is, that a body must be material, and hence that the blest in the next world, to have real bodies, must have material bodies, and so a place for those bodies. Paul specially distinguishes the bodies of the blest as spiritual bodies. A third fallacy, or at least a gratuitous assumption, is, that the person of Christ is divisible, so that his " bodily person" must be in some one place, while the divine Spirit, mysteriously united with him, may be in all places, or has no relation to place. Of this the Lord himself gives no hint; but rather hints and takes for granted the contrary in all the expressions of his self-consciousness, especially in his parting words to his disciples. Thus the vain question of the place of heaven must arise, "Whether the place of the habitation of the blest will be this present earth, renewed and restored to such a condition as that in which it is supposed to have been created when the first man was placed in Paradise, or altered in some other way; or whether they will be fixed in some other part of the universe, we have no means of ascertaining, nor is it of any consequence that we should know."-(P. 192, seq.) This question, like that of the intermediate state, would never be encountered were the principle now before us properly applied. A spiritual body must be one which is not merely refined matter, but is of the nature of spirit as distinct from matter. Body or substance is not the antithesis of spirit; else Paul's expression were a contradiction in terms, as spiritual matter," or "material spirit" would be. Matter is the antithesis of spirit, as Dr Whately himself, in one place, puts it. And if in the above passage, where he speaks of the blest as "having real material bodies," we insert the apostle's description of the bodies of the blest, the absurdity of the sentence, and the author's selfcontradiction too, will appear: "The blest in the next world, having real material spiritual bodies," &c. According to the note quoted above against the prevailing sensuous notions of spirit, ought not Dr W. to make a remark respecting the glorified saints, like the one he makes respecting God,—that they have no relation to place at all, and cannot properly be said to be in any place? Then we should conceive of heaven, not as a place, but as a state or condition, viz., the condition of being present with God, of which Dr W. himself speaks in language already quoted. And any one who carefully weighs some of Paul's most profound and philosophical and least figurative expressions, such as 2 Cor. v. 1, 6, 8; Eph. i. 3, ii. 6, -will be persuaded that his prevailing idea of heaven does not include the notion of place at all.

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It may be said,-and said with truth,-that such thoughts do not solve the difficulties in the way of a clear apprehension of that future state, which even to this day lies in the mind of

the church as pretty much an undeveloped matter of faith. It is as hard to comprehend a timeless and spaceless state of being, as to comprehend measureless space and time. Thus we seem only to substitute new difficulties for the old. But surely this may be something worth doing. It is an advance, in every scientific research, to find out that we are on a wrong track, and to leave it for one which seems nearer right, though it should seem no easier. The difficulties thus introduced are worthy objects for philosophy to grapple with, or to stop at. The others were not. These are mysteries; the others were absurdities. The history of eschatology-of the church's looking for the second coming of Christ-betrays a general tendency to carnal views, like the history of the Jewish expectations of the first advent. We should be well aware of this, and endeavour to guard against it.

We do not leave this subject without a more earnest longing than we had when we entered upon it, for deliverance from the necessity of conceiving spiritual things only by natural analogies, and of dealing in a discursive, logical way with what really belongs only to the sphere of intuition;-which is not only like looking through a glass, but rather like seeing with the ear or hearing with the hand. And we feel that this very effect of such thoughts, as we have now suggested, is a most useful one, and proves that much as they may seem like mere negation, they tend towards earnest practical piety, at least as much as views like those of the book we now close. They help the cultivation of those powers of spiritual vision and of communion with God in love even here on earth, which will at last mould us entirely, when we shall put off this tabernacle, to that perfect state in which we shall see face to face, and know even as we are known.

ART. IV.—History of the Protestant Church in Hungary from the beginning of the Reformation to 1850; with special reference to Transylvania. Translated by Rev. J. CRAIG, D.D., Hamburg. With an Introduction, by J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNE, D.D., President of the Theological School of Geneva, and Vice-President of the Société Evangélique, author of "The History of the Great Reformation," &c. Boston Phillips, Sampson, & Co. New York: James C. Derby. 1854.

SINCE the noble but unsuccessful struggle of Hungary for her political independence, every item of information about her

past history or present condition has been received with the deepest interest by the American people. All classes have asked, and read, and talked about Hungary.

And yet, how little has been known or thought about the religious element in Hungary! How few have asked the question, Whether the Hungarians were Christians; and if so, whether Greek, Roman, or Protestant! How many have simply taken for granted, that, as they were politically subject to the Emperor of Austria, so they were spiritually to the Pope of Rome! Nor has any work conveying clear and definite information on the subject been accessible to the masses of the people. The Christian community has felt that this was a lack whose supply was most desirable.

That lack has been supplied in a very great measure by the volume whose title we have placed at the head of our article. The introduction to it is from the pen of Dr Merle D'Aubigné. In it he informs us that, in the year 1846, a number of documents relating to the history of religion in Hungary were submitted to him, with the request that he would write the history of the Reformation in that country. On examining them, he found that they for the most part pertained to the period after the Reformation. He declined the task, for it would have interfered with his great and cherished design of writing the history of evangelical religion in the first half of the sixteenth century.

In the year 1853 the present volume appeared, and Dr D'Aubigné felt that he could not decline the request to write an introduction. In it he speaks of the work, and of the anonymous author, in the following terms:

"The work that we now offer to the public ought to be considered worthy of attention, were it only for its novelty, but more particularly so on account of the labour that has been bestowed on its composition. The author is a man possessed of enlightened piety, sound judgment, integrity, faithfulness, and Christian wisdom-qualities well calculated to inspire perfect confidence. He has obtained his materials from the most authentic sources. Government edicts, convent protocols, visitation reports, and official correspondence, have all been consulted with scrupulous attention, as is proved by the numerous quotations which he cites. He has thus sought to place the authenticity of his book on an indisputable basis, and at the same time to render it impervious to the shafts of hostile criticism."-(Page 5.)

This is sufficient to inspire confidence in it as a reliable historical work. It is also a work of absorbing interest; a record of faith and conflict, of political and ecclesiastical oppression, continued from generation to generation. We propose to follow the thread of the history, and glance at some of the prominent events brought to notice.

VOL. V. NO. XVIII.

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The very extensive kingdom of Hungary, for it embraces a territory of four hundred and fifty miles long, by three hundred and forty-five broad, was occupied by the Romans at the Christian era, and afterwards by various barbarous tribes. Some attempts were made to introduce Christianity about the beginning of the ninth century, by monks from England and Italy. Being ignorant of the language of the people, they were unable to instruct them thoroughly in the principles of the gospel. They endeavoured to captivate them by ceremonies, and hence accomplished but little permanent good. The idolatrous Magyars, worshippers of Mars, and of the host of heaven, shortly after came from Asia, led by Almus, and blotted out every trace of their work.

Meanwhile the gospel was introduced into neighbouring countries, and in the middle of the tenth century began to be favourably received in Hungary. The Regent, Geyza, married a Christian princess; Christian captives taken by the Hungarians became teachers of their captors; German artisans and merchants came into the country; and, to crown all, the Emperor Otto sent a bishop to further the work of evangelization. Geyza received baptism, and made strong but unsuccessful attempts to establish Christianity as the religion of the nation. His son Stephen was more successful. Many missionaries were sent through the country, and the people were enjoined, under severe penalties, to receive their instructions. This excited a rebellion, which resulted in the defeat of the insurgents. Stephen built many churches, established schools, and enforced the observance of the Sabbath.

These compulsory measures produced such a determined opposition to Christianity in the minds of the people, that in 1060 they called Andrew to the throne, on the express condition that he should root it out. For a season, persecution prevailed. But Andrew soon repented, and for the remainder of his reign devoted himself to the establishment and defence of the Christian religion. In the closing part of the eleventh century, Ladislaus, during a reign of eighteen years, did much to promote religion, and to improve the social condition of the people.

It need scarcely be mentioned that the Christianity at this time enjoyed by Hungary was the corrupt form of it taught by Rome. It was Christianity without the Bible, the Christianity of a soul-destroying ecclesiastical tyranny. We now note the introduction of another, and the only true and pure form of the religion of Jesus of Nazareth,-that which recognises the Word of God as supreme authority, and Christ the sole Mediator.

In the latter part of the twelfth century, Peter Waldo,

fleeing from Lyons for the sake of the word of God, came to Bohemia. Of those who were gathered around him, many went into Hungary, and preached the gospel with much success. Persecution at first increased the number of converts, and they increased still more when the troubles of the country drew away the attention of the nobles from them. Besides, the Hungarian constitution did not allow of persecution to the extent that it obtained in some other countries, and many of the nobles favoured the new doctrines.

Now appeared in Bohemia two of the intrepid "Reformers before the Reformation," John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who lifted up their voices boldly for the truth, and heroically died in attestation of it. The shedding of their blood was like the scattering of precious seed broad-cast over the land. Much of that seed fell in Hungary, where thousands of the followers of Huss settled. These were sometimes persecuted, and sometimes allowed rest, according to the temper of the reigning prince, or reasons of state that prevailed. When the great Reformation broke out, they united in the movement; and when the day of bloody persecution came, many went from Moravia to Germany, and at Herrnhut established the Moravian Church under Count Zinzendorf. Many went from Hungary to Wallachia, and there long remained separate, but at last failing to receive preachers, according to their desire, from the Reformed Church of Transylvania, they went some to the Greek Church, some to the Roman.

In the fifteenth century, the corruptions of the Papacy had become intolerable. The bishops were ambitious lords, occupied with state affairs, intent on their own aggrandizement, and better qualified to lead armies than to feed the flock of Christ. The priests were illiterate, covetous, immoral, and rapacious. The people were ignorant, superstitious, devoted to image-worship, and with no conception of spiritual religion. All these circumstances prepared Hungary for the Reformation. The doctrines of Huss, too, had pervaded the land like leaven. The constitution guaranteed freedom, and the nobility and many of the common people detested the clergy. The writings of Luther came at once into Hungary, and as early as 1521, a condemnation of them was read from the pulpits of the principal churches. Notwithstanding this, as our author observes, "the living word, coming from hearts warmed by conviction, produced a wondrous effect, and in a short time. whole parishes, villages, and towns, yes, perhaps the half of Hungary, declared for the Reformation."-(P. 40.)

The word of God was preached by John Henkel, the chaplain of Queen Mary, who was a sister of the Emperor Charles V. There is every evidence to believe that she favoured the Refor