abandoning the dogmatic
expression of revealed truth, contained in the old Confessions of the
Lutheran church; and he considers the reaction of the Mediation school in
favour of orthodoxy to be imperfect; the true restoration being only found
by returning to the Confessions.

The work of Schwarz is restricted to the latest forms of German theology,
and goes back no farther than the circumstances which led to the work of
Strauss. It is unequalled in clearness; bearing the mark of German
exactness and fulness, and rivalling French histories in didactic power.
These two works differ from most of those previously named, in being
histories of modern German theology generally, and not merely of the
rationalist forms of it.

Such are the chief sources in which a student may learn the view taken by
the German critics of different schools, concerning the recent church
history of their country at various moments of its progress. The fulness
of this account will be excused, if it provide information concerning
works to which reference is made in the foot-notes of those lectures which
treat of this period.

In describing the doubts of the present century in France,(57)
considerable help has been found in the _Hist. de la Litterature_, &c.
written by Nettement,(58) and in the _Essais_ of Damiron,(59) as well as
in criticisms by recent French writers; which are cited in the foot-notes
to the lecture which treats of the period.

The subject of the contemporary doubt in England(60) has been felt to be a
delicate one. It has however been thought better to carry the history down
to the present time, and to deal frankly in expressing the writer's own
opinion. Delicacy forbade the introduction of the names(61) of writers
into the text of this part of the Sermons, but they have been inserted in
the foot-notes.

The mention of one additional source of information will complete the
examination which was proposed.

It will be observed, that references have been very frequently given in
the notes, to the Reviews, English and French, and occasionally German,
for papers which treat on the subjects embraced in the history. When the
writer studied the subject for publication, he took care to consult these,
as affording a kind of commentary by contemporaries on the different
portions of the history. It is hoped that the references to those written
in the two former languages will be found to be tolerably complete. The
enormous number of those