1846.] Relation of his System to Christianity. 299 2. The high estimation in which the sage and his doctrines are held by the Chinese, makes them slow to admit the superiority even of Jesus Christ and the doctrines of inspiration. It will be hard for the proud Chinese to give up the notion, that Confucius, the glory of their nation, the long revered and deified, must be superior to any one of whom foreigners can tell them; and much the more hard because, in consequence of their own evident and great superiority to all the nations in their part of the world, they have for ages been accustomed to look with contempt on all foreigners. On the other hand, Christian teachers may probably derive several advantages from the influence of Confucius. 1. It is probably owing to his influence, that education is so general and reading so common among the Chinese. Schools are numerous and their importance is appreciated. They are glad to have them noticed, and think it a work of benevolence to establish and support them. I have frequently visited schools established and taught by pagan Chinese, for the purpose of giving the scholars Christian instruction; and have always been well received, and permitted to address and question them as long as I pleased. Christian missionaries will be able to establish schools among the Chinese to great advantage; and probably may often bring those already in operation under their influence, at a small expense, and find them good places for preaching the gospel, both to the pupils and their parents. 2. He inculcated universal philanthropy. "All within the four seas," said he, "are brothers;" and brothers, he insists, should live in harmony and kindness towards each other. This favors the residence of missionaries among the Chinese; and their conduct in seeking the welfare of their "brothers" in China, may be shown to be in accordance with the teachings of the sage. 3. He confined his instructions to things pertaining to the present life, and left unsupplied the wants of the soul. The Chinese have, consequently, adopted parts of the religious systems of other nations with which they have become acquainted; but their attachment to them does not appear to be very strong. They feel, though not very deeply, the need of some religion; and as they have none, either in the books of Confucius, or the systems of superstition, which have come in from other countries, that is pure or reasonable enough to satisfy them, we may expect that they will be, at least, less indisposed to consider the claims of Christianity, than they otherwise would have been. 4. He confessed his ignorance on religious subjects, and told his disciples that a great teacher would arise in the west. A know. ledge of this prediction, which we may suppose he was led to make by some acquaintance with the early prophecies respecting the Messiah, induced Ming-te, who reigned about sixty years after the date of our era, to send messengers westward in search of this great teacher. They went as far as the northern part of Hindostan, where they heard of Buddh and his doctrines; and thinking that he must be the teacher for whom they were sent, they returned to China with books and teachers of his religion. The doctrines thus introduced were propagated chiefly by means of books and schools, and Buddhism is now the religion of a large proportion of the Chinese. We may hope that the prediction of the sage, whom they so highly revere, may be used to advantage by the Christian missionary. Many of them see the absurdities of Buddhism, and they regard its priests with contempt. They may, therefore, be more ready to believe that it was a better teacher than Buddh, that Confucius referred to, and that the messengers of Ming-te did not go far enough westward. 5. His doctrine that the father of a family is to be obeyed, served and loved, and that his father is to be still more highly honored, and so on, may be used to show that God, the Father of all fathers, should be supremely honored and loved. According to the doctrine of their own great teacher, they ought to love God with all their soul, mind and strength. Probably no other heathen nation has been equally under the guidance of a teacher, whose influence, on the whole, could be regarded as so favorable to the introduction of Christianity, as that of Confucius will naturally be. It was the remark of a zealous adherent of Luther, Professor Mayer of Greifswalde, that for the Reformation of the Church, three Luthers would be worth more than three hundred Melanchthons. This observation of the eager partizan contains some truth and some error. That Luther merits the first place as a reformer, there can be no doubt. That he could perform the work assigned him far better without Melanchthon, than Melanchthon could undertake it without Luther, is alike unquestionable. To expect to demolish the errors and abuses of the Romish hierarchy with a cautious and lenient hand, would be a mere delusion, An earlier period had shown, that even men of an intrepid character, with their writings filled with admonitory voices, could pass by and leave few traces behind. A man of dauntless courage, who could wield the club of Hercules, was needed, one who would stand firmer and more erect, in proportion to the number and fierceness of the assaults which should be made upon him. Such an heroic spirit was Luther, and distant ages will not forget that it was he who broke the fetters of superstition, and led Christendom once more into the light of civil and religious freedom. But it must not be forgotten, that Luther was one of those excitable spirits, who are inclined, in the violence of passion, to break over all restraint. It was a wise arrangement of Divine Providence that Melanchthon should appear, a spirit of gentler mould, who could, with a wise hand and at the right moment, calm and direct the vehement feelings of his great leader. Luther's excessive zeal was tempered by Melanchthon's mildness, while Melanchthon's yielding nature was quickened and invigo rated by the courageous bearing of his friend. Luther alone, or two leaders like Luther, might have rushed into perilous extremes, and occasioned the ruin of the edifice which they were at so much pains to erect. A striking example of Melanchthon's VOL. III. No. 10. 27 happy influence over Luther is mentioned by the former. "Luther, on one occasion, seemed to be angry beyond measure. A deep silence reigned around among all. At length I addressed him with the line, 'Vince animos iramque tuam, qui caetera vincis.' Luther, laughing, replied: We will dispute no further about it.'" Another ground of the necessity of Melanchthon's influence in the Reformation, consists in his extraordinary ability to present related truths in their due order and logical method. Luther, in his unceasing contests, had little leisure to investigate fundamentally and develop fully the truths which he announced in his writings; or had opportunity been allowed him for this purpose, his soul was too impetuous to permit him to construct a coherent doctrinal system. He gives a correct view of the case in the following remarkable words: "I am born to be forever fighting with opponents and with the devil himself, which gives a controversial and warlike cast to all my works. I clear the ground of stumps and trees, root up thorns and briars, fill up ditches, raise causeways and smooth the roads through the woods; but to Philip Melanchthon it belongs, by the grace of God, to perform a milder and more grateful labor, to build, to plant, to sow, to water, to please by elegance and taste." Though the destruction of enormous abuses and errors was indispensably necessary, and though Luther was remarkably fitted for this work, yet it was not less important, that, in the bosom of the new community, a man should arise, who could arrange the detached parts of the teachings of the gospel into one whole, and by the symmetry and beauty of the edifice, win those minds to the truth that clearly saw the pernicious nature of error, or who still doubted whether in the midst of so many disjointed fragments, a new and well-arranged system could be formed. Hence Melanchthon made it a principal business of his life, to unfold divine truth methodically, so that every one might be convinced, after a calm examination, of the truth of God's word. In a visitation of the churches, in 1527, he first learned the pressing necessities of the people in respect to religious doctrine. Thenceforward, he zealously labored to set forth divine truth with greater precision and simplicity, so as to prevent the bad effects which might flow from very com mon misapprehensions of the doctrines of Luther. Again, Melanchthon's labors and influence were of inestimable service to the Reformation, in consequence of his intellectual gifts 1846.] His Influence in the Reformation. 303 and accomplished education. With the exception of Erasmus, he was the best Greek scholar of the age. As a teacher, he was quiet and perfectly unassuming in manner; but possessed of that contagious enthusiasm, which gave him, through the thousands of young men who thronged his lectures from every part of Europe, a position of the most commanding power and influence. The Protestant doctrines were thus associated with the revival of literature. Luther was, by no means, unskilled in the treasures of ancient learning. A high position for that period would be assigned him by all unprejudiced judges, yet Melanchthon was in this respect decidedly his superior, his advice in difficult cases being eagerly sought and highly valued. Luther's translation of the Bible into German, the great work of the Reformation, was largely indebted to Melanchthon's exact philological knowledge. He revised and amended every part of it, besides translating the three books of Maccabees in a diction remarkable for its simplicity and purity. In the later editions of this Bible, his careful hand is everywhere manifest. In 1540, Luther wrote to him from Worms, "that we have ventured to put to press without your aid, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticles, Isaiah and Jeremiah." Melanchthon's knowledge of ancient philosophy was of no little use in the controversies of the Reformation. By this knowledge, he had an adroitness and tact in discussion which very few could equal. He was thus, on several occasions, enabled to unravel the most intricate sophistries of the Romish dialectics. We may refer to the discussions at Augsburg in 1530, at Worms in 1540 and 1557, and at Regensburg in 1541. To this ability in Melanchthon, no one was more ready to give decided testimony than Luther. We may add that the exalted piety of Melanchthon, accompanied with all the gentler graces of humanity, was of incalculable value to the Reformation. If the boldness and unquenchable zeal of Paul reäppeared in Luther, the attractive piety and loving spirit of John were no less apparent in Melanchthon. He was the beloved disciple that would have been invited to lean on the Saviour's breast. Amid the fierce strifes of the sixteenth century, how refreshing it is to find one who tried to copy the peaceful and forgiving temper of his Master, and who breathed on earth the spirit of Heaven. The individual, whom the universities were most anxious to secure, whom Reuchlin and Erasmus loved and honored, whose choicest earthly treasures were the old poets and orators, was most remarkable for his unaffected |