longing to the decidedly evangelical party. The number of ministers is about 500. There is a theological publication under the patronage of each of the parties, into which the church is divided. The evangelical work is The Archives du Christianisme; the other The Revue Protestante. The former has 1200, the latter from 3 to 400 subscribers-This is a very pleasing fact. The Archives are said to have a more extensive circulation than any periodical work in France, above a newspaper. The Rev. Mr. Monod, junior, who is the editor of this work, expressed to me his desire to exchange the Archives, for the Christian Advocate; and for this purpose he has put into my hands for you, a complete set for the last year. These I will send by the Packet of the first of February. If you approve of the exchange, you can send your numbers regularly to his address, which you will find below, and he will send his to your agent in New York, if you will be kind enough to let him know the direction. I have no doubt you will be much pleased with this publication; not only on account of the spirit which pervades it, but also for the ability with which it is conducted. Besides these regular publications, the friends of religion are constantly publishing small religious works, and disseminating them to every part of the kingdom. The press, therefore, in France, is not idle, in reference to the cause of religion; and its influence is as beneficial as it is extensive. I was much struck, in looking over the shelves of a single bookstore, to see how many excellent works had been translated from the English. Scott's Force of Truth, Scott's Essays, Doddridge's Rise and Progress, Paley's Evidences, Erskine's Evidences, Erskine on Faith, are a few of the number which now occur to me. You will be pleased to hear that Mr. Monod has undertaken the her

culean task, of translating Scott's Commentary. For this work he appears eminently qualified. For although a native of Paris, he has spoken English from his infancy; and he seems to have his heart imbued with the same doctrines, and the same spirit, which pervade the work he has undertaken to give to his Protestant countrymen. The Gospel of Matthew is already nearly through the press, and will shortly be published. The success of this undertaking is not altogether a matter of certainty, since, without considerable patronage, it is impossible that so expensive a publication can be continued. But as there are at present 500 subscribers, and as assistance is furnished from England, it is to be hoped that this important effort will not fail.

(To be concluded in our next.)

GERMAN THEOLOGY. Almost ever since our editorial labours commenced, we have been wishing to obtain a compendious view of the Theology, or to call it by its proper name, the Infidelity, of the German Biblical criticks, Theological professors, writers and preachers. We have the prospect of obtaining this desideratum, before long, from Professor Hodge, as we have already intimated; but in the mean time, we think that useful information may be imparted to a number of our readers, by the following extract from the Eclectic Review, for July last.-We must not omit to mention, that the tide of infidelity in Germany appears to be turning. Men of the first distinction for talents and erudition, and of eminent and fervid piety, have lately appeared as the defenders and advocates of the doctrines of the Protestant reformationProfessor Tholuck is of this number; and men of a similar character appear to be rising up in various parts of Germany. The preach

ers of evangelical truth are manifestly increasing; the general distribution of the Sacred Scriptures contributes important aid; and in some places, a revival of pure religion, affords to all who love the truth as it is in Jesus much encouragement.

"Within the last forty years, infidelity has assumed a disguise which some beings who believe and tremble, have, no doubt, lauded as very clever and ingenious. In Protestant Germany and the neigh bouring countries, it has put on the gown and the ruff; its children and servants have been saluted as summe venerandi, and they have sat down in the dignity and influence of university chairs and parish pulpits. They are, therefore, decked with the name of Christian; they are held to be the children of the Reformation; they are professionally of the Lutheran or of the Calvinistic communion; they are pastors and professors of divinity, profound scholars, able critics, and distinguished authors.

"The outline of their scheme is this:-That the moral contents of the Bible are a Revelation from God, in the same sense in which all intellectual proficiency and practical improvements are gifts of Divine Providence.-That the book of Genesis is a collection of the earliest traditions concerning the origin and primeval history of the human race, containing some facts, but mingled with much allegory, mythology, and fable. That the institutions of the Israelitish nation were the admirable inventions of Moses and his coadjutors, the claim of a divine origin having been cleverly assumed, and ably sustained, to obtain the credit and obedience of a barbarous people.That the prophets were the bards and patriotic leaders of their country, warmed with the love of virtue, roused by the inspiration of genius, using the name of the Lord

to arouse torpid and selfish minds, and having no other insight into futurity than the conjectures which were suggested by profound political views, and by access to the secrets of camps and cabinets.-That Jesus was one of the best and wisest of men, possessing peculiar genius and an elevation of soul far above his age and nation.—That, seeing his countrymen sunk in ignorance and superstition, and apprized of the depravity of the idolatrous nations, he formed the grand conception of a pure, simple, and rational religion, founded on the Unity of the Godhead, enjoining universal virtue, having as few positive doctrines and outward institations as possible, and, therefore, adapted to all times and all countries.-That, in order to accomplish his purpose the more readily and safely, he entered into a temporary compromise with the popular opinions and phraseology, assuming to be the Messiah whom the nation expected, and applying to himself various passages of the prophets, such as were calculated to excite the highest veneration.— That, by superior natural science, and by dexterously availing himself of fortunate coincidences, he impressed the bulk of the people with the belief of his possessing supernatural powers,-an artifice very excusable on account of its benevolent and virtuous motive.-That, by the envy, revenge, and selfish policy of the Jewish ecclesiastical leaders, he was condemned to die: that he was fastened to a cross, but (in consequence, perhaps, of previous management by some friends in power) was not mortally hurt; that he was taken down in a swoon, and laid in a cool and secluded recess within a rock, where, by the skill and care of his friends, animation was restored.-That, when recovered, he concerted measures with his confidential adherents for carrying on his noble and generous views; that, from a secure retire

ment, known to only a very few of his most intimate disciples, he directed their operations; and that, in a personal interview near Damascus, he had the admirable address to conciliate Saul of Tarsus, and persuade him to join the cause with all the weight of his talents.That he probably lived many years in this happy retirement, and, before his death, had the pleasure of knowing that his moral system was extensively received, both by Jews and by men of other nations.-That this religion, though a human contrivance, is the best and most useful for the general happiness of mankind, and therefore ought to be supported and taught, at least, till the prevalence of philosophical morality shall render it no longer needful.

"Such a system as this is held boldly and throughout by some, and by others in various degrees of approximation. They go under the denominations of Rationalists, Neologists, and Anti-supernaturalists; and we have been informed that other terms are employed to express, like the nomenclature of a West Indian population, the different shades and hues of this belief or non-belief. We may remark, by the way, that the former of these appellations is very unhappy, and ought to be strenuously protested against. It implies a concession which we regard as false and injurious; it dishonours the inestimable gift of God, which distinguishes from the brutes, and on which alone accountableness and religion can rest; it pays a most unfair compliment to persons who are far from deserving it, but who are eager to avail themselves of it; and it encourages the idea, that those who hold what we believe to be the genuine doctrines of Christianity, are the maintainers of a system which will not stand the test of thorough investigation.

"Were any rational and impartial inquirer to go through the Ne

ological scheme with due scrutiny, he would be able to demonstrate its utter incongruity with the facts that are acknowledged,-its irreconcileableness with the records on which it is built, and whose authenticity and sincerity it affirms. He would show that, by the multitudes of most singular and opportune conjunctures of extraordinary though natural phenomena, which it lays down for its positions, and without which it cannot be sustained for a moment, it admits a series of fortuitous events, whose occurrence and combination are infinitely less credible than the simple miracles declared in the Scriptures; and finally, that it is overthrown by the external evidences in favour of a Divine revelation, as treated by many well-known authors.

"The most celebrated supporters of this system, in some or other of its gradations, are believed to be, or to have been, Paulus, Eichhorn, Eckermano, Gesenius, the author of the Hebrew Lexicon, Gabler, Wegscheider, Brerschneider, Van Hemert of Amsterdam, Schiller the late dramatist and historian; and to these we fear we must add Heinrichs, Niemeyer, and Schleiermacher, the Author of A Critical Essay on the Gospel of St. Luke, which has been translated into English, and of which we hope shortly to take further notice. These writers have certainly rendered useful services to the cause of Bible-learning. In numerous dissertations, essays, and commentaries, they have contributed stores of Oriental and Rabbinical attainments to the illustration of history, allusions, and phraseology, in both the Old and New Testaments. It is especially worthy of observation, that, in their bringing out of the grammatical sense of the Christian Scriptures, they frequently state certain opinions and persuasions as entertained by the Apostles, which are no other than the GREAT DOCTRINES of religion, as held by the orthodox

churches of ancient and modern times. These are, the ascribing to Christ of those attributes which are peculiar to Deity; the assertion of an expiatory design in the sufferings and death of Christ; the referring of all events to the decrees and providence of God; the reality and necessity of Divine influence, in order to true holiness in principle and action; the existence and temptations of wicked spirits; and the immediate happiness or misery of the human soul on its separation from the body. It is to be observed, that, in making these statements, the Rationalist interpreters are most careful to avoid the declaration of their own belief; they appear to keep ever in view the character under which they write, that of mere narrators of what were the opinions of other men, in a distant age. But it is obvious, that this very character, this confinement to the bare construing of the text and the cold assertion of its meaning, this very indifference (whether real or affected) to that meaning, and all united with the admitted skill of the writers, in all the critical requisites, renders their testimony of great value. Nor should we forget one consideration more: that, if these interpreters had followed their own evident bias, they would have given a sense to each passage, of a very different character from that which they have done. As, when Porphyry and Julian, and the malignant Jew who wrote the Toldoth Jesu, admit the reality of our Lord's miracles, but satisfy themselves by referring them to magic as the cause, we feel the value of their testimony, but are unmoved by their arguing; so, in this case, we accept the depositions of enemies to evangelical

doctrines, that those doctrines were believed and taught by the Apostles, while our feelings towards the authors of the depositions are those, not of approbation, but of strong censure and deep pity.

"The Latin writings of Koppe and his continuators, of the younger Rosenmüller, Schleusner, and Kuinöl, have been the chief instruments in making Englishmen, to a limited degree, acquainted with the existence and opinions of this school of spurious theology; and the intercourse of our Bible Societies has brought, more effectively than any other method was likely to have done, before the mind of Christians in general, an exhibition of the evil itself, and of the means by which Divine Providence is, we trust, counteracting it. But the Latin works of the authors just mentioned, (of whom the latter two are narrators, not supporters, of the system, and E. F. C. Rosenmüller appears, by the more recent publications of his Scholia, to have relinquished it,) and of some who are less extensively known among us, do not amount to a complete exhibition of the case. It is in the vernacular writings of the authors referred to, that we must seek for the full exposition of their opinions, and the application of those opinions; and it is in the vernacular writings also of some of their countrymen, that we can obtain their best confutation. It is our earnest wish, that the lovers of truth and of really free and rational inquiry, would do all in their power to promote the study of the German language in our own country; we are persuaded that it would be found the best way of making the poison inefficient and the antidote successful."

Review of the fifth Article in the British Quarterly Review, published March, 1827, which exhibits the following title:"1. Voyage of His Majesty's ship Blonde to the Sandwich Islands, in the years 1824-1825. London.

1827.

must be cultivated much in the way which has always been practised by the islanders. The plough has been introduced to a small extent. The missionaries have broken one yoke of oxen, and have showed their use in ploughing; and have also trained a horse to the draught. The natives have likewise begun to break some cattle of their own to the

1826."

(Continued from p. 421.)

In regard to the cultivation of the Sandwich Islands by the natives, which the Reviewer thinks the missionaries discourage or prevent, the statement of Mr. Loomis ought to be known and credited. He affirms that the missionaries have often inculcated industry, as well as obedience to rulers; and that the time which the natives now spend in schools and religious exercises, is certainly not more than they used to spend, before the arrival of the missionaries, in absolute idleness, or in useless or vicious sports. But in the matter of cultivation, real difficulties exist; and those who have most carefully attended to the subject, are satisfied that the usual native cultivation is, in general, the best for the Sandwich Islands. Mr. Chamberlain was an excellent practical farmer in America, and went to the islands chiefly with a view to instruct the natives in agricultural operations. But the British missionary committee advised his return to the United States, because it was inexpedient for him to be employed as had been intended. The taro is the principal vegetable cultivated, and it VOL. V.-Ch. Adv.

yoke; but cattle are not yet plenty. Sugar and cotton have been introduced, and their cultivation begun, by the foreigners who are not missionaries. It certainly ought to be kept in mind, when industry at the Sandwich Islands is the topick discussed, that the influence of a tropical climate and barbarous manners, render idleness and laziness obstinate evils, which admit only of a gradual remedy-perhaps never of a perfect cure.

In page 439 of the Review, we find the following sentences, in reference to the missionaries. "They hold out to their disciples little or no encouragement, either by pre cept or example, to industrious habits. The shoemaker who may have left his stall, and the tailor who has escaped from the shopboard to commence evangelical preaching, would think it degradation to instruct these poor islanders in the use of the awl and the needle." It will be perceived that the assertion in the first of these sentences is directly falsified by the statement of Mr. Loomis; and Mr. Stewart has sufficiently shown, how groundless is the pitiful insinuation. that the missionaries are men destitute of liberal knowledge. But it would seem as if the Reviewer was infected with a foolish pride, exhibited by many of his countrymen, which affects to look down on those who have ever practised a mechanical art, whatever rank they may attain in after life. We, on the con3 M