into his poem, would have
wondrously improved its
quality. It is not how-
ever for us to condemn, its author has now gone
to his last account ; his day-dream is ended.; al-
ready he stands before that God whom he has
iendered so terrific in hie pages and few, judging

from the blameless tenor of his life, have less
cause to fear that in his case, his Creator will
" grow dark with utter gloom."

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t-Tt:; -

LONDON.
MONDAY EVENING, JULY 2S, 1828.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

This day concluded a Session of Parliament
more remarkable for its protracted delay, and
the Ministerial changes which occurred during
its progress, than for any good which has been
effected for the public interests—always excepting
the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts—that
one great measure of national justice, and source
of public harmony and tranquillity. Another
Session may behold under better auspices the
consolidation of our national greatness and
strength, by the repeal of those odious laws
which shut out one-third of the people from
the rights of Citizenship. Let us hope that
our Ministers may learn wisdom by the
experience of the past, and devote their
best attention, during the recess of Parlia-
ment, to the framing of such measures as
may really be for the welfare of ALL his MA -
JESTY'S subjects, without any favour or affection
to the prejudices of self-interested individuals.
No Government can be truly popular, no
nation truly strong, unless public safety and
public prosperity be the first objects of their
united care. Let Catholic Emancipation but give
peace to Ireland, and our national safety will be as
secure as our prosperity will be certain.
The state of his MAJESTY'S health not en-
abling him to prorogue Parliament in person, it
was done by Commission.
At tea minutes to three o'clock, the Lords
Commissioners having taken their seats on the
bench before the Throne, the Deputy Usher of

the Black Rod was sent to summon the attend-
ance of the Commons, to hear His MAJESTY'S
Commissions read for giving the Royal Assent
to certain Bills, and also for Proroguing the Par-

liament.
The Commissioners were—the LORD CHAN-
CELLOR, the Duke of WELLINGTON, Earl
of SHAFTESBURY, Viscount MELVILLE, and
Lord ELLENBOROUGH.
The SPEAKER shortly afterwards made his
appearance at the Bar, accompanied by several
Members.
The Royal Assent was then given to the
Appropriation of Aids Bill, the Sugar Bill,
the Benefices Registration Act, the Savings
Banks' Bill, and the Walcot Charity Estates
Bill.

The LORD CHANCELLLoR then read his
.IAJESI'Y's which Speech,
MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,
We are commanded, by his MAJESTY to acquaint
you that the Business of the Session having been
brought to a close, His MAJESTY is enabled to release
you from your attendance 'in Parliament.
His MAJESTY commands us, at the same time, to
return to you his warm acknowledgments for the
zeal and diligence with which you have applied
yourselves to the consideration of many subjects of
great importance to the Public Welfare.
The provision which you have made for the re-
gulation for the Import of Corn, combining ade-
quate Protection for Domestic Agriculture, with
due precaution against the consequences of a Defi-
cient Harvest, will, in the confident expectation of
His MAJESTY, promote the inseparable Interests of
all Classes of His Subjects.
We are commanded by His MAJESTY to acquaint
you, that His MAJESTY continues to receive from
his Allies, and from all Foreign Powers, assurance&
of their friendly dispositions towards this Country.
The endeavours of his MAJESTY to effect the
Pacification of Greece, in concert with His Allies
the King of FRANCE and the Emperor of Russia,
have continued unabated.
His Imperial Majesty has found himself under
the necessity of declaring War against the Ottoman
Porte, upon grounds concerning exclusively the In-
terests of His own Dominions, and unconnected
with the Stipulations of the Treaty of the Gth of
July, 1827.
His MAJESTY deeply laments the occurrence of
these Hostilities, and will omit no effort of friendly
interposition to restore peace.
The Determination of the Powers, Parties to the
Treaty of the Gth of July, to effect the Objects of
that Treaty remains unchanged.
His Imperial Majesty has consented to waive
the exercise in the Mediterranean Sea of any
rights appertaining to His IMPERIAL MAJESTY, in
the character of a Belligerent Power, and to recall
the separate instructions which had been given to
the Commander of his Naval Forces in that Sea, di-
recting hostile operations against the Ottoman Porte.
His MAJESTY wilt, thefefOre, continue to com-
bine his efforts with those of the King of FRANCE
and His IMPERIAL MAJESTY, for the purpose of
carrying into complete execution, the stipulations of
the Treaty of London.
His MAJESTY'S commands us to acquaint you,
that His MAJESTY had every reason to hope when
he last addressed you, that the arrangements which
had been made for administering the Government
of Portugal, until the period at which the Empe-
ror of I3RAZIL should have completed his Abdica-
tion of the Throne of Portugal, would have secured
the Peace, and promoted the Happiness of a
Country, in the welfare of which His MAJESTY
has ever taken the deepest interest. The just expecta-
tions of his MAJESTY have been disappoint-
ed, and Measures have been adopted in Portu-
gal, in disregard of the earnest advice
advice and repeated remonstrances of His MAJESTY,
which have compelled His MAJESTY and the other
Powers of Europe, acting in concert with His MA-

J ESTY—to withdraw their Representatives from

Lisbon.
His MAJESTY relies upon the wisdom of the
August Sovereign, the Head of the House of Bra-
ganza, to take the course which shall be best
calculated to maintain the Interests and Honour of
that Illustrious Family, and to secure the Peace and
Happiness of the Dominions over which it reigns.
GENTLEMEN OF THE HousE OF COMMONS,

We are commanded by his MAJESTY to thank
you for the Supplies which you have granted
to him for the service of the present year.
His MAJESTY Mill apply them, with the
utmost regard to Economy, and will continue
a deliberate Revision of the several Public Esta-
blishments, with a view to any further reduction
which may be compatible with the Dignity of the
Crown, and with the permanent interests of the
Country.
MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,

His MAJESTY commands us to congratulate you
upon tile general prosperity of the country, and upon
the satisfactory state of the Public Revenue.

His MA.miTY contemplates the increase of one
Financial Resources with peculiar gratification, on
account of the decisive proof which it Exhibits, that
the condition of his subjects is one of progressive
Improvement.
His MAJESTY commands us, in conclusion, to
assure you, that his unabated Exertions will be di-
rected to inculcate among Foreign Powers a
'spirit of mutual good-will,—and to encourage the
Industry, to extend the Commerce, and advance
the general welfare of his own Dominions.