FROM PALLADAS.—Ανδροφόνῳ σαθρὸν, κ. τ. λ. Saw in a dream Serapis' awful face, And" Ho! thou sleeper, rise!" he heard him call; "Wretch! dost thou think the like of thee my care? But learn that Heaven reserves thee for the stake.'-P. 229. UNCERTAIN.—Πῖνε καὶ εὐφραίνου, κ. τ. λ. 'Drink and be merry. What the morrow brings The least happy of the English versions are, we think, those where a comic vein is opened. They are mostly by one author; and he is too frequently slovenly and vulgar, when he means to be simple and familiar. The following is apparently intended for an airy love song: FROM PAULUS SILENTIARIUS.—Ανέρα λυσσητῆρι, κ. τ. λ. They say that one who hath chanced to suffer The venomous bite of a rabid hound, Will see a creature of horrible feature So me hath rabid Cupid bitten, And smitten my soul with his raging bane; And an image I trace on the river's face, In the glistening wine, on the level main; The selection from already published translations seems generally to have been made with judgment: nevertheless, we have occasionally missed a favourite which we should have expected to see inserted. Why, for instance, has Dr. Wellesley passed over Smith's (the translator of Thucydides) vigorous though too diffuse version of Geminus' well-known epitaph on Themistocles? Be Greece the monument, and crown the height Then, like a column of majestic size, His deeds inscribed, let Salamis arise. Swell every part, and give the hero room, Or the translation of xpvoòv avmp evρáv, K.т.λ., (p. 440,) quoted Bill missing his gold used the rope which he found-' which, though inferior to the point of the original, is nearer to it than Sir Alexander Croke's four lines, or the still longer poems of Wyat and Turbervile ? The sum of our remarks is, that though we question the purpose for which this volume has been compiled, we think it has a substantive and independent value of its own; and while inclined to doubt whether the collection is not too comprehensive, we cheerfully acknowledge the merits which would have led us to anticipate complete success on a smaller scale. The power of Oxford to foster elegant scholarship is sufficiently justified: and should Cambridge composers care to take up the gauntlet, they may find it hard to produce anything in which the inherent difficulties of the work undertaken are so well surmounted. ART. VI.-1. Canterbury Papers. London: J. W. Parker. 1850. 2. Hints on Church Colonization. By JAMES CECIL WYNTER, M.A. Rector of Gatton. London: J. W. Parker. 1850. THERE is nothing more remarkable than the manner in which particular questions fasten at particular times upon the public mind, and appear by some hidden sympathy to pervade and agitate the intelligence of the country, as we see a meadow stirred in its every part by the passage of an unseen and voiceless breeze. At this moment there can be no hesitation in affirming that the question of colonization is one of the engrossing topics of the day; and there certainly never arose a question more pregnant with important consequences; or to the decision of which it behoved this country more anxiously and more unremittingly to apply her best energies and her highest intellect. To the mere newspaper reader it must be evident that a problem of vast interest is hastening to its solution; and that, in the course of the next few years, possibly months, will be settled the question of the future position in which England is to stand towards those vast dependencies which call her mother, which have been founded by her capital and enterprise, and which never can be lost but by her fault. The most careless perusal of the most ordinary sources of information suffices to show that our Colonies are, almost without an exception, assuming an attitude more or less menacing; that they are gradually awaking to a consciousness of their strength, and arriving at a determination to exert it; while politicians at home are busying themselves in attempts either to concede their demands, or, at all events, to stay their increasing appetite for free institutions. We do not purpose to enter at large into the general subject of colonization, and still less to embark upon a political discussion. Our object is to offer a few remarks upon the question in its religious and social bearings; but it is obvious that, looking merely to these, it is impossible altogether to exclude the consideration of the political element. In proportion as the dissatisfaction of the Colonies increases, will increase the disinclination of Englishmen to emigrate, and there has never been a time at which it was more necessary to sustain and animate the spirit, which has ever made the Anglo-Saxon race the pioneers of civilization, and the foremost in what Lord Bacon calls the ancient, primitive, and heroical work' of colonization. There has never been a time at which we could less afford to lose the advantages offered by our Colonies, as an outlet for our population, as a vent for our energies, and as a safety-valve for that enterprising and restless spirit, which is ever boiling, pent up within the narrow limits which are placed around us by circumstances, and threatening in its upheavings to endanger the necessarily conventional fabric of society. There has never been a time at which the pressure of population upon the means of subsistence, not only among the labouring classes, but among the higher orders of society, has been more apparent. Every where we see men struggling as it were for elbow room, conscious of powers and energies which only want a fitting field in which to exert themselves; but here, from the vast and increasing competition that exists, unable to find that field, and consuming their lives in that waiting upon fortune, which is not only more painful, but far less worthy of our nature, than a manly hand to hand encounter with Fate. Nor are these, which have been happily termed 'the uneasy classes' of society, likely to decrease in numbers. On the contrary, every thing shows that the tendency of the age is to produce an increase in the intensity of the feeling, and in the numbers of those who are actuated by it. In the merest economic view of the question, it is plain that the means of subsistence are not likely to meet such a development as to lessen the proportion of those who are unable to see their way to a comfortable livelihood for themselves and their families. No new sources of wealth or of employment are likely to spring up among us to relieve their present cravings and their future fears. The spirit of the day points clearly towards an aggravation of the evil. It points not to a subdivision, but to a cumulation of employment; to the largest possible return of labour for the smallest pay; to the most accurate scrutiny into the adaptation of every man to his work, and of his work to his salary; and woe be to those who cannot show a perfect balance-sheet in these particulars. The fatal car will still move on its inexorable way, and no appeals to prescription or to compassion will stay the untiring wheels, though their progress should be over prostrate thousands. As an instance of what we mean, we may point to the profession of the law, which for generations has afforded a portion of crumbs more or less scanty to an unlimited and apparently illimitable succession of hungry applicants. If we look to the tendency of the times, no man can doubt but that ere long this source of employment will be narrowed in a very perceptible degree. No one can see the growing feeling in favour of summary jurisdiction in criminal cases, as a means of lightening the pressure of the county rate, or the efforts which are made towards extending the jurisdiction of the County Courts, with a view to relieving the pockets of the suitors, without being convinced that ere long the Bar will cease to be a source of profitable employment in the same degree as heretofore. The present state and future prospects of the Church offer a wider and far sadder field for contemplation. It is not our business here to allude to the tide which has been gradually rising and swelling around the Church, or to the cloud which may yet dim and blacken her horizon; but this we may say, that, while at no time have shepherds been more needed within the fold, there has long existed a vague and shadowy apprehension of an evil day to come, which may well be expected to operate upon the minds of some, who in other days would have sought service beneath her banners. Can any one say that this dissatisfaction is likely to abate, or that recent events will tend to incline the religious and thoughtful to forbear from seeking freedom, and, if it may be, peace, abroad? It is useless to multiply instances of what we believe to be so clear, and we return to our proposition, that there has never been a time when we could less afford to lose the advantages of our Colonial empire. But to secure those advantages, the Colonies must be made attractive to Englishmen; and here, as we before said, the political element of the discussion largely enters, and the necessity for free institutions at once presents itself. As the able and accomplished Halifax said in arguing in favour of representative government for the state of Massachusetts-'It is vain to think that a population sprung from the English stock, and animated by English feelings, will long bear to be deprived of English institutions.' We may go yet further, and we may say, that men who have passed a portion of their lives in the enjoyment of these institutions will not consent to be deprived of them, wherever their future lot may be cast. To whatever shores they may go, in search of the subsistence or the social appliances which they cannot obtain at home, they ought not to be satisfied with less than English liberty, English civilization, English observances, and an English tone of feeling. In a review of the existing state of our Colonial dependencies, it must be admitted with shame and sorrow, that in none of them are these conditions fully realized, and that in many of them we may search in vain for any, the slightest, trace of these inestimable blessings. We say with shame, for upon the head of the parent state must mainly rest the responsibility of the moral condition of the offspring whom she has called into being. The influence of early associations may be distinctly traced throughout the whole career of the most successful Colonies which the world has seen; and on the other hand, daily expeHI H 2 |