especially to bring the truth home, and impress it powerfully as I was able on the conscience and the heart of every individual. "Were I to live my life over again, with my present experience, I would be more frequent and fervent, especially in my closet, in praying for success to my labors, and would meditate more frequently on death and a future judgment, and the importance of being faithful as the steward of God, that I might maintain a good conscience, and be ready to meet my flock at the bar of God with peace and joy. Indeed I would make it my great object, not to gain worldly prosperity or the praise of men, but to promote my own growth in grace, and the salvation of precious souls. "You may also, perhaps, wish to know what my views and feelings now are, when near the verge of eternity. In reviewing my life and ministry, my conscience does not accuse me of having ever delivered any thing from the sacred desk, but what I then believed was contained in the oracles of truth. Yet in the work of the ministry, I now see many imperfections, and the operations of pride and false zeal, which, at the time, I really thought were genuine exercises of grace. Of this I was most guilty in the earlier part of my ministry; similar mistakes I think I now see in young persons, in their public discourses, who have as yet but little experimental acquaintance with the deceitfulness of the heart. Persons when young have a greater or less flow of animal affections. Some are constitutionally more animated and warm than others. How often, with a full flow of animal affections, ministers will preach and address an audience with oratorical elegance, and with a view, as they judge at the time, to awake the attention, make an impression, and excite the feelings of the stupid, when the secret motive is to gain applause; and while they think they are serving God, are really feeding the latent pride of the heart. "In a review of my ministry, I see much to condemn, and very little to approve, because sin has been so blended with all my performances; and during my whole life I have never had such a sense of my nothingness and vileness, as I now have; yet it may be that I am now deceived. The longer I live, the more evident it appears to me that it is not in man to direct his own steps; and the more entirely he renounces all selfdependence, and commits himself to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, the more safely will he walk. "Finally, now I have nothing on which I can place any dependence for salvation, but on the unmerited and sovereign love and grace of God, through Christ; and I have a hope that God will, by his free grace, save me, and think I have some scriptural evidence that my hope is well founded. But I am more and more sure, that if I or others are saved, it must be by grace, from the foundation to the top-stone. I beseech you, then, to pray for me, that I may not be deceived, and live ready, with my lamp burning, waiting and longing for Christ to call me home, and that I may meet him with joy, and go with him into heaven, to feast on the marriage supper of the Lamb for ever." CONCLUSION.-The history of Dr. Burton's life properly closes with the year 1829, the fiftieth of his ministry. His latest manuscripts bear date in that year. His half-century sermon is an interesting performance. It is of great length, and shows much remaining vigor of thought. But he seems like the patriarch of old, strengthening himself, to bless his household. As he now gave up the care of his people to his colleague, he was no longer under the influence of that mental stimulus, which for fifty years had been rousing his energies to action. The faculties of his mind, as if exhausted by their intense and protracted exercise, suddenly gave way, and he sunk rapidly to a state of second childhood, exhibiting to those who still sought his society nothing but the wreck of his former greatness. As is not unusual where there is such a decay of the faculties, a cloud sometimes obscured his spiritual prospects, and he had some distressing doubts respecting his standing in the sight of God. But the day before his death, which took place May 1, 1836, he remarked to a friend that for a considerable time his faith had grown stronger, and that he had full faith to believe he should be saved. All fears were removed. REFLECTIONS.-A review of the life of this eminent divine would afford many instructive lessons, but our limits do not admit of extended remark. One very prominent thought suggested, is the value of a permanent ministry. Nothing, perhaps, gives a more unfavorable view of the prospects of our Zion, than the unsettled state of the Christian ministry. Few good ministers attain to a high degree of influence suddenly. They must generally labor long, and faithfully, and patiently, before they gain that inquence which every minister must possess, in order to be extensively useful. Having attained that influence, he is prepared to labor efficiently and successfully for the salvation of souls, and for the promotion of every good work. Those who frequently change the scene of their labors, do not usually gain an extensive influence any where, nor do they make a deep impression on any community. Dr. Burton was often beset with trials and difficulties, which would have furnished a plausible excuse for leaving the station he occupied; but he regarded the charge intrusted to him as too important and too sacred to be given up without the most evident necessity. He might have urged, what young ministers, who have increased in some slight degree their intellectual stature, are very prone to urge, a desire for a "more extensive field of usefulness." But when he looked around on the immortal souls that were training up under his care, he might well think it enough for him to be instrumental in forming them for happiness and glory. We can conceive of no other way in which he could so effectually have promoted his own happiness, as well as usefulness, as by maintaining his ground, faithfully cultivating the field where the providence of God originally placed him; and in the evening of his days finding himself surrounded with such abundant and satisfactory evidence, in the intellectual and moral elevation of the people of his charge, that he had not labored in vain. Another thought suggested, is the importance of an able ministry for our new settlements. The sentiment has been too prevalent that men of feeble powers and slender attainments will answer for our newly settled towns, where the people are few, and comparatively unenlightened. The early history of the New England churches shows the importance of a ministry that can give a character to the community. The people in Thetford will have cause for gratitude to the latest generations, that a man of God, of eminent talents, was found willing to devote his life to the work of forming the early character of that town. Here also we may learn the secret of ministerial usefulness. The question has been asked, What was the secret of Dr. Burton's success in the work of the ministry? We reply, It was not his distinguished talents. He was a man of talents, but others equally eminent, labor apparently to little purpose. It was not alone his devoted piety. That he was devotedly Chere can be no question; but many who, we think, are equally so, ermitted to witness such abundant results of their labors. We add, It was not the superior accuracy of his theological views. Many, who, we have reason to believe, are equally sound in the faith, are constrained to inquire, with sorrow of heart, Who hath believed our report? The whole secret is solved by one short sentence from God's word: The hand of the DILIGENT maketh rich. He brought all his resources into action; and they were made to bear unceasingly upon the great object of his holy calling. He was the firm, devoted advocate of truth; and wherever he went, in whatever circle he moved, the influence of the ambassador of Christ was felt. He was steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, and as a consequence, his labor was not in vain in the Lord. A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE GERMAN UNIVERSITIES. Introduction. ALTHOUGH We find literary institutions among the Greeks and the Romans, which in many respects resemble the universities founded during the middle ages, and progressively acquiring a greater degree of perfection; yet this resemblance, being but very imperfect, cannot possibly give rise to a clear commentary on those of modern times. The isolated philosophical schools of the Greeks-such especially as were formed on the model of those set up by the disciples of Socrates, viz. the Platonic, Stoic, Peripatetic, and Epicurean, although they extended far beyond Athens, had however no permanent institution, legally established. In most cases, the disciples assembled round an approved lecturer, wheresoever he fixed his residence. The genuine Grecian spirit having expired after the death of Alexander the Great, the period of literary productions was for a time at an end; but, when learning was again brought to light, assemblies of philosophers, rhetoricians, and grammarians were formed, in which the various branches of the knowledge of that period were preserved and extended. These assemblies were chiefly to be met with in Alexandria, (at the Museum and the Library,) under the protection of the Ptolemies; in Pergamus, under that of the Eumenides; in Athens; in Apollonia; (where, by the by, Cæsar Augustus studied;) and in the cities of Lesser Asia. The like assemblies were so multiplied among the Romans, that every considerable provincial city possessed some of them; as they were organized for the express purpose of instructing youth in oratory, philosophy, grammar, and history; and above all, to fit them thus, for the service of the state. Hence, these seminaries were to be found in Rome, Carthage, Massilia, (Marseilles,) Lyons; and, at a later period, chiefly in Constantinople. Christianity entirely destroyed the genuine soul of those scientific corporations; and in proportion as its mild and uniform spirit gradually pervaded the minds of the nation, these representatives of heathen philosophy and learning were obliged to submit; and although they continued in existence, even after the Christian faith had been declared the religion of the state, in the reign of Constantine, yet still, from that time they ceased to flourish, and lost all their influence in the East. In the West, where, after the destruction of the Roman empire, Christianity had formed a new nation, learned corporations of the above kind were indeed still organized, although their formation required whole centuries. After the entire destruction of the Western Roman empire, by the Germanic nations, all arts and sciences seemed indeed to be extinct; and, had not the spirit of Christianity already pervaded the body of the people, such a result might possibly have been the consequence. But Christianity, exactly as it is known to operate, and as it professes to act, cherished within itself all arts and sciences, although it, as yet, kept them concealed. The cloisters of Italy, but above all, those of Ireland and England, as they were the seats of true piety, so they were also the retreats of learning and of knowledge; and from them, as it is well known, the propagation of Christianity, with all the blessings inseparable from it, went over to the Franks, and to the Germanic nation, which, from that time, under the Carlovingians, but more especially under Charlemagne, became the most important of the middle ages. There was a school in each of the above-mentioned cloisters, destined, partly to prepare in a suitable manner the novices for a monastic life, as well as to instruct those among them who had not as yet made up their minds to increase the numbers of the brotherhood. Schools of the same kind were also opened in the bishoprics, as well as by the bishops themselves, for the express purpose of bringing up and educating young ecclesiasties. Charlemagne even established at his court the SCHOLA PALATINA, for the education of young Franks. The character of these schools was, of course, strictly Christian, (we might even say, spiritual,) as the clergy at that period, already stood forth, as the patrons of learning and of the sciences. After Charlemagne, and by the overthrow of the monarchy of the Franks, began that eventful period of the middle ages, in which learning seemed to be more and more depressed, and almost annihilated, had not the spark thereof been preserved in the solitude of cloisters; a spark, which was destined to blaze forth at a later epoch, with increased splendor. The clergy in general, and even the highest dignitaries in the church, fell into the grossest ignorance, and the cloisters themselves were not altogether free from it. When the growing power of the hierarchy began later gradually to master the disorders of the several states, and to give a particular bent to the minds of nations, it then became possible for knowledge to acquire a new developement throughout the Christian world. The hierarchy protected learning, because they made use of it, as the strongest weapon they could wield, against the superior temporal power of princes. The Arabs had, on the other hand, propagated a new system in Spain, which soon communicated universally to the other European nations. Besides political history, natural history, geography and physic, it was above all the philosophy of Aristotle, (which the Arabs professed to a great extent,) that now gave an entirely new and particular bent to the minds of the Europeans. There existed in almost every capital town of the much-divided dominions of the Arabs, in Spain, a scientific academy, under the protection of the monarch himself. Princes began also, at that time, to be more and more convinced of the importance of learning, towards the strengthening and increasing of their power against the encroachments of the clergy. These were the general relative situations of all parties at the commencement of the period, when we see a new era beginning for the arts and the sciences. Learning, which before had almost exclusively been confined to cloisters, and had there been kept alive, now issued forth, freed from its fetters, and acquired, even in the very beginning, a new and vigorous existence, which proved most important and decisive to all Europe. This regeneration, however, was not attended with the foundation of scientific academies, either by popes or princes; it commenced by the free assembling of students round an esteemed and celebrated lecturer. Alexander III. and Innocent II. sought indeed in the councils of the Lateran, to reorganize the cloister-schools, but without success. It was under these circumstances, that the first academies were founded in Italy and in France, viz. Salerno, Bologna, Orléans, Montpellier, &c. Salerno, however, soon became for all Europe, the seat of natural history and of medicine, and owed this advantage to its situation. The vicinity of the Arabs, at that time the most distinguished patrons of natural history and medicine; its connection with Greece, whence came the knowledge of the works of Hippocrates, and of Galen; but, above all, from its possessing the celebrated Constantine of Carthage. The renowned Benedictine cloister of Mount Cassino, in the vicinity of the above seat of learning, had, so early as the first ages of Christianity, acquired high reputation, as a nursery of the sciences; and medicine was there studied, for the express purpose of alleviating, in reality, the sufferings of humanity. The foundation of this school at Salerno, dates from the year 1150, and it continued down to the fourteenth century, to be, almost the only seminary for medical knowledge, in Europe; so that, it not only preserved exclusively, till the thirteenth century, the right of creating doctors in physic, but also had the glory of seeing all the faculties of medicine, of a later foundation, (viz. Montpellier, Bologna, Padua, Pavia and Marband,) make use of the celebrated REGULASALERNISANA, for teaching the science of medicine. The academy of Law, at Bologna acquired a new lustre, in the same century when that of Medicine, at Salerno flourished, from the presence of Irnerius, who, not only taught therein the Canon law, which had solely occupied the former professors, but also taught and illustrated with great success, the Roman code. Students from all parts of Europe, resorted in crowds to this seminary, to which the Emperor Henry V. and especially Lotharius, granted many privileges. Frederick I. (Barbarossa) raised it to the highest pitch of splendor, by his ample concessions and donations, at the time when he employed the abovementioned professor to settle his quarrels with the Milanese. The celebrated law of the emperor, the AUTHENTICA HABITA, dates from this time. By this law, he freed the foundation from every foreign domination, and granted it its own jurisdiction, extending to every case connected with its proper administration. It was even to be independent of the Bishop of the diocese. It was, indeed, very natural, that from the great increase and rapid extension of the university, it should constitute itself into a free and independent republic, governed by a Rector and Senate. But, quarrels between the masters and the students, as also with the magistrates of the town, often, nearly brought about its dissolution. The republic of Bologna, upon this, sought to bring the members of the university under their power; to force them to contribute a share in the charges of the state, and to oblige them to teach nowhere but in Bologna. The university, however, remained perfectly free, till the middle of the thirteenth century; free from the duties and charges of the state; and even free from occasional military service, in cases of exigency. The University of Naples, founded by the Emperor Frederick II. also extended the study of the law to its utmost verge; as this Emperor intended to make use of it, especially against the papal hierarchy. This university, however, from adverse circumstances, never attained to a flourishing state, as Charles V. after the death of Conrad, conquered Naples, and the whole country was thus severed from its previous close connection with the Roman Empire. The last principal university was that of Paris, which preserved its ascendancy for Theology and Philosophy, as Salerno for Medicine, and Bologna for the study of the Law. The University of Paris was, according to every probability, organized towards the middle of the twelfth century,* and had its foundation in the great number of scholars attending the lectures of the celebrated Peter Abelard. Thus it was quite natural, that, after such a beginning, scholastic theology should shine at this university, and that the faculty of divinity, should have assumed the first place. Nothing of importance, however, is known, concerning its foundation, although it is proved, beyond a doubt, that so far back as the * See the article on the University of France in the No. of the American Quarterly Register for Aug. 1836. |