France, and crippling a country which she had left too strong, and which would soon have outstripped her in prosperity. I found it im. possible to dispossess even men of sound judgement and great ability of this belief, preposterous as it is; and when they read the account of the luxuries which have been sent to St. Helena for his accommodation, they will consider it as the fullest proof of their opinion.' Part the second, is entitled the Vision. The Author supposes himself introduced by a grave and venerable personage to the top of a tower "whose frail foundations upon sand were placed," from which he may look down on the wanderings of the erring crowd below. With this sage, who proves to be a personification of the worldly wisdom of the sceptical philosophy, he enters into a conference, which is sustained with considerable spirit through the first two sections. The Poet does full justice to the sentiments of The Evil Prophet,' by giving them the utmost plausibility and force of expression; and our readers will instantly perceive from the following stanzas, that they are not the phantom opinions of an allegorical personage merely which he is combating. The old man, with hard eye 'unabashed and look serene,' replies to the poet's passionate objections to his lessons, by pointing to the field of slaughter beneath them, and proceeds: This but a page of the great book of war,- Till now thro' all its fatal changes past, Where now the hopes with which thine ardent youth Where now the reign of Liberty and Truth, The principles should make all discord cease, And bid poor human kind repose at length in peace? Behold the Bourbon to that throne by force The peace which thus at Waterloo ye won, Will France her ancient enmity forego? The roots remain untouched; and as of old But every where the swelling seeds of ill, Of strife to come; the powerful watching still Some specious business for the ambitious heart; pp. 125–132. A The third section is entitled The Sacred Mountain.' heavenly voice summons the poet, whom the old man's parting words had filled with consternation and doubt, to a green and sunny summit, • So fair As well with long lost Eden might compare.' The Author has employed all his exquisite powers of descrip tion upon the scenery of this celestial mountain: a heavenly virtue is in its atmosphere, to heal, and calm, and purify the 'breast.' He follows the Divine Monitress, till at length they • Came upon an inner glade, The holiest place that human eyes might see; By Nature's hand, and this the sanctuary; Of Life profusely flowed that all might drink. I felt a cold and piercing thrill pervade My loosened limbs, and losing sight and breath, Had I not clasped the Cross, and been supported there. My pain-I rose a renovated man, And would not now when that relief was known Even as the Eagle (ancient storyers say) When faint with years she feels her flagging wing, Soars up toward the mid sun's piercing ray, Then filled with fire into some living spring Plunges, and casting there her aged plumes, The vigorous strength of primal youth resumes: Such change in me that blessed Water wrought; The bitterness which from its fatal root, The tree derived with painful healing fraught, Passed clean away; and in its place the fruit Produced by virtue of that wondrous wave, The savour which in Paradise it gave, Now, said the heavenly Muse, thou mayst advance, Hath purified from flaw thy mortal sight, The boundless region where I wandered late, Nor clouds will there impede the strengthened sight: More glorious than all glorious hues of even, The Angel Death stood there in the open Gate of Heaven.' pp. 156-162. The last section is entitled-The Hopes of Man. In this, Mr. S., with all the eloquence of a poet and all the warmth of a patriot, dwells on the high prerogatives, the distinguished privileges, the duties, and the brightening prospects of Britain. We should have been disposed to think the picture too highly coloured, and the confidence expressed too insecurely founded, had the political circumstances of the country been the theme. Mr. Southey views the contest in which we were engaged against the tyrant of Europe, as a struggle between good and evil principles. He considers the victory of Waterloo as supremely important to the best interests of human nature; as leaving England in security and peace. In no age and in no country has man ever existed under circumstances so favourable to the full development of his moral and intellectual faculties, as in England at this time. The peace which she has won by the battle of Waterloo, leaves her at leisure to pursue the |