of the apostolical churches-of that primeval and normal form of the church, given by the apostles and their immediate successors, in the judgment even of moderate Churchmen, and much more, in that of Presbyterians and Independents, as a model of the church in all ages-is not to be learned from Bingham. In place of it, he has substituted the distortions and perversions of the hierarchy as the primitive forms of Christianity.

In the defence of the true theory of a free popular church government, we are compelled to turn for aid from the land of enlightened freedom, to the more learned, liberal, and enlightened scholars, reared under the despotisms of Germany. To that country, where the storm of strife is laid-where the controversy between the two opposing systems, Protestant and Catholic, has settled down into a dissent without discord; to the ecclesiastical literature of that country chiefly must the dissenting churches of England and America repair for armour, in defence of the principles of the Reformation, to which they are again summoned by the assumptions and aggressions of high church prelacy. In our churches, the great controversy of the age-under a modified form, the same. as that of the Reformation-is with the spirit of formalism. Formalism was then, as now, the great antagonist principle in the warfare; and still the learned men of the country where the Reformation began, though now retired from the conflict, are our chief reliance for aid and counsel, and for armour.

Foremost among modern writers on this branch of ecclesiastical polity, stands the honoured name of Planck of Gottingen, who has written at length, and with great ability, upon one of the most difficult subjects connected with that of the antiquities of the church. He writes with a firm belief in the miraculous nature of true religion, and a profound veneration for Christianity. His services in this department of Church History are clearly expressed by one of the most competent writers of Germany, Dr. Hagenbach:

"It had become necessary to connect the past with the present, to illuminate the facts of history with the torch of philosophy, or rather with the opinions in vogue among the majority of educated people. It was no longer enough to know what had come to pass in earlier times; even the critical separation of what was duly attested from what belonged to the region of myths and conjecture, appeared to be only a preliminary work. Men wished now also to know how things had come to pass, and why they had come thus and not otherwise. As at the same epoch the investigations in the sphere of nature were prosecuted teleologically, inquiring

after the cause, and effect, and final causes, so in the sphere of moral freedom in which history moves, similar connections and relations of events were sought out. But this could not be done without applying to the events some moral standard, and inquiring after the internal motives from which, in given relations, the actions had proceeded. They also endeavoured to understand what had occurred, partly as a result of human impulse or calculation, and partly from the concatenation of wonderfully coincident circumstances. This is the pragmatic treatment of history, as the English Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson had written it, before the Germans made it theirs. Planck applied it to Church History; and there are especially two works of his in which this historical method is carried out in a masterly manner. The one, "The History of the Origin and Formation of the Christian Ecclesiastical Constitutions," had for its object to describe that most difficult point, the history of the external organization of the Christian church. The earlier orthodox Protestantism had been accustomed to regard the huge edifice of the medieval hierarchy with the greatest abhorrence, as the cast-down bulwark of Antichrist; but the time had now come in which the human mind felt itself challenged to draw near to the ruins of this overgrown greatness, and ask how and by what means did it become what it was; how could such a gigantic edifice grow up from its slight and unnoticeable beginnings? It was just this question which Planck sought to answer; although he starts with assumptions about the nature of the church, which are rather derived from the external circumstances of its origin than from that spiritual might hidden within it, which not only waits upon, but is superior to its external manifestation."*

Neander's Memorabilia, with his monographs of Chrysostom and Tertullian, to say nothing of that of Julian, compiled from ancient records of Christians and of Christian life, afford us important aid in this department of archæological investigations. Pictures of Christian men and women, fresh and warm with life, with pictorial scenes of their religious character, of the state of society in which they lived, and of the religious constitutions which were established or modified by them, are sketched in these works in the bold and truthful outline of a master.

In connection with this work stands Neander's History of the First Planting of the Christian Church. From the life and times of the primitive saints, and their influence in modifying the insti

* Translated by Prof. H. B. Smith, Bib. Sac. Oct., 1851.

tutions of the church, he here ascends to the original authors of these institutions, and gives us a living knowledge of the very soul of Peter, of John, of James, and, above all, of the grand peculiarities of Paul, together with a vivid sketch of that primitive, normal pattern which they gave of the organization of the church, for the imitation of believers in all coming time.

In the same connection should also be mentioned Rothe's Elements of the Christian Church, a work of the same general design, the production of an independent, original mind, and of a rare scholar. Taking his departure from a different point of observation, the author seeks to trace from the apostles the genetic development of the church. Though himself a devout man, his writings are deeply tinged with the bold, fanciful theories of a different school.

We have dwelt so long upon these preliminary works and collateral aids to the study of Christian Antiquities, that we must dismiss, with a brief notice, the several independent, modern writers on this subject, whose works have appeared within the last thirty years. First in the order of time and in magnitude, if not in importance, stands Augusti's Memorabilia from Christian Archæology, published at Leipsic, in twelve volumes, between the years 1817 and 1831. The title is ill chosen, and poorly indicates the nature and extent of the author's labours. At the distance of a hundred years from Bingham, he takes up anew the work of this compiler, and collects from original sources an immense mass of authorities on almost all the wide range that belongs to the department of Christian Archæology. These he incorporates in his pages, instead of inserting them, like Bingham, in foot notes at the bottom; and he usually contents himself with the original without translation, connecting them together into a continuous treatise, by his own course of remarks. He is calm, dispassionate, and free from partisan zeal, even to indifference in his discussions, which are often prolix, crude, and immethodical. Like Bingham, Augusti is chargeable with unpardonable negligence in omitting almost all chronological data. The work, however, is, with all its defects, one of great value. It is a vast storehouse of authorities, collected with great industry and extensive research, from the whole range of ancient historians, apologists, and councils, relating to almost every branch of Christian Antiquities. To one who has not opportunities and time for equal original research, as few have in any country, and none in this, the Memorabilia of Augusti are invaluable, offering at hand materials for use in argument and illustration.

In the years of 1836 and 1837, Augusti published an abridgment of his original work in three volumes, averaging more than seven hundred pages each, under the title of a Hand-book of Christian Archæology. In this, his materials are better wrought; the plan and order are entirely changed. The authorities are carefully sifted; needless redundances are pruned off, and every part of the work bears evidence of a thorough revision. The whole has a fairer symmetry and a higher finish, and is, for all ordinary use, much more valuable than the original work. Augusti was Professor, first of Oriental Literature, then of Theology, and was connected successively with the Universities at Breslau, Jena, and Bonn; and toward the close of life, was Counsellor and Director of the Consistory at Coblentz. He was the honoured associate of De Wette in the translation of the Bible, and the author of many works on literary, historical, and theological subjects.

The works of Augusti were followed in quick succession by others in the same department, of various interest and importance, and more or less extensive in volume and in the range of their inquiries. K. Schöne published at Berlin, 1821, '22, in three volumes, his Historical Researches in the Ecclesiastical Usages and Institutions of Christians, their Increase, Improvement, and Changes. Though neither original nor profound, it is a useful treatise on the rituals of the church. On these topics he gives a large induction of authorities in a translation, without the original, and omitting in many instances all reference to them.

Rheinwald's Ecclesiastical Archaeology is the next in order. This, though compressed into a single octavo, is far more comprehensive than the former in its plan, and is a production of a higher order. It is written with studied brevity, and exhibits a wonderful power of compression, scarcely surpassed by De Wette's Exegetical Hand-book, or Gieseler's Text Book of Church History. It is constructed on the plan of the latter, in which the author makes his own statement a mere thread on which to hang the choicest gems which boundless research has gathered from the hidden recesses of antiquity, to enrich the literature of his subject. The choice extracts which adorn his pages, selected, wrought, and arranged with the skill of a master, conduct us directly to the most valuable, original authors, and introduce them to speak for themselves. As Gieseler's admirable work remains still unrivalled in ecclesiastical history, so does Rheinwald's as a hand-book in ecclesiastical archæology.

Siegel's Hand-book of Christian Ecclesiastical History soon fol

lowed Rheinwald's. The writer is a preacher in the Cathedral Church of St. Thomas, in Leipsic, and lecturer in the University in that city. He proposes to himself the task, not of an original investigator, but of a compiler, to collect together the materials which are scattered through many volumes of different authors; to combine and reconstruct a complete treatise on each of the several topics of the antiquities of the Christian Church, with constant reference to the modified forms in which ancient usages and institutions are still retained in different communions of the Christian Church. These treatises are arranged in alphabetical order for convenient reference. The expediency of this arrangement, however, is questionable. It sunders that quoddam commune vinculum which pertains to kindred topics of the same general subject, and fails to give the reader a connected symmetrical view of the whole. This inconvenience the author attempts to remedy by a synoptical view, or summary of a connected treatise, with references to the articles which would thus stand connected in a synthetical arrangement. A copious and valuable register of technical terms, both Greek and Latin, occurring in ancient authors and archæological works of this nature, is also appended.

The author appropriates to his use very freely the labours of his learned predecessors, frequently incorporating at length into his work their authorities and discussions, either with or without abridgment, at his pleasure, and generally without any just acknowledgment. The book contains a large amount of information concerning the rites, ceremonies, and constitution of the church, both ancient and modern, and much that is of great interest to the classical student. But the tone and manner in which he treats many important passages of sacred history indicates a rationalistic tendency, against which the reader should be duly guarded.

The little work of Locherer next claims a passing notice, as a concise and candid statement of the Roman Catholic view of the archæology of the Christian Church.

Professor Böhmer, of the University at Breslau, presents us with a work of a far higher order than either of the foregoing. It is the production of an original and independent mind, enriched with the learning, literary and historical, requisite for his task. His learning is chastened by a devout, religious spirit, and his researches are ever guided by a profound sense of the divine origin of the Christian religion. Böhmer belongs to the school of Planck and Neander, the latter of whom was accustomed to speak of him in conversation with the writer, in terms of the highest respect.