Transalpine countries. Philology was neglected, rhetoric was despised, verse relapsed in utter barbarism, scholastic philosophy was all in all. It was not till long after, when the days of the rénaissance had arrived, that Latin verse was not only restored to what it had been in mediæval times, but attained a purity and a splendour of which medieval times had no conception.

And here we must arrest our course. It has been our object rather to give a broad and general sketch of the chief features of ecclesiastical and monastic verse than a long catalogue of names and works. But so vast is the magnitude of the subject, and the number of matters with which it is connected, that it is scarcely possible to do it justice in an essay. Until, however, some work of authority appears on the subject, those who would learn aught of its nature, but must be content either to give many hours to the perusal of many volumes, or trust to attempts as imperfect as

our own.

37

ART II.-The collected Writings of Edward Irving. In five volumes. Edited by his nephew, the Rev. G. CARLYLE, M.A. London: 1864-5.

MORE than four years have elapsed since we reviewed Mrs. Oliphant's Life of Edward Irving.' The interest which that book, by its graphic and truthful portraiture, revived in the great Presbyterian preachers, called up in the minds of many, yet living, vivid recollections of his eloquence, and aroused a desire in many more to possess his works. Though a large portion of his writings had been published in his life-time, and some of these had passed through several editions, there did not exist either an uniform edition of what Irving had published, or a complete collection of what he had written. It appeared, there fore, proper to the possessors of his literary remains, to put forth such an edition as should answer both requirements of uniformity and completeness. We are consequently indebted to the Rev. G. Carlyle, Irving's nephew, for this series of five handsome and portly octavos. How far these volumes answer expectation as to completeness or judiciousness of selection, we shall see as we go on. At any rate, no higher tribute could be paid to the power of Irving's intellect than the publication of these volumes. For Irving was no safe and sound divine whose theology any man, who cared to be thought orthodox, would openly admire. He wrote no work upon any subject of lasting interest extraneous to theology. His style of sermon composition was in every sense inimitable. No one could hope to come up to it in its excellencies, or would attempt to follow it in its peculiarities. Therefore, in publishing his discourses, the expectation that they would find a sale amongst the starveling preachers of our time, who hunger and thirst after new volumes. of sermons, could have had no place as a motive. And yet, in the absence of all these which form the usual reasons for reproducing the writings of a deceased author, who was neither a novelist nor a poet, the well-known publisher, Mr. Alexander Strahan, has deemed it wise to put forth a large and elegant edition of his works. And we doubt not the public have duly appreciated the venture. That it should be made, and that it should succeed, now that Irving has been dead above thirty years, is, we repeat, a noble testimony to the force of his genius.

As the object of the present article is to trace the progress of

Irving's mind and the development of his views, we shall, as far as may be practicable, follow the chronological order of his writings, referring occasionally to his life for information that may throw light upon his mental history. And here we regret to be obliged to find fault with the editor at the very outset of his work. The first volume begins with a series of four discourses, ranged under the title 'On the Word of God.' They are not introduced by any preface of the author, or accompanied by any note of the editor; and there is nothing to tell whether they are now printed for the first time or not. Moreover, there is nothing to show what place they take in the chronological arrangement of Irving's writings. Consequently, if we did not happen to know something about them, beyond what Mr. Carlyle tells us, we should remain in perfect ignorance of the fact-a fact of great importance, as bearing upon Irving's theological and intellectual history-that these four discourses are the famous 'Orations' which, together with the 'Argument for Judgment to Come,' formed Irving's first published work. This volume, as we learn from Mrs. Oliphant (Life of Edward Irving,' vol. I. p. 169), at once aroused public attention to the highest degree of interest and excitement. Of course it is the part rather of the biographer than of the editor to relate these facts, more especially as this edition of the work professedly follows in the wake of the Life.' But while we may accept this as an apology for the total absence of any note of explanation, there is no excuse left for changing the title under which Irving issued his first book, and by which it has ever been known as one of the most brilliant efforts of theological rhetoric. For the Oracles of God, Four Orations; this was the title with which Irving headed his work: On the Word of God; this is Mr. Carlyle's feeble and unauthorised substitute. But this is not all. Doubtless Mr. Carlyle, when he undertook the task of producing a collected edition of his uncle's writings, had to decide with much deliberation upon the limits he should assign to it so as to avoid, on the one hand, an unsaleable voluminousness, and, on the other, an incomplete exhibition of the author's views and genius. We accept with approbation the principles he lays down for himself in his preface, in these words.

It

is now proposed to make such a collection of his writings as 'will fairly exhibit his great powers of oratory and thought. It will be the Editor's object to include whatever is of per'manent interest, to omit only what may neither throw light upon Mr. Irving's convictions, nor possess an independent value. We demur, however, to the manner in which he has carried theee principles out. In the case of the Orations' he has shorn them of the preface and the dedication to Dr. Chalmers,

both which pieces are of great value,-the preface for containing Irving's reasons for entering upon the field of theological literature, the dedication for the affectionate and reverential feelings with which he regarded his quondam master. (We may observe, in passing, that Mrs. Oliphant makes the mistake of calling the Dedication the Preface). But Mr. Carlyle's editorial fingers have an itch for paring down: not satisfied with mutilating the title and expunging the author's introductions, he cannot even let the orations themselves appear in the dress in which Irving himself sent them forth to the world. He must needs clip off the Scriptural motto with which they were originally ornamented: John v. 39, Search the Scriptures.'

With regard to the omission of the preface, the editor certainly may state, as a justification for the act, that it stands related to the whole contents of the volume,-to the latter and larger portion, viz.: For the Judgment to Come-an Argument in nine parts,' as well as to the former portion, the Orations;' and that as he thought fit only to include the Orations in his edition, it would have been incongruous to have reprinted a preface which referred, not only to the small portion inserted, but also to the large portion excluded. Here, however, we only find additional cause for objection. We think the fact of Irving's sending forth to the world the two treatises, the 'Orations and the Argument for Judgment to Come,' as one work bound together under one common introduction was a powerful reason which ought to have deterred his editor from severing them; and the fact of the preface applying to both should have induced Mr. Carlyle to reprint both, not to omit the preface. And we think that the following extract from the said preface will establish the correctness of our opinion. In fact, in view of this omission we consider that Mr. Carlyle ought to amend his title page, and call the book the selected, not collected, writings of Edward Irving.

'Moved by these feelings, I have set the example of two new methods of handling religious truth-The Oration, and The Argument; the one intended to be after the manner of the antient Oration, the best vehicle for addressing the minds of men which the world hath seen, far beyond the Sermon, of which the very name hath learned to inspire drowsiness and tediousness; the other after the manner of the antient Apologies, with this difference, that it is pleaded not before any judicial bar, but before the tribunal of the human mind. The former are but specimens; the latter, though most imperfect, is intended to be complete. The Orations are placed first in the volume, because the Oracles of God, which they exalt, are the foundation of the Argument, which brings to reason and common sense one of the revelations which they contain.'

But apart from these external reasons against the omission, the Argument for Judgment to Come' has strong internal

claims to be included in a collection of Irving's works, which professes as this does, 'to exhibit fairly his powers of thought," and to throw light upon his convictions.' As Irving deemed fit to publish the Orations' (which Mr. Carlyle has accepted), and the Argument for Judgment' (which Mr. Carlyle has rejected), in one book, we shall take the liberty of treating them as such; and our readers will probably be glad to learn from us, what the editor has refused to inform them, about the scope and character of Irving's first essay in literature.

The Orations' are four in number,-the first treats of the 'Preparation for consulting the Oracles of God;' the second, of the Manner of consulting the Oracles of God;' the third and fourth dwell upon the same subject, viz.: the Obeying of the Oracles of God.' What we have to say concerning Irving's style of composition we reserve for the close of this article. Meanwhile we will draw attention to salient points in the writings themselves.

The first oration is taken up partly with censuring the imperfect, erroneous, and irreverent receptions given to God's written Word by the generality of men; and partly with laying down the tone, spirit, and manner in which the reading of the scriptures should be approached. Throughout the author has in view the devotional, rather than the critical treatment of the Bible. He has regard to its use as the oracles of God from which the Divine will is to be ascertained, rather than to its character as a book which, because of its language, structure, and history, demands the arduous labours of the divinity student. In the course of pointing out the half-hearted way in which the Bible is often handled by those who admit its supreme authority as the treasury of inspired truth, he falls into the following impassioned strain :

For there is no express stirring up of faculties to meditate her high and heavenly strains-nor formal sequestration of the mind from all other concerns on purpose for her special entertainment-nor pause of solemn seeking and solemn waiting for a spiritual frame, before entering and listening to the voice of the Almighty's wisdom. Who feels the sublime dignity there is in a saying fresh descended from the porch of heaven? Who feels the awful weight there is in the least iota that hath dropped from the lips of God? Who feels the thrilling fear or trembling hope there is in words whereon the eternal destinies of himself do hang? Who feels the tide of gratitude swelling within his breast, for redemption and salvation, instead of flat despair and everlasting retribution? Or who, in perusing the Word of God, is captivated through all his faculties, transported through all his emotions, and through all his energies of action wound up? To say the best, it is done as other duties are wont to be done and having reached the rank of a daily, formal duty, the perusal of the Word hath reached its noblest place. That is the guide and spur of all duty, the necessary aliment of Christian life; the first and the last of Christian knowledge and Christian feeling hath, to speak the best, degene