ception of motive, the ability to unfold nature, and the happy descriptive power he ever possessed, may be easily traced in each of the twenty-two tales which compose this volume. Of these the second is probably the most interesting for its dramatic construction and the very masterly manner in which Mr. Crabbe dissects character. Its title is, "The Family of Love." We shall not follow the story, the reader must peruse it himself; and it will amply reward him for the time and trouble thus expended. Of the whole volume this is, perhaps, the most admirable tale, and the characters which come under review are such as are well adapted to Mr. Crabbe's peculiar faculty of description. The first five tales are miscellaneous; the remaining seventeen form a series which Mr. Crabbe had originally intended to publish in a separate volume, to be entitled "The Farewell and Return." In one of his letters he says of it, "I suppose a young man to take leave of his native place, and to exchange farewells with his friends and acquaintance there-in short, with as many characters as I have fancied I could manage. These, and their several situations and prospects, being briefly sketched, an interval is supposed to elapse; and our youth, a youth no more, returns to the scene of his early days. Twenty years have passed; and the interest, if there be any, consists in the completion, more or less unexpected, of the history of each person to whom he had originally bidden farewell." Undoubtedly this series embodies much of the poet's private history. They are written in his usual style, with something of the connection which exists in the "Tales of the Hall."

Upon a general survey of our author's poems, we fear we cannot render a verdict in favor of their usefulness. That they have been somewhat useful in England, in a political point of view, in calling the attention of the higher classes of that country, and of men in places of influence, to the real, unexaggerated state of the mass of the poor, we have not the slightest doubt. Nor is it doubted that many of his poems are works of taste, which may be refining to the poetic student. But there we think the limit of their utility is fixed. That every page has the impress of genius is undeniable; but we have feared that flowing versification and lovely poetical imagery have been thrown around scenes the description of which has been useless, if we may not say deleterious. We find in his works too many exemplifications of woman's weakness and man's VOL. I.-34

wickedness; and if the cause of morality and religion may be favored by keeping the truth of our natural proneness to sin continually before us, we feel satisfied that minute illustrations of unhallowed desire, conceiving and bringing forth sin, are highly injurious. On this point, then, we must differ from some others of Mr. Crabbe's reviewers, in doubting whether he has been sufficiently careful in uniting the utile cum dulce.

We have thus given a brief analysis of the works of Crabbe, and the opinion we have formed of his poetic power. He opened a new path, and most successfully pursued it. He has reversed all the bright pictures of rustic happiness which have filled the pages of the poets, and most faithfully delineated the miseries, as well as the happiness, of humble life. This strict adherence to nature and truth will, in time, render his works a favorite with the cottager and peasant of England, and will continue so while many of England's laws continue so oppressive. He has seldom ascended above middle life, and scarcely in a single instance selected a subject which was not consonant with his taste and abilities. If he has exhibited any fault in sketching character, it is that he has been occasionally painfully minute. With a delicate ear, he has rendered his versification extremely polished, and sometimes exquisitely musical; and although he seldom varied his metre, he scarcely ever appears monotonous. His regular smoothness reminds us of Pope, his diction of Goldsmith,—but a perusal of his works convinces us that he is an imitator of neither. His perception of character seemed almost intuitive; his ability to describe it, most masterly. He was ever beautiful, even in the midst of loathsome scenes, and sometimes he rose to sublimity. His humor is so quiet that it seldom makes us laugh, while it ever imparts those highly pleasant sensations which create the happy smile. The coloring he gave his descriptions was rich and varied, and the exactitude with which he sketched character identifies the original immediately. His pathos, deep and touching as it is, reaches the hidden fount of feeling, and wakes its warmest current. We can say nothing greater of the "poet of the poor" than has been said:he was "Nature's sternest painter, and her best."

34*

ART. III.-The Bible Society of the Baptist Denomination.

It is known to the Christian community, that our brethren, of the Baptist denomination, have withdrawn, in a body, from the American Bible Society, and have organized an independent institution for the purpose of translating and circulating the word of life.* The originating cause of their secession, and the precise object of the new association, are, however, not so generally understood. We have before us the constitution of the new society; a report of their operations during the year of their provisional organization; their first, second, and third (1840) annual reports; and several quarterly papers issued under the direction of the society. From these, we shall be enabled to give a correct account of the origin, object, and prospects of the new institution. We intend to do this honestly; actuated, if we know our own heart, solely by a love for the truth. But while on the one hand we disclaim the right to attribute motives that are disavowed; on the other we shall be fearless in the application of the Saviour's rule:-By their fruits ye shall know them.

With our Baptist brethren we have always been on as friendly terms as they would allow us to be. We have preached in their pulpits, and although we are not permitted to commemorate with them the dying love of our common Saviour, we bear them no ill will on that account. They choose to take the responsibility of virtually unchristianizing those whom they nevertheless call brethren beloved, and whom they acknowledge as ministers of Christ, by inviting them to preach to their people. We are willing they should bear that responsibility, as it leaves them answerable for any schism in the body of Christ thereby occasioned.

We cheerfully accord to that denomination, also, full credit for the zeal they have manifested in sending the gospel and the missionary to the heathen. In this we allude more especially to the Baptists of England. The same spirit in this country has enabled them to take rank with the largest Christian denominations in the United States.

It ought to be observed here, that there are exceptions to this remark; a respectable portion of Baptists having refused to co-operate with the seceders, and still continuing friendly to the old society.

That they had a perfect right to withdraw from the American Bible Society, and to establish another, if the reasons seemed unto themselves sufficient, will not be questioned. If they had publicly avowed, as their design in so doing, the interests of their own sect, and had baptized their society with their own distinguishing name, no one of their sister churches would have had any right to complain. They have seen proper to do neither the one nor the other. They disclaim sectarian motives, and, instead of choosing a denominational characteristic, they call the new establishment The American and Foreign Bible Society.

There is something ludicrous in the application of the term American to societies and institutions which are of a purely sectarian character. The design with which it is done is easily seen through. Our Baptist friends have never before, so far as we know, adopted it; and whether, in this instance, they must come under the charge of using it for sectarian purposes will appear before the reader gets through this article. Our Presbyterian brethren are notorious for making every thing connected with the interests of their own peculiarities-American. Thus their missionary societies are known, not as Presbyterian, or Calvinistic, but as the American Board, and the American Home Society. Their society for the education of indigent young men is, of course, the American Society. In their periodicals they talk of themselves as the American churches; and a little monthly pamphlet containing one, and sometimes two well-spiced Calvinistic sermons, is the National Preacher. An inhabitant of another planet visiting our earth, might, perhaps, for a while be led to suppose that all Americans are Presbyterians, either of the new or old school; or, at any rate, that Calvinistic and American are so nearly synonymous as to convey the same idea.

It would have appeared better, at least so we judge, if, in seeking a name for the new society, our Baptist friends had recurred to the fact, that there are some who claim equally with themselves to be Americans, and who know nothing about their society or its object. How much better, more manly, and more independent would it have been, to have imitated rather the appellation of their own society for evangelizing the world; the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions.

Besides, the name they have chosen had already been adopted

by the institution from which they saw proper to secede. The words, "and foreign," are, if not implied in the title, fully expressed in the constitutional object of the old society, as our separating brethren well knew, having received from it large amounts to aid them in circulating their translations in foreign lands. The English Baptists acted a more manly part in this matter. Following the example of their brethren in this country, they too have formed a separate association. They call it the Bible Translation Society. Inelegant, it is true; and scarcely grammatical; but still expressive, and quite original.

Thus much may suffice with reference to the name of the new concern. Let us turn our attention to the causes which gave it birth.

At a meeting of the board of managers of the American Bible Society, held on the 6th of August, 1835, Mr. Pearce, a Baptist missionary at Calcutta, made application for funds to aid in printing the New Testament in the Bengali language. A simlar application had been previously made for the same object to the Calcutta Bible Society, and to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and by each denied. The reason for this refusal was the fact, that, in the version for which aid was solicited, the Greek words BarriŚW, (baptizo,) Banrioua, (baptisma,) and their derivatives, were translated by phrases, which, in that language, signify to immerse, immersion, &c.

The request of Mr. Pearce was referred by the board of managers of the American Bible Society to the committee on distribution, who reported at the next regular meeting, to wit, on the 3d of September following, that in their opinion it was inexpedient to' make any appropriation, until the board settle a principle in relation to the Greek word Banriw. This report having been accepted, the whole subject was referred to a special committee of seven, which was composed of one from each of the religious denominations represented in the board. At the meeting in October, this committee brought in a report adverse to the request of Mr. Pearce, for reasons therein assigned. At the next regular meeting the whole subject came up again, and was finally referred back to the same committee of seven, who, at a special meeting on the 19th of November, made the following report :

"The committee to whom was recommitted the determining of a