In looking back upon the life and character of Dr Murdock, there is one respect especially in which that life deserves to be held up as an example to the young professional men of the present day; and that is, the persistence with which he kept up, even to the last, the habits of a diligent student. See him, for example, at the age of seventy years, the fatal threescore and ten, when most persons yield to the infirmities of old age, yet see the venerable doctor catching a glimpse of the New Testament, the life and labours of the Messias, in the very vernacular of the apostles themselves. Its freshness of manner and style, its simplicity and evident truthfulness of meaning, at once arrest its attention. He can at first get no good grammar of the ancient Syriac; and so he makes one for himself, tracing out step by step the forms and conjugations of the Syriac verbs; and doing the whole with an air of perfect neatness and scholarly elegance which would have charmed an old copyist of the Middle Ages. At last his work is done; and we of the nineteenth century are permitted for the first time to follow in the footsteps of the apostles, and hear them, not in the pure and classic Greek of the schools, but in their own simple and artless way tell how they understood the great living teacher. Of all his literary labours there was none to which he reverted with more pleasure than to this translation of the Syriac New Testament.

Dr Murdock, just before his last journey to the south, entered thoroughly upon the study of the Arabic language; and here the same old trouble met him, the want of a really good Arabic grammar; and he met the difficulty now as he had met it nearly ten years before. We have before us, in almost the last handwriting of the venerable octogenarian, the full conjugations of the Arabic verbs, regular, irregular, and defective, &c., in which he noted and marked every change in form and signification with that same precision and elegance which would become the youthful student of twenty years. Beyond a question this is one of the most wonderful productions of the nineteenth century; it shews that the intellect and heart of the American people are not altogether given up to the grossness of material pursuits; it is an achievement which, at least, will not suffer in comparison with the proudest material triumphs of those whom this physical and commercial age regards as its great and successful men. Nor ought such an example to be lost, especially upon the young students of our country. And yet see how most of them at their very entrance upon the active duties of their profession, at once throw away their Latin and Greek classics, their Hebrew and Greek bibles, lose all relish for active study, read little else than the newspaper and pictorial literature of the day, and soon degenerate into the mere dull and stupid perfunctorist, and their official teachings become little else than an endlessly recurring

series of stale truisms and empty platitudes. There is, after all, but one path to the temple of wisdom; and the life of Dr Murdock is proof that patient, persevering, life-long labour is absolutely indispensable to him who would successfully follow after it.

We have omitted till now to speak of the most important feature in Dr Murdock's character; that is, as a religious man. His own description of himself, as given to his class in 1847, and published in their "Memoirs," is, that "He is a strict Congregationalist, associates with the orthodox, but calls no man master. Without attaining full assurance, he has never relinquished his hope of salvation through divine grace. He is familiar with death and the grave, and relying on the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is calmly and cheerfully waiting for the time when he must bid adieu to all sublunary things." Dr Murdock thus declares himself to be a "strict Congregationalist;" and such he was, and a thoroughly consistent one. If any of the readers of the Church Review are disposed to ask, how a man of such unquestionable learning could adopt and hold tenaciously Congregational notions of church order and government, we can only answer by quoting the following question and answer from the "Congregational Catechism," of which he was mostly the author.

Ques. 7. What authority has the mere example or practice of the apostolic age in respect to the organisation and government of churches?"

"Ans. It has not the authority of a law, obligatory upon all succeeding ages; but it is an exemplification of apostolic wisdom and prudence, in adopting suitable rules and regulations for the infant churches, in that age and state of the world."

Dr Murdock's personal religious character was much more a matter of principle than of mere emotion. It was not destitute of emotion; for he had within him a fountain of deep feeling, of the intensity of which a stranger would not dream. For one, whose calm, contemplative mind had gone over the whole subject of personal religion with such deep anxiety and such searching analysis-its nature, its reliability, the ground of his own personal belief and hopes, such a mind had within itself depths of emotion not less real, because, like the majestic river, noiseless. And yet his religion was manifested in the even tenor of a placid life, in the systematic and constant performance of the ordinary public and private duties of the Christian calling, rather than in the language of cant or pretension. But his religion was an earnest and living thing, as those who knew him best will bear witness.

One who was often with him during his last sickness, and

who ministered to him the consolations of the gospel (Rev. Dr Buck), thus describes his closing hours: "Those who knew Dr Murdock, will not require to be told that he had been long looking for and expecting the death-summons; and, as the messenger approached, he waited patiently and serenely his change, strong in faith and full of hope. No cloud was suffered to hang over his future prospects, nor the least aberration of intellectual perspicuity to embarrass him during his conînement. As he never was a rapturist, even in health, so his last hours were not characterised by high impulses and exultant anticipations of heavenly glory; but by the firm trusting of an abiding faith, and a good hope, entering to that within the veil. The writer of this sketch visited him as often as prudence indicated, and at every interview had his heart greatly refreshed by the exhibitions of earnest faith, fervent love, and boyant hope, by one so near the spirit land."

His desire to return to New Haven and die in the midst of his kindred and acquaintance, was very strong-for he possessed strong local attachments-but when assured that his days were nearly numbered, he yielded all anxiety, and declared, “the tie which binds me to earth will soon be severed, but I feel resigned to meet my God." His last act on earth, visible to mortal eye, was to lift his hand, even then cold in death, and point upward to that bright and beautiful land of the blessed which seemed just opening upon his departing spirit. Who can doubt that, with him, faith is now lost in sight, and hope is swallowed up in joy?

We have thus presented a brief, and, as we feel, a most imperfect sketch of the life, labours, and character, of the Rev. Dr JAMES MURDOCK. The perpetuity of his name and of his fame does not depend upon our feeble endeavours. He has erected his monumentum aere perennius; and he will live as long as sacred literature has a place in the hearts of a Christian people. They who knew him only by reputation will, we trust, not be unwilling to see even this imperfect description of what he was; and, for ourselves, we have only discharged a painful yet a pleasant duty in thus lingering over the memory of one who was as remarkable for his private virtues, as for those noble talents by which his name and reputation will be embalmed for ever in the gratitude and respect of his fellow-men.

ART. VI.-1. Eutaxia, or the Presbyterian Liturgies. Historical Sketches by a Minister of the Presbyterian Church. New York: M. W. Dodd.

1855.

2. The Liturgy of the Church of Scotland, or John Knox's Book of Common Order, as prescribed by the General Assembly, and used in the Church of Scotland at and after the Reformation. Edited and carefully revised by the Rev. JOHN CUMMING, M.A., Minister of the Scotch Church, Crown Court, Little Russel Street, Covent Garden. London : 1840. 3. Mercersburg Quarterly Review. July, 1856.

Liturgical Worship. By a Presbyterian Divine.

Art. 1.

THE publications, whose titles we have given above, are among the many indications now existing, of what may very properly be called a Liturgical Movement. It is very certain that there is such a movement, both in England and America, among those who have been hitherto most deeply prejudiced against all forms of worship. What will be the issue of this movement, and how far it will carry those who are engaged in it, no one can forsee, as yet; but that there is a reality about it, and that it will result in something, no one can doubt who is at all familiar with the subject. It is now about fifteen years since Dr Cumming, the popular Scotch preacher of London, published the Old Liturgy of the Church of Scotland, with a carefully written preface, in which he ventures the opinion that "for the great mass of people, the partial use of a form of prayer would be truly valuable." This book, at last, attracted the attention of the Edinburgh Review, and an elaborate article, written evidently by a Presbyterian, and which is altogether favourable to a partial introduction of a liturgy into the Church of Scotland, makes these four points as the result of an independent scriptural examination of the subject:

1. That the Lord's Prayer is the only form of words, the use of which is enjoined in the New Testament.

2. That the uniform practice, both of Christ and his apostles, was such as to indicate their approval of ritual prayers.

3. That extempore public prayer, on ordinary occasions, is nowhere recommended or even sanctioned.

4. That extempore prayer, even in public on extraordinary occasions, is sanctioned by apostolic example.

The evident design of the writer in the Edinburgh Review, is to advocate the use of forms in public worship.

Under the title of Eutaxia, expressive of the beauty and order of divine service, a Presbyterian clergyman of this country, a son of Dr Baird, (we name the author or editor with pleasure, for the high tone and churchly spirit of his book,) has published

VOL. VI.-NO. XX.

Z

the Genevan and the Scottish Liturgies, Baxter's Reformed Liturgy, the Reformed Dutch Liturgy, and the Palatinate Liturgy, &c., &c., with interesting historical sketches, serving to shew that early Presbyterianism was not opposed to forms, and also, indirectly, that the use of forms is not inconsistent with the deepest spirit of devotion. The work is very happily conceived and executed, and it cannot fail to exert a very healthful influence, wherever it is read. The object which the author has in view, appears in the following quotation:

It is quite evident that it (the Directory of Worship) * does not meet all the wants of public devotion, nor answer all the ends of an aid to public prayer. It defines and arranges the parts of divine service; but it does not furnish forms of language suitable for their expression. The ready assistance to the minister in conducting, and to the people in following oral supplications, is not supplied by a work whose sole object is to state and describe the constituent elements of worship. There is a necessity palpable and widely felt, for something more than this, to meet the exigencies of the case.

Does the Presbyterian Church allow or contemplate any such subsidiary provision for the celebration of public worship? Are her ministers interdicted the use of sound and well conceived formularies; and are they shut up to the necessity of original composition for the most solemn, difficult, and trying function of their office, without even the right of previous preparation for the task?

There is in the church of Christ a rich and copious literature of devotion, accumulated by the consecrated labours of many ages. Holy men of prayer have been gifted at some periods, as few can claim to be now, with elevation of thought and language necessary for the adequate expression of devout feeling. The period of Primitive zeal produced such minds. The period of reformation in the church brought out others. Are we, in less favoured days, debarred from the fruits of these high spiritual endowments? Do ecclesiastical rules exclude us from the use of the best liturgical compositions, and force us to rely on our individual resources of conception, however crude and meagre, and immature we may find them?

Such is, undoubtedly, the popular conception of the matter; and the fact of its general, if not universal prevalence, has led me to attempt an exhibition of the true theory, and the normal practice of our church in this particular. It will be my object to demonstrate, first, that the principles of Presbyterianism in no wise conflict with the discretionary use of written forms; and secondly, that the practice of Presbyterian churches abundantly warrants the adoption and the use of such forms.

An article in the Princeton Review, which is ascribed to Professor Hodge, commends the argument of Eutaxia to the favourable notice of its readers, and openly advocates a reform in the public worship of the Presbyterian Church.