characters of men, and with the varying condition of each. The Protestant church, like a congeries of independent atoms, has not the capacity of a whole and entire vessel, to be filled with the manifold treasures of God. And each fragment holds less than its proportion of the whole. Baptized Protestants have fallen, in spite of their ever learning, to a lower condition than that of the ancient catechumen. Boasting of simplicity, they perish through poverty. And they well deserve the epithet of him who said, "Cœtus quærentium non habentium veritatem schola est non ecclesia." Pp. 102, 103.

Of confession and absolution he thus speaks; and, though what we cite is only a sentence, it will show how thoroughly Popish he is in his views of these doctrines:

"Though the first Reformers retained confession as a third sacrament -though the Lutheran liturgy still recognises it, in both its general and its special forms, yet not as sacramental-and though to this day every one has his Beichvater;' yet the whole thing has gone into desuetude, as it could not fail to do, where men believe themselves responsible in religion to God alone, and other institutions bound up with confession have become a dead letter. Indeed, if there be none to absolve, why confess.” Pp. 110, 111.

Our last quotation is as to prayer for the dead. On this point he speaks out more openly and decidedly than even on the previous ones. Rome and he are at one:

"Men have almost excommunicated the departed, by regarding their condition as one impassible, superior to that of the living, independent of our prayers, and dissevered from our hope. Although they are not perfect while their being is divided and laid low by the curse, and although we cannot see God's kingdom until they first be raised with undivided and unhumbled being, yet Protestants have released themselves from the obligation, recognised by the Church from the beginning, to pray for their peace, and to impetrate their resurrection. This neglect is no marvel: for to pray for the resurrection of the dead, without any faith that it will be granted to our prayers, is a hypocrisy which the faithful will not commit, and to pray for it, in real faith that we shall obtain what we ask, is too great a draft on the almost expiring faith of the Church in the living God, who quickeneth the dead. Indeed, if the living have so ceased to look for the Son of God from heaven, that they do not expect to be changed; they should as little expect and ask the resurrection of the dead. And the Church of England, in praying for the Church militant on earth alone, and mutilating the text which she quotes as her warrant, has only expressed her conviction that the welfare of the saints who sleep, and their deliverance from the last enemy, are no business of hers, but depend on a power, and await a decree, with which prayer has nothing to do. Of this, however, we may be certain, that as no ecclesiastical revival is catholic which does not point to the return of the Lord, so no catholicity is genuine which does not embrace the departed with the liv ing saints." Pp. 135, 136.

Such are some of the strange doctrines maintained in this volume. We have said enough regarding them to give our readers an insight into the author's views, and the views of his sect, for we believe that such are the principles of that body, or rather, we should say, such are some of their principles, for we suspect they hold many other crudities not divulged, either in the work of Mr Carlyle or Mr Drummond. They are far gone in thorough Romanism; and it is hardly fair in these writers to say many hard things against Rome, while they are maintaining its principles, adopting its liturgies, putting on its harlot-dresses, and mimicking to the life that Satanic mockery of Christ and his church.*

But let us do no injustice to Mr Carlyle. Let us not deny that there are many able, and some eloquent passages in his book. There is far too much parade of untranslated German, and there are other minor faults scattered throughout. But still there are paragraphs which one can read with pleasure, and which a reviewer can quote with the hope of profit to his readers. Take the following interesting and vigorous account of Hegelism, which is now on the ascendant in Germany; for, let it be remembered, that Mr C.'s work is really upon the moral phenomena of Germany,' though hitherto we have not adverted to it as such:

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"Kant is wholly out of date: Hegel, the perfecter of Spinoza, is now the German god. His doctrine is a mighty stride of devilry in advance. It is the first German system that promises to work; for it is a philosophy which tallies with principles in the breasts of all classes. But its work will be one of ruin; for the principles which it evokes are those of Antichrist. Its advocates are of various shades-half, whole, and ultra; and there are many who, in spite of its infection, preserve or have recovered a measure of faith, although a far smaller one than they imagine. But in itself it is unmixed Atheism, and the nearest approach yet made to the preparation of Christendom for receiving the Man of Sin. Its slime defiles some of the noblest minds in the land; and it possesses this remarkable character, that while in its esoteric aspect it is unfathomably abstruse, its exoteric is extremely popular, level to the capacities, akin to the thoughts, congenial to the habits, touching the interests, kindling the lusts, of all. It boasts of being based on or confirmed by the moderne Bewusstseyn.' In spite of the puny rejoicings of shallow pietists, that its

We had almost forgot to notice the character of the Free Church, which Mr C. gives. We insert it here without remark :- The "Free Church of Scotland," which, though abstractly commendable for its jealousy of State interference, and its solicitude to meet the desires of the flock, has, in its reckless vindication of personal liberty, sacrificed the place of the priest at the shrine of popularity, and plumes itself on its sensitive orthodoxy and naked ritual, may well draw a lesson from a German divine, who looks for the liberation of the Church through the restoration of apostolic gifts, and recognises truth which her single-string and Procrustes-bed will not allow.' Pp. 177, 178.

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refutation is accomplished, it gains ground every day. And it is reasonable that it should; for the delusion has a deeper root, and is of greater calibre than any amount of truth which Gospel-christians or Evangelical society-agents can oppose to it. If the vessel has been broken, it is that every child in the street may play with its sherds. While utterly expunging from creation, as the mere 'populäre of Vorstellung!' of Jacob Böhme and others, a personal Deity-while rejecting an incarnate Saviour, an indwelling Spirit, an inspired record, an apostolic ministry, a present work of grace, and a coming day of judgment-while accusing Hume and his friends of uberschuss des Glaubens!' and Kant and his friends of obstinate belief in existence after death, (dass sie davon nicht lassen wollen")-its subtilty is such, that there is no point in Christian verity, no office of the adorable Trinity, no text of Holy Writ, for which it has not an appropriate niche in its temple of lies. It contradicts nothing: it confounds, neutralises, and eliminates all objects of personal faith. It is the first truly philosophical system, which, denying a life to come, eternizes that which has sold itself to the world, and establishes the absolute Diesseits' against the exploded Jenseits.' The thought of man is the fountain-the judgment of man the judge of all things. The consonance of the fact with the thought-that is God; the exhibition of that consonance-that is Christ; the measure of its attainment—that is the Holy Ghost. The king is to be obeyed, not as the object of personal loyalty, but as the exponent of the thoughts of his subjects, or rather, of his philosophers. The State is that stamp of thought which shall be eternal, the absolute power on earth, to which the Church is but the temporary minister; for man, as an individual born and mortal, is as man eternal. Duty and responsibility, without a basis, are therefore without a sanction." P. 59-62.

Take another sketch of the present state of the German mind in reference to the supernatural and superstitious:

"A very remarkable religious feature of Germany, at the present day, is the extent to which things supernatural have, in some quarters, occupied the attention of men. Northern and Southern Germany are, in divine things, like two opposite poles-the one of rule and order, the other of light and life. For the latter, Würtemberg has been long distinguished. Bengel, the father of a prophetic school, and the great reviver of faith in the invisible, was among the first, with Stilling, to recover the forgotten truth of man's threefold constitution in body, soul, and spirit—the latter, as that part of his being through which he holds immediate communion with God through the Holy Ghost, and apprehends spiritual things. Although the German mind is peculiarly susceptible of spiritual influences, yet rationalism-which the creeds and liturgies retained by the Lutheran Church could not check-had so obliterated all practical faith in the personality and presence of God, that all supernatural manifestations-instead of being received as a thing surpassing the limits of man's capacity -only induced philosophers to enlarge the powers of man sufficiently to explain them. Thus, by not distinguishing between power to act, and capacity to be acted upon, instead of cherishing man's capacity to receive the agency of God in a higher way than that of the intellect, they fell in

to the great error, on the one hand, of treating all supernatuaal working of the Holy Ghost in the Church as a mere development of powers latent in man; and, on the other, of allowing, without question, the lying wonders of Satan as mere psychological phenomena." Pp. 127, 128.

We give the conclusion of the book, which consists of a warning and exhortation to the Church of England. Much of it is peculiar, but the latter part is good. It may be a quickening word to many. It is upon the consequences of acting boldly as a Church of Christ:

"Whenever she begins to act in good earnest, she will discover how entangled by a network of statutes, overlaid by political power, and paralyzed by distraction, she is. Then will her perplexity come: the despair without guidance-the bitter sorrow of those who guide the discordant-the pains and penalties of following the Lord. The struggle will be sharp, though short. Satan will not passively yield the world. The saints cannot obtain the kingdom in a way of blandness and smiles. As Luther said, 'Our spouse is a bloody husband unto us. If the seed was sown with blood, the harvest will be reaped with it also. Men may occupy themselves with impunity in a thousand religious ways; but the work which the time demands can never be popular. It must be done at the peril of fortune, fame, and life. A forlorn hope must enter the breach. There shall be no armistice-no respite-no smooth water after the storm-no feast after a fast-no honour after shame-but shame and sorrow to the end; wave upon wave-the sign of the prophet Jonas— the blackness of all but despair-till Jesus appear to save, translate, and crown us, when they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

"Many in the Church of Christ have more than glimpses of good things to come. Whether their faith shall now obtain these things for the Church, or be yet quenched for a season-whether the people shall enter into the wilderness-is the great question now. God grant the former! Let His servants encourage themselves in Him alone, and seek only his reward. Let them witness for that precious truth which, in the words of Jerome, Suorum paucitate contenta est, et multitudine hostium non terretur.' Let them not say of Christ, like the Jews, As for this Moses, we wot not what is become of him;' but believe that the living God can act." " Pp. 181, 182.

one.

The volume is a small one, but, we confess, rather a curious It is a sad and strange mixture of good and evil, the latter predominating. There are bright beams shooting through, but clouds and darkness envelope it. We mourn over such aberrations. We grieve over the spoiled and mangled truth. We grieve over the men who have wrought the wrong, first to Christ, then to his church, and lastly, to themselves. They grope in darkness, and the day is to them as night. In the language of a German writer, whom doubtless Mr Carlyle knows, As yet struggles

VOL. XIX. NO. I.

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the twelfth hour of the night; birds of darkness are on the wing, speetres uproar, the dead walk, the living dream.”*

ART. VI.-Piety and Intellect Relatively Estimated; addressed to those who, from profession or predilection, are engaged in study, as also designed and accommodated for all readers in the community. By HENRY EDWARDS, Ph. D. Third edition. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. 1845.

WE hail the appearance of the volume before us as most seasonable, and heartily rejoice that it has already reached its third edition. No tendency in the present day is more prevalent, and few certainly are more dangerous, than that of forming an erroneous estimate of the relative value of piety and intellect. If the latter is not over-estimated, the former at least is undervalued. Intellect without piety commands the admiration and applause of men wherever it is found; while piety, even when associated with no small share of intellect, runs the risk of being despised by a large portion of society. The Creator has allotted the highest place to piety; while the creature, dissatisfied with this arrangement, arrogates for intellect a superior rank. "We deify ge

nius,' says Dr Edwards, but ah, when shall we learn to reverence virtue? Shall that which is first in God's book, be last in man's page?' p. 12. The volume of Dr Edwards is the effort of a sensible, vigorous, and pious mind, to oppose the lamentable and prevailing tendency of which we have been speaking. It is an attempt to vindicate for religion its rightful superiority. Nor does intellect, thus placed in comparison with piety, receive an unfair handling from our author. He is fully sensible of its importance, and indeed devotes one of his earliest chapters to the illustration of the subject, and to the exhibition of the 'pleasures and advantages of secular knowledge, and its superiority to every other mere mundane attainment." Having established this point, and having obtained our hearty acquiescence in the conclusion at which he arrives, he hastens forward to his ulterior and grand object, viz. to show that high as is the position of intellect, yet piety ranks still higher. The volume finds its appropriate motto in the words of the wise man, Wisdom is the principal thing.' To establish, illustrate, and enforce this is its uniform aim.

* Jean Paul Richter, quoted by Thomas Carlyle-not the present author, as our readers have all along, we trust, understood.