1844.] Author of the Revelation not a Trinitarian. 203

power of his truth and spirit. The thousand years' reign of Christ and the saints denotes a glorious epoch of purity, peace, holiness and enjoyment. But the nature of man is not then changed. He is as capable of sin as the preceding generations. And at length comes a time of declension. Satan again goes abroad and deceives mankind. The earth is filled with wicked men. Gog and Magog go up on the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints. And here, in this evil generation which comes upon the stage of the world, at the close of the millennium, we may, perhaps, find the second resurrection; the moral resurrection of the unrighteous. A wicked generation is the revival of the unholy men of preceding ages. St. John

we may properly call him saint, whether he were the apostle or not calls them "souls," and "the dead;" but he does not declare these souls to have been embodied, nor these dead to have been revivified.

One theological feature of the Apocalypse deserves a brief notice. The author certainly was a Theist, not a Trinitarian. There is but One who sits upon the throne in heaven. And this One is not the "Lamb; the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Word of God." Though the Lamb is worshipped-praised and honored-yet he is never placed on the throne. Of course, he was not regarded as the only and true God.

The book, whether written by an Elder or an Apostle, is entitled to high regard. It could not have been the work of an old man. In the Epistles of John the marks of age are prominent; but in the Apocalypse appear all the vigor and sprightliness of a mature and undecayed mind. Homer could not have composed the Iliad; nor the author of it the book of Job; nor Milton the Paradise Lost; nor Bunyan the Pilgrim's Progress; in the decline of their lives. These, with the author of the Apocalypse, were kindred spirits. The inspirations of God were upon them.

S. F.

ART VI.-MEMOIR OF WILLIAM TAYLOR.*

THE Memoir of William Taylor would furnish materials for a much more extended notice than we can here give it. He was the first, says his biographer, to lay open to the British public the "vast stores of German literature," and he first infused into English periodical criticism "that new spirit which has rendered it the guide of intellect and the ruler of opinion." He was a most prolific contributor, certainly, to the periodical press; the articles, consisting of original papers and translations, furnished by him to the Magazines and Reviews, in the space of thirty-one years, being estimated at more than 1750. He was long an intimate friend and correspondent of Robert Southey, many of whose letters, entirely familiar and confidential, and written in his best days, are given in the volumes before us. Southey says that he had known "very few who equalled him in talents." He had some singularities of style, attributable to his early German reading, which the frequent remonstrances of his friends could never induce him to correct, which were a bar to the popularity of his writings; yet the extent of his researches, his varied learning, his freshness and vigor of thought, and the independence and originality of his criticism, if they did not secure for him a brilliant reputation with the many, drew the attention, at least, of the thoughtful and discriminating.

"I can still," says Sir James Mackintosh, writing from Bombay, "trace William Taylor by his Armenian dress, gliding through the crowd, in Annual Reviews, Monthly Magazines, Athenæums, &c., rousing the stupid public by paradox, or correcting it by useful and seasonable truth. It is true that he does not speak the Armenian, or any other language but the Taylorian; but I am so fond of his vigor and originality, that for his sake I have studied and learned his language. As the Hebrew is studied for one book, so is the Taylorian by me for one author." — vol. ii. p. 575.

*A Memoir of the Life and Writings of the late William Taylor of Norwich, Author of English Synonyms Discriminated;' 'An Historic Survey of German Poetry, etc. etc., containing his Correspondence of many years with the late Robert Southey Esq., and Original Letters from Sir Walter Scott, and other eminent Literary Men. Compiled and Edited by J. W. ROBBERDS, F. G. S., of Norwich. London: 1843. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 523 and 576.

For many years before the grave closed over his remains, however, he was gradually falling away from the notice of the public, and his recent death produced no sensation in the literary circles. His life furnishes some lessons, which, had we time to enforce them, might be useful, especially to young aspirants for literary distinction. From want of a due concentration of his powers, from some mental idiosyncracy, or from other causes, he threw away the best prizes of fame, when apparently within his reach, and failed of conferring on society the full benefit of his eminent gifts and acquirements.

William Taylor was born at Norwich, the seventh of November, 1765. His father, a member of the Unitarian congregation in that place, was an opulent merchant and William, being an only child, was brought up with great care and tenderness. Being destined to become a partner with his father in a business which led to much. foreign correspondence, the house being engaged chiefly in the export trade, he was early taught French and other languages he might have occasion to use. One of his instructers was Rev. Rochemont Barbauld, with whom he studied the "dead languages," receiving lessons in English composition from Mrs. Barbauld, whom in after years he was wont to call the "mother of his mind." In 1779, and before he was fourteen, in company with an agent of his father, he visited the Continent, and passed some time in France, Italy, and the Netherlands, "in part with a view to perfect himself in the languages of the countries, and in part to be initiated in those commercial mysteries which were intended to be the occupation of his life." After an absence of about a year and a half he returned, but soon after made a second visit, during which he devoted himself especially to a study of the German language and literature. He returned at the age of seventeen full of enthusiasm for German studies. His literary tas:es and habits, however, left him no peculiar relish for the occupations of the counting room, and though his attendance at it was regular for a time, its duties become daily more irksome to him. Norwich and its vicinity were at that period the residence of several individuals of no little note in the literary world. These were often guests at his father's table; the pleasures of conviviality were heightened by the refinements of literVOL. XXXVII. -4TH S. VOL. II. NO. II.

18

ature; societies were formed for the discussion of political, speculative, and miscellaneous questions; his love of books increased, and the result was a thorough alienation of his mind from pursuits of which he had never been fond, and the father despairing of ever being able to make him an active mercantile man, finally yielded to his wishes, and relinquishing the business concern to a partner they retired from trade.

The family was amply provided with property, and from that time William, who lived under the paternal roof, unmarried, devoted himself exclusively to literature and the enjoyments of the social circle. At liberty to follow his inclinations, and valuing his Attic repasts, at which were often assembled men of eminence, foreigners as well as natives, he yet wanted those motives to systematic exertion without which the mind rarely brings forth its best fruits. He was, however, not idle. He performed an immense amount of literary labor, though little of it was of a kind to procure any immediate distinction beyond the circle of his friends, and still less to tell with posterity. Like the coral insect, he often labored unseen, and did not always work himself up into the light of day. Most of his writings lie buried beneath the rubbish of reviews where they will forever remain concealed from all eyes but those of the antiquary. There are portions of them one would not wish to see disinterred, yet some of them contain a vein of rich ore well worth the exploring.

In 1790 he wrote his translation of Bürger's celebrated ballad of "Lenore," and this "inspired" Walter Scott. The anecdote is told both by Mrs. Barbauld and by Miss Aikin, both of whom heard Scott relate it. Mrs. Barbauld had taken the translation to Edinburgh, some years before it was published, and read it to Dugald Stewart. "He," said Scott," repeated all he could remember of it to me; and this was what made me a poet. I had several times attempted the more regular kinds of poetry without success, but here was something that I thought I could do. When, four years after, Scott published his own version of the ballad, he acknowledges to Taylor, that he had committed a slight "theft" from him. A large portion of Mr. Taylor's time and thoughts were henceforth given to German literature, of which he continued for many years to furnish the

public with specimens and critical notices in the reviews, but the limits we have prescribed to ourselves will not permit us to follow him into this broad field.

In 1793, by the persuasion of his friend Dr. Enfield, Mr. Taylor began his contributions to the Monthly Review, one of the leading Journals of the day, then under the editorial care of Dr. Griffiths. We have already mentioned the number of his contributions to this and other reviews, which included the Critical and the Annual, the Monthly Magazine commenced by Dr. Aikin in 1796, and the Athenæum. A large proportion of the more important publications noticed in these journals, during the time he was connected with them, were committed to him for review. Hazlitt says that "the style of philosophical criticism, which has been the boast of the Edinburgh Review, was first introduced into the Monthly about the year 1796 by William Taylor."

In 1798 commenced his acquaintance with Robert Southey, who was then first rising into fame, and whose letters, a large number of which are here given, and some of them from originals furnished by himself, form one of the most attractive portions of the Memoir. In them he mentions the literary projects he from time to time formed, states the progress of his works, invites criticism, and communicates a variety of opinions on poets and poetry, reviews and reviewing, and a multitude of other subjects, full of interest as connected with the literary history of his day. Taylor's portion of the correspondence shows the abundance of his resources, and the variety of his reading, the liveliness of his imagination, and his acuteness of critical analysis. They submit their performances to each other for free and unreserved criticism, and the lauriate not unfrequently profited by his friends comments.

In a letter to Southey, Taylor, after alluding to a report of his declining health, and his apprehension of an "ossification of the heart," rallies him on what he calls his "mimosa-sensibility, which agonises in so slight a blast; an imagination excessively accustomed to summon up trains of melancholy ideas, and marshal funeral processions; a mind too fond by half, for its own comfort, of sighs and sadness, of pathetic emotions and heart-rending woe." Southey in reply, among other things, speaks of the profes