became a cherished sentiment of the church. Hence the Christian Sibyl delights to recount the scenes of the latter days. And here there is a Jewish and a Christian feeling combined. Rome had been the uncompromising enemy of both Jews and Christians, and the time of her overthrow was hastening on. All horrors were accumulating around her, and the matricide fugitive supposed to be foretold by St. Paul and St. John, the Antichrist, the execrable Nero, would soon come forth from his hiding place as the vicegerent of Satan, and then cometh the end, the destruction of the wicked and the reward of the just. All these, supposed to be so graphically described in the Scripture prophecies, were specifically defined, and again and again reiterated by the Sibyl. Now, in view of the general representations of Scripture, and the popular impressions of the Christian church, combined with the bitter sufferings and persecutions of both Jews and Christians, what wonder is it that the poet of his times, at all sympathizing with these stirring events and ardent hopes, should with some allowed poetic license array his mingled thoughts in a prophetic garb? And this he would do in the very warmth and honesty of his heart. But what use would be made of these scattered poems, or in what way they might be accommodated to the purposes of the early defenders of Christianity, is another question. Indeed this whole matter of quotations among the early Christian writings deserves a thorough exploration.

The thought is frequently suggested, where is the poetry of the early church? Where are those hymns to Christ of which we have heard so much? But few of these devotional songs have come down to us. Eusebius says that "the psalms and hymns of the brethren, written at the beginning by the faithful, do set forth the praises of Christ, the word of God, and attribute divinity to him." And long before this, Pliny declares, “The Christians were accustomed in responses to sing hymns to Christ as to a God." The most ancient Christian hymn extant is reputed to be that of Clement of Alexandria. It is an ode in anapæstic verse, commencing reg 'Inoo. See Colman Ch. Antiq. pp. 226, 227. See also another hymn of the third century, translated by one of our sacred poets, in Dr. Chase's valuable edition of the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, pp. 421, 422.

But for the humble epics of the Messianic period, do we not find them scattered here and there throughout the Sibylline Oracles? If so, they are at least extrinsically worth an attempt to rescue them from oblivion. If poetry, more than any other form of writing, embodies the dress and thoughts and spirit of any age, and if we wish to embalm in our memories the peculiar costume and distinct lineaments of the early church, what better can be done than to awaken a fresh interest in these forgotten Oracles? For soon, over their fading features, to use the quaint expression of an old writer, "the iniquity of oblivion will blindly scatter her poppy."

But whatever be the origin of these Oracles, they are not altogether useless in the investigation of the history of Christianity. For we find, as the principle material of their structure, a recognition of some of the prominent features of the Christian system. And if it is true that the poetry of any age will faithfully represent the natural and cherished and spontaneous religious sentiments of that age, we may even condescend to repair to these ancient Oracles, and to measure the responses they give. Of one thing we shall be most fully convinced,-that there was in the earliest ages of Christianity a deep-seated and a wide-spead belief in the Deity of the Son of God; and we shall retire from these departing glimmerings of prophecy to behold with a steadier faith, and to embrace with a more affectionate love, the Light of the World, as revealed in the unadulterated oracles of the living God.

J. M. S.

ARTICLE VIII.

REMARKS ON COLLEGES.

BY THE EDitor.

Statistics of American Colleges, etc. American Almanac, pp. 170-175.

THE pages of the American Almanac for the year 1848, which give the statistics of the colleges in the United States, by a natural process of association awaken various trains of thought on the educational system of this country. In a land and in an age distinguished by a utilitarian tendency, the questions naturally arise,-Is our system the best that can be? Is it the most economical system,-economical in pecuniary and in intellectual resources? Can any thing be saved in endowments, in books, in real estate, or in learned men, who might be set free for the use of other departments of literary and professional labor? Have we attained the ne plus ultra of excellence; or is our present method of progress carrying us toward that end? If we continue our present system, or the system of the last few years, in respect to the erection of new colleges, shall we benefit the country, or injure it? Shall we promote its literary and evangelical interests, or retard them? These are questions of great importance. Since the publication of Dr. Wayland's excellent "Thoughts on the Present Collegiate System," additional light has shone upon the subject, confirming his main positions, and showing that we imperiously need a reform.

The statistical tables, above alluded to, give us the following results: number of colleges, 109; students, 10,238; officers of instruction, 780; volumes in libraries, 641,313. Of these colleges, 10 are under the patronage of Baptists; 8, of Episcopalians; 13, of Methodists; 13, of Catholics. The remainder are chiefly in the interest either of Con

gregationalists or Presbyterians, or are State institutions. Besides the figures above stated, in three of the colleges the number of students is not given; in three, the number of officers is not given, and in twenty-six, the number of books in the libraries is not given. The number of theological seminaries, belonging to the various denominations, is 35; with 99 instructers, 1,260 students, and libraries containing 127,380 volumes. Some of the institutions, both collegiate and theological, it is true, have scarcely gone into operation. The whole number, however, we believe to be underrated rather than overrated. For we notice the omission of one college, (Baylor University, Texas,) and three theological schools, (Meadville, Pa., New Hampton, N. H., and Covington, Ky.,) the latter having three instructers, a respectable number of students, and the elements of a good library, comparing favorably, as to its number of volumes, with other young institutions.

In our colleges and theological schools, therefore, as at present organized, there are 879 officers engaged in the work of instruction, a little more than one to every thirteen students. Or, setting aside those connected with Catholic colleges, and with one university, in which it is known that there are no officers who are ministers belonging to any of the evangelical denominations of Christians, we have the number remaining, 734. Of this number, it is not extravagant to suppose that at least 500 are ordained ministers or licentiates, or, certainly, persons, most of whom would, in all probability, devote themselves to the service of the ministry, if they were not employed in the higher departments of instruction. The stations they occupy indicate that they are all men of respectable abilities and attainments, capable of instructing religious assemblies, and of guiding, with energy and prudence, the affairs of Christian churches. Most of them are men who would be welcomed in hundreds of pulpits, and hundreds of religious congregations would deem themselves happy if they could secure such men to fulfil the work of the ministry among them, and to take the oversight of them in the Lord. Now it is not to be expected, nor, perhaps, desired that our colleges should be conducted wholly apart from the influence and the presence of evangelical ministers. We should deem it a

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great calamity to have so many young men, in the most important and plastic period of their lives, deprived of the example, the counsel and the prayers of devout clergymen. But still, the figures above indicate that the colleges have made an enormous draught upon the ministry. They have absorbed quite a disproportionate share of the clerical talent of the country. While the demands for an able and learned ministry are reiterated on every side, while churches, by hundreds, are destitute of pastors, and the claims of foreign lands are almost unheeded, hundreds who have been called into the ministry unless their former impressions deceived them, are thus withdrawn to the pursuits of literature and science. He who examines the triennial catalogue of any of our theological seminaries, will find against the names of one or more members of almost every class that they are presidents or professors in colleges, teachers of high schools, or the like. Could these five hundred ministers be liberated from their present employments, and restored to the high office to which God has called them, how many destitute churches would be made glad, how many barren spots in the wilderness would blossom as the rose, and in how many missionary stations among the heathen might the lamp of life be held forth, to illumine the sinner's pathway to heaven! Could these five hundred ministers, or any thing like that number, be sent forth "into the harvest," how vigorous an onset might be made upon the forces of the prince of darkness! Could these five hundred ministers be set free from the office of literary instructers, how much talent, influence and power would be thrown into the ranks of the clergy,-which would be felt throughout the body, exalting, adorning, and reënergizing the whole! We seriously question the right of so many ministers to abandon in part, or entirely, the duties of their high vocation, to which they have professed to believe that they were called of God. If ill health, disqualifying them for the office of the ministry, or a general lack of interest in their ministrations, showing that they are not adapted to that calling, or any absolute necessity, is their excuse, the case is a clear one. Such instances are not infrequent. But we fear that too often other causes take men away from the service of God in the gospel of his Son. The pecuniary value of mere literary situations, or the imagination