the tooth run generally perpendicularly. In the middle of the bony substance of every tooth, a canal is left for the transmission of an artery, vein, and nerve to each. The teeth are generally divided into three classes, viz. INCISores, CANINI, and MOLARES.-The INCISORES are four front teeth in each Jaw; they have a sharp cutting edge, and, by the foreside being turned inward, while they are sloped out behind, they considerably resemble the form of wedges.-The CANINI are one on each side the incisores, in both Jaws. These are larger than the incisores, and are not edged, but pointed, not adapted to cutting, but to piercing or tearing.-The MOLARES have all crowns or heads; those of the two anterior in each side of both Jaws have two points, whence they derive their name of BICUSPIDES.The last on each side, denominated DENS SAPIENTIÆ, has not so large a base as the third or fourth, nor has it so many roots.' p. 47, 48. We cannot dismiss this article without remarking, that, while anatomical science is professionally necessary to one class of men, it may be found practically useful to all: it developes to the student, the fearful and wonderful complexity of his frame, and affords him a continual proof of a CREATOR, all wise, all powerful, and all beneficent. It is a melancholy reflection, however, that where the recurrence of these studies is frequent and technical, they seem rather to deface than to strengthen this impression; and we have too much reason to fear, according to the poet's aphorism, that are madmen among anatomists, as well as among astroño there mers. Art. XIII. Sermons on various Subjects. By Thomas Blundell, Pastor of the Baptist Church, Luton, Bedfordshire, 8vo. pp. 298. Price 6s, Burditt, Paternoster-row. 1806. E We have perused these Sermons with pleasure. They are the simple, unadorned production of natural genius, whose intrinsic strength and value are not frittered away by any attempt to polish it. The subjects are often new, always interesting; the spirit in which they are discussed is truly Christian; the method ingenious, and the sentiment compressed to an unusual degree of closeness and density. To those who relish ingenious allusion and illustration, drawn from the books of Nature and Revelation; who can appreciate sound sense and original remark; and who value evangelical truth, we can recommend these sermons with confidence. They are fifteen in number, and, from their convenient length, as well as plainness of style, are well adapted for family use.-At the same time, we must remark, that the sense is sometimes expressed with so much brevity, that it is not perfectly intelligible; and that the language is deformed by some colloquialisms that would have been much much better retrenched. The following passage from the sixth : sermon, on 1 Cor. xiii. 13. may serve as a specimen of the work. Love is the most active.-Hope will be cheerful under great trials, and smiling, say, 'Better days may come.' Faith will reply, Come they will, at the destined hour." But it is the delight of love to make present days better, and to derive advantage from the past. Her language will ever be, I must work the work of him that sent me, while it is called to-day; for the night cometh when no man can work.' When faith and hope take the path of duty by themselves, there is always a lion in the way but if love be their companion, the lion must either fiee or be slain. It was owing more to the constraining influence of love, than the power of faith or hope, that the primitive preachers faced all the opposition of the savage heathen; and by her persevering ardour, and burning inspiration, they dissolved and entered the brazen frontier of the pagan world. In the early ages of christianity, love devised the means of sending the gospel to the then hardy and superstitious Britons; and in our days has contrived to send it back again to its native East. Love is the mistress of faith and hope, the life and soul of all the graces. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; and through the darkness of Providence, faith is sometimes ready to fail: but love is vigorous, and performs the work of them both, without neglecting her own. While their infirmities continue, even she herself "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." She diligently shields the soul from every attack that might be made by unbelief and despair, in that else unguarded moment: nor does she merely secure her companions, and perform their duties, but lives and grows stronger by her own labour, needing no other support than what arises from doing the will of her divine author. 'Love, without either the gold or the power of states, and though opposed by all their influence, has born and protected the ark of God during the storms of eighteen centuries; and she will preserve it through the wilderness, carry it over Jordan, and lodge it safe in the mount Zion. She shall still achieve new wonders: when her circulation shall become as extensive as the British commerce, she shall do what neither the armies nor the cabinets of Europe will ever be able to accomplish-she shall kiss the world into peace. Love knows no partiality: she embraces in her arms the whole human race. Like the oil that ran by miracle, her goodness will never cease to flow while there remains another vessel to fill. It is the most abiding.-Faith and hope are confined to the present state; but love, though the most active here, will still grow stronger in the world to come. There she will breathe her native air, eat bread at her own table, and enjoy her own society. "Now abide these three, faith, hope, and charity, and the greatest of these is charity; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail." Faith and hope both live upon the prophecies; but as they all shall be accomplished, they will cease to be prophecies. Those which related to the deliverance of Irsael out of Egypt, their possessing the promised land, their return from Babylon, and the coming of the Lord Messiah, have failed already; and all that are now unfulfilled shall die, like their fellow-witnesses, when they have finished their testimony. The eventful period will arrive, when hope shall shall die by the joy which the fulness and glory of her inheritance shall afford; and faith, having seen the accomplishment of all the prophecies, and the destruction of all its enemies, like Sampson among the Philistine lords, shall expire, and lie entombed in glory. But charity shall survive both her companions, and live in immortality.' p. 117, 119.. The sermon, intitled 'The River of Life impeded,' contains the following beautiful allusion to the overthrow of hindrances which obstructed the extension of Christianity. In the full prospect of these difficulties our beloved apostle stood, and stood undismayed. He knew the prophecies, and the power of God; and that when the faith and patience of the saints had been sufficiently tried, these formidable barriers, like the walls of Jericho, should suddenly go down. Hence he reminded his fellow-labourers wherein their great strength lay, saying, 'Brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified.' When, behold, like the mountains of ice in Greenland, under the beams of returning suns, these adamantine rocks dissolve; and instead of impeding the current, tend to accelerate its mighty force, till it completely inundates the pagan empire. Their covenant with death shall be disannulled, and their agreement with hell shall not stand; morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night, till the refuges of lies be swept away, and the waters overflow the hiding place. p. 175, 176. That there are errors and failings in this volume, we shall not deny; but they are not of essential importance. Some remarks might justly be censured as fanciful, perhaps, as erroneous; the vein of thought is sometimes brilliant, where it is not pure. We could wish, too, that the tenor of the discourses were more uniformly practical, that the heart and conscience had been addressed as well as the understanding, and that the author had aimed more decidedly to convince and animate, as well as to gratify, establish, and enlighten. We recommend, however, to the serious reader, to disregard these imperfections as the dross which enters into all human compositions; and to convert the genuine treasure of the work to such a use, as may suit his particular situation. Art. XIV. The Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems. By James Montgomery. 12mo. pp. 175. Price 4s. Vernor & Co. Longman & Co. 1806. THERE HERE are few names so deeply interesting as that of Switzerland. It is a sound that wakes many a consonant chord in the heart of sensibility. Those that vibrate the most forcibly are, an attachment to rural life and simple manners, admiration of natural beauty and sublimity, a love of freedom and of the courage that protects it, a detestation of cruelty, and a horror of oppression. The reader who is tenderly sensible to an these these feelings will be impatient to see the poems of Mr. Montgomery, when he is assured that he has done justice to such a subject....: The WANDERER OF SWITZERLAND,' (says Mr. M.) the first and longest essay in this collection, has a peculiar claim on the liberality of criticism. Whatever its fate or its character may be, it is neither written in the spirit, nor after the manner, of any preceding Poet. An heroic subject is celebrated in a lyric measure, on a dramatic plan. To unite with the majesty of epic song, the fire, rapidity, and compression of the ode, and give to both the grace and variety of earnest impassioned conversation, would be an enlargement of the boundaries of Parnassus. In such an adventure, success would be immortality; and failure itself, in the present instance, is consecrated by the boldness of the first attempt. Under these circumstances, THE WANDERER OF SWITZERLAND Will be hospitably received by every lover of the Muses and though the Poet may have been as unfortunate as his Hero, the infirmities of both will be forgiven, for the courage which each has displayed.' : Pref. pp. v. vi. We envy not that steadiness of eye that can discern minute blemishes in such a poet as Mr. Montgomery. The principal defects in this Lyro-drama, seem to arise from its very nature. The pen of the writer, and the feeling of the reader, sometimes languish for a few stanzas: how could it be otherwise? since langour necessarily follows an excess of pleasure and mental exertion. The metre of the poem is too confined and monotonous for its length; and the conclusion partakes scarcely enough of the catastrophe, to gratify the interest and curiosity, which are excited by its dramatic form and singular merit. The first scene of the poem is thus described: A WANDERER OF SWITZERLAND and his family, consisting of his wife, his daughter and her young children, emigrating from their country, in consequence of its subjugation by the French, in 1798, arrive at the cottage of a shepherd beyond the frontiers, where they are hospitably entertained.' They are thus accosted by the Shepherd. The Wanderer, having refreshed himself, proceeds to inform his host of the progress and ultimate success of the French invaders. Most of the circumstances commonly known of this dreadful ruin, are introduced with admirable propriety. The narration is occasionally enlivened by the introduction of the Shepherd, or some other of the friendly circle. In the last battle, or rather massacre, Albert, the son of our Wanderer, the last of the Swiss,' perished, defending his father from the enemy. The description of this most affecting scene, affords some fine specimens of the pathetic and the sublime. Wrath in silence heaps his store Sudden as the judgment-day To confound the guilty foe; To the unexpecting dead. p. 59. The following was the last prospect that the Wanderer beheld, from his beloved mountains: Wanderer. Flaming piles, where'er I turn'd, While the red illumined flood, In the sixth and last part, the wanderer discloses his intention of going to America; "There in glens and caverns rude, Silent since the world began, 'Dwells the Virgin Solitude, Unbetray'd by faithless man. |