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attempting anything of this kind. Assuming that the annotations of Poole had got into most hands,' and believing that for the purpose of explanation they were of admirable use,' he determined industriously to decline, as much as he could,' what is to be found there; for I would not,' he adds, actum agere- do what is done; nor (if I may be allowed to borrow the Apostle's words) boast of things made ready to our hand.' As an expositor, therefore, he rarely dwells on the meaning of phrases, or the clearing of difficulties; and though he occasionally refers to different views having been taken of a passage, he hardly ever attempts to decide, upon any other than the most general grounds, which is to be preferred. His principal aim as an interpreter of Scripture is directed to the analysis under distinct heads of the train of thought or narrative furnished by the sacred writers. He sedulously endeavours to ascertain the connection of each passage with the preceding context, to gather the general scope of it, and to present the whole under such an arrangement as shall convey to the reader an adequate view of the intention and purport of the passage. In this, it must be acknowledged that he occasionally fails, and that his minute subdivisions, as well as his transpositions of the writer's statements, sometimes obscure or pervert rather than explain the meaning. In general, however, he succeeds in his design, and after all that has been said of his want of exegesis, we believe there are few commentaries from the perusal of which we shall carry away a more distinct and correct view of the general design and purport of a passage than from his.

After explanation came, in Henry's estimation, the application of the truths educed. 'When the stone is rolled away from the well's mouth,' says he, by a critical explication of the text, still there are those who would both drink themselves and water their flocks; but they complain that the well is deep, and they have nothing to draw; how then shall they come by this living water? Some such,' he adds, may, perhaps, find a bucket here, or water drawn to their hands; and pleased enough shall I be with this office of the Gibeonites, to draw water for the congregation of the Lord out of these wells of salvation.' These are not the words of a 'feigned humility.' No one can peruse his Exposition without perceiving that they express the genuine feeling of his heart, and that in the humbler office of suggesting the practical application of Scripture to the circumstances and wants of the reader, he enjoys far more of liberty and delight than in the higher duties of the expositor. The passage we have quoted may be taken also as a characteristic specimen of the style in which his practical observations are for the most part presented; its point, its quaint

ness, its interweaving of the language of Scripture with that of the author, its transient and allusory spiritualizations of Scripture incident-so different from the minute, heavy, and fantastic perversions of the word of God to which this name is often appliedand its homely, yet not ungraceful, phraseology are all eminently characteristic of those practical observations, the use of which it is designed to explain and defend.

I have no doubt that it is to the practical department of his work that Henry has been principally indebted for the extensive and permanent popularity it has enjoyed. That it contains much valuable elucidation of Scripture I have already asserted; but without prejudice to that assertion, it may be nevertheless added that its chief charm and worth lie in the felicity and sagacity with which the truths of Scripture are applied to the interests and emergencies of the Christian life. In this department Henry's acquaintance with human nature, with the changing phases of the human heart, and with the peculiarities of Christian experience admirably fitted him to excel; and, as might be inferred from his own words already quoted, he threw all his energies into it. The result has been the production of a work which, viewed as a homiletical commentary upon Scripture, is without a rival in any language-a work which has found a response in the bosom of Christians of every grade in society and condition of life—a work to which the believer may betake himself under whatever emergency, secure of finding something suited to his case.

Complaints have sometimes been made of the style of Henry in this work as deficient in dignity and good taste. These complaints, however, belong chiefly to a past age, when a stiff and measured balancing of periods was deemed the acme of all rhetorical excellence, and when the use of a homely simile, a quaint expression, or an obsolete word, was enough to spoil, in the estimation of the connoisseur, the best reasoning or the profoundest thought. To the sounder taste of the present day Henry's style will not appear to require any great apology. That it is disfigured by occasional instances of carelessness, that sometimes it descends below the dignity of the subject, that frequently its quaintnesses are over-quaint, and may provoke a smile when a smile is not to be desired; are admissions which we suppose his greatest admirers would feel constrained to make ; but at the same time it must be admitted that his style has many excellencies; that in plainness and perspicuity it has never been surpassed; that it is often marked by exquisite pathos and sweetness; that frequently it rises into vigorous eloquence; that in its very quaintness there is a point and pungency which it would be a pity to lose; and

that

that above all, it is the genuine and unaffected symbol of the author's thoughts, and secures that greatest of all advantages, of being at once easy to peruse, easy to understand, and easy to recollect. That Henry could when he chose command a much more dignified and imposing style is evident from several passages in the Prefaces to the different volumes.

The continuation of the Exposition by those individuals who undertook this duty after Henry's death is, as a whole, very inferior to the original work. The authors write evidently under constraint from the effort they make, not only to adhere to the general plan, but also to imitate the manner and style of their predecessor. It is, however, uncertain how Henry himself would have succeeded with the doctrinal epistles, and it is, perhaps, hardly fair to compare the performances of his friends upon these with his own upon departments of Scripture of a very different character, and requiring for the successful elucidation of them talents of a different order.

In finishing this notice of Henry's Exposition, the writer has performed a task which to himself has been a labour of love. He highly values the book, and the memory of the author is dear to him-though not exclusively yet-chiefly for this book's sake. His own obligations to it for instruction, refreshment, and edification he feels to be immense. Without being blind to its faults, he ventures to affirm that taken as a whole, a richer legacy was never bequeathed to the Church of God by the learning, piety, and diligence of any one of her members.

SKETCHES OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF
FRANCIS QUARLES.

By the Rev. F. A. Cox, D.D., LL.D.

HAIL to the memory of Quarles-the quaint, the sprightly, the pious and instructive Francis Quarles! Why, have not our grandfathers and grandmothers in bygone times spent many a happy hour in his fascinating society, and handed down his well-thumbed and worm-eaten pages as a kind of heirloom to their posterity? Have we not, as they were wont to do, sat poring and palpitating again and again over the magic volumes? Have we not, in the period of wondering infancy and youth-yea, even in riper agepreferred many of his beautiful conceits and racy descriptions

spite of all the talk about taste and so forth-to the level smoothness and wire-drawn prolixity of many a modern poetaster? Have we not in childhood clapped our little hands at the curious pictorial mimicries presented to the eye (albeit then we knew not of the borrowing), and the explanatory stanzas which accompany them? Have we not again and again looked sympathizingly at the poor heart-stricken, bleeding and oppressed in the various contortions of strange similitudes? And shall we not honour the man, re-examine his writings, and invite the reader to take a pleasing ramble into his wilderness of fact and fancy? Yes; it is even yet enchanted ground; the riches of genius are there; the light of religion shines upon it.

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Pope and others have denounced Quarles; and the writer regrets to unite the name of Henry Neele with the number of his depreciators. Referring to the times of the Commonwealth, he writes, with an unmerited sneer, Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakspeare were exiled from the libraries of the orthodox to make way for Withers, Quarles, and Herbert!' Poor Neele knew not how to appreciate the religious feeling of the times. Pope, however, in a letter to Bishop Atterbury, says, Tinnit, inane est, with the picture of one ringing on the globe with his finger, is the best thing that I have the luck to remember in that great poet Quarles-not that I forget the Devil at Bowls, which I know to be your Lordship's favourite cut as well as favourite diversion.' But in the true spirit of self-contradiction, when alluding to the merit of the prints engraved by Marshall and Simpson in the first edition, he writes,

'Here the pictures for the page atone,

And Quarles is sav'd by beauties not his own.'

b

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It is probable that this sweeping censure materially damaged the reputation of Quarles. Pope deserved to be put into his own Dunciad for its severity. It is curious how another poet, and a better judge, in later times, has precisely reversed the two parts of this critical sentence. Southey calls the pictures the most ridiculous prints that ever excited merriment, while Pope designates them beauties' which redeemed the versification; while, on the other hand, Southey denominates as 'fine poems' the very compositions which Pope represents as saved from contempt by the pictures. Thus is poor Quarles crucified between these

a Lectures on English Poetry. This distinguished young man was among my early acquaintances, and, in common with all who knew and never can forget him, I throw the wreath of a sad remembrance upon his early tomb.

b Pope also censures Benlowes for being his patron.

c Vide Critical Review for September, 1801.

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two poets, each labouring under the influence of his particular prejudices. In the view of a refined taste, the prints may, indeed, appear ridiculous; but they must be taken in connection with the religious ideas suggested and illustrated by them; and such is their united charm, that at the hazard of being exhibited in some new Dunciad, poetical or critical, the writer is not ashamed to say of Quarles as Cowper did of England, with all thy faults I love thee still.

Of his personal history little has survived to satisfy inquiry, and nothing to enable us to trace the growth of his mind. A brief, but very interesting portrait of his character was given after his decease by his surviving widow Ursula, which is introduced in the following modest and attractive manner :

"Though it be inconsistent with the duty of a wife to be injurious in any respect to her husband, yet, in this, my bold undertaking, I fear I shall be so to mine, which I doubt not but he would have forgiven if he had been living, as proceeding from love, and I hope his friends will pardon now he is dead, as being the last duty I can perform to a loving husband. Those that see with what pen his works are written will say his life deserved a more skilful artist to set it forth, which office, though many might have been procured to undertake, and to which I doubt not but some would have voluntarily offered themselves if they had known that such a thing had been intended, yet have I (with much zeal, though small discretion) adventured upon it myself, as being fully assured that none can be more sensible of the loss of him than I, though thousands might have expressed that loss to the world with more art and better judgment.'

Francis Quarles was born at Rumford, in Essex, in the year 1592, being the son of James Quarles, Clerk of the Green Cloth and Purveyor of the Navy in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, and afterwards entered a student in the law at Lincoln's Inn. Subsequently he became cup-bearer to the Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I., and on his return from that country was appointed secretary to Archbishop Ussher in Ireland. The rebellion of 1641 involved him in the loss of all his property and endangered his person, but he was happy enough to make his escape. He also held the post of chronologer to the City of London till his death, which occurred at the age of 52, in the year 1644. Not long before he gave great offence to the Parliament by a work entitled The Loyal Convert; and taking part in the civil war, by joining the King at Oxford, he suffered the loss of his possessions, library, and manuscripts.

His wife has recorded that he had eighteen children, and 'how faithful and loving he was,' she adds, my pen and their

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tears