could have been persuuded to relinquish was the Secretaryship in the Academy of Sciences; and this only to gain time for the preparation of works for the press, and to put the last hand to several things in church history and an exegesis on the Acts of the Apostles, which are left among his papers, and, together with many other treatises, are now to be published by the Rev. Mr. Fonas.".

It appears that on the 6th of Feb., he delivered two lectures, and attended a catechising of the youth; and in the afternoon of the same day, he attended to his duties as Secretary in the Royal Academy at Berlin. He then attended a library meeting, being all the time very hoarse and inclining to chills. From that time his disease assumed an inflammatory aspect, the progress of which could not be stayed, and which in one week's time ended in his death. The news of his dangerous sickness occasioned great agitation and excited much interest in Berlin; and his house was so thronged with anxious inquirers, that its inmates were obliged to expose a kind of Bulletin of his state, at the door, in order that the house might be freed from noise and commotion.

"On the 11th of Feb.," continues Mr. Stobwasser, "towards evening, he requested his wife to read for him one of the hymns of his dear Baptiste von Albertini. Which of the hymus it was I am not informed. As I went daily to his house after the 9th instant, I was every time requested to put up a fervent prayer that the Lord would grant to him a truly blessed death; or if his life was preserved, that he would make him a very fervent preacher of the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross, and his meritorious sufferings for us and in our stead, as he had hitherto been a preacher of his glory.

"On the 12th I learned that he had assembled his family around him to bid them adieu. As his wife and family wished to be alone with him, acquaintances were not admitted into his bed-chamber. On receiving this information I took my departure. It was his last hour. I could not but pray for him with tears, that the Saviour might grant to him a very clear and blessed view of his vicarious sufferings."

Then follows an account of his death by Mr. Stobwasser; which I omit for the sake of inserting a better one from the hand of Dr. S.'s beloved wife. I copy nearly the whole paragraph from the Boston Recorder, because the preface to the account of Mrs. S., is a matter of interest to the reader.

"The death of this distinguished man in February last, after an inflammatory illness of a few days, is very generally known in this country; and the public have also in general terms been informed of

the triumph of his Christian faith, and of his administration of the Lord's supper upon his dying bed. By the kindness of a friend recently from Germany, we are enabled to lay before our readers the following deeply interesting details of the closing scene, in an extract from a letter of his wife to a female friend. This extract has been widely circulated in Germany in manuscript, but has never, so far as we know, been printed. We read it first with deep emotion; for the whole transaction, and the narration, are worthy of the man, for they are the perfect image of his own simplicity. We give the account to the Christian public as doing honor both to the illustrious dead and to the living writer; and also as the dying testimony of another great and good man to the simplicity and power of the truth as it is in Jesus.'

"Once he called me to his bedside and said: 'My dear, I seem to be really in a state which hovers between consciousness and unconsciousness;' (he had taken laudanum, and slumbered a good deal); 'but in my soul I experience the most delightful moments. I must ever be in deep speculations, but they are united with the deepest religious feelings.'

"Once he raised his hand and said with solemnity: 'Here kindle a flame upon the altar!' Another time: 'I leave to my children the charge of the apostle John, Love ye one another!' Again: 'My dear, you will have many painful duties! friends will aid you. I could so gladly have still remained with you and the children! As I uttered some hope, he replied: 'Do not deceive yourself;' and then with the greatest solemnity: My love, there is still much that will be hard to bear.'

"On the last morning, Wednesday, Feb. 12th, his sufferings evidently became greater. He complained of a burning inward heat, and the first and last tone of impatience broke from his lips: Ah, Lord, I suffer much!'-The features of death came fully on, the eye was glazed, the death-struggle was over! At this moment, he laid the two fore-fingers upon his left eye, as he often did when in deep thought, and began to speak: 'We have the atoning death of Jesus Christ, his body, and his blood.' During this he had raised himself up, his features began to be re-animated, his voice became clear and strong; be inquired with priestly solemnity: 'Are ye one with me in this faith?' to which we, Lommatzsch* and F.† who were present, and myself, answered with a loud yea. Then let us receive the Lord's supper! but the sexton is not to be thought of; quick, quick! let no one stumble at the form; I have never held to the dead letter!"

"As soon as the necessary things were brought in by my son-inlaw, during which time we had waited with him in solemn stillness, * Schleiermacher's son-in-law, Professor in Berlin.

A female friend.

he began, with features more and more animated, and with an eye to which a strange and indescribable lustre, yea, a higher glow of love with which he looked upon us, had returned,-to pronounce some words of prayer introductory to the solemn rite. Then he gave the bread first to me, then to F., then to Lommatzsch, and lastly to himself, pronouncing aloud to each, the words of institution,*—so loud indeed, that the children and Muhlenfels,† who kneeled listening at the door of the next room, heard them plainly. So also with the wine, to us three first, and then to himself, with the full words of institution to each. Then, with his eyes directed to Lommatzsch, he said: Upon these words of Scripture I stand fast, as I have always taught; they are the foundation of my faith.' After he had pronounced the blessing, he turned his eye once more full of love on me, and then on each of the others, with the words: 'In this love and communion, we are and remain ONE.'

"He laid himself back upon his pillow; the animation still rested on his features. After a few minutes he said: "Now I can hold out here no longer,' and then, Lay me in a different posture.' We laid him on his side,-he breathed a few times,—and life stood still!

"Meanwhile the children had all come in, and kneeled around the bed; his eyes closed gradually. I had several times thought during these moments of deep interest, Had I but the children here!—Still the sublimity of the scene was so great, that I could only wait in solemn stillness, bound motionless to my place as by a spell; yea, even as entranced and incapable of any voluntary exertion.

"How widely does recollection already fall short of the reality of those moments of thrilling agitation!"

'We learn that the manuscripts of his lectures, and of some other works, on a variety of subjects in his systematic and exegetical theology, and also on dialectics, are left in complete order, so that his posthumous works are expected to appear in eight volumes. The celebrated translation of Plato remains, alas! incomplete.'

Thousands flocked to the house to see his corpse; which, as usual in Germany, was placed between flowers. His death took place on the 12th of February, and his funeral was attended on the 15th. Almost the whole city of Berlin, with its immense population, was in motion on this occasion, and thousands joined the funeral procession. Dr. Strauss, the cathedral preacher and rector of the University, delivered an address on the occasion; and about fifty clergymen were present, among whom were two Roman Catholics. A summary of Dr. Strauss'

sermon is thus given by Stobwasser.

* Our Saviour's words, Matt. 26: 26, etc. 1 Cor. 11: 23–29. + Late Professsor in the London University.

"The preacher touched upon Schleiermacher's youth and remarked, that the whole tendency in the religious character of the deceased was to be ascribed to the fact, that his first theological education was received in the Brethren's church; in that little circle whose light is silently and beneficially diffused through the church of Jesus Christ.' He then adverted to his life and actions, his letters on religion, which arose in their time to shed their beams upon a very dark night. He it was, said the speaker, that first again confessed the name of Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God. His hearers were chiefly of the cultivated class, and he expounded the gospel to them in a scientific method, suited to their intellectual character. Thousands were awakened by him and brought to a knowledge of themselves. He was blamed for not going farther, because many of those, who were originally the fruits of his ministry, turned away from him to other preachers of the gospel; but he seemed to know that the part which the Lord had assigned to him, was to proclaim the gospel to the educated portion of the community. To lead inquirers further, he thought, must be left to the Spirit of God, by the reading of the holy Scriptures and the hearing of the gospel. Finally, the preacher related how the deceased had finished the circuit of his life with the profession, that the blood of Jesus Christ was the ground of his faith and his salvation."

Fifty students of the University were employed as marshalls to preserve the requisite order at his funeral. The catechumens of Dr. S. obtained liberty to walk next to his corpse, as orphans bereaved of their spiritual father. These were followed by his relatives; then the clergy; then other friends; and finally by 130 coaches in mourning, among which were several State coaches of the royal princes.

At the grave, Pischon delivered a brilliant eulogy upon the deceased, as a professor, teacher of religion, and preacher.

The whole account shews both the state of Dr. S's mind in his later and latest hours, and the state of public feeling towards him, which was so universally expressed. Can it be, that a man who lived thus and died thus, was not a disciple of Jesus? The answer to this question we must leave to the great day that will reveal the secrets of all hearts. Whatever Dr. S's speculative errors were, (and I cannot help believing that he did cherish some that in themselves would be dangerous to most minds), yet can we feel that a man who died thus was no believer in the Saviour of sinners? I feel constrained to say, that I mourn his loss to the world as an efficient and powerful writer; but I cannot mourn as one without hope for him. May his er

rors, whatever they were, be fully developed and shunned; and may all the truths which he has helped to illustrate and confirm, be universally admitted and felt!

COMPARISON, ETC. BY DR. SCHLEIERMACHER.*

1. Introduction.

To the following pages I might have given a more indefinite title, inasmuch as they are not designed fully to treat of the subject announced, but only to compare the relations of certain particulars to each other, that stand connected with what is said in my Doctrines of the Creed, or Doctrines worthy of Belief, (Glaubenslehre, § 190), and near the close of it, respecting the subject of the Trinity. If what is unsatisfactory and obscure in our creeds, with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity, was occasioned by going too far in opposition to Sabellianism, the points of difference and opposition between the two systems must be distinctly understood and duly appreciated, before our Symbols can be safely corrected. It matters not in what way the opposition to Sabellianism originated; whether it came from apprehending that something in it was false and dangerous which was not so; or whether, for the expression of what was in itself really contradictory, phrases were laid hold of which signified more than was intended; still the nature of the whole thing must be rightly understood, before any mistakes can be properly corrected that may have been committed.

My present design is to exhibit only such points as may serve to communicate, if possible, some new impetus to the spirit of investigation. That it is desirable to animate with new life the spirit of historical investigation and of doctrinal reasoning, the entire literature of this department of religious knowledge bears ample testimony.

The Arian creed, in its various ramifications, forms another and different antithesis to the Trinitarian doctrine of our commonly received Symbols. But the mutual relations of these two latter systems have, with great diligence and in a great va

seq.

* Published in the Theologische Zeitschrift, 1822, dritt. Heft, p. 295