is their imperative duty to watch over the flock as they that must give an account. If milder measures fail, they are to cast the incorrigible offender out of the church, cut him off from the body of Christ, as the gangrened limb is cut off from the human body.

The promise of Christ, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," implies the continuance of the ministry through all ages; and as there is no office higher than that of bishops, pastors, or elders, these elders are invested with the right and power to ordain their successors. As inspired men have, long since, been removed, if this right is not in the pastors, there is no such right in the church. The letters to Timothy and Titus are the pastors' directory on this subject; containing an account of the character and qualifications requisite for the office; the various trials to which the candidate for ordination must submit; the cautions and warnings against hasty admissions of unqualified men to that sacred trust. These letters were not written exclusively for the benefit of Timothy and Titus, but also for the direction of pastors in all ages, that "they might know how they ought to behave themselves in the house of God." If the pastors honestly adhere to the directions contained in these letters, they act in the name and by the authority of Christ, their ordination of successors is as valid as if done by an apostle; for they act in obedience to the voice of inspiration. The ordination of elders by Titus was as valid as the ordination of Paul himself. The only difference between Titus and the pastors, in subsequent ages is this Titus received verbal, the pastors written instructions from the same inspired apostle. The written instructions do not impart less authority than the verbal. If we admit the validity of the ordinations performed by Titus, we must admit, for the very same reasons, the validity of those performed by the pastors. We see no escape, therefore, from the conclusion, that the pastors, bishops, elders, or by whatever name soever they may be called, are authorized and required to ordain their successors; and further, as there is no higher offices in the church, they alone are authorized to perform this sacred rite.

As the church is thus organized by inspired apostles, we clearly perceive the operation of the three fundamental principles above mentioned,-Union, Parity, and Representation.

The bond of union, as stated before, is principally the

truth, and the possession of the same Spirit in virtue of a common union with the same Lord. This union, however, should, also, be visible, consisting in a recognition of all Christians, as Christians, and of all churches, as churches, and in the discharge of the reciprocal duties which flow from the spiritual union which exists between them. It is, also, incumbent on all churches to adhere, as near as may be, to the form of government laid down in the scriptures; and those whose geographical position admit of it, should associate for their mutual edification and government.

Parity is also a principle of that ecclesiastical polity ordained by the apostles. The extraordinary offices, being temporary, have ceased; the inquiry is, therefore, limited to those that are permanent. The question, then, is ;-did the apostles ordain a permanent order of men, in the churches, above the pastors, bishops or elders? if so, what are the duties peculiar to this higher grade? The pastors are to preach the word, administer the sacraments, and rule in the house of God. Unless there are duties peculiar to this superior office, it is a mere nominal thing. But, although the members of the church need no other than pastoral duties for their edification, yet, perhaps, the pastors, being fallible men, will need overseers; an order of ministers to exercise over them a paternal and directing influence. Be it so; who then, is to oversee these overseers? For, if the pastors need this oversight because they are imperfect, for the very same reason these overseers will need it also. If it be replied, that these overseers will watch over each other; we say, let the pastors do the same. Let them, by mutual agreement, become accountable to each other; and, if need be, admonish, reprove and rebuke each other. There is, therefore, no need of a superior order of men to perform a duty which can be done as well, if not better, by the pastors themselves. It may be supposed that ordination requires a higher order. If so, the same question occurs; who is to ordain these ordainers? If the reply is, they ordain each other-we again say, let the pastors or bishops do the same; let them, as it is both their right and their duty to do, ordain their successors. We cannot, therefore, perceive, from the scriptures, or from the wants of the church, any duties to be discharged by a superior order, which are not discharged by the bishops or elders. Such an order, then, does not exist; for if it did, it would be useless; and Christ employs no useless labourers in his vineyard.

The principle of representation is so obviously incorporated in the plan of government, laid down in the New Testament, that it cannot escape the notice of the attentive reader. The pastors and rulers of the churches are, at once the representatives of Christ, in whose name and by whose authority they act, and of the people, by whom they are elected. When these delegates meet, the members of the church are gathered together in them, for the transaction of business. In this respect our civil government is the same with that polity, established by the apostles. The wisdom of this plan is obvious to every reflecting mind. Instead of five hundred, or a thousand members coming together, and each individual taking a part in the business, a few judicious men, chosen for this special purpose, can much better accomplish this object.

ART. III.-Commentary upon the Psalms: By E. W. Hengstenberg, Doctor and Professor of Theology at Berlin. Volume First. Berlin 1842. pp. 475. Svo.

A work, from such a hand, on such a subject, cannot but be welcome; and we take pleasure in saying that a translation of it is now in progress in this place. Meanwhile, it may be useful to offer some statements in regard to what may be expected. There is no part of scripture on which a work of thorough interpretation is more needed, than the book of Psalms. The books which commonly stand on the shelves of our clergy are insufficient. The great work of Venema is voluminous and rare; that of Bishop Horne, though both ingenious and pious, is uncritical and fanciful; and the neological commentaries of the Germans are not once to be named. As the chief inspired record of religious experience, and the only extended and authoritative directory of our prayers, as well as a fund of prediction concerning the Son of David who was to come, the Psalms must continue to the end of time to be the delightful study of the private Christian. For the same reason they will always furnish a large proportion of topics for pulpit exposition. Preachers need a work which shall be a comprehensive and sufficient interpretation of these sacred hymns; a work which shall concentrate on the text

all the lights of modern learning, and which shall answer the objections of modern infidels. From no man living do we suppose that such a work can be more confidently expected than from Professor Hengstenberg. His qualifications for the task are known and read of all men, being sufficiently evinced by his Christology, and other researches in the same field. He is second to no biblical scholar, for accuracy of acquaintance with the original text and all the necessary helps. He has been trained to the work in all the varied and profound learning of the age. His studies for years have lain precisely in this field, and he has year after year delivered lectures on this very subject, in the first universities of Germany. He is familiar, as a champion, with the persons, the works, and the strategics of all the neological host. He is in the very prime of life, at the very focus of continental civilization and learning; and, best of all, having once been a rationalist, he is now an humble, affectionate disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is every thing in the character of Hengstenberg's mind, to make him both acceptable and useful to the Euglish and American public. Here and there, in his copious productions, we meet with a pardonable vagary, which savours of his nation, but in every good sense, he may be said to be the least German of the Germans. As he sees nothing dimly, he expresses nothing obscurely. In his teachings there is nothing doubtful, ambiguous or transcendental; there is no lurking in the shade of mere diction, nor any vapouring about wonders half-revealed, and to be confided only to the initiated. The moment you open his volume, you find yourself in commerce with a mighty understanding; with a master who knows his own mind and takes the briefest, directest, strongest way of uttering it, with a decision and fearlessness, which scorn all reserve, delay and equivocation. It is needless to say to any one who is acquainted with the rationalistic controversy of the last fourteen years, that Hengstenberg is a man of singular courage. His intrepidity is, however, serene and collected, and manifests itself without transport and without noise.

No writer of our day more reminds us of Calvin. Like the great reformer, Hengstenberg sees all things at once in their logical connexion, and in their immediate relation to the religion of the heart. But, like Calvin again, he rejects all those aids which a pious fancy is ready to deduce from doubtful sources. Determined to find Christ in the Old

Testament, he dares not, for an instant, sacrifice to this intention the strictest canons of interpretation. He is a cool, a rigid, and, therefore, a safe interpreter. For the same reason, he is admirably fitted to correct the errors of those fastidious minds which revolt against the Cocceian and other similar methods, and to bring back rationalists, by the way in which he was himself brought back, to the acknowledg ment of the truth. Many in our own country need just such a monitor, and are less reluctant to follow a foreign guide. They will see with surprise, one of the most learned and independent of transatlantic scholars, exploding those bubbles which here attract the admiring gaze of the novice, and ascertaining with invincible logic those foundations of exegesis which bore the structure of the Reformation.

The course of this exposition necessarily leads the author to discuss some of the most important Old Testament prophecies of Christ. In what manner he may be expected to do this, may be satisfactorily gathered from his treatment of the Messianic Psalms, in the Christology. To those among ourselves who have adopted rationalistic principles of interpretation, who have derived nothing from Germany but the art of disbelief, who acknowledge no type in the Old Testament but that which is cited as such in the New, who are jealous of any finding of Messias in the prophecies, and who attribute the imprecatory passages of the psalms to the unsanctified ire of the psalmist, the conclusions of Hengstenberg may be both startling and unwelcome. A larger class, we trust, of biblical students, will hail them, as stopping the mouths of adversaries, and erecting a new trophy upon the triumphal way of evangelical opinions.

One great advantage possessed by the readers of these volumes is the satisfaction of knowing that they bring down the literature of the subject to the very latest date, so as to render unnecessary any recourse to the numerous critical commentaries of Germany. The opinions of these scholars are taken up and sifted, and all that is valuable is retained. They are here examined by one who knows them all, and sees through them all. Their authors are confronted by one who is their equal in sacred learning, and more than their equal in diligence, in argument, and in that peculiar trenchant wit which has a sisterhood with argument. In regard to the intentions of the author, we may let him speak for himself.