freely with its established formulas of expression, and allowed differences of opinion within prescribed boundaries. It was the same at a somewhat later period in France. The imperfect theological writings of Abelard disclose something of the genius which has earned for him so high a reputation in the literary world; and above all, the works of St. Bernard, whose copious eloquence is so richly and sweetly expressive of the fervours of pious devotion, and the depths of mystic contemplation, belong to quite another class from the heavy productions of the later schoolmen, and disclaim all affinity with their harsh and soulless jargon. We may hence learn the errour of those, (and there are many such,) who regard logical subtlety, servile reliance on authority, and a barbarous style, which are only contingent and partial attendants of the scholastic philosophy, as its principal characteristics. This is judging of the whole by a small part.

As we now cast our eyes back from the point we have gained, we perceive that from the commencement of the Christian era to the seventeenth century, the grand current of philosophic thought and labour in Christendom ran entirely in a theological direction. We have made two periods;--but they are rather different stages in the developement of the same general tendency of mind. The sacred bent of philosophy, which characterizes equally both of these periods, was particularly directed, according to circumstances, now to the overthrow of the anti-Christian systems which ruled the ancient world, now to the confutation of the heresies springing up within the bosom of the Church, now to the scientific arrangement and systematic construction of the doctrines of revelation. Still, it was the ideas introduced by Christianity, in some form, which arrested and held the attention of philosophy for so many centuries. Hence Hahn, in his Manual, makes but one period from the commencement of the Christian era to 1624, which he describes as a period in which Reason took its proper place, as a learner at the feet of Revelation.*

The authorities which the writer has consulted are principally Neander, Gieseler and Hahn, in the history of Christianity; Tenneman, Tiedeman and Ritter, in the history of Philosophy. He has understood from one who has attended Neander's course on the history of Christianity during the dark ages, that his estimate of the Scholastic philosophy is among the most interesting and satisfactory portions of his great work, and that he has there shown the same depth and clearness of thought, accuracy of discrimination, and power of apprehending the leading features of a complicated mass of materials, which have

Thus was the new philosophy of the Christian era like the primeval philosophy of the world, the daughter of religion. And as Reason had spent its first infancy in exploring the mystic creeds and rites of Paganism; so now, at its second birth, were its powers employed upon the doctrines and ordinances of Christianity. The devotion of reason to revelation during this whole period, was doubtless too exclusive, and the other sources of knowledge and departments of learning were unduly neglected. Still how much better was even this exclusiveness, than that indifference to religion, or hostility to it, that exclusive devotion to secular knowledge, which is, as we shall hereafter endeavour to show, the opposite and disgraceful extreme of the philosophy of our own times! For how insignificant in their import, and remote in their bearing upon our highest wants, are all the boasted disclosures of secular science, in comparison with the disclosures of divine Revelation! How empty are the cisterns of worldly knowledge, for which Philosophy has forsaken the living fountains of truth from which she formerly drank! How drear the desert, and arid are the sands over which she has taken her devious course from the sacred haunts and verdant enclosures of the temple, in which she once dwelt! Happy will be the hour, when famishing on the husks of worldly knowledge, this repentant prodigal shall remember the home of her youth, its overflowing plenty of heavenly food! When, finding no rest for the sole of her foot, this vagrant bird of wisdom shall plume her returning wing for the Ark of God from which she went out, bearing with her all the spoils which the unfruitful waters can afford, and again build her nest among the sheltering altars of Religion! Then will Philosophy, having gone the round of the earthly sciences, and possessed itself of all their stores, devote itself anew to the doctrines of Christianity, not blindly and exclusively as before, but having found the lesson of its own experience to accord with the great truth, uttered by one who was himself both philosopher and Christian, that "sacred and inspired divinity is the Sabbath and port of all men's labours and peregrinations."

been already exhibited by him in his accounts of the Gnostic philosophy, and of the early Trinitarian and Pelagian controversies.

* Bacon's Advancement of Learning, Vol. II. p. 290, Montague's ed.

LITERARY NOTICES.

Hints designed to regulate the Intercourse of Christians. By W. B. Sprague, D. D., Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Albany. Albany; printed by Packard & Van Benthuysen, 1834.

THE announcement of a work such as this title imports, and from an author so well known for the soundness, as well as the eminently practical nature of his writings, we are sure, will be acceptable. Perhaps no point of duty is so little studied, and is at the same time so immensely important, as the intercourse of Christians with each other, and with the world. While the press abounds with essays to guide the Christian in the other departments of duty, we have rarely, if ever, met with a work, which so exactly meets him in the every day walks of life, and with a kind and encouraging hand, points out the way in which all who will, may labour successfully for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.

"We are never likely," says Dr. Sprague, "to gain any object for which we do not distinctly provide in our calculations and arrangements. A general intention of labouring for it, as opportunity may occur, and convenience dictate, will be almost sure to result in nothing; and it is precisely on this ground, as we have reason to believe, that the great mass of men are losing their souls. When we see a man with a definite object in his eye, pursuing distinct plans for the attainment of it, and moving forward in the execution of those plans, we expect that he will do something to purpose; and we look with confidence for a result proportioned to his efforts. He is in an attitude now to encounter obstacles; and to crucify a spirit of apathy in its earliest operations; and to bring to his aid other subordinate agencies, as opportunity may permit, or occasion require. He avoids on the one hand, the evil of those who work without a plan,--and on the other, of those who form a plan, and do nothing towards its execution. Precisely the same principle you must adopt, and the same course you must pursue, if you would find opportunities for Christian intercourse. You must make provision for such opportunities by incorporating them into the whole plan of your life; and you must not merely make provision for them, but must faithfully avail yourself of them, when they occur; and the more you do this, the more of practical system you have in this department of religious duty, the more will you value the privilege of this intercourse, the more fruitful in permanent blessings will it be to you."

The great value of Dr. Sprague's work is, that he has laid before us just that practical system which we need, and so adapted to the condition of all, that no Christian who reads it, can afterwards feel excused for apathy and indifference to this branch of duty. The author, in his own peculiarly happy manner, seems in this volume to enter into the very family of the reader, and while he wins attention by the gentleness and delicacy of his address, he carefully points out the errours which may heretofore have escaped attention, and urges with much force the deep responsibility of every individual Christian particularly, from the peculiar character of the age.

Believing this work calculated to be permanently and extensively useful, we can only hope it may become known as widely as it deserves. It cannot fail to be appreciated as one of the best practical works of the day.

Declaring the whole Counsel of God.-A Sermon delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. Leverett Griggs, by Jeremiah Day, D. D., President of Yale College. New-Haven; printed by Baldwin & Peck, 1833-Acts 20: 27, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."

Though the usual time for noticing occasional productions of this nature has passed, this sermon having been delivered nearly a year ago, we cannot forbear, even at this late period, to propose it for the careful attention of our readers, and to record on the pages of our journal, some of the leading directions which it contains to the preachers of the Gospel.

The author inquires, what is the counsel of God which the minister is required to make the subject of his preaching;-what it is to declare the whole of this counsel; the danger that he may fail to do this effectually, and some of the particular cases in which a defective exhibition of the truth is actually made. We cite his remarks under the second head. Sermon, page 5.

"II. Let us consider, in the second place, some of the causes which may have an influence to prevent ministers from declaring the whole of the revealed counsel of God.

"Some may be deterred from making a full exhibition of the truth, by a fear of giving offence to their hearers. Even the ancient prophets were not free from the danger of yielding to suggestions of this nature. They were specially cautioned to be upon their guard on this point. The Lord said to Jeremiah, Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee.' And to Ezekiel he saith, 'Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation. Thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks.'

"The Scriptures, however, give no countenance to the practice of those who studiously invite opposition; who present the truth, in exceptionable forms of expression, for the very purpose of awakening prejudice and hatred; who appear to make the hostility which they excite in their hearers, the measure of their own faithfulness. Let sound doctrine be brought forward, on suitable occasions, whatever opposition it may occasion; but let not this opposition be aggravated by unkind and offensive language,by partial and distorted exhibitions of the truth.

Many fail of declaring the whole counsel of God, from an undue reli ance upon some favourite theological system. Not that order and arrangement are unfavourable to a clear understanding of religious truth. If a theological system were to embrace all the doctrines and duties, motives and sanctions, which are contained in the Scriptures; it could be no objection that they were formed into a well proportioned scheme. But it is no easy matter for any man, or set of men, so to possess themselves of the riches of the sacred volume, as to be able to comprise them within the limits of a brief doctrinal summary. This is not the course which system builders commonly adopt. A few prominent points taken here and there from the Scriptures, are sufficient for their purpose. With these for a foundation, they can erect and finish the superstructure for themselves. When this is done, they seem to have no occasion to dwell much upon those portions of the word of God which are not easily shaped to the frame-work of their scheme. They save themselves the labour of searching for truths which might, perhaps, impair the symmetry and beauty of a finely proportioned system.

"But, you will ask, is there no system in the truths relating to the divine kingdom? Undoubtedly there is. But it is a system, the lines of which run back as far as the days of heaven, and forward through a succession of VOL. I. 63

ages, which the boldest powers of thought cannot reach. It embraces the numberless worlds which shed their light upon our little earth;-the thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers, with which the highest heavens are filled. It comprises the laws which apply to every action, and every thought, of all the accountable beings, in all these worlds, throughout the endless period of their existence. It takes a view of the influence which is to go down from the present hour to distant ages; which is to operate on the countless millions which are yet to people the earth. It allots the rewards of the heavenly world, and dispenses the terrours of the eternal prison. It is a system vast as the universe, possessing an endless variety in the relations of its parts, and known only, in all its extent, by the omniscient Mind. It is high as heaven, what can we know' of it? "Can we find out the Almighty to perfection?' So much of his purposes and works as he has condescended to reveal to us, we may be able to understand. These are parts of his ways. But how little a portion is heard of him.'

"Another reason why some hesitate to preach distinctly certain doctrines of the Bible, is, that they find a difficulty in explaining to their own satisfaction, the philosophy of these doctrines. In a perfect system of truth perfectly understood, each portion may be explained by tracing its relations to other parts, and to the whole. But God may have revealed to us some truths necessary to our welfare, without showing us how they are connected with the complicated arrangements of his providence. These we are bound to receive upon his simple testimony, whether we can or cannot explain them, by our philosophical theories. When He who gave us all our powers of judging, speaks to us from heaven, we are not to suspend our belief of his declarations, till we can try their credibility before the tribunal of human wisdom. It belongs to us, it is true, to examine the evidence in favour of a proposed revelation, and also to exercise our judgement in applying the rules of interpretation. But when we have once determined the meaning of an inspired passage, we are not at liberty to call in question its truth; or to treat it with neglect, because it is not easily explained by the suggestions of philosophy.

"But are we forbidden to attempt the removal of difficulties to which scriptural declarations may be exposed? By no means. Let spiritual things be compared with spiritual; let different portions of the sacred volume be brought together, to throw light upon each other; let even the aid of philosophy be called in, not to explain away, but to elucidate scriptural truth. But if, after all, difficulties still remain, let not the testimony of God be set aside, because our limited understandings cannot fathom the counsels of infinite wisdom.

But

"Should not Scripture, however, be so interpreted, as not to present a meaning contrary to the dictates of reason? No revelation from God can contain a meaning which is intuitively or demonstrably false. he may reveal things to us, which to mere reason, without divine testimony, would appear highly improbable. 'How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out!' His plain declarations are not to be explained away, on the ground that, to our apprehension, they contain improbabilities.

"Some preachers omit a distinct exhibition of certain scriptural doctrines, because they apprehend that they are liable to be perverted. But, if liability to perversion did not prevent infinite wisdom from giving these doctrines a place in the Scriptures, ought it to prevent preachers from stating them to their hearers? It is proper that more than usual caution should be used, in the manner of exhibiting such truths, to guard them against misapprehension. It may be well to blend their influence with that of other truths, which may make their practical bearing to be better