ing Breglio we ascended the course of this river till it narrowed into a defile between two rocks, on entering which the town of Saorgio appears, after a mile or two, piled on the top and shelving side of the precipice to the right in a singular manner. The architect who planned it must have taken his idea from a colony of swallows' nests in a sand-rock, for it seems hardly possible to get to or from it without wings: to judge of it from the road, there is no room or footing for streets; a man might jump down the chimney of his neighbour's house, or be dashed to pieces on its roof, by leaping from his own ground floor; and the fall of a house in the upper tier would probably open a clear downward passage to the valley. A traveller desirous of making a sketch of what is an unique thing in its way, would do well to get three hours start of his carriage from Breglio, and scramble among the heights to the right of the river, for a point which gives a more accurate idea of Saorgio than we could obtain from the valley. The view is attempted in aquatinta in Beaumont's Maritime Alps, and badly as it is executed, the original drawing must have been good, and, as far as I can judge, have given an accurate idea of it." P. 281. Mr. Hughes quits his readers on his arrival in Switzerland; and most of them, we doubt not, from the above specimen of bis powers of describing mountain scenery, will regret his abrupt departure, as much as we do. ART. V. Sermons delivered chiefly in the Chapel of the East India College. By the Rev. Charles Webb le Bas, A.M., Professor of Mathematics in the East India College, Hertfordshire, Rector of St. Paul, Shadwell, and late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Murray. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 1822. SINCE they who take upon themselves the office of criticism may be classed with those "qui de rebus dubiis consultant," it certainly becomes them "ab odio, amicitiâ, irâ atque misericordiâ vacuos esse." We find it necessary to arm ourselves with this reflection in giving an account of the volume before us, because we are no strangers to the talents and character of its estimable author. We sat down to its perusal with the expectation of no ordinary gratification, and we are bound to say, that we have not been disappointed. If this is the language rather of an advocate than a judge, we doubt not that the evidence which we have to produce will fully justify our assertion, and entitle us to the verdict of our readers. The author of these discourses has possessed an advantage. in their composition, (so at least we imagine,) not usually be longing to his reverend brethren. Nearly the whole of them have been preached in and probably written for the Chapel of the East India College. The writer, therefore, had in view, we presume, an unmixed congregation, and one of whose sentiments and acquirements from the station which he occupies, he could form a. tolerably correct estimate. This we conceive must afford great facility in the composition of a sermon, as we have known clergymen to be much embarrassed in adapting their addresses to congregations consisting of very discordant materials: and unable on that account to preserve the unities, if we may use the expression, of a discourse. This, perhaps it will be thought, concerns rather the style, which is undoubtedly of secondary importance, than the matter of productions of this sort. We do not dispute it. But this is the very reason which makes these observations peculiarly applicable to the subject before us. For we are much mistaken, if it is not the style of these Sermons, about which any considerable difference of opinion will be entertained by competent judges. Simplicity of diction is certainly not a quality which Mr. le Bas is ambitious of attaining. On the contrary, his pages teem with rhetorical ornaments in unsparing profusion. Not that his figures are ill chosen, his metaphors incongruous, or his epithets merely expletive. But that he seems to be unwilling to trust any thing to his hearers' imagination. He appears to be over anxious to develope his ideas with needless minuteness. If these are blemishes in his pages, they are still very different from those glittering but worthless decorations which feeble writers can often command. If his colours are strong, they are laid on with the hand of a master. If his ornaments are splendid, they are also of solid worth. If they seem too abundant they are but the overflowing of a mind, well stored with the riches of ancient and modern literature. But it is time to do justice both to ourselves and the anthor, by producing some examples both of his excellencies and defects. The subjects of these Sermons appear to us in general well selected, and the preacher seldom neglects an opportunity of applying them forcibly and judiciously to the circumstances of his youthful hearers. The second Sermon, upon the folly of self conceit, is an instance of this kind: and it is also eminently free from the fault to which we have alluded. After having observed that teachable and honest mediocrity is always attended with a fair hope of improve ment;" and that "mere infirmity of intellect is, alone, no adequate reason for abandoning the task of instruction." He proceeds to say "Now, that very quality which may preserve even to dulness itself the chance of amelioration, is necessarily wanting to him who is wise in his own conceit; namely, a tractable and docile temper. It would indeed be nothing less than a contradiction to imagine, that two such opposite qualities should grow up together in the same character. Whenever, therefore, a feeling of self sufficiency takes possession of a mind, even of more than ordinary strength, there is danger of its shutting out all prospect of effectual improvement. The nature of the infirmity tends to make the attainment of excellence impracticable. For what exertions will be made by one who is content with his acquisitions? What anxiety for knowledge can be felt by one who conceives the stores already in his possession to be abundantly sufficient for his use and guidance? How can it be expected that a painful course of exercise, requisite for giving vigour and alacrity to the mental powers, should be submitted to by him who believes his own faculties to stand in little need of improvement? At all events, how is it possible that he should adopt the counsel of others, in framing the proper course of discipline, if he can already feel an undisturbed reliance on his own sagacity and judgment? So long as a person is under the influence of such perverse assurance, he is of course far beyond the reach of remonstrance or admonition. To him who knows better than the rest of mankind, instruction or advice must needs appear impertinent. And, accordingly it is found, that all who are well satisfied with themselves, feel as an affront any intimation, that for them any assistance or direction can be necessary. The attempt to help or to guide them is instantly resented as an interruption to their dream of self complacency; and in this intoxication they move carelessly forward, till the fumes of it are dissipated by the shock of some calamity or disgrace, which awakens them at last, perhaps too late, to the dreary realities of their own weakness and ignorance." The heart of many a parent, we fear, will bear painful testimony to the truth of the judicious remarks which we shall next extract. We deem it of too much practical utility not to be willing to contribute to its circulation: though we are well aware, that it is one of those lessons of wisdom which it is much easier to promulgate than to practise. "Above all things, a premature excitement of ability should be scrupulously avoided, a vicious and unnatural process, utterly destructive of that modest simplicity which is the peculiar grace of childhood and of youth. No words can describe or enumerate the mischiefs of that dangerous fondness which lavishes admira tion and applause on the sallies of boyish vivacity; which makes the language of measured commendation seem ungracious, and renders that of rebuke intolerable. Little do parents imagine that they are often incurably enervating those very powers which they seem to themselves to be cherishing and confirming that, instead of preparing an estimable and distinguished member of the great brotherhood of mankind, they are, perhaps, but dedicating an unhappy victim to disappointment and disgrace. Where the favours of nature have been thus abused, the easy triumphs of youthful talent furnish no augury of future and sustained success. On the contrary, they are fearfully ominous of ultimate failure and defeat. By a sort of fatal magic they arrest the progress of the mind. They consign the man to the dominion of a self-complacent spirit, which binds him in invisible fetters, while the race is won from him by the steady pace of humble and meritorious diligence." The fifth Sermon, upon the death of our late lamented Princess Charlotte, is characterized by a display of those feelings which were then, indeed, universal; but which, by no one (so far as we recollect) were more happily expressed than by the present author. He takes occasion from that calamitous event, to shew the influence of Christianity upon the relations of sovereigns and subjects. "The Christian is taught (says he) to regard his rulers as holding an office, which, in some shape or other, is, by the appointment of Omnipotence, absolutely necessary for the preservation of social and civilized man, and yet, at the same time to consider them as beings who are in perpetual need of the prayers even of the humblest of their subjects." And when he comes to depict the sentiment of loyalty, he reminds us of some of those glowing descriptions which were poured forth by Mr. Burke at the commencement of the French revolution, to counteract the mischiefs which he apprehended from that disastrous occurrence. He considers it as "A feeling of personal sympathy and attachment, mixed with the more sedate principle of mere political allegiance. The two feelings exalt, embellish, and harmonize each other. By a kindly but powerful assimilation, they coalesce into one amiable and lofty sentiment of devoted loyalty a sentiment which combines all that is dignified in patriotism, with all that is beautiful and lovely in private and domestic affection." He deprecates the dissolution of these principles in the most earnest manner; and illustrates the benefit of their union by a simile which is equally elegant and just. "As an exercise of moral speculation, (he admits) it may be safe and instructive to separate the principle of loyalty, like any other mixed motive, into its component elements: but in practice, (he contends) the combination should be indissoluble. The light of Heaven that guides and gladdens us, may, by the researches and experiments of science, be untwisted into those distinct rays of various property and colour which are exhibited in the rainbow: but it is to the constant intimate union of them all, we owe that genial, uniform, and glorious element which ministers to the daily purposes and enjoyments of life." But although the loyalty which this eloquent preacher so properly inculcates, is of no tame or equivocal a character, he is no advocate (as we find in the Sermon upon the death of George III.) for that abuse of the Christian doctrine of submission which would apply it even to those extreme cases which are manifest exceptions from the general rule. He would probably allow, that the tyranny of a Nero, though a legitimate monarch, might be lawfully resisted and that the dominion of a Robespierre and his colleagues, whilst it might have been called that of " the powers that be," ought not to have been held sacred. "It is true (he observes) that the unassailable divinity of all kingly rights and prerogatives, and the heavenly origin of those distinctions which invest the privileged orders, are notions which, considered merely in the light of political doctrine, have in them something dangerous,' which our nature does well to fear. By gross abuse, they may become destructive of all the beneficial purposes for which governments are established. They may be forced into the service of remorseless ambition, or slavish bigotry." But, whilst he declines the office of an apologist for tyranny and misrule, he appears to be well aware that "the madness of the people" is an evil much more to be apprehended and against which it is therefore more necessary to guard. The recollection of a period, which we all but too well remember, and which, we trust, we shall not have again to witness, draws from him this burst of eloquence. The admirers of ardentia verba, will probably be abundantly gratified with it. "In those days, men were almost tempted to imagine that the angel * of the Apocalypse had poured out the vial of divine wrath ; the signal of thunders and lightnings, and earthquakes; the forerunner of a great voice from the temple of heaven, and from the throne of God, proclaiming the approach of some dreadful consummation to the sons of men. It seemed as if the mystic meteor†, described by the Apostle in prophetic vision, had gone forth from Rev. xvi. 17. + Rev. viii. 8. 11, 12. |