The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-27 00:00:00

7

THERE'S d LINING OF SILVER TO
EVERY CLOUD."

NY JONATHAN THRICE sLisosßY.
"Did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night ?"—Mtvrox.
One winter night dreary,
Dejected and weary,
I kept my lone vigil of sorrow and care ;
Mistrusting—mistaking—
.leip heart full to breaking—
My soul seeking comfort, and finding despair !
All wildly and chilly
The wind whistled shrilly,
Drifting the clout's o'er the desolate sky ;
Low moaned the ocean

In ceaseless commotion,
Nailing the spray of its billows on high !

Tearfully gleaming,
The young moon was beaming,
Struggling by fits through each gathering cloud ;

Faint light now shedding,
Dark shades now spreading,
Over the moonshine their vapoury shroud !

! thus," thought 1, sighing,
"From birth to our dying,
Niel course is a struggle through trial and gloom

Joy gives scarce a promise
That Grief rends not from us,
O'er the light of our life looms the shade of the tomb !"

But soon, to my wonder,
The cloud burst asunder.
And down through thefissure 110 W streamed the moon's light;
Soft fell its splendor,
So holy and tender,
In showers of sheen on the face of the night !

While all the cloud's margent
Was gleaming like argent,
Though earthward still sullen and dark was its shroud.
I krew that towards heaven
Its brightness was given
-A lining of silver spread over the cloud!

Then my soul rose in gladness,
And shook off its sadnes,
I felt God can turn all our darkness to light—

To-day what is sorrow -
Make joy on the morrow—
,Dry tears that are hiding His ztniles from our sight

I looked up, confessing
That Trial is Blessing,
To Him if each grief be spread out and avowpfl ;
What from earth Man sees gloOrning,
God afore is Blunting—
" There's a lining of silver to every cloud!"

REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

• The Works of William Cowper; with a Life of
the Author by Robert Southey, LL.D. Lon-
don: Henry 6. Bohn.
To the English reading public this edition of
Cowper's life, poems, and letters, got up under the
careful supervision of the late Dr. Southey, cannot
fail to be a great boon. By general consent,
Cowper is admitted to hold the foremost rank as a
Christian poet, his works abounding in the spirit of
Christian love, set forth with simple and impres-
sive earnestness, yet embellished and enriched by
the finest touches of poetic beauty; his letters are
by most judges held to be models of epistolary
ease and gracefulness; while his subdued and
melancholy life and history afford rare teachings of
that humility which it becomes children of the
dust to observe and practise in all their thoughts
and actions. The publication of Cowper's poetry
has been justly acknowledged to form an epoch in
the history of English literature, and its beauties
.to have exercised a purifying influence not alone
upon the poetry of England but upon the tone of
morals which pervades the higher class of intellec-
tual labour. To select and arrange and superin-
tend the publication of the works of such an author
was a task so peculiarly within the range of Dr.
Southey's taste and poweri; while his aptitude in
the minute delicacies and broad pencillings of bio-
graphical delineation, so well fitted him for an un-
exceptionable execution of the task, that not fewer
than three publishing firms of celebrity solicited
him to engage in the arduous and responsible ope-
Natim of producing a complete edition of Cowper's
works. Once embarked in the enterprise, Southey's 1
reputation secured him willing aid from all who
340
could assist him in his labour., and ready access to
every source whence information could be glean
his own industry and clear judgment supplyi
the only other intellectual requirements to com-
plete the undertaking. The felicitous combination 1
of these almost fortuitous advantages resulted in
the preparation of an edition of Cowper's Works
which reflected, as in a faultless mirror, " the form
and pressure" of the poet's intellect, the tender
aspirations of his benevolent hopes, the manly sim-
plicity v of his gentle yet ennobling piety, and the
.
harrassmg anxieties to which his susceptible nature
rendered him so completely a. prey. The poet, in
short, was made to show himself in native and
undisguised fidelity of thought and feeling ; his
biographer and editor contenting himself with
merely holding the lamp, whose rays he directed
-* with artistic skill, so concentrating the lights and
massing the shadows, as to present a truthful yet
interesting and unoffending picture, spirited as the
vigorous offspring of genius—elaborated with the
broad fidelity of truth—refined, chastened, sub-
dued by the discrimination of an artist, and
polished by the fastidious hand of regulated cul-
ture. Such a work, so produced, met with a
hearty welcome among the affluent admirers of
intellectual grace and beauty, hut its cost, neces-
sarily, limited the possession of such a treasure to
those whose circumstances place them above the
harrowing task of making " three guineas do the
work of five ;" and to bring the work NI, ithin reach
of the pecuniary means of the middle and even
humbler classes, has in the present instance been
the kindly and self-imposed duty of Mr. Bohn ; in
ttuaelerformance of which he has displayed his
usual liberality. Instead of abridging the original
to meet the income derivable from a low price, he
has amplified it by a considerable and valuable
amount of additional correspondence by Cowper,
and other interesting matter, trusting to an extensive
saleforhis chance of re-imbursement. The editionis
to consist of eight volumes, the first of which has
only as yet been published; it is handsomely
printed and beautifully embellished by illustrative;
engravings, and when completed it will form a
valuable addition to the library of peer or peasant.

The Universal Library, Nos. 25 and 26. London

N. Cooke,

These two numbers of this excellent collection of
the works of our best authors, are devoted, the one
to our poetical literature, the other to didactic lore.
The first, the poetical number, contains " The
Canterbury Tales" of Geofrey Chaucer, deservedly
considered the father of our English poetry. The
tales are introduced by an explanatory notice from
the pen of Mr. T. Wright, in which, with unob-
trusive and characteristic modesty, he confines his
remarks to the general excellence and admitted
popularity which have been accorded to the Thisnterbury Tales" for nearly four centuries. is
succeeded by a short historical sketch of the poet.
The text has been carefully collated with the best
MSS., and is furnished with illustrative notes ; in
additon to all which there is a copious and well-
digested glossary. In short, neither expense nor
pains have been spared in the endeavour to
render this edition of Chaucer worthy of public
confidence and esteem, and a fit companion of the
beautiful, though cheap series, of which it forms a
part. The other number is devoted to the miscel-
laneous prose efforts of Oliver Goldsmith, whose
literary wisdom formed so striking a contrast to
his worldly and personal folly and improvidence.
Of these essays it is only a repetition of the public
sentiment, recorded in an extensive and still increas-
ing popularity, to say, they are admirable models
of English composition, and that they are distin-
guished by the alluring display of practical dis- 4
crimination and sagacity, the want of which formed
the characteristic of Goldsmith's walk and conver-
sation through life. Several volumes of this hand-
some classical series being now ready for delivery,
they will form, singly or collectively,admirable Christ-
mas presents. They are in all respects beautifully
Rat up, and, from their cheapness, are readily
come-at-able by all.
Pulmonary Consumption, and its Treatment.
By W. M. Burslem, M.D. London : John
Churchill.
The attention of the medical faculty has for
"141n1;11 years beenanxiously devoted to the study of
?e3- ronlar consumption, with the humane view of
bgating its distressing frequency of attack, and
`",„,Ting its ravages, unfortunately, it must be ad-
as Itteci, without very valid grounds on which to
rt" 4
by the Pe of
ultimate success. Nothing daunted
depressing influence of obvious failure, one
practitioner after
one
~ another has zealously followed,
t, Path, another another, in their endeavour
less he msiduous origin, and arrest the relent-
much Irliteßs of this fatal malady, which, with too
pe:",1,4 has been designated Zt,The British
able men, aeazealous and disinterested studies of
could shed around all the lights which science
heuevolene
prompting's of them, and animated by the
been Unsparingly applied in the attempts to