the Christian body is any more to be feared. But on what does this confidence rest? There are two grounds on which it might rest, with some degree of assurance. Of these, the first would be the fact of an open and unquestionable prevalence, throughout the Protestant communities, of a spirit of contrition, on account both of the corruptions and the discords that have so long existed within them, together with a cordial expression of willingness to make or admit every necessary reform. But is this the actual state of things? and is this the source of the confidence we indulge, that the Lord will not again withdraw Himself from the Church? Alas! we dare not profess it.

"The second source from which a happy and confident expectation of this sort might be drawn, would be the indubitable import of the prophetic Scriptures, declaring that notwithstanding all appearances of an opposite kind, the bright appearance of the Lord drew nigh. But our argument is still unsettled, and our path not ascertained on this ground. None but the most presumptuous will say otherwise. Even without controverting any of the best established conclusions of modern prophetical exposition, there is room for the supposition that Christianity may yet have to sustain a signal reverse, and once more be driven in upon its centre.

"Without pretending to deny that a far more agreeable supposition may be entertained, it may be surmised, as not altogether improbable, that after the several Reformed communities, in the old and new world, have enjoyed their now current term of re-animation, a term fast running out, and have distinctly been called to repentance, and have deliberately refused to give heed to that call, and have replied, We need not, will not do otherwise than we do, or than our fathers have done that then the fatal decree shall go out, not audible indeed by mortal ears, but certain in its effects. Unbelief, and secularity, and strife shall rush abroad and make an easy conquest. Perhaps the work of devastation may be consummated by temporal judgments, and the enemies of the Gospel may be looking every moment for its expulsion from the world.

"Meanwhile, in some new quarter, where the soil is now unbroken, the imperishable seed shall be seen to have fallen into good ground, and shall rapidly spring up, and the religion of Christ appear in its glory, and put on those colours that are not to fade. The Lord Himself shall plant in the wilderness the beauty of Paradise, and shall set in the desert the verdure of heaven; and the nations shall see and know and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this; and the Holy One of Israel hath created it." (Saturday Evening, cap. xxix. p. 353.)

"But let me not forget that this now uppermost mood is the mood of a period, only it is not to be thought of, as if it were the normal condition of human nature: far from it!" (Ibid. p. 286.)

"As to my anticipations, though they are steadily bright, they are not unmixedly so: far from it. They much resemble one's prospects for a day's journey, when, though the barometer has been slowly rising all night, the morning hour is much overclouded." (Ibid. p. 289.)

"Every one who has reflected maturely upon the workings of the Vol. 69.-No. 392.

4 C

human mind, perceives that, whether the fact be confessed or concealed, the stress of the controversy concerning the Divine mission of Christ depends upon the doctrine of future punishment. The affirmations of our Lord and of His Apostles on this subject, though they fall in with the smothered feelings of-conscience in every man's bosom, give a distinct form to apprehensions from which the mind strives by all means, if possible, to escape, and which it will never cordially admit till the moral faculties be rectified. The quarrel of the world with Christianity comes to its issue upon this doctrine of future retribution. And as often as any mind recedes from the spirituality of its perceptions, it falls back upon this disagreement; and at such times, if the argumentative conviction of the truth of Christianity be imperfect, the darkness and perplexity of scepticism will come in upon the soul like a flood." (I. Taylor, Saturday evening, p. 184.)

"It is the presence of this supplementary force, drawn from a defi nite religious belief, which makes the difference between the powerless philanthropy of the best times of ancient refinement, and the laborious benevolence of modern Christianized communities. Yet the momentum supplied by the Gospel is a force which disappearswhich is gone for ever, when belief in its authority, as attested by miracle, is destroyed." (Ibid., Rest. of Beliefs, p. 276.)

RELIGIOUS LIFE IN GERMANY.

1. Religious Life in Germany during the Wars of Independence. By William Baur, Minister of the Anschar Chapel, Hamburg. Translated by Jane Sturge. London: Strahan. 1870.

2. Religious Thought in Germany. Reprinted from the “Times." London Tinsley. 1870.

LOUIS XIV., we are told in Mr. Baur's volumes, had a clock made, in which the German eagle was represented as trembling at the crowing of the Gallic cock. The author considers it was not an inapt symbol of French influence in Germany at the period. It would seem, however, rather to have symbolised the antagonism of the two nations, and the domineering spirit in which France has ever been disposed to treat her neighbours across the Rhine. How unceasingly the two mighty nations have been engaged in deadly strife is a fact familiar to every student of history. In the fullest and in every literal sense of the word, they have been, not only by position, but also by mutual antipathy, rivals. And now, once again, after the lapse of more than fifty years, the streams of the noble river which separates them are to roll with blood. The German eagle and the Gallic cock, not in toy representations but in stern reality,

are to meet in conflict. The pent-up animosity, which has been smouldering so long, has blazed forth in the wildest fury, and the nations of the world stand by and look on aghast. What will be the issue is known only in the secret counsels of the Most Highest. As regards the Emperor of the French, it is hard to imagine, but that

"On the dread die he now has thrown
Hangs not a single field alone,

Nor one campaign-his martial fame,
His empire, dynasty, and name,

Have felt the final stroke."

For Germany the battle emphatically is "pro aris et focis," so savage and bitter is the war cry which rings from Paris. It is, therefore, not without the deepest interest that we have perused the volumes which we now introduce to our readers. Mr. Baur's book depicts scenes and characters which, after the lapse of well nigh a century, seem to be reproducing themselves. "That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is past." We do not of course mean in minute details and in the exact succession of events which, as we have said, are hidden in the future, but in causes which produce effects, and in which, even to superficial observers, there is apparent a striking similarity. We think, therefore, that, at the present juncture at any rate, the translator is mistaken in supposing that English readers will not take special interest in the book which she has so fairly clothed in English dress.

It is due to Mr. Baur that we should allow him to explain for himself the object which he has had in view. It has been "by means of sketches of the most eminent exponents of it, to produce a picture of religious life during the Wars of Independence." He has chosen this form, hoping to secure thereby "a larger circle of readers, especially among women and young people." And as, he says, there is something peculiarly attractive in tracing the course by which a man has attained to eminence, he has "given a prominence to the period youth, and to the mental atmosphere in which it was passed." He has, therefore, carefully noticed "how often the seeds of parental, and especially maternal, training have sprung up and borne fruit." He adds that, "whatever may be regarded as a healthy plant springing up on the barren soil of religious life in Germany at the beginning of this century, he has noticed, though it might be far from having attained maturity." (p. vii.) This last remark needs to be carefully borne in mind in forming a fair and charitable estimate of several whom he passes in review. As the translator tells us, the characters pourtrayed are selected from the most diverse spheres of life," royal, military,

political, theological, literary, and philanthropic." Our readers, therefore, must not be startled at finding even Blücher and Fichte, Schleiermacher and Count Stolberg, the convert to Romanisin, in the motley group whom Mr. Baur has summoned up from the past.

In his introduction, the author, in the following striking passage, asserts the relation in which Germany stands to Christianity:

"In endeavouring to discover what is the vocation of the German nation, we must first call attention to the fact, that it is a Christian nation, and as such has performed its most brilliant deeds. National ignominy will be the result, not only of declension in patriotism but in religion; and it is only when conscientiously seeking to regain the right path that we shall see German honour vindicated.

"Thus, in studying the German wars of independence, we find that the low state of religious life in the nation was a principal cause of its fall; that the revival of religion was an essential element in its regeneration. The blessing which resulted from war and victory was a renewed apprehension of the mission with which it had been entrusted when first its national strength had been imbued with Christianity, and which had been very much lost sight of.

"The Gospel never found a more gifted or impressible disciple than the German nation. While Greece and Rome first heard the Word of Life when death was approaching; while they derived from it consolation for their last hours rather than strength to perform mighty deeds, the German nation was in the full vigour of youth, and thirsting for action when it heard the news of a Saviour. It had acquired possession of the heart of Europe; it had founded new empires within the Roman territories; had imparted its fresh young life to decaying peoples; it had the aspect of one intending to do great things in the world, when it was invited to bow the knee at the name of Jesus. It soon formed a close alliance with Christianity, which gave it new aims, and consecrated its growing powers.

"It is not national vanity, but the result of the soberest historical research, to ascribe to the Germans a special receptivity for Christianity, a special gift for the apprehension of its deepest essence. The claims of other nations are not thereby lessened, but the responsibilities of the Germans increased." (pp. 2, 3.)

It is under a constraining sense of this responsibility on the part of his compatriots, that Mr. Baur has written. In his first chapter he traces the history of religious declension in Germany during the last years of the last century, which pervaded the whole nation, so much so that even in the houses of the Romish Canons of Mayence busts of Voltaire were to be seen instead of the crucifix. Equally deplorable was the state of Protestantism:

"Life was adorned with art, enlivened by poetry and the charms of social life, and a sort of enthusiasm for the welfare of humanity was

not wanting. But it was merely a natural life; God had no place in it, for men had discovered that Revelation had nothing to reveal, that the Son of God Himself only belonged to the sphere of natural life. There was no family prayer, no walking in company to the house of God. The churches were empty, the clergy were most superfluous people." (p. 16.)

"Where then was the faith of our fathers, of our revered and admired Luther? What was become of his saying

'Das Wort sie sollen lassen stehen'—

6 Firm as a rock His word shall stand' ?

What of his testimony to the doctrine of justification by faith, ‘Of this article not a jot or a tittle can be abated, though heaven and earth or whatever else should fall' ?

"The rationalism of that time did not altogether give up the Bible, but it considered itself above the Bible. It more or less adopted the language which Goethe has put into the mouth of Bahrdt, the most repulsive representative of the doctrines of enlightenment, It seemed to me that I spoke pretty much like Christ.' The Bible was not looked upon as a revelation of God's truth, of which Christ is the star and centre, but as a sort of collection of proverbs in which you might look for consolation, find your favourite virtues advocated, and especially dictums against superstition, but the deepest and most important parts of it were coolly ignored or explained according to the prevailing views. The doctrines of the Bible with regard to sin were not believed, and therefore the idea of the plan of salvation was obscured. No doctrine was so abhorrent to that generation as that called by the Church original sin. It did not believe in the connection between our sinfulness and the sin of the father of our race, and therefore neither did it believe in the possibility of salvation through union by faith with Him who fulfilled all righteousness. The idea was, that man was born innocent, and endowed with splendid faculties, but that since the senses are developed earlier than the reason, until mind attains its due supremacy, the flesh gets the upper hand. But this defect is to be remedied by precept and example, and as both teacher and example Jesus Christ appeared. Sin is not, as the Scriptures teach, enmity against God, but merely a weakness, and, strictly speaking, it ought not to be laid to man's account; but the blame must be laid on the Creator, who made him of such bad materials. Faith only meant a historical belief that so good a man and excellent a teacher as Jesus Christ once lived. No new birth was considered necessary, only improvement. No reconciliation, only a general love to God. No God-man, only the man Jesus. Life therefore passed onward with those who held these views, without any testimony of the Spirit that they were the children of God, -with no feeling of the nearness of the Saviour; and eternity was regarded as the unknown country, instead of as the consummation of the kingdom of God." (pp. 17-19.)

What was the result of this rejection and explaining away of the doctrines of Scripture upon the moral character of the