The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-15 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Then, taking into account the indefinite nature
of the authority of the State, wo can see how
shallow must be the dupe, and how presump-
tuous must be the charlatans, who would cry
" nationality " as the one thing needed for the
happiness of Hungary.
The history of Protestantism in such a
country ought to be interesting, but the com-
pilers of this work have served up the dullest
mass of reading which we ever asked the pub-
lic to pass by. It is a case of " all ruffles and
no shirt "—Dr. D'Aubigne supplying the
former, and the compilers exhibiting great
capacity in not producing the latter. There
is a most appetitising table of contents, and
an appendix not unpalatable, but all between
is as mouldy as the remainder biscuit from
" our last yacht voyage," or the proof sheets to
the article of " Chemistry" in the first edition
of " Rees's Encyclopdia." It cannot be
called a history, for it has not the sequentiated
arrangement or fulness of matter required in
narrative, and it reads like an exaggeration of
the dry-as-dust style, without that arclueo-
logical minuteness which imparts antiquarian
value to that form of composition. Those
familiar with Macaulay, Alison,Napier, Guizot,
Lamartine, Mignet, Bancroft, and others,
would no more read three chapters of such a
volume than our readers' fair country cousins
would be caught poring over " Oldfield's
Parliamentary History." Even the great
features of Hungarian " Protestantism' (so
called) are not distinctly marked or plainly
set forth. We have always thought that the
Hungarian Protestantism was deficient in
vital force on account of its frigid nationalism
and its hereditary Arianism. It presents no
moral or spiritual barrier against the fertile
arts and fervid superstition of the Italian
creed of Rome. We admit that it is so diffi-
cult to arrive at certain conclusions about any-
thing Hungarian, that we would hesitate to
assign its "Unitarianism" as being an efficient
cause of its unprogressive character. But
Dr. D'Aubigne appears to concur in our
opinion. He says in his introduction :
Nevertheless, control and freedom are not alone sufficient
for the Church : she must also possess faith and life. The
dominion of the Church among the Romanists is an en-
tirely outward system of rule, which is in a greater or less
decree mechanically submitted to. The authority of the
word of God, as acknowledged by the Protestants, is, on
the contrary, an inward power acting upon the affections,
the will, and the intellect, renewing them by the Holy
Ghost, and leading the converted man to obey with joy
and not with grief—with love and not with fear—from a
strong internal conviction of duty, instead of a stupid and
unreflecting servility.
To enable the Church of Hungary to take the position
that belongs to her among the other reformed Churches,
the pure faith held by the children of God must become
mighty within her. She must, in obedience to the word
of God, believe with the heart and confess with the mouth,
the fall of man through Adam's transgressios cot,
raption through sin—his utter inability to raise himself
from the miserable condition into which he has fallen—
the eternal Godhead of the Son of God, who became man,
and was offered up for us on the altar of the cross—justifi-
cation by faith, which, resting upon that sacrifice, rescues
the sinner from the death which he has deserved, and
gives him eternal life—finally, the Holy Ghost ( God as
well as the Father and the Son) ruling in the heart by the
word, and liberating it from the law of sin. It is neces-
sary, then, that the Church of God in Hungary should con-
fess in heartfelt sincerity, with Luther, as have also con-
fessed Calvin and all the other reformers : " The first and
principal article of our faith is. that Jesus Christ our God
and Lord died for our sins, and rose again for our justifi-
cation. All have sinned and are justified freely by his
grace without works or merit of their own, by the redemp-
tion that is in Christ Jesus through his blood. No pious
man can give up any portion of this belief, even if heaven,
and earth, and all things, should be involved in ruin. In
this belief is contained all that we teach, bear witness to in
our lives, and act upon, in spite of the Pope, the devil,
and the whole world."
If faith in these articles be a living principle in the
Church of Hungary, that Church is secure. We demand
then of that Church to hold this belief, to proclaim it (rein
the pulpit, to keep it alive in the heart. We make this de-
mand for the sake of its forefathers, for the sakethe
of its
martyrs, for the sake of its own life and prosperity, in
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which is pro-
nounced over the heads of all its children. This Church
has been illustrious in ancient times, and ought at the pus.
re-
sent period to rise up and again take her place among
Perhaps she may only be able to raise herself amidst pri-
vation and tears, bound like Lazarus " with grave-clothes,
and swathed in a shroud ;" but if she lives by faith, that is
sufficient : her reward will not fail her.
It is because the present work fails in pre-
senting the materials for that introduction
that we are so much disappointed with it. We
shall have occasion, on works of more import-
ance, to dwell upon the religious state of