OBITUARY.

Hon. LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, LL. D., died at Salem, Mass., May 8, 1845, aged 61 years. Mr. Saltonstall was descended from one of the most distinguished of the fathers of this Colony, whose sons have from generation to generation been eminent benefactors to their country by securing its liberties and advancing the interests of religion and learning. He was born in Haverhill in 1783, and having graduated at Cambridge in 1802, entered upon the study of the law and was called to the bar at Salem. By his fine talents, his industry, and his pure and upright character, he soon secured the respect and esteem of his contemporaries and the public confidence, and placed himself in the first rank of his profession. He was distinguished by just and discriminating views of legal subjects, by his open and generous manner of conducting himself to his adversaries, and by perfect fidelity to his clients; as well as by his invariable love of truth and regard for justice. He was early introduced into public life by the suffrages of his fellow-citizens, and so ably and so beneficially did he discharge the duties entrusted to him, whether in the Legislative bodies of his native State or in the national Congress, that he secured universal respect and admiration; for no political opponent ever doubted his integrity or the purity of his motives. He had so true a discernment of moral truth, that he arrived almost by intui.ion at his estimates of the tendency of opinions and actions in the conduct of life; and he enforced his views with fervid and earnest eloquence, which always produced conviction on honest minds. He possessed great disinterestedness in his intercourse with others, combined with a freshness and simplicity of feeling, rarely witnessed in one whose walk has been among the thickest press of human life for more than half a century; and it may be truly said of him, that the purity of his mind was proof against the contamination of the world, which he passed through without a single stain. In private life, he could be known and appreciated only by his family and intimate friends, and it is here that it is most desirable to present his image and example to others. He was kind and considerate of the feelings of all around him, and quite forgetful of himself; promoting gaiety by his cheerfulness, and communicating the stores of his large experience and various knowledge; and urging the obligations of duty, in a manner so persuasive as to make the aged thoughtful, and impress the principles of honor and virtue on many a youthful mind. But it is for his religious character that he is to be valued most. His excellent and pious parents, who were strictly Orthodox in their belief, imbued his infant mind with a fear of God and a reverence for religion, which never left him, and were the foundations of his character in mature life. As his mind expanded, his views were enlarged by a careful study of the Scriptures, his opinions became more liberal, and his faith more cheerful. Religion was to him the sunshine of the soul. Gratitude for every blessing of his happy and successful life, and resignation and peace at its unlooked for and painful close, were the blessed fruits of his deep and increasing piety. Few laymen were more learned in theology, or studied more deeply the Christianity of the Bible, and none had firmer convictions of the truth of its evidences or the obligations of its doctrines. He considered the former to be

essential to the latter, and humbly rested his hopes of immortality on the supernatural proofs which the Scriptures afford. He was a serious, though rational observer of the Sabbath, and unvarying in his attendance on public worship, and was much engaged in promoting Sunday schools, and other institutions for instructing the young and ignorant. Happy will, it be for those who imitate Mr. Saltonstall, in his life or in his death.

M.

EDWARD HENRY EDES died at Boston, May 30, 1845, aged 42 Mr. Edes was a native of Boston, and entered Harvard College in 1819. Circumstances prevented his finishing his collegiate course, and leaving Cambridge he engaged in more active pursuits. Having been unfortunate in business, and becoming deeply interested in the subject of religion, he entered the Theological School at Cambridge, where he completed the usual course of study in 1831. On the 15th of November, 1831, he was ordained as Pastor of the Unitarian church in Eastport, Me.; where he remained till 1836, when, finding the duties of this isolated situation too arduous for his strength, and the climate uncongenial to his health, he accepted an invitation to take charge of the Unitarian congregation in Augusta, Me. After laboring among them for more than three years, he closed his ministry in that place, and was soon after invited to settle at Kennebunk, Me., where he was installed, October 23, 1839. Here he continued to preach till November 1844, when he was obliged by pulmonary disease to relinquish the services of the pulpit. After lingering some time at Kennebunk, he came to Boston for medical advice, but soon declined, and never recovered sufficient strength to return home.

Mr. Edes was one, whose pure spirit and exemplary deportment secured the esteem and commnanded the respect of all who knew him. He was modest and retiring, but at the same time firm and unwavering in his devotion to truth and duty. As a student he was careful and thorough in his investigations, seeking clear views and settled conclusions, and ever remaining steadfast to his convictions. He wrote slowly and carefully, and sought in his preaching rather to enlighten the mind and convince the understanding than to excite the feelings. He cherished an intelligent and firm faith in the doctrines of Unitarianism. They were dear to his heart as the source of his piety, the support of his spiritual life, the foundation of his hopes of heaven. He was never fond of putting them forward as a zealous controversialist, but was ever ready to defend them when assailed, or to present an exposition of them in connection with the practical inferences which naturally flow from them. In regard to the various moral movements of the day, while he was by no means a noisy advocate, he was always a firm friend to them, ever speaking decidedly and acting promptly, according to his convictions of duty and without regard to the fear or the favor of men. He was not a man who among strangers would attract notice and become popular at once, but the more he was known, the more was he respected, esteemed, beloved. He enjoyed the free exercise of his mental powers to the last, was perfectly sensible of the nature and progress of his disease, and fully resigned to the will of God in regard to the result. He wasted gradually away without acute suffering, and fell sweetly asleep in the joyful hope of a glorious resurrection.

W.

THE

CHRISTIAN EXAMINER

AND

RELIGIOUS MISCELLANY.

SEPTEMBER, 1845.

ART. I.- STRAUSS'S LIFE OF JESUS: THE MYTHIC THEORY.*

IT may be doubted whether any work of modern times has produced so great an excitement as the "Life of Jesus," by Dr. Strauss. Of this, the fortunes of its author are an indication. Before his second volume had

* 1. Das Leben Jesu, kritisch bearbeitet. Von DAVID FRIEDrich STRAUSS, Dr. u. s. w. Tübingen, 1835, 1836. Two volumes. 8vo. pp. 732 and 750. [The Life of Jesus, critically examined. By D. F. Strauss.] 2. Strauss, Hegel and their Opinions. By the Rev. J. R. BEARD, D. D. 8vo. pp. 50.

A Reply to the Life of Jesus, by Dr. Strauss. From the French of Professor QUINET, and the Rev. Pasteur A. COQUEREL. 8vo. pp. 66. The Credibility of the Evangelical History Illustrated, with reference to the "Leben Jesu of Dr. Strauss. From the German of Dr. A.

THOLUCK. 8vo. pp. 62.

The Fallacy of the Mythical Theory of Dr. Strauss, illustrated from the history of Martin Luther, and from actual Mahommedan myths of the Life of Jesus. 8vo. pp. 46.

The Theory of Myths, in its application to the Gospel History, examined and confuted. By Dr. JULIUS MULLER. 8vo. pp. 42.

Illustrations of the Moral Argument for the Credibility of the Gospels. By the Rev. J. R. BEARD, D. D. 8vo. pp. 101.

Passages from Neander's Life of Christ, selected and abridged, with reference to Strauss's "Leben Jesu.' 8vo. pp. 72. London and Manchester, 1844, 1845.

VOL. XXXIX. 4TH S. VOL. IV. NO. II.

13

appeared, the government of Wurtemberg removed him from his office in their theological school, but bestowed upon him other employment. Being afterwards appointed to a Professorship of Divinity at Zurich, public sentiment. not only compelled him to resign, but produced a revolution in the government of the Canton. The freedom with which he made known his views, with consequences like these before him, is honorable to his candor and his courage. Equally honorable to his learning and acuteness is the manner in which his task has been discharged. In some respects the work is an important contribution to the theological literature of the age. It is valuable for the masterly manner in which it has exposed the absurdities of the Rationalistic system, that of Paulus, Venturini and others, for the demonstration it has incidentally and unintentionally given, of independence of each other in the four historians of our Saviour's words and actions, and especially, as we think, for its own entire failure to render probable the mythic theory, the only one which itself has left to explain away the miracles of the New Testament.

-

The absolute incredibility of miracles is the very startingpoint of the work. In the first section of his Introduction, the author declares, that when the intelligence of an enlightened age is brought to bear upon the ancient records of a religion, "every immediate interference of the Divine with the human loses its probability." The effort of enlightened interpretation then will be, either to show that what is recorded as miraculous never happened, or that it happened in a manner not miraculous. Both these modes have been pursued with regard to the wonders recorded in the Scriptures.

While Origen, and others treading in his steps, have endeavored to lessen the difficulty of receiving the records of Christianity, as well as the Old Testament, by representing them as to a great extent allegorical, others in various ages have insisted on the historical character which the system obviously claims, but have made that claim an objection to the religion. Thus did Celsus and Porphyry in ancient times; thus the leading English deists, and the author of the Wolfenbüttel manuscripts, (S. H. Reimarus,) edited by Lessing. These later writers are classed by Strauss under the name of Naturalists. The Wolfenbüttel fragmentist

represents Moses and Jesus as political deceivers, and the death of the latter as an event unexpected by himself, and which his disciples could only meet by feigning an account of his resurrection, and by altering the system of instruction which he had left.

From the last named theory that of the earlier Rationalists differed in this, they claimed to stand on Christian ground. Like the Naturalists, they regarded Christianity as founded on facts, historical, but not miraculous; but while the Naturalists represented the Founder of the religion and his followers as intentional deceivers, the Rationalists saw in Jesus a virtuous man, and in the historians of his life, persons who believed what they wrote. The distinction thus made in the use of terms is not strictly observed by our author, nor we think generally recognized among scholars; and as the mythical school, which Strauss himself represents, may be regarded as a section of the Rationalistic, we shall apply the term, Naturalist, to the class of authors, at least nominally Christian, who, without resorting to the idea of myths, explain the miracles on what they consider natural principles. Views of this description, but relating to the Old Testament, were presented by Eichhorn in reply to the the Wolfenbüttel fragmentist. In the early existence of all nations, according to Eichhorn, it has been customary to ascribe remarkable events to the direct interposition of some divine power. This was done in good faith, among the Hebrews as among others. The evidences of uncommon wisdom which such a leader as Moses gave, passed among his countrymen for miracles; not through his intention, but through their ignorance, in which perhaps he himself sometimes shared.

"His calling was nothing else, than that this patriot, when the long cherished thought of delivering his people returned to him with uncommon vividness in a dream, held this for a divine monition. The smoke and burning of Sinai at the giving of the Law, were but a fire which Moses had kindled upon the mountain, for the purpose of producing an effect upon the imagination of the people," [something like intentional deception here!] "with which accidentally a heavy thunderstorm coincided. The shining of his countenance, finally, was the natural result of great excitement, which not only the people, but Moses himself, as he knew not its true origin, considered as something divine."

* Strauss, Vol. I., p. 19.