Father of light! on thee I call, Earth-ocean-heaven-thy boundless throne. Must perish in their mingling storm? Who, when thou wilt canst take me hence, By thy command I rise or fall, If, when this dust to dust's restored, With clay, the grave's eternal bed, A year after the period of this poem, 1806, he wrote the following lines, breathing a similar spirit, under the melancholy impression that he should soon die. Forget this world-my restless sprite Turn, turn thy thoughts to Heaven; There must thou soon direct thy flight, If errors are forgiven. To bigots and to sects unknown, Bow down beneath th' Almighty's throne- Father of light! to thee I call My thoughts, my words, my crimes, forgive, Instruct me how to die. In these two addresses, as well as in the extract from the catalogue of his studies, we see how early the authority of all systems and sects was avowedly shaken off by the inquiring spirit of Byron. But in these, there is a fervour of devotion worth all creeds that have been, or will be, through which the piety implanted in his nature unequivocally shows itself; and had he, at the period when he penned these pieces, fallen within the reach of such guidance and example as would have fostered these dispositions," the license of opinion into which," says his biographer, "he afterwards broke loose, might have been averted." But there was no such monitor near him. His chief companion at the University was a sceptic, and possessed, as well as Byron, in no ordinary degree, by that spirit of ridicule, whose impulses draw the mind on to disport itself most wantonly, on the brink of all that is most solemn and awful. But Lord Byron was not now, nor at any time of his life, says Mr. Moore, a confirmed unbeliever, though he proclaimed his sentiments on religion with great levity and even boast; we must bear in mind, that there must in this be made a considerable share of allowance for his usual tendency to make the most and the worst of his own obliquities. Nor is there reason to doubt, that in reference to religious matters, he was, both by himself and his enemies, "made," to use his own words, "worse than I really am.' Even in a letter to a friend, in which he evidently sacrifices much to effect, he goes no farther than to declare, "I believe truth the prime attribute of the Deity, and death an eternal sleep, at least of the body." Notwithstanding these gloomy views, Byron was not destitute of devotional sentiment. Feelings of piety, a soul like his could not fail to possess largely, and these, when afterwards they were diverted out of their legitimate channel, found vent in the poetical worship of nature, and in that shadowy substitute for religion, which superstition offers. If religion be considered as a sentiment—as a train of feeling pervading the soul of man, and linking him with the Creator-which is certainly one, and an important aspect of religion-Byron possessed it in a degree superior to that of many of his detractors. A religious man, however, understanding the phrase in its ordinary acceptation, we can by no means designate him. Yet it must be allowed in favour of his religion, such as it was, that the words which Dr. Johnson used of Swift, are strictly applicable to Byron: that "the suspicions of irreligion proceeded in a great measure from his dread of hypocrisy; instead of wishing to seem better, he delighted in seeming worse than he was.' Speaking, in a letter to Mr. Gifford, of the passages in his works which had been objected to, on the score of religion, he says: "they have been much commented upon, but certainly have been rather strongly interpreted. I am no bigot to infidelity, and did not expect that because I denied the immortality of man, I should be charged with denying the existence of God. It was the comparative insignificance of ourselves and our world, when placed in comparison with the mighty whole of which it is an atom, that first led me to imagine that our pretensions to eternity might be overrated. This, and being early disgusted with a Calvinistic school, where I was cudgelled to school for the first ten years of my life, afflicted me with this malady; for, after all, it is, I believe, a disease of the mind as much as other kinds of hypochondria." In the year 1815, Byron had an interview in London with Scott, and the latter, amongst other things, thus speaks of the noble poet's religion: "Our sentiments agreed a good deal, except upon the subjects of religion and politics, upon neither of which I was inclined to believe that Lord B. entertained very fixed opinions. I remember saying to him, that I really thought that if he lived a few years he would alter his sentiments. He answered rather sharply, I suppose you are one of those who prophesy I will turn Methodist.' I replied, 'No-I don't expect your conversion to be of such an ordinary kind, I would rather look to see you retreat upon the Catholic faith, and distinguish yourself by the austerity of your penances. The species of religion to which you must or may one day attach yourself, must exercise a strong power on the imagination.' He smiled gravely, and seemed to allow I might be right." G. C. S. The Rev. Alexander Harvey and "The Detector." THE Editor of the Christian Pioneer considered it right to send a copy of the last number of this work to Mr. Harvey. It was accompanied by a note, offering the use of the pages of the magazine, for the insertion of any reply Mr. Harvey might judge proper to make, in answer to the remarks on his lecture against the Unitarians. The following is the only reply the Editor has yet received:— "To the Editor of the Pioneer, care of Mr. Hedderwick & Son, Printers, Glasgow. "To the Editor of the Pioneer. "SIR,-Before your note reached me, accompanied by a number of the Pioneer, I had seen it. Had you practised the courtesy towards me which you seem to expect from others, you would not have inserted the article which refers to me, till you had ascertained the accuracy of the notes upon which the article is founded. Should I deem it due to myself to notice the misrepresentations in that article, I shall certainly not do so through the medium of your pages, over which I have no controul. So far as I can yet ascertain the impression which the article has produced, it is such as to render any reply entirely unnecessary. That Unitarians will believe every statement in it, is what I expect; for their prejudices appear to be as strong, and their hatred of Trinitarians as cordial, as those of the greatest bigot, against whom they can so eloquently rail. The note-taker was, happily, not the only individual before whom the discourse was delivered, which you have made appear so absurd. My time is too much occupied, and I trust more profitably, than to allow me leisure to notice the silly attacks of every nameless scribbler. If the writer imagines that his profane mottoes, his heathen signature, his avowed system of espionage, and your patronage and support, must terrify me into silence, he will find himself greatly mistaken. And when you, Mr. Editor, wish to have a stroke at the 'reputed orthodox,' do, for your own sake, be a little more judicious in the spies you employ, and in the use you make of their reports. And be so good as give the Christian name of the writer of your articles; for be assured, that a pagan name is not well suited to a professedly Christian Journal, and affords but a poor concealment to a writer whose style has in it so much mannerism as that of " 'Argus.' "I am your obedient Servant, A. HARVEY." Here is an indi "18, WHITEVALE, 8th Feb. 1831. Now, what sort of conduct is this? vidual who announces a lecture against the Unitarians— who preaches that lecture-who is charged with distorting the sentiments of the denomination he opposed, and with defaming the motives, and traducing the character of virtuous and enlightened men-he is supplied with a copy of the charge he is offered the use of the pages of the work in which the charge is preferred, that he may rebut the charge, or explain, or apologise for his language-but he declines the opportunity of self-vindication, because, forsooth, he has no controul" over those very pages, which the Editor had placed at his disposal. Mr. Harvey accuses the Editor of lacking the "courtesy" which he seems to expect from others," in inserting the remarks on his lecture without having "ascertained the accuracy of the notes upon which the article is founded." The cases are very different. The "courtesy❞ |