could at any time, and without difficulty, find whatever he wanted: for he had the power of recollecting as well as of retaining knowledge. This qualification fitted him for controversy and made him peculiarly feared by his opponents.

Such was his modesty that he would never deliver his opinion upon important subjects without deliberation and serious thought. He considered no time mis-spent and no pains ill bestowed in the search of truth, and he was incessantly occupied in examining for

himself.'

The prevalence of the last-mentioned feeling was strikingly exemplified by his reluctance to come before the public as an author or a critic. In this respect, as in others, he differed remarkably from his bosom friend Luther; who, without being actuated by vanity, was extremely ardent to communicate his impressions to the world, and to explain at great length the motives of his opinions. Melancthon had long kept in MS. a series of annotations on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, of which he made use for his scholars, and in private intercourse with his friends, but which no intreaty could persuade him to publish. Luther, finding him inflexible, resorted to the bold alternative of purloining the MS. and getting it printed in Melanchton's name, without his concurrence; apologizing for this trespass in a preface to the book, given in the form of a letter, of which we quote some parts:

"Martin Luther to Philip Melancthon, grace and peace in Christ.

"Be angry and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still.'-I am the person who dares to publish your Annotations, and I send you your own work. If you are not pleased with it, it may be all very well, it is sufficient that you please us. If I have done wrong, you are to blame; why did not you publish it yourself? why did you suffer me so often to ask, to insist, to importune you to publish it, and all in vain?-As to those whom you suspect of being disposed to sneer, I have this to say to them-Do better !’· What the impious Thomists falsely arrogate to their leader, namely, that no one has written better upon St. Paul, I truly affirm of you.-I know in what sort of spirit and with what correctness of judgment I pronounce this of you. If these famous and mighty men should choose to sneer at my opinion, the consequence belongs to me, not you. But I wish to vex these scorners more and more; and I say that the Commentaries of Jerome and Origen are mere trifles and follies compared to your Annotations. But what, you will say, is the purpose of aiming to provoke these great men against me? Well -you may be humble if you please, but let me boast for you. Who has ever prohibited persons of great capacity from publishing something better if they can--and thus demonstrating the rashness of my judgment. For my part, I wish we could find out those who could and would publish something better. I threaten you,

further,

further, to steal and publish your remarks upon Genesis and the Gospels of Matthew and John, unless you supersede me by bringing them forward. You say, Scripture ought to be read alone and without a commentary; this is right enough if you speak in reference to Jerome, Origen, Thomas Aquinas, and others of the same class, for their commentaries are the mere vehicles of their own notions, rather than the sentiments of Paul, and the doctrine of Christianity; but no one can properly call yours a commentary; it is rather an introduction to the study of Scripture in general, and a guide to the knowledge of Christ in which it surpasses all the Commentaries hitherto published. As to what you plead, that your Annotations are not in all respects satisfactory to yourself, it is difficult enough to believe you.-Art thou not a man? Art thou not a servant of Christ? Has not he endowed thee with capacity?'

:

The liberty thus taken had no effect on the mild temper of Melancthon, who maintained unvaried harmony with his friend, under circumstances of considerable discrepancy in their religious belief:

< The conduct of Melancthon and Luther to each other affords an admirable illustration of the true basis of religious friendship. They were not perfectly agreed, but they were perfectly united. Mutual forbearance admitted the free exercise of an independent mind, and secured the rights of conscience and the purity of principle. Societies have been distracted, families divided, and even empires convulsed, from the existence of differences in religious sentiment or practice, far less considerable than those which subsisted between these eminent friends. They knew each other, and did not allow the whirlwinds of a temporary passion to dissipate feelings founded on the best principles, and cherished by an unreserved intercourse. If, therefore, our friendships were formed upon more solid principles of union than they frequently are, it is obvious they would prove more satisfactory, more beneficial, and more permanent. In all our religious intercourse, it would be wise to aim rather at securing the essentials of Christianity, than to be solicitous of accomplishing what is notoriously impossible, a perfect agreement in points of inferior consideration. I oft think on the examples of Luther and Melancthon. It was not a few things that they differed in, nor such as would now be accounted small, besides the imperious harshness of Luther's disposition (as Carolostadius could witness), and yet how sweetly and peaceably and lovingly did they live together, without any breach or disagreement considerable.'

It was highly fortunate for the cause of the Reformation, that so cordial a concurrence subsisted between these eminent men, since they were of the greatest utility to each other in the grand contest with the Catholics. Luther excelled in theological knowlege; Melancthon in elegant and impressive composition. Luther, the senior by fourteen years, was

fitted

fitted by his courage, his activity, and his disregard of personal hazard, to stand forth the founder of a new edifice: Melancthon, less bold, but more reflecting and more learned, possessed those qualities which consolidate the fabric and give a finish to the superstructure. So early as the year 1522, when Luther was confined in the castle of Wartenberg, he wrote to his amiable friend; "If I perish, the gospel of Christ will not perish, and you, I hope, like another Elisha, will succeed Elijah."

Melancthon, as if destined to resemble Luther in every part of his career, terminated his life in 1560, at the age of 63, like the great father of the Reformation. He had been for some time sensible of his approaching end, and felt no other wish than that of continuing his lectures and labours of utility as long as mental and corporeal means remained. That he had no desire for a protracted term of days is sufficiently apparent from the following paper, drawn out in the last year of his life:

• He wrote down in two columns, on a piece of paper, the reasons why he should not be sorry to leave the world. One of these columns contained the blessings which death would procure; namely, first, that you will come to the light-secondly, that you will see God-thirdly, that you will contemplate the son of God -fourthly, that you will understand those admirable mysteries which you could not comprehend in the present life-fifthly, that we shall know why we are created such as we are-sixthly, that we shall comprehend the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ. The second column assigned two reasons why we should not regret departure from the world-first, because you will sin no moresecondly, because you will no longer be exposed to the vexations of controversy, and the rage of theologians. The following is an exact copy.

A Sinistris.

Discedes à peccatis

Liberaberis ab ærumnis et à

rabie theologorum.

A Dextris.
Venies in lucem

Videbis Deum

Intueberis filium Dei

Disces illa mira arcana quæ in hâc vitâ intelligere non potuisti: Cur sic simus conditi

Qualis sit copulatio duarum naturarum in Christo.'

We are sorry that we can by no means place the composition of Mr. Cox on a footing of equality with the interest of his subject. The above extracts would be by far too flattering if taken as specimens of the work at large, since they are selected from the most impressive passages, and several intervening paragraphs are omitted as redundant or superfluous. Mr. Cox seems REV. JULY, 1816.

T

to

to have acted on the plan of putting in print, in the shape of translation or extract, all that was calculated to swell the volume, without having the slightest sympathy for the undue share of labour thus imposed on his readers. No sooner has he placed Melancthon in the Professorial chair at Wittemberg, than he launches out (p. 40.) into a long and wearisome detail of the Aristotelian doctrine; as if it had not been enough to notice, in a few plain sentences, that the barbarous logic, founded on the writings of the Greek philosopher, had formed almost the only branch of academical education throughout Europe during the dark ages. In the sequel of his work, also, he can scarcely mention the title of a single publication by Melancthon without introducing a variety of extracts from it. To these objections we must add a complaint of the insertion of minute or improbable anecdotes (p. 292.); while other passages (as in p. 114.) display examples of inflated and declamatory description. All these blemishes prevent us from concluding in terms of commendation; and we cannot help thinking that the book would have been much better if it had been compressed into a third, or into the half, of its present size. It was injudicious, likewise, to give a portrait of Melancthon in the last year of his life, and in a form which, though it may exhibit a likeness of his features taken separately, certainly conveys an impression very different from that of the general mildness of his look. The fac-simile of his writing, however, is a very fit accompaniment.

ART. V. A System of Mineralogy. By Robert Jameson, Regius Professor of Natural History, Lecturer on Mineralogy, and Keeper of the Museum in the University of Edinburgh; Fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies of Edinburgh; President of the Wernerian Natural History Society, &c. &c. Second Edition. 3 Vols. 8vo. 21. 12s. 6d. Boards. Longman and Co. 1816.

THE

HE original form of this work, with all its crudities and imperfections, bore creditable testimony to the extent of professional information possessed by its author; and, during the very tardy progress of the present edition through the press, the learned Professor has not only availed himself with diligence of the most recent sources of additional knowlege, but has re-moulded and enlarged the first part of his system with much judgment and assiduity. Volume I. and a part of the second contain his exposition of the first class, or the Earthy Minerals, which are no longer divided into Genera, but simply into Families and Species. The former are denominated the Diamond, (though chemical precision would re

II

quire

quire its removal to the third class,) Zircon, Ruby, Schorl, Garnet, Quartz, Pitchstone, Zeolite, Azure-stone, Felspar, Clay, Clay-slate, Mica, Lithomarge, Soap-stone, Talc, Hornblende, Chrysolite, Basalt, Dolomite, Lime-stone, Apatite, Fluor,

Gypsum, Boracite, Baryte, and Hallite. The strict propriety of some of these family distinctions, particularly of Clay and Clay-slate, and of some of the modifications of calcareous matter from Lime-stone in general, may admit of doubt; and it would have been desirable to specify the appearances and properties of the several earths, in a state of purity, before the mixed conditions in which they occur in their native repositories had been detailed.

We extract the account of the last-mentioned family, because it is short, and may be new to some of our readers:

• XXVII. HALLITE FAMILY.

This Family contains but one species, viz. Cryolite.
Cryolite.-Kryolith, Werner.

'Alumine fluatée alkaline, Hauy, t. ii. p. 398.- Chryolith, Reuss, b. ii. 2. s. 556. Id. Lud. b. ii. s. 148. Id. Suck. 1'th. s. 532. Id. Bert. s. 278. Íd. Mohs, b. ii. s. 237.-Alumine fluatée alkaline, Lucas, p.27.-Kryolith, Leonard, Tabel. s. 42.-Alumine fluatée, Brong. t. i. p. 164. Id. Brand, p. 87.-Kryolith, Karsten, Tabel. 8.48.-Id. Hans. s. 121.-Alumine fluatée alkaline, Hauy, Tabl.p.22. -Kryolith, Lenz, b. ii. s. 943. Id. Oken, b. i. s. 399. Id. Aikin, P. 126.

External Characters.

Its colour is pale greyish-white, snow-white, and yellowishbrown. It occurs massive and disseminated. It is shining, inclining to glistening, and the lustre is vitreous, inclining to pearly. The principal fracture is foliated, with a threefold cleavage, of which the folia are parallel to the planes of a rectangular parallelopiped; the cross fracture is uneven. The fragments are cubical or tabular. It occurs in straight and thick lamellar distinct concretions. It is translucent. It is softer than fluor-spar. It is brittle. It is easily frangible. Specific gravity, 2.949, Hauy. 2.953, Karsten.

• Chemical Characters.

"It becomes more translucent in water, but does not dissolve in it: it melts before it reaches a red heat, and when simply exposed to the flame of a candle. Before the blow-pipe, it at first runs into a very liquid fusion, then hardens, and at length assumes the appearance of a slag.