uals. The power of mutual benefit is a bond of union, and common sympathies a close attraction. The culture of one nation and its results furnish to another the means of estimating its own progress. The comparison also teaches an important lesson of differences, for every nation has its own peculiar principles of growth as truly as any animal or plant. Many subjects too of morals and politics can be rightly seen only from different points of view; as by many observations at one spot we can never tell if a surface be flat or globular. The experi ence of others places us in new points of view. We see with their eyes. If their spirit is different from ours, we are mutual gainers by the acquaintance. And this even if it be worse; but if their system of philosophy be more perfect, their frame of government better adapted, their general character excelling in that in which we are deficient, then is our gain the greater and more manifest. The difference between our national character and that of the Germans for example, is obvious, in the quality of earnestness to which we have referred. The tendencies of it, if not the quality itself, are diverse. One can hardly open a German book without being struck with their hearty love of knowledge, and strong faith in the worth of truth. They are content to have made a theory or discovered a truth, or ascertained a fact. With us a new application of steam or an increased velocity on a rail-way is of more account than a theory of ideas. We commend, heartily, the plan of the Selections from German Literature, for reasons which we have intimated, and for others which are better said than we could say them, in the Introduction to the volume before us. We will add one consideration, which induces us to set a high estimate on this volume, and, generally, to regard with favor the writings of the well trained German. It is the thorough and scientific form of their discussion. There is a strong grasp at principles, and a fearless application of them. They seem never to have learned that good logic leads to error. They are fond of establishing premises, a service in our days of more consequence than right deduction. The first article is on the early life and education of the Apostle Paul, translated by Prof. Park, from Tholuck. The points respecting the life of Paul have been ably treated by Neander, Hemsen, and others. Selections from Hemsen form in this volume a supplement to the discussion by Tholuck. The SECOND SERIES, VOL. II. NO. III. 26 questions which relate to his early life, are of great importance to the interpretation of his epistles. A knowledge of the peculiar discipline under which he was trained, of his natural temper which modified and was modified by it, and of his domestic history furnish a key to the solution of many difficulties; for all these circumstances affected his character, of which his writings must be a true expression. Whatever changes longer experience may make in any man, his original constitution will remain substantially the same. Even the grace and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, while it effectually controls the whole man, does not entirely change him. The new principle of holy love acts and manifests itself through the natural organs, and according to the peculiar powers and temper of each individual. So the inspired prophets and apostles declared each one the message he had received from God, in a form determined by his own imaginative or sensitive or reasoning powers. While John could not attain to the logical vehemence of Paul, neither could Paul persuade with the subduing pathos of John. The waters alike pure, are colored, yet not discolored, by the soil over which they flow. We do not see how many peculiarities in the Pauline Epistles can be explained, peculiarities affecting not merely expression, but the whole style and order of thought, without a reference to mental habits which could be induced only by a peculiar education, and a somewhat peculiar temper. His vast theory of the government of God, as well as his strict and perpetual, and sometimes technical reasoning, show the original capacity of his mind and at the same time bear evident traces of the school of Gamaliel. The hand of this master is no less plain in the purely Jewish manner, in which many subjects are conceived and discussed by him. The degree in which an author gives his own character to his work varies with his own temper and the purpose of his writing. In a work of abstract science he may not at all. But in one which involves moral feelings and issues from the heart, it is far otherwise. And when his subject relates to the deepest spiritual interests of man, the heart that truly feels will overflow with emotion and show its sensibility in every line, while the strong intellect will stretch to its highest effort to possess the ideas which master it, and leave everywhere tokens of its struggles and its might. As the book is an image of the man, so is the man the interpretation of the book. The essay of Tholuck is a very fair exhibition of the testimonies and evidences which we have 'respecting the history of Paul before his conversion; and the application of the results to the elucidation of the epistles may be made of great value. It shows an extensive acquaintance with the literature of the subject, and a liberal appreciation of evidence. This is followed by an essay on the tragical quality in the friendship of Jonathan and David, from Prof. Frederic Köster, of Kiel in Denmark. It is a fine specimen of aesthetic criticism. Indeed we have seldom seen one more thorough and finished. The third article, translated like the preceding by Prof. Edwards, is on Prophecy and Speaking with Tongues, by Dr. L. J. Rückert, of Zittau, in the Saxon part of Upper Lusatia. It is characterized throughout by cautious reasoning. The author is careful not to overstate, and is willing to confess his ignorance, where his arguments do not plainly lead him to knowledge. He may therefore be considered a safer guide than most who have treated of this very difficult subject. His conclusion in respect to prophecy, mentioned in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, is that "A prophet was a man who, without any definite office, without any call made to him outwardly, spoke from an impulse of the Divine Spirit, words which would serve for the information, encouragement and strengthening of believers. He likewise uttered predictions of future events, if the Spirit suggested such to him." "The form in which the prophecy appeared was that of a language generally understood." Rückert's conclusion respecting the gift of tongues is in substance the opinion generally received in this country, that it was an actually spoken language. The whole discussion is very able and ingenious. In another part of the volume are six highly interesting sermons by Tholuck, translated with copious and valuable notes by Prof. Park. They are, we believe, eminently characteristic of their author, filled with the out-breaking enthusiasm of a soul rich in spiritual experience, the solemn earnestness of a clear perception of the woe of fallen humanity, and a thorough sympathy with the aspirations and the hopes as well as the feebleness of men. They are full of thought, yet are never abstruse and recondite. They were delivered to the students of the University of Halle, and have nowhere the least tinge of pedantic ostentation. The preacher had forgotten that he was a scholar, when he entered the house of God, and spoke plainly of eternal interests to immortal men. The wrathful displeasure of the Holy One is not left out of sight, yet his words are full of cheer and hope. The stern laws of Providence and the impartial and unchanging spiritual law of which they are the earthly symbol, have entered and possessed his heart, the undefiled right, and pure, and inexorable duty are mooned orbs ever in his firmament-and yet the love that redeems and the grace that cleanses are always on his lips. He utters the curse of sin, sorrowfully, but without fear, as himself a partaker of the guilt; but the power of divine love, the peace of a purged conscience, the joy of steadfast faith and holy obedience, are the themes that move him to rapture. He contemplates the christian life from a higher point of view than is common with us. He feels deep meaning in the privilege that we may, be "sons of God." He has realized that the Gospel is the power of God. The progress of a mind from the first dawn of heavenly life and the earliest perception of sin hated, and the law loved, through trials and temptations that burn away the impure mixtures; the gradual adorning of it with true virtues, the humility that exalts, the felt weakness that gives strength, the faith and charity and hope that are the elements of its life, growing in vigor and perfectness day by day, till the spirit becomes radiant with heavenly light, and meet for translation to the society of the just, he dwells on this as on a vision of glory faintly seen it may be through the mists of this low earth, yet a true glory that shall never fall or fade. His own soul has felt these things; his convictions and impressions are from no foreign source. There is, therefore, in all his feelings a sincerity and truth which the hearer knows to be genuine, and is constrained to sympathize with. Thus comes his power. The discourses, thus the offspring of devout feeling, are provided with the elements of commanding eloquence. Add to these a rich imagination and a perfect command of the choicest variety of language, and we shall, not wonder at the effects of Tholuck's preaching. There are plain violations of the rules of taste, as we judge, which an interested hearer in the church might excuse there, but are offensive in the closet to the reader. The sentiment, often surpassingly beautiful, makes us sometimes almost smile at its simplicity. The very fervor seems to be an excess. We give one or two specimens of his style, taken almost at random. "Who can stand amid the scenes of nature on a flowery morning of spring, or in the starry night, without hearing the rush of that stream of life, which from Orion flows down to the very heart of the earth? If thou perceive no other sound but that of the dark rushing of an unknown stream, in which thou thyself art but a single wave,tell me, where is thy courage Part thou not seized with a shuddering? Oh I have often had, often even in early youth have I been forced to have a foreboding of an unlimited Power pervading the whole world, and I had no name by which I could designate this Power, nor could I obtain sure ground for a conviction, that it was a Power of holiness and of love!– But to know, yea not barely to know, but to believe with a full heart, and on the authority of him whose word is itself a pledge,-to believe that this stream is one of love and holiness, that it flows forth from the heart of him, who has given his only begotten Son for the life of the world,-oh how entirely different a hue does this belief give to our faith in the universal presence of the Deity." p. 67. A passage on pp. 164-5 has been quoted as markedly showing his peculiarities. 2. "But, brethren, God hath come near to us, as God the Son, in the work of Redemption. Without Christ the heaven of stars, as well as the heart of man, remains to us, a sealed hieroglyphic. Seest thou not how men conjecture about it? how diversely they unravel it? how they interpret scarcely a single syllable here and there of the great enigma ? The Holy, the Unknown, whose characteristic features thou couldst not detect when thou soughtest to decipher them from the flowers, from the stars, from the hearts of men; lo, he hath come forth to meet thee, he hath come near to thee, as a man to his neighbor; in Galilee hath he set up his tabernacle; look into the heart of Jesus, and thou hast read the heart of God; for, this is his exclamation, Whoever hath seen me, Philip, hath seen the Father.' Adorable love! when I passed thee by and knew thee not, then didst thou lie hidden behind the veil of nature; then did I form conjectures concerning thee, and my heart swelled with fulness of longing desire; but since I have looked upon thee in the Son of God, who hath come to find the lost sheep, and who inviteth the sorrowful and heavy laden to himself, since that time, I have looked directly upon thy face, and I know thee, and bow my knee before thee, and exclaim,-Eternal love! pass not away from me, from me the poorest of thy children ! Yea, my friends, what a hidden being is God, before he hath become manifest to us in Christ; and how completely veiled also is the heart of man, before thou learnest its character, in contrast with the Saviour's. While I look upon him as the Son of God and of man, the feeling is awakened in my breast, that even I am of a Godlike race; and yet, when I look upon him, tears break forth from my eyes; for alas, the God-like image within me is shamefully dis |