as the diligent perusal of the writings of the holy fathers, which are no less powerful in cherishing the feelings of piety, than in confirming and enlivening faith, wrought, under the Divine blessing, the happiest change in Moehler's devotional exercises; for, in subsequent years, he never let a day pass without celebrating the holy sacrifice, and with a tenderness of devotion, that excited universal edification. With the laborious duties of the professorial office, he combined, to some extent, the functions of the sacred ministry; and to many of the academic youth he acted as spiritual director. Not content with personally discharging the obligations of his sacred calling with the strictest fidelity, and an irreproachable purity of conduct, he strove by example and conversation, as well as by his writings and his lectures, to stem the tide of corruption that had burst into the Swabian Church, and was, it is confidently asserted, the means of guarding many a young clergyman against the evil counsels and evil practises of the anti-celibate party. His zeal for the glory of God and the interests of His Church, while it was the animating and sustaining principle of all his intellectual exertions, often communicated itself with electrical effect to his youthful auditors. Yet that zeal, which consumed him for the house of his Lord, was exceeded, if possible, by a spirit of mildness, modesty, and humility-qualities which, while they endeared him to Heaven, made him, too, the favourite with men. Adorned with all the sacerdotal virtues, he possessed at the same time a winning amiability of manner, that caused his society to be courted by men of various ranks and professions, and even of the most opposite religious and political principles. Protestants as well as Catholics, laymen as well as churchmen, consulted him personally or by letter on every variety of subject,-religious, political, literary, or domestic ; and had his life been prolonged, he would probably have become one of the most influential men in Germany. Having thus briefly described the moral character of this remarkable man, it remains for me to sum up his intellectual qualities. He was distinguished for an uncommon clearness, precision, and vigour of ratiocination, that shows how well he had profited by the example of those Attic masters, to whom his youth had been so sedulously devoted. His plan is to let his adversary bring forward his strongest arguments, and dispose them in the most advantageous order; then, without stopping to refute him in detail, he wrings from him some reluctant concession, or forces him unconsciously into some false position, whereby he is enabled at a single stroke to shake or overthrow the whole system of his antagonist's reasoning. In depth of reflection and comprehensive grasp of generalization, he equals Frederic Schlegel; and if inferior to him in the fervour of a poetic imagination, he yet possesses, partly from nature, partly from the severer training of theological discipline, a superior force and precision of reasoning. Like the great writer to whom I have compared him, Moehler was eminently endowed with the faculty called by critics diathesis-the faculty of seizing on the main points of his subject, divesting it of its subordinate or accessory parts, and in a few bold strokes tracing a perfect outline. The learning of Moehler was most profound and various. Though he died at the premature age of forty-three, he yet had mastered every branch of theological science; and in patristic literature and the writings of the schoolmen, as also in the works of the Reformers, and the later Protestant divines of various sects, he was pre-eminently versed. His acquaintance with profane history and modern literature was most extensive; and his acquirements in classical philology were so great, as to call forth the astonishment and admiration of the most learned professors in that faculty. His style reflects the calm, equable dignity of his soul; clear, flowing, and stately: if it seldom rises to eloquence, it never sinks into dryness, or loses itself in obscurity. Yet all these high intellectual endowments were rendered still more effective, because, as was above said, they were tempered, chastened, exalted, and sanctified by an amiable modesty, a deep, unaffected humility, a glowing zeal, and a piety serenely bright, that like a light within a beautiful vase, brought out all those mental ornaments into bolder relief.* As it may be interesting to the reader to hear the opinion entertained of this remarkable man, by those who are far more competent than myself to pronounce a judgment on his merits, I will here subjoin the following critical remarks from some of the ablest literary and theological periodicals in Germany. My own opinion, it is just to premise, was formed before I had seen the passages in question. From the Historisch-politische Blätter. "As in life he was full of the most tender-hearted mildness and forbearance, full of an unpretending modesty and kindliness of feeling, which won him the hearts of all men; so his moral character was reflected in his literary labours. Free from the arrogance and cold-heartedness of an idle science, his bosom glowed with a pure and mild enthusiasm, and the calm and unruffled clearness of his spirit was evinced, as with the eye of thoughtful sensibility, he contemplated the agitated scenes of history, and their chequered phenomena, so calculated to mislead and confuse the judgment. Gifted with an untiring industry, and with a penetrative mind, that, amid the mass of details, never lost sight of the whole, he yet, in his humble modesty, never forgot the deficiencies and the narrowness of all human science. All one-sided exaggeration-all passionate attacks, grated on him as a discord; and all merit he would acknowledge, and present to it with a cheerful brow and feeling heart, the homage of his praise."--vol. x. p. 564-5. In a communication which Dr. Reithmayr has had the kindness to make to me, he writes as follows: "Brief as was the period of Moehler's labours in Munich, yet it is difficult to describe the good he wrought, and the seed for still greater good which he sowed. Powerful as his influence over Southern Germany had become, great as was his authority, honoured as was his name, and mighty as was the impulse he had given to the public mind, he was yet far from entertaining the thought of wishing to form a school, in so far as we thereby understand a certain peculiar theological system, whether its nature consist in a special theoretical method, or in the adoption and more precise de. velopment of certain opinions. His faith was of a much too positive kind; he was too removed from all hollow speculation; and his whole intellectual cultivation was too strongly historical, and he was withal too modest, to wish to bring his own person thus prominently forward, or to stamp upon other minds the impress of his own individual conceptions. If anything can be said to characterize, or distinguish in any degree his auditors and admirers, it is a certain idealism in the treatment of science, an enthusiasm for the institutes and interests of the Church, abhorrence of all sectarianism, and a closer attachment to the mother Church of Rome." The new school of German Catholic divines is characterized by the union of great patristic learning and high philosophic speculation; by severe orthodoxy and warm attachment to the Church, coupled with a singular spirit of conciliation and tenderness in the treatment of controversy towards the erring brethren. This spirit is of course modified according to the peculiar temper and genius of different individuals; but such is the general characteristic of the new school. The more celebrated theological contemporaries of Moehler were Klee, Döllinger, Drey, Hirscher, and Veith; and among his scholars, From the Conversations-Lexicon. "If we combine in a single focus all the particular traits of this remarkable man, we shall find that his most eminent peculiarity consisted in the utter abandonment of that pretension, after which so many strive, to be the head of a sect, or even a school. Moehler devoted his facultics purely and entirely to the objective and divinely. established institution of the Church. To this service he gave up his whole being-his high natural endowments—his penetration of intellect-his often overpowering logic, and his great erudition. And as he made it the business of his life, to set forth the Church in all her truth and beauty, so the Church, in her turn, transfigured his whole existence, and made him that model of purity, humility, and conscientiousness, -that mirror of all human and sacerdotal virtues, which called forth the enthusiastic admiration of all, who had the good fortune to come into nearer or remoter intercourse with him."--No xxi, p. 700, vol. iii. Supplement to Eighth Edition. Leipzick. 1840. Staudenmaier, Ruhn, Hefele, and Reithmayr, have attained to great eminence. Klee has treated every branch of theology. His works are characterized by vast erudition, great metaphysical depth, and a consummate power of dialectic. This very acute thinker and eminently learned man, will ever exercise the greatest influence in the school; but as he was deficient in grace of style and power of imagination, his influence will be less perceptible in the great republic of letters.* Döllinger, whose excellent Church History is known to the English reader from Dr. Cox's elegant translation, combines extraordinary learning in theology and canon law, with great historical research, critical acumen, and clearness of method and style. Drey has proved himself a very learned and philosophic apologist for Christianity. Of Hirscher I can speak with less confidence, as I possess but little acquaintance with his writings. He cultivates chiefly moral theology, and unites, it is said, uncommon unction of feeling to originality of thought and extent of learn. ing. Some prejudices, however, which he has still retained, tend some. what to impair the influence his genius and piety would otherwise command. Veith has distinguished himself more particularly in pastoral theology, and combines in an eminent degree eloquence, deep thought, and high asceticism. Ruhn is distinguished for great depth of philosophic speculation; and Staudenmaier displays great fertility of ideas and amenity of feeling. Hefele and Reithmayr, both as scholars and thinkers, bid fair to tread in the footsteps of their illustrious master. The number and excellence, too, of the theological periodicals and smaller essays and treatises, as well as of the more extended works, that now appear in Catholic Germany, evince the vigour and productiveness of her religious genius. Divine Providence, when He suffered the German Church to be despoiled of her temporal riches and political greatness, repaid her with all the abundance of moral and intellectual wealth. * With Professor Klee the writer of these pages was most intimately acquainted. He was a most amiable and excellent clergymen, and delightful companion. He informed the writer, that he had read all the works of the fathers, and some of them twice over. With the writings of the medieval divines, he possessed still greater acquaintance than Moehler. He was uncommonly well versed in history, had read all the Greek and Roman classics, and was familiar with the best productions of English, French, and Italian Literature. He succeeded Moehler in the professorship of theology at the University of Munich; but after one year's residence in that city he died, at the age of forty-three. His loss, like that of his predecessor, will be felt in Germany for long years to come. Last year, in the public cemetery of Munich, a beautiful Gothic sepulchral monument was erected over the spot where Moehler's remains lie interred. Moehler is represented in a kneeling posture, and robed in sacerdotal garments. His likeness is said to be admirably caught. On one side is represented the Blessed Virgin, holding the Divine Infant, who graciously extends his arm to bless the priest, sunk down in adoration before him. On the other side is Moehler's guardian angel, presenting to the Divine Infant certain writings of the deceased. The monument is decorated with other beautiful devices, allusive to the life and writings of this great man. It bears the following appropriate inscription :— JOHANNES ADAMUS MOEHLER. 8. THEOLOGIE DOCTOR. ET PROFESSOR P. O. IN CAPIT. CATHEDR. WIRCEBURG: DECANUS DESIGN: DEFENSOR FIDEI. LITERARUM DECUS. ECCLESIÆ SOLAMEN. OBIIT MONACHII. PRIDIE IDUS. APRIL 1838. |