probably, to immortality. On this, the latest effort in sacred poetry, and which has not yet met with the attention it so justly merits, we propose offering some general observations, as relative to fable, character, language, &c. and shall afterwards proceed to notice the particular and more striking beauties of each book; a review, which, from the passages adduced, will assuredly tempt the reader to peruse the whole, and probably to place this performance among the choicest products of the Muse.

It has been objected to Milton, that in his Paradise Regained he has taken too confined a view of the subject, and by restricting the theatre of action to the Temptation in the wilderness, attributed solely to that event the redemption of mankind. To this, Milton was probably induced by the charm of contrast, by the desire of shewing the world that in the preceptive and moral, as well as in the grand and sublime epic, he was equally pre-eminent: and it must be confessed he has happily succeeded for the mild yet majestic beauties of the Paradise Regained, its weight of precept and exquisite morality, its richness of sentiment, and simplicity of diction, call as loudly

for approbation and applause as the more splendid and terrible graces, the whirlwind and commotion of the prior poem.

What the critics have very unjustly blamed Milton for not effecting, Mr. Cumberland, stretching a more ample canvass, has perform= ed, and given to the Crucifixion and Resur rection of our Saviour, the importance and the consequences they demand.

That the action should be one, entire and great, has been repeated, and approved of, from the days of Aristotle to the present period, and no argument human or divine could better adapt itself to the axiom than the one we are now considering, pregnant as it is with the greatest events, and terminated by a cata strophe, beyond all comparison, to man the most interesting and propitious; for, in strict adhesion to the simple narrative of the Evangelists, the Last Supper and the Resurrection form the limits of the work, and produce the requisite unity. On a subject whose basis is truth itself, and involving the 'whole, compass of our religion, any the smallest deviation. from Scriptural fact had been injudicious in VOL. I.

Cc

the extreme, and even disgusting. The resources of the poet, therefore, the materials of fiction and imagination, were to be drawn from that mine which Milton had so fortunately opened, and which Mr. Cumberland has proved to be still productive of the finest ore, not less rich, nor of inferior quality to that which we have been accustomed so highly and so ju diciously to value. The agency of angels and demons, the delineation of the regions appropriated to the blessed or the damned, give ample scope to the genius of the poet, and spring as it were from the very nature of the theme. The term fable, therefore, as applied to a poem founded on the religion of Christ, can only with propriety be affixed to the conceptions of the poet, the rest being established. on facts which ought to admit of no obliquity or modification. Taking it however as a whole, the result of truth and fiction, it will appear to possess every requisite for epic action, unitý, integrity and magnitude. After an assemblage of the devils to conspire the destruction of Christ, and the delegation of Mammon as the tempter of Iscariot, the Last Supper takes place in strict conformity to the relation of St. John, and which is immediately

followed by the treason of Judas, who, repairing to the Sanhedrim, proposes the betrayal of his master. The priests and elders, after accepting the offer, retire, and Satan and his peers immediately resume their seats, and decree, and perform an ovation to Mammon for his success: but on the appearance of Chemos, who had been stationed as a spy on the Mount of Olives, and had been wounded by the spear of Gabriel, Satan suddenly dis solves the assembly, and rushes forth to encounter that archangel. Christ meanwhile protected by Gabriel undergoes the agony in the garden; and upon the approach of Satan, this supporting angel prepares to chastise and dismiss him, when Christ, drawing near, by the word of power casts him to the ground in torments. At this moment Judas advances, and Christ is seized, while Satan, unable to rise, bursts into lamentation, till, at length, discovered through the gloom by Mammon, he is assisted, and once more stands erect. Conscious to the power of Christ he prophesies his impending doom, and immediately lifted from the earth, is hurled by a tremendous tempest to the regions of the damned. The condemnation of Christ, the denial and contrition of

Peter now follow, with an implicit adherence to the Gospel narrative, and are succeeded by the remorse of Judas Iscariot, who, instigated by Mammon, destroys himself, whilst that evil spirit taking wing repairs to the wilderness, convenes the demons, informs them of Satan's expulsion from the earth, and warns them to flight ere the hour of Christ's crucifixion; they accordingly disperse, and the crucifixion, witnessed by Gabriel and the angels who are stationed on the Mount, immediately ensues. The poet next hastens to describe the descent into the regions of Death, whither Christ, borne on the wings of angels, is instantly conveyed. Here, prostrate at the throne of that formidable phantom, whose person and palace are described at large, and whose assistance the enemy of mankind had in vain been imploring, Satan is discovered by the Messiah, and, at his command, hurled by the vindictive angel, into the bottomless pit; its horrors are described, and Death, conscious that his power is overthrown, tenders his crown and key at the feet of the Redeemer, and the revivification of those saints who are destined to the first resurrection immediately commences. These are now received by Christ, who appears to them enveloped in glory; they pay him