The wearied eye; thou sweet, thou gentle power, (As a wild bee doth kiss a rifled flower, Come so to me, sweet death, and I will wreath thee * And on an odoured bank of wan white buds In thy fair arms I'll lie, and taste thy cool delicious breath, Hesperus stung with jealousy, and urged by a new affection, meets his deserted wife; and after terrifying her with violence perpetrates the murder. Alarmed by his wild and incoherent menaces, she expresses her terror, and he rejoins, "HESPERUS. "What! Darest thou tremble Under thy husband's arm, darest think of fear? FLORIBEL. "I know not what to dread, Nor what to hope; all's horrible and doubtful; 86 HESPERUS. "She swoons, poor girl, she swoons. 66 FLORIBEL. "A dread and cruel one; But I'll forgive you, if you will be kind; HESPERUS. up, "Why 'twere most unseemly For one marked for the grave to laugh too loud. "Alas! he raves again. Sweetest, what mean you By these strange words? "HESPERUS. "What mean I? Death and murder, "Oh, if thou willest it, love, <6 HESPERUS. "Well, speak on; and then, I see it now, some wild and poisonous creature So as I drink it boiling from thy wound Death will be pleasant. Let me have the hand 66 HESPERUS. "Here 'tis then, Shall I thrust deeper yet?" P. 70. [stabs her. The catastrophe is produced by the discovery of the crime. The murderer is condemned to die, but by the assistance of the mother of his Floribel, he escapes public execution, and destroys himself by a draught of poison. From the last act we shall extract the following passage, in which Hesperus, after an interview with his father, thus expresses his feelings at the approach of death. In some lone watch-tower on the deep, awakened Torn from its vale of clouds, and, as it falls, If they were gone. I have marked oftentimes go among the past and future, or perhaps And there's another death." P. 124. In taking leave of Mr. Beddoes and his play, we cannot but express pleasure at the evident, marks of genius which it contains. He possesses, in no ordinary degree, imagination and feeling; and his faults are, for the most part, such as care and experience may correct. If he will be content somewhat to control the exuberance of his fancy, and more carefully to preserve simplicity and nature in his scenes, he may, without presumption, hope hereafter to obtain a name among the poets of his country. ART. XI. The Twelfth Annual Report of the Incorporated National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church. Rivingtons. 1823. ART. XII. A Sermon, preached at the Parish Church of 4 Yately, Hants, August 3, 1823, in Consequence of His Majesty's Letter in Behalf of the National Schools. By the Rev. R. Lewin, Perpetual Curate of Yately, and late of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. 8vo. 26 pp. Rivingtons. 1823. ART. XIII. A Sermon, preached August 17, 1823, in the Church and Chapel of an extended Parish in the Diocese of Lincoln, in Behalf of the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Church of England. By a Minister of the Establishment. 8vo. 6 pp. Rivingtons. 1823. 16 THERE are persons who maintain that controversy can find no end, and do no good. If they are old enough to remember the origin of the National Society, the vigorous opposition which it encountered, the manner in which that opposition was received, its gradual decline, and its final discomfiture, they must confess that there is, at least, one example of a termination, and a successful termination, to a long and angry dispute. No one beyond the acting committee of Lancaster's school will now deny the propriety of educating the poor in the principles of the Established Church. The opposite opinion, so stoutly maintained by the lawyers of Edinburgh and the Quakers of London, was too absurd to stand its ground against inquiry. Even the enemies of our Establishment were compelled to admit, that the Clergy ought either to be entrusted with the education of the poor or to be cashiered at once. They were not bold enough to embrace the latter alternative. And such is the deference shown to common sense, that no public men can now be found who admit the propriety of a national priesthood, and refuse to entrust it with the superintendence of Charity Schools. But plain as this principle appears, we must not forget, in recapitulating the services of the National Society, that there was a time when other doctrines gained ground with rapid strides. The zeal and plausibility of Joseph Lancaster, the mixture of good and evil which entered into his character, the patronage which he received from parliamentary leaders, the temporary gullibility of the English public, and its profound ignorance of the subject on which it was required to decide, united in conferring popularity upon the new system of teaching. Its advocates aspired to nothing less than an universal adoption of their scheme. And if the Church had been liberal, tolerant, and uncontroversial, such adoption would have ensued. Happily for the nation, these fashionable epithets did not apply. The Established Church asserted her rights, and the appeal was well received. The Primate exerted the influence of his rank and character, in a manner which can never be forgotten. The Bishops proved themselves worthy of such a leader. The great body of the Clergy came forward with unanimity and effect. The most distinguished and respected Laymen shared their apprehensions and their wishesand the result was the formation of the National Society. An opportunity which had been long desired, offered itself at last, and was embraced without a moment's hesitation. The same body of men that had established the original Charity Schools, perceived that they might now venture on a greater undertaking. On former occasions their progress had been impeded by the apathy of the rich and great. The tide of public opinion had now turned, and by the blessing of that Providence, which ceaseth not to bring good out of evil, the plan which was calculated to undermine Christianity, became the signal for engrafting it deeper in the hearts of our countrymen. General education, for a length of years, had been resisted and condemned. Its value, and even its necessity, were gradually discovered. The principle being conceded, there was little difficulty in the details. In spite of liberalism and lukewarmness, in spite of free-thinking and faction, in spite of plausible Quakers and intriguing Socinians, the majority of all ranks declared that education should be confided to the Clergy, and that they should be enabled to carry it on 'upon an extensive scale. Such was the origin of the National Society. The sums of money which it has received and expended, are sufficient proofs of its popularity. The number of schools in connection with it, demonstrate its utility. And the soundness of its principles has been admitted even by Mr. Brougham. In spite of his natural and notorious predilection for Joseph Lancaster, Mr. Brougham's Education Bill provided that the parochial clergy should superintend the parochial schools. The Dissenters objected to this plan, and the bill was abandoned in compliment to them. But its author has not retracted his important concessions; and he deserves to be numbered among the warmest theoretical friends of the National Society. The Education Bill, so sedulously prepared, so ostentatiously exhibited, and so favourably received, has been withdrawn; and the schools which it proposed to establish by a parochial rate, must be erected by subscription, or not at all. Whether Parliament acted well or ill, in declining to legis |