Troy; and the fall of Montezuma as tragic as the fall of Sardanapalus. The Santa Maria in which Columbus sailed to discover the "Eldorado of the West," is not less poetic than the good ship Argo that carried the golden fleece. And the Mayflower that bore to our shores the seed of empire, is far more worthy of an epic than the galleys which landed the fugitive Trojans at the mouths of the Tiber. There are not wanting battle-grounds where valor fought in other days, and localities hallowed by recollections and associations of patriots and sages. As time moves on, a wider scope will be afforded to the memory and the imagination. Ever are our traditions becoming richer and more available. Ever our homesteads and sanctuaries are growing more venerable. The ivy has taken root and is beginning to flourish, and the mosses also to gather on the caves.

But the future of our literature must be determined by the character and destiny of the nation. If the magnificent dreams of those who cast the horoscope of its future shall be realized -and past progress suggests its possibility-there will be seated on this continent, ere long, a nation of a hundred millions of freemen, recognizing the same government and speaking the same language. With resources that mock at the world's wealth, with capabilities of power and progress that outstrip all calculation, and with a position of unequalled grandeur, we see not why, if true to the principles of our fathers, our fondest hopes may not be realized. Time has witnessed the decline of all of former republics, and the dying out of the old civilizations because they lacked or lost the presence of the Christian religion as a vital element in their constitution. It remains to be seen whether we shall exhibit the noble model of a free state, where the Christian religion shall fill and occupy the several spheres of government, science, art, and social life, with its own heavenly spirit. We have our ideal of what the literature of such a nation ought to be, as the true exponent of its intellectual character and moral life. But we have not space to develop it. It should be formed on the best models of style-Hebrew simplicity and strength, and the Greek symmetry and grace. It should be the joint product of the intellect and heart of Anglo-Saxon practicalness and Oriental soaring. It should be thoroughly healthy in its tone; with a

pulse full, without being feverish; and breath as pure as the mountain-air. Not narrow and prejudiced in its views and sympathies, but elevated and broadly catholic. Not skeptical or scornful, but genial, loving, and full of faith and earnestness. Not Pantheistic-confounding the Creator with his creationand "worshipping nature in hill and valley"-but rising with revelation to the great First Cause, and doing homage with a seraph's ardor to a God grandly personal. As our golden age is not in the past, but in the future, it should not be chiefly retrospective and tinged with sad memories, but hopeful rather; cheerful and full of prophecies. It should recognize in Christianity, the root and flower of truth-and in the life of the Divine Man the model of all virtue. While it may be classical, it should also be religious-not negatively and by reflection, but really, and spontaneously. While it may talk of "Palmyra central, in the desert," it should not forget Jerusalem. The Castalian fountain it may freely visit, but it should drink most deeply of “Siloa's brook." Ascend Parnassus, it may if it will, but it should pitch its tent on Mount Zion. Nature it may love and often commune with; and philosophy it may honor with an ardent devotion; but for the Cross must be reserved the central position-to that its noblest tributes must be paid-on that its greenest garlands must be ever hung. But Pierpont, in his Airs of Palestine, has indicated our wish on this subject so well that we shall close with his beautiful lines:

Where lies our path?-though many a vista call
We may admire, but can not tread them all.

Where lies our path?-a poet, and inquire

What hills, what vales, what streams become the lyre?
See there Parnassus lifts his head of snow;

See at his foot the cool Cephissus flow;
There Ossa rises: there Olympus towers;
Between them, Tempé breathes in beds of flowers
Forever verdant; and there Peneus glides
Through laurels whispering on his shady sides.
And fast by Hamus, Thracian Hebrus creeps
O'er golden sands, and still for Orpheus weeps,
Whose gory head, borne by the stream along,
Was still melodious, and expired in song.
There Nereids sing, and Triton winds his shell;
There be my path,-for there the Muses dwell.

No, no-a lonelier, lovelier path be mine;
Greece and her charms I leave, for Palestine.
There purer streams through happier valleys flow,
And sweeter flowers on holier mountains blow.
I love to breathe where Gilead sheds her balm ;
I love to walk on Jordan's banks of palm;
I love to wet my foot in Hermon's dews;
I love the promptings of Isaiah's muse;
In Carmel's holy grots I'll court repose,

And deck my mossy couch with Sharon's deathless rose.

But we cannot conclude without a word in commendation of the volumes which have suggested our remarks. The Editors of the Cyclopedia of American Literature, deserve well of the public for the manner in which they have performed their difficult and delicate task. To explore thoroughly so wide a field, and to prepare a full digest of native literature with biographical notices, and explanatory comments, involved immense labor. The undertaking also demanded peculiar qualifications-enlightened zeal, fine taste, liberal feeling, and extraordinary industry. And the result will justify the gratification expressed in literary circles, when those gentlemen entered upon the work. Comprehensiveness and accuracy were the chief excellences to be secured. And a glance at the contents of the volumes will show how wide a range of persons and topics have been included. Some errors, mistakes and defects might be pointed out; and some improvements suggested. Writers of merit may have been entirely overlooked, or passed by with too curt a notice; while others will be heard of here for the first time. If there be any discoverable bias, it appears in the liberal space allotted to the younger authors, and the copious selections from the lighter forms of literature. In general, however, we are pleased with the fine critical judgment displayed in analyzing the character, selecting the excellences, and candidly adjudging the relative merit of the various contributions to American literature. It was a needful labor, and has been admirably performed. It is not only valuable to the scholar, as a book of reference, but it is also instructive and entertaining to the general reader. It is a collection of elegant extracts—a casket filled with native gems of thought. As such it deserves a place in the library of every American.

ARTICLE VI.

HISTORY OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

Translated from the German of Professor Schöberlein, in the Studien und Kritiken.

[The full title of this Article is, "A Brief History of the Methods of Public Worship in the Christian Church, with a View to educing the principles of Evangelical Worship." The translator has taken the liberty of an occasional omission, where the matter was not essential or specially interesting to Americans. Dr. Schaff says that Schöberlein belongs to the Unionists, or Unions Theologen, who "reject an exclusive confessionalism or denominationalism, and assert the principle of the fundamental agreement and fraternal communion of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches." These he subdivides, as the reader will see in our notice of his "Germany," into three sections. He places Schöberlein in the "centre" division, along with the Orthodox section of the SchleiermacherNeander school and the majority of distinguished evangelical divines, especially in Prussia, Baden, and Würtemberg.]

The method of conducting Public Worship in the apostolic age is to be regarded as furnishing the fundamental ideas and outlines from which the entire system of Christian worship was to be progressively deduced and settled. The first movement involving any perceptible change, took place in the beginning. of the second century, and consisted in sundering the Lord's Supper from the Feast of Brotherly Love: the Agape. From this period, the latter was observed according to opportunity and circumstances; and still later, it underwent a change, becoming an entertainment for the poor, or entirely disappeared. The Lord's Supper, however, was now associated with the regular morning service, appointed for prayer and the reading of the Word, and from a daily soon became a weekly service.*

From this time, the celebration of the Word and the Sacrament, with the accompanying prayers, formed one service, in which the Word preceded and introduced the Lord's Supper, as the most important part of the worship. Catechumens were expected to attend the former part, but only believers the latThe services were introduced by singing a psalm, with

ter.

* Pliny, "stato die" Justin Martyr, tỷ toù shíov heyoμévy żμépą.

the Doxology attached. Then followed passages of Scripture, one selected from the Old Testament, another portion from the Gospels, at the latter of which the congregation arose. Prayers and hymns or psalms were interspersed. Here followed the interpretation of Scripture, in which the instruction and edification of the people was sought, and then, with a prayer and blessing, the catechumens, penitents, and others, were dismissed. The second part of the services was opened with the kiss of brotherly recognition. Gifts were then offered by the Church, in part designed for the poor and for the support of the ministry, and in part for the expected communion season. From these, bread and wine were taken and set upon the communion table. Then followed the Eucharist, which began by an interchange of greetings between the minister and the people: "The Lord be with thee," "And be with thy spirit," followed by the so-called Prefatory, a responsive exhortation to the giving of thanks: "Lift up your hearts;" "We lift them up to the Lord;" "Let us give thanks to the Lord;" "This is right and comely." The thanksgiving had reference to the divine goodness in general, with special allusion to the sending of His Son in the flesh for our salvation. After this Eucharisty, the direct preparation for the Communion was made by the Consecration. This commenced with the recital of the institution of the Supper; then followed an extempore* consecrating prayer by the bishop, namely, a prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit on the offerings, that they might be set apart as the body and blood of the Lord, and also upon the Church, that a blessing might accompany their use of them. These prayers constituted the proper act of consecration, which was concluded by the Lord's Prayer, the Doxology being pronounced by the Church. After this, the people bowed in humility and inward devotion before God, while the deacon offered prayer. Then followed the invitation to partake, the bishop uttering the words, "That which is holy to the holy;" and the people responding, "One only is holy, the Father; one only is holy, the Son; one only is holy, the Spirit." While singing a hymn of praise or

* Justin Martyr, ὃση δύναμις αὐτῷ.