The Sacred Annual, being the Messiah, a Poem

in Six Books, by Robert Montgomery, fourth

edition. London: John Turrill, 1834. We are not among the number of those who set their faces obstinately against Mr. Montgomery and his effusions; and this we shall prove, we trust, when we come to consider his last poem, "Woman," a subject of no ordinary difficulty to treat of in the abstract, and to which Mr. Montgomery has done unhoped for justice. Neither is it our intention at present to discuss the merits of the poem before us; it has been criticised over and over again before our pages saw the light; but of the shape in which it now appears, as an Annual for 1834, we shall say a few words.

We have no hesitation in asserting, that of all the difficulties which the mind and the pencil of the painter have to encounter, there is not one of such great importance as the illustration of a work which has the sacred things of the invisible world for its subject. We would go so far as to say that there is almost as much conception required in the painter as the poet, and that the lofty visions of the latter must lose their effect if they should be presented to the reader's eye upon a canvass which the bad taste and worse execution of the former has invested with an air of the ludicrous and absurd.

So far as the external decorations of the Sacred Annual" are concerned, we have no material objection to make; in an age when competition in the externals of such productions has arrived at its maximum, a raging fever, there is no use in rebuking the rival of "the watered silk" for his extravagant employ of stamped velvet-so let us open at once, and see how it is embellished within.

What a gorgeous glitter of gold, indigo, and-brick-dust or tooth-powder-we cannot pronounce whether of the twain; but of one, if not both, there is an awful sprinkling upon these awfully bad designs.

"The Temptation," by Martin, it is impossible to speak of in any positive terms. We are among the most enthusiastic admirers of this wonderful artist; but daubed as the plate before us has been, we must be silent as to the probabilities even of its merits. It is followed by "An illuminated Missal Title," which, if its central head were copied from A. Carracci ten times over, it would not atone for the contemptible taste which has brought the whole title, by its ridiculous ornaments, to the level of a Christmas sheet for a school boy's

copy.

"Eve's First Born" is literally disgusting. "The Atheist viewing the Dead Body of his Wife," would certainly require some such hint as the painter gave the admirers of his "farm yard" by marking the various animals it contained, "This is a sheep," &c., so ought we to have been informed that the gentleman looking pleased in the black pantaloons, with a spherical angle of the "eternal blue" behind him, is an Atheist, and that the yellow figure, whose outline describes such a graceful curve on the couch, is wife." But we will not tire the reader

neither more nor less than his "dead

by discussing the rest of these gaudy, indeed, but most indifferent plates. There is nothing so much calculated to bring religion into contempt, as to make the coarse and extravagant designs of an igcles of what is sacred, and consequently norant and self-sufficient taste the vehisublime. If Mr. Montgomery intends to continue his "Sacred Annual," we would recommend him to employ those artists, and to adopt that style which has secured for his competitors such unLet him, in the name

bounded success.

of all that is reverend, abjure henceforth, as an accompaniment to his letter-press, such sign-painting as would disgrace the Angel Inn, or would raise the choler of a publican who ordered a bran-new St. Patrick for the patron saint of his popular pot-house.

Adam's Roman Antiquities, with numerous Notes and Indices, by James Boyd, LL D. illustrated by engravings on wood and steel.— Glasgow Blackie and Son. 1834.

We consider this one of the most valuable books which the classical scholar could meet with. It would be idle at this time to comment upon the merits of the original work, but we may bestow the unqualified praise which it merits on the edition before us, enriched as it has been by excellent notes and some very beautiful illustrations. A considerable improvement has been effected by Mr. Boyd, in placing the references at the bottom of the pages, which in the old edition caused, from their frequency, an unpleasant interruption to the text; his own notes are similarly placed, and are neatly printed in a small but clear type. They are full of interesting and important matter, and explain more fully and satisfactory, in many instances, what had been too briefly discussed in the original work.

The engravings are a most useful addition to the volume; they are admirably executed, and convey at once to the mind of the student the objects which they are

intended to illustrate, and to which mere verbal description could not do the requisite justice. On steel we have a plan of ancient Rome, the "di majores" and "minores," "the procession of a triumph," &c. and on wood the most approved cuts of every thing connected with the ceremonies, religious and warlike, and the domestic economy of the ancient Romans, copied, as the editor states, from works of the highest authority, Montfaucon's Antiquite Expliquée, Sir William Gell's Pompeii, &c. On the whole, we have seldom seen a re-edited work which could confer such credit upon the gentleman who took upon him the laudable task of enlarging his able original, and at the same time ensuring the circulation of this indispensable addition to a classical library, by reducing its price to nearly one-half of what it has hitherto sold for. We sincerely wish Mr. Boyd all the patronage and support which he so eminently de

serves.

Consolation in Affliction, by the Editor of the Sacred Harp, &c. Dublin: Wakeman, 1833.

The prodigious circulation (nearly 40,000) of the works already edited by the gentleman who presents this little volume to the public, affords a better and stronger assurance to our readers that their intrinsic merit was very great, than pages of well paid eulogium and panegyric. Of the volume immediately before us, we profess to think more highly, if possible, than of its predecessors. It is not by originality that it has thus won

upon us, for as a collection it is rather the perfect keeping in the whole strain of matter, the fresh body of good writing, sound sense, and true religion here brought forward, which has bound our fancy, and forced upon us the conviction that the hordes of master authors have been searched not in vain, nor by an ignorant and unchristian eye. The works of numerous first-rate writers have been ransacked to furnish forth this excellent little volume. Montgomery, Wolfe, Milman, Mrs. Hemans, Bishops Mant and Kenn, have been pressed into the service; in their several contributions affording to the afflicted that which may, indeed, be called "consolation." But this is not by the unmeaning phrases of fashion, or the heartless and worldly condolence of worldly friends, it is that consolation, which by shewing peace, where peace may be had, exalts and raises the thoughts to high and holy sources of happiness, and diffuses a calm resignation over the mind.

We cannot let this exquisite little work pass us, without adverting to the superiority of the typography-as a specimen of printing, it is beautiful, but how much is its value enhanced when we find that it has been brought out in an Irish Press? it rivals any thing of the sort that has been produced by the printers of the sister kingdoms. It really is pleasant to see such a style of getting up, creditable alike to the publisher, and the Dublin printing-offices.