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and vanity; and whose attachments he vouchsafes the present enjoyhave nothing above others peculiar ment and future prospects of perand distinguishing! It is self-denial manent and substantial good. And and that alone which can possibly if to human nature the duties of entitle to a variety of epithets be- self-denial are irksome; if Chrisstowed in scripture upon the chil- tians are commanded to mortify dren of God, such as strangers sins, once as dear to them as a right and pilgrims, crucified to the eye or a right hand; if, on account world, having the conversation in of the many enemies that assail heaven, looking for the blessed them, their life here is denominated hope," &c. These with similar a warfare; it is reasonable they terms and expressions cannot, with- should all, in some degree, be conout the greatest perversion of lan- formed to Christ, who was made guage, be applied to any, but such perfect thro' suffering; who, in conas by their principles and habits sequence of bearing the cross, rediffer most materially from the ceived the crown. It is equally fit, world around. that, by a life of patience and perse

with which they are surrounded, the followers of Jesus should exhibit the influence of the truth, shew what is its true spirit and tendency, what persons can reaily do and suffer, who are principled and actuated by it; in short, prove it to be what it really is, supernatural and divine.

But if the various duties of self-verance, amidst all the temptations denial constitute a necessary, indispensible part of Christianity, they are also a reasonable service. This is the will of God (says Paul) even your sanctification. Again, it is said, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." How highly reasonable to renounce our own will, and implicitly submit to that of our Creator! Here, however, the most forcible motives are derived from redemption. Nothing surely can be more indisputably fit than to devote those lives, which were forfeited by sin, to the praise and glory of him who bought them with his blood. In this view, can any privations on the part of Christians be too great? or any sacrifice too costly? The obligations being infinite, the best returns bear no proportion to the mercies received.

But God is far from acting the part of a hard master, for if it be his will that his children should deny themselves to worldly lusts, he, in their place, bestows what is infinitely better. For grovelling sensual pleasures, he imparts such as are pure, rational, and spiritual. Instead of the little vanities of life, which so much fascinate and deceive their votaries, he confers true honours, real dignity, and inspires with the noblest elevation of mind. In place of the eager, tormenting, insatiable desire of worldly things,

Lastly, As Christians are intended for a far nobler state of existence hereafter, to which the present life is merely introductory, it seems highly requisite, that they should be freed from all inordinate love and attachment to earthly objects, in order to their being fitted for enjoying those pure and spiritual pleasures which are at God's right hand. For it is only in proportion as persons by faith rise superior to this world, and have learned to despise it as their portion and happiness, that they are" made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."

It ought never to be imagined, therefore, that God, in any instances whatever, acts in an arbitrary manner towards his children. All his dispensations, and even his laws, the greatest deeds of self-denial which he enjoins, are designed to promote their best interests, and are all consistent with that love, mercy, and goodness, which, in the scriptures, are every where ascribed to him.

SIMPLEX.

Theological Review.

The Life of Philip Melancthon, com- Leonstein. So early an exhibition prising an Account of the most im- of extraordinary talents and important Transactions of the Refor-provement was deservedly celebrated mation. By F. A. Cox, A. M. Gale and Fenner. pp. 600. Bds. 14s. Mr. Cox has been extremely fortunate in the choice of a subject, on which to employ the powers of his mind. The personal character of Melancthon; the interesting period in which he flourished; the eminence of his literary attainments; his active exertions in furthering the advancement of the noble cause of the Reformation, and of the revival of Learning; and his intimate connection with all the leading men of his age, constitute such an assemblage of inviting qualities as are rarely to be found concentrated in the history of one individual. And to all these is to be added the still further recommendation that, until the appearance of the volume before us, notwithstanding the very advanced state of our literature, we had absolutely no Life of Melancthon amongst us beyond the meagre outline that was to to be found in a Biographical Dictionary.

Philip Melancthon was born at Bretten in the Palatinate upon the Rhine, on the 16th of Feb. 1495. His family surname was Schwartserdt, literally meaning Black Earth, which Reuchlin changed for Melancthon, a word in Greek of the same signification. He received his early education in his native place, where for some time he attended the public school, and was afterwards placed under the care of a private tutor. From Bretten he was sent to the college of Pfortsheim, and had lodgings in that town at the house of one of his relations, who was sister to the famous Reuchlin; by which means he became known to that learned man, who conceived a tender affection for him. After remaining here about two years, in 1509, he was removed to Heidelberg, where he made such a rapid proficiency in literature, that, before he had completed his fourteenth year, he was entrusted with the tuition of the sons of the Count of

by Baillett, who has bestowed a chapter upon him in his "Historical Treatise of young men, who became famous by their study or writings." In the year 1511, he was admitted to the degree of B. A.; but having made application for the highest degree in arts during the following year, and meeting with a refusal, on account of his youth; and finding also that the air of Heidelberg did not agree with his constitution; he took his leave of that university, and entered himself of Tubingen. Here he diligently attended the different professors of classical and polite learning, the mathematics, philosophy, divinity, law, and even me-. dicine, and added considerably to the stores of knowledge which he had before acquired. After having afforded the most satisfactory evidences of his abilities and literary progress, in the year 1513, before he had attained the age of seventeen, Melancthon was created doctor of philosophy, or M.A. From the time of receiving this degree, he remained about four years at Tubingen, during which he still attended the several professors, and delivered not only private but public lectures himself, on Virgil, Terence, Cicero and Livy, with the greatest applause, and to crowded audiences. He also assisted Reuchlin in his controversy with the monks, and, either on the account of the talents discovered by him in his polemical pieces, or some other of his productions published when he was very young, drew from the pen of Erasmus the following fine encomium, when writing his paraphrase on 1 Thess. ii. "What hopes may we not entertain of Philip Melancthon, who, though as yet very young, and almost a boy, is equally to be admired for his knowledge in both languages? what quickness of invention! what purity of diction! what powers of memory! what va riety of reading! what modesty and gracefulness of behaviour!" This encomium John James Grynæus has

introduced into the parallel which he was in these conferences," says Mohas given between the prophet Da-sheim, "that the spirit and character niel and Melancthon, in the first of Melancthon appeared in their book of his "Epist. Select." While true and genuine colours; and it was at Tubingen, likewise, Melancthon here that the votaries of Rome exdiligently studied the sacred scrip- hausted their efforts to gain over to tures, and always carried about with their party this pillar of reformation, him a Bible which he had received whose abilities and virtues added as a present from Reuchlin. By such a lustre to the protestant cause. holding this constantly in his hand, This humane and gentle spirit was and frequently referring to it during apt to sink into a kind of yielding divine service, he excited a consider- softness under the influence of able degree of curiosity, as it was mild and generous treatment. And, much larger than a Prayer-book accordingly, while his adversaries and those who envied, endeavoured soothed him with fair words and from this circumstance to excite pre- flattering promises, he seemed to judices against him, by insinuating, melt as they spoke, and, in some that he spent his time at church in measure, to comply with their dereading what was unbecoming the mands. But when they so far forgot place and occasion. themselves as to make use of imperious language and menacing terms, then did Melancthon appear in a very different light; then a spirit of intrepidity, ardour and independence animated all his words and actions, and he looked down with contempt on the threats of power, and the frowns of fortune, and the fear of death. The truth is, that, in this great and good man, a soft and yielding temper was joined with the most inviolable fidelity, and the most invincible attachment to the truth."

The precise year is not ascertained in which Melancthon was brought to the saving knowledge of the truth, but some circumstances attending the important change which then passed upon his mind are well known and have frequently been recorded. When his understanding was first illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and he was led to see the divine glory beaming forth in the death of Christ by which the great atonement for sin was made, the all-sufficient ground of hope which it affords to the most guilty of the human race, and how illustriously all the perfections of Deity harmonize in the salvation of sinners, it threw him into a kind of rapture which continued for some time. And when after a season he so far recovered from his abstraction of mind as to resume his intercourse with the world, his first wish was to make others partakers of his joy. In the simplicity of his heart, he imagined that he had nothing to do in order to produce their conversion, but to lay before his unbelieving acquaintance that evidence which reached conviction to his own mind. Repeated efforts, however, served greatly to abate his 'confidence, and he was at length brought to confess that "old Adam was too strong for young Melancthon."

When the flame which had been kindled by Luther's opposition to the church of Rome, began to abate, and recourse was had to the expedient of conferences between learned men selected from each party, Melancthon was frequently engaged in defending the cause of the Reformation. "It

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As a 'specimen of Mr. Cox's style and manner in the work before us, we shall present our readers with his delineation of the character of this great and excellent man, premising that we have no where seen it so ably and faithfully executed.

lities of Melancthon, his extreme Candour "In stating some of the excellent quaand Kindness must not be overlooked. He was never known to asperse any one, either openly or by insinuation. Nothing was further from his intentions than to injure another's character or reputation, and if his own were attacked, no one could manifest a more exemplary paed to resentment by the misconduct of tience. He not only could not be movoffenders, but did not relax in his benevolence or familiarity with them. No dark suspicions pervaded his mind, no malevolence or envy disturbed his placid spirit. The calm summer of his soul was never beclouded or distracted with tempestuous passions.

"Melancthon was devoid of every

thing like deceit and dissimulation. There

were no reserves about him; all was the same time, his manners were remark. transparent, open, and honest, while at ably captivating. From this temper resulted a freeness in common conversation,

which led him sometimes to express himself with a degree of inconsideration: and even when his intimate friends have endeavoured to check his frankness from apprehension of what indeed not unfrequently happened, that his words would be invidiously misrepresented, such was his consciousness of entire purity of motive, that they could seldom or never succeed in rendering him cautious.

"He was possessed of an extraordinary Memory, and maintained that temperance in eating and drinking, that equanimity of mind, and those habits of reflection which essentially conduce to the perfection of this faculty. He was also inquisitive and read much, but with proper selection; retaining not only the ge. neral strain of the discourse, but the very words of the writer. Nor were these merely lodged in his memory, for he was remarkable for the facility with which he could call into use whatever he knew. The various kinds of information he gained were so arranged in the different compartments of his great mental repository, that he could at any time, and without difficulty find whatever he wanted: for he had the power of recollecting as well as retaining knowledge. This qualification fitted him for controversy and made him peculiarly feared by his opponents.

| make concessions of this description, "Nothing is more foolish than to attempt the defence of folly. An ingenuous mind will acknowledge its mistakes, especially in subjects of a literary kind, and candidly confess its weakness or negligence in order that youth may learn from the éxample of others, to be more diligent in investigation and more careful in their mode of study. I will not scruple therefore to censure some things in this (the first) edition of my own writings, and will not only recapitulate the course of my juvenile studies, but explain my meaning in some public transactions, and state why I issued certain theological publications."

"Neither Melancthon's attachment

to literature, nor his multifarious engagements in public seduced him from the cultivation of domestic feelings, and the discharge of parental duties. His wife and children, ever dear to his heart, were not forgotten amidst the deepest abstractions of study, or the greatest perplexity of engagement. The habits of studious men have sometimes been represented as tending to disqualify them for the familiar intercourse of domestic or social life. It is often long before the clouds which profound study gathers over the mind can be entirely chased away, even by the cheering influence of conviviality. Such was his Modesty that he would At the same time a great man never apnever deliver his opinion upon impor- pears greater than in descending from tant subjects without deliberation and the high station where public opinion or serious thought. He considered no time extraordinary genius has enthroned him misspent and no pains ill bestowed in to an approachable familiarity. It is the search of Truth, and he was inces- then his friends will no longer censure santly occupied in examining for himself, his abstractions, nor his affectionate faSophistry and every species of evasion in mily deprecate his fame. Melancthon argument excited his just abhorrence; may be appealed to as a pleasing illusseldom or never could it escape his penetration of this remark. A Frenchman trating eye, and whenever he detected it no considerations could deter him from expressing the most marked disapprobation.

His own conceptions were clear, his language perspicuous, and his intentions upright. There was such a transparency in the whole stream of his argument in public discourses or disputations, that you could see to the very bottom of his motives and principles.

"He was kind to a fault; and so exceedingly Humble, that in the common concerns of life he was not ashamed to stoop to menial offices if they were not base or dishonourable. Frequently he would put to shame the ill-humoured disinclination of the lowest servants to discharge any part of their duty, by doing it himself. The same happy combination of modesty and humility characterized all his deportment, and in a very conspicuous manner influenced his private conduct, his public transactions, and his various writings. It is not every

author however conscious of the blemishes which may have disfigured his first publications, that would be willing to

one day, found him holding a book in one hand and rocking his child's cradle with the other. Upon his manifesting considerable surprize, Melancthon took occasion from the incident to converse with his visitor on the duties of parents, and on the regard of heaven for little children in such a pious and affectionate manner, that his astonishment, was quickly transformed into admiration. The fondness he cherished for his own family extended to chlidren in general. He possessed, in a very eminent degree, the rare art of making himself a captivating and instructive companion to them. He descended with the most happy ease to their level, promoted by his jocularity their little plea. sures, and engaged with all his heart in their games and festivities. He would often exercise their ingenuity, by devising fictions and puzzles, and took great delight in relating useful scraps of history or memorable tales."

After reading such interesting anecdotes concerning this extraordi

nary man as the foregoing, we are naturally prepared to hear from his biographer that his mind was very susceptible of the more amiable sensibilities of our nature; and of the truth of this we need no other proof than the following admirable letter, which Melancthon addressed to one of his friends, to express his sympathy with him under his affliction for the loss of a beloved son.

To John Pfeffinger, with affectionate

salutations.

"God has implanted the principle of natural affection in mankind, for the donble purpose of strengthening the bonds of human society, and teaching us to realize the ardour of his love to his own Son and to us. He therefore approves the affection we cherish for our offspring, and the piety of our grief for their loss. Natural affection is peculiarly forcible in minds of a superior order; on which account, I doubt not, that the loss of your son-a son too not only possessed of the most amiable dispositions, but of a mind well stored with literature, not only in clined by his very constitution to moral habits, but under the constant influence of true religion, and already engaged in a course of study in which his capacity promised so much-the loss of such a son, I say, must affect you with the deepest grief. And be assured, I am not disposed to accuse you of weakness; on the contrary, I acknowledge-I commend your piety-I truly lament your personal bereavement and the public loss; for I am apprehensive that in these times the churches will feel the want of teachers properly instructed. But you are well aware that we are permitted to mourn, though not immoderately. It is certain that these events are under divine superintendance; it becomes us, therefore, to manifest a due submission of mind to God, and quietly to resign ourselves to his disposal in every season of adversity. "I will not advert to the physical causes of death, for though naturally exposed to various diseases, let us rather regard the will of God in this dispensation, and not so much our own loss; ahd let us realize the blessings which in being removed from this afflictive life and these calamitous times he is called to share. If we truly loved him, we shall rejoice in his happiness; and if we rightly understand Christian truth, we shall be disposed to congratulate him upon the society of the heavenly assembly, where he no longer drinks the streams of knowledge mingled and polluted as they are in the present world, but enjoys free access to the pure and infinite fountain of wisdom, holds intercourse with the Son of God Himself, the prophets and apostles, and with inexpressible delight joins in

praising God for so early an admission to that illustrious assembly; the thought of which may well enkindle within us a desire to escape from our earthly imprison

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Perhaps it increases your sorrow to recollect his capacity, his erudition, his virtue ; and you fondly wish for the charming company of such a son. these very excellencies themselves ought to diminish your regrets, because you know how they contributed to the good of many during the short period of his mortal life, so that he was not a useless incumbrance upon society. You witnessed the evidences of his thriving piety in this world of trial, which were but the beginnings of celestial life, and proved that his departure hence was only a removal to the happy intercourse of heaven. In fact, as often as you reflect upon these qualities of your dear son, you have reason to be thankful to God, who has shewn such kindness both to you and to him, as to confer upon him the greatest of all favours: for a grateful mind will record mercies as well as crosses.

"It is becoming, therefore, as you know, to be resigned to the will of God who requires us to moderate our griefs, and to believe that no real evil has befallen your son. Let these considerations afford you comfort and repress undue anxiety. The minds of men are naturally influenced by examples, for it seems proper that we should not refuse to endure the afflictions incident to others,' and which must be sustained as the common law of our nature. How calamitous must the death of Abel have appeared to our first parents, by the murder of whom their future hopes in reference to the church seemed to be cut off in regard to their own family, and how much greater cause for sorrow attached to them, when the human race consisted of so small a number, than can belong to you, who possess a surviving family, in which distinct evidences of piety may be traced? They were doubly wounded by the death of one son, and still more by the wickedness of his impious brother.

"If when you are absent for a season from your family, and placed at a distance amongst persons uncongenial to your taste, the hope of returning home alleviates your vexations; so now you may be stimulated to patience by the consideration that in a little time you will again embrace your son in the delightful assembly of the skies, adorned with a more splendid distinction than any station on earth can command, I mean with the GLORY OF GOD, and placed among prophets, apostles, and the shining hosts of heaven, there to live for ever, enjoying thevision of God, and the enrapturing intercourse of Christ himself, the holy apostles and prophets. Let us constantly look forward to this glorious eternity