iv
Pastor Hold is the divinity of his flock. The religion of
a people is as influential in the formation of their national
character as any other element, and if we would rightly
estimate their social, moral, and intellectual condition,
we must become acquainted with their fliith, as well as
with the form of their government and the spirit of their
laws.
The religious opinions of Biernatzki, except upon the
obscure subject of consubstantiation, do not essentially
vary from those received by most denominations in this
country, and whatever diflerences may exist on this
point, all will approve the devout spirit of the author,
and the tone of his moral precepts. While, therefore,
the theology of "The Hallig" will offend none, its skill-
ful and picturesque delineations of nature and of man, in
their reciprocal action under new and strange relations,
will, it is hoped, interest and instruct a large class of
readers.
The style of Biernatzki is in general unexceptionable,
but his partiality for oriental literature has sometimes be-
trayed him into the adoption of a more figurative mode
of expression than is quite consistent with the soberer
taste of the best European writers. The translator has not
thought herself authorized to retrench much of this ex-
uberance, or to take other liberties with the text than
