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burnham. There was great doubting and questioning whither his majesty was gone, but within a few days after, it was resolved, by certain intelligence, that he was received in the Scot's army, being first entertained at the quarters of the French agent, who not long before had been in Oxford."

Just about the time, indeed the next day but one after Charles I. fled from Oxford, he who was shortly to be vice chancellor of the university of Oxford, was delivering to parliament a Home Missionary discourse from Acts 26: 2. The biographers of Dr. Owen say it was a bold and energetic appeal to the wisdom and benevolence of the legislature, in behalf of those parts of the empire which were destitute of the light of evangelical instruction. No doubt he did not forget that day to put the members in mind of their growing plantations in North America, and it is pleasant to reflect, that perhaps the hearing of that sermon induced the future vice chancellor of the university of Cambridge, Dr. John Lightfoot, to bequeath his valuable library to the then infant institution, Harvard University. We return from this digression to the account of

The Surrender of Banbury Castle.

Banbury once a great and fair market town, before the late troubles, was ever till now unfortunate in all means and endeavors used for its recovery. "The strange sights that were seen over that town sixteen years ago, in the night time, when as the appearance of fighting, pikes pushing one against another was discerned in the air, whereof I was an eye witness, with many others, might portend the sad fate that hath since befallen that miserable place, and the parts thereabouts.1 The forces employed in the reducing of that place were about 1,000 foot, and some four troops of horse, all under the command of that approved gentleman, colonel Whalley."

1 These “pikes pushing one against another," whereof Sprigge was an eye witness, recals the following lines in "Julius Caesar."

"Fierce, fiery warriors fight upon the clouds

In ranks, and squadrons, and right forms of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the capitol;

The noise of battle hurtled in the air."

From the accounts which have been collected of the Aurora Borealis, it would appear that the phenomenon was less frequent in former ages than it is now. The description of "spirits riding in the northern blast," and of "armies fighting in the air," owes its origin to the flickering appearance of the northern lights. The "Aurora" spoken of by Sprigge appeared in 1621, and it is quite remarkable that no mention is made of another appearance of that phenomenon in England, until the year 1707.-E. D. N.

1849.]

Concluding Particulars.

155

Chapter seventh of the Fourth Part occupies thirty-five pages, and contains a particular description of the siege and surrender of Oxford.

Chapter eighth treats of the siege and surrender of Worcester and Wallingford. The governor of Worcester is named Henry Washington; and the query arises whether he was of the same family as John Washington, who emigrated to America about the middle of the seventeenth century, and who was great grandfather of him whom the world honors?

Chapter ninth gives a history of the reduction of Ragland Castle and Pendennis. In this chapter there is a long correspondence between Fairfax and the marquis of Worcester, whose name is more distinguished as the author of the "Century of Inventions," than as a statesman or warrior. Sprigge says, that Ragland Castle was surrendered on Wednesday, Aug. 19, and describes it as a very strong work, "having a deep mote encompassing it, besides the river running by it." A large quantity of provisions were discovered by the parliament forces when they entered, but "the horses they (the royalists) had left were not many, and those that were, almost starved for want of hay, of which they had none left, and not many oats; so that the horses had like to have eaten one another for want of meat, and therefore were tied with chains. There was also great store of goods, and rich furniture found in the castle, which his excellency committed to the care and custody of Master Herbert, Mr. Roger Williams, and Mayor Tuliday, to be inventioned." This Roger Williams, like Hugh Peters, has a name in the churches of this land. It is not a little remarkable that we should find two that had been ministers in our own peaceful Salem, taking an active part in martial affairs beyond the Atlantic. Williams left Rhode Island in 1643 to obtain a charter for his colony, and being a friend of many in the army, it is easy to account for his presence at Ragland.

After describing the taking of Pendennis our author makes a few remarks, with which we must conclude this article, though sorry that we cannot spread more of "Anglia Rediviva" before the readers of this Quarterly.

"And thus," says he, "you have a true account of the actions of this army, which God reserved for such a time as our lowest estates, when his season was to deliver us. It was once intended the story should have broken off at Oxford, but you see it is continued to the last piece of service performed by this army." * "And now there being no enemy either in field or garrison, his excellency, after some small time of refreshment and rest from his continued weariness and action, was by the parliament ordered from Oxford into the

West, there to disband Major-General Massey's brigades." "Divers of the disbanded came from very remote countries, and had passes, some for Egypt, others for Mesopotamia and Ethiopia." This paragraph, Carlyle thinks, is some of Joshua's wit.

"This work was no sooner over but it pleased God to visit the general with a sore fit of the stone. Saint Paul needed a thorn in the flesh; and by thirst and lack of water, Samson might know himself to be a man. This fit continued on him for many days together. So soon as he was recovered he made a journey to London. This was the first time of his visiting London since he marched forth with the army, having a small desire to see that place till he could bring an olive branch in his mouth, choosing rather to hasten peace than spin out the war; which made an humble tent more acceptable to him until he had obtained his end, than a glorious city," etc., etc.

He arrived in London Nov. 12, 1646, and the volume is concluded with the speeches upon that occasion, a character of the army, a list of all its officers, and a journal of every day's march.

ARTICLE VIII.

DORNER'S HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

By Professor Henry B. Smith, Amherst College.

Die Lehre vor der Person Christi geschichtlich und biblisch-dogmatisch dargestellt von Dr. J. A. Dorner. In drei Theilen. Erster Theil. Entwickelungs geschichte der Lehre von der Person Christi in der ersten vier Jahrhunderten: Stuttgart, 1845. [The Doctrine of the Person of Christ by Dr. J. A. Dorner. In three Parts. Part First; The History of the Development of the Doctrine in the first four centuries, pp. xxx. and 1129.]

THIS work of Dr. Dorner is one of the ripest products of German scholarship in the department of doctrinal history. The way in which it has grown up to its present form is an illustration of the historical thoroughness and philosophical method of that scholarship, as well as of the conflicts to which the orthodox faith is exposed in Germany,

1849.]

Fundamental Character of the Discusion.

157

and the mode in which it repels its assailants and maintains its integrity.

Two articles in the "Tübinger Zeitschrift" for the years 1835 and 1836 formed the basis of the present work. These were written with such command over the subject-matter, and were, besides, so adapted to the controversy about fundamental facts and doctrines of Christianity, which was then at its height in Germany, that they at once attracted the highest attention and admiration. Some extracts from the preface to these articles may serve to give an idea of the spirit of the circumstances in which they were composed. Beginning with the motto: Descendit deus, ut assurgamus, the author proceeds: "In the long conflict between Christianity and reason, it is a matter of congratulation that that point is gradually coming to be universally and distinctly understood, which is of the very first importance, if the controversy is ever to be decided. All the energies of the two conflicting parties are collecting themselves more and more around the Person of Christ, as the central point where the matter must be determined; and this is a great advance towards an adjustment of the hard strife; for when the question is rightly put, the answer is already half found. It is also easy to see, that in this case everything depends upon the question, whether there need have been, and really has existed, such a Christ as we find in the sense, if not always in the words, of the church that is, a being in whom the personal and perfect union of divinity and humanity is truly consummated and historically made manifest. For if we suppose, on the one hand, that philosophy could incontrovertibly prove that the person of Christ in this sense is a self-contradicting notion, and therefore an impossibility, there would then no longer be any conflict between Christian theology and philosophy. With the overthrow of this doctrine, Christian theology and the Christian church would cease to have an existence in any legitimate sense of the word Christian; as with the capitulation of the metropolis the whole land falls to the enemy. There would then be peace between the parties. And, on the other hand, if, as some maintain, the idea of a Christ who is both human and divine can be proved on philosophical grounds to be rational and necessary, then, too, it is equally clear that philosophy and theology would be essentially reconciled with each other, and would ever after have a common labor, or rather would have really become one; and philosophy would then not have lost, but strengthened its claims to existence. Hence, in the great battle which is fighting between the greatest powers in the world, Christianity and reason, it is well for both VOL. VI. No. 21.

14

parties, that the contest should centre more and more around the point where alone all is to be won and all is to be lost."

The allusions made in the above extract are to the great parties which at that time divided, and which still divide, the German theological public. There was the extreme, destructive party, taking as its foundation the pantheistic interpretation of Hegel's system, and the attempted critical demolition of the historical basis of Christianity in Strauss's Life of Jesus: this maintained that the doctrine of the Person of Christ was by historical criticism proved to be mythical, and on philosophical principles shown to involve contradictions. There were, on the other hand, those who asserted, that they could show, on speculative grounds, the necessity of such a manifestation of the Godhead as that which the church, on other grounds, believed to be consummated in the person of its Redeemer. Besides these two philosophical parties, there was a third, which declared that all attempts to give a philosophical view of the doctrine were wholly vain and fruitless. This last position, the author says, cannot be admitted, unless we assume that there is a great gulf fixed between reason and faith, so that they which would pass from hence cannot, neither can they pass over that would come from thence: "For he that holds Christianity to be reasonable, must also assume that there is a constant upholding and strengthening of reason by means of Christianity itself, so that no limits can be assigned to its progress. If Christ, as theology must be convinced, is indeed the key to the world's history, as well as to the solution of all the great problems of our existence, it is not humility but wilful inactivity, not to be constantly learning to use this key better in the opening of the mysteries."

Such being the position of the different parties, Dr. Dorner proposed a twofold purpose in giving his historical exposition of this central doctrine of the Christian faith. On the one hand he would show, that the acts were not yet closed; that is, that philosophy had been precipitate in affirming, either that the doctrine involved irreconcilable contradictions, or that it had been demonstrated as necessary by an "a priori construction." On the other hand, from what has already been achieved for the understanding of this doctrine, he would draw the inference, that the attempt is not so fruitless as many maintain. In addressing himself to this work, he leaves out of view the history of our Saviour's life, and also his atoning work, and confines himself exclusively to a history of the doctrine of the Person, that is, of the Two Natures of Christ, as this has been unfolded in the progress and controversies of the Christian Church.

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