lic, if only for the blessed contrast it draws between him, and those, who surrounded by his snares, and in constant danger from his assaults, have still, no matter how great their fall, ever before them an open door of hope!

And in all the glowing pictures Milton gives us of "this fair world," we see that he owes them, not to curious art or gorgeous pageantry, but that he is Nature's own pupil, taught by the thousand forms of beauty with which she strews the flooring and decks the canopy of her universal temple: she interprets to him the sermons in her stones; she realizes to him more fully what Eden was, "before man's disobedience, and the fruit of that forbidden tree, brought death into the world and all our woe": and she inspires him at last to break forth into that glorious hymn, which is the voice, not of Catholic, not of Protestant, but of all created beings :

"These are Thy glorious works, Parent of Good,
Almighty, Thine, this universal frame,

Thus wondrous fair; Thyself how wondrous then!
Unspeakable, who sitt'st above these heavens

To us invisible, or dimly seen

In these Thy lowest works; yet these declare

Thy goodness beyond all thought and power divine."

L. M. D.

It seems to me that it is rather Puritanism, in its various forms, than Protestantism that is opposed to poetry. Protestant religion assumes to be in strict accordance with the Bible in all its fulness, not taking

one set of doctrines therein set forth to the exclusion of the rest, nor accepting as certain truth any doctrine that cannot be found therein. Now the Bible having been adapted by the Creator to every age, to every character, and to every country, allows large scope for the exercise of the poetic mind.

I freely grant that Protestantism as it exists in France and Switzerland is not favourable to the progress of poetry, but Protestantism in the Church of England is surely different. No one who has seen our beautifully restored cathedrals can accuse us of having no perception of the beauty and poetry of religion even in its externals, or neglecting the command of God to bring together of our best to beautify the place of His sanctuary, and to make the place of His Name glorious; neither can I perceive that worship in such cathedrals is in any degree opposed to true Protestantism, even if this is moulded on the assertion of our Lord, that "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

If the Bible contains the most perfect poetry that ever was written,-and who that has read the Book of Job, the Psalms, the prophecies of Isaiah, &c., and the Book of the Revelation can deny it ?-surely the poet who in faith and practice is most conformed to the image of his Divine Master who inspired it, is likely more nearly to attain its height of beauty and grandeur than he who, overlooking it, moulds his life according to the teachings of a corrupt church; and will not the poetry of the latter be but the creature of his own diseased imagination and that of others, while that of the former shines as it were by light reflected from the mind of Christ, the Word?

But whilst I deny that it is impossible for a good

Protestant to be a great poet, I readily grant that there have been more great Roman Catholic than great Protestant poets, and for this simple reason: that from the sixth to the sixteenth century the church was wholly given over to Popery, therefore during that period no Protestant poets could exist, and since then not a quarter of Christendom has embraced the Reformed Religion.

I think I know no definition of what the aim of Christian, nay more, of Protestant poets ought to be, equal to that given by Keble. First, he addresses them as

“Heirs of more than royal race,

Fram'd by Heaven's peculiar grace,
God's own work to do on earth."

Then after reminding them from Whom they have received the gift of poetry, he says to them:

"He hath chosen you, to lead

His Hosanna's here below ;

Mount, and claim your glorious meed;
Linger not with sin and woe."

And for them he prays

"Lord, by every minstrel tongue,

Be Thy praise so duly sung,

That Thine angels' harps may ne'er
Fail to find fit echoing here."

Can any Christian poet find a higher aim than this— fitly to echo the songs of angels-and is there anything in this aim contrary to the spirit of true Protestantism? I think even the most narrow-minded Protestant would answer-No.

But, to pass on to another point, Keble does not

think that a Heathen will find a higher aim; let us see what he says on this subject:

"But should thankless silence seal
Lips, that might half Heaven reveal,
Should bards in idol-hymns profane
The sacred soul-enthralling strain,
(As in this bad world below

Noblest things find vilest using),
Then, Thy power and mercy show,

In vile things noble breath infusing."

Does he not seem to look upon heathen poetry as a profanation of this good gift, and as a vile thing?

On one point I think everyone will readily agree with me, namely, that Protestants, as such, can and do write beautiful poetry. This is well and fully proved by the hymnology both of our own and of the Lutheran Church, which is as abundant and beautiful as can be found anywhere throughout the world.

A. Mc. C.

CINQUIÈME CAUSERIE.

L'ancienne critique et la critique moderne.

JE devrais, peut-être, Mesdemoiselles, profitant de la liberté que me donne mon plan, vous parler aujourd'hui de Shakespeare et de Racine. En effet, Châteaubriand nous a conduits au bord de ce beau et intéressant sujet, et nous pourrions, laissant Châteaubriand bien loin, nous embarquer dans des études sur l'art dramatique, dans des comparaisons et dans des lectures qui nous prendraient plusieurs journées. Mais j'ai peur que notre petite barque ne soit pas encore gréée et lestée pour une pareille navigation; j'ai peur que vous ne connaissiez pas ou ne compreniez pas toutes assez bien notre boussole, notre gouvernail, et l'esprit de notre critique; j'ai peur que quelques-unes d'entre vous ne s'imaginent encore que, dans une question de préséance entre la France et l'Angleterre, je dois naturellement passer du côté de la France, ou que, dans un débat qui a divisé la littérature en deux camps, les classiques et les romantiques, les conservateurs et les radicaux, il faut nécessairement que je choisisse, et me déclare soit pour la révolution et ses violences, soit pour l'ancien régime et ses abus. Bientôt, je l'espère, aucune de mes auditrices ne pourra plus garder cette prévention.

Dans ma dernière leçon, vous avez pu voir que je savais rendre justice à la littérature de l'Angleterre, à sa langue, à sa poésie, à sa prose; mes paroles étaient la