Wisdom with the sun glance, Never to Conqueror, or Prince Who up the steep star-path To the seats of Godhead? Who rent the Holy Place, Through the chinks of the grave? Happy through Love Men are like Gods. More heavenly-the Earth Like unto Heaven. T. C. P. ART. XXXIV.-THE SECT SYSTEM. History of all the Religious Denominations in the United States: containing authentic accounts of the rise, progress, faith and practice, localities and statistics, of the different persuasimms: written expressly for the work, by fifty-three eminent authors belonging to the respective denominations. ond Improved and Portrait Edition. Harrisburg, Pa: Published by John Winebrenner, V. D. M. 1848. 8vo. pp. 598. THE idea of this work is ingenious. Our ordinary Histories of Religions, it is well known, besides being in general seriously defective in other respects, have never been able to satisfy completely the different sects of which they give an account. However impartial the compiler may have supposed himself to be, he had his own standpoint, as the Germans say, which affected more or less all his observations, his own theological spectacles that gave both shape and color somewhat to every object which came within the range of his vision. How could a rigid Calvinist do justice to a body of Arminians, or be content to sit for his own picture under the hands of a limner belonging to any such blear-eyed tribe? How could an Episcopalian be expected to speak of Presbyterianism with becoming reverence and respect; or how could a Presbyterian be trusted to set forth, without distorting prejudice or passion, the claims and doings of Episcopacy? Even Buck's Theological Dictionary, with all its popularity, was found to be greatly defective in this view; while the rapid march of sectarianism, besides, especially on this side of the Atlantic, called loudly for additions and improvements, which it became always more difficult and delicate to make with due satisfaction to the parties concerned. In these circumstances, it occurred to our worthy and respected friend, I. D. Rupp, Esq., of Lancaster, Penna., to project and publish an entirely new work in this line, in which every denomination, instead of taking its picture from abroad, should be permitted to paint itself according to its own pleasure and liking; the whole to be constructed, as the almanac-makers say, for the horizon of the United States, as distinguished from that of all the world besides. "A work thus prepared," it was supposed, “must be entirely free from the faults of misrepresentation, so generally brought against books of this character." The thought was certainly felicitous, so far as that particular desideratum went; it met approbation and favor on all sides; the requisite number of pens, each pledged to do honor to its own sect, were soon set in motion; and in the course of two years, April, 1844, the He Pasa Ecclesia, as it was called, or Church Universal, inade its appearance, with all befitting order and solemnity, in the literary world. Its success was such as to do full credit to the originality and ingenuity of its plan. Each sect was content to let all others glorify themselves, while it was allowed the privilege of glorifying itself before the public in the same way. None found occasion to quarrel with a mirror, which so faithfully gave them back their own image according to their own mind. The book became thus the joint product and property of the sects represented in it, and gained, at the same time, a clear passport to circulate among them indiscriminately as it best could. This circulation proved to be both large and profitable, which is a great object, we all know, in every enterprise of this sort. A very considerable part of the first heavy edition, as we are informed, made its way to England. As a business interest, at all events, the importance of the work is fully established. We have it, accordingly, stereotyped now, and done up in holiday style, as a second improved edition, under the auspices of Mr. Winebrenner, V. D. M., (by interpretation, Minister of the Word of God); who himself figures conspicuously in the book, both as the founder and historiographer of one of its sects, (one among the "fifty-three eminent authors" mentioned on its title-page,) with the honor of a portrait to sigalize such double distinction. How the work got into his hands, and out of the hands of its original projector and proprietor, we are unable to say. We know only that Mr. Rupp has felt himself in some way wronged in the case, and that he proposed, not long since, to re-occupy the field with another publication, on the same general plan, but of more complete and thorough execution. The list of sects, which stood as before given, between forty and fifty, was to be considerably enlarged; to do full justice to the fruitful history of our country, the new work was to contain "authentic accounts of upwards of seventy religious denominations," that have belonged to it thus far. This design, we presume, has fallen to the grouud; the other enterprise being too fully master of the field, to allow under any similar form, a safe and successful competition. So this "History of Denominations," as it now stands, with Mr. Rupp's name extinguished and Mr. Winebrenner's made to flourish in its stead, would seem to be fairly seated upon the saddle as a sort of popular text book and standard for reference, in the department it pretends to fill. It is in the way of being most extensively disseminated. Agents are called for in every part of the United States, to promote its sale. Printed on good paper, "embellished with 24 splendid portraits," handsomely bound "with gilt backs and embossed sides," it is retailed at the rate of $250 per copy, allowing, no doubt, a fair profit all round to those who take the trouble of placing it thus widely in the hands of the public. We are willing to acknowledge, that we made very small account of this book when it first came in our way. It was not to be imagined, of course, that a work got up in such omnibus style could be trusted at all, as a faithful and competent survey of the general field it proposed to represent. However unsatisfactory a history of sects might be, from the standpoint of any one of them affecting to be the centre, the case was not likely to be materially improved by allowing every sect to play in turn the same central part in its own favor. Such a course might, indeed, promote the popularity of the work, by enabling it to tickle the vanity of all parties; but it could not insure at all its truthfulness as to any part, nor its scientific worth as a whole. The idea of a history requires it to be as much as possible objective, and independent of all personal references and interests; whereas, in this case, full rein was given to the principle of subjectivity, to shape and fashion everything, at each turn of the kaleidoscope, according to its own accidental pleasure. The original editor, accordingly, seems not to have expected a true and complete history of sects in this way, but only a more successful approximation to something of the sort than had been reached on the old plan. It is admitted that each writer "may have been influenced by a bias, natural to many, to present the beauties of his own faith in glowing colors;" but for all this due allowance must be made by the intelligent; and out of the data, here outwardly brought together, the unprejudiced reader, it is hoped, may have it in his power to draw his own conclusions, as to the whole, in some safe and sufficient way. This has some force. It goes, however, to confirm what we have just said of the worthlessness of any such literary salmagundi, viewed as a veritable History of Religious Denominations; and it was in this view that we were disposed to look upon it in the beginning, as now said, with rather more contempt than heartfelt respect. We had no ambition to have it in our library; and, to speak the plain truth, when called upon by a strenuous agent, not long since, who insisted on making us buy a copy of this second improved edition, with pictures, gilt backs and embossed sides, we took it finally, more to get rid of the application, the book is reasonably cheap,) than for the sake of any comfort or satisfaction we expected to find in its ownership. But we were wrong. That first judgment was quite too hasty and sweeping; and we have been brought to entertain since, a much more favorable feeling towards the work thus forced into our hands. Allowing it to be as valueless as now represented, for the purposes of a scientific text-book, or dictionary, of the widely extended sphere it proposes to fill, are there not other sides and aspects under which it may still deserve to challenge our careful regard; and this too, in the most close connection, indirectly, at least, with the highest interests of religion and science? We had no right to take it for a veritable and proper History of Sects, in the true sense of any such title; and then to hold it responsible for flaws and defects, offences and shortcomings, that might be found to attach to it under this high view. In the nature of the case, it could be no such history. How could the fifty three eminent authors belonging to the respective denominations," described in it, (Mr. Winebrenner himself, Shem Zook, Joe Smith, and others) be expected all to conspire in any such idea and scheme, as would be necessary to impart to it the philosophical unity, rotundity and wholeness, which a complete work of this sort must be felt to require? But aside from any such high character as this, there are other very important uses plainly enough to be derived from a work so constructed, which should be taken, in truth, as its proper end and meaning, and on the ground of which it has a full right to circulate at large in the republic of letters. These uses have come to seem so considerable in our eyes, the claims of the book to our respect, on this ground, have so diverted our attention from the wrong relations in which we were disposed to look at in the beginning, that we may be in danger now, possibly, of being carried too far, by natural reaction, in our estimate of its merits. Our prejudice is fairly converted into a sort of fond partiality. We positively like the book, and would not consent to part with it easily. Though no |