RELIGIOUS POETRY.

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The paucity of topics applies to the sublime as well as to the religions. The simple, the enduring, the sublime, must lay hold of the mind by the deep and enduring emotions they excite, not by means of variety. But Johnson's greatest mistake seems to consist in supposing that the sanctity of the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative diction. The Bible is a proof of the contrary. It is at once the most holy and the most figurative of writings. Imagination, as all would allow who understood the structure of the mind, though when misemployed it leads man from heaven, when rightly directed leads man to heaven. It is the necessary attendant and companion to faith. Without imagination man would be of the earth, earthy indeed. But imagination first leads us from the real to the ideal; and from the ideal, if rightly improved, to the celestial.

Were the subject fully examined, we think it would appear that the great difficulty of religious poetry is similar to the difficulty of writing poetry in a foreign language. The seeds of genuine poetry are sown in very early youth, and are only matured by the development of the mental powers. Few are religious when very young; and hence generally religion comes as a stranger and foreigner to the mind. Poetry is an impulse, and religion a restraint; and they are often like two forces acting contrary to each other. But the time will come when all shall know the Lord, from the greatest to the least, from the oldest to the youngest. There will be no need of cutting off one portion of our existence from another; but religious impressions will flow from the springs of early childhood in a continuous stream of the water of life.

The Devotional Writers we have mentioned are not all the springs, but some of the chief fountains, we have drunk of in passing through the vale of Baca. We have drunk of those clear waters; and, refreshed by those cooling

draughts in the midst of a burning wilderness, we have lifted up the head. The praises which Wordsworth bestows upon the poets, justly belong to the devotional writers, "On earth they have made us heirs of truth and pure delights." In the highest sense they have administered their bread to the hungry; they have revived the soul that was ready to perish; they have comforted the mourners, and wiped the tears from many eyes. The peace they felt themselves, they have communicated to many others, and brightened the hopes of eternal glory to many sufferers.

Yet they are but men, and it is right to point out their failings. They are but members of one great body, and the deficiencies of one must be supplied out of the fulness of another. They have also the disadvantage of being highly professional. We know what a strong current in one particular direction the mind of each of the learned professions takes, and what an advantage it would be if a non-professional mind was more frequently introduced into the pursuits of either medicine or law; a fresh eye at once dissolving some prejudices and being apt to perceive some things that had escaped the notice of others. We should greatly desire, therefore, to see more frequent additions to the devotional writers from the ranks of other professions; not only from physicians and lawyers, but from officers of the army and navy, from philosophers and from statesmen. The best commentary upon the Bible is the practical commentary it receives from the lives of its disciples. The greater the variety of circumstances in which these disciples are placed, the greater is the evidence for the inexhaustible resources and variety of wisdom with which the Bible is stored. Every new position will present a new point of view; and a Divine experience will be educed that the Bible is allsufficient in itself as a rule, and sufficient in itself for all the eventualities of life.

J. D.

CAPE TOWN AND CONSTANTIA.

In the year 1493, the Cape of Good Hope was discovered, as every one knows, by Bartholomew Diaz; and four years after, Vasco de Gama immortalised his name by doubling its rocky shores and braving the tempest-tossed seas that guard its approach. For many years the Cape was the temporary resort of civilised man; and the commanders of outwardbound ships belonging to the Dutch East India Company were accustomed to bury here their despatches for the Directors, cutting at the same time certain signs as directions in the rocks as a guide to those who should make search for the hidden documents. In the year 1650, the Dutch made a permanent settlement, and built the capital of their colony on the spot where Cape Town now stands; although, thirty years earlier, the agents of the English East India Company had taken formal possession of the country in the name of King James. The Dutch retained possession of the Cape till the year 1795, when, in consequence of the war with France, whose satellite Holland had become, it was seized by the British, but restored by the Treaty of Amiens. At the renewal of the war, however, a British force under Sir David Baird and Sir Home Popham again captured the settlement in 1806; and at the peace in 1814 it was formally surrendered to the British Crown.

It was on the afternoon of Monday, the 4th of December, 1854, on board the good ship Seringapatam, that we heard the joyful cry of "Land, oh! land on the starboard bow!" And true enough, there in the dim distance, just like a cloud in the horizon, from which it can scarce be distinguished, land high and mountainous looms into view. Now every eye is strained, and the cry of "Land! land!"

is re-echoed from bow to stern. On the following day we cast anchor in Table Bay. Colonel Smith and a guard of honour of the 73d regiment were in waiting to escort our distinguished passenger, Sir George Grey, to Government House; the band played "God Save the Queen;" and a royal salute thundered forth to the inhabitants of Cape Town the news of the arrival of their Governor, who bore with him the prestige of popular and successful administration in other colonies. A considerable number of people had assembled at the central jetty to witness his landing; but none of that enthusiasm was exhibited which an event of like importance would certainly have called forth in England. Perhaps the colonists are so used to a change of Governors that they have come to look upon the arrival of a fresh one as a thing of very common occurrence.

Cape Town nestles at the foot of Table Mountain. The latter has much the appearance of some old and gigantic fortress, under the dark frowning battlements of which the city reposes peacefully. The town is built with great regularity, parallel streets intersecting each other at right angles. The houses are, for the most part, plastered and coloured, but seldom more than one story high. Green is a favourite colour for doors and window-sills. The windows are divided into a number of small panes of glass; the rooms are lofty and unceiled-oak, or some dark wood, being substituted for the plaster and whitewash of English apartments; the floors, as in France, are frequently of polished wood. The shops differ little from ordinary houses; there is no attempt at display, and shop-architecture is evidently little thought of, though here and there plate-glass windows may be observed; and the example having been once set, it will probably be speedily followed, although the absence of competition, which in England has at least contributed so much to the beauty of the streets, may act as a retarding

cause. Some of the shops, particularly in the country towns, are called "general stores," and at these everything may be procured. Shop and other announcements are made in English and Dutch; and some of the Cape Town newspapers are published in both languages.

The Cathedral, or St. George's Church, which is situated near the public offices and promenade, is a most unchurchlike building, capable of containing 1000 people. The façade next the street, with its row of columns, resembled very much the entrance to a Pantheon or Town-hall; although, on closer examination, the ball and cross which surmount its ambitious and column-supported spire would perhaps tell its real character. The interior is an oblong parallelogram; the windows are oblong, and divided into small panes of glass; the organ and choir are over the communion-table; and if the pulpit, pews, &c., were removed, the cleared space would make a capital ball-room. The service is not performed in cathedral style, but resembles that of a parish church. There is, however, a good attendance, and I was gratified by hearing an excellent sermon from Dr. Gray, the Bishop. The Dutch Church is a large building, but not worth notice in an architectural point of view. There are

also many other churches and chapels in Cape Town.

The Royal Exchange and Public Library are situated on the Grand Parade. They are both noble institutions, and claim the attention of the visitor. In the reading-room of the first-named building are newspapers from all parts of the world, and of every political creed under the sun. Maps of large dimensions, on rollers and in mahogany cases, each bearing the name of the chart within, hang round the room, and can be consulted at pleasure. The Commercial Hall is chiefly devoted to the purposes its name denotes; but it is also used for lectures, public meetings, balls, and concerts.

The Public Library, forming the north-east wing of the