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wandering round his tablet those countless forms of moral excellence which almost bedim, by the brilliancy of their superior nature, whatever of beautiful belongs to mere form or colours; nor do we so often feel, as in the writings of Mr Coleridge, that his chief object in presenting to us a picture of woods, or waters, or lofty mountains, was to aid him in communicating, with more perfect success, the vivid emotion which was present to his mind; and which, while it adds prodigiously to the effect of his scenes, throws often around them an aërial dimness, that seems to take something away from their merely material nature. This, we apprehend, is one of the chief excellencies of the author before us, and though we might refer in proof of it to almost any page of the present volume, we shall select as aspecimen the opening of the " Hymn, before sun-rise, in the vale of Chamouny," in which this peculiarity is at once exemplified and explained: “Hast thou a charm to stay the Morning

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in prayer

I worshipped the Invisible alone.

"Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody, So sweet, we know not we are listening to it,

Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my Thought,

Yea, with my Life and Life's own secret Joy;
Till the dilating Soul, enrapt, transfus'd,
Into the mighty Vision passing-there
As in her natural form, swelled vast to
Heaven!

"Awake, my soul! not only passive praise Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears, Mute thanks and secret ecstasy! Awake Voice of sweet song! Awake, my Heart, awake!

Green Vales and icy Cliffs, all join my Hymn.

"Thou first and chief, sole Sovran of the Vale!

sink:

Ostruggling with the Darkness all the night,
And visited all night by troops of stars,
Or when they climb the sky, or when they
Companion of the Morning-Star at Dawn,
Thyself Earth's ROSY STAR, and of the Dawn
Co-herald! wake, O wake, and utter praise!
Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in Earth?
Who filled thy Countenance with rosy light?
Who made thee Parent of perpetual
streams?"-p. 165.

And so on, in a strain of most exquisite poetry, of which we regret that

we cannot continue our extract.

A second characteristic of our author's power of deseription, and one which is intimately connected with that we have already noticed, is the delightful freshness which nature seems to assume whenever the light and sunshine of his genius fall on it. It is never nature merely as invested with form and colour which he paints, but nature breathing all pleasant odours, and glittering with all brilliant lights,-nature as she appears when moistened and sparkling with the rain of heaven, and when all her finest contrasts are exhibited beneath the cloudless radiance of a summer sky. As an instance, we may quote the following lines from the beginning of the poem entitled "Fears in Solitude:"

A small and silent dell! O'er stiller place "A green and silent spot, amid the hills, No singing syk-lark ever poised himself. The hills are heathy, save that swelling slope,

Which hath a gay and gorgeous covering

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While from the singing lark (that sings

unseen

The minstrelsy that solitude loves best,) And from the Sun, and from the breezy Air,

Sweet influences trembled o'er his frame."

p. 64. The conclusion of this poem will awaken, we are persuaded, many kindly feelings in the bosoms of those who, like ourselves, have often gained, after a day of solitary wandering among the hills, the summit of the highest mountain in the group, and have felt the sight of the open landscape operate like a sudden restoration to life itself, upon the mind wearied and depressed with intense meditation. "But now the gentle dew-fall sends abroad The fruit-like perfume of the golden furze: The light has left the summit of the hill, Though still a sunny gleam lies beautiful Aslant the ivied beacon. Now farewell, Farewell awhile, O soft and silent spot On the green sheep-track, up the heathy hill,

Homeward I wind my way; and lo, recalled

From bodings that have well nigh wearied

me,

I find myself upon the brow, and pause
Startled! And after lonely sojourning
In such a quiet and surrounded nook,
This burst of prospect, here the shadowy
Main,

Dim tinted, there the mighty majesty
Of that huge amphitheatre of rich
And elmy Fields, seems like society-
Conversing with the mind, and giving it
A livelier impulse, and a dance of thought!
And now beloved Stowey! I behold
Thy church-tower, and methinks, the four
huge elms

Clustering, which mark the mansion of my friend;

And close behind them, hidden from my view,

Is my own lowly cottage, where my babe And my babe's mother, dwell in peace! With light

And quickened footsteps thitherward I tend, Remembering thee, O green and silent dell, And grateful, that by nature's quietness And solitary musings, all my heart

Is softened, and made worthy to indulge Love, and the thoughts that yearn for human kind."-p. 73.

With respect to Mr Coleridge's powers of description, we have still further to remark, that we do not know any author who possesses a finer talent for relieving his pictures by ju

dicious contrast. As an evidence of which, the reader may take the following passage, the admirable picture

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bells;

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genuine pathos, which, amidst all the ravings of his mystical poetry, give often so inexpressible a charm to the compositions of Mr Wordsworth. Yet is there a pathos of another kind which is very frequent with our author; a gentle and subdued tone of sympathy with human happiness or human suffering; an exquisite feeling of the charities and joys of domestic life; and a just appreciation of the necessity and value of religious consolations to the agitated and wayward heart of man-which communicate to his poetry not the least delightful of its attractions, and which never fail to make us love, while we respect, the author. We may assert, indeed, that the whole tone of our author's poetry is favourable to virtue and to all the charities of life, and we could quote several beautiful passages of this nature, did not the very copious extracts we have already given preclude us from this pleasure.

We must confess, at the same time, that, along with these excellencies, there are several great and very obvious defects in the poetry of Mr Coleridge. His manner of describing natural objects is too apt to degenerate, as we have already hinted, into that morbid sentimentality which of late has become so general a characteristic of the poetry of this country-he is fond of expressing and illustrating the notion, that

"Outward forms, the loftiest, still receive Their finer influence from the life within."

And that mystical interpretation of the expressions of Nature, which has become the favourite occupation of Mr Wordsworth's muse, and which has infected the taste of Lord Byron himself, has frequently exerted a seductive power over the fancy and feelings of this still more congenial spirit. We might mention also among the faults of his poetry, a degree of obscurity which sometimes occurs, not to such a pitch, perhaps, as in any instance to render his writings absolutely unintelligible, but sufficiently often to make the reader uneasy lest he should at every step encounter some such mystical passage and to lead him onward, not with the gaiety and confidence which the song of the poet ought always to inspire, but with that sort of watchful jealousy which is natural to a person who is in the com

pany of one that is disposed to puzzle him. We may mention, in the last place, that there is a good deal of affectation occasionally in the style of our author; he sometimes uses expressions which are altogether unsuitable to the dignity of poetry; and curious inversions of phrase are every now and then occurring, which, to our ears at least, give neither grace nor vivacity to his works. There is one form of expression, in particular, of which our author is so fond, as to have rendered his frequent use of it quite ridiculous,-it occurs in such lines as the following:

"Nor such thoughts Dim and unhallowed dost thou not reject."

"Nor dost not thou sometimes recal those hours."

To this enumeration of faults we may add, that there are some pieces in this collection which to us appear to be quite silly and vapid. The following" Verses," for instance, "to a Young Lady on her recovery from a Fever:'

"Why need I say, Louisa, dear!
How glad I am to see you here,

A lovely convalescent;
Risen from the bed of pain and fear,

And feverish heat incessant.

"The sunny Showers, the dappled Sky,
The little Birds that warble high
Their vernal loves commencing,
Will better welcome you than I,

With their sweet influencing.
"Believe me, while in bed you lay,
Your danger taught us all to pray:

You made us grow devouter!
Each eye looked up, and seemed to say,
How can we do without her?
"Besides, what vexed us worse, we knew
They have no need of such as you

In the place where you were going:
This World has angels all too few,
And Heaven is overflowing !"--p. 150.

We shall not, however, quote any thing more of this kind. From what we have said, the reader will perceive, that we entertain a very high idea of Mr Coleridge's poetical merits. He has intimated, however, in his preface, that he intends for the future to devote himself chiefly to studies of a different nature. We do not, it is true, give much credit to such a promise because we have something of the same idea respecting the writing of poems, which Goldsmith had

respecting slander, that it is like the propensity of a tyger which has once tasted of human blood,-not easily divested of the appetite it has indulged. Taking the promise of the poet, however, as seriously given, we should be disposed to say, that if he is conscious of no desire to produce poems more free from faults than most of those in the volume before us, we do not think that the reputation of the artist would be much injured by his relinquishing the study; because, what is now attributed to mere negligence and apathy, would soon come to be considered as an inherent defect in his genius. We cannot help adding, however, that if Mr Coleridge would give his mind more exclusively to what appears to us to be his true vocation, and would carefully avoid those extravagancies of sentiment and singularities of expression to which we have slightly alluded, we have no doubt that he might yet produce a work which would place him in the first rank of British poets, which would entirely justify the high opinion very generally entertained of the capabilities of his genius,-and be fully adequate to all the compliments, whether sincere or adulatory, he has ever received.

1. Third Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Mad-Houses. Ordered to be printed 15th June 1816.

2. A Letter to Lord Binning, M. P. on the State of Lunatic Asylums, and on the Number and Condition of the Insane Poor in Scotland. By A. HALLIDAY, M. D. 8vo. London and Edinburgh, 1816.

We have selected these two from a variety of interesting, and many of them very important works, which have lately appeared on the subject of lunatics and lunatic asylums, because they refer particularly to Scotland, and afford us an opportunity of offering a few remarks, not only on the state of insanity, but also on the condition of the insane in general in this kingdom.

The first is the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, of which the Right Honourable George Rose was chairman. It contains the answers of the Sheriffs of Edinburgh,

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Lanark, Renfrew, Aberdeen, and Forfar, to queries which had been submitted to them by the Committee. This Committee, it is to be observed, had sat for nearly three sessions of Parliament examining witnesses as to the state of mad-houses in England and Wales, and had brought to light so many instances of cruelty, neglect, and misery, even in the largest, and what had always been considered the best regulated public establishments in England, that the great degree of interest which the subject has excited in every part of the empire is not to be wondered at. Lord Binning, a Scotsman, and one who seems endowed with the noblest feelings of his kind, was at an early period appointed a member of this Committee. He appears to have taken an active part in all their labours, and we believe it was at his suggestion that their inquiry was extended to Scotland, and this report laid before the House.

Although the Sheriffs do not bring forward any glaring instances of cruelty

• Heads of Queries addressed to Sheriff's in Scotland, by the Committee of the House of Commons relative to Madhouses, 1815.

1st, The number of institutions in each county. Private. Erected by act of Parliament, charter, or private subscription, noting those built expressly for the pur pose they are now put to?

2d, If Sheriff had visited those institutions in terms of the act lately passed?

Treat

3d, As to their state, whether public or private, including management. ment, medical and moral. Situation and extent of buildings, and number of patients, keepers, and servants?

4th, As to the condition of pauper lunatics, and the provision made for their reception, maintenance, and treatment?

5th, As to what regulations the Sheriff may have made respecting lunatics, agreeably to the power granted him by Mr Colquhoun's act?

6th, As to the power of magistrates in confining lunatics, and inspecting madhouses previous to the act?

7th, As to the power of the Court of Justiciary to commit criminal lunatics to existing asylums? And, lastly, the que

ry was,

What suggestion have you to offer relative to the improvement of the different kinds of mad-houses in Scotland? And what alterations in, or additions to, existing enactments, appear to you to be necessary, or likely to be beneficial?

or neglect toward the insane in this country, yet they all agree in the great want of accommodation for their proper confinement, and in the little attention which is paid to their medical or moral treatment; and they are unanimous in urging the necessity of public asylumns being erected in different parts of the kingdom. In England, an act of Parliament has been in existence for some years, by which the counties are authorized to build asylums for the insane; and we know that many of the best establishments in that kingdom have been provided under that Act. But in Scotland there is no such measure, although the necessity of it is even more apparent than in England. In the south, the fault seems to have been more in the management of the insane, and in their treatment, than in the want of either public or private asylums. After completing their investigations, which, with a patience and perseverance that does the highest credit to their zeal and humanity, they had continued from year to year, the worthy chairman of the Committee proposed a bill to the House, which he intituled "An act to repeal an act made in the 14th year of his present Majesty, and another act made in the 55th year of his present Majesty, for regulating Madhouses; and for making other provisions and regulations in lieu thereof." This measure passed the House of Commons, not only with unanimity, but with the expressed approbation of almost every member present. It was carried to the Lords by the mover and some of his friends, read a first time, and no more heard of. Such were the proceedings of the legislature in the session 1815-16. In the course of the summer of 1816, Lord Binning, while resident at his father's house in East Lothian, addressed a letter to the conveners of the several counties in Scotland, in which, after calling their attention to the misery existing in public as well as private mad-houses, and which had been laid open by the evidence taken before the select committee, and the want of proper places for the confinement and care of the insane poor, particularly in Scotland, he intimates his intention of bringing forward some measure at the next meeting of Parliament, -enters into a detail of his proposed measure, and requests that his letter

may be laid before the county gentlemen at their first meeting, and that he may be favoured with their opinions and advice. It does not appear, however, that any notice was taken of this letter by the gentlemen of the counties, as we are not aware that any meeting was called for the purpose of taking it into consideration, or that it was at all brought forward at any of their ordinary county meetings. On the third day after the meeting of last session of Parliament, Mr Rose again asked for, and obtained leave to introduce a bill for regulating madhouses, the necessity for which some additional evidence before the committee had rendered still more apparent. We do not consider it necessary to remark farther on this ge neral measure, than merely to state, that it again passed the House of Commons, was carried up to the Lords, read a first time, and then, after lying for nearly three months on their table, the further consideration of it, on a motion by the Marquis of Lansdown, was postponed for three months, that is, until a new bill should be again brought forward. However much we may regret the delays which have taken place in a measure of such vital importance to the interests of humanity, we are satisfied that the greater part of Mr Rose's bill will eventually pass into a law, and feel convinced, that, in the hands of the noble Marquis just mentioned, who, to our own knowledge, has paid great attention to the subject for at least twelve years past, the measure will become much more effectual than it otherwise would have been. Another year cannot pass without producing some change in the horrible system that has so long prevailed. Both Lords and Commons agree as to the expedi ency of the measure, and the only difference of opinion appears to be with regard to some of the minor enactments of Mr Rose's bill.

But to return to what more immediately concerns ourselves. Very early in the session, Lord Binning obtained leave to bring in a bill for the establishment of county or district asylumns in Scotland. This bill, which appears to have been drawn up with great care and accuracy, was accordingly brought in, read a first time, and ordered to be printed. The second reading was postponed to a period suf

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