"To myself, nevertheless, I unite in the opinion of the illustrious Lowth, and believe such a sublime and mystic allegory to have been fully intended by the sacred bard. Regarded in this view, they afford an admirable picture of the Jewish and Christian churches; of Jehovah's selection of Israel, as a peculiar people, from the less fair and virtuous nations around them; of his fervent and permanent love for his elder church, so frequently compared by the Hebrew prophets to that of a bridegroom for his bride; of the beauty, fidelity, and submission of the church in return; and of the call of the Gentiles into the pale of his favour, upon the introduction of CHRISTIANITY, SO exquisitely typified under the character of a younger sister, destitute, in consequence of the greater simplicity of its worship, of those external and captivating attractions which made so prominent a part of the Jewish religion."

IDYL I.

ROYAL BRIDE, ATTENDANT VIRGINS.

Royal Bride.

Ch. 1. 2. LET him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
For thy love is delicious above wine.

3. Like the fragrance of thy own sweet perfumes
Is thy name-a perfume poured forth;

For this reason do the virgins love thee.

4. 'Still thus' attract me--we would follow thy perfumes.'-The king hath led me into his apartments.

Virgins.

We will exult in thee and rejoice:

Thy love will we celebrate above wine;

Thou art every way lovely.

Royal Bride.

5. Brown am I, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem! As the tents of Kedar, as the tapestries of Soloman. 6. 'Yet' despise me not because I am brown,

For the sun hath discoloured me.

My mother's children were severe with me;
They made me keeper of the vineyards.
My own vineyard have I not kept.
7. Tell me, O thou! whom my soul loveth,
Where thou feedest 'thy flock,'

Where thou leadest it to rest at noon.
For why should I be as a wanderer
Among the flocks of thy companions?

Virgins.

8. If thou know not, O thou fairest among women! Go forth in the footsteps of the flock;

And leave thy kids to feed

Beside the tents of the shepherds.

IDYL I.

ROYAL BRIDE, ATTENDANT VIRGINS.

Royal Bride.

O LET him kiss me with those lips of bliss!
For more than nectar dwells in every kiss.
Rich thy perfumes; but richer far than they
The countless charms that round thy person play:
Thy name alone, more fragrant than the rose,
Glads every maid, where'er its fragrance flows.
Still let it draw me!-with attraction sweet
Still sway our hearts, and guide our willing feet!-
Daughters of Salem! tell through every grove,
The partial monarch crowns me with his love.

Virgins.

We share thy bliss-and, with triumphant voice,
More than o'er wine, o'er costliest wine, rejoice.
Fair is thy form, well worthy of its lot,

O matchless excellence! and void of spot!

Royal Bride.

Not such, ye maids of Salem, my renown;
My form is comely, but my face is brown :
Comely as tapestry where the king frequents,
But brown as Kedar's tawny-tinctur'd tents.
Yet scorn me not though thus of humbler hue,—
'Twas from the sun the sultry tint I drew.
My mother's children, with unkind commands,
In servile toils employ'd my infant hands:
I kept their vineyards through the blazing day,
And hence my own unprun'd and desert lay.—

Tell me, O thou! for whom my spirit pines,
Where now beneath the noon thy flock reclines?
There let me seek thee :-for, devoid of home,
Why mid the flocks of strangers should I roam?

Virgins.

If, O thou fairest of the female race!

His devious flock thou know not where to trace,
Go-mark their footsteps-follow where they guide,
And leave thy kids the shepherds' tents beside.

In the preface, our author delivers his opinion as to the probable age of Solomon when he composed these "Idyls," and endeavours to collect what he candidly denominates "a few detached and unsatisfactory anec

dotes" relative to "the beautiful and interesting personage" on whose marriage with the Israelitish king they were written.

The notes, which occupy about 150 pages, are exceedingly elegant and amusing. Those, however, who turn to them for theological information, will be disappointed. They are intended to elucidate, not so much the language of religion as that of love, and to present examples in which the phraseology, imagery, and general sentiment of Solomon, in "these sacred amorets," have been accidentally or intentionally imitated. The parallel passages are drawn together from a great variety of authors, Persian, Arabic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, and are, most of them, very tasteful and pleasing. Altogether, indeed, they may be regarded as constituting a beautiful anacreontic garland, of flowers gathered from every clime; but of which a few are too strongly scented to be fully relished here, being the produce of such exotics as have never yet flourished in an "English garden." To most of the passages thus quoted, translations are appended, of which several are by Dr. Good himself, and given with great spirit and vivacity.

MEMOIRS OF DR. GEDDES.

Dr. Good's "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Dr. Alexander Geddes," were published in 1803, in an 8vo. volume of nearly 600 pages. This extraordinary individual was born in Banffshire, in September 1737, and died in London, February 26th, 1802. He was an indefatigable writer, being the avowed author of 35 publications on different subjects connected with politics, and with sacred and profane literature; besides a

great number of pamphlets published anonymously. His principal work was a translation of the Bible, of which, however, he only published a few of the earlier books; the boldness of his speculations, and the rashness of many of his proposed emendations, having excited such an opposition to his undertaking that he could not possibly proceed with it. He was a man of profound and extensive erudition, of deep research, and of unwearied application; an enthusiastic propagator of his particular opinions respecting the Scripture historians: but as these are justly reckoned not only erroneous, but even dangerous, by the majority of Christians, it is no wonder that his publications on such subjects diminished that respect which all men of learning would otherwise have entertained for him.

The memoirs are written in a lively, pleasing style, and convey much amusing information, not only relative to Dr. Geddes, but to many of his associates in the literary world; men who took an active part in the literature and the politics of that stormy period, from the commencement of the French Revolution until about 1800, when political and theological rancour were at their height, and when nothing was more difficult than for an individual to steer his course quietly through the world without becoming a partisan. The biographer says, "I have freely commended, and I have freely blamed-I have deviated from Dr. Geddes's opinions where I have seen reason for dissent, and I have vindicated him in instances where I have conceived the motives of his conduct to have been misrepresented or misunderstood." The truth, however, need not be concealed, that at that