ter of
Matthew, thought it necessary, when noticing the fact of Jesus
descending the mountain, to define the term mountain by declaring it to
be "a very elevated place;" and, when discoursing on Jesus stretching
forth his hand and touching the leper, to affirm that "the hand is one
of the members of the body." It is astonishing how quickly the popular
principles and teachings of the followers of Wolff began to supplant
Pietism. In the university and the pulpit there were sad and numerous
evidences of decline. Perhaps no system of philosophy has ever
penetrated the masses as did this of Wolff; for no one has been more
favored with champions who aimed to indoctrinate the unthinking. Old
terms, which had been used by the first Lutherans and Reformed in
common, and by the Pietists with such effectiveness, were now abandoned
for the modern ones of these innovators. Everything that had age on its
side was rejected because of its age. Even the titles of books were
fraught with copious definitions. The Wertheim translation of the Old
Testament was published under the extended name of "_The Divine Writings
before the time of Jesus, the Messiah. The First Part, containing the
Laws of the Israels._" The Wolffian adepts wrote for Moabites, _Moabs_;
for the Apostle Peter, _Peter the Ambassador_.

Wolff's life was full of incident. The first publications he issued
after his appointment to the mathematical professorship were on subjects
within his appropriate sphere of instruction. Here he first acquired his
fundamental principle of mathematical demonstration applied to theology,
and henceforth his mind was bent on philosophical and theological
themes. We are reminded of the same process of mental action in Bishop
Colenso. In a late catalogue of his works, we have counted twelve
mathematical text-books. These are at least an index of his attachment
to mathematical demonstration; and it is not surprising that an
ill-regulated mind should fall into Wolff's error of applying the same
method to the Scriptures. The Bishop's works find their exact prototype
in the "_Reasonable Thoughts of God_," "_Natural Theology_," and "_Moral
Philosophy_," of Christian Wolff. The mathematical professor at Halle
was not long in exposing his views; and on more than one occasion gave
umbrage to his Pietistic associates. His offence reached its climax when
he delivered a public discourse on the Morals of Confucius, which he
applauded most enthusiastically. T