various points of mutual contact unavoidably re-act upon theology. This danger is, however, no other than that to which the English Episcopal, nay even the Romanist, and indeed every part of the Christian Church, is exposed; and this disease, thus universal to mankind, may indeed delay, but cannot preclude, the restoration of German theology, derived from the genuine sources of philological and historical investigation, combined with that experience in faith which brings the mind and heart in vivid contact with them. If, however, Mr. Rose has failed to perceive the necessary course of developement of German theology, so neither has he become sufficiently acquainted with, nor duly appreciated, the counter-workings by which the further progress of the evil was even in the worst and most perplexed times opposed and checked. He names indeed Storr as an opponent of the rationalist school, yet so that no one could thence perceive that this theologian was only the representative of a party at all times considerable and important. He names the philosophy of Schelling, yet almost as if all the impulses in religion and in the church, which, for almost twenty years, have been tending to improvement and increased unity, were derived from the suspicious source of mystical philosophemata. Neither was the case. Storr was but the disciple of the whole school of Würtemberg and Tübingen, of which he was subsequently the head; a school which, without being exempt from the errors of the time, has now for between thirty and forty years united in its writings the most conscientious earnestness with the deepest investigation. Here should have been mentioned together with Storr the names and the works of the two Flatts, of Süsskind, Bengel, Steudel, &c. To the same effect notice should also have been taken of Reinhard, who, chiefly by the pure means of works alike classical and theological, promoted an improved spirit in Saxony; of Knapp, who, but lately deceased, blended the purest orthodoxy with classical attainments, which might satisfy even English scholars, and with a depth of scriptural interpretation which was the object of respect in every school; of Hess, the venerable investigator and relator of biblical history; of the works of Planck on Theological Encyclopædia, and in defence of Christianity; of Kleuker in Kiel, Schott in Jena, Schwarz in Heidelberg, and of the direction (in part one of scientific depth) decisively opposed to the common rationalism, which the theological faculty of Berlin has by its historical and philosophical investigations, for more than fifteen years, imparted to theological study. All this must be viewed in connexion with the great number of well-disposed and Christian practical clergy in evangelical Germany, and with the almost universal removal of the lower classes from unchristian books upon religion. It should have been acknowledged, that in certain parts of Germany and Switzerland, Christian societies existed for the purpose of mutually imparting biblical and Christian knowledge, and for the circulation of the Scriptures, even previous to the (it must be confessed, somewhat too vehement) impulse given by the British Bible Society. It should have been noticed how the community of the Moravian brethren exerted, upon the whole, a very deep and gentle influence (even though not altogether exempt from error) upon the very highest as well as upon the lowest classes, in producing the reception of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, especially of the Atonement. It should have been remarked, that the entirely voluntary associations in Bible and Missionary Societies could not have been so universal and so great, as is upon the whole the case, without a considerable foundation of Christian disposition; this and so much more therewith connected, must be more accurately known, investigated deeper, and exhibited in more connexion, before the theology and church of Protestant Germany can be displayed in their real form; and they would then certainly not appear so revolting and so offending as they are represented in Mr. R.'s work. Should these remarks have now made it clear that the foundations upon which the theology of Protestant Germany may be raised to a high degree of pure Christian and scientific elevation, are, through the blessing of God, already laid on the deep basis of her improved principles, neither can one share the great expectations which the author entertains from the introduction among ourselves of fixed liturgies, and an ecclesiastical constitution resembling that of the Episcopal Church. Be it here undecided how far the one or the other could in themselves contribute to a better state of things; thus much at least is certain, that in a church accustomed, in the noblest sense of the word, to so much freedom as that of Evangelical Germany, and which, without any external interference, is at this moment conscious of a voluntary return to the fundamental evangelical principles, (a return in which all its earlier spiritual and scientific advances are comprised and guaranteed,) political restraint can be neither necessary nor beneficial. Those, however, who conceive that they can observe in the theology and church of Evangelical Germany an internal formative principle, tending to realize a high Christian purity, while they do not ascribe the same value as the author to the measure which he proposes, will attach themselves so much the more firmly to one which they regard as proceeding from the same principle, and of which the author speaks with an almost inconceivable suspicion. You will perceive, that I speak of the union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches in Germany; and I must confess to you, that it is the judgment passed upon this which appears to me to fix the stamp of misconception upon every thing else which is unclear in the work. Had the author but recalled to mind, that in the period of the greatest indifference to religion and church, the division of these two parties continued unregarded and unmitigated; that the endeavour to remove it coincided with the renewal of a warm interest in divine worship and in the church; had he allowed himself to be informed, that it originated with men very far removed from indifferentism, and promoted by that very evangelically-disposed King of Prussia from whom he himself anticipates so much, he could scarcely have ascribed the union to motives so bad. But had he (which he at all events both could and ought) informed himself, that the one difference in doctrine between the two churches is of such a nature, that the distinction can scarcely be retained in the symbolical books of church even by a straw-splitting nicety, (this is the case with regard to the doctrine of the Lord's Supper in the two churches,) while the other, that regarding election, never existed in Germany, (in that the strict Calvinistic doctrine is not at all expressed in the symbol of the German reformed church, the Heidelberg Catechism,) and that Brandenburg expressly refused to acknowledge the definitions of the Synod of Dort respecting it; had he weighed this, he would have spared himself this hostility against a work, in its nature originating in Christian brotherly love, and which has already produced in many countries, especially in Prussia and Baden, the cheering fruits of reanimated interest in the church. Yet enough; for you, my worthy friend, I have made myself sufficiently intelligible; and should I, through your means, perhaps, contribute to prepare a portion of your countrymen for a correcter view of Protestant Ĝer VOL. II. 2 P many, I should deem myself happy in thereby repaying a small portion of the debt which the privilege of surveying the character of your English Church in its important and pure (though as yet unreconciled) contrasts, has laid upon me. And if I might express a wish which forces itself upon me at the close of this long letter, it is, that more of your young theologians would visit our Protestant Universities, become acquainted with our theologians, and hear our preachers, only not making a transient and hasty stay, nor living principally amid books, but acquainting themselves with the people, and the church, and the literature, in their real character, and ready for mutual, confidential interchange of their different talents. With real regard and esteem, Yours most sincerely, CHARLES HENRY SACK, Professor of Theology and Minister of the Evangelical Church of Bonn. Bonn, July 27, 1827. THE SISTERS. SHE died in Summer eve-the twilight pale And did she gaze on all the radiant bloom Whose young, slight form had riveted her look ; A soft, clear brow, which bloom had all forsook; She did not weep, but as those eyes she read, With tenderness and grieving love o'erfraught, And think of days when here we fondly met- "The flowers shall breathe to thee their softest sighs, Oh! they shall seem to thee my knell of death. J. E. R. SIR, THE DEPUTIES. To the Editor. IN the First Volume of the New Series of the Mon. Repos., p. 133, appeared some observations on the constitution, prospects, and objects, of the Society called "the Deputies," to which I must refer your readers in the outset, in order to save myself the trouble of entering into detail as to several of the points then, nearly for the first time, brought before the public, but on which said much of what I should now wish to say. you you I have, then, a few words to say on the subject of this Society; but will permit me first to congratulate you and your readers on the feelings which must animate every friend to religious liberty in contrasting the position of affairs as contemplated by you at the period I have referred to, with the happy result which has attended the adoption of your counsels as to union, No one can doubt that this fortunate result was energy, and exertion. mainly to be attributed to the successful union of delegates from other bodies, who brought with them fresh talents, and infused new and younger feelings into a society which had certainly begun to exhibit marks of superannuation. My principal object is now to suggest the propriety of the United Committee not separating without the Deputies taking the opportunity of consulting and considering with it whether some permanent renovation should not be adopted. There are many particulars in which the Society of Deputies (if society it may be called, which has no constitution, or definite æra or plan of formation) requires considerable remoulding, if it is ever to form a well-regulated and orderly representation of the leading bodies of Protestant Dissenters. As to name, style, and purpose, I can find none properly defined. It seems that the Society (so far as a purpose and plan of formation sufficiently continued to constitute identity can be traced) has, at various times, had various titles and component parts. Lately a question arose as to the legitimate object of application for the funds which it possessed, and none of the lawyers even could define it. At one time the repeal of the Test Acts seemed to have been considered the sole object of the Society; at another, and for a long course of years, the care "of the civil affairs of the Dissenters" seemed to embrace almost every thing; while in practice it extended to looking after little petty concerns of congregational annoyance or ecclesiastical vexation, by no means to be neglected, but still not comparable to the great objects at which a society should aim, which purports to represent the feelings of such a body of persons as the Protestant Dissenters of England ought to be. As to constitution, "the Deputies" form the only society ever perhaps heard of in England which has no rules; no laws whatever exist except as they can be gathered from practice. There are no resolutions constituting the Society which can be referred to as the rule of its proceedings. It has (as might be expected) been exceedingly lax and irregular, and scarcely a meeting passes without discussions about matters and principles which in every other society are fixed and certain. Till within a very few years, the Committee never made a Report. It was not till last year considered regular for a question even to be asked as to the Treasurer's Account; and even members of the Committee declared that they knew nothing of the funds or income of the Society. Is it proper, or even prudent, that such a society should go on without some definite constitution or declaration of its objects? By the disclosures which some discussions last year brought out, it is now publicly known that the Society had, from want of any very deep call on their resources, accumulated about the value of £8000; the income of which (without calling upon any congregation of late for a shilling) had carried on all the ordinary purposes of the body of Dissenters for a great many years. It was certainly not too much for such a purpose; and many cases, where assistance had been of the most eminent service, bore witness to the policy of keeping up such a resource. The call which the late expensive proceedings have occasioned, and some other expenses, will, perhaps it is no over estimate to reckon, diminish this fund more than one-third, and thus, unless it is replenished, the common exigencies of the body will not be supplied. Perhaps Dissenters in the country have not been fully aware of the extent of the agency for good which the administration of this fund (always ready when wanted) afforded, nor of the serious injury which would often have accrued from its absence, while the whole has cost the country nothing, so far as the present generation are concerned. There can surely be no objection to the Dissenters buying the late increase of their liberties at what it has cost; by replacing the fund which has been applied for the purpose, in order that it may continue to be devoted to the same useful purposes. If the repeal of the Test laws is not at least worth the pecuniary expense of procuring it, the attempt might as well have been omitted. No one surely can imagine that it is desirable to break up or cripple an institution representing the most influential portions of the Dissenters, at the time when their position in society has been raised,—when it becomes more than ever desirable to see them respectably represented,—and when all the objects which, for thirty years, occupied their exclusive attention remain, and must remain, to be held in view. It is no time to take off a watchful eye from the protection of our liberties when they have become more valuable. If we have less left to gain, we have more to lose, and abundant occasion for resisting encroachment. The session which repealed the Test Act did not pass over without witnessing one of the most scandalous attempts ever devised, to add new burdens to the Dissenters in favour of the Church; and without active and prompt resistance this attempt would have been successful. Have the Dissenters no other points beside the Test laws, in which their liberties are imperfect? Have they no relief to seek on the subject of registration to say nothing of marriage? Are they not at least bound to support their own institution for the registering of births, which they have been lately advised to take measures for extending to deaths? But I am very much inclined to look at the kind and conciliatory feelings |