1826.] 
tance, So, universally felt by. all the admirers 
of the Milners; he. is. thoroughly, imbued 
with their spirit, and proyes himself an able 
exhibitor, inculcator, and seconder, of, their 
sentiments .and_,,particular. views.,,,. The 
point, which Mr, Scott,most zealously la- 
bours, to, establish is, the fact, that the doc- 
trines, of the Evangelical. clergy. of the pre- 
sent day are, precisely those, of Luther (and 
he is confident of establishing the same con- 
gruity with all the reformers); so far as con- 
cerns the matter of justification by faith—a 
point, which he,does establish. beyond the 
possibility. of any, further. candid. dispute. 
The protestant materials, on which he re- 
lies, are Seckendorf’s. History and Defence 
of Lutheranism,,written in reply to the 
Jesuit Maimbourg’s. popular, but, as Mr. 
Seott brands it, ‘ fallacious” History of 
Lutheranism ;—Sleidan’s Commentaries on 
the State of Religion and Government un- 
der Charles V.—a, contemporary work—a 
history; in short, of bis own times, from 
1517. to 1556;—Abraham Scultetus’ An- 
nals of the Gospel, -from 1516 to 1536. 
His catholic authorities are, Father Paul’s 
History of the Council of Trent; and Du 
Pin’s. Ecclesiastical, History:—and, for 
civil history, he takes Robertson, and in- 
deed extracts from him at great length, 
though evidently inclined to look with a 
jealous eye on the cool, and perhaps neutral 
spirit, with, which that, historian surveyed 
the reformation. 
Luther’s., character and, conduct are of 
course the most,conspicuous and leading 
objects of.the,volume. | His faults and his 
virtues ate,,upon ithe whole, pretty impar- 
tially estimated. the violence. of his tem- 
perament.is.to.be sure, unduly softened, 
and no hint is, -giyen-of. the. delusions under 
which he unquestionably laboured—his own 
writings, furnish..the, evidence—and which 
mingled, madness, though there was method 
in it, with his, piety and, his ardour. . The 
real honesty of bis character is well stated 
in the following passage. 
But some of the leading excellencies, which dis- 
_ tinguished the great father of the reformation, and 
which especially endear him to the truly Christian 
mind, are wholly passed over in the reyiew which 
has hitherto been made of his character. We will 
not affirm quite so much as this of the sterling and 
uncompromising honesty, which is one of the fea- 
tures that most stands out from the canvass in his 
genuine portrait; yet cven this has not been pre- 
sented with the prominence that belongs to it. Can 
any one read oyer the history of Luther, which is 
now.before him, the detail of his actual sayings and 
doings, without feeling that, if ever honesty and in- 
tegrity were embodied, it was in his person? He 
avowed nothing but what he conscientiously ber 
lieved; he kept back nothing which conscience dic- 
tated to be avowed. Can any man of common fair- 
ness doubt this? For myself I must confess, that I 
never read of the man, in whom I felt compelled to 
Place a more unreserved reliance, both for the truth 
of all his declarations and the uprightness of all his 
intentions. 
We concur with the spirit of this remark ; 
but we should have expressed it differently 
Domestic and Foreign. . 
543 
—not thus peremptorily—not in the indica- 
tive mood; as our belief and our. inclina- 
tion,—not so affirmatively—we_ cannot an- 
swer for men’s motives, nor whether their 
words express their feelings. 
But Mr. Scott inclines frequently to the 
peremptory. When speaking of what he 
conceiyes to be the real nature of our obli- 
gations to the ‘‘ blessed and venerable re- 
formers of the sixteenth century,’’ he says,. 
in a passage, which is at least worth atten- 
tion : 
The reader will not be surprised at my expressing 
an utter disapprobation of all such sentiments as the 
following,—*‘ that the reformers are to be honoured 
chiefly for the grand principles of Christian liberty, 
which they so strenuously asserted and maintained— 
the detail of doctrine and practice will always occa- 
sion difference of opinion: that they were too tena- 
cious of their particular creed—but that this period 
was only the dawn of religious discovery,” &c.—I 
confess that, in my opinion, all this is catering most 
offensively to the corrupt taste of a lukewarm and 
latitudinarian age. I trust that I honour the refor- 
mers, as much as any man can do, for ‘* strenuously 
asserting and maintaining in the face of the most 
powerful opponents”—so far as they really did assert 
and maintain them—‘‘ the grand principles of Chris- 
tian liberty :” but I conceive that they did this, to 
say the least, not at all more perfectly than they as- 
serted and maintained, and brought forward into 
open day the grand principles of Christian TRuTH: 
that, as far as they succeeded, they were the ‘* re- 
storers of light”*—the pure light of the gospel—not 
at all less than of ** liberty” to the Christian church, 
which had for ages been sitting in darkness’ and the 
shadow of death.—* The detail of doctrine and 
practice will,” no doubt, ‘‘ always,” while the'state 
of mankind continues what it is, ‘* occasion differ 
ence of opinion ;” but we are not on this ground to 
be left to conclude that truth, even on the most es- 
sential points, cannot be ascertained. There has 
been unspeakably less difference of opinion in such 
matters among really good men in all ages than is 
commonly supposed. No doubt, also, the reformers 
might be ‘* too tenacious of their particular creed, 
and,” in some cases, ‘* inconsistent with themselves ;” 
but let us not, under the cover of positions, which 
none can deny, as applied to minor parts of the re- 
formers’ system, be led to conclusions which none 
should admit, concerning the great outlines of their 
doctrine.—And with extreme caution is the sus- 
Picious statement to be received, of ‘* this period 
being only the dawn of religious discovery.” Letno 
inexperienced reader ever suppose, that religious 
truth can be the subject of ‘* discovery,” in any such 
sense as latent principles, or hitherto unobserved 
phenomena in chemistry, or in geography, may be ; 
or that one age can improve upon the theological 
science of another preceding it, any otherwise than 
by returning to the more simple, and more unre- 
served reception of the unerring disclosures, which 
were completed to the Christian church in its very 
infancy, in the only source of all religious know- 
ledge—the oracles of God. 
North American Review. No. 52; July 
1826.—The North American Reviews are 
always welcome to us; they generally 
bring something with the air and the reality 
of novelty—something that has not been 
worn to ribands by dint of incessant 
* Robertson. 
