any quarter, by declaring in the July number of Blackwood, 1839, that though we are one of the most distinguished" descendants" "of the first series of the human race," the event which terminated" that series does "fail strongly to awaken our sympathies" and, shocking as it may seem, that we have not read Dr M'Henry's Antediluvians, or the World Destroyed, with a tithe of the interest we felt in Sir Thomas D. Lauder's Account of the Morayshire Floods. The Doctor himself has some misgivings on the subject, and acknowledges" that it was, indeed, no slight task to bring before the public, the affairs and fortunes of a world, concerning which so few records remain." The Public will, no doubt, try to look more than usually pensive on the Antediluvians and the World Destroyed, but will be sadder at heart for the sake of a party of apprentices and their sweethearts drowned on a holiday in rashly "shooting the bridge." The Poem of The Antediluvians, or the World Destroyed, opens with a description of Armon, or Armonia, "beneath the rule of the righteous Enoch." "There flocks and herds to cause Sickness, or pain, or premature decay; Giving duration to the life of man Is this scriptural?" Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return into the ground," &c. The winter frost may not then have been very severe in Armonia, though we believe that now it is occasionally rather sharp, with sleet, hail, and snow. "Summer scorching" there must have been and frequent drought. On what authority does a medical man of our day aver that there was "no sickness, or pain, or premature decay" before the Flood? Children' complaints. especially teething — must have carried off multitudes-and so must the measles; "girls of sweet sixty" died then in fact of consumption-and blooming and blushing brides were prematurely cut off ere they had reached their two-hundredth year. We are nowhere told that the longevity of the Antediluvians was owing to climate. There is every reason to believe that the Flood improved climate-and for that, and all other heaven's mercies, "our heart leaps up when we behold a rainbow in the sky." In the 24th verse of the 5th chapter of Genesis you will find it thus writ ten: "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Milton, remembering with awe that verse, and by it inspired, says, "Him old and young Exploded, and had seized with violent hands, Had not a cloud descending snatched him thence, Unseen amid the throng." the translation of Enoch. "At length the patriarch of this happy race, Bade earth and all the sons of men adieu. The tribes, assembled by the godlike man, A radiant chariot of celestial mould, By winged spirits drawn, and in its seat Descended, in the midst, where Enoch stood. Awe-struck the crowd at reverent distance As thus the bright angelic vision spake. gazed, Enoch, thy service in this world is o'er. Thou hast performed it well; therefore ascend This chariot, and with me arise to Heaven, Unrivalled symmetry his limbs adorned, And, looking fondly on the wondering my children! serve With unremitting zeal, as I have done, That waved in golden radiance, like the In autumn evening burnished by the sun; Th' astonished multitude fell to the ground Methuselah succeeds his father Enoch-and dies, near the bottom of the page. His son Lamech having predeceased him, Noah mounts his grandfather's throne-and then, it may be said, begins the poem. We do not comprehend Dr M'Henry's views of hereditary succession to the monarchical government among the race of Seth before the Flood. On Enoch's translation, Methuselah, heir-apparent, assumes the sceptre. But how, we ask, happened it that Enoch was king during the lifetime of his father Jared? If the Doctor will again look into the 5th chapter of Genesis, he will perceive that and thirty-five years. It is not said Jared outlived Enoch four hundred that he had resigned, or that he had been deposed-and we could not help being both surprised and hurt The Doctor must have supposed him at his absence from the Translation. dead long ago; for he speaks of "Jared, their chief city, sacred seat In a second edition, the good old king good place assigned him near the (in his sixth century) must have a chariot "of celestial mould." Nor Enoch, be suffered to mount the must Methuselah, any more than throne till his grandfather's demise. A few hundred years must be cut off his reign, as erroneously given in the M'Henry's annals; and with such correction of dates-for it is strictly a question of dates-the Doctor will not fail to discover the error contained in the lines, "Through the long period of Methuselah's reign, That reign the longest in the rolls of time." Had we stopped here, we should have given the Doctor a famous opportunity for a triumph over us: but we beg to inform the Doctor, that at the time of Enoch's translation, not only was his father Jared alive, but Jared's father, Mahalaleel. Mahalaleel then was king, Jared Prince of Wales, and Enoch Duke of. No, we are wrong again -for Mahalaleel's father Cainan was alive too, and he must have been king; so the Doctor and we are called upon to re-adjust the order according to seniority of the blood-royal. Why, we are not right yet-for Cainan's father, Enos, was as much alive as any of them; so, at the translation of Enoch-as described by M'Henry-there must have been present-Enoch himself, Jared, his father, Mahalaleel, his grandfa ther, Cainan, his great-grandfather, and Enos, his great-great-grandfather. Mercy on us! old Seth, too, was alive-alive and kicking!-Enoch's great-great-great-grandfather! Methuselah, however, at last is dead. And our poet exclaims: "Illustrious Noah! thou who wert ordained To be the second father of mankind, How did it grieve thy spirit, when thou found'st The progress pride and wantonness had made, By secret growth, even in Methuselah's days? Ah! now, where veneration for the years Of one whose power they had so long obeyed, No more restrained them in their vain desires, The proud and daring openly gave way To vile propensities, and wickedness Began to lose the shame which had before Kept her, decorous, from the public view." Having found the Doctor so far out on his previous chronology, we cannot help suspecting that he is not aware that Methuselah died only about a year before the flood. This description of the gradual growth of wickedness-in the above passage and many others after Methuselah's death, leads to this suspicion; but, supposing that it is not so, then the action of the Antediluvians, or the World Destroyed-for Enoch and Methuselah occupy but four pages at the beginning -is comprehended within a single year. Long enough time, too, in all conscience-but then, how short for a poem undertaking to narrate "The FORTUNES AND CATASTROPhe of the ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD!" We hear little or nothing, and that little or nothing in vague generalities, of any Antediluvians but those who were drowned in the Flood. The poem should have been called "The Year of the Flood." The Antediluvians, then, the Doctor cannot fail to perceive, has yet to be written and he ought to set about it forthwith, lest some interloper, regardless alike of "courtesy and policy," take it out of his hand. We should have wished to know something more of the Sethites than it has pleased the Doctor to reveal; but we must now accompany him to the kingdom of the Cainites, under the iron rule of Shalmazar, a Demi-fiend-begotten by Belial on Astoreth, a princess of the blood-royal. "The infernal spirit who had caused the Fall" had long had possession of the hearts of the people-and the guardian angels had resought the skies. "Oh! direful was th' unhallowed intercourse, With more than half mankind, they had maintained Since the fell deed by bloody Cain was done, VOL. XLVI. NO. CCLXXXV. Which first inflicted death, the doom of sin And to th' infernal agents gave their hearts. Oh! preference worse than foolish, choice insane! Which drove celestial spirits from their charge Of guardianship o'er human feebleness, Let us take a look at the Demi-fiend. "Here reigned the fierce Shalmazar, giant king, Sprung from a mixture of infernal strain ; His site the power of lewdness, Belial named, Who, amorous of an earth-born beauty, A monstrous brood, half devils and half men !" This mixture, the Doctor believes, "is in due consistency with the ideas generally entertained in Christendom." We cannot figure to ourselves the produce of such crosses-a demirep is come-at-able in our imagination, but not a demi-fiend. This, however, is indisputable-that Demi-fiend must be an ugly customer-wicked. whether he will or no-miserable and a giant. The Cainite king should have been a man-and should have given the Antediluvian world assu rance of his being so-though up to the knees and elbows in blood. Othello calls lago a demi-devil-because he knew that he was man-begotten as well as woman-born. Shalmazar had raised a golden statue of himself, "all enriched with gems of chrysolite and glittering adamant, emerald and topaz, amethyst and pearl," higher than the highest of the I Egyptian pyramids a thousand feet at a moderate computation, whence we conclude that what are now called the precious metals were then dog-cheap. "How grieved the heavenly angels were to see The human multitudes, from hills and vales, And villages and cities, numberless, Who, with unholy steps, came wildly forth All were idolaters but a remnant. The true believers had annually emigrated in considerable numbers to the land of Seth-all but one "Glorious Jethuran! thine the happy choice To stand alone 'midst the blaspheming world, The friend and champion of the Eternal One." As he is about to be immolated to the fury of the tyrant, his daughter Hadallah rushes forward "Like a beam Of sudden light from heaven, that bursts the gloom Of an o'ershaded sky," And throws her slender form at Shalmazar's feet. "The beauty of the suppliant, through the frame Of the fell tyrant shot resistless fire And "fondly thus the maiden he addressed" "Fair one, thou'rt charming!" &c. Jethuran is sent to prison, and Hadallah is given to understand, that on the usual terms her father's life will be spared. Book Second is occupied with a detail of the measures taken by the Demi-fiend to get possession of the virgin; among which the most dangerous are the artifices of a painted and plausible jade, Jazeda, mistress of the harem. "Now, with proud gait and high affect ́ed air, Jazeda, mistress of the harem, came, Commanded by the king, to try each art Of strong persuasion on Hadallah's mind. Advanced into the autumnal stage of life, Her beauty faded, but not quite decay'd, She its defects assiduously repair'd By ornaments profuse, glaring and strong, With glowing colours, and with rich perfumes, Spread with such deep solicitude to please, It was unnatural all, and gave offence Instead of pleasure to the eyes of taste." Among other topics of persuasion, this harridan urges on Hadallah's consideration the moral to be deduced from the following "story of Adda:" "Beware!-thou may'st deceive thyself; for he Has other passions that can be aroused, She spurned his wishes and refused his love. At length, his passions pushed beyond control, He forced her first, then glutted his re venge. See'st thou yon citadel, whose frowning towers O'erhang the shadowy breadth of Kisna's flood Lo! now they gleam in evening's setting ray! There by Shalmazar's mandate she was borne, And in a room of state, decked splendidly For his design, he revelled in her charms, Spite of her imprecations, prayers, and cries. Then nothing but revenge for her disdain And fruitless opposition, moved his soul. 'In love,' he cried, I now have rioted And vengeance, long provoked, shall have its due !' He caught her, trembling, in his furious grasp, And from the topmost turret's airy height He hurled her headlong to the gulf below. The flood enclosed her in its deepening "Tyrant,' she said, 'I will not yield to thee!"" And the executioners a virtuous passion, which, although she does not return, she successfully uses as the instrument of his conver "Cast their victim on the roaring sion to the worship of the true God. flames." "But suddenly the shouting crowd is mute; Awe-struck, they gaze-for lo! a miracle! Three 'midst the flames appear instead of one! Two with spread wings and fair angelic shapes, By either hand the good Jethuran caught. Swift at their touch the holy man is changed From age to youth, from feebleness to strength: His bonds fall off; his earthly robes are turned To radiant garments of celestial frame, And on his head a crown of glory shines. Short space the three survey the wondering throng, With looks of pity mingled with rebuke: Then to Hadallah, with approving smiles, They turn their eyes, and take their flight to heaven; Jethuran, in the midst, seemed in a car, By cherubs borne up to the seats of bliss." This seems rather too much da capo of Enoch's transfiguration and translation. The argument of the Third Book runs thus:" Shalmazar, recovering from his alarm, consults his Vizier and the High Priest of Baal, in relation to the effects which the preternatural appearances that attended the execution of Jethuran, might produce on the public mind.-At the suggestion of the High Priest, it is agreed to persuade the people that they were the result of magic.-Shalmazar then confers with his demon-slave, Asmodeus, on the means most likely to seduce the affections of Hadallah. They try various modes of temptation, in which Asmodeus is the chief agent, but without success.-Asmodeus, at length, advises that an accomplished and beautiful youth should be allowed access to her, in expectation that he will become enamoured of her, and excite in her a reciprocity of carnal passion, which would occasion the heavenly influences that protected her while uncontaminated by such passion, to leave her to struggle against temptation with only her own strength. A young warrior, named Ellam, is selected for this purpose.-He becomes enamoured of her, but it is with -The insidious designs of the tempters are, consequently, in this instance also frustrated." This argument, though pretty full, gives but an imperfect idea of Book Third, in which the character of the Demi-fiend is shown in a very puzzling light. Having recovered from the fright of the miracle, and got Horzan, priest of Baal, to convince the people, who had been getting rebellious, that it was no miracle at all, he "Now fondly turns to more attractive cares Once more he muses on Hadallah's charms." "Compulsion he would spurn, as ruinous To the high visions which his fancy forms Of bliss, resulting from the yielding love Of so much beauty trembling in his arms, With mutual fondness, and with mutual joy." Hitherto, certainly, he had not adopted the means most likely to create a tender feeling towards him in the heart of Hadallah; but now he perpends "Some unseen art it yet remains to try. What shall it be? The exciting power of herbs, Or chymic philtres, to inflame the heart, With amorous longing?" But the Doctor, who is no quack, reThat smells of Apothecaries' Hall. instates himself and the Demi-fiend in our esteem. |