rian fragment, and Origen. The lists of this period give the four Gospels, Acts, thirteen epistles of Paul, first epistle of John, and first epistle of Peter. The Apocalypse was not received by the Syrian churches, and serious doubts were entertained respecting it among the Alexandrians. The opposition to this book rested chiefly upon dogmatic grounds. The epistle to the Hebrews was received by the Greek churches and attributed to Paul; with this opinion Origen agreed. The Syrian churches denied its Pauline authorship, and placed it among the Catholic epistles. To the churches of the west it appears to have been unknown. The epistle of James was received by the Christians of Syria, but does not appear to have been accepted elsewhere, though Origen seems to have been acquainted with it. Jude was acknowledged by the western churches, but is not found in the Syrian version, neither did the Greeks recognise it. Origen does not include it in his list of sacred writings, though he evidently had a knowledge of it. The second and third epistles of John were known to the churches both east and west, but were not included in the Syriac version. Origen admits them both, but scarcely considers them as of so certain authority as the first epistle. No unquestionable trace of the second epistle of Peter is found until the third century, when Origen expressly names it, but considers it as of doubtful authority.

The labours of Eusebius throw considerable light upon the canon in the fourth century. He gave special attention to this question, and embodied in his writings not only the results of his own investigations but also the opinion of others who had preceded him. The writings then known to the churches he divided into homologoumena, or those universally accepted as apostolical, and antilogomena, or those received only by some of the churches. He here also forms a sort of sub-division, consisting of books that were spurious, that is, books having apostolic names but not of apostolic authorship, and books genuine but non-apostolic. His third class comprehended heretical works, which in his judgment ought to be set aside at once. As the result of his researches Eusebius gives, as generally received in the churches-the four Gospels, Acts, thirteen epistles of Paul, first of John and first of Peter. The other seven writings he himself appears to have considered as canonical, though his opinion respecting the Apocalypse is far from decided. The canon thus gradually recognised was confirmed by the Council of Laodicea in the year 360. A few more years elapsed before the epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse were received by all the churches of the east, but by the end of the fourth century the canon, as now received, was generally accepted.

The western churches appear to have reached unanimity about the same time. Jerome and Augustin contributed most towards this result. The Council of Hippo 393 and Carthage 397 con

firmed the twenty-seven books of the New Testament canon, and Innocent, bishop of Rome, a few years later ratified the decision of the council. Thus in both east and west the canon was definitely fixed and concluded by the beginning of the fifth century. The Syrian churches, however, still maintained their ancient version, and never accepted Jude, second of Peter, second and third of John, and Revelation. Nevertheless one, if not more, of the Syrian fathers cites these books as of authority.

The canon has remained in its present form from the opening of the fifth century; any rejection of particular books, as for instance, Luther's rejection of James, has been confined to individuals, and has generally taken place upon dogmatic grounds.

Concerning both canons it may be observed, that as external evidence enables us to trace their authorship up to ancient dates, the internal evidence agrees with the modes of thought and manner of life peculiar to the age in which they are said to have been written, as well as with the social position of the author. In doctrine and ethics the books are substantially agreed; and in almost all instances thoughtful students of these oracles are impressed with the grand unity of design pervading the entire collection.

A. J.

ART. VI.-ECOLAMPADIUS.

Ecolampade le Reformateur de Basle: par J. J. Herzog, Docteur en Theologie et Professeur a l'Universite de Halle: traduit de l'Allemand par A. De Maestrel, Ministre de l'Eglise Libre du Canton de Vaud. Neufchatel, 1849.

ACHIAVELLI is said to have expressed the belief, that from

at no very distant day, who would succeed in overturning the existing kingdoms of Europe, and found a new empire of the west. His anticipation, suggested in part perhaps by his republican sympathies, though based mainly on the military character of the Swiss, and on the position of their romantic land, like a vast natural fortress, in the very heart of the continent, has been realised, but in a widely different and far nobler sense than he imagined. If the Saxon Reformer had not appeared, the glad tidings of a pure gospel, which Zuingle (taught by the selfsame Spirit, who wrought so effectually in Luther) proclaimed from the

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Alpine mountains, must in due time have reached the dwellers on the plains of Germany and of the distant islands of the sea. this as it may, Switzerland was unquestionably one of the original centres of the Reformation; and among the Swiss cities that took an early and active share in the movement Basle deserves a distinguished rank.

For some centuries before the Reformation Basle was governed by a prince-bishop, under a politico-religious constitution similar to that of other cities within the old German empire. The popular element, however, early became influential; at one period it was the main stay of the hierarchy, as at a later it was the main cause of its overthrow. The struggle between the commons on the one hand, and the nobility with the dignified clergy on the other, was prolonged during the whole of the fifteenth century. The popular cause was strengthened by the entrance of Basle into the Swiss Confederation in 1501; the citizens thereby gained important civil rights, while the power of the bishop was considerably circumscribed. In 1524 the municipal council, whose members had been until then appointed by the bishop, was constituted on a popular basis, and at the same time acquired the various prerogatives previously divided between the emperor, the nobility, and the bishop. The Christian will not fail to recognise in these political changes the Divine hand preparing Basle to become a nursing mother of the Reformation cause during the days of its feeble infancy. Whether these newly-gained franchises would have essentially improved the condition of the Balois in the long run if the Reformation had not so soon followed, is somewhat questionable; but there can be no doubt that as the revolution in the state opened the way for reforms in the church, so reform, in turn, gave permanence to the benefits resulting from the revolution.

Dr. Herzog discusses at considerable length the moral and social, as well as the political, condition of Basle prior to the Reformation. With some peculiar traits of character derived from the position of their city, from the nature of their institutions, and the military habits of the Swiss, the Balois exhibited, in the main, the same moral and social features observable in the population of other French and German cities. They had a good deal of commercial enterprise; they were noted for their persevering activity, public spirit, love of liberty, and reverence for law. Eneas Silvius (afterwards known as Pope Pius II.), who resided for some time at Basle, has left quite a lively picture of the manners of the period. He describes the little wooden chapels, where the women paid their devotions, after disrobing themselves to a degree that would now be deemed rather scandalous; and the pastimes in which the men indulged of a pleasant afternoon beneath the shade of their spreading elms. But with all this fair show Basle was not exempt from

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the moral corruption that reigned throughout western Christendom. Drunkenness, profanity, impurity, abounded in her as in the other commercial cities of Europe. Of course, it was like people, like priest; indeed, the morals of the clergy were so depraved and their ignorance so gross that the whole order, from bishop to begging friar, had fallen into extreme contempt. In the city and suburbs there were no fewer than two hundred and thirty ecclesiastics-an immense number for so small a community.

The position which for many centuries the mass has held in the worship of the Romish church renders it unnecessary that her priests should be preachers; the altar has in a great measure displaced the pulpit. Still it is quite certain, as Neander shows, that the pulpit of the middle ages was not without its influence for good; indeed, there is reason to think that it was one of the chief means of feeding the flame of spiritual life, which, though feeble and flickering, was never totally extinguished. With a liturgy in a dead language edification was impossible; but a sermon addressed to the people in their mother tongue, even when its staple consisted of idle legends, might contain some crumbs of precious gospel truth, some quotations of Holy Scripture, which would minister nourishment to hungry souls. Basle appears to have been favoured with some preachers of tolerable merit. One of them, named Surgant, wrote a Manuale Pastorum, in which, among other things, he exhorts his brethren to guard against exciting the mirthfulness of their hearers-an advice which the worthy author, who seems to have been quite a humorist, found it much easier to give to others than to observe himself. In order to keep his audience awake, he would sometimes treat them to a lively story, or a fable like that of the fox and the crane. At the end of each division of his sermon he would announce, "I am now done with firstly, or secondly, if any one wants to cough or to blow his nose now is the time." But with all his waggery, his Manuale is not wanting in sound sense and in evidences of serious feeling. "The sermon, says he, "is the means which contributes most to the conversion of souls;" and he severely censures those who fancied that because the preaching talent is a gift of God the preacher need not laboriously prepare himself for the pulpit. There was another, and still more remarkable preacher, at Basle-Henry de Nordlingen. sermons his great aim seems to have been to arouse the consciences and search the hearts of his hearers. The church was invariably thronged whenever he appeared in the pulpit. Though he laboured to excite a true religious life, he managed so prudently as never to draw upon himself the suspicion of heresy-a circumstance all the more surprising, inasmuch as the result of his ministry was the gathering a body of real Christians under the name of the Friends of God, who, though they never formally abandoned the Romish

communion, protested against many of its corruptions. For the sake of avoiding these, as well as for mutual edification, they formed themselves into little societies or ecclesiolæ in ecclesia. As we get near the era of the Reformation we meet with other tokens of the existence of real piety. For instance, there was the association called "The Brothers of the Common Life," which endeavoured to get the mass translated into German-a scheme vigorously opposed by the priests, from the well-grounded fear lest familiarity should breed contempt. In 1514, a "Preparation for the Communion" was published at Basle, abounding in passages like the following: "Come quickly, O Lord! thou in whom my heart delights, that I may be glad in thee. O thou, the eternal treasure of my soul, show me the way to thyself, for to thee all my desires are directed. As the workman longs for his reward and his rest, so longs my soul for thee."

Basle was the seat of a university, founded in 1458, under the pontificate of Pius II., who took a lively interest in its welfare. Like most of the universities of that age, it was endowed with large privileges and immunities, its members being under a special jurisdiction, and thus constituted a sort of imperium in imperio. In a small community like Basle the two jurisdictions, civil and academic, could hardly fail to come in conflict; in course of time contests did arise, which resulted in the university losing a share of its original power. The relation between the school and the church would be, of course, very intimate; the bishop was the chancellor, and most of the professors were of the clerical order. As might be expected, the Reformation found little sympathy among these academics. Not a few of them were famed for their scholarship; but the most splendid ornaments of the university were Reuchlin, the great Hebraist of his day, and Erasmus, who had been attracted to Basle through the influence of the enterprising publisher Frobenius, from whose press were issued the earlier editions of his Greek Testament-the basis of the textus receptushis Annotations, and other works. Here Erasmus spent his happiest and most useful days, and it was with extreme reluctance that he bade farewell to Basle, after it assumed a decidedly Protestant character.

When the startling notes of Luther's protest against indulgences were heard at Basle, they instantly called forth a responsive echo. Lumpurger, Capito, Pellican, a part of the council, and a large number of the people, promptly proclaimed their sympathy with the Reformer. Even Bishop Uttenheim shared their feelings. This venerable man had long laboured to revive true religion; he approved of Luther's zeal against indulgences, and from an inscription which he placed on one of his cathedral windows (Spes mea Crux Christi, Gratiam non Opera quaero), he seems to have

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