nd the choir
Of shouting angels, and the empyreal thrones;
I passed them unalarm'd!"

Has the poet, who believes himself entitled to speak thus of the power
and province given to him to put forth and to possess, spoken in
consonance with such a strain, by avoiding, in part of the very work to
which he so triumphantly appeals, the Christian Revelation? Nothing
could have reconciled us to a burst of such--audacity--we use the word
considerately--but the exhibition of a spirit divinely imbued with the
Christian faith. For what else, we ask, but the truths beheld by the
Christian Faith, can be beyond those "personal forms," "beyond Jehovah,"
"the choirs of shouting angels," and the "empyreal thrones?"

This omission is felt the more deeply--the more sadly--from such
introduction as there is of Christianity; for one of the books of "The
Excursion" begins with a very long, and a very noble eulogy on the
Church Establishment in England. How happened it that he who pronounced
such eloquent panegyric--that they who so devoutly inclined their ear to
imbibe it--should have been all contented with

"That basis laid, these principles of faith
Announced,"

and yet throughout the whole course of their discussions, before and
after, have forgotten apparently that there was either Christianity or a
Christian Church in the world?

We do not hesitate to say, that the thoughtful and sincere student of
this great poet's works, must regard such omission--such inconsistency
or contradiction--with more than the pain of regret; for there is no
relief afforded to our defrauded hearts from any quarter to which we can
look. A pledge has been given, that all the powers and privileges of a
Christian poet shall be put forth and exercised for our behoof--for our
delight and instruction; all other poetry is to sink away before the
heavenly splendour; Urania, or a greater muse, is invoked; and after all
this solemn, and more than solemn preparation made for our initiation
into the mysteries, we are put off with a well-merited encomium on the
Church of England, from Bishop to Curate inclusive; and though we have
much fine poetry, and some high philosophy, it would puzzle the most
ingenious to detect much, or any, Christian religion.

Should the opinion boldly avowed be challenged, we shall enter into
further exposition and illustration of it; meanwhile, we confine
ourselves to some remarks on one of the most elaborate tales of dome