to put forth the blossoms of a new poetry, we are indebted to no one more than to Luther." Whoever, then, would obtain a thorough mastery of the modern German language, whoever wishes to understand it genetically, must go back to this fountain, which gushes forth so fresh and clear, and he will assuredly be struck with ever increasing wonder at its singular force, flexibility, fulness, depth and manifoldness. one. These "Select Treatises" are also important in an historical and theological point of view. They lead us into the laboratory of that stupendous religious movement, which shook the whole of Europe, and founded a new world in the Western hemisphere, For the United States, through the medium of English Protestantism, are, in their thinking and acting, rooted in the German Refor mation. But it is impossible to obtain a complete knowledge of the great Reformer without access to his works in the original. They are so peculiarly German, that even the best translation must be defective. Here, now, is an opportunity offered to become acquainted with several of his most important productions, which once kindled the fire of enthusiasm in thousands and millions of hearts. The selection appears to us to be on the whole a happy The most important and interesting piece is manifestly the famous "Schrift an den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation; von des christlichen Standes Besserung." Luther wrote this at the end of June, 1520, and in it, for the first time in a formal way, regard. less of consequences, declared war against the whole Romish system. Before this, he had chiefly attacked only some single crying abuses. This is a genuine national work, written with the fiery zeal of an Elias, and with the noble indignation of a German heart. It worked like a fire-brand in the German nation. Before two months had passed, four thousand copies were sold. It has a cer tain affinity with the patriotic efforts of the German knights, Ulrich von Hutten, Franz von Sickingen, and Sylvester von Schaum. burg. Luther saw in them his helpers, but at the same time he discerned very marked defects in their procedure. In their oppo sition to the Italians, they proceeded from a one-sided patriotic and political point of view, and made use of carnal weapons; by bitter sarcasm, biting irony, and the warlike sword, they would overthrow a system which could be successfully conquered only by the spiritual might of the positive truth of the pure gospel. Thus Luther, in the year 1521, wrote to Spalatin regarding Hutten: "I would not that they should fight for the gospel with vio lence and bloodshed, and thus have I answered him. By the word 1847.] The two Works performed by Luther. 519 is the world overcome, by the word is the church preserved, also by the word will it again come to its rights; and Antichrist, as he got what is his without violence, will without violence fall." The most important thought which Luther declares in his appeal to the German nobility is that of the universal priesthood of Christians, in opposition to an exclusive hierarchical order in the Catholic church. The distinction between clergy and laity is merely a distinction of office, and necessary for the sake of order. But every one, says Luther, who has been baptized, and who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, is essentially a priest and king. Who does not at once see the extremely important consequences which the realization of this genuine Protestant idea must bring with it into the religious and even the political life of the world? For we may say that the democratic ideas of modern times are only a transference of the doctrine of the universal priesthood from the domain of the church to that of the State. It might indeed now also be the case, that the laity of the higher ranks, who, with so great trust, encouraged and called upon Luther to shake off the Romish yoke, would assume to themselves too many rights over the church. This was in fact the case in the period of the Reformation, with the kings and princes in Germany and England; and it cannot be denied, that the Reformers were not always circumspect enough in guarding against the evil of a sort of papacy of royalty (Caesareopapismus), which has done so much injury to the Protestant church of the old world. Our limits forbid us giving an account of the other pieces contained in this volume, which are partly of an exegetical and practical religious character, and partly relate to education. We only wish to be allowed to make one proposal before we take leave of this book. Luther's activity as a Reformer may be divided into two periods, which are very different from each other, but which, instead of excluding are complements of one another. The dividing line between the two was the year 1521. In the first period he contended from the Protestant position against Popish errors. It was a contest of freedom against spiritual tyranny, of living faith against dead works of the law, of the deepest convictions of the soul against an outward ceremonial service, of the feeling of individuality and nationality, which had attained its majority, against the arrogant usurpations of a foreign power beyond the Alps. This contest against Rome began with the ninetyfive theses, and reached its highest point at the Diet of Worms, where Luther bore fearless testimony to his deepest convictions, in the presence of the mightiest representatives of the empire and the church. From that period, he did not bring forward anything essentially new against the Roman Catholic church. The princi pal battles on his side had been fought, and he had dismantled, for all times, the chief fortresses of the Papacy. But there still remained for the Reformer another, and equally important work, although in many respects more difficult and unpleasant. He had to cut off the excrescences of his opposition to the Papacy, to curb the excesses of the movement which he had himself begun, and thus to save it from a complete degeneracy into a lawless radicalism. This false tendency manifested itself first in Wittenberg, and partly among the friends who sympathized most deeply with Luther's views, during his retirement in his Patmos at Eisenach, and like a shadow accompanied the progress of the Reformation through all Germany, Switzerland, France, Holland, and England. Luther did not wish to destroy the church, but merely to purify it; nor to annul the sacraments, nor bring them down to insignificant ceremonies, but merely to cleanse them from superstitions and additions; not to rend the uni ty of the church, and open door and gate to sectarianism, but only to break the bonds of tyranny over the conscience, and dissipate the false semblance of an external conformity; not to make Christians free in untamed recklessness and arbitrary notions, but with rational liberty conformed to law. Therefore, instructed by the occurrences at Wittenberg, he contended from a sound, catholic point of view, against the ultra Protestants and pseudo-Protestants of his time; he defended ecclesiastical discipline and order against wild and factious enthusiasts, the obligations of the law against Antinomianism, the lawfulness of Paedo-baptism against the Anabaptists, the mystic significancy of the eucharist against an abstract intellectual, rationalizing tendency; in short, the idea of the church of history and of authority, against an exaggerated religious and intellectual subjective tendency, perilous to Christianity itself. This is the catholic, the churchly, the positive, the constructive aspect of Luther's efficiency. It was this, too, which saved Protestantism in the narrower sense, the product of his earlier efforts, from destruction. It is of the highest importance that we understand both these elements in Luther's character, and recognize their mutual relations. Unhappily it is only the anti-Roman Luther who is usually appreciated among us; but the anti-pseudoProtestant, the anti-sectarian, the anti-rationalistic, the evangelical catholic, and churchly Luther, is wholly ignored and misunder 1847.] Dangers from false Protestantism. 521 stood. But for our times and our land, it is the latter which is of the greatest importance. Our chief enemy at present is not the Papacy of Rome, but a false Protestantism, a sectarian spirit, and those rationalizing tendencies in the very midst of us, which impair our powers, promote the growth of Catholicism, and threaten at last the total abolition of the true character of the church. If we prevail over these enemies, Rome has no power over us, and no future in this land of freedom. So long as we are subservient to the sectarian spirit, and, in our attacks against Rome, take the anti-ecclesiastical and anti-historical position of ultra and false Protestantism, all our shafts will fall back upon ourselves, and a few years will teach us to be careful and to tremble for our own existence. For our part, we have too much trust in history, or rather in the unseen and all-wise Ruler of history, not to hope with all assurance that our Protestant theology and church will soon come to a consciousness of the dangers that threaten us, will enter into the right way, and at last issue forth victorious from its struggle against its foes. Dr. Sears might make a valuable contribution to this purpose, if, in a second volume, he should bring before our theological youth who are learning German, some of Luther's writings in his contest against ultra Protestantism, and for the church and its institutions, and thus complete the portrait of this greatest of the Germans. As poet, as husband, as father, as friend, and as correspondent, Luther deserves to be known amongst us; and De Wette's collection of his letters presents for this object the richest materials. This might easily be combined with the plan we have proposed; and in taking leave of the honored author, we wish him the needful leisure and inclination for its accomplishment. ARTICLE V. SHAKESPEARE- THE OLD AND THE NEW CRITICISM ON HIM By Rev. Leonard Withington, Newbury. Sic fautor veterum, ut tabulas peccare vetantes, Horace to Augustus, 1. 23—27, As our discourse will be on criticism, it may be well to begin by asking, What rank it holds in literature, and how the judicious critic compares with the inventing poet. Genius is the quality of the one; judgment of the other. Criticism, though subsequent, has some place in the world of learning. It is secondary to gen. ius as the moon borrows its light from the sun. Very little credit is due to that recognizing criticism, which never discovers and can only be directed. Still less is due to the prattle of affectation; the last echo of absurdity. Some seem to have no consciousness of their own. Their very taste is manufactured for them. The cant of criticism is supremely absurd. Dr. Goldsmith has well remarked1 that "the praise which is every day lavished upon Vir gil, Horace and Ovid is often no more than an indirect method the critic takes to compliment his own discernment. Their works have long been considered as models of beauty and to praise them now is only to show the conformity of our taste to theirs; it tends not to advance their reputation but to promote our own. Let us then dismiss for the present the pedantry of panegyric." How much of this self-praising criticism is there in the world! The true meaning is: See what a fine taste I have! My mind is actually in contact with the author, I admire. I am actually a congenial spirit, and you are a barbarian, if you do not agree with You may often stop the mouth of such an idolater by just asking him for a little analytic discrimination. me. Yet criticism has done an important office in the world. If there were none to judge it would be in vain to write. The truth is, when a work of genius first appears, by its breaking through * Review of Barrett's Translation of Ovid's Epistles. |