appearance of the minister. Another, listening for a while attentively, with his eyes intently fixed on the pulpit, is subtilly diverted by an idea, towards the ends of the earth; he roves and speculates amid profit and loss, while his previous intent attitude is still preserved, and he sits staring vacantly at the minister. In short, who could mention all the improprieties, more rude or more polite, which are manifest in most of our congregations, showing plainly that the spirit of reverential worship is not there.

Prayer and singing, especially, in the great congregation, is wickedly daring without reverence. The attitude of the body, as well as the frame of the spirit, ought to be such as becomes those who are coming professedly near to God. Not only does the idea of praise and prayer require us to recognize God as very near us, but we profess also to believe that our prayers and praises are the product of the Holy Ghost in us! As prayer in the congregation should be as the voice of one man, so ought their outward position to present a devout uniformity. But what do we see? Sitting, standing, reclining, reposing, shifting, gaping, gazing, talking, smiling-and what remains else of this public insult to the God of heaven, in whose presence angels show the deepest reverence! Similar improprieties might be mentioned as being commonly exhibited in singing. The feeling that these exercises are solemn transactions with God, seems but little manifest.

As an especial mystery underlies the sacraments, they claim, and ought to inspire special reverence. Holy Baptism is only exceeded in mysterious solemnity by the holy Supper. The communion of Christ's body, and the communion of his blood, in the coldest sense in which these words can be understood, still places their significancy beyond the reach of reason, into the sphere of faith and mystery. How awfully, upon the ear of the communicant approaching the altar, fall these words: “Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord!" Well is the solemn admonition, and the reason on which it rests, immediately added: "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to

himself, not discerning the Lord's body." If the high-priest trembled when he entered the Holy of Holies, ought not the Christian worshipper approach with the deepest reverence the sacramental altar.

Then too, as minister, to stand between the altar and the worshipper to administer his holy supper! Who is sufficient for these things? The minister, who feels his position, must have more boldness than becomes one in such a place, who can perform this service without those humble tremblings which would make even a cherub look lovelier if engaged in such transactions! It is only the assurance, that the symbols before us are at once the medium and pledge of life, pardon, peace and reconciliation, that invites and encourages our approach. If it were not for this, we would rather, like the publican, stand afar off and smite our breasts in penitent anguish; but when this fact is apprehended by faith, how sweetly does it still the painful tremblings of our awe-struck spirits and calm them in the meltings of love. Here, in the holy supper, justice and mercy meet and embrace each other, mingling themselves in one peaceful stream of life and love, while the worshipper feels the alternatings of penitent fear and pardoning love, filling his soul with reverence and humble worship.

This would now be the place to draw a full-length portrait of the spirit of irreverence, and to designate it in its details, as it reigns in the church in this age and country. This, again, might naturally lead us to an attempt to find out its cause; and then reflections might be made as to the nature and necessity of a cure. This, however, must, for want of time and room, be deferred, if not entirely, to some future time.

H. H.

ART. XXX.-UNIVERSAL HISTORY.-INTRODUCTION.*

§. 1. Conception of Universal History.

In its most comprehensive signification Universal History is simply a biography of humanity. This general definition will be modified and restricted by the peculiar method the historian may adopt in his representation of the subject.

Treated chronologically, it is the perspicuous narration of the most remarkable events connected with the rise and progress of the human race, arranged in the order of time in which they happened. Treated pragmatically, it is not only an exhibition of the various fortunes which have befallen the human family from creation to the present time, but also of the springs and consequences of all great historical movements, as they have been produced by the harmonious interworkings of Providence and that law of nature, which by divine appointment presides over the growth of society and never contradicts, or thwarts the intentions, of Deity.

In

Surveyed from a more elevated scientific point of view, it is the representation of the progressive advancement of human life towards the realization of its original destiny, so far as it has been brought into actual being, in the course of the world's history. accordance with the teachings of Holy writ, the true dignity of man consists in his bearing and preserving, in undiminished splendor, the image of God in which he was created. By virtue of his original structure which demands a living communion with Deity, he never could have accomplished the end of his existence had he not been elevated into fellowship with the divine nature, in the Word made flesh. it is the duty of the historian to delineate the progressive restoration in man of God's image effaced by sin, and to point out the relation which the different periods of history, both before and after the incarnation, sustain to this great mystery.

§. 2. Limitation of this Conception.

As in the sphere of nature the innumerable forms of its endlessly

•From an unpublished Manual of Universal History, by Rev. W. J. Mann, of Philadelphia, from which other extracts also may appear in the pages of this Review. Translated from the German by J. S. E.

diversified life do not receive from the natural philosopher an equal share of attention, so in the department of history, it is not necessary for the historian to enter into a minute detail of every unimportant occurrence, or to describe the actions of every particular man. It is a law of universal force in the operations of nature that, whilst no isolated form of existence among its manifold productions, ever embodies the complete life of the species to which it belongs, some of them, on account of their general character, approximate more nearly than others to a full representation of any given species. The idea of a regular and uninterrupted growth of society, demands the application of the same law to the history of persons and of families, of races and of states. By attentively observing the movements of this principle, as it operates through human agencies, the historan may obtain an infallible guide in his investigations which will enable him to form an accurate judgment concerning the historical importance of any particular age, or nation, and to assign to every period its proper position.

§. 3. The Relation of Universal history to Special history. Universal history has for its objeet a faithful delineation of the rise and progress of human life under all its forms, political and mental, moral and spiritual. In distinction from this, Special history selects a particular period, and gives an extended and minute detail of its relation to a preceeding era, and its peculiar adaptation for the promotion of the interests of society generally. Monography constitutes a third department of history. It sometimes happens, that history assumes an aristocratic character, and reveals its power through the agency of single individuals, or of a body of men, or of a particular state. A description of history under this form, falls within the sphere of Monography.

§. 4. A more precise Definition of the Object of Universal history.

Humanity then, in the various manifestations of its inward strength as expressed in its thoughts, in its mental and physical activity, in its actions and its sufferings, constitutes the subject of Universal history. The motto of the historian is: nihil humani a me alienum puto. Whilst that only which has actually happened, falls within the province of history, we must not reject as valueless myths, which, however deceptive they may be in themselves, are the me

dia through which the spirit of an age reveals its intellectual and religious character. It is only by forming a clear and correct estimate of the Past, in its various relations, that we can be properly qualified to judge the historical position the Present occupies. Whatever served to unfold the character of a particular age, or nation; whatever imparted to the course of events a distinctive direction and evolved out of these events, as their necessary result, a particular form of life; is peculiarly valuable to the student of history. This rule requires the historian to devote special attention to the different stages of civilization, to the characteristic features of entire nations, particularly their form of government, their art, their religion, their science, and the character of their most prominent leaders, and to omit extraneous or accidental circumstances which exerted no influence, neither retarding nor advancing the interests of society.

§. 5. Preparatory and Auxiliary Studies.

These include particularly the ancient languages, together with every science in any way connected with the events of the Past: such as astrology, hermeneutics, ancient geography, &c. As the conception of Universal history can be grasped only by those persons who occupy such an elevated intellectual position as enables them to comprehend the significance of the Past, we must not expect to find historians among those nations which constituted no essential factors of history, and took no part in the progress of the human race towards its ultimate design.

§. 6. Of the Sources of Universal history.

Of the greatest importance are ancient written documents, comprising not only histories composed at an early period, but also written accounts of events, occasional historical remarks, acts, and ordinances, inscriptions, coins, &c., together with the artistic productions of ancient times, and, in general, all the remains, which serve to unfold the character of the human family at any particular period. As oral sources, we may mention popular traditions which, though not to be regarded as the offspring of capricious imaginations, must nevertheless be investigated with the most searching criticism, and used with great caution.

§. 7. Selection and Arrangement of the Materials of Universal history.