MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 619 



out vice. When the citizens of a large town are so trained, influenced, 

 and organised, they have not only a mighty force at command, but the 

 most searching means of information at hand. Order, peace, and honesty 

 pervade the whole ranks of the people ; and, under such a system as of 

 old, golden bracelets might be exposed in safety, in the streets of London. 

 Such a people are invincible." 



Mr. Rooke's object, as will be seen from the above extracts, is to 

 engraft a kind of moral, social, and political Utopia on the British Consti- 

 tution. We wish he may succeed, with all our hearts. 



England; an Historical Poern. By JOHN WALKER ORD. Vol. If. 

 Sirnpkin and Marshall, London. 



This book is a poetical account of some of the main incidents which 

 have marked our history. The design is not amiss; but to keep up atten- 

 tion to weave into poesy well-known facts and to do this in a way to 

 charm as poetry, requires no ordinary imagination and power of de- 

 scription. Mr. Ord certainly does not possess these essential qualifications 

 to any remarkable degree, although there are many excellent lines and 

 some excellent verses in the Poems. The grand fault of the work, 

 however, is its irrelevancy. Thus we are favoured with twenty-three 

 pages of introductory stanzas, which have not the slightest reference to 

 the subjects of the volume, and a somewhat equally lengthy conclusion, 

 consisting of nothing on earth but a passionate appeal to some Margaret 



W- , of whom Mr. Ord writes : 



" And thou hast silken eyebrows, lightly spread 



Upon thy snowy chin, and cheeks most fair, 



Matching the richest colour ever wed 



With Nature, or when morn and eve compare ; 



As if a rose-leaf red, should with the snow-wreath pair:" 



which we consider to he one of the most infelicitous descriptions of a 

 lady's eyebrows we ever read. We have not the slightest objection to 

 Mr. Ord's writing love-verses, but we beg to assure him that they will 

 be far better confided to the fair lady herself, than forming a conclusion 

 to " England, a Poem/' The same failing runs through the work the 

 historical incident sometimes not occupying more than a few verses ; and 

 these helped out by allusions and descriptions not naturally springing 

 from or in any way dependent on them. 



The Poetical Works of SAMUEL ROGERS, Esq. Illustrated by 128 

 Vignettes. To be completed in 10 Monthly Parts. Parts t, II, 

 and III. Edward Moxon, London. 



It would be idle to criticise Rogers in so far as his poetical reputation 

 is concerned. His position is well defined, and he may be proud of it: 

 any praise or censure we could bestow, would neither add to, nor take 

 from, his well-earned fame. 



It is with the shape in which he comes before us, that we have to deal, 

 and we make no pause in saying that it is most exquisitely beautiful. The 

 pages glitter with gems, from the pencils of Stothard and Turner ; splen- 

 didly engraved by the Findens, Good, Miller, Le Keux, and other notable 

 Sons of Art; and the consomme is one of the most attractive works we have 

 ever seen. 



