nothing further is required of any divinity student than to attend a single course of lectures! Let us now consider the following picture.

Again, I would draw the attention of the reader to the fact, that no test is exacted by the Universities as to the information which the divinity student has acquired from the lectures which he was compelled to attend; so that, inefficient as the system always is with respect to the instruction communicated, it is, in the majority of cases, rendered absolutely useless by this absurd defect. Excellent as the lectures in themselves may be, an attendance at them is, in general, considered by the student in no other light than as a compulsory waste of time: and I fearlessly assert, that not one quarter of the inmates of a crowded lecture-room pay the least attention to the Professor's words.

"Let us suppose ourselves seated in the divinity lecture-room at Cambridge, in full term; and I will choose what is called by the students, a Pearson day,' when some passage is read by the Professor from Pearson on the Creed;' which book he is obliged to introduce by the foundation of the Professorship, and chapters from which the Arch-deacon has admirably interwoven with his other lectures. I challenge any Cambridge man to deny the truth of the following picture. "Immediately around the Professor's chair, and at his private table, are seated a few real divinity students, with the work open before them, and a note-book and pencil in readiness. Further onward, lining the sides of the apartment, and up the two first tiers of the ascending benches, are crowded individuals, a few with volumes of their own, but the major part with dusty folios and quartos, which the Professor has provided for their use, and on many of which the genius of successive ages is displayed in the shape of dogs, horses, imps, and human faces, and all on which the school-boy's pencil loves to dwell. Of the remainder and larger portion of the audience, the majority perhaps hold volumes in their hands; but, alas! of all sizes, shapes and descriptions, and but very few of them written by Bishop PearHistory, poetry, novels, travels, occupy the attention of the students; and while not a few of them suppose it a convenient opportunity to prepare for their examinations in Paley's Evidences of Christianity, some individuals of a more frivolous disposition amuse themselves with a song-book or a jest-book, and train themselves for the entertainment of a coming supper-party."-Letters to the English Public, No. II. p. 19.

son.

We will not follow the author in his remarks as to the effect of this system upon the Church to which he belongs-and this, not from any want of interest in the subject, but from a feeling of delicacy toward our Protestant brethren. We like not others to interfere with the internal discipline of our own Church—we will not, therefore, interfere with that of our neighbour's. cannot, however, so easily permit ourselves to pass over the writer's observations concerning the utility of a more ex

We

After

tended theological education to the general student. introducing a quotation from one of the English Bishops, on the importance of religious knowledge to the layman, he proceeds—

"Now, it cannot be contended, in Cambridge at least, (and the result also proves the negative with respect to Oxford),* that the present amount of divinity studies which is introduced into the ordinary system of the University, is sufficient to communicate to any of the students this desirable knowledge. An acquaintance with Paley's Evidences of Christianity, or, as has been well observed, with a mere selection from that work, and with one of the four Gospels, or the Acts of the Apostles, is all that the University requires. It is evident, therefore, that the student may proceed to his degree, and still be almost perfectly ignorant of the great truths of religion. Surely, then, at a period when such opportunities of improvement are presented to him-opportunities which the leisure and circumstances of but very few will a second time afford the University would do well, in augmenting the measure of its requirements, to bring before the student's notice, in a more full and perfect manner, a science which thus deeply concerns the happiness of every individual; and which will present to him inquiries the most interesting, and the most elevating, of any which can occupy the energies of the human mind."-Letters, &c. No. II. pp. 28, 29.

After pressing the necessity of these pursuits to every individual, from religious considerations, the author proceeds to recommend them as a part of secular education, in the following eloquent strain.

"We are told that, more than eighteen hundred years ago, an obscure person was born in one of the smaller states of Syria; that when about thirty years old, he collected together a few fishermen, and travelling in poverty from place to place among his countrymen, endeavoured to persuade them that he was sent from Heaven to overthrow every religion in the world, and to establish one universal faith, which should centre in himself. We are told, moreover, that having met with much derision and opposition, after three years he was put to an ignominious death, but that his disciples still adhered to their new religion, and that, in spite of the most strenuous opposition and the most cruel persecution, this religion continually gained ground. Ages roll on, and still we find the faith advancing with firm and steady steps, the old religions crumble at its touch; nations and countries ere long embrace it; and kings become its nursing fathers, and their queens its nursing mothers; until at length we find it covering a large portion of the globe; having civilized and enriched every nation which has embraced

The nominal requirements in divinity for a degree at Oxford are much more severe than at the sister University; but the actual requirements are very defective, as may be seen from the fact, that the graduates of both Universities are in general equally ignorant on these subjects. In fact, the preparation for the examination is usually made in a very few days, and from little noxious volumes, which are known by the technical name of 'Crams.'"

it, and left in a state at least of semi-barbarism all who are not under its controul. Such, briefly, is the history of Christianity; and it is evident, that whether true or false, the mainspring of its success must be a moral influence working upon the minds of men. The question then occurs, What is this moral influence? And, putting aside all reference to piety and religious feeling, I challenge the whole world to produce an inquiry more worthy of the attention of the philosopher— an inquiry more interesting and important than an investigation of the causes which have produced by far the greatest revolution man has ever witnessed, and which by their secret and silent operation, have civilized and elevated the nations on which they have acted, and raised them to an immense superiority over the remainder of mankind.

"I think, then, it must be granted that some insight into these causes, some intellection of this moral influence, as a most material part even of secular learning, every educated individual should possess; and if so, it is surely insufficient that he should be taught the bare evidence of the existence of the supposed founder, or even of the truth of the religion, in order to understand this influence: he must be made acquainted with the genius of the faith; he must manifestly be instructed, at least in the main doctrines of Christianity, or he will be ignorant at once of the causes of its success and the manner of its influence upon man."-Letters, No. II. pp. 30-31.

We have thus briefly shown that in almost every branch of education the English Universities are lamentably deficient. Is it then to be wondered at that those who proceed from them should in most cases be ignorant and narrow minded? We are no enemies to these establishments; "they possess," as our author observes, "means and opportunities of usefulness, of which the public are utterly ignorant;" and we believe with him, that they are capable of being made "most useful institutions." But at present, notwithstanding the few great and high-minded men who proceed from them, they are scarcely more than mere hotbeds for the Tories-the mental cradles of the bitterest enemies of the people.

ART. V.-Musical History, Biography, and Criticism: being a General Survey of Music, from the earliest period to the present time. By George Hogarth. London. 12mo. 1835. THE 'HE noblest employment of music is in conjunction with the exercises of religion. Its power, in exciting those feelings of awe, reverence, and love, with which man ought ever to approach his Creator and Preserver, has been felt in all ages of the world; and its use, in expressing those feelings, not only appears to have been silently dictated by God himself, in the act of consti

tuting the human mind, but has received his express authority and sanction. Of the first of these facts we have evidence in the tendency of mankind, in all times and countries, where they have emerged from absolute barbarism, to give utterance to their feelings of dependence on an Almighty Being (however much their knowledge of him may have been darkened by superstition), in songs of prayer and praise, joyful thanksgiving, and humble contrition: and both are proved by the most ancient records of authentic history-the Holy Scriptures. In the rites of the Hebrew worship, established by the command of God, immediately after the Jews, delivered from their Egyptian bondage, had taken possession of the country of their fathers, music, both vocal and instrumental, and on a magnificent scale, formed an essential part, till the political destruction and dispersion of that people.

Music entered into the devotional ceremonies of the earliest Christians, and was more and more cultivated as the Christian Church grew and prospered. When Europe emerged from the barbarism of the dark ages, and music was revived as a science and an art, the knowledge of it (like that of all the other peaceful arts and learning of the time) was confined to the clergy; and its productions were, for a long period, exclusively of a sacred character. It was by the Church that not only the treasures of ancient literature and philosophy were restored to the light, but the arts of poetry, painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as music, were fostered by the patronage and employment bestowed on the men who cultivated them. It was in the service of the Church that Michael Angelo raised the dome of St. Peter's, and invested the walls of the Vatican with the terrors of the Day of Judgment; that Leonardo da Vinci produced the Last Supper, and Raffaelle the Transfiguration; that Monteverde penetrated into the unknown regions of harmony; and Palestrina gave birth to those divine strains which lift the soul to heaven.

In those times, with the exception of the rude melodies which Nature, in all ages, teaches the most uncultivated, there was no music but that which was dedicated to holy purposes. The musical drama, or opera, did not then exist; and music does not appear to have made any essential part of the pageants or spectacles destined for the public amusement. When the music of the theatre and the chamber came gradually to be cultivated, it seems to have been as a pastime or relaxation, by those men of genius whose severer studies were devoted to the service of religion. The music of the church has thus been the foundation of the other branches of the art, and retains its pre-eminence over them. It has, indeed, been enfeebled by pretended reforms and actual discouragement, and in some degree corrupted by the introduc

tion of a florid and theatrical style; but it continues to exercise an extensive and powerful influence, which might be still further strengthened, by every where restoring the grave and solemn simplicity which truly belongs to its original character.

To trace the progress of sacred music from the earliest times, and to give a comprehensive view of its present state all over the Christian world, would be a task well worthy of all the learning and research which could be brought to bear upon it. The subject has not engrossed a sufficient portion of the attention of any of our musical historians. Many parts of it have been slightly treated, many more misrepresented, and others entirely overlooked. Much obscurity hangs over it, which might be removed by closer investigation; and it is nowhere presented in an unbroken and connected form.

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The first great religious solemnity accompanied with music, which we find recorded in Holy Writ, is that in which the Israelites, after the passage of the Red Sea, celebrated, by choral songs of thanksgiving, their miraculous escape and the destruction of their enemies. Then Moses and the children of Israel sung this canticle unto the Lord, and said: Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified, the horse and the rider he has thrown into the sea."" So Mary, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went forth after her with timbrels and with dances. And she began the song to them, saying: Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified, the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."+ From the construction of this sublime hymn, and the description of its performance, it is evident that it must have been partly recited by Moses alone, partly sung in what may be called semichorus, by Mary and the women who attended her, and partly shouted with one accord by the whole assembled multitude. It appears, also, that the choral parts must have been sung to a regular and rhythmical melody, the measure of which was marked by timbrels, or instruments of percussion. It must have been sublime beyond imagination; even the composition produced by Handel, in attempting to convey some notion of its effect, is among the noblest of his works. The few and simple notes in which Miriam, at the utmost pitch of her voice, exclaims, "Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously!" are inexpressibly grand; and the responsive chorus (though of the most artificial construction) seems to consist of nothing but wild shouts of tumultuous exultation, reverberated from group to group, and finally rising from the whole multitude, in one