guided by the Spirit to make of it, became very soon involved in obscurity and error; and though some, no doubt, in every age -apparently decreasing, however, in number in every succeeding century-were practically, and in fact, led by God's grace to rest for their own salvation upon the one foundation laid in Zion, yet it is, to say the least, somewhat doubtful whether, after the age of the men who had held personal intercourse with the apostles (from none of whom have we anything like detailed expositions of Christian doctrine), any man can be produced who has given, or who could have given, a perfectly correct exposition of the whole of Paul's doctrine upon this vitally important subject. Confusion and error upon this point continued to increase and extend,-even Augustine giving the weight of his deservedly high authority to views defective and erroneous regarding it,-until, by the admirable skill with which the doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome were adapted to foster and satisfy those notions upon this subject to which depraved men are naturally disposed, all scriptural views of the method of justification had, for many centuries before the Reformation, disappeared from the world; and while there was still a vague, unmeaning, and inoperative acknowledgment of Christ as a Saviour, the great body of his professed followers were practically and in reality relying upon their own works and merits, and upon the works and merits of other sinful creatures like themselves, for the salvation of their souls.

This was the condition in which Luther found the professing church in regard to theology and religion. He was guided, by the work of the divine Spirit upon his own understanding and heart, through the word, to appreciate aright men's utter helplessness and inability to do any thing to merit or deserve the forgiveness of their sins and the enjoyment of God's favour; to see that salvation and all its blessings are purchased for men by Christ, and are freely imparted to them individually by God's grace through the instrumentality of faith; and to feel that the practical reception of these doctrines is the only sure provision for producing holiness of heart and peace and joy in believing. And his life was mainly devoted to the exposition of these fundamental principles of Christian truth, and the application and enforcement of them in opposition to all the corruptions and abuses, theoretical and practical, of the Church of Rome. He was enabled to bring out his views on these subjects so clearly and convincingly, and to establish them so firmly upon the basis of scriptural authority, that in substance they were adopted by all the other Reformers, embodied in the confessions of all the Reformed churches, including the Church of England, and that they were always held

with peculiar clearness and steadiness in the Lutheran Church, until the rationalism of last century swept away all regard to the authority of God's Word, and all right conceptions of men's actual relation to God and the gospel method of salvation. There is little else in Luther's theological works than what may be said to be involved more or less directly in the exposition and application of these great truths; but there is all this set forth with much clearness and vigour, and applied with much energy and success. He scarcely seems ever to have proposed it to himself as an object, to open up the whole system of scriptural truth in its connection and details, and to unfold it in its various aspects. Human merit and ability on the one hand, and on the other full and purely gratuitous justification, as indispensably necessary for men, and actually provided and offered by God through Christ, are at once the points from which he ever starts, and the centres around which he ever moves; and by thoroughly establishing the one upon the ruins of the other, he has thrown a flood of light upon the most fundamental articles of Christian truth, and upon the interpretation of the most important portions of the Word of God. This was the great, the inestimable, service which Luther, as the instrument in the hand of God's Spirit and providence, was enabled to render to the church and the world. The boon is to be referred to the mercy and grace of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, and whose time to favour Zion had come. But it is right that we should pay due honour to one whom the Lord was pleased to honour so highly, that we should cherish his memory with veneration and affection, and protect it as far as we can from contumely and insult.

After all, however, the great lessons which the survey of this whole subject is fitted to impress upon us, are just these most familiar and most fundamental truths,-that the only infallible standard of truth and duty, of doctrine and morality, is the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever; and that the only perfect exemplar is the life of Him, who is at once the eternal incarnate Word and at the same time a partaker of flesh and blood like ourselves, "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth."

CRITICAL NOTICES.

Christ and other Masters; an Historical Inquiry into some of the chief Parallelisms and Contrasts between Christianity and the Religious Systems of the Ancient World: with Special Reference to Prevailing Difficulties and Objections. By CHARLES HARDWICK, M.A., Fellow of St Catherine's Hall, Divinity Lecturer of King's College, and Christian Advocate in the University of Cambridge. Macmillan and Co., 1855.

THE office of Christian Advocate" in the University of Cambridge is understood to impose upon the holder of it the duty of keeping a wakeful eye on the progress of theological and philosophical speculation,-of marking the incipient tendencies, as well as the confirmed habitudes of public opinion,-and of interposing, from time to time, with a seasonable refutation of prevailing errors, and a suitable vindication of maligned or neglected truths. This duty was ably discharged by the late Dr Mill, who brought to bear upon it the energies of a powerful mind, and the stores of a vast and varied erudition; and it promises to be still discharged with equal ability and zeal by his successor, Mr Hardwick.

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of an office such as we have described. It demands high qualifications; but these, if faithfully devoted to the work, should be generously appreciated and liberally rewarded. It was not, therefore, without a sense of disgust, mingled with a feeling of indignation, that we read the following remark of the Royal Commissioners for the University of Cambridge with reference to this office :-"Objections have justly been made both to the name and to the office of Christian Advocate; for if the Christian religion requires defence, such defence should be a spontaneous act, not a hired service." That the terms in which this singular opinion is expressed are needlessly offensive,-that they represent the labours of the Christian Advocate as having more the character of a mercenary than of a spontaneous service, and that they brand the office with a stigma which is held to have been justly affixed to it, is clear. It is not equally clear on what intelligible principle their opinion can be said to rest, unless it be the inexpediency or unlawfulness of all endowments for any religious object. The Hulsean, the Boyle, the Bampton, and the Donellan lectureships, which have contributed so much to the maintenance and elevation of a high standard of theological acquirement, must all, for the same reason, be discountenanced and

condemned; or, should it be said that there is a difference between the two cases, since these lectureships were founded by private bequest, and are not supported by public funds, we ask the Commissioners, and the Government who appointed them, to apply their principle to the college of Maynooth before they lop off a single branch from our venerable Protestant universities. They must be strangely ignorant of the crisis which is impending in the religious history of the country, and utterly blind to the most alarming signs of the times, if they imagine either that the Christian religion requires no defence, or that any public provision for its maintenance may now be safely dispensed with.

But the noblest vindication of the office must arise from the faithful and effective discharge of its duties; and judging from the specimen now before us, we have formed a very favourable opinion of Mr Hardwick's qualifications for the task. The work promises, when completed, to exhibit a very comprehensive view of Christianity in its relations, both of resemblance and contrast, to the religious systems of former times; and, by means of these, to illustrate the origin, and test the character, of the various religious tendencies of the present age. The author proposes to take the lamp of history as his guide in exploring the mazes of modern opinion, to inquire what fragments of primeval truth lay imbedded in the various forms of ancient superstition, and with what heterogeneous elements they were incrusted, by what accretions they were overlaid and concealed; to investigate those leading facts, and to analyse those fundamental ideas of heathenism, which exhibit a resemblance to what is found in Scripture, and which have been applied by modern sceptics to prove either that Christianity borrowed largely from Paganism, or that the same absolute religion has ever existed in a variety of forms as the natural and inevitable product of the sentiments of the human heart; and to show that, while these points of resemblance may be satisfactorily explained in perfect consistency with the peculiar claims of revelation, by tracing them to their origin, partly in the felt wants of the human spirit, and partly in the primeval traditions transmitted from the cradle of the race, the points of contrast between the Jewish and Christian schemes on the one hand, and all the historical varieties of heathenism on the other, cannot be accounted for without admitting the reality of a divine supernatural revelation imparted from the mind of God to the mind of man. In the execution of this comprehensive plan, Mr Hardwick proposes to examine, 1st, Those groups of religions which arose and prevailed in spheres external to the range of Hebrew influence; such as those of Hindostan, Mexico, China, and the Southern Seas. 2dly, Those which may be supposed to have modified the development of thought among the Hebrews; such as the religions of Egypt and Persia, which came into contact with the Jews during their residence in Egypt and their captivity in Babylon. 3dly, Those of Greece and Rome, which came into conflict with Christianity in the first five centuries of the present era; and, 4thly, The religions of the Saxon, Scandinavian, and Sclavonic tribes, which withstood the influence of Christianity long after the mythology of Greece and Rome had disappeared before her triumphant progress.

The first part of the work, extending to 160 pages, does not em

brace the discussion of any of these systems, but is entirely introductory. It consists of three divisions; the first exhibiting a rapid but comprehensive sketch of the "Religious Tendencies of the Present Age," in which the different varieties of modern speculation are brought under review, with the design of indicating those phases of opinion to which the results of the historical survey may afterwards be applied; the second offering a summary statement of the evidence in favour of the "Unity of the Human Race," with the view of laying a solid groundwork for his method of accounting for traditions which were afterwards diffused through all the human family; the third illustrating the "Characteristic Features of the Old Testament Religion, and its Vital Connection with Christianity."

Our limits will not permit us to quote several passages which we had marked. The following must suffice as specimens of the general character of the work, and the spirit in which it has been conceived and executed. Referring to the kindred treatise of Mr Maurice, Mr Hardwick says:—

"The only recent treatise which professes to grapple with exactly the same class of difficulties, is a volume published in 1848, by Mr F. D. Maurice, with the title, The Religions of the World, and their Relations to Christianity. Like other writings of that gifted author, it has naturally attracted a large circle of admirers, offering, as it does, some very choice reflections on the spirit that pervaded the religious systems of antiquity. Still it seems to me, at least, that Mr Maurice's treatment of the subject would have proved far more successful, had his method been more rigorously historical. He rather helps us to philosophise on what may possibly have been the attributes of those religions, as viewed by the more elevated minds of heathendom, than to determine the precise complexion of the popular belief, and its true relation to the doctrines of the Gospel. I feel, moreover, that the growth and permanence of such systems are always traceable quite as much to their accordance with the lower and depraved tastes of humanity, as to supernatural influences exerted on their constitution by the ever present Logos, or to fragments of primeval truth they are supposed to have retained. I hope that no assailant of revealed religion, with whom it is my duty to contend, will ever find his arguments misrepresented; and if, in any case, I manifest what seems to him a needless warmth of feeling, my apology must be the strong conviction which I entertain as to the sacredness of Christianity, and the exceeding blindness of those persons who, having once embraced it, turn away from all its central doctrines with irreverence, coldness, or contempt."-Preface.

Referring again to German works on the subject, he says,

"It is remarkable that not a few of the objections ventilated by the English Deists,' found their way across the Channel, and, in Germany, communicated a fresh impulse to the rationalistic movement. They are now returning home, etherealised indeed, and moulded into more fantastic shapes, although substantially the same objections as before. England, once the master, has become the ardent, apt, and credulous disciple; and when numbers of our brethren on the continent are just emerging from the fogs of scepticism, and welcoming the earliest dawn of better days, it seems as though the English were resolved to venture out again into the same dreary regions, only to be taught again the utter fruitlessness of all endeavours to solve the arduous problem of humanity without the aid of holy writ. Impelled by the necessity of coping with these wild and retrogressive tendencies, the Christian Advocate has never shrunk from the encounter, and has seldom found his labours altogether unsuccessful. He feels that to reduce our blessed Lord into the category of human seers, is practically to dethrone