to the sound interpretation of symbols, that each should have but one signification, and that, a definite meaning, which can be strictly adhered to under all circumstances.

And as the visions, both in the second and seventh chapters of Daniel, run on from that day to the time of the end, and so are parallel visions or different aspects of the same course of events the former being the political or worldly aspect, the latter the ecclesiastical or heavenly aspect-so we entertain no doubt that the different visions of the Apocalypse are parallel, not consecutive, and they all run on from the time of St. John to the end-namely, the coming of the Son of Man, to take to himself that kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world.

But there may be a general parallelism between all the visions, regarding each as a whole, which may not extend to the subdivisions, so as to make all these correspond-that is to say, the seven seals and seven trumpets may begin and end at the same time; but the second seal may not begin at the same time as the second trumpet, nor the third seal at the same time as the third trumpet, and so on. We think that the most formidable obstacle to the reception of Mr. Hooper's scheme will be found here; and that so strong a case has been made out in favour of Constantine as symbolized by the white horse, and for the Turks under the fifth trumpet, that these former interpretations must be shown to be untenable before those who have held them can be expected to receive another interpretation. We are speaking rather of what we imagine to be the case with others than of ourselves; for we have never held any of the former interpretations to be so conclusive as to find any difficulty in abandoning them when a more satisfactory interpretation should be proposed, and in some respects the present interpretation is more satisfactory than those which have preceded it. For ourselves, we look most to the present time; not only as being in itself surpassingly interesting from its pre-eminence in knowledge of every kind, and from the deep principles which are at work, leavening or undermining all things, as though preparing for some great crisis unprecedented in its extent and consequences; not only as being our own time-the brief span on the right employment of which our own future destinies will depend—but as the travail time of the whole world preceding that great turning point which all revelation either expressly declares or implicitly assumes-the new creation-the full and abiding manifestation of the purpose of God. That this is preparing for by preaching the Gospel, and by all the other

means entrusted to the Church for this end, we know; and that up to a certain point there will be no departure from the orderly course of Providence we fully believe, and act upon the persuasion. Therefore, it behoves men to be diligent in the use of all the ordinary means-both those of grace to ensure salvation and attain personal holiness, and those of understanding the Scriptures by all critical helps, and by availing themselves of the united labours of others. Yet, after all these ordinary means have been used to the utmost, the conviction will force itself upon the mind that an adjustment of all things natural as well as moral, and an adaptation of the powers of each to the place it was destined to occupy, and a co-operation of all without jarring to one harmonions display of perfect wisdom and goodness, is worthy of God: and that it must be accomplished by supernatural means is attested by the whole world's history, and the whole tenor of divine revelation. We do not expect to forsee so exactly as to be able to adjust the circumstances which shall usher in, much less those which shall be accomplished, during this day of the Lord; and we believe that the obscurity which hangs over it hangs in some degree over all the events which lead to it, requiring us to exercise modesty and self-controul in interpreting the past actings of God towards the Church and the world. The light which will burst upon the Church when the Lord shall be revealed will not only disclose things to her which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and which it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive; but it will cast a stream of reflected light upon all the past history of the Church and of the world, which will put to shame the vain and contradictory, the presumptuous and confident speculations of carnal shortsighted philosophy.

The chief value of correct interpretations of those symbols which apply to past events is, that they are taken out of the way by being put beyond question; and so the sphere is narrowed and the attention concentrated on fewer objects, and we can give undivided consideration to those parts of the prophecy which yet remain to be fulfilled; and if it be true that six of the symbols in the four series are now past, and that only the last of each remains future, and that futurity may be close at hand, then our thoughts may be collected into a very narrow compass, which yet may involve the most important, and, if neglected, the most tremendous issues.

In the early ages of the Church men were led astray from wrongfully applying the whole of the Apocalypse to the events of their own day, and so crowding that revelation, which was

meant for all time, into one or two centuries: which false interpretation failing in the lapse of time, men, for the most part, gave up the study, till some crisis arose, attracting attention for a time and again subsiding. In these late ages of the Church, men are in danger of being led astray by an opposite tendency: we are much more likely to procrastinate than to anticipate the fulfilment of the final destinies of the Church; more especially, too, when we consider the opposite conditions of the Church at these two periods, shall we think an opposite tendency probable. The early Church was poor, outcast, and persecuted: the whole world was combined against it; and thus every thought of joy, all hope of security and peace, were fixed on things above, and that kingdom of heaven about to be revealed. The visible Church is now in credit among men, respectable at the least, courted in general, and having the world more in its favour than against it in all the countries of Europe. Thus the Church now has more inducements to fix her thoughts on present things, and hope for the continuance and enlargement of her present means, expecting thereby to slide easily, and without a shock, into that state of prosperity which is spoken of in Scripture as the kingdom of heaven: thus avoiding that tribulation to herself, and those judgments upon the world, which are everywhere spoken of in the same Scriptures as ushering in the day of the Lord.

The Church should gratefully acknowledge, and use with diligence, and direct to the glory of God, all the gifts of providence, and all the means of grace which she at the present time possesses in so large a measure. But she should

never forget that this world is not her home; and that, in the way to that eternal rest which remains for the people of God, she will have a time of tribulation to pass through which will try her to the utmost; that she is warned of it beforehand in order that she may not be overtaken by that day as a thief in the night; and, being thus warned, if she continue unprepared, she will either fall altogether, or, if delivered at all, be saved so as by fire. The figure of being saved as by fire indicates that nothing which man devises-nothing which rests on conjecture-nothing which is agreeable to the natural inclinations. of fallen man-can stand the scrutiny of that day of the Lord; but that the purpose of God, prepared at creation, announced throughout the whole of the sacred records, and to be brought into manifestation through Christ and the Church, shall then be completed, and shall stand for ever.

205

ART. XI.-Modern Painters. Vol. II., containing Part III., Sections 1 and 2. Of the Imaginative and Theoretic Faculties. By A GRADUATE OF OXFORD. London: 1846.

IT may, perhaps, be in the recollection of some of our readers that in our number for January, 1844, we noticed, in terms of no ordinary eulogium, the first volume of this remarkable work; and we are very widely wrong indeed if the quotations which we then made have not so far justified the opinion we confidently pronounced on the vigour and originality of the author's mind, and the boldness of his crusade-for it was nothing short of a crusade against "time-honoured" prejudice-as to have created an anxious expectation for the promised continuance of the theme; and that is now before us. It was an experiment arising out of no ordinary courage to challenge public attention by an octavo of upwards of four hundred pages, on a subject which, in these days of utilitarianism, could scarcely be expected to interest the reading public to an extent remunerative of paper and print; yet we find a third edition of the first volume announced. The influence of that volume in raising the price of modern pictures, we mean by British artists, to the depreciation of the works of the ancient masters-whether justly or not, we do not venture to decide has been exemplified in a very striking degree by the result of several recent sales. We know, also, that its effect on public opinion has been such that many persons intimately connected with art and artists, and even artists themselves, who first received the volume with wonder, if not with a less flattering feeling, at the rashness and quixotism of of the assault "against the world in arms," have greatly moderated their tone, and many have become converts to opinions evidently based on a profound knowledge of Art, and a still more profound knowledge of Nature, the legitimate parent of all art. It happened to us, within the last few weeks, to be a guest at a meeting of the Graphic Society, when some drawings from the pencil of the gentleman to whom the authorship of this work is ascribed were exhibited, and on that occasion à member of the Royal Academy, after examining one of the subjects with much attention, exclaimed in our hearing-"The man who can draw like that may write anything he pleases upon art."

There is a very marked difference between the volume before us and its precursor, both in style and tone-the style of the second volume possessing fewer of the elements of popularity than that of the former, while the tone is more elevated. There is another point in which the difference is still more striking; for

while the first volume was almost exclusively devoted to the works of Turner and to a comparison of other modern artist: with that master, the second volume has little reference to him a circumstance which, with all our admiration of the painter of Mercury and Argus,* we do not regret. We have said that the former volume had in it more of the elements of popularity than the present; its poetry had more of the dash and the sparkle, but withal the power, of the mountain cataract; the poetry of the second has the solemn depth and volume of the broad and vast river. There is, too, a serious spirituality about it; a wresting, if we may be permitted the expression, of all things in Nature to the glory of Nature's God, which would win for it the title of Religio Pictoris-for it is in very truth the religion of painting. The author evinces a solemn sense of responsibility in the undertaking which we shall best exemplify by a quotation from the last page::

"There is not the thing left to the choice of man to do or not to do, but there is some sort or degree of duty involved in his determination; and by how much the more, therefore, our subject becomes embarrassed by the cross influences of variously admitted passion, administered discipline, or encouraged affection, upon the minds of men, by so much the more it becomes matter of weight and import to observe by what laws we should be guided, and of what responsibilities regardful, in all that we admit, administer, or encourage."

"Art, properly so called (says our Graduate in the immediately following paragraph), is no recreation; it cannot be learned at spare moments, nor pursued when we have nothing better to do. It is no handiwork for drawing-room tables; no relief of the ennui of boudoirs; it must be understood and undertaken seriously, or not at all. To advance it, men's lives must be given, and to receive it, their hearts. Le peintre Rubens s'amuse á être ambassadeur' said one with whom, but for his own words, we might have thought that effort had been absorbed in power, and the labour of his art in its felicity. E faticoso lo studio della pittura, et sempre si fa il mare maggiore' said he, who of all men was least likely to have left us a discouraging report of anything that majesty of intellect could grasp, or continuity of labour Overcome. But that this labour, the necessity of which in all ages has been most frankly admitted by the greatest men, is justifiable in a moral point of view-that it is not the pouring out of men's lives upon the ground-that it has functions of usefulness addressed to the weightiest of human interests—and that the objects of it have calls

#

A splendid picture, which has been admirably rendered in "black and white" by Wilmore, and will remain an imperishable memorial of the genius of the painter and faithful skill of the engraver, when the ad captandum publications of modern printsellers shall be forgotten as they deserve to be.