freedom from rule too far; "his specific difference" is sometimes too apparent; but his license is no excuse for our thraldom; and we may perhaps learn from him, as well as others like him, how goodly it is for one who has the preacher's high office, to manifest a kindred feeling with his race; to show that he is a husband, and father, and brother, notwithstanding his dignity, and that a warm heart beats under the sacred gown.1

Still further, is there not too great fondness, in many of our preachers, for the abstract forms of statement? Is not the pronoun "it" introduced, when you or he would be more tangible, and expressive. While we estimate above all price our doctrinal instructions, may they not be communicated to the popular mind with more clearness, and even with more fulness, if we will clothe them in

1 The following is the substance of an extract, from Tholuck's Preface to the New Edition of his Sermons, pp. ix. x.

draw the boundary-line strictly Hence his sermon appears to the mummy ;-it is like dried sweetword Russia in the pulpit," was

For the successful discharge of his office among the higher classes, it is desirable that the minister have the greatest possible cultivation of mind and the most extensive views. "At a time when Shakspeare is a more decisive authority for many than Paul, and a distich of Goethe is a stronger proof-text than the whole Epistle to the Romans and Galatians, a minister, who would produce an effect upon his congregation, must not be unacquainted with their standard-authors. If in any situation the remark of the apostle may be repeated, "All things are yours," it may be repeated here also. An English preacher was found, of a Saturday, reading Gibbon, and in reply to a question he said, "If I am Christ's, then is Gibbon mine, and the wheat-field which also brings forth fruit for Christ." In this respect the preacher of our times will receive injury from the old rules which have been prescribed, and which seem unable to enough between the life and the pulpit. learned like pedantry; like an Egyptian meats in a glass jar. "He even used the the recent complaint of a nice critic. In opposition to such prudish purifiers of the language, one might prescribe with Harms, "let the preacher speak negligently and incorrectly."-If we would bring our educated men near to the pulpit, we must frequently direct their minds to that province in which their own life is passed. Paul who quotes Aratus in Athens, and Epimenides before the Cretans, will afford us a screen, if the pulpit censors complain of us and condemn us. There is another advantage to be gained by this style. It increases confidence in the person of the preacher. He no longer seems to be (merely) a man of consecrated caste, who speaks from the school; all see that he himself has gone through with the afflictions of a hard, long life. We no longer feel as if the mere preacher were addressing us, but also the man."

words, which if less classical and refined, are yet more congenial with popular usage. It is a favorite strain of remark with Tholuck, that the sermon should "spring from the congregation, not from without the congregation;" that it should be "the product of his mother-wit," rather than of his dialectics; that "truth will often abide in the highest garret of the hearer's mind, without entering into the dwelling-room of the affections;" that "there is a way from the heart to the head, as well as a way from the head to the heart;" and that, though in the physical kingdom the light goes faster than the sound, yet in the spiritual, the feeling is often excited, before any direct appeal is made to the intellect.1 "William Humboldt,” he says in his characteristic way,2" styled eloquence the attaching of a composition to the life of the people. How much fresher would our discourses be, if we knew how to knit them properly with that which is before the eyes of all, and in the thoughts of all. Who has not already remarked, how often the eyes of the congregation, which had been moving to and fro, from right to left, would begin to direct themselves in a straight line to the pulpit, and how still all would become, as soon as the discourse passed from generals to particulars; to such matters of fact as were commonly known? The preacher then should illustrate his theme in such a style as the sound, unvitiated community employ; that is, the concrete.-When, for example, Luther wishes to show what the words in Matt. 5: 21 seq. mean, and to prove that even the feeling, which may lead to the death-blow, is ground of condemnation, what compressed power is in his style! What accommodation to the people, in contemplating so high a sentiment! "Thinkest thou," he asks, "that Christ speaks only of the fist, when he says thou shalt not kill? What is the meaning of thou? Not barely thy hand or thy foot, thy tongue or any other single member of thy body; but all that thou art, in body and in soul. Just so, if I say to any one, thou shalt not do this, I mean, not with the fist, but with the whole person."

We do not wish to deny that Tholuck's brightness often becomes a glare; yet even this may suggest that our occasional darkness should become light. But whatever may be said of the rhetorical character of these discourses, we hope that the pious feeling which is breathed in them, may impart warmth to the reader's heart; and also that the exhibitions of sacred truth, which are given in various 2 See Ib. p. 48, 49.

1 See Pref. to New Ed. of Serm. pp. 50, 51.

parts of this volume, may exert their appropriate influence upon his moral sensibilities. He will find here but little exhortation to piety; and piety is a feeling which does not come by barely soliciting it. It comes, if it come at all, by a meditation on its appropriate objects. Men love, not merely because they are entreated to do so, but by beholding an object of love. And it has been a prominent aim of the translators, to present such themes for religious thought, as shall elicit the feelings of devotion, and give nourishment to the meditative spirit.

The translators may be permitted to say, that they have had in mind, in their selections, not so much the learned scholar, as the great mass of the intelligent and educated community. They could have easily selected articles of a higher character, in respect to learning and profoundness of investigation, than some of those which have been chosen. They wished, however, to benefit a larger class than would be attracted by mere erudition or by abstruse researches. This general design has led the translators to annex some illustrative notes, which would not be needed by the advanced scholar.1 For the same reason, references to books, quotations from foreign languages, and parenthetical clauses have been frequently transferred from the text to the bottom of the page. These quotations have generally, also, been translated.

"There are two

A word in respect to the execution of the work. methods in which a translator may proceed. One is, to give simply the sense of the original in the translator's own language and style; in this way the reader obtains the thoughts of the original author, but gains no acquaintance with his style and manner as a writer. The other mode is to translate the language of the original, as well as express the thoughts; so that the writer himself, in his peculiar modes of thought and expression, may be placed before the reader. In lighter works, the former method may be sufficient; in more important ones the latter is alone admissible. Indeed, so much often depends on the shaping of the thought and the coloring of the expres sion, that justice cannot be done to a writer in any other way.'

112

1 For instance, the testimonies concerning our Lord by Josephus, Tacitus, etc. on pp. 459–461.

* Bib. Repos. IV. 241. There is still another mode in which translations have been attempted, i. e. the merely verbal. It is a translation of words, and of nothing else. Of this class, Dobson's Translation of Schleiermacher's

"There are two maxims of translation," says a great German critic; "the one requires that the author belonging to a foreign nation be brought to us in such a manner that we may regard him as our own; the other, on the contrary, demands of us that we transport ourselves over to him, and adopt his situation, his mode of speaking, his peculiarities. The advantages of both are sufficiently known to all instructed persons, from masterly examples."

The translators of the present volume have attempted a medium between these two modes. The nature of the undertaking, in their opinion, demanded such a course. They have endeavored, on the one hand, to make a readable book. It is intended mainly for those who are not familiar with the modes of thought and of expression which prevail in Germany, and who would throw down in disgust. a translation that was an exact copy of the original. Accordingly, long and involved sentences have been frequently broken up. In some cases the translators have been compelled to express by circumlocution, that which in the original is indicated by a single compound word. There are instances, where a literal translation would convey no sense whatever to an English reader. In such instances a slight paraphrase has been unavoidable. Those only can understand the embarrassments of the case who have themselves attempted a similar labor. On the other hand, the translators have not felt themselves authorized to adopt a perfectly free English version. They have wished to preserve, as far as was consistent with perspicuity, the manner of the original. Such writers as Rückert and Ullmann have peculiarities which ought not to be wholly merged or disguised. The refined reasoning which is found in some parts of their writings requires that their mode of expression should be preserved. A perfectly Anglo-Saxon sentence would obliterate a delicate shade of thought. It is better sometimes to offend a critical English ear than to sacrifice the sense of an author. There are instances, in the present volume, of long and somewhat intricate senIntroductions to the Dialogues of Plato is a specimen. Not a few of the sentences are absolutely unintelligible. The original not being at hand, we have been compelled to copy a few sentences from Mr. Dobson's work. They may be found on pp. 377, 378, 379 of the present volume. We have ventured to alter the form of the sentences somewhat. We fear, however, that the reader will still find difficulty in understanding them. It ought to be said in justification of Mr. Dobson, that his author is extremely complicated in his modes of thought and style.

tences, which were thought to be necessary in order to preserve the full meaning of the original. The German particles, like those of the Greek, not unfrequently connect the clauses of a compound proposition in such a manner as to render a division into independent sentences impracticable. The editors of this volume can only say, that they have endeavored to make it acceptable to a class of readers, whose wants have not hitherto been consulted in translations from the German."

The translators embrace this opportunity to repeat a remark which is made several times in the sequel, that they are not to be considered as responsible for particular opinions of the authors whom they have translated, nor for the mode in which a thought may be clothed. They believe that the general impression of the book will be salutary, and that all the articles, taken as a whole, will have a favorable intellectual and moral influence. Still not a few things might be specified which indicate lax or erroneous habits of thinking on the part of the authors. Such they would entirely disclaim. Rückert, for instance, as is remarked on another page, treats the inspired writers with a freedom which is wholly unjustifiable. His Commentary too often betrays a want of reverence for those whom the Holy Spirit infallibly secured from error. We have occasionally inserted notes, where an objectionable sentiment or mode of expression occurs. It must not be inferred, however, that we approve in every case where we are silent. All which is necessary is that the reader should be aware of the characteristics of his author, so that he may make all suitable allowances and exceptions. Rückert is apparently a conscientious believer in the evangelical system, and has, as we should infer from his writings, suffered not a little on account of the honest and bold avowal of his religious convictions. We cannot but admire the simplicity and straight-forwardness of his course. His guiding principle of exposition is: "Employ all the proper means in your power to ascertain the true sense of the writer; give him nothing of thine; take from him nothing that is his. Never inquire what he ought to say; never be afraid of what he does say."2 We may also add in this connection that we do not

The part which the translators have respectively performed in the present volume is indicated by the initials of their names in the table of contents. See p. 293 seq.