would have been the only two epic poems of which modern literature could have boasted.

Finally, the investigating and reasoning spirit, to which the reformation opened a free career, as has been shown above, was also introduced into the domain of the imagination, and took such a post in it as it was capable of; that is to say, it took refuge in the theoretic department of the belles lettres, in the systems connected with sentiment, taste, the beautiful and sublime, &c.

It is known, that in proportion the Protestant literati have done more on these subjects, and perhaps have penetrated more deeply into them than the others. It is among them that the rational part of literary criticism has assumed the form of a science, under the name of esthetics. This name was given to it by Baumgarten, a German, from a Greek word signifying sentiment. Lessing, as well as Sulzur and his followers, have published some valuable pieces of this description. Kant has founded a new esthetic school, in his Criticism on the Judgment. He has had numerous and ingenious disciples: the most remarkable among them, both in theory and in practice, is the illustrious Schiller.

With respect to the fine arts.

It is when a pompous worship requires magnificent temples, imposing ceremonies, and a striking appearance; it is when religion exhibits the sensible images of the objects of public veneration, when it rests on a sacred mythology; when the earth and the heavens are peopled with supernatural beings, to whom the imagination can lend a form; it is then, I say, that the arts, encouraged, ennobled, reach the summit of their splendor and their perfection. The architect, called to honors and wealth, conceives the plan of these basilisks, these cathedrals, the appearance of which inspires a religious awe; of which the rich walls are decorated with the master pieces of art. This temple, these altars are adorned with marble and the precious metals, out of which sculpture has formed angels, the blessed, and images of illustrious men. The choirs, the galleries, the chapels, the sacristies, are decorated with pictures hung in all parts. Here, Jesus dies on the cross; there he appears on Tabor, in all the resplendance of Divine majesty. Art, so much the friend of the imagination, which can find gratification only in the heavens, goes there in search of its most sublime creations; a St. John, a Cecilia, and more particularly a Mary, that patroness of all tender and ardent minds, that virgin model of all mothers, the mediatrix of mercy between man and his God, the august and touching Elysian being, of which no other religion offers a resemblance or a model. During the solemnities, the choicest stuffs, precious stones, and embroidery, cover the altars, the vesses, the priests, and even the partitions of the holy place. By the most exquisite songs, by the harmony of orchestras, music completes the charm. These encouragements, of such powerful efficacy, are renewed in a hundred different places; the metropolises, the parishes, the numerous convents, the simple oratories, vie in splendor, and captivate all the powers of the religious and devout soul. Thus the taste for the arts, assisted by such a powerful lever, becomes general; artists are multiplied, and rival each other in their efforts.

Through this influence the celebrated schools of Italy and Flanders flourished, and those most beautiful productions of them which remain to us, testify the richness of the encouragement lavished on them by the Catholic worship.

From the natural course of things, it cannot be doubted that the reformation was unfavorable to the fine arts, and laid a considerable restraint upon the exercise of them. It broke the bond which united them to religion, which rendered them sacred, and secured them a share in the veneration of the people. The liturgy of the Lutherans, and still more that of the Calvinists, is simple and strict. A stone, a cloth, form the altar; a pulpit and benches are all the decoration necessary to the temple. Here nothing is thought of but the Gospel, and some Divine songs on morality and the Christian duties, sung by the congregation. All is devoid of ornament, pomp, and elegance. The priest is clothed in a modest black garment; no veneration of a saint or an angel, and still less of their images, is recommended to pious souls. It might be said that this worship is melancholy and dry, in comparison with that of the Catholics; if, however, an assembly of persons collected to worship in common, can really correspond with the idea of melancholy. Nevertheless it is certain, that this worship which can elevate the soul, tends to disenchant the imagination; it renders superb churches, and statues, and paintings superfluous; it depopulates the arts, and deprives them of one of their most powerful

resources.

Beside this general disposition peculiar to a worship which keeps so rigidly close to the pure spirit of the primitive Church, and which does not admit of any coquetry with the senses, the particular disposition of the nations which have embraced the reform must be considered. The greater part of them inhabit the' severest climate of Europe. They are colder, more phlegmatic, more thoughtful than those of the south; they have not nature before their eyes in so beautiful a form; they do not respire that voluptuous, soft, intoxicating air of the Italian atmosphere. Independent of the reformation, therefore, they are not so well placed, so well constituted for the practice of the arts, as the Italians for example. Without doubt they have had, and still have esteemed artists, but not such as to excel those of Italy, or even to counterbalance them. Their real merit in the arts, and which arises from their reflecting, scrutinizing spirit, is that of treating the theory with more penetration; of observing and investigating the principles which, unknown to them, direct the great artists; of tracing the course of the imagination and the understanding in their productions; of discovering the connections between the ideal nature of the arts, and real nature; in a word, of developing the principles and philosophy of the arts. The Italian feels and produces; Hemsterhuys, Kant, Burke, Goethe, think, analyze the production, and the faculty of producing. The one has the instinct of art; the other the intelligence. The one creates; the other judges of the creation, and calculates its laws. These two functions equally presuppose genius. The first displays it externally, in visible forms; the second, in the depths of the understanding. This may be named the legislative power; that the executive power of the fine arts.'

In conclusion, we may here remind the reader of a thought which suggested itself in the commencement of this review; and that is, that our author does not appear to dive deep enough into the sea of religious truth, of experimental and practical godliness, to commend his book to the favorable reception of a thorough-going Christian, such as we wish all our readers to be. Hence the causes which were at work for the production of the reformation upon the belief, the experience, and practice of mankind, are considered too much in the light of merely human agencies; while the great efficient Agent is left out of sight. But, of our views in relation to this point, enough has been already said. That the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,' is sufficient to make the heart of the devout Christian to rejoice in Him amid all the events of life, whether they be prosperous or adverse. Notwithstanding this apparent defect in the book before us, it must, so far as it is attentively read in the country where it originated, have a benign influence in opening the eyes of the people to the salutary effects of the Protestant system of religion, and thus weaken their belief in the infallibility of popery. So far as general science is concerned, and a knowledge of the historical details of the times about which he writes, Mr. Villers appears to have been amply furnished to give an impartial judgment. He might, indeed, have brought his investigations and inferences down to a much later date, by marking the happy results of the reformation as they have been developing themselves within the period of the last century, and as they are even now spreading themselves over the four quarters of the globe.

The present successful efforts to drive error and vice from among men, by the several denominations of Protestant Christians, are but the effect, traced out to be sure through a number of intermediate causes, each in its turn becoming an effect, of that mighty impulse which was given to the human mind, when God said, Let Luther be, and Luther was.' And we humbly trust that the work will continue to go forward until the whole earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.

UNORIGINATED DECREES.

For the Methodist Magazine, and Quarterly Review.

MR. EDITOR:-The communication which I herewith present you for insertion in the Magazine, owes its origin to the following circum

stance :

In the course of a conversation, which occurred between myself and a member of the Theological Seminary in this place, some time last winter, I was requested to write my views for him on the subject of an unoriginated decree. This I hesitated to do for reasons which

it is not necessary to mention here. But I finally consented, on condition that he should reply in detail to my communication, and answer the arguments by which my views might be supported. On his engaging to do this, I proposed the following concise hints, which are but a part of the mere outlines of a work, which I have now nearly ready for the press, entitled 'An Exegetical Essay on the Scriptural account of God's Foreknowledge and Decrees; or an attempt to show that the notion of an unoriginated certainty concerning all events is not found in the Bible, and that it cannot be defended by the dictates of unperverted reason.'

In this essay the principles, which are barely stated in the following remarks, are explained and argued at length; and the objections are answered also which have been made against them, by the individual mentioned above.

Your readers, I presume, are aware, that the prevailing and pernicious doctrine of universalism owes its support altogether to the notion of an eternal decree; and also that the many changes and refinements in theology, of which we see and hear so much nowa-days, are but so many efforts to keep this notion in countenance among such as have become disgusted with its absurdities.

I trust, therefore, that every judicious attempt to explain and enforce the doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures against the prevalence of error, however refined or specious its pretences or appearances may be, will meet with the prayerful acceptance of all who love the truth as it is in Jesus.

Affectionately yours,

Andover, Ms., April 1, 1834.

LA ROY SUNDerland.

By the words eternal, absolute, and infinite, is meant, in the following remarks, unoriginated, unbounded, and endless existence. By absolute certainty is meant certainty that will not and cannot fail. By possibility is to be understood mere possibility, such a possibility as that of which absolute certainty cannot be affirmed; and I use the word decree as synonymous with action, volition, determination.

In relation to the decrees of God, the Scriptures speak of one which is originated, unconditional, and unchangeable. This relates. to the mission, death, and sufferings of Jesus Christ. To the Scriptural account of this decree we purpose principally to confine our attention in the following remarks.

We say this decree was originated, because it was FORMED, and God alone is unoriginated. It is unconditional, because He did not require the concurrence of any of His created intelligences in forming it; and it is unchangeable, because it is the only plan which He ever will form for the salvation of men; it never will be changed for another.

Let us now examine what the Scriptures say concerning this de

cree.

1. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it [or he] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,' Gen. iii, 15. This passage of Scripture is particularly worthy of notice, inasmuch as it may be called the VOL. V.-July, 1834.

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formation of that unconditional and unchangeable purpose, concerning the salvation of men, to which reference is so frequently made in after ages of the world. It should be remarked also that this purpose was formed and announced to Adam immediately after he sinned, which was very near, or even at the foundation of the world. Re

member this.

2. And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing:-that in blessing I will bless thee,and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,' Gen. xxii, 16-18. This is the same decree mentioned above: here God informs Abraham, that in its fulfilment the way of salvation should be opened for the salvation of the whole world. The seed of Abraham is Christ: see 2 Tim. ii, 8; Psa. xxxiii, 11.

3.Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,' Acts ii, 23. That is, Jesus Christ was not an impostor, as some of those Jews, to whom Peter was speaking, supposed, because He was crucified as a malefactor; but He was a man approved of God by miracles, signs, and wonders, which God did by Him; he having come into the world, according to God's previous knowledge of man's need of such a Savior, and His fixed determination that this Jesus should make His appearance among men for the purpose of opening the way for man's salvation.

4. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, (both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,) for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done,' Acts iv, 27, 28. God anointed Jesus Christ after he came into the world to do what He determined before (see texts 1, 2, supra,) either Christ or those Jews were born He should do, to open the way for the salvation of sinners; and against Christ, anointed for this purpose, Herod, and Pilate, with the Gentiles and Jews, were gathered together. So the French version of this text :- Car en effet, Herode et Ponce Pilote, avec les Gentils et le peuple d'Israel, se sont assembles contre ton saint Fils Jesus, que tu as oint Pour fair toutes les choses que ta main et ton conseil avoient auparavant determine devoir etre faites.' And this, without doubt, is the true meaning. See Rev. iii, 25.

5. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,' Rom. viii, 29. To know, in the Scriptures, frequently signifies simply to approve, to be favorably disposed toward one. But he knoweth [approveth] the way that I take,' Job xxiii, 10. For the Lord knoweth [approveth] the way of the righteous,' Psa. i, 6. Then will I profess unto them, I never knew [approved of] you,' Matt. vii, 23.

Now to understand the meaning of this text, we should observe that the apostle is speaking in this chapter of the whole creation, or Gentile world, together with the Jews; see verse 22, and chap. ix, 25. These Gentiles were such as the Jews thought God never designed to save, or embrace in the covenant of redemption; see Acts xi, 2-18. But the apostle, after showing, as we read in chap. ii, 14, 23, 24, and iii, 9, 10, 23, that all had sinned, both Jews and Gentiles, comes to the conclusion which we find in chap. iii, 29, and viii, 19, 22,