'^^J^'V. 1 i-> i* «K", ^•^.- ^. ■/,- Section., .% 1^. 1170 ej/ JJl-f[AA^C- ' l^^f/i^'t Cj^^^^Ay^ THE TRIANGLE. SERIES OF NUMBERS THREE THEOLOGICAL POINTS ENFORCED FROM Various Pulpits in the City of New-York. INVESTIGATOR. ' /j J^EW-YORK: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR. Van Winkle & VS^iley, Printerg. 1816. DEDICATION. To the People of JVew-York, The first of the following numbers was pub- lished in the New-York Courier. A note in that paper, the following day, stated, that the editor of the paper dechned publishing the remainder of the work, be- cause it was likely to give offence. I preferred a public paper to a pamphlet form, for two reasons ; one was, that a newspaper is read by many persons who seldom have leisure, or inclination, to labour through the Essays on didactic theology, found in Magazines, Sermons, and Systematic Discourses. The other was, that I entered on the publication not as a theologian or controversialist, but as a spectator and reporter of facts. To be candid, the work was principally designed for the edification of those who would be wiUing to be styled high-toned Calvinists. And it may seem, perhaps, to some, a little paradoxical, that the very first number should kindle such a flame of resentment, as to cause alarm to the editor, of whose correct taste and liberal sentiments I have ho doubt, wlien it is a IV fact, that that number does no more than condemn a sentiment which Calvin condemns or, at any rate, does not justify — I mean the imputation of the guilt of Mam's sin to his posterity, independently of their own conduct and character. Neither Calvin, Luther, nor Melancthon believed in that doctrine. People of New-York, I desire you to take notice, that these high-toned Calvinists were so enraged at Calvin's own sentiments, that ihe editor of the Courier was induced not to proceed. .For your satisfaction I , give you the words of Calvin. He sums up his opin- ion of original sin in few words : " Videtur, ergo, peccatum originale haereditare natura3 nostra) pravitas et corruptio, in omnes animee partes diffusa." Where- fore, onginal sin seems to be the hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature diffused into all parts of the soul. " Neque," subjoins Calvin, " ista est alieni de- licti obligatio. Non ita est accipiendum, ac si, inson- tes ipsi et immerentes, culpam delicti ejus sustincre- mus." JYeither is that an ohlimtion or accountablcness for another^s fault. It is not to be understood as though we, ourselves innocent, should sustain the blame of his (j^darn's) transgression. I am aware that most people have not leisure to examine authors. Those, however, that will take that trouble, will perceive that the views of Ori- ginal Sin, Depravity, and Atonement, advocated in these numbers, are not peculiar to New-England, but, on the contrary, have been known and maintained in the church, by many of the ablest divines, since the reformation, and by a majority in the American churches. But, fellow citizens, it is not so much with their sentiments that I am disposed to contend, although they are sufficiently incorrect and erroneous ; it is with their horribly intolerant, bigoted, and persecuting spirit; against which every man should lift his voice, and proclaim his indignation. The holy fathers and friars of the inquisitorial commission were never more vindictive or implacable. It comes in thunders and anathemas from their desks : in cants, whispers, and innuendoes among the throng: it comes larded with much holy grimace^ and many sanctimonious sighs, for the credulous and pious ; with much logical jargon and biblical criticism for sraatterers ; with spleen and gall enough, when the company has sufficient pride and malice to bear it; and with firebrands for all the young foxes they can catch. ^Vhen they have ex- hausted their topics of argument, and that they can soon do, Avithout a miracle, they resort to sarcasm ancl ridicule, and here their talents are wonderful : Her- cules often comes in " head and shoulders." These gentlemen surely forget the age and country in which they hve, by three hundred years. They ou^lit to feel comfortable whilst others think for themselves. And one object of these numbers is to remind them, that they live in the year 1816. A man in this city does not expect to share the fate of Ser- vetus, though he should differ from Calvin. I will not say what a man ought to expect Avhcn lie is ffo for- tunate as not to diffi^r with Calvin. I. THE TWp^tlhr^^,,^%:^^'' No. I. It is an old, and perhaps will be regarded as a trite saying, that the decline of morality, in a nation, precedes and ensures the decline of its prosperity. The tendency of the increase of wealth numbers, and refinement to a deterioration of morals is exemplified in the history of the greatest nations, and is too ob- vious to require proof, and too well known to need illustration. Happy would it be for mankind, if the natural tendency of na- tions and societies to sink into luxury, extravagance, dishonesty, aud ail the extremes of immorality, were not, in many instances, aided by the very means and institutions which are professedly established for the opposite purpose. Even religion, descended from Heaven, arrayed in the beauties of virtue, and her head encompassed with the rays of divinity, has been counterfeited, her institutions perverted, her doctrines corrupted, her glories sullied : so that, instead of presenting any barrier to vice, or any check to immorality, she has often become their most efficient auxiliaries. It has been the boast, perhaps the felicity of this city, that it abounds more than any other city with iostitutions designed to favour morality ; and while I leave it for the reader to judge for himself, of the effect and success of these institutions, I am concerned to say that, in my opinion, some of the most showy and prepossessing, at any rate, the most noisy means used to 'promote morality and religion in this city, are amongst the most useless, false, and hollow. I refer to nothing less than the strain of preaching continually and incessantly used, in many of the pulpits of this city ! I have no controversy with any one, nor do I enter on this spbject in any other than a political point of view. I consider morality as the }iia;hest ornament and strongest bulwark of soci* ety; whatever, therefore, diminishes the motives and weakens the obligations to morality, conies no less under the animadver- sion of ihe politician tiian of the divine : as it surely no less imj>airs the temporal than the Er>intual interests of the community. There are a few points v* hich go perpetually into the strain of preaching of certain gentlemen : and their scheme may be com- pared to a triangle, from which they never depart, and in which, if they step out of one angle, their next step is into nnolher ; the succeeding (sne. into the one from whence they started. The want of variety might be compensated by force and ex- pansion of talents, were their angular scheme laid, both as to its sitles and angles, in the great field of truth. Their scheme commences by leaching that ihe whole human race are guHty of Ihe dn of Adam, independently of their own conduct, and for that sin arc iruli/ deserving of eternal punish- ment. We are apt to take our opinions on the credit of venera- ble names, and very many names deemed venerable, if weighed in the balance of unerring truth, would be found to have derived their importance from a long and industrious propagation of error. Probably no individual man yet had time, candour, patience, and resolution, to examine and substantiate,^ on proper evidence, the whole njass of his opinions. Jtew men proceed to any conside- rable length in tills arduous work. They take their opinions, nay, thfir articles of faith, as they do the fashion of their garments, not uj>on a careful inquiry, whether they arc the best, but upon ihe testimony of the tailor who makes them, that they are in the fa^5iion. The (iocirine of original sin, as jus* stated, is thus received by its advocates. It has descended mm the lumber and trash of the dark times of ignorHnce and supr.rstilion, mysticism and bigotry. The great reformers did nobly, but they did not do every thing. They merit the approbation of men, and met with divine acceptance for what they did, and are certainly to be ex- cused for what they omitted, in thtir great work. 1 speak as though the reformers held the doctrine of original sin according to tile tenor of the preceding statement. Some of them did, others dill not; and the truth is, that a candid examination of the sentiments of the fathers, — of the most learned and judicious divines in Europe, before the reformation, and since, will show, beyond all dispute, that the above statement of the doctrine of original sin has never been the general or prevailing opinion of the christian church. Yet you shall hear it inculcated from Sabbath to Sabbath in many of our churches, and swallowed down, as a sweet morsel by many a gaping mouth, that a man ought to feel himself actu- ally guilty of a sin committed six thousand years before he was born; nay, that, prior to all consideration of his own moral con- duct, he might to fee', himself deserving of eternal damnation for the first sin of Adam. I hesitate not to say, that no scheme of religion ever propagated amongst men, contains a more mon- strous, a more horrible, tenet. The atrocity of this doctrine is beyond comparison. The visions of the Koran, the fictions of the Sadder, the fables of the Zendavesta all give place to this: — Rabinical legends, Brahminical vagaries, all vanish before it. The idea, that all the numerous millions of Adam's posterity deserve the inefifable and endless torments of hell, for a single act of his, before any one of them existed, is repugnant to that reason which God has given us, is subversive of all possible con- ceptions of justice. No such doctrine is taught in the scriptures, or can impose itself on any rational mind, which is not trammel- led by education, dazzled by interest, warped by prejudice, and bewildered by theory. — This is one corner of the triangle above mentioned. This doctrine perpetually urged, and the subsequent strain of teaching usually attached to it, will not fail to drive the incau- tious mind to secret and practical, or open infidelity. An at- tempt to force such monstrous absurdities on the human under- standings will be followed by the worst efifects. A man who finds himself condemned for that of which he is not guilty, will feel little regret for his real transgressions. I shall not apply these remarks to the purpose I had in view, till I have considered some other points of a similar character; — or, if I may resort to the metaphor alluded to, till I have pointed out the other two angles of the triangle. INVESTIGATOR. 2 10 No. II. WHF.THrn it may be termed a disposition, or passion, or call- ed by any other naiiie, there is som'thlng in t-onie men which may be denominated ai* huinhle pride. I tear, could it be ana- lyzed, it would not be found to want any of the most virulent qualities of tl-.e true and old-fashioned pride, known in the world ever since the fall of man, and which, indeed, threw a morning star from heaven, before it inflamed man to rebellion. It seems to be the pride of the gentlemen alfuded to in the preceding number, t» plunge down human nature as low as possible. They are by no means safi?fied with laying the wlxde human race un- der the ban of eternal damnation, for an act which was commit- ted before any of them existed; — they go much farther. And this brings me to the second angle of the true diagram of their scheme* They teach, and strenuously insist, that all men labour under a true and physical incapacity to do any thing which God requires. To this total and universal inability they deny all figurative or metaphysical import, and contend that men are as truly, and in the same sense, unable to obey the law of God as they are to overturn the Andes, or drain the ocean. What do we hear next? They turn immediately round, and exhort their hearers, with great pathos, to do every thing which God requires, and denounce their disobedience as meriting eternal damnation. Nay, this in- ability and thraldom, in its whole extent, they carry back to the original fountain of tlieir guilt and condemnation, and say that it was all done in Adam; — that all the human race were made guilty, and were wholly incapacitated to do any good act, in their first father. Nevertheless, they go on with mighty eluq%uce t» exhort them to do every duty. Had I not already said that their notion of original sin con- tained the most monstrous error ever advanced in any scheme of religion, I should be tempted to say the same of this. But I will venture to say I think them both infinitely tlisfant from the truth. But, says the advocate of these truly tremendous and de- testabl» teuits, " This is Calviuiam; and dare you dispute Cai.- 11 viN ?" To which I reply, If Calvin believed in these doctrines, which we deny, he must have derivt'd his light (hertiri, for auiht I know, from the flames of StRVExus ; indeed, they more resem- ble the light of iulernal than celestial fire. This doctrine of man's inability is an insult to every man's unbiassed understanding — to the light of his conscience. It is contrary to the whole current of the sacred scriptures: and, in- deed, its warmest advocates are tempted to contradict themselves every moment ; and when they prea< h best, this temptation is effectual; or, to say the least, their contradictions are seldom far- ther apart than (he improvement from the sermon. 'J'heir preaching often reminds me of the mode of writing used by some ancient nations, which was from left to right, ami from right to left, alternately crossing the page in opposite directirins. These gentlemen, however, might be laid off into different sections. Some of them, aware of the inconsi.-teucy, frankly own that wicked men are under no obligation to lo'-e or obey God: and thus, for the sake of theory and system, plunge -till deeper in error. Others boldly deny all moral ai:ency to mankind : — others again contend that men are moral agents to do wrong, but not to do right; evincing still more ignorance of the philosophy of the human mind than of the word of God. Is it wonderful that there should be so many Gallios in this eity ? That so many should with scornful smile turn from this monstrous jargon, and cy out, " Wretched mysticism !— Rid- dles ! — contradictions! — What, was I rendered, by Adam's first act of sin, a criminal deserving endless torments? Wa? I, at the same time, totally incapacitated to yield obedience to the Al- inighty Ruler? Was I bound hand and foot six thousand years ago, and rocks of adamant laid on the seal of my eternal perdition ? Impossible! The glorious volume of nature itself contradicts all this, and shows me a far different character of my Cieator and preserver." INVESTIGATOK. 12 No. III. Wk coine to the third and last great point of their system of theology, which makes out the triangle, from which, as I said, they do not depart. They tell you there is a remedy for a part of mankind; Christ has died for an elect number. They, and they only, enjoy an ofifer of salvation; and for them alone is pro- vision made. On the contrary, they plumply deny that " Christ has tasted death for every man f they will by no means allow that " He is a propitiation for the sins of the 7vhole world:'" they abhor the idea of going " into a'l the world and preaching the gospel to every creature.'''' They would tell you, thai, if they could distinguish who the elect are, in their assemblies, they should preach the gospel only to them ; they should tell them that Christ died only for them : but, as for the rest, they should preach no- thing but the certainty of eternal damnation. Nor does this, though it gives the lines of the triangle, display the worst features of their scheme. They go on to state, that even the elect are not bound to believe in the Saviour, or to love and obey him, till he has convinced them, in a supernatural way, that he died for them. Thus, to the grossest error in doctrine adding the basest selfishness in heart and practice. Nothing of- fends them so deeply as the assertion, that the perfection and glory of the Saviour are the highest motives of love and obedience to him. Yet, as for the non-elect, they assure them that their condemnation will be vastly aggravated for rejecting salvation by Christ. The whole of their doctrine, then, amounts to this, that a man is, in the first place, condemned, incapacitated, and eternally re- probated for the sin of Adam : in the next place, that he is con- demned over again, for not doing that which be is totally, in all respects, unable to do ; and, in the third place, that he is con- demned, and doubly and trebly condemned, for not believing in a Saviour, who never died for him, and with whom he has no more to do than a fallen angel. 13 This is what I call strojig meat, and the stomach which cao digest such food, can, I should think, digest iron and adamant. The natural and necessary deductions from these leading tenets, their various ramifications and subordinate collateral branches, exert a deep influence, and diffuse an alarming complexion over the whole plan of revelation. These teachers have turned their faces towards the ages of darkness, and are travelling back with rapid strides to the jargon of schoolmen, and the reveries and superstitions of Monks. Were a painter to draw an emblem of their plan, you would see the distorted phiz, squinting eye, and haggard features of perfect selfishness, mounted on the huge, in- flated, and putrescent carcass of Antinomianism. Whether they admit or deny the doctrine of moral agency, their crude notions of that, and other things correlative, amount to an absolute and universal virtual denial of it: of course, their scheme embraces the strongest and most odious features of fatal- ism, or, rather, that men are mere machines, dead as inorganic matter. They have no notion of moral virtue as an exercise of the human mind ; they even wish that phrase expunged from our lanfjuage. Of course, their sermons generally lie within the narrow limits already marked out ; which they are pleased to style, p-eaching Christ. To this it is proper to add, that they are tenacious of their "■own opinions, and intolerant of those of others in no ordinary degree. I shall justify (his remark, by simply adverting to the recent expulsion of a young man of unblemished character and respectable talents, from a theological seminary in this city. 1 cannot but notice, as an extraordinary coincidence, that the very man who expelled him has, at this time, come out and astonished the world by a pompous and flaming production in favour of general communion, Catholicism and christian charity. I wish he would inform the world whether he intends they shall follow his book, or his example. I cannot express what gratitude I feel to providence, Hiat though Bonner and Gardiner should re- vive, they would not find, in this country, a government ready to second their intolerance by the flames of persecution. The tiger may show his teeth and growl, but he cannot bite. INVESTIGATOR. u No. IV. With no design to exa^2:erate or colour too hicilily. I have, in the pfeceding numbers, given a sketch of the inces^-ant strain of preaching jjursued in many congregations of this city. 1 have not misrepresented, neither have I withheld the truth. As I said, I have no cojitroversy with any man : and am willing to give full credit to the leainitig and talents of many who teach these doc- trines. Indeed, 1 have a charitable hope that some of them ima- gine they are labouring in the cause of truth. But truth will one day instruct them that, as " they have sown the wind they shall reap the whirlwiiid " I will not undertake to say that all the vices of the city are chargeable to the account of their errors ; far from it; but I will undertake to say that their doclrint^s are calculated, and tend, to drive men to skepticism, dei?m, atheism, libertinism; nay, to madness. The rash and unwary man that enters their assembly is amazed to hear his assent clia!lengeiin evideisce of goodness is there in all this ? "Do not even sinners love those that love them ?" Is it a high evidence of a man's piety, that he feels grateful to any one who has done him a 'J, "eat favour? — Surely not. — But to maintain their ground here, they are pushed forward to say that there is, in fact, no such thing as dhintcresled loje. They even endeavour to throw ridi- cule upon the phrase, as without meaning — a phrase as old as our language, and conveymg an idea as old as religion itself. But, for this they have a very obvious motive; because it presents a sword, if I may so say, to the very bosom and heart of their scheme. But there is another term which worries them still more than this, and that is selfishness^ — they cannot bear it ; they wince uailer it, and would fain endeavour to expunge that also from our language. To use a low comparison, it otfends them as deeply as it did the tailor, in the old story, to hear the name of craddoase. " So saying, thou reproachest us also." Tijey seem to feel that their scheme is a selfish one. And if, in fact, to make our own interest and happiness the highest and ruling mo- tive of our conduct, may be termed selfishness, their scheme of religion is purely seltish. And while 1 cast no personal reflections, I do not hesitate to 19 say, that men ardently attached to these speculative notions, have never been found to be remarkably benevolent in their con- duct. They are accused 'of sourness, bigotry, narrowness. I appeal to the eye of the public. Let every man judge for him- self. There are certainly exceptions to this remark : but even numerous and splendid exceptions cannot impair a general rule. Let the word selfishness be expunged from our lanjruage, be- cause certain religious sectarians avow it to be right, yet do not relish the terra on account of a popular odium attached to it: — expunge also the word dismterested, partly because an un- meaning term, though Addison, Johnson, Watts, Tillotson, and Baxter, knew its meaning well, and thought it important and ap- propriate, when applied to certain actions; and partly because, if it mean any thing, its meaning; is far too pure and lofty to be ap- plied to fallen man: — expunge also the term virtue, because they say there is no such thing in either saints or sinners, and you will avoid much cause of offence to the advocates of these doctrines. But when you find a man avowedly selfish, never disinterested, and never virtuous, what sort of man will he be ? I answer, in religion he will be an Essene ; — full of contemplation — high frames — heated zeal — lofty conceits — great confidence — and much holier than others : — but he is as soon cold as hot. In the world, and in business, he is steady to his text ; — seJJish — ^lever disinterested — and not remarkably virtuous. Yes, he vibrates rapidly from the ardours of Vesuvius, to the chill of Greenland — burning or freezing whatever he touches. 1 his is whafetl call an Anlinomian. The question is, how a religion of this complexion will afiect the character, morals, and future welfare of this great city. A question of moment; — a question in which religious teachers have some concern, since they are answerable for its effects. Foster has shown in his Essay, on that subject, why men of taste and learning are often found to despise religion. He says, it is because it is frequentjy'obtruded upon their attention in a garb unsuitable to its character : and, I say, ofteuer because its lovely features are distorted, — its glorious doctrines perverted — though, oftener still, because they are unfriendly to the carnal mind. If the officers sent to apprehend our 8avionr, when they heard him, 20 wied out, " JN'evor man spake like this man !" — (lie man of taste and learning, who hears these doctrines, will cry out in a similar manner, but with a different import. Alas ! I foresee the effects of the scheme ; and I remark, in the last place, 6. If ils most pious and devout followers derive from it an as- pect unlovely and repulsive ; — if it obscure the beauties of reli- gion, it will 3urely present no barrier to vice ; — if it deform the noblest system of truth ever presented to the human mind, it will no less facilitate the advancement of dangerous errors, with progressive influence, and with the power of an extended lever. When Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judg- ment, Felix trembled. There is a power in gospel truth to carry conviction to the heart, which shall influence men's conduct — which shall impose at lea?t a partial restraint, though the work be not profound, and the reformation total and lasting. But it h the singular infelicity of these doctrines, not to impose, but to re- move restraint ; to promote pride, and not humility : — it is not the trumpet of alarm, but the deadly soporific potion, that lulls to security, inaction, and repose. Nothidg but a consciousness of wilful neglect can awaken the mind lo a sense of guilt: — nothing but transgression, far nearer home than Adam, points the soul to the dark avenue of perdition. The extent and prevalence of the influence of these doctrines, in this city, is a proof that God intends to scourge it. They will not produce reformation. They will not stimulate people to good works; and as they sweep off all pretensions to moral virtue at one blow — all due consciousness of guilt, at another — all efforts to obtain salvation, at a third — they shut the book of God, and substitute for its dictates the expositions of a set of men who un- blushingly piofess to be selfish and interesled in all they do. I have hitherto taken no notice of the ulterior consequences of these tenets, or the influence they will exert on the eternal in- terests of mankind. I have considered religious institutions as a civil or political good. In this light I am concerned to perceive this unwholesome strain of public instruction gradually unears upon inspection to be necessary, use- ful, and beautiful. If'a bramble could spring from the grape, a thorn from an olive tree; — if a dove could produce a serpent, or a lamb could sp-nng from a tiger, all order and harmony — all security, us^-fuiness, and beauty, would fnll sacriiicea to universal disappointment, confusion, deformity, and misery. 4 26 Man, though the noblest of terrestrial creatures, by the sove- reign constitution of his Maker, exists under this -enerai law :— and it is admitted and believed, that, had our first parents re- mained in a state of rectitude, they would have continued happy and immortal; and that all their posterity would have, in these respects, been like them. Whatever mankind derive from their first parents must, by the divine constitution, resemble the source from whence derived ; and experience shows that they have de- rived a nature, which, when matured into action, will act sinful- ly. Hence their nature is properly said to be corrupt, and they are in scripture called, " degenerate plants of a strange vine." But blame cannot be charged to the account of any creature prior to, and exclusive of, the consideration of his own voluntary disposition and conduct. 1 beg the reader to examine the preceding few remarks ; to devest himself of all prejudice in favour of names and authori- ties, and he will perceive that they are almost self-evidently true. If the subject may be illustrated by the analogy which it bears to the constitution of the natural world, Adam was constituted the head of the human race, in the same sense that the first ap- ple tree was constituted the head of all apple trees; or the first lion the head of all lions, and all lions acted in the first lion, a& all mankind acted in Adam. The word of God teaches that the human race were ruined by the fall of our first parents. It was so from the sovereign con- stitution already stated. " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, wherefore death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.'''' If, in consequence of Adam's fall, all his posterity derived from him a sinful nature, then it is pro- per to say, that, " by the offence of 07ie, many rvcre made sinners /' and so, of necessity, " by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation." If nothing depended on the exposition of these passages of St. Paul, it must be admitted that this mode of expounding them is fair and liberal. > Indeed, it is clear, that by these expressions he means to allude to the grand constitution already explained, and which experience every moment illustrates before our eyes. But important consequences flow from a right understanding of 27 these and sundry similar passages of scripture. For, if they are understood to establish the idea that Adam's crime, guilt, and cha- racter, are in fact transferred to his descendants, prior to the con- sideration of their own moral character ; if they are condemned for his act, independently of their own, then the first principles of immutable and eternal justice are supervened and destroy- ed, and innumerable solemn and express declarations of holy writ are contradicted. " What mean ye that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying. The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the chil- drens' teeth are set on edge ? — As I live, saiih the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold ! all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father the iniquity of the son. Hear now, O house of Israel, is not my way equal, are not your ways unequal 1" But these words were addressed particularly to the house of Israel. What then ? They go, unequivocally, to the main point for which I contend ; and establish it with great force and clear- ness. God here condescends to vindicate his character from the charge thrown on it by the house of Israel, which was that his way was unequal. He, therefore, by a solemn oath, declares they shall no longer use that proverb, which indicates the impu- tation of guilt, and transfer of character from father to son. " All souls are mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,'' Sic. The equahty and justice of the divine government are predicated on this decla- ration, and do certainly depend essentially on the truth of it; and it is fairly and strongly implied, that, were the son condeimied for the sin of his father, the nay of God would not be equal. Some, indeed, evade these remarks and conclusions by say- ing, humorously, that Ezekiel was rather inclined to Arminian- ism. Alas, for poor Ezekiel and James ! they neither of them stand very high in the opinion of the hyper-calvinist : they were rather lax. It never entered into the heart of any of the sacred and in- spired writers, from Moses to St. John, that Adam's posterity 28 were any otherwise involved in his crime and guilt than that hu- man oalure vv;i- on^iiiriliy and entirtly . oirupftd iu cousi^qufnce of liis aposiacy. 'I'lifc fiisi parents being sinful, frail, itiujJal, and miserable, such are their offs[tiing. The d^-cirine of a real transfer of charactnr, aud iniptjtation of ^iiilt, over an'! above all this, would su; poi^e " the childrens' teeth to be set on edgeP with a vengeance. Yet volumes have been wri'leu to mak< il out; absurdiiies have been heappd upon ab-urd.aes: thousands of pages have been written to show that we all acted in Adam ; and men have strained their eyes to see how that could be, till they bf came bloodshot — nay, even blind. And they remind me of Eiasmus' story of seven men, who went to take a ride, one clear, fine day. with Poole. As they were riding along the road, Poole, to make himself sport, looked up into the heavens, and sudden- ly crossing himself in pretended surprise, declared he saw in the sky a monstrous dragon with fiery horns, and his tail turned up into a circle. They all, very much astonished at the declara- tion, looked up, but saw nothing. " Can't you see it," continued Poole. *' It is there! You must certainly be blind. Amazing;'! How terrible it looks. D.>n't you see it yet? Oh! I never saw such a sight in all my life before. You certainly must see it.'* In short, after awhile, one a little more credulous than the rest said, I think I do see it. Yes, yes — I see it plainly. At this, another fancl^'d he saw it. And, says E»-asmu3, some, by force of imagination, others, fearing they should be thought less sharp- sighted than the rest, confessed they saw it : and they soon all came in, without a dissentin? voice. The next day a particular account of the prodigy was published in the p;ipers, authenticated by the testimony of six or seven credible men. To candiil, unprejudiced men, I shall use but one argument to prove we did not act in Adam ; and that is, because we did not exist till long after Adam left the world. INVESTIGATOR. 29 No. VII. Depravity consists in the want of holiness, or, if you please, love of sin'; and has no connexion, strictly speaking, witli a man's ability to du right or to do wrong. In this sense ( consider man- kind by nature as totally depraved, for they have no love to God, to his law, or government, or gospel. They have no incapacity to do right but what arises from their love to do wrong; there is no bar in the way of their doing their whole duty, but their disinclinatioa to do it. Their love of sin, though voluntary, is so decided and unitorm, their disinclination to obey God, though free, is so de- termined and strong, that some have been pleased, for the sake of distinction, to term it a moral inability. If it must be ad liitted a?, a perfection and felicity, in any lan- guage when ii is stored with words and phrases fully adapted to express, without tedious circimlocution the various ideas we mav wish to convey, it surely cannot be denied that the phrase moral inalrlily is both useful and necessary. If it be convenient to have a phrase which shall express, in a clear and simple man- ner, the impediment which arises from a strong disinclination to do a thing, or a voluntary determination not to do it, the ;;hrase before us is convenient. I am unable to pluck the sun from his station in the heavens ; this is called a natural inability. 1 am unable to ascend a tower and throw mys« if down ; this is a moral inabihty. And, using words according to tt e;r common and popular import, in the former of these cases there is ,a want of ability ; in the latter a want of will. However the sinner's inability may be considered, whether natural or moral; whether in want of ability, or in want of will, one thing is certain, the above distinction ^-xists, and has been re- cognised by the ablest, ojost perspicuous, and most classical writers ill our language, and probably in all languages. Indeed, there is not a day passes, there is scarcely an occurrence in which this phra- seoh'gy is not adopted ; and I am bold to say none use it oftener than those very persons who inveigh so bitterly against moral in- ability as an idle and useless distinction. Every body, learned and unlearned, old and young, uses the phrase, and understands it. 30 Every one is in the habit of saying, when he feels an utter di^ inclination to do a thing, " I cannot do it :" When he is determin- ed not to do a certain act, " I cannot do it: I am unable to do it." This phrase prevails in all sorts of business, on all occasions, in all books, and in all lanj;uages, and the man who condemns the distinction has nothing to shield him from the charge of diS' honesty but incorrigible ignorance. Now, no great stretch of metaphysics is necessary to perceive, that if it be proper for me to say I cannot do an act, merely be- cause I am determined not to do it, it is proper also to call that a moral inability, to distinguish it from that inability which arises from want of power. Having shown what I mean by a moral inability; having said, as I think, enough to put the adversaries of this distinction, both to silence and to shame, I now proceed to observe, in brief, that mankind labour under no other kind of inability to perform the whole duty which God requires of them. In proof of this, had I time, I might quote almost the entire, volume of Scripture. Were a hundred prisoners chained like Baron Trenck, by massy links and staples to the floor and walls of their prison, should a man go into the prison and begin to exhort them to hasten out without delay ; what would they think of hiui ? they would take him either for a tyrant come to insult their helplessness, or for a madman or an idiot ; and they would rej)!y to his exhortation, do y^ou not see these chains? why do you insult us? , An exhortation or command to do a duty, always implies a be- lief in the one who exhorts, that he, to whom the exhortation is given, is capable of doing the duty enjoined upon him. If this great principle be denied, the plainest dictates of cominon sense and jus- tice are abolished and done away, and the Bible becomes a book of riddles and contradictions. It is, indeed, such gross perver- sion of the plainest dictates of reason, justice, and common sense, that has tilled all Christendom with infidels, atheists, and apostates; — that has shroudey a large portion of all their sermons in persuading peo^jle that they cannot do any of these triings, Avhich G(»d, and hia pro- phets and apostles have exhorted and commanded them to do, any more than they can pluck the sun from the heavens. And when one endeavours to relieve the difficulty, by showing that their inabi!i(y is only of the moral kind, consisting in want of will, and not of power, an outcry is raised, he is hooted and scouted as an Arminian, and the people assured, over and over again, Uiat their inabiUty is a true and natural incapacity, or want oi' power. Ev«^ry one knows that universal assent, (" quod est norma la- quendi,") has rendered it as proper for me to say,! cannot throw myself into a furnace, or from a precipice, as it is to say, I can- not overturn a mountain. But these " cannots^'' are of a very dif- ferent character — one is a mere want of will, the other is a total want of power. What rational ground of objection is there to calling one a natural, the other a moral inability ? The distinc- tion is clear — it is easily perceived — it is useful; for, in fact, none is more used ; it is necessary, because no other simple phrase can express it. Who does not perceive how it alters the case, whether a man is jjpeveuted from doing his duty by want of will, or by want of power? And, I add, this distinction applies to one of the most important doctrines of religion. Yet these tri- angular divines cannot perceive it : but their cannot is a will not. And how difficult it is to make a man see what he will not ; for none are so blind as those who will not see. If you even seize them by the shoulders, and turn them by main strength round towards the object, they will then turn away their face. But if you force their heads round in the direction, they will then shut their eyes; force open their eyelids, and they will roll away their eyeballs. Th^ violent oppositio^h to this grand and obvious distinction arises from this, that, if once admitted, their scheme of depravity is overthrown. Their successful opposition is, to them, worth as much as victory. The scripture writers wrote long before modern controversies had given a technical meauing to half the terms in theology ; long 32 beFore the church had been dressed up in the stays of Aristotle, or tricked out in rag-;, ribands, and fringes of oriental piiiloso- phy. They stood in no fear of tiie pedaniie square au'l com- pasi^es of the learned Dr. Buclirarn. Their style, tliough bold and figurative, was free and popular, and easy to be understood. .Indeed, as to the great doctrines of relij;ion, it h easy to be un- derstood by us, at this dislant day, except where covered by the cobwebs of biblical critics, and entangled by the bewildered and bewildering brains of learned theorists, wno sit plodding in their studies, till they become enveloped in clouds and vapours, and are fairly led into the great, great ili mal, by an ignis fatuus ; or, like one of the most learned and best of men, imagine them- selves a teapot. It is impossible to follow the strain of exhortation which flows unceasingly through the Ohl and New Te-stament, and not rer- ceive that it was given on the full persuasion and assurance that men are fully able to do what they are exhorted to do ; that their only impediment lies in the will, and is, of course, their crime; whereas, if it lay in want of power, it v/ould be their ex- cuse. But I am morfifit'd. I blush for human nature, that it is necessary to insist on this point That it should ever have been doubted is full proof of moral depravity — of wilful blindness. Those who insist on a true and natural inability in the sinner to obey God, furnish him wilh the best excuse imaginable; for he will say, I cannot do right, and, therefore, 1 am not to blame. Whereas, those who lay all the blame on the will, devest him of all excuse, and effectually convince him of criminality. And this is probably the clue to that, flaming zeal to abolish the dis- tinction of moral inability evinced by many, and the readiness to embrace the doctrine of these teachers, by a still greater number. While paying, as they ima<£ine a proftund compliment to the shrine of humility, they find their pride and sloth sufTicienlly gratified But the advocates and disseminators of error have generally sterner and more cogent motives, than are intrinsical to their system, otherwise their mighty stru.- tures would soon crumble to their foundation, and vanish ' into air — thin air." 1 hese mo- tives grow out of their particular circumstances: in short, they hre selfisli modves, arising from interest and ambition. And, surely, the professed champions of selfishness cannot be disgusted with the charge of a little selfishness, since they assume the thing charged by avowing the principle. Their selfish motives I shall hereafter notice. If the term inability be at all applicable to a man when no- thing impedes him but disinclination, the sinner's inability must be pronounced wholly of the moral kind. This can be shown, to a degree of certainty approaching as near to mathematical de- monstration as any proposition of an abstract and moral nature. It was far from the design of these numbers to enter into the de- tails of argument; and it shall suffice to say, that the sinner can do his whole duty, because that duty is easy, and adapted to the powers and faculties of all rational minds. If it be easy to be- lieve what is made clearly evident, and to love that which is in- finitely beautiful, the sinner's duty is easy. The sinner can do his duty because that duty is prescribed by an infinitely wise and good being, who knows how to adapt his requirements to the capacities of his creatures, and whose wisdom and goodness are manifested by that adaptation. That nothing prevents him from conforming to all divine requirements but want of will to do it, i& evident from the whole word of God, in which his nonconformity is invariably placed on that fooling alone, and is in no place as- cribed to any other cause. The continual exhortations and com- mands of God show us how God himself estimates the sinner's ability; and the duty to perform, and the ability to perform it, are the exact measures of each other ; in short, obligation and ability correspond, and run parallel with each other, and cease together. All just notions of the nature and powers of a moral agent, set this point in the clearest light; and when I hear a man begin to talk about a moral agency to do wrong, but not to do right, I feel myself much in the predicament of St. Anthony wheu lecturing the fishes: and did I not know that a moral agent might be very ignorailt, I should almost be tempted to deny that exalted rank to such superlative ignorance. To believe in absurdities, and things evidently false, and to practise supposed impossibilities, requires, indeed, a monstrous stretch of faith, and an incredible degree of power ; perhaps these 5 34 strenuous advocates of man's natural, or, if you please, physicaf inability, get that idea from the peculiar complexion of their scheme. I am willing, for one, to do them the justice to confess that I labour under a true natural inability to believe in their doctrines, or practice, agreeably to their faith, INVESTIGATOR. No. VIII. My present object is, without descending to elaborate argu*- xnent, to convey, in as few words as possible, what I understand to be the scripture doctrine of the atonement of Christ, As the death of Christ is generally allowed to be a propitiatory sacrifice, if those who are concerned to understand the doctrine of the atonement would consider attentively in what way, or oa what principle, the death of Christ made propitiation for sin, I think there could be but one opinion couceruing the atonement. But utterly overlooking this grand point, and resorting to meta- phors and comparisons which have but iew points of resemblance to the great subject in question, embarrassment, confusion, and error have found thCir way into one of the plainest doctrines of the Bible. The advocates of what may be called particular atonement amuse and edify themselves by continually resorting to certain expressions and passages of scripture, such as. that Christ died for his people, laid down his life for the sheep, &c. never considering that they have no right to monopolize these expressions as sup- porting their scheme. If Christ tasted death for every man, he certainly did so for his people. If he were a propitiation for the Bins of the whole world, he certainly was for the sins of his elect. If he laid down his life for all mankind, he surely did so for hie sheep. The metaphor of debt and credit has done infinite mischief in this business. They consider the elect as owing a debt to justice, which Christ has paid ; and his payment is of course passed ta their credit; so that they then have a legal right to demand par- 35 s^on and justification; and this demand is sometimes made 112 their prayers and religious exercises, in a manner so bold and daring, as to shock the humble and penitent christian. Yet, after all, they appear never to have considered how it is that the death of Christ makes propitiation for sin, or pays the debt they so much talk of; and, if so, they are profoundly ignorant of the nature of ihe atonement. But if they do not understand its nature, how can they judge correctly of its extent ? The curse of the law of God is his displeasure, expressed in the punishment of transgression. But why is (he law of God penal? — What end is to be answered by the punishment of the transgressor ? It is not because God takes delight in the misery of his creatures, for its own sake. It is not to repair the breach of the law, for that is impossible : what is done cannot be undone. It is not to reclaim (he offender, for it does not do it. It is, in one word, to show GocVs haired of sin, and, in the same degree, his love of holiness. This is indeed (he object of penalty under human governments: it is to show the displeasure of the supreme authority at transgression. The penaKy of the divine law is the only mean of showing to intelligent creatures God's hatred of sin. If the obedient and disobedient fared equally well under God's government, there could be no distinction made between sin and holiness. When a sinner' is punished, all rational creatures, which see it, perceive how the Almighty Ruler regards transgression, and they will fear to transgress: at the same time, they see how God honours his own law, by the terrible manifestation of his displeasure; and they will be lead to honour the same. When Christ endured the curse of the law, the same discovery was made of God's hatred of transgression — the same, of his re- ^rd for his own law : though perhaps in a still more striking form than when sinners are punished for their own sins. Christ, therefore, made propitiation for sin, by his death, by com- pletely answering thereby the great end of penalty, or the death of the sinner. This I understand to be the nature of the atonement or propi- tiation of Christ; and it differs essentially from all notions of ice to the subject iu hand. But this ({uestion admits not only of oue, but of various satisfactory answers. 1. The nature of Christ's propitiation for sin shows it to'bii an unlimited, general principle. In sustaining the curse of the law, he showed in the greatest possible degree God's hatred of sin, and in the same decree magnified the law, and made it honourable. We are not to understand that the propitiation, ov satisfaction, of justice must vary, and be greater or less accord- ing to the number to be saved. Yet this is clearly implied in the payment of a debt, and is certainly the idea of those who hold to particuiar atonement. They seem to imagine that all the sins of the elect, forming a certain amount, are estimated,. and propi- tiation made for them. In this lies their error. They ought to know that God has not shown his hatred of sins by the death of Christ, either by number or amount, but, on the contrary, tliat he has shown an infinite abhorrence of all sin, and an infinitely high regard for the honour of his law. They cannot but perceive that as much as this would have been necessary to propitiate justice, had there been but one sinner to save, and certainly no more is possible were all men to be saved. According to their own principles, before considered, if one sin ivere sufficient to involve not only one man, but a whole race of creatures in infinite guilt and endless jierdition, they must allow that, after Adam's first sin, he alone could not have been savetS, but by the whole propitiation which Christ has made. And, at any rate, it must be admitted that had there been but one man, and had he committed but one sin, we have no means of perceiv- ing how he could have obtained pardon and salvation, but through a full and complete propitiation for sin. We cannot, therefore, infer that Christ made propitiation for the elect only, from any limitation or deficiency in the atone- ment. The vicarious sufferings of Christ were, in all respects, the same as they would have been had he intended to die for the whole world : — the same his humiliation — his sufferings — his con- descension — his death. 2. I think I have heard gentlemen who held to a particular 38 atonement, acknou'led^c that (here was merit or efilcacj enough m Christ's atonement (o srive not only tlsis, but a thousant! nvnrJdij. Thougih I thouglit the expression somewhat unguarded, yet, indeed, if a propitiation so full and perfect was made, in what way can any one contrive to limit it to a certain part of mankind ? The word of God makes no such limit, but informs us that he actually did make propilialionfor the sins of the whole TV arid ; that he tasted death for every man ; that he died for all; that in him should all naUons be blessed, and that his gos- pel should be glad tidings to all people. I am fully aware that a reply is ready for all these passages» and a thousand more ; and I am also aware that religious disputes are now maintained, not by simple scripture authority, but by scripture filtrated through the coniSicting opinions of great and learned critics, expositors, and casuists ; against whom a point- blank text of scripture is as a dart of straw thrown aj^ainst Dover cliffs. The shot is fair, but the rock does not fall. Tell a man what the Bible says against his scheme, and he will laugh at you ; or, if he choose to dispute, he will, with a smile at your igno- rance, reply, " I know very well that those are the, words of scripture, but have you not read how Dr. Dogmaticus, and father Fungus, have explained it ; and even Bishop Bigbelly is of the same opinion." You may lay your finger on your lip and retire, for you are beat ; and may sa};- with Job, on a different occasion, ** If I speak I shall be swalloAved up !" This may be stiled rant, and if it be even so, I deem it the only answer that is due to the bold and barefaced evasion of the plain and simple declarations of sacred writ. But taking away the fictitious, and substituting real names, and it expresses nothing but the imperishable truth. But to return — 3. The gospel, in its own nature and genuine spirit, clearly implies a propitiation for all mankind, and that through Christ the door of mercy is set open for all. The angels sent to an- nounce the Saviour's birth to the shepherds, understood it thus : " Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to you and all people^'' he. That the invitation is made general, merely because the elect of Christ are unknown to those who preach the gospel, is a poor and pitiful shift, and renders the pro« 39 clamallon liable to the charge of dishoneslj-, and the invitation, of insincerity. Siiould I make a dinner for but two persons, ami then send out pressing invitations to ten; nay, and should threaten the whole with my utmost displeasure if they did not come ; in what light would my conduct be viewed by those who knew the whole of the facts ? How surprised would the two be, when they come to see there was provision only for them ? And as to the eight, who were invited with urgency and threatening, when they come to learn that a dinner was only made for two, what might they not justly say? Tliey might, and would say, the invi- tation was false and abusive; and, had we accepted, nothing was prepared for us. Far different from this was the wedding feast of the King's son. But the all-seeing God knows who his people are, yet he does invite all to come. "Look unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved saith the Lord." Li fine, (for to dwell on this point seems like urging a self-evident proposition,) all the invi- tations of the gospel are unqualified and universal ; and those who finally reject them, shall hereafter know that they rejected a sincere invitation to a full and infinitely rich provision. Nothing can set this point in a clearer light than our Saviour's own parable of the marriage of the king's son. The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son ; and sent forth to call those that were bidden to the wedding j and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen, and my fatUngs are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways. Matt. xxii. 2 — 5. Can a man who reads this parable doubt of the fulness of the gospel provision for all men — of the sincerity of the invitation to all men — of the voluntariness of its rejection, and, of course, of the ability to have accepted? After reading this, can any one ask for whom Christ made propitiation ? If there should be such^ ready to halt, I can only answer him by saying, " For the sins of tJie ?vhole world;' and leave him to furbish up his powers of evasion. 4. Infinitely more noble, more grand, more benevolent does 40 the gospel plan appear, on the ground of a general atonement. If a province in the domhiions of some monarch should rebel, and the monarch should, on certain terms, publish an act of grace to a certain portion of the people, telling them if they would lay down their arms, by such a day, they should obtain pardon and be restored to favour, while all the rest were doomed to in- evitable destruction : — would this look as magnanimous, as g:reat, as worthy of a miglity potentate, as though the act of grace ex- tended to all? How much more splendid and magnificent would the proclamation run, did it state that the great sovereign had found out a ransom for the whole, provided they would accept his overtures, and bow to his sceptre. There is reason to adore God that this is the language of the gospel. " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature : he that believelh and is bapiized shall be saved.' — But this language is not true, if an atonement is made for but a part. And thi? point, I think, has not been sufficiently brought into view. It cannot be said to one for whom no propitiation is made, " If you will believe in Christ you shall be saved" It would be the meanest and basest of all quibbles, in tlie most sa- cred and awful of all concerns. It would, in fact, be nothing less than a most atrocious falsehood. Were I in a ship at sea, which was rapidly sinking, and the boat was already so fdled as not to be able to hold another person, would it be correct — would it be true or decorou?, should some one say to me, " Come, if you will get into the boat you may go to an island, not far off, and be saved? — And to this I will add, especially if I were chained fast in the hold of that vessel, and the boat already com- pletely filled, how would it sound in my ears, should some one with great earnestness say to me, Come, go into the boat — (here is an island near, and you may escape ? There would be false- hood upon falsehood, and insult upon insult. This proposition would import the following things, 1. The boat will hold yoii. 2. You have permission to enier it ; and, 3. You are able to enter it. Whoever says to a sinner, " If you will believe in Christ you shall be saved," says to him the following things : 1st. Christ has atoned for your sins. 2d. He is willing to save you ; and, 3d. 41 You are able to believe in hiin. Christ himself intended all those four things when he said to the Jews, " Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." For, surely, if he had not died for them, to what purpose could he say they were unwilling to come to him as a Saviour? And if there were a deeper impediment than want of will, why should he ascribe their not coming to the want of will? If there be a sinner for whom no atonement is made, that sin- ner could not be saved, even should he believe in Christ: more- over, if their notion of appropriating faith be true, which is, that every christian must believe that Christ died in a particular man- ner for him, then, whoever exhorts that sinner to believe in Christ, exhorts him to believe a lie. Wherefore, these triangular preach- ers must be cautious to whom they direct their exhortations. Nor will it always avail them, though they keep close to their lines and angles. 5. The idea usually entertained of the sin of unbelief, and which none insist upon more than these preachers, corroborates the doctrine of general atonement. They generally teach that saving faith consists in the christian's believing that Christ died for him. But how can a man believe that Christ died for him, when he, in fact, did not die for him ; and when no propitiation is made for his sins ? Which side of the dilemma will they en- counter ? Will they allow that Christ made propitiation for all men, and thereby ground a charge of unbelief against those that do not embrace the Saviour; or will they adhere to their triangle, and at once exonerate the whole non-elect world from the sin of unbelief? But there are innumerable declarations and facts, dispersed through all parts of the holy scriptures, which go to establish the doctrine of a general propitiation. " Behold," saith the apostle John, " the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world;" alluding .probably to the words of isaiah, who said of the Messiah, that he should make an end of sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness. No expression can more fully convey the idea of full and universal propitiation. And there is but one way to avoid this construction, v»'hich is by mending up the passage by the help of another word. The word KOSMOS, which, in the Greek, 42 is used for world, out of eleven different meanings, furnishes no one which requires or admits an epithet before it : and I have as good a right to put before it the word European, or American, ancient or modern, as any man has to put the word elect or re- deemed. I believe it is nowhere in the Scriptures used to sig- nify the cJiurch of Christ: on the contrary, it is generally used to mean the world in its most literal sense, or the people, inde- finitely, who inhabit it. The high priest of the Jews, on the trial of our Saviour, de- clared that it was necessary that one should die for the people. " This he spake," saith the evangelist John, '' not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation." — By what spirit did he prophesy? — By the Spi- rit of God. — Were the Jewish nation believers ? — Did tiiey not as a nation reject the Redeemer? — Have they not as a nation been unbelievers ever since? And yet a man prophesied by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that Christ should die for that na- tion. This is surely out of the triangle. But to conclude this number: there is no point in the whole gospel plan, more abundantly expressed or strongly implied, than that Christ, as far as propitiation or atonement is concerned, died for all men — offered up himself a ransom for all — tasted death for every man, and made propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Therefore, said the Apostle to the Hebrews, " How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ?" Assuring them, with all the force of reasoning and of eloquence, that salvation was brought within their reach ; and virtually enforcing the accusation laid by Christ himself, in another place, against the Scribes and Pharisees, of wilfully refusing to enter into the kingdom of hea- ven themselves, — nay, and of preventing others that would enter from going in. Away with this contracted, limited, starved, unscriptural no- tion of the atonement : — it is defacing the corner stone of the christian fabric, — cutting it down to a pebble, on which the glo- rious superstructure cannot rest, but totters to its foundation. It ought to be the highest glory of every gospel minister, to preach " Christ the Saviour of all men, but especially of them that helietx :" — to assure mankind that the door of mercy is set open 43 before them, from which nothing can exclude them but their re- fusal to enter: — that God is long suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The gos- pel, deprived of these and similar topics, is defaced — its beauties tarnished — its riches wasted — its influence destroyed. " It is an- other gospel." INVESTIGATOR. No. IX. These gentlemen, who, to save circumlocution,may, perhaps, be stiled Triaonoi, which I think they would prefer to Antimoralinabi- litists, beside the true and genuine wielding of the sword of the spirit, have two ways of defending their cause. One isj by casting over their whole scheme the lustre and glory of great names and authorities, such as Calvin, Turretin, Pictet, Ridgely, Owen, Mar- shall, and the like ; shrouding, under this sort of panoply, more notions which those men never thought of, than there were ever toads seen under the sweep of a rainbow after a shower. The other is, by casting an invincible odium upon their adversaries ; accusing them of holding to the most strange, daugerous, and even blasphemous sentiments: as for example, that God is the author of sin; — that peojjle must be willing to be damned, in or- der to be saved ; — that all sin consists in selfishness. Beside this, they have a most incurable prejudice against certain terms, which are considered to be very favourite words with some ; for instance, such terms as disinterestedness, benevolence, virtue, morahty, and the like. A paragraph or two on each of these particulars, I think will be abundant to remove the mist from the eyes of most people. I say mist; for the filling of people's minds with causeless ter- rors, with these frightful words, reminds me of the mode of de- fence used by a certain fish, which I think is called a squid ; who, when he is pursued, throws back into the eyes of his pursuer a 44 black cloudy water, whereby he loses the track, and the squid escapes. I never, in my life, heard a person say that he thought God was the author of sin; though I have personally known Hopkins, and many of his most distinguished followers. That God is Bomehow or other concerned in the existence of sin, is an in- ference, however, drawn from premises which few will deny. The illustrious assembly of protestant divines who formed the Augsbargh confession of faith, with Luther and Melancthon at their head, say, in that confession, that Satan was the author of' sin. But, it is replied. Satan was once an angel of light, and if his first sin were the first sin ever committed in God's kingdom, then, before his first sin, there was nothing sinful. Then, either the first sin had no cause, or must have been caused or committed by a holy being. " But this is going too far back — it is presump- tuous." Ah ! quite too far back for these modest, humble, reason- ers. They will do well to observe it goes no further back than intuitive demonstration paves the way, I will leave it for them to take whi« h part of the dilemma they choose, and draw their own consequences. Some people are accused of too great boldness in their reason- ings. Let Ub see who is the most bold and irreverent. Every one believes that God existed from eternity, before sin took place in his kingdr)m. Would it not be very bold and impious to say that sill commenced contrary to his expectation? Would it not be blasphemous to say that He could not have prevented the be- ginning of sin ? Would it not be an impeachment of all his per- fections, to entertain a belief that he could even be indifferent concerning an event which was to change the face of his whole kingdom, to influence the condition of all creatures to eternity, and to lead the way to the grandest event which ever engaged the attention of creatures ? What will tiiese modest and humble reasoners say of the iticar- nation, death, resurrection, reigi\ and glory of the Son of God, the second person in the ever blessed Trinity ? Were these grand events merely remedial and preventive, in reference to an event no ways connected with the divine purposes ? Would it be extravagant — would it be unscriptural to say that the in- • 45 carnation, and work of Christ, were regarded as uUimale ends, even in the creation and general providence of God, since through that w^ork God is manifested to his creatures, and his moral kiugdom brought into a c'oser union with him? Why, then, is Christ called the beginning of the creation of God, the first born of every creature ? God works all things after the counsel of his own will; yet, according to these modest teachers, who never pry into any thing beyond their depth, the whole plan of providence and redemp- tion has been diverted, nay, forced into a certain channel, to ob- viate the effects of an event in which the agency of God had no concern. According to this doctrine, that very event, in which the divine agency had no concern, has been the means of bring- ing about more good than any event in which the divine agency ever was concerned. If God had no way to produce, influence, and control events, but such as creatures use, we then might be justly alarmed at the idea of any divine agency, either direct or indirect, concerned in the existence of evil. Herein is the error of mankind; they measure the methods and motives of the divine conduct by their own. " Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself, but I will reprove thee quickly." These are some of the reasonings usually resorted to by those who are accused of holding that God is the author of sin. For myself, I can truly say, I ever disliked the expression, and I can say as much for many who are accused of holding to the doc- trine. How far, and in what way, the divine agency was con- cerned in the existence of evil, after submitting the foregoing re- marks, I leave every one to judge for himself. Their argument may be divided into two parts, which, lest it may be misunder- stood, I shall repeat. 1. They contend, that the first sin must either have had no cause, or a holy cause. Quis protest negare ? 2. They say that the consequences of sin have been far too great, and too peculiar, to admit of the supposition of indifference, or inefficiency concerning its origin, in a being of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, who foresaw it. And it must be admit- ted, that the work of creation itself is considered in the scrip- 46 tures as subordinate, and leading to the work of redemption ; since the great Redeemer is called the beginning of the creation of God, the tirst born of every creature. He was appointed heir of all things; — the whole universe was given him as an in- heritance, even before it was created. Yet, without sin there could have been neither redem{)tion, Redeemer, nor Iramanuel. Their notion, if they have any, Beams to subject us to the base and degrading idea, that the entire and eternal plan of God's kingdom and government turned upon an event concerning which he had neither will, agency, nor influence. The clamour that is raised against certain people, who are said to hold that a sinner must be vviliing to be damned in order to be saved, is almost too idle and ridiculous to merit a moment's attention ; yet, like the discharge of the squid, it blinds people's eyes, and scatters a great deal of fog and darkness. It is even amusing to hear them talk on the subject. *' What, must I be willing to live with devils in fire and brimstone to all eternity, in order to be saved ? Impossible ! O, what horrible sentiments I These people must be monsters in human shape," &tc. The people accused of this most extraordinary error, as far as I have known their opinions, hold no more, on this article, than all christians, and even the more enlightened heathen admit, to- gether with Jews and Mahometans. They hold, that every ra- tional creature in heaven, earth, and hell, ought to feel perfect sub- mission to the will of God. Now, if this be an error, let it be made to appear such. If it be true and correct, let these tender- hearted clamourers avoid the consequences which necessarily re- sult from it, if they can. While they hold unqualified submis- sion to the divine will the duty of all rational creatures, they al- so believe that a certain degree of that submission, or resigna- tion, belongs to the christian character. And will any one deny it? The christian, they say, sees that his damnation would be just, and is ready to exclaim with Job, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." As to any one's being willing to be an ene- my to God to all eternity, it is out of the question ; for damna- tion, in strictness, impUes the penalty of the law, and not the transgression of it. It is probable that every christian is fully- aware that it is not the will of God that his people should be 47 damned ; in feeling resignation to his will, therefore, which is one evidence of their adoption, it is not implied that they feel willing to be damned. If it be right that a wicked man should be damned, I would ask these good people, whether they think that a wicked man ought to be willing that God should do right 1 I fear they will detect themselves of as huge an error as they charge upon others : for, I strongly conjecture, they will not dare to say that even a wicked man does right to continue to be a rebel against God. There is nothing on this subject worthy of notice ; nothing that a man of sense and candour would waste a moment about; but, truly, the outcry that has been raised concerning this, evinces a spirit the most base, carping, and unfair. It is, indeed, not long since it was declared in a public lecture, before a great audience, in this city, that a certain sect of people held that all virtue con- sisted in being willing to he damned. This was said, if 1 recollect right, by the celebrated Dr. M'Fog, and is what may be called, in vulgar terms, a thumper. For no such thing is believed or as^ serted by any one. Whether a public teacher, whp thus wan- tonly commits himself to falsehood for the sake of exciting popu- lar odium, does thereby add any thing to the score of his faith or good works, I shall not determine. These champions for selfishness, when they hear it asserted that all sin consists in selfishness, are, no doubt, much displeased. This opinion, though it may be maintained by some, -in their metaphysical disquisitions, is peculiar to no class or denomina- tion of people ; therefore, were it never so erroneous, is not to be charged upon any scheme of theology. But wherein con- sists its odious enormity — or in what respect is it incorrect ? ^ By selfishness, I mean that disposition in the mind of man which sets up the interest, honour, gratification, or happiness of himself above any other object. Now, I ask, what sin is human nature charged with, which may not easily and directly be traced to that source ? Is a man covetous ? What does the increase of wealth regard but self aggrandizement and gratification? Who desires what is not his own but for that end? Whither does am- bition tend ? What is the source and motive of envy, hatred, and 48 revenge ? The man of pleasure, what does he aim at ? Wiiat gives rise to intrigue — perjury — treason — slander ? What impels the thief — the robber — the assassin — the conqueror? Again I ask, whence is the reluctance of men to obey the law of God? It is because they find no gratification, no pleasure, in the duties which it requires : it restrains their pleasures, and for- bids the indulgence of their passions; therefore, they hate it. For the same reason they hate God himself, and prefer their own pleasure and gratification to his houour and glory. Hence it is, that selfish men are ofien in danger of mistaking a kind of natural gratitude which they feel towards God, when he does them good, and prospers their enterprises, for a true and ho- ly love to God ; whereas, it is but simply the approbation and en- joyment of their own interest, as flowing from his providence. Christ himself teaches that to love those that love us is no very exalted excellence, since he assures us, even sinners love sinners, and can feel very well disposed to requite a kindness. There is, indeed, no doubt, a great deal of supposed love to God and to Christ, which arises from the very lowest and most unmingled selfishness. A man, by some means, imbibes a persuasion that God loves him, has done him much good, and is going to do hira much more; nay, he goes fuither, and persuades himself that Christ died for him, and will save him. This is enough to ex- cite his love and gratitude, and he talks how ardently he loves God, and how much devoted he is to the Saviour. This is but a concise view of the religion of these selfish teachers. They, in fact, have the boldness to assert thai th«- highest motive a sinner has to love God and Christ, is because he has received great fa- vours from them, and expects still ii;rea(er. They say that ab- stract views of the excfcllency of God's character are too remote, too exalted, too far removed from himnan conception, to he the proper foundation of love and admiration ; that, whatever they may be to higher orders of creatures, they nre-far too pure, ex- alted, and refined, to operate as motives on men. O wretched religion! Self-deceived pretenders to godliness! O selfishness in perfection — base — miserable, and blind ! A man may have all this religion, may be full of it, and full of zeal to promote it, and yet have none of the spirit of Christ. Is there 49 then no such thing as a divine character ? Has Jesus Christ no cha- racter which can be apprehended, and supremely loved, UDmin- gled with one consideration of self ? Whence has arisen all this noise about greatness, amiableness, excellency of character, even in men; which fills all books, and which has been the highest object of admiration, panegyric, and delight, to men in all ages? " Ah ! it is all nothing; — all too remote and abstract to hit hu- man faculties. / can love nothing but what does me good : — I must perceive its connexion with my interest, or I cannot feel any regard for it." This is selfish language ; and it is sordid enough. The character of God is sufficiently manifested to his rational creatures to command supreme and universal love and adora- tion. There is no character among the heroes and patriots of his- tory, so fully displayed — so prominently evident — so easily and clearly apprehensible. This infinitely glorious character is col- lected from what God has revealed of himself — his nature and attributes — his providence and grace, in his works and in his tvord. A man comes and tells me that a neighbour of his has done him a very great kindness ; has paid for him a sum of money, and rescued him from prosecution and from prison : what if I should say to him, in reply, He has indeed been very kind, and laid you under peculiar obligations. But I know that man well ; in what he has done for you, he has evinced the character he universally possesses. He has done thousands of such acts in the course of his life, and thousands of people hare shared in his beneficence. The whole of his fortune is devoted to the benefit of mankind ; and the various resources of his mind are directed and exhaust- ed in promoting all sorts of improvements ; in founding hospitals, seminaries, and liberal and charitable institutions. He has made great improvements in the agriculture of his whole neighbour- hood; and has done more to encourage the arts and sciences and to promote human happiness, than any man of his time. But hold, says the man, that is all well enough, but it is nothing to me. I feel no interest in these abstract views of character. The good he may have done to thousands, and all his great and benevolent 50 plans, do not strike my feelings at all. Let them be extofled by those who were, or will be, interested in, and benefited by them. This man has paid a hundred dollars for tne, and, therefore, I love him. It cannot be supposed that I can be affected by the good he has done to others ; and, above all, that I can be so abstract and metaphysical as to run back to consider his character and disposition, prior to the consideration of his actions, and which lie at the bottom of his conduct. That would be all nonsense, or, at best, far too refined for me. I like the man because he has done me good ; he has promoted my interest, and, therefore, I can feel great regard for him. What ought I to think of such a man ? — I should, I confess, consider him as a blind, unfeeling, selfish wretch, on whom the great and liberal man had wasted his bounty, were it not that " Mercy is twice blest, In him ■who gives it, and in him who takes." So that one of the blessings will at least redound to the giver, however the other may affect the receiver. Room is furnished for the rise and spread of an unlimited kingdom, through interminable space and eternal duration, in which the glorious God and Father of all has, from ancient days, poured forth emanations of his infinite goodness. In this rising and spreading kingdom, adorned with magnificence answerable to the power and wisdom of the divine architect, are placed innumerable orders of creatures. Beginning with inactive, inorganic matter, thence rising to the vegetable, then to the sensitive and animal kingdoms, — and still higher to creatures of a mixed nature, com- posed of body and mind, and endowed with sensation and reflec- tion ; and, last of all, for here our perceptions and means of know- ledge terminate, to pure spirits, with whose mode of existence and general habits we are still unacquainted. Through these immense departments of being, the great Author has manifested one cha- racter of power, wisdom, design, justice, and benevolence. In- lelligence begins with man, and ascends to higher degrees of ex- cellence in angels. But as, in our present state, we do not need the information,^ so the infinitely wise Teacher has not Informed us concerning the various natures, numbers, orders, residences, and 51 powers of superior, creatures. Yet enough is communicated to assure us that, in all those respects, they are answerable to the grandeur of the kingdom in which they live, and of the God and Father whom they adore. In ways inconceivably glorious and wonderful, God is making himself known to this great family : and as all rational creatures are immortal, there is full reason to believe these discoveries will always continue and increase ; while to contemplate, admire, and adore will be the ceaseless employment of holy intelligences, through a happy eternity. Before this great family, the Almighty Fafher has exhibited a character marked with the strongest lines — the most distinguish- ed and illustrious traits. Nor is there a rational creature, whose faculties are mature according to the constitution of his nature, who cannot perceive it. Every thing, from the great frame of nature to the minutest insect, declares his power and wisdom : nor less do they declare his infinite benevolence. But the work of redemption more especially brings into light, and fully illus* (rates, his moral perfections. Nor is it likely that this work is con- cealed from any of his intelligent creatures : nor is it viewed with less interest, delight, or astonishment, by those pure intelligen- ces who never fell, than it is or will be by those for whom the benefits of redemption are immediately designed ; while, on the contrary, the redeemed will rejoice with equal fervor in behold- ing divine goodness, like a mighty river, flowing from the throne of God, and dispensing itself abroad in immortal streams, to en- rich, adorn, and glorify the whole intelligent system. Can it be believed that the base and loathsome doctrine of self- ishness is violently intruded, by these teachers, even into this theme 1. Yes : they will tell you lijat every christian, yea, every saint, will be so completely occupied with the high importance of his own happiness, that he will not be able to perceive any stronger motive of love to God, than because God has done good to him . and that this, of course, will be the rule of his attachment to all beings. May God dispel the clouds that hang around them, and enlarge the ken of their mental vision : may he break up this frozen winter of selfishness in their souls, and warm then with holy love. 52 Religion does not render a man indifferent to happiness, but it shows him his own comparative nothingness and insignificance in the great kingdom of Jehovah ; and all the acts of divine goodness and mercy to him, and to the whole human race ; all rhe blessings which all creatures receive from God, show him clearly that these streams of goodness proceed from one boundless, exhaustless ocean. And who that comes in sight of the ocean, in which islands and continents are all embosomed, will not be ready to forget streams and rivers, which all proceed from thence and re- turn thither? But, the shameless and strenuous vindication of selfishness, so prominent in the conversation, preaching, and, I am sorry to add, in the conduct of these teachers, for they are all of a piece; the virulence with which they attack all idea of disinterestedness, even in the great concerns of religion, leaves room to fear that the pursuit of self interest is their supreme object. Perhaps, in- deed, they will own the charge, and feel willing to abide the con- sequences. If so, I pray God to show Ihem that he has a cha- racter which challenges their supreme regard ; and that he would teach them to approve and love every thing according to its real value, whether it directly tends to promote their private interest or not. This is what I call disinterested benevolence, and is fully implied in the great precept, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." INVESTIGATOR. No. X. I TRUST it will be admitted that the reformation of the church is by no means completely accomplished. I am sorry to be com- pelled to add, that this " consummation, so devoutly to be wished," is kept back and delayed, in part, by the church itself, or, more correctly speaking, by individuals in its bosom, who, having fipquired some influence, use that influence to its ntmost extent) 53 not merely in retarding the vessel, so long " afflicfed and tossed with tempests," on her voyage, but by striving to hiy her course backward, and to carry her again towards the dark and stormy coast she left ages ago. Of this I have given some intimations in the preceding numbers. It shall be the business of the present number to assign my reasons for this assertion. Whether I shall substantiate it, I leave the reader to judge ; and I appeal to an enlightened public, who can have no interest in wishing to be de- ceived by the '^cunning craftiness of meiC I appeal to the city, nay, to the consciences of the men with whose motives I have made so free, and shall still make more free, and whose doctrines I oppose. For conscience does not al- ways go hand in hand with the clamours of contempt, nor always sanction the soft flattery of parasites, or the loud hosannasof the multitude. It sometimes has happened that while a man deco- rates his brow with the dignified smile of self-approbation, stern conscience goads his heart, and points him to an awful and im- partial tribunal. From the seventh to the fifteenth century an age of darkness covered the remnant of the civilized nations of the earth, the church was in the wilderness, and spiritual Babylon maintained her gloomy reign, in a manner, undisturbed. Yet Christ was not without a witness, and there is reason to believe that many of his jewels will be gathered from that period, and from those places where "darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the peo- ple." In the valleys of Piedmont the voice of the jrospel was at times heard ; and the name of Raymond holds a dreadful im- mortality, from the atrocity of his crimes, and his cruelties inflict- ed on the followers of Christ. The seeds of the reformation were sown previous to the days of Luther. Even from the times of the crusades a series of re- markable events began to loosen the fetters which bound the minds of men, and gradually to weaken the foundations of the papal edifice, founded in ignorance and superstition, and consoli- dated by ambition. It is a common remark, that one great man seldom appears alone. Luther, the greatest of Christian heroes since the apostolic age, was surrounded and aided by a constella- tion, for such I may call them, of men eminently fitted by Provi- 54 dence for the great work they were destined to accomplish. And while the flame broke out, and was rapidly spreading, in Germa- ny, by a happy coincidence, a commotion was raised in Enijland, though from causes apparently far less commendable, which was not composed but by the separation of that nation from the see of Rome. The character and progress of the reformation derived many of its leading traits from the character and temper of the naiions over which its happy influence prevailed. The thrones of Eu- rope were, at that august moment, filled with greater monarchs than, all things considered, ever occupied them at any other pe- riod. In England, the eighth and greatest of the Henries; in Ger- many and Spain, Charles the Fifth ; in France, Francis the First; and in Turkey, Solyman the Magnificent; while on the Papal throne sat Leo the Tenth, the most powerful and accomplished of all the popes, the Augustus of spiritual Rome, if that deserves to be called spiritual which was, in fact, more carnal, sensual, and devilish than the Rome of Augustus Caesar. To the ambitious views and great resources of these monarchs, extraordinary as it may seem, was apparently ovvinj; the progress and establishment of the reformation. By these means, each one, fully occupied with his own projects and hopes of aggrandizement, was, in a man- ner, withdrawn from any hostile interference, till the work of God was accomplished, by his own immediate instruments. God, who is able to cause that a nation shall be born in a day, nevertheless usually accomplishes his great purposes gradually, and by the use of means. The gospel kingdom at first was ushered in by small and slow degrees. It was not to be expected, that the Reformation would either be complete and entire, or univer- sal. Yet the wisdom of God was manifested in selecting Great Britain, a literary people, whose naval power was 4;o give her a ready intercourse with all the globe ; and Germany, a nation of a character peculiarly decided, persevering, grave, and self-con- sistent. To draw the line of demarcation between the first reformers and the catholics, with any degree of exactness, would be diffi- cult ; perhaps the attempt would be hazardous. In general, the grand pillars of popery were torn away, the enormous load of 55 useless rites and ceremonies thrown off, the superstitions, corrop- tions, and abominable vices of their ecclesiastical polity rejected. But it was the infelicity of the first reformers, as it has been of their successors, that they differed and contended. Melancthon differed from Luther; Calvin from both; Carolstadt from all; and Erasmus, if he can be called a reformer, agreed with none of them, though he approved of many things they did. Combina- tions, however, and establishments soon took place ; the Luther- ans formed one, the Genevese another, the English a third, and the Scotch a fourth. Some of these establishments rejected Episcopacy and a litur- gy, while others retained both. I shall avoid either discussions or opinions on these points, relative to the exterior of the chris- tian fabric. I think them not essentials of religion, and if pur- sued with a temper and spirit conformable to their professed in- tention, I hope those who may even err in these respects will nevertheless be accepted of God. The grand pillars of the papal throne, and the enormous abuses running down through every grade of that most corrupt of ali hierarchies, were visible and tangible to the reformers; they therefore united, at once, in their demolition and removal. But these were not the only objects which required the attention of the reformers. Errors in doctrine — errors which, like roots, had ramified into thousands of branches, sjjread wide, and crept far and deep, beneath a soil apparently well cultivated, were still to be discovered and eradicated. In this work, the first grand re- formers made less progress than in some other parts df their vast enterprise. The visible church had long been an apostate church, and at whatever period the completion of that apostacy may be fixed, the commencement of her decline may be traced to times still more remote. The days of the celebrated Greek and Latin fathers were fruit- ful of errors, in doctrine and discipline, of stupendous growth ; of which, if they could be;Bstimated by weight or measure, enough might be selected from the flights and plunges of Origen alone to crush an elephant to the earth. The oriental philosophy had already mingled itself with, and claimed the sanction of, the doc- trine of Christ. The belief that good and evil were self existent and CO eternal, had sweptoffmany into the deceitful eddies of heathen- 56 ism. And when Constantlne ascended the throne, the Ari'an heresy threatened the virtual extinction of the christian church. Hence the remari< of Turrelin, that " the fathers are useful to us as witnesses of fad, but not as judges of irulh,'" was, doubtless, correct. In the dark ages, tlie follies and superstitions peculiar to the respective nations had more or less entrenched theaiselves withia the precincts of christian doctrine. Astrology, with all its lumber of omens, dreams, influences, conceits, and superstitions, formed a huge portion of the piety and devotion of thousands; and logic, a wretched jargon of quibbles, sophisms, and riddles, supported by squadrons of analytics and dialectics, fed their understandings with wind. To crown the whole, the philosophy and morality of Plato and Aristotle, though not understood, were lugged in and incorporated with their religion, and formed some of the main pillars of their faith. Hence arose realists and nominalists, together with the wise and profound doctrines of substantial forms: concerning which, hosts of great men disputed for ages, with all the learning and subtlety the world could furnish, and with all the spleen, slan- der, and malevolence which priests, monks, bishops, and cardinals, could feel or inspire. When the superstructure of Popery was torn down and destroy- ed, there still remained a great and vastly important reformation to be made in the opinions of men, which is still but partially ac- complished. This change, though not related to objects vitally important to salvation, yet very materially affects many impor- tant doctrines of revelation, and many points of practical religion. Habits of incorrect thinking and false reasoning, sanctioned for ages by great names and whole nations, cannot be suddenly de- stroyed and done away. Neither are men like Luther and his coadjutors the men eventually to accomi)lish this work : it re- quires men of equal talents, boldness, and decision of character, but of a very different temperament of mind and turn of thinking. Among the things left to be accomplished, after the reforma- tion, and, doubtless, preparatory to another and far greater refor- mation, still to come, I shall mention but three or four. 1. That the rights of man should be fully understood and es- tablished. I am grateful to a good providence, which has placed me in a country where they are better understood and more fully established, than in any other country. Of all these rights, I shall, at this time, only speak of those of a religious nature, as they are the most sacred and important, and lie properly within the scope of this subject. Religious rights, involving the duty a man owes immediately to God, are by far the most necessary to be maintained and tolerated, while at the same time there is the least provocation to restrain them. But tyrants early learned the art of making religion an engine of state policy, or, in other words, of ambition ; and thence sprung the oppressive doctrine of in- toleration. Nothing can be more surprising than that the reformers, whose first theme was the tyranny and usurpation of Rome, who had as yet but partially burst their chains, and were still in some places menaced with racks and flames, should, notwithstand- ing, be unable to perceive that religious freedom is the sacred and inviolable right of every man. Yet nothing is more certain than that they did not perceive it; but adopted many of the per- secuting maxims of the former persecutors. Even the great Calvin, after whose name so many deem it an honour to be called, had not been taught by the smart of persecution to abhor the persecutor; neither had the tyrannical intolerance of Rome awa- kened in him the generous and liberal spirit of toleration. I surely will not reject the truth, because Calvin held to it, but, at the same time, I confess, that a persecuting protestant, other things out of the question, stands lower on the list of persecutors, in my estimation, than any other; because they ought to know better ; and, indeed, we read, in such actions, rather the language of the heart than of the understanding and conscience. We can very easily apologize for them, and say it was the fault of the times ; but it was no dictate of the spirit of Christ. Since the reformation, the light of truth has shone, and the principles of religious toleration have, perhaps, made some pro- gress in every part of Christendom, not even excepting Spain and Portugal. But, in our own happy country, they seem to have ac- quired their full maturity. While it is here perceived that there is no necessity of making religion an engine of state policy ; while our rulers are not disposed to press religion into the service 53 of their ambition, so neither do our clergy hope to increase theii' power and influeuce, by blending the church and the state. Here it is, at length, fuliy discovered, that a roan may worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and be never- theless a useful member of civil society. IJow loug it will be before this discovery shall be as entire and universal as it is now imperfect and limited, God only knows. But that the church of Christ will never recover her primitive order and purity till that is the case, is certain. 2. The reformers, while they had but a very imperfect know- ledge of the rights of man, were equally unacquainted with the constitution and powers of the human mind, it was to the im- mortal houour of Locke, that he should lead the way, and en- lighten mankind on both these subjects, very different in their nature, but equally important in their influence, yet intimately connected in the same subject. And it cannot be doubted, but that his skilful delineation of the human mind, led him to those just and liberal views of religious freedom and toleration, with which he equally surprised, ipstructed, and delighted the most intelligent minds in JEurope. Writers have succeeded Lucke of more splendour and celebrity as philologists ; and if they have corrected some mistakes, and supplied some deficiencies which escaped him, in his immense labours and unwearied researches, they have built on foundations immoveably laid by him. But another task remained ; for, with whatever accuracy Locke and those that followed him delineated the intellectual powers of man, the dispute still remained unsettled, whether the 7viU of man were free — a dispute which was truly important, as it involved many doctrines of religion and morality. This dispute, which had been carried on between papists and protestants, now raur own account to regret."' That people will quiet their consciences, and repose cglmly, and sleep soundly on this triangular bed, is as sure as that the 9un rises and sets. This triple, nay, quadruple thraldom, in which their own voluntary agency is in no way implicated, soothes their slumber, and not a little gratifies their pride ; sliU more so does the soporific dose " descend into their bowels like water, and like oil into their bones," when a religioo is held np before them which is no business of theirs ; which gives them a happy passiveness, and is every whit, and iii all resp'->cts, as distinct from their moral feelinjis and powers, as the Btate to which it offers a remedy is without their accountability or blame. As they had nothing to do in bringing themselves into sin; nothing to do in getting themselves out of it, so tlif.y are highly satisfied to learn, that they have nothing to do wht n fairly pi^t of it. As for faith, which is the body of their religion, it is no exercise of theirs, and has no connexion with their moral exercises in its origin, nature, or object, for it is neither per^ ceptioa nor volition, knowledge nor love. They have no virtue, for there is no such thing; and, in fine, they seem to be allowed to have nothing on earth, properly to be called theirs, bul a little selfishness. Such a strain of preaching will scarcely be followed by a, rpiritof reforiaalion. The process of conversion and of Chris- Si Hanizing under thesp tenets will, indeed, make little noise : a per- son goes to his minister, and tells him he has some thoughts about ireligion. The clergyman asks him, " Do you verily believe that all men are justly condemned for the sin of Adam?" *' Yes." " Do you acknowledge yourself worthy of endless misery for what he did ?" " Yes." " Do you believe yourself totally incapacitated to obey God, or do any thing which he re- quires ?" " Yes." " And can you not love Christ, who has been so good as to die for you, and has done, and will do every thing for you, and will carry you to heaven, and make you eternally happy there ?" " O yes, I should be very ungrateful not to love one who died for me, and will save me." " Very well ! you have nothing to do but confirm yourself in these sentiments; you had better join the church ; there is reason to believe you are one of the elect." Let it not be understood that I here pretend to give all the words that pass between the catechist and his catechumen, but I give the great features, and the leading points. Enough more words are used j but as he is never made to feel the true blame of bis condition, he never feels a proper repent- ance, neither can he have just conceptions of the nature or application of the remedy. These convictions are suflBciently silent for the most fastidious, and are followed by conversions to a selfish, opinionated, intolerant temper and character ; even, sometimes, to that degree, that a candid observer is at a Ioa» whether such a conversion is more the subject of felicitation than of regret. If not twofold more a child of hell, he is, at least, twofold more a child of prejudice, bigotry, and persecu- tion. If some men shall flutter and flounce remarkably in reading these remarks, let them see to it, lest they confirm the suspi- cion that they are the " wounded birds." As this Number is an appeal to the eye of the public respecting the usefulness and importance of revivals of religion, I deplore that I am compelled to add, that the instances which have come under the inspection of this city, are mournfully few. Look into those large congregations whose fame has been 52- bpreati wide by the splendour of the ^eat names of the meB',. who are " the angels of those churches." And, I ask those " angels" whether they would not rejoice to see one general reformation pervading all their assemblies, and spreading through the hundreds and thousands of their congregations? I am certain the angels of heaven would rejoice. Would they not be glad to see all their people roused at once, to secure the interests of their souls? Would they not rejoice to see the whole population of this capital moved, as by one spirit, to se- cure one grand object? Surely, such a moment would not be greater than the weight of the concern depending. A heathen monarch, of a much greater city than this, once rose up from his throne, and covered himself with sackcloth — was followed by his court and nobles, and by all the people; even food was interdicted, in a solemn fast, for three days. This was done because God had declared that Nineveh should be destroyed. And is there no reason to believe that God's anger burns against this city ? Has not the cry of its wickedness gone up to heaven ? And would not a reformation that should visit every house, and forcibly seize every mind, be desirable ? Would it not occasion joy in heaven? What if all the immense crowds tliat move through the streets were suddenly and strongly im- pressed with the belief that they were infinitely vile in the sight of God; that they were hastening to the bar of judgment, and to an eternal world of retributiou ? What sudden alterations should we see ! Would our streets resound by night with hor- rible oaths and execrations? Would hundreds of bouses be crowded with scenes of drunkenness, debauchery, violence, and obscenify ? Would our docks, and vessels, and lanes, and alleys, teem with wretched people in vfhom the last efforts of vice have left the semblance of humanity, but identified with every thing loathsome and detestable ? Would even crowds of- children be heard profanely vociferating the awful name of God in their common sports and pastimes ? Alas ! it is not con- sidered that the interests and destinies of every one of these souls are as truly great as those of the first rank of people. The shadowy vale of death once past, and the soul discumber- 53 ed of its adventitious advantages, there will appear little dis- tinction between the prince and beggar. But what would be the effect of such a reformation as this? Would it not be the theme of general conversation? What crowds would throng the churches ? And would it be admi- rable, if, under the strong impulse of a general sensation, it should become what may be termed a public passion? Per- haps even business, for a while, might be, in a manner, sus- pended; and the ordinary, even the innocent, amusement*, and diversions of the city would be forgotten. A gloomy scene ! methiuks I hear some one sSLy ; and yet, reader, every one of these gay people will soon see gloomier scenes thanthis. The hour of death, and the solemn audit be- fore the throne of judgment, will be more gloomy and dreadful, and, without reformation, there will be eternal gloom and hor- hor. Nor yet would such a scene as this be attended with so much gloom and misery as now pervades the city. Ineffable joy and pleasure would fill every pious mind at the prospect of thousands of people forsaking wickedness and turning to God. Rehgion is not of a gloomy, melancholy nature, and the con- cern and anxiety attending reformations is caused, not by reli- gion, but by a consciousness of the want of it. - Be it that such a reformation, in this city, would be attended with some instances of delusion — some indications of fanaticism j how much deeper is the delusion that now reigns over the great mass of people, while they neglect their eternal interests, and despise, and dishonour the God that made them. A stronger fanaticism hurries them onward towards eternal ruin than at- tends the religious enthusiast in the favour of his devotions. The stern and lofty front of wickedness everywhere displayed — everywhere menacing — everywhere daring and obtrusive, defies every thing short of almighty power. But before the spirit of God be sent'" to reprove the world of sin, of righteous- ness, and of judgment," it shall melt like wax — it shall vanish like smoke, " for strong is his hand, and high is his right hand." Such an event could not take place but with a general and strong sensation. Any judge of human nature will perceive u ih&t an irreligious— a wicked man, cannot anddenly pass froni that to a religious state without great anxiety and alarm ; with- out unusual agitation of mind. It is not merely to say. " I will now become religious," and the work is done : habits corroborated by lime, and identified with nature, are not thus broken through. The allurements of wickedness are strong, and are known, from all experience, to be formidable. A drunk- ard does not lightly say, " I will from this day become tempe- rate :" the profane blasphemer, " I will henceforth use no more profane language :" the dishonest, the dissipated, the covetous, the liar, " I will now alter my course." I meution these classes, as pre-eminently wicked, but every man, even with a much fairer exterior, in his train of feelings, in his heart and affections, is as truly irreligious as these classes. Religious awakenings and fears are by no means delusion nor enthusiasm. They do but present truth and reality to the mind with their proper interest and influence. A man on his death bed is greatly alarmed, feels strong fears, and calls for advice and prayers. Even courts of justice and legislatures, when a man is condemned, and going to execution, appoint him religious instruction ; send him a clergyman to prepare him — for what? For the very same event to which every soul in this city is hastening : to prepare himi for death — for the solemn trial — for eternity ! Who objects to tlie propriety of this humane regulation? Who dares not think it decorous, nay, awfully im- portant, that a man on his death-bed should feel solemnity, anx- iety, earnestness, fear — should pray, should ask prayers ? His eternal state is now to be decided ; he is now to stand that trial where there is no disguise ; to hear that sentence from which lies no appeal. But the thousands that swarm in this cify are in that same state. Tliey may, indeed, and some will, no doubt, live longer, and some perhaps not. Many of them will go as suddenly, far more unexpectedly, and the danger is that they will go without preparation. A dreadful infatuation rei«ns over mankind. The interests of the soul, its good estate, and salvation, are as much gre,^tcr. more imperative, and grand, than any temporal concero, 55 as eternity is longer than time, as endless pains and pleasures, are more important than those of a moment. The truth is, if all the inhabitants of this city had but a cor- rect idea of their state and prospects, they would universally feel that deep and trembling anxiety which a man feels on a death- bed, or a criminal under sentence of death. When compared with a vast and boundless futurity, every concern of life would shrink into nothing. They would feel as though the change was present ; the next step and eternal scenes would open ; life is past, and the dread tribunal is before them. Then, all must depend on the favour of the Almighty Judge. But have they done any thing to secure his favour or deprecate his wrath ? No ! The great body of them have equally neglected his favour and his wrath, have equally despised his anger and his love; have felt no regrets for sin ; have never made a prayer ; have seldom used the name of God but in a profane oath. And are such people fit for heaven? A glimpse of their condition ^yould con- vince them that they were suited to no place but a region of sin and misery. Then they would think of the Omniscient eye that sees them — the Almighty power that holds (hem. They would think what goodness* had been answered with what ingratitude, what favour by what perverseness, what love with what hatred. It would occur to them that perhaps their crimes are already past for- giveness, and that divine displeasure may now be ready to cut them off. With such impressions they could for a moment en- tertain no resolution but that of devoting so late an hour to so important an exigence. I need not tell what they would do or say : every reflecting mind will for itself strike a general out- line of the course they would take. It is the course generally pursued by persons who are the subjects of great awakenings. " Who," says Mr. Locke, " could come within the bare possibility of infinite misery" wthout fear and alarm ? But if all the mul- titudes in this city, excepting the compavatively small number of truly pious, were convinced that they were not only " with- in the bare possibility" of endless misery, but were under sen- tence of the law of God, as well as hastening by their own vo- luntary course to that end ; that it was not only possible, but 56 highly probable, that that would be their condition ; nay, that there was no possibility of their escape but by deep repentance, and thorough reformation, but by the pardon and acceptance of God through Jesus Christ, they would feel and manifest the greatest alarm and amazement. That this would be the case here, we may be assured from the experience of all Christendom since the reformation; and, if possible, more from the experience of former years, and other countries. " There were great awakenings," says President Edwards, " in 1625, in the west of Scotland, w^ben it was a com- mon thing for people on hearing the word of God preached to be seized with great terror and alarm, and who became, after- wards, most solid and lively Christians. The same author in- forms of many in France that were so wonderfully affected with the preaching of the gospel, in the times of those famous divines, Farel and Viret, that, for a time, they could not follow their secular business." The same writer mentions similar ac- counts from Ireland and other places. President Edwards also qiiotes a letter from his father, in which his father observes, that " it was a common thing, when . the famous Mr. John Rogers was preaching, for some of his hear- ers even to cry out under the greatness of their alarm and ter- ror. And by what I have heard," continues he, " I conclude it was usual for many that heard that very awakening and rousing preacher of God's word, to make a great cry in the congregation.'' A religious attention, thus excited in great bodies of people, cannot be safely ascribed to any cause but the influence of the Spirit of God. The reasoning used by Christ himself, in answer to those who blasphemously ascribed his casting out devils to Beelzebub, the prince of devils, appliss, at least, if not with equai force, to this case. He said, " if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; and how can his kingdom stand?" I do not say that when a village, a town, a city, or a district of people are religiously Bffected, that Satan is cast out; but I say tliat his intluence is weakened, and his kingdom totters. It pre- 8en{s an immediate check, as far as it extends, to the exuberance of vice, to the enormity of visible wickedness. In all the sta- j^es of its progress and oporalion, it holds a favourable aspect 57 iowards deep and permanent reformation. Experience will warrant the assertion, that in these general awakenings, by far the greater number of those who come forward in a public pro- fession of religion, are found afterwards to adorn that profession, and to give evidence of its truth and sincerity. It is also known to be a fact, that the greater part of those who are the subjects of the awakening, are found eventually to give evidence of a real conversion to God. Even those who admit regeneration to be a progressive work, and believe that the agency of the sinner is more or less con- cerned in it ; — in whatever way men are turned from sin to ho- liness, and from the service of Satan to the service of God j every one who wishes to see the great work brought about in some manner or other, cannot but be glad to see a general at- tention to religious concerns. For if it does not lake that form with which they are mof»t pleased, it takes some form, and can- not but result in raising the standard of public morals, and in checking the torrent of vice which threatens to bear all before it, and which, in great cities, becomes rapid and resistless as a flood. A reformation extending to every house in this city, would be the noblest sight the lover of humanity ever saw. Its indica- tions would be strong and decisive. The reigu of vice, which now regards no limit, but throws its malign influence within every enclosure, would on all sides be curtailed. The horrid clang of profaneness, the bloated features of dissipation, the haggard spectacle of prostitution, the inanity of vicious idleness, the menace of unbridled passion, deliberate revenge, curtained behind human features, and heard remote, sometimes like thunders in the bosom of darkness ; — in fine, the conflicts of interest, the wiles of dishonesty, the deep-laid snares of covet- ousness, which now, at every step, arrest your attention, if not endanger your repose, Vouldgftiddenly disappear. What if there were even a temporary suspension of business, a circumstance I have known to attend the progress of such a work ? Would that be any evidence against it ? Is this world of darkness and 'sin so vastly important that nothing for a mo- ment must ever interrupt man's complete and universal servi* hiile to its toils and cares, till he plunges into eternity I Must ft man be the subject of sarcasm and contempt, because in the first hours of his solicitude to secure eternal felicity, in the first days of his espousal to the adorable Redeemer, he has neglect- ed worldly pursuits ? Alas ! those that bring this objection, I fear, have never been informed that " the love of money is the root of all evil ;" have never considered, that " it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich mao to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Christians belong to a kingdom which is not of this world ; and shall they not some- times make every thing give way to the interests, pleasures, and joys of that kingdom 1 Especially, whilst their interests in it are apparently insecure ; whilst they are solicitously and painfully endeavouring to obtain "a name and a place" in that kingdom, shall they not consider this world's wealth and enjoyments as " lees, and dung, and dross ?" When were the people of this city known to relax their at- tention to business, under the powerful sway of religious im- pulse 1 Does devotion to God, and the solemn acts of worship, infringe on the days of the week; or do the schemes of amass- ing wealth, the delirium of incessant business, still fever their souls on the Sabbath, distract their attention, and palsy their de- votions in the house of God, and surcharge their conversation in the intervals of worship ? Nor yet does it all avail them : for in this perpetual and endless whirl of business, they resemble the conflict of thousands endeavouring to gain a slippery sum- mit, where there is not room for hundreds to stand. When half way up the hill, they suddenly slide into the vale of pover- ty, and from thence sink to the grave. The King of heaven himself is the dispenser of all the bless- ings of this life, as well as the life to come. He has said, " Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed ; but seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, and all these things shall be added unto you." Accordingly, it has been ac- tually and repeatedly observed, that those towns and villages who, seemingly, neglect their business, in times of religious awakening, have been favoured with abundance and pecnliar prosperity in those seasons. There is, indeed, the promise of God to this effect; and I assert what is known to many. While I figure to myself all the inhabitants of this city, de- Toutly and earnestly attending to the most important of all con- cerns, I cannot but consider in what a variety of respects this would be, by far, the happiest city on the globe. The great and sudden diminution of the number of the miserable victims of vice — of criminals which throng our courts, and crowd our prisons — of invalids which fill our hospitals — of paupers in our alms-houses and asylums — of helpless age, without provision — and infancy, without protection — of beggars patrollifag the streets, whose story is, generally, but a veil to their faults; but, most of all, of that numerous banditti of thieves, robbers, swindlers, pilferers, incendiaries, burglars, and ruffians, whose conceal- ment from the public eye alone prevents a general alarm. The immense accumulation of human masses of the above description, in great cities, and which make incessant demands on the justice and vigilance, as well as the charity and liberali- ty of society, become, at length, like a putrid diathesis in the human body ; or, to say the least, the perpetual recurrence of these loathsome objects is one of the pests and torments of great cities. Yet the immortal souls of all these miserable people are of immense value ; the reformation that should reach and recover them, would plant new stars in the firmament of glory. And how delightful the thought, that the light of truth should dispel the gloom from these dungeons, and, through such wide departments of pain and horror, should pour the healing balm of salvation. Far above these Augean stables of sin and pain, and which no Herculian labour could cleanse, there is another department of vice in this city, but connected with the former by innume- I'able doors and headlong steps. This region appears brilliant and fair; its precincts resound with hilarity, feast, and song, and it contains thousands of the opulent, the fashionable, the yoang, and the gay. Vice is clad in splendour, and a spirit reigns here which knows no moral law but inclination, and re- cognises no god but pleasure. But one use is made here of Jehovah's awfal name, and that is to give bravery and relish to 60 the idle clamours of folly— to embellish the fuhninations of wit and mirth, and to give force and grandeur to the language of passion, rage, and falsehood. Is this the abode of happiness? Its chief characteristics arc restless pride without gratification — ostentation without motive or reward — professions without sin- cerity — ceremony without comfort — laughter without joy — smiles which conceal rancour — approbation alloyed with envy, and vociferous praises dying away into the whispers of ca- lumny. *' Tumultuous grandeur crowds the blazing square. The rattling chariots clash, the torches glare." What changes a work of God's spirit would cause in this numerous class ; and, O ! how greatly to be desired, even for the purposes of present happiness ! But do you think that these gay people, on whose countenances often dwells the smile of peace — whose every step appears light and airy as the radiant footsiep of Aurora — whose very form and features are luminous with contentment and hope ; do you imagine they live other- wise than in a continual round of unmingled enjoyment? How false is the estimate made of human happiness! These people are as mistaken iu their pursuit of pleasure as others are iu judging of their felicities from their exterior. They are strangers to happiness; and I am in no fear of contra- diction. No, the immortal mind is not thus made. The glitter of dress — the si)leudo»r of apartments — the loftiness of houses — the beauty of equipage, have all the potency of their charms from the supposed admiration they excite in the eyes of spectators; and even here their vain possessors are grossly, mistaken ; for more than half that admiration is the most unlovely envy. The bril- liance of all these things strikes the eye, but carries no pleasure to the heart ; the immortal spirit within well knows they are but dust; and, in the midst of these baubles, indignantly retires v.'ithin itself, and refuses to be consoled with a portion no bet- ter than what fall? to the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the earth. 61 Religion is man's greatest good ; it pays the most respect to bis most important interests; brings the sou! to the knowledge and possession of her proper enjoyments, and points her up- ward to her eternal inheritance. Without religion, the wealth of CroDsus cannot save a man from the deepest poverty ; with it, the beggar Lazarus possesses boundless wealth, and shall be eternally blessed. With this idea, the object before me becomes important,'jin no ordinary degree ; and as I see crowds passing by my window, of all ages and conditions ; their high destiny and immortal pow- ers, of which they appear to be scarcely conscious, rises upon me in solemn prospect : I cannot but reflect where these per- sons, and all the multitude that I see move about these streets, will be after the mighty lapse of ten thousand ages. Stupidi- ty may laugh, and infidelity sneer, at such a suggestion, but a heathen monarch wept at the thought that all his army, the greatest ever assembled, would die in a hundred years.* And a greater than a heathen monarch wept over a cily, doubtless less guilty before God than this. Yes, after the full period ot ten thousand ages has rolled away, not a soul now in this city shall be extinct, or, shall fail to make one of the number des- tined to eternal ages of happiness or misery. I cannot but reflect how important these days are to the thou- sands I see about me, perfectly unconscious of their value, be- cause thoughtless of the great purposes to be answered by them, and of the great work to be done in them. As it is with the whole of life itself, so it is with the business of every day ; they have an ulterior relation to our eternal state. I am fully aware that the effusions of the holy spirit are not at the option of men : it is not in the power of man to cause a reformation in this city. But when I consider the boundless fulness of gos- pel provision, the explicit and earnest invitations of the gospel ; when I know that God is long sufiering, *' not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance :" when I consider how this city has been distinguished by great and spe- cial blessings of providence; shielded in war, delivered from * Xerxes the Great. 62 peBtiIen«e, prospered in peace, and rising to greatness, I caimot but advert to the stupidity and wickedness, which were never more visible and triumphant than at the present time, with alarm and foreboding. And let it be called prophesying, or by any other opprobrious name, God will not suffer such blessings to be answered by such ingratitude with long impunity. There will be changes, and the sword of divine displeasure is, I fear, already drawn ; in what way it will strike, or how it will fall, in- jBnite wisdom only knows. Be it that God's own work is in his own hands, and that he will carry it on when and where he pleases : Christians ought to know that God works by means, otherwise of what use is a gospel ministry ? The Almighty and ever blessed God has pro- mised to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. But let any one, to whom a thought so improbable as a general reformation in this city, may occur, who may feel a desire for the salvation of this great people ; let him look round him and ask, why it is that sinners are surrounded as with a wall so adamantine, so im- penetrable, so impervious to conviction ? AVhy are the impedi- ments so numerous ? Why is it so awfully improbable that we shall see a general reformation here ? Why does it appear so discouraging, so hopeless, so morally impossible, as almost to paralyze the conception of desire, or the secret wrestlings and agoiiizings of prayer ? There surely is a cause, nor is that cause invisible in its operation. Religion is everywhere' the came. There is " balm in Gilead, and a physician there." God is no more hostile to cities than to villages: his spirit is as free, and his offers of salvation as full, to the people of a crowded city as of the open country. Nor are the people in cities more averse to religion than in the country. Human nature is, indeed, much the same in all places ; but if there is any difference, the people of large cities have more seusibility, are certainly more alive to the finer feelings, and to the impulse of public sensations, and are more quick and sus- ceptible to sentimental impressions. They are naturally no more wicked, no more inaccessible to conviction, no more ar- dent in worldly pursuits, no more insensible to the solemn 63 themes of evangelical truth, or to the condition and prospects of the soul, than the inhabitants of the country at large. The difference which sinks the scale of the city to a depth so hopeless, in this comparison, is owing, in a great measure, to a difference in the means used to promote religion ; in short, to a difference in what is denominated the means of grace. If the reader will recur to the first numbers of the Triangle, irst series, he will there find stated the cause to which I here allude. The strain of doctrine there described, and which has, in a measure, formed the current of opinion and tone of feeling in a very great body of people in this city, suflSce it to say, has not been attended with many indications of reformation, and has, to all appearance, presented no barrier to the overwhelm ing flood of vice which threatens the city. It will be easy to contradict this assertion, but not easy to show that it is not true : " cum res ipsa loquitur ;" and I shall dismiss this subject with expressing my firm belief, that these doctrines continuing to be disseminated, enforced, and maintained in the manner and form they have been, for years past, there will be no reformation. I have no expectation that God will honour them with that mark of his approbation ; and as for the merit they claim, in point of moral suasion, or the prospect of any effect they will produce in that way, I should expect as much effect from the Arabian proverbs delivered in thei r native tongue. They are uot the doctrines of the frequent and great reforma- tions which have been in our days, and in our country. They are not " the sword of the Spirit." The more these doctrines prevail and gain credit, the more men are contracted by selfishness, which always brings intole- rance in its train : the more noise is made about depravity, and the greater the ostentation of setting human nature low, the more is the hearer and the convert flattered in his pride and quieted in his conscience, and made to sleep, by a potent anti- dote, against even the thunders of truth : the more that is made of faith, the less of personal holiness, and that true moral ex- cellence, which gives rehgion its beauty and heaven its felicity. So that in leading the sinner to contemplate his own depravity, they furnish him with excuses instead of overwhelming himi 64 wllh conviction ; and in leading the Christian to consider the gracious promises of God, they puflf him up with pride, and em- bolden him audaciously to demand salvation, and exhort him to ♦• keep Christ to his word." INVESTIGATOR No. V. Among all the words which give offence to the advocates of the triangular scheme, the term Metaphysics stands foremost. They abhor it even more than they do morality, virtue, or even disinterestedness. This prejudice against some, and so many of the best words in oar language, is not a mark in their favour : and especially when it is considered that their antipa- thy does not stop at the word itself, but goes far beyond, and aims at the very things these words are used for. Concerning these offensive words I have said something in former numbers; but as somewhere on this ground, they have erected one of their strongest fortresses, from which they keep up a perpetual and running fire of random shot, I shall sit down before it in this number: nor do I expect to find it as impreg- nable as the den of Cacus. About the word disinterested, I think I have already discharged my duty. It is a term, and conveys an idea, well understood, in all our best writers. Ad- dison and Johnson use it frequently in the same sense we use it. A man sees two men in a quarrel, and fiercely contending. He steps in between them, and says, " Gentlemen, I have no interest in the result of this contention; I am well disposed to- wards you both. Permit me, then, to act as a mediator be- tween you." This man will be likely to have influence with both these men, because they perceive that he is entirely disinterested. I therefore said that no word in our language was better un- derstood, or more immoveably fixed in its true import. I have 65 hot seen a more handsome illustration of this word than I lately read in Cox's life of Melancthon, where he sums up and finishes the character of that great man by observing, that he generally- acted under the influence of a purely *' disinterested benevo- lence." But some of our great divines would tell Cox a dif- ferent story. Those men, who have eaten freely of the Amor suif pretend that it is either a phrase of false import, or else of no import at all. The word morality has not fared better. They have con- demned all its family : for moral, moral agency, moral fitness, moral depravity, and the like, are all considered as Amalekites, and proscribed. Especially the phrase moral virtue, made up of two most oflfensive words, they regard as bad as the union of Herod and Pilate. The word tnoral we derive from the Latin moralis, which is from mos, a law or custom. Morahty is conformity to law, and used in this sense. But has the Chris- tian no morality ? Alas ! some professing Christians have not much. But what did Christ say ? " Think not that I come to destroy the law," &c. He goes on to show, that he insisted on a purer morality than even the Pharisees, who make clean the outside of the cup and plafter, but what is within 1 — Extor- tion and excess. The great command of the law is love : and says the eloquent Dr. South,* " Love is not so much an aflfec- tion of the Christian, as it is the very soul of the Christian ; he does not so much feel it, as he is in it." Moral virtue is a conformity to the divine law, or, in other words, conformity to God. For as God is love, he that dwell- eth in love dwelleth in God and God in him. Perfect morality, therefore, is perfect love to God, by which I understand perfect moral virtue. This is also sometimes called charity ; and as much as St. Paul insisted on faith, he had no diminutive opi- nion of it. " Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these tbree^ but the greatest of these is charity." But the priucipal object of this number is Metaphysics, a term against which an odium has been excited, and by mean$ of which incalculable mischief has been done. Before I enter * "An old divine." 66 on this subject, I cannot but remark, that i consider this as one of the most extraordinary controversies ever carried on ; not ao much from its nature as from its means and methods. An attempt to carry measures by exciting strong prejudices against words, at the same time exaggerating and misrepresenting the notions pretended to be affixed to those words, and keeping the grand points of difference wholly out of sight : this course persisted in for years, and pursued with boldness and abundant success: I say these circumstances render this controversy, perhaps, without a parallel. The same things, however, which render this a singular con- troversy, render it not a hopeless controversy : for while I am perfectly assured that it results from misinformation, in very great numbers, I am assured, with a certainty nearly equal, that they want nothing but a right understanding of the case to come into, and adopt the truth. Whatever pride of character may do with a few men, with whom it may far outweigh the solemn dic- tates of conscience, the great body of the people have no motive, I might almost say, no selfish motive for preferring error to truth. And I am well assured that, at least, some may be con- vinced that their credulity has been imposed upon, and that they have been deceived. They may be convinced that error has held an ascendancy over truth, not by argument, but by efforts of influence from men riding on the shoulders of public confidence. The case now to be mentioned is one of a most extraordi- nary nature. I appeal to the people of this city at large, that they have been led into the habit of believing that metaphysics have no connexion with religion : — that every thing metaphy- sical is improper and unbecoming the pulpit, or a gospel ser- mon : and that the Hopkinsians have little else but metaphysics in their sermons. They are very different from the good old woman I once heard of, who, hearing her minister, in whom she had great confidence, say something about metaphysics, re- plied, " yes, I know that Christ is both meet and physic for the poor sinner." They do not, however, think quite so well about metaphysics, as to think it is both meet and physic fot 67 Ibe sinner, although quite as much mistaken with regard to what metaphysics are. 1. " Metaphysics, or ontology," says Johnson, " is the science which treats of the affections of being in general." In strict- ness, the whole of truth may be said to be divided into physi- cal and metaphysical ; and to say the least, many of the doc- trines of religion come properly and strictly within the depart- ment of metaphysics. The term affection, as used in the above definition, is taken in its larger sense, and in relation both to action and passion. " By the affections of being," says Dr. Watts, " are meant all powers, properties, accidents, re- lations, actions, passions, dispositions, internal qualities, exter* ual adjuncts, considerations, conditions, or circumstances what* soever." (See vol. 6. p. 639.) As it is one object of this number to do away the prejudice and opposition in many minds against metaphysics, by show- ing to those who have not the advantage of general reading what metaphysics truly are ; and, as I have this moment before me the Belgic Encyclopedia, published in the year 1 620, and dedicated to the lords of the Belgic League, and also Dr. Watts' System of Metaphysics, I think it will be useful to lay before the reader a compendious view of the subjects of which that science treats. If the reader will keep in mind that it is not Edwards nor Hopkins, and if he has not regularly studied metaphysics, I presume he will not think his labour lost in perusing this sketch. Metaphysics, or ontology, treats of being, of essence, or nature; of mode and form ; of existence, whether actual or possible, necessary or contingent, dependent or independent, whence ari- ses the distinction between the being of God and of his creatures; In the next place, it considers duration, creation, and preser- vation ; and, reader, is all this chaff and nonsense 1 It then considers unity and union ; but what doctrines are involved here ? It treats of act and power, of action and passiveness, of necessity and liberty, and of relative affections ; but is all this nothing ? This, reader, was the ground which the immor- tal Edwards cleared of as many dangerous errors, as Hercules did the wilderness of monsters. It treats of truth, goodne»», 68 and perfection ; principles, causes, and eflfects ; of subject and adjunct; of tiine, place, and ubiquity; of sameuess, agree- ment, and difference ; of number and order ; of mental rela- tions; of abstract notions, signs, words, and terms of art, &c. ; of the chief kinds and divisions of being, as substance and mode, &c. ; of natural, moral, and artificial beings and ideas. Metaphysics is the science of being, and there is not a doc- trine of relisiion which relates to bang, which is not, more or less, metaphysical. Man is a creature, finite, dependent, muta- ble, and ignorant; God is the creator, infinite, independent, im- mutable, and infinitely wise. Now, in all these, and in all other affections and relations, just and correct metapiiysical no- tions are essentially important to a proper understanding of truth. An idea, or notion, or proposition, or argument, is called metaphysical, not from any absiruseness or obscurity belonging to it, but from its natural arrangement with a great class or orr der of truths. Nor has it been a little conducive to the progress and state of knowledge in modern times, that classification, or, as it may be called, generalization, has made such advances; and it was this that suggested to the great Leibnitz the idea, that a universal language was attainable, anj, as you, in a life of several hundred years, must doubtless have observed. The good cler- gymen, which 1 hope, in some countries, boar some respectable pro- portion to the whole number, in a degree resemble the elect ; they are mingled with a numerous class, from which no mortal e3'e can certainly distinguish them. Few men are viler in the sight of heaven, or n.oi'e full of mischief among men, than an impious clergyman ; and none have done more to obstruct the progress of truth, and the inte- rests of religion, than this ill-fated class. They derive their extraor- dinary power, to this end, from their successful endeavours to establish a high reputation for piety and zeal : and you, Gentlemen, no doubt, well remember the time when Bonner and Gardner were gazed at and adored, by a deluded muUitude, as saints next in holiness to the apostles— nay, whe"B Alexander the Sixth and Caesar Borgia were thought still much greater and better, perhaps, than even the ordinary apostles. You will not understand, Gentlemen, that I mean to fix an equal indiscriminate censure on all triangular men. I am far from such thoughts or feelings. But that some among them are wholly given to pride, ambition, intrigue, and wickedness, I have not a doubt. And if they will read these pages they will probably find a more faithful monitor, and a truer portrait, than will again meet their eyes ^l they stand at the bar of God. ^ I am not insensible that many clergymen are among the noblest patrons, promoters, and proficients, in elegant literature and the arts. Cut, perhaps, with an individual exception, as far as relates to this city, these men are not found amongst the Tri^onoi, a name by which I sometimes distinguish them. For, Gentlemen, their scheme is so in- tolerably narrow, so frozen and so dark, that the mind which puts it on is immediately and terribly shrunk from its ordinary size, however small or great it might have been before. For the soul seems to bear some resemblance to the ethereal element ; it has an elastic spring, and is capable of great compression ; and, perhaps, on that ac- count, the ancients called them by the same name. A principal fea- ture of the scheme of these teachers is, that the understandings of men are as much depraved by sin as the heart or the will. They have never exhibited but one argument which seems difficult to answer ; and whe- ther that is " ar/or mankind did every soul know its pow- er, and enjoy its freedom; feel its dignity, and appreciate its pri- vilege ! But who could imagine that one man could enslave the soul of another ? There is a keener ambition than that which aims to control our externa! freedom ; an ambition to enslave and bind fast in fetters the immortal intelligence within us ; an ambition to direct our thoughts, opinions, volitions, and faith ; an ambition to interfere between the soul of man and his God; to estrange the soul for ever from the foutnain of light and glory. itis almost too painful and humiliating to be spoken — but, since it is a truth which the day of God will make manifest before all creatures, it cannot be concealed, tiiat a set of men, who claim to be ministers of religion, have, in every part of the world, and ia 25 every age, been the agents and instruments in this horrid work. They have set themselves up as the lords, or, rather, the tyrants of men's consciences; and on a reputation for holiness, under the garb of hypocrisy, have built up a system of tyranny and re- ^ligious oppression, in comparison with which, all temporal ty- rannies and usurpations seem perfect freedom. The ministers of religion have not all been of this description ; God has ne- ver been without true and faithful witnesses to maintain his truth, and honour his name. But when Elijah was the only prophet of the Lord in Israel, there were four hundred pro- phets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of the groves. When the sun of righteousness rose upon the world, and the gospel kingdom was established, whose foundations had been laid of old, could it have been imagined that the meek and holy, the pure and peaceful, religion of Jesus Christ would be trans- formed into the bloodiest and most monstrous system of tyran- ny ever seen on the earth ? That the corruption, cruelty, and crimes of Rome Heathen, would be thrown into the shade, and scarcely remembered, in comparison with the surpassing and indiomparable wickedness of Rome Christian? It was so: and this march of wickedness began by binding the conscience, and resisting the progress and the happy results of free inquiry. When it was perceived by worldly men that the Church, to use a common phrase, w^as become an object of ambition, they pour- ed into it in swarms, like the locusts that plagued Egypt; and the gospel, whose genuine spirit was perfect meekness, peace, and love, was, by degrees, perverted, and heard to speak the language of pride, haughtiness, and revenge. These proud and selfish spiritual tyrants could not rest ; rites and ceremonies, pomp and splendour, grew apace, and what was at the bottom of it all was, that all right of private judgment and free in- quiry was suppresse'd, and every man must tamely and silently submit his opinions and his conscience to these spiritual guides, who were, generally, as ignorant as they were impudent. The abominable and ridiculous claim to infallibility was the last step ; which was but the full surrender of the opinions and faith of all the world to one lordly and ridiculous wretch, more worthy of Haman's gallows than of a triple crown. 4 26 But, reader, there is a tincture of this extravagant claim Tisi- ble in our days; indeed, everywhere visible where you 6nd a little spiritual tyrant. The Reformation did not cure this enormous pride ; and the reformers themselves, as soon as they had doubled the cape, began to lay their course back again from whence they started. Nothing is more difficult than for a man, stiff with spiritual pride, and full of the idea of his own importance, to believe, that a people are entitled to think for themselves. The reformed churches, at first, all started from this ground, and fell with fury to persecuting heretics; and where people were not willing to be converted, the zeal of their spiritual guides was promptly seconded by the civil magistrate, using fines, imprisonment, confiscation, banishment, and death, as hopeful means of convicting the sinner, and purifying the Church. — I, therefore, said, the Reformation wars incomplete. O, how unlike the gospel ! How abhorrent from the spirit of Christ ! And though it surely will not be denied, that the power was generally in the hands of better men, yet those persecuting churches were, in the sight of Heaven, as truly ecclesiastical tyrannies as the church of Rome. The homage paid by many in this country to those churches, in connexion with the spirit and temper they evince, shows, but too plainly, in what re- spects they desire to see those times restored. Yes, when they see Calvin assembling the people of Geneva, and imposing upon them a religious test, causing them to swear to maintain his doctrine, and forms of church order and worship, their eyes, no doubt, fail with longing to see this city encircled with the same hopeful barriers against error and innovation. These men have lately set themselves up as the exclusive ad- mirers and disciples of the reformers. One of them closed a statement of the affairs of his church, for the last year, before the late synod held in this city, by declaring, in a very pom- pous manner, that his people had been hearing " the doc- trines OF THE Reformation." Did he mean, by the doctrines of the Reformation, the doctrine which Luther preached ? No. Yet Luther's doctrine was certainly a doctrine of the Reforma- tion. Did he mean the doctrines which Melancthon preached ? No. Did he mean the doctrine of the English, or French re- 27 formers ? No : for among all these, as to the points in contro- versy in this city, there was great diversify, and they were gene- rally against him. Did he mean the doctrines which Calvin preached ? Hardly : for Calvin did not teach the doctrine of original sin, as some now preach it. And I ask that man, or any man, to show the public where Calvin taught a limited atonement. All that is nothing; there was a hook in that pious declaration, which many an honest fish greedily swallowed ; it was a hoax, and deserves no better name ; and that, one of the lowest and basest kind. Who does not preach the doctrines of the Reformation ? It is a term of no definite meaning, but calculated to mislead the ignorant and the simple. The re- formers were not agreed in doctrine. Calvin was scarcely known in the group of the first reformers, and to such of them as he was known, his particular notions of predestination and grace were generally offensive, however correct they might be in themselves. The Reformation of the sixteenth century is regarded by the protestant part of Christendom as a grand event — an event in which many millions of people take a deep interest. What member of the church of England, or Scotland, or Holland, or of all the protestant Germanic provinces, or of the protestants in France, or America, is there, who does not regard the Refor- mation as a glorious era in the Christian Church? Yet each one of this immense mass of people, who have the means of infor- mation, view the reformers, and their doctrines, not without dis- crimination. They see much to admire and revere, and much left, as the work of subsequent reformations. But, people of New-York, there has been another reforma- tion ; a reformation in our days, in which we have a deeper in- . terest ; a reformation not less extraordinary in its nature, or glorious in its consequences : We have seen a nation rise into a state of perfect freedom and civil liberty. Even this event, aod going no fiarther, is beyond all parallel in history. There is a marked providence even here, which I fear many, calling themselves Christians, have not regarded with the attention it demands, nor the pleasure that might be expected. Is it nothing that, from the discordant chaos of European ariatocracy 28 aud despotiem, a government should spring up in the new world, founded in all the essential rights, and guarding all the rights of man ? Is it not worthy of notice, that thirteen independent etates should amicably unite in this grand project ? Was there any thing like it in ancient Greece — was there ever a parallel? But it is said, in reply, that this was all a civil or political transaction. Be it so : and was there nothing civil or political in the Reformation of the sixteenth century ? What severed England and Scotland from the Roman see ? Doubtless, the most ambitious prince and greatest tyrant that ever filled the British throne began that work. And Germany was more re- formed by states than by individuals. In fact, the Reformation consisted externally in throwing olf the yoke of the Roman pontiff; which, partly by spiritual, and partly by temporal claims, he had fastened on the most powerful states in Europe, and had, for ages, maintained by the sword ; by which all ty- rants maintain their dominion. It was, in a great degree, a po- litical revolution. But has this country witnessed nothing but a political revolu- tion ? Has not a phenomenon marked that revolution which indicates juster notions of religion, and of the true character of Christ's church, than were entertained by Luther, Melancthon, or Calvin — by Knox, Cranmer, or Ridley ? — or, I add, by any, or all, the reformers put together ? By some surprising influence, the American people, when severed from the British empire, came to the knowledge of the grand truth, that all men are na- turally free, and have equal rights ; among which liberty of con- science, and the right of inquiring after truth, and Worshipping Cod, are the first. Connected with this, another truth of equal importance was discovered, viz that the church of Christ, being a spiritual body, has no right to enforce her censures by temporal penalties, or by the arm of civil power. Here, reader, perished, not only the first, but the last, the greatest, the grandest, pillars of popery. Or, to vary the figure, " the tree whose height reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the ends of the earti)," had been, indeed, cut down By the *' watcher ;" but, in the language of the same prophet, " the stump of the roots was left, with a band of iron and brass- 29 in the tender grass of the fieUl." A band of iron and brass in- deed ! — For notwithstanding the greatness of the Reformation, latterly become so popular a theme, and trumpeted so loudly, to withdraw the attention of mankind from a much more recent reformation, what church, or what nation, became so reformed as to discover that people have a right to think for themselves 1 What natioii came out so pure from this refining fire as not, in their turn, to erect the bloody standard of persecution, and fall upon heretics, i. e. all who presume to differ from them, right or wrong, with fire and faggots? From the foundation of the world, the honour, and pleasure, and advantage, of perfect civil and religious liberty has been re- served for this nation. No other nation, ancient or modern, savage or civilized, ever enjoyed them both before. It was reserved to be discovered by the leaders in the American refor- mation, that a man demeaning himself peaceably in society, and conducting as a good citizen, is accountable only to God for his religious opinions. Should he even chance to differ from what is called orthodox, or from the popular faith, he does not expect to be dragged before a ghostly Jesuitical tribunal, to whom he must deliver up the keys of his conscience, or be de- livered over to the tormentors. A man in this country is not obliged to hurry away to Canada, the West Indies, New Spain, or Europe, a voluntary exile, for fear of suffering the fate of a heretic ; and, perhaps, when arrived there, in hourly dread that letters missive will reach the magistrates, desiring them to seize and bring him to justice : But for what? for murder, arson, burglary, or treason, no doubt ! — O no ! because he is " unsound in thefaith;^^ when, perhaps, in the sight of God, he is the Christian, and his persecutors are the heretics. This, reader, was the general mode of proceeding in those delight- ful times which .certain persons so ardently wish might return. This was then the fashion. Neither the gospel, nor the spirit of Christ, ever moved men to persecution : every persecutor, therefore, of whatever de- scription, sect, or denomination, is unsound both in faith and practice, and is no model for an American. The American reformers have discovered that a nation is not 30 a church, and that a church cannot be a nation. They per- ceived that there was an import in our Saviour's declaration, that his kingdom was not of this world ; which, if every king- dom be a church, and every church a kingdom, can mean no- thing. And it is a fact, of which I have no doubt, that next to downright persecution, the greatest injury any government can do a church is to establish it by lavi', that its decisions and censures shall be enforced by civil penalties; it renders it " the stump of the roots'' in earnest, " with a band of iron and brass." But, io the confusion and discomfiture of every religious ty- rant, the band of iron and brass is broken, and the stump of the roots is dug up, in this country, favored of heaven above all others. To this it is owing that we see every man resorting to the place of worship he may prefer, and adoring the Supreme Ruler in such modes and forms as his conscience may dictate. To this it is owing that we see no stern and haughty lords of conscience hurling the censures of the church at one and at another, with a servile set of syndics and magistrates at their elbow, and a still more servile gang of delators at their heels, to point his vengeance, expecting, at least, to purchase heaven by gratifying the holy malice and bigotted pride of a spiritual judge. To this, in a word, it is owing that our country is not, at this instant, torn with religious fury and persecution ; for, I call heaven to witness, that a stconger propensity to that hor- rid business was never visible at any time or place. I said, in a former series, that these people had forgot the age in which they live, by three hundred years. They seem not apprized of the grand events of our times, which have bro- ken the slumbers of six thousand years. Soothed in the lap of spiritual pride, by the cordial flattery of minions whom they have trained to their hands, their eyes are covered with scales, and they are strangers to the sublime and awful providence which moves before us, and has lifted our country above all nations in her civil freedom and religious order. They are ever restless under these events ; they wish for the restoration of the reign of bigotry, and that the sun> broke forth pn this happy nation, would return into those clouds which covered him for ages. As for this country, there has been no reforma- 31 lion, no increase of knowledge, no new light, no religious ad- vantages. They would esteem the restoration of the jargon of school logic, the sublime mysticism of peripatetic philoso- phy, and the priaciples of reUgious intolerance, a glorious event ,- that is, if their conduct and feelings are of a piece. For it must be admitted that those were fine times for ecclesiastical lords and tyrants of every grade. In the mean time, they desire no reformation — no change that shall eradicate any remaining fibre of " the stump of the roots with the band of iron and brass." Every thing like an increase of Kght is terrible to those whose glory depends on darkness ; equally so is an increase of liberty to those whose power is built on usurpation. As for the enlargement of their churches, were they permitted to use their favourite arts, they would im- mediately gather in all the fishes of the deep — even sharks, sword-fish, and whales. They want no reformation for that purpose. As one of our little Calviniculi lately declared, be- fore the synod, he had had '* ninety members added to his ehurch the last year, though with none of the northern blast at- tending." I fear he might have added, none of the southern ! " Awake, O north wind, and come thou south, blow upon thy garden!" "The wind bloweth where it iisteth," said the Son of God, "and ye hear the sound thereof, &.c., so is every one that is born of the Spirit." That man was unfortunate in the metaphor by which he attempted to ridicule the work of God, and I shall be glad if his ignorance shielded him from the guilt ef blasphemy, in that vain attempt to appear witty and brave. The grand object of these men is to arrest the progress of free inquiry, and to bring the church back to the ground it oc- cupied three hundred years ago, when the wretched dogmas of Aristotle, and the peripatetics, were still conflicting with moral and philosophical theories little better ; while, as yet, a ray of light had not broken into the church relative to civil or reli- gious liberty ; while the very best of the reformers had no idea but of following the steps of Rome, in destroying heretics by fire and sword : For surely, said they, if a wricked church may- persecute and destroy good men, it is very wonderful if good men, when clothed with the authority of Christ, may not punish 32 and exterminate the wicked : in a word, when a church and a nation were considered as the same thing, and provision was made for rendering church-membership and privileges heredi- tary as estates and titles — -the increase of the church being ren- dered as certain as that of natural population — as resting on the same footing. The men whose scheme I have described as triangular know, that if people are suffered to read and inquire freely — if light and knowledge prevail, their scheme will fall to the ground. It will not stand the test of examination ; it will not endure the light of evidence; it canuot subsist under a just comparison with truth. And though they look on the interference of the civil law, and the arm of government to crush inquiry, as no longer to be expected, they are resorting to other methods with incredible industry and vigilance. And I am bold to say, that there is not a spot on earth where greater pains have been taken to accomplish that hopeful purpose than in this city. I have frequently alluded to this subject in former numbers: I shall here state some of the methods used to prevent inquiry, and to exclude the light and truth from this city. I hope it may be read with patience, even by those who differ with me in opinion ; and whoever shall read it with due attention, I aver that, in spite of prejudice, they will both see and feel that the picture, in some points, suits the original. And I observe, 1. These pompous allusions to "the doctrines of the Refor- mation," are made with no other purpose, and have no other ef- fect, than to silence inquiry, and strengthen prejudice. Ah ! says one, " I preach nothing but the glorious doctrines of the reformers — I am no innovator — no Hopkinsian." Reader, do you not see that all this is a priestly trick ? For how can the people of this city know any thing about the doctrines of the reformers ? While it fills their incautious minds with veneration for a wonderful Calviniculus, it shuts their eyes, and stops their ears. Perhaps, too, this declaration is made by some green- horn tyrant would-be, who knows no more of (he doctrines of the reformers than of the doctrines taught on the other side of the moon. There was one grand point in which all the re- formers agreed, viz. in condemning the usurpations and corrup- 33 tions of the church of Rome : — happy would it have been had they rejected all those corruptions ; but, as I have said, they as universally agreed in one fundamental error of Rome — that intolerance and bigotry which exercises tyranny over the con- sciences of men. For, as I said, this was " the stump of the roots, with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field." All flesh is grass ! — and, whether reformed or not, spi- ritual despots generally find means to bind that grass in bundles to be consumed with the rest of their works, as wood, hay, and stubble. But in the great doctrines of Christianity, the leading reform- ers differed extremely, and contended vehemently. For a man, therefore, at this time, to say, " I am no innovator — I preach the doctrines of the Reformation," is an abuse of language, and a gross insult to those who may diflFer from him, but could say the same that he does, with as much truth, and perhaps more. It is designed to cast a mist before people's eyes, who have not the means of examining, and in whose minds the names of the reformers — even the very sound of the phrase, " The Reforma- tion," is associated with every thing great and venerable. And that man who has brass and impudence enough to trump him- self up as the immaculate disciple of the reformers, is regarded by a credulous multitude as all made up of sanctity, truth, and wisdom. There is one point, and but one, in which these men follow undeviatingly the steps of the reformers, and that is a spirit of rigid intolerance and persecution. It is with reluctance and deep regret, that I allude thus frequently, and unpleasantly, to the me- mory of the reformers ; but since they are laid as the first step in the staircase of ambition, it is necessary that the truth should be spoken, and the people undeceived. I admire and revere- the reformers, and have read their lives with as much pleasure as any man living ; but I do not admire their faults ; and I well know the spirit and maxims of the policy and government of those same reformers would not be endured for a day, "no, not for an hour," in this country. Citizens of New- York, what would be your feelings, should some leading clergyman in this city acquire sufficient influence 5 3d to cause the people to be assembled, by legal authority, aud an oath exacted from them, to maintain the forms of worship and standard of doctrine he should prescribe ; and that every one who refused, should be utterly disgraced, and, perhaps, lia- ble to be banished ? Would you like it ? Would you think it fine times ? Thus did Calvin in Geneva. If, by the doctrines of the Reformation is meant, that Christ died only for the elect, that all men deserved endless punishment for Adavi's sin, independent of their own conduct, and that all men, aside from their inclination, are unable to obey God, the ex- pression is evidently and hugely false. These were not the doc- trines of the reformers, or, at least, but a very small portion of them, when compared with the whole. The phrase, at best, is a vague unmeaning one, and derives its chief value from its effect on prejudice and ignorance ; and that is the reason why it is adopted as a diplomatic term of trigonism. The peo- ple borrow it from the priest, and many as profound an igno- ramus as walks the street, will be heard to say, when he retires from the sermon, " Ah ! this is the language of the fathers ; bo they preached in the days of the Refprmation." It ought to be the joy and glory of an American divine to preach the doctrines of a much later reformation than that in Germany ; — doctrines which prevail in a nation whose re- ligious tenets are not shackled by " bands of iron and brass,** forged by civil magistrates, at the instigation of some haughty pontiff; — doctrines which prevail, when it is no longer thought a miracle for a man to rise above the more than Babel confusion of school logic, or the wonderful flights of peripatetic philosophy. Reader, is it wonderful, is it incredible, that the first nation on earth which has been able to perceive the rights of mankintf, both civil and religious — the first nation since the grand apostasy that has exonerated the church from the alluring and destructive influence of civil power — the first nation that has restored the soul of man to freedom, and invited him to free inquiry in the grandest of all concerns — I say, is it incredible, that such a na- tion should make some progress in the discovery of truth ? Or, must we go back to the days of intolerance, of ignorance, of persecution ? Must we go back to the first crude vision of 3.1 early twilight, where no shadow is distincf, because there is no sunshine, and there fix the standard of truth, which no sub- sequent light is to improve — before which all evidence is to be veiled, and all inquiry to cease, forever? The progress of light and knowledge in our own country is scoffed at and abused by these men ; it is treated in a manner which ought to excite the pity and indignation of every friend to his country, and must be regarded by Christ himself as the blackest ingratitude. This incessant driving back fo the days of the reformers, to the discerning eye, fully develops their object. It is to leave the people nothing to do ; to extinguish, at one stroke, all in- quiry after truth, which, according to them, is scarcely to be found in any thing but the barbarous Latin folios of the six- teenth century, which few of the people, and, in fact, not many of their teachers, can read. I ask, whether it would not be more honourable, more dignified, more like ministers of Christ, for them to urge that they preach the doctrines of the gospel, the doctrines of Christ and his Apostles? But, Ah! they know better : that would not be so safe ; would not answer their purpose so well; would be more liable to detection; would not be so true ,• although it is not a fact very easily made out, that they preach the doctrines of any one of the reform- ers. Yet it is an assertion which few of their hearers can con- tradict — an assertion which fills the ignorant with great venera- tion. 2. Their preaching is not calculated to excite inquiry. They say, they preach the doctrines of the Reformation ; but what do they preach ? A triangle ! They dwell for ever on a few lead- ing points, almost without variety of discussion. A congrega- tion may hear them eternally; and never be wiser. If men are not selfish by nature, when proselyted or converted by their preaching, they come out daring advocates for selfishness. Their three grand doctrines paralyze reason, quiet the con- science, extinguish all endeavour after an amendment of life, or to obtain God's favour, and make out a religion independent of the heart or intellect. There is nothing in sin or holiness but imputation ; the sinner is condemned and punished for im- 36 puted guilt, made holy, justified, and saved, by imputed right- eousness. His eternal destiny to misery was sealed prior to his own actions; and the religion to which he is restored, and in which he is eternally to stand, has no regard to his own mora! actions. His religion is faith, and faith is independent of rea- son, prior to love, distinct from good works, and is a divine 2mnciple. Their preaching to the unregenerate world is lamer than Me- phibosheth, who was lame on both his feet ; blinder than Barti- meus, who was born blind,* and weaker than Samson shorn of his seven locks. They cannot convince a soul of sin, be- cause Adam had done his work for him almost six thousand years ago. They cannot preach the gospel to every one, be- cause Christ did not die for every one, and there is no propitia- tion for every one. They cannot make a soul perceive his guilt, for not embracing salvation, even if provision were made for him, because they tell him he is, in every sense, unable to doit. When they sometimes get on the subject of love or charity, they often become so eloquent, and work their hearers up into Buch a fiame, that they could almost tear down the houses of those that do not admire the doctrine as much as they do ; at any rate, would drive them out of the city if they could. With regard to loving our neighbour as ourself, however, they are very guarded ; and a great divine has lately given a remarkably fine turn to that precept. He says, instead of loving God with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourselves, that the law of God required that a " man should love God milk unceasing solici- tude, and his neighbour as extensively and forcibly as the pecu- liar design of the Jewish economy, and the peculiar character of the Jewish people, would permit "j How ingeniously turned ! Reader, where these doctrines prevail there is no inquiry after truth ; for as the tenets naturally extinguish all inquiry and investigation, the more shrewd and discerning well know, that eaiidid and fair investigation would, infallibly, result in dis* sent. Hence, • None are so blind as those that will not see. t Bomeyn's Sermons, vol. I. p.,105. 37 S. Various arts are used to prevent inquiries and investiga- tions of a doctrinal nature. I speak of what has been done, and is now doing, in this city. What books do tliey recommend, or, in plain English, allow their people to read? Very few — few indeed ! When they go into a house, perhaps, they are not alarmed if they see Her- vey's Meditations lying on a lady's table. And, with all my heart, let them read it. Its beautiful descriptions and elegant style, though, perhaps, sometimes a little turgid, and laboriously ornamented, render it an interesting book; and, in general, it is very innocent, while a vein of piety runs through it. Marshall and Owen will do exceedingly ; are Antinomian enough for the triangular landlord. What would they say if they should see Edwards, or Hopkins, or Bellamy, or Emmons, on the table ? Or, perhaps, some of Andrew Fuller's works, or the Triangle ? And the good lady, if she were reading them in earnest, would blush, if not tremble. Not many years ago, several of these gentlemen pretended to be highly exasperated, because a book- seller in this city published Bellamy's True Religion Delineated. Some were really in great wrath, and talked very big about if, and seemed as if almost determined to prosecute the publisher. A few of their people have heard there is such a book as Marshall on Sanctification, and, perhaps, one in a hundred have seen it; but, alas, the support of their plan has no dependence on books, on reasoning, on inquiry, on discussion ! Like the fern, it grows on heaths and commons, where there is no soil — in solitudes, where the implements of tillage are never used ; or, perhaps, like a well-known plant which blossoms under ground, and if exposed to the light of the sun, its fruit will blast. But I hasten to observe, 4. Care is taken to keep a host of prejudices continually awake against all "modes and forms of inquiry. If a man comes, by chance, into their pulpits, and preaches a sermon leading to inquiry, and there are certain trains of reasoning eminently calculated for that end, they frown upon it, and put it down, even though they may chance to approve the arguments ad- vanced. They have a certain slang about metaphysics which all their people well understand. "This is well enough," say 38 il)f!y, " for that matter, but this carnal reasoniog, this metaphjT' sical bair-splitting, does not savour of the gospel ; I would ra- ther hear something about Christ." Nothing was ever more artful, and nothing was ever more hypocritical. The holy and glorious Redeemer himself is made tlie stepping-stooe of am- bition, and he 'that came a light into the world, to enlighten every man, is made to overshadow and obscure his own doc- trines. As they allow the preaching of others to open no source of instruction, and lead to no examination — as in their own sermons they trace round and round the triangle, till every stated hearer knows, at the reading of the text, what side or what angle is coming, so neither in their conversation do they lead to a single avenue of light. In private conversation, they affect great ho- liness and authority. They often make some ignorant gaper believe, that they can pierce the veil and see things unutterable. They talk about knocking boldly at heaven's gate — about de- manding of God this and that favour; and of "keeping Christ to his word." But, withal, they take care to be very mystierious and mystical, and while, to the purblind catechumen, their faces often shine like that of Moses from the mount, the poor fellow is so dazzled, bewildered, and perhaps enraptured, that he has little thought of asking questions, or clearing up difficulties, and perhaps no purpose can enter his mind, in those awful moments, but that of seizing hold of the skirt of this great saint, and not letting go till he gets beyond the gulf. As for doctrinal- discussions and inquiries among the people, they are not encouraged — they are put quite out of fashion. When they happen to meet, it is rather recommended to them to talk about experimental religion; to wit, feelings which nei- ther they nor their masters ever had. Far be it from me to sa^-^ they never felt experimental religion; I hope otherwise; but the feelings of a man's heart pay no regard to the prejudices of his understanding, or the absurd theories of his brain. Bread and beef are bread and beef, and look and taste alike in all countries, though they may be called by very different names. The ge- nuine feelings of religion in a mind where gross selfishness is professed, and the grandest trait of the gospel, even universal 39 propitiation, denieil, where sin and holiness are resolved into imputation, and faith is made the radical principle of religion, must be in an uncomfortable situation — must resemble some corntields in Connecticut which I have seen, where the stones were so high and so large that you must turn your hoe edgewise to get earth enough to cover the seed. Yet I have known no^ ble crops of corn sometimes raised there, notwithstanding. These stones lay on the surface, the soil was deeper. May it prove to be so with these triangular Christians. At all events, their experimental conversations generally turn upon the sermons they have last heard ; and from them, by an easy periphrasis, to the men by whom they were delivered ; on which latter interesting theme they can dwell for hours with great earnestness and zeal. And full and perfect details of these conversations, together with all the encomiums, praises, eulogies, and applauses, reach their delighted ear within twenty hours from the moment of delivery. And how much better this, both for the minister and his flock, than for a set of men to meet, each one with his metaphysical file, hammer, chissel, drill, or scraper, to try the temper and the metal of the sermon ; nay, to try all parts of truth, and boldly dare to form their own opinions of every proposition ? — Hence, I remark, 5. They neither promote nor encourage the study of the scriptures, nor of theological truth among their people. Citi- zens of New-York, and Christian Brethren, I would not-lay this charge had I not perfect assurance of its truth, and did I not sincerely believe it. And if I am mistaken in a point so funda- mental, it is your interests I plead — it is the interests of thou- sands of souls, who are perishing for lack of knowledge, which induces me thus to encounter the shafts of malevolence, the rage of the designing, and the curses of the proud. But let ^hem hurl their shafts, and let them fulminate their anathemas — I will declare the truth. Their thunders will not be heard on that day when His voice who speaks in thunders shall decide the question. Their many-coloured arts will gain no advantage in that court. 40 " Where tlxere's no shuffling, where the action lies In its true nature; and we ourselvw compell'd. Even to the teeth and forehead of onr faults. To give in evidence." When an end is recommended 33 worthy to be attained, is it not usual to recommend and set on foot the means of attain- ment? How do they promote the study of the scriptures? AVhat methods do they propose ? — None ! absolutely none ! A man's name may be heard afar, and his pride may be gratified, by becoming a distinguished leader even in a na- tional Bible Society, while his stated hearers and church mem- bers may be ignorant of the Bible. I highly approve of a national Bible Society ; and I would to God, that every church in this city were a bible society, in a far stricter sense : which they are not. But the fault primarily and principally is not theirs ; it is the fault of those by whose artful manage- ment that fairest book of knowledge is overlooked. Be not mistaken, Reader : admiring a fine sermon, or praising the piety and talents of a popular preacher, implies no knowledge of the Bible. They institute an abundance of prayer meetings, to which I shall certainly make no objection. But " men ought to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting." '' When thou prayest, enter into thy closet," said the divine teacher. Every one knows that it is less necessary for men to assemble for purposes of prayer than of intelligence and in* struction. Prayer is the soul's desire, going to God ; and what- ever justness of form, or force of elocution, we may use, or may be used in our hearing, a man prays for nothing but what he de- sires. I say nothing against public prayers — nothing against forms of prayer, which I have often heard with delight, affection, and, I hope, with consentaneous desire. But without knowledge the heart cannot be good ; and these are select means and salu-» tary institutions for promoting knowledge. It is the remark of Addison, than whom few men possessed a sounder intellect, that he never heard six men of common understanding give their opinions deliberately on any subject, however familiar, without gaining some new idea. Six men of 41 ordinary capacity and information, who shall sit down, for an evenins; hour's conversation, shall read six verses in the gos- pel, and give their opinions distinctly and in rotation, upon each verse; canvassing each other's opinions, raising and solving ob- jections with the freedom, simplicity, and kindness of Christians — marking their application to, and influence on conduct, and they shall retire instructed and edified, probably more than from hearing an ordinary judicious sermon. They surely cannot come up with Dr. Campbell, that prince of biblical critics. They cannot produce an elegant and learned dissertation on tne dif- ferent shades of the meaning of the terms Kt,j6(;^<7w, EuaryUi^w, and AiJao-KU; they cannot show that the plural of Aiatoxoj does not mean devils, or that AiatoKai signifies nothing worse than tattling old women. They have not oriental learning to carry them back to the Talmuds, and Targums, to the ancient copies and versions, neither can they collate so many of the different read- ings, or so many of the strange and ridiculous expositions of old writers, as to render the plainest passage of the Bible ob- scure and unintelligible. They cannot quote Rab. Sol. Ben Jarchi, Kennicottius, Father Simon, Gosselinus nor Rambag- gius. The Bible abounds in plain truth, expressed in a manner adapted to the meanest capacity ; in this it surpasses any book that ever was written. The greatest reader with whom I was ever acquainted, once remarked to me, that he had often been sur- prised to perceive, when he came to read expositors and anno- tators, in how many instances his first and most childish appre- hensions of the meaning of scripture had been confirmed, and in how few instances his first and earliest notions of the mean- ing of the Bible, whether obtained from the conversation of his parents, or from his own almost involuntary reflections, had been discovered to,be incorrect. Errors in doctrine do not generally originate from mere in- advertent misconceptions of scripture, but from far more cul- pable causes. Learning and ingenuity have bad a large share in corrupting divine truth. When a man of great talents has a favourite theory to make out, what must he do ? He runs through the Bible, and like the tyrant who stretched or clipped bis guests 6 42 to suit them to his bedstead, he effectually stretches or clips every adverse passage till it suits him : he confuses the perspicuous, dis- torts proportion, penumbrates the luminous, illustrates the ob- scure; breaks th e neck of one passage to straighten it, of another to crook it; clothes one passage with as many glosses as the daughter of Aurengzeebe wore suits of imperial gauze, and scaitha another as the morbid dissector does his subject, to lay bare the muscles:— in tine, his theory is his line, which he stretches upon the Bible, and, like a master workman, raises or depresses, ad- vances or retreats, every part till it bits the line The work is done; and he has displayed great learning and equal talents, with which the reader is charmed, and no less awed by his au- thority and name. He has done it with a master's hand, and perhaps it might require learning and talents equal to his own to confute him. Men admire, and the world follows him; but, reader, if God's word were like the human body, it would bleed under his hand in every part, and suffer pain in every member. By these me- thods, every doctrine of the Roman, the Greek, the Arminian, the Antinomian, is made out. But the word of God is not such a book as can naturally lead to this infinite confusion of opinions. It is ambition and selfishness that do the work. When the day of God shall pour resistless light on every understand- ing, men shall see that their errors have been the offspring of pride and wilful blindness. Every man is ready to say, " show me that I am wrong, and I will reform." But, alas ! when errors have become popular, supported by great names, beautified and adorned by wealth and fashion, and fortified and defended by prejudice, passion, influence, and power, who is willing to see them in the light of error? Who has fortitude to meet the frowns of the powerful, the censure of those reputed for wisdom, the contempt of the learned, and the hatred or pity of the multitude ? Barriers these, through which few can break. Here lies the strength of error, and the strongest bulwark against reformation. Errors are generally weak in themselves, far less supported by reason or evidence than truth ; but they derive gigantic force from 43 their agreeableness to the mind, and from the difficuUy (here is in resisting the multitude. I am DO enemy to biblical criticism; I would be quite wil- ling that our masters and professors in that noble science had ten times more of it than they have. I do not think them yet mad through much learning; yet I am aware that biblical criti- cism, as a profession, and as a science, may assume an attitude so imposing ; may be so managed as to check, discourage, and crush the taste and spirit of inquiry into the import of the scriptures in the great body of the people. And I have seen, with inexpressible regret and disgust, that the professed exposi- tors of the Bible, in this city, do artfully carry that business with so lofty and mysterious a hand, that the people, without knowing it, are led to regard the Bible, except when its mean- ing is dealt out to them in precious morsels by their teachers, as an almost sealed book. ' I ask every reflecting man whether a wise nation will sur- render up their liberties at the discretion of their rulers, because those rulers are wise and virtuous men? If they do, they' are a ruined people; and this has been the ruin and downfall of all free governments. But how much more so has it ruined the church of Christ! When mankind surrender their understand- ings and consciences, without examination, to a set of men, they never more deserve to be entrusted with understandings, since they refuse to use them in the grandest of ail concerns for which an understanding is given, or can be of use. The moral maxims of vital importance to human happiness, the great body of practical wisdom, and, indeed, all the grand truths essential to salvation, are made perfectly plain in the Bible. But that which never engages the attention cannot be known, however plain it is made. Nothing can sutBciently en- gage the attention which is not made the subject of thought, reflection, conversation, and discussion. Conversation with a familiar friepd, expressing our own conceptions and views of a subject, is the only way in which we become acquainted wilh that subject. Why is it necessary that ministers of re- ligion should have about them such a vast a[)paratus of learn- ing — should know so much and so accurately about theology ? u Is it merely to make a splendid show, and now and then come out and dazzle and astonish their hearers with the pomp of their «-riidition ? Doubtless; if we may judge from the con- durf of many. t.)f what use is it if a man is looked upon as a walking, moving mass of divinity, if it must live and die in his carcass, and his infatuated admirers go on gazing and ad- miiino; him for his great knowledge, while they, alas! are comparatively ignorant, sleek and easy, as the horses that drag their « arriage ? One grand reason why it is useful for a clergyman to possess great knowledge is, that he may communicate that knowledge, and take measures that his people may also excel in knowledge, which I hesitate not to declare is not done at all, or most miser- ably done, by many in this city. 1 have said the study of the scriptures, and the discussion of scripture doctrines, among the people at large, is not encour- aged in this city. Who has taken any vigorous measures for the attainment of that object? What associations were ever formed among the people^ and what progress made. So far from it, I venture to affirm, that, were any one of all these tri- angular pontiffs to discover, that a large number of his most judicious hearers had associated together, to meet once a week, to read the scriptures, and discuss doctrinal points, he would feel the greatest alarm, and would take immediate measures to sup- press it. I put it to the consciences of those gentlemen that I speak the truth. Yes, they would feel much alarm, and with much reason : for so sure as the sun gives light, should the re- ligious people of this city take a simultaneous determination to " read the scriptures daily," and, like the noble Bereans, ex- amine for themselves, " whether these things be so," this wretched triangular, limited, contracted scheme of Antinomian selfishness wouhl vanish away. No : there are no such associations. — And whilst there is net a nobler object for which an association could be formed; whilst there are missionary societies, charitable societies, praying so- cieties, Sunday-school societies, bible societies, there are no societies, amongst rich or poor, male or female, old or youn^, 45 pious or impious, for reading and understanding that invaluable book; for discussing and understanding (hose glorious and aw- ful, those sublime and venerable, doctrines on which man's eter- nal felicity depends. They are willing, it seems, that people should pray, and give their money bountifully; that they should send Bibles to tne Heathen, but do they wish them, in earnest, to take up that Bible, and adopt the only true and vigorous methods of understanding it? "I trow not." . A nobler amusement, a richer repast for the mind, an exer- cise better adapted to invigorate the faculties, enlarge the un- derstanding, to amalgamate different minds, and conflicting opinions, cannot be devised. And the progress which the mind makes in these exercises is delightful and surprising. " I will speak," said Elihu, " that I may be refreshed." The mind, like the body, is invigorated by exercise ; and if never exer- cised it is ever feeble and unformed. Six men, as I said above, who shall give their opinions on but six verses of the scriptures, however weak they may appear, at first, will, in a little time, acquire facility by repeated efforts, system and arrangement by previous reflection, and from those very words, which they have heard pronounced hundreds of limes, without awakening a sinjjie idea, new thoughts will occur, new beauties will expand, and important knowledge will be gained. It is well known that the human mind will improve in nothing to which it is made but the passive spectator. And this remark applies with greater force to that species of instruction derived from hearing. The habitual and orderly expression of our own thoughts, at stated periods, invigorates the powers of association and combi- nation, fixes the mind to its object, assists comparison and de- duction, while the mind resembles the distaff, and the discourse the hand which draws out the thread. But, alas! if s61f evident truth fails of any effect, if the no- blest motives are without force against a tide of prejudice, and against the influence of a set of men, who patrole every street, and stand, arrectis auribus, at every corner, catching the undu- lations of every whisper, and forestalling the incipient symptoms of conviction, in vain do I dwell on thi>i thrme. Neverlhrle?s, 46 it will not disturb the repose of my dying pillow, that 1 have lifted my voice while others were silent ; that I have incurred the resentment of those whose friendship will prove more for- midable to thousands than their enmity can be to one. With few words I shall close this number. I have stated some of the methods used to prevent any disposition to inquire after truth, any taste for doctrinal discussion ; and, combining with other, and, perhaps, accidental causes, they have rendered it altogether unfashionable. The very taste for such conversa- tion, reading, reflection, and pursuit, is extirpated, and there may also be clearly perceived in it the operation of judicial blindness. It is in the nature of man to love darkness rather than light, because his deeds are evil. But there is one other method more recently resorted to, to which I shall briefly advert. The sword is drawn, and the point of ecclesiastical censure is now fairly presented and opposed to the breast of every one who dares to deviate from what these divines term orthodoxy. In the last number of the last series, I noticed the pastoral letter of the synod of Philadelphia, in which Hopkinsian tenets are denounced as heresy. They have also fairly past a test act by which every minister licentiate is to be examined touching those points, and if found a Hopkin- sian, is to be rejected. I noticed in the first series the expulsion of Mr. D from a seminary in this city, because he advoca- ted those sentiments; and the same man whose signature adorned that disgraceful act of expulsion, has very lately, in a missionary society of this city, exerted his influence successfully against Mr. C , and procured his rejection as a missionary, on the charge of his not being sound in the faith ; although one third of the board of directors of the society agree in sentiments with Mr. C . This gentleman is becoming famous on the list of bigotry and intolerance, and it is fitting that his official conduct be held up to public observation. Neither ought the reader to imagine that I am actuated by mere gratuitous malice in calling his at- tention to such conduct. The people of this country, and of this city in special, ought to study the fable o f the shepherd's 47 boy and the wolves. They have in fact so offen, aud so long, heard the cry of wolves: they have heard the cry of Tyranny ! Tyranny ! from all quarters, from all parties, till they have grown callous to the cry ; yet wolves will come at last. The people ought to be apprised, that the points of doctrine, so recently censured by these men as heresy, have never been considered, in any part of this country, as a bar to communion, or as a wall of separation between Christians, as individuals or as churches. They are not so considered in the churches of Eng- land or Scotland, nor, indeed, by any of the protestant churches in Europe, except where mingled with other matters which in- volve religious order and discipline. Is it a happy omen — does it promise well to the Christian church; in this country, that such a bigoted and intolerant spirit should now begin to show its deformed features and cloven loot? Is it best for individuals, and churches, and Presbyteries, and Synods — nay, for different denominations and sects, to begin to hurl their censures and anathemas at one another? Shall Bible and Missionary Societies, generally embracing denomina- tions of different sentiments, turn from their great object, and fall upon their own members with base invectives and furious anathemas ? Yes : — this, it seems, is now to be done, and a grand specimen was recently given, as already noticed, in which a young licentiate of most unblemished morals, exemplary piety, and promising talents, was rejected as a missionary, and con- demned as unsound in the faith. This hopeful business was managed, and violently carried through, though one third of the members of the board agreed in doctrine with Mr. C. by the same man who aided, or rather was principal, in D's expulsion. I ask the candid and well-dis- posed of all denominations, of all orders, whether such a man can be regarded in jmy other light than as a blind, haughty, and furious bigot ? I ask the disinterested reader what sort of min- istry that will be, trained up in his maxims, formed from his pre- cepts and examples ? nor will they need to wait his falling man- tle, to imbibe a double portion of his spirit : For that is a spirit, into which " No7i docti, sed nati, non inslituti, sed imbttli siimus.''' 48 There 13 no privilege, it would seem, uo honour, no public nor private advantage, to be derived from that equal considera- tion, reciprocity of indulgence and charity, equality of rank and immunity, which all religious sects hold in the eye of our free and excellent constitution, and ^re thereby required to hold in the eye of each other. From this soil of liberty and justice, watered by the blood of patriots, is now to spring up, not a crop of warriors, where dragon's teeth had been sown, but a race of stern, unrelenting, religious despots, who are to change the order of things in this country. And as property and lucra- tive stations are primary objects with them, they will seize, if possible, on the great cities, and fix their triangular iron box on every pericranium they can allure, flatter, babble, or frigh- ten into it; and if any one throws it off, ah! a heretic! a heretic! "unsound in the faith!"' "rotten at the core!" And could they have but the syndics and civil magistrates to second their pious endeavours, and carry home their holy censures, what reformations we should have ! we should quickly see the days of the Reformers return ; and there would be none of the "northern storm" in all this. No! but frequent blasts from a hotter and more murky region. Whoever shall read this number, and shall judge that the se- verity of the remarks are disproportipned to the requisition of the occasion, will do well to consider the grand theme repeated by the voice of the union herself, at every anniversary of our independence. Why did our forefathers leave the shores of Europe, and encounter the perils of the deep— the dangers and privations of the wilderness ? Liberty of conscience was one grand motive. Here, under a guiding providence, they planted the Tree of Libkrtt, and by the suns and showers of heaven, it has grown to a majestic size. Whoever opposes the censures of the church to freedom of opinion and private judgment, in the manner these men have done, is a religious ty- rant, and sins agains^t the highest privilege of the nation ; and had our civil rulers no more discretion and viriu*- than he has, our land, from being a ladd of freedom and happiness, would become an Aceldama — a field of blood. 49 Reader, you hear in these pages the voice of a single, ob- scure, unknown, individual. You can, with ease, slight and spurn it. With ease can you tear the unfinished page, or hurl the book into the flames, as the infatuated king of Judah did the message of the prophet. But you will percieve that that rash act did not save his country, nor himself; neither will a similar act prevent or procrastinate the evils which impend. Had public bo- dies a consciousness, and could the religious community of this vast country speak, as saith the prince of orators, " Si ilia, una voce, loqiieretur,'" she would bewail, with tears, the ingratitude of her children ; she would express her indignation, in a language suitable to her dignity, at those who envy others the blessings they derive from her ; and her contempt at the impotent ambition which claims powers which she never granted. But she would perceive these daring attempts, generally made by strangers to Jier blood, and aliens to her free and noble spirit : — exotics, which, withering in their own native soil and climate, have been transplanted hither, to fatten on the credulity of the simple, to prove the virtue of the upright, and to punish the ingratitude of the wicked. INVESTIG.\TOR. No. III. I HAVE said, in the preceding number, that the people in this city^ who listen to a certain strain of preaching, whit h i have styled triangular, are not well instructed in the great docirineg of Christianity. I do not say this without a due consideration of the allegation it imports ; and I am fully aware, that to ihe candid mind of persons at a distance, or to the incautious on the spot, it may appear too severe. It shall be the business of this number to make good the ground here assumed. The instructions given are incorrect in their nature, deficient in their extent, and tend to extinguish rather than excite inquiry. 50 Two volumes of sermons have lately been published in this city.* These sermons I offer as documents to prove the first part of this charge, viz. that incorrect instructions are given. When a man comes out in two large volumes of sermons, in a great and polished city, we have some reason to believe he has selected his ablest productions.f The third sermon of vol. I. is entitled " The glory of a nation." Page 104-5, this writer observes, , f' We shall first examine their laws, (the Hebrew,) confining ourselves, however, to a few general notices. *' In these laws, the great principles of moral duty are pro- mulgated with a solemnity suited to their high pre-eminence. Love to God, with unceasing solicitude, and love to our neigh- bour, as extensively and forcibly as tJie pecidiar design of the Jewish economy, and the peculiar character of the Jeivish people mould permit, are enjoined.''^ On these two commands, says Christ, hang all the law and the prophets ; and they doubtless comprise the soul . and es- sence of all religion ; " for," saith the Apostle John, " he that loveth is born of God: and he that dwelleth in love, dwellethin God, and God in him." But was ever such a definition given of (he law of God as our divine here gives ? — a definition so poor, so meager and wretched ? — a definition which tarnishes, nay, abolishes the di- vine law? I think a common school boy will perceive its hol- lowness : a person nourished from youth on the atnor sui will even be shocked to read it. Who ever heard of loving God with "solicitude?" The first and grand import of solicitude is anxiety, which consists in a perturbed, depressed, fluctuating, fearful, and painful state of mind. Never was there a more ill- chosen term to delineate the holy and glorious affection of per- fect love, which God's law requires. " Perfect love casteth out fear :" " And herein, ' says John, " is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment." But does not • Dr. Romeyn's. t A gieat writer says, that a man must be tall at 20, beautiful at 30, nch at 40, and wise at 50 ; or else never tall, beautiful, ricl>, nor wise. The author of inion and inquiry, and 89 eventually all liberty of conscience. And it reminds me of an anecdote I lately read in the Life of Pizarro. He had been, on a certain occasion, treated with great hospitality by a tribe of Indians ; and when, some time after, he was at war with that tribe, and had besieged their last fortress, his generous feelings wrought so upon him, on recollecting their former kindness, that he determined to spare the place, and forbade his soldiers plundering it. His little army was generally pleased with the proposition, especially the young Castilian warriors, who imme- diately resolved not to put the people to the sword, nor seize their effects. But a stern inquisitorial priest, says the writer, knit his eyebrows on Pizarro, and replied, " What ! are you then willing to let these abominable idolaters escape with their ef- fects, and not bow their necks to the yoke of the faith ? No ! they shall be converted, or they shall die !" Pizarro, fearing to exasperate this holy father, was compelled to yield the town to the sword, and to the rapacity of these advocates for the yoke of the faith. And, gentlemen, may heaven long defend us from the yoke of the faith worn by the protestant churches of Europe, even the best of them. Their churches and clergy were interwoven with their government, and the state was made an instrument of their church, and the church a tool of the state, Harpnr, in his "Observations," page 51, remarks, that "when the armies of Bonaparte entered the Seven United Provinces, he pioceed- ed immediately to confiscate the property of the Belgic clergy, which amounted to the moderate sum of two hundred and fifty millions of dollars." A tolerable good living for the honest Dutchmen, by which they have made the yoke of the faith, no doubt, very strong, and as comfortable as may be. I said they were arming themselves with the means and in- fluence of institutions, of which the rejection of Mr. C as a missionary, alluded to in the preceding number, is an instance. And although the leader in that magnanimous act is not a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, yet he is a member of one of those churches whose speedy u.nion with the Presbyterian church is hailed with such rapture in the famous Pastoral Letter of the Synod of Philadelphia. 12 90 My motive, gentlemen, in these particular allusions, is to show that opposition to truth is concentrated to a ftfcus, and is di- recting its efforts to bar the way, as much as possible, against ministers and licentiates of this strain of doctrine ; and the cases of Mr. C , of Mr. D , of Mr. F , of Mr. G , and of Mr. S , are in point, and shed as much light upon the subject as they do darkness upon the conduct, the manage- ment, the intrigue, resorted to on those occasions. Unless it be presumed that every youth is possessed of in- vincible firmness and incorruptible integrity, a state of things is fast forming which will be too great a trial for common energy^ talents, and fidelity to resist ; and every young man about en- tering the ministry will count the cost — will see at once what scheme of doctrine must render him acceptable, popular, and a candidate for the most conspicuous stations-; and what scheme will expose him to frowns, opposition, and charges of heresy — will even prevent his receiving a call, though four-fifths of a congregation were disposed to give it — will expose him to the censure of Presbytery, Synod, and, perhaps, the General Assem- bly : nay, if he be amicably settled, will expose him to be un- dermined, slandered, abused, and, perhaps, ultimately ejected. Under these circumstances, which part will he take ? And ha- ving been swayed by interest and popular favour, at the ex- pense of truth, in the outset of his career, what will he be af- terward ? A tool for others to work with, till he finds himself in a condition to use such tools as he himself once was — a trim- mer — a weathercock ; any thing which the pliant qualities of a Proteus can be wrought into; any which the service of his su- periors may require, and every thing which his interest and ambition may dictate. But motives prior to all these will be effectually laid in the way of young men, looking towards the ministry. They must go to a theological seminary : and to the honour of that semi- nary be it spoken, they have not expelled, as yet, for holding correct sentiments ; but from the appearance of things, in pro- gir.ssu, that event is soon to be expected. The principle part, nay, almost all who receive their education there, come out, thoroughly and finishedly trianf^ular. They go forth and preach 91 all the points of imputation, contended for by any one :— a limited atonement — know nothing about moral inability, and count that important distinction, as a most promising young divine of this city lately declared before the New-York Pres- bytery, nothing but " hodgepodge:" — make all religion to con- sist in faith — a mystical principle above all creature perfection, or conception: — disinterested benevolence a scarecrow, and a little selfishness a very good thing : — that people must, by no means, be willing to be damned, in order that they may be saved : — that moral virtue is quite an Old Testament, Jewish economy, Arminian affair, and out of date ; metaphysics, ugly things : — that people must love Christ, because he is about to save them, and surely they would be very ungrateful if they did not: — that the non-elect will be condemned for not believing that Christ died for them, because they do not know but that he did die for them. They never fail to impress the hearer that he is, in every sense, unable to do his duty, yet will be condemned for not doing it : — that he ought to believe in Christ, though faith is a divine principle implanted, and can be given to none but those whose debt to justice Christ has paid : — that men are moral agents to do wrong, but not to do right ; and, in a word, that sinners are not in a state of probation. ♦ Gentlemen, If we enjoy the honour and felicity of belonging to the first nation on earth, where the sacred rights of civil and religious liberty have been fully established — if in consequence of these peculiar privileges, accompanied with the still greater blessing of the light and influence of God's spirit, progress has been made in religious knowledge, and as we approach nearer to the time of the consummation of the glory of the church militant, the Christian church has gained a hai)pier remove from the grounds she formerly occupied, entangled with civil government and politics ; and, on the confines of darkness and superstition, shall we, after this, retrace our steps, and return back into Egypt, or into the wilderness of Sin ? Is this the strain of doctrine, and this alone, henceforth to be regarded as canonical? The strain every man must adopt and promote, or be deemed a heretic, and a revolter from our 92 Btandard ? Shall our young men who deviate from this be re- jected as missionaries, prevented from receiving calls where congregations are disposed to call them, and turned away from places where they are already settled ? Shall the resources of the General Assembly be called forth to found a Divinity College, to promote this plan of instruction ? Shall dollar socie- ties, cent societies, mite societies, be organized ? Shall con- tributions, donations, and every mode of voluntary taxation be resorted to, in all parts of this extensive country, to erect edifi- ces, institute professorships, scholarships, and all other kinds of ships, to promote this distorted, halting, debasing, scheme of error ? Can the blessing of God be expected to follow this ob- vious retrogradation ? For it is impossible not to perceive a driving backward in the strain of doctrine and discipline in many who, by their forwardness and imposing attitude, in all our judicatories, would feign not only be thought leaders, but be such in the most absolute sense of the word. They loudly scoff at all idea or notion of any improvement in doctrine or discipline, as made iu this country. Though, doubtless, if religious knowledge and doctrine ever made any progress in any country, it has been in New-England, that land which is scarcely named in connexion with religion without a sneer. And if the spirit of God has ever been poured out in religious revivals, it is there ; yet, at those revivals, the finger of scorn is pointed, and the sneers of contempt are not wanting. I do not say that the seminary will support, exclusively, that scheme of doctrine and those intolerant and destructive mea- sures. I can only judge from what I have seen and heard, and perhaps a full experiment has not been made; but I say if they do, they will prove a scourge and not a blessing to the church — will draw down the wrath, and not the smiles of heaven upon the whole denomination. An unknown weight of responsibility lies on the founders, di- rectors, and instructors of fhat Institution. It commits the in- terests of a rising, and hitherto prosperous church, to few hands — ■ I fear too few. The training of a ministry shall exert an influ- ence not only immediate and perceptible, but remote, extend- «i|j prpgrpssive, and without end :— it has the power to purify 93 or corrupt the doctrinal and moral sentiments of a nation, and to all future generations. A corrupt teacher may ceriainly pro- ceed from a very pure and correct institution ; as also may a very correct teacher from a polluted fountain of instruction. But, generally speaking, the scholar will be like his master, and a variation from this rule is generally on the unfavourable side. But I ask, in Ihesi, i. e. merely as a case supposable, what if the master be a non liquet? What if, after having preached twenty years the doctrines of general atonement, moral ina- bility, universal offers of salvation, and man's probationary state, nobody knows it ? What if, after having deeply bewailed the lax practice of the church, for years, he performs prodigies in converting young men to that practice ; nay, and performs journeys to administer it, and keep its adherents in countenance, lest they should be discouraged ; thus supporting the practice which he bewails, and defeating the practice in which he be- lieves ? This might be a great stretch of benevolence. But, Gentlemen, if you make the pillars of your building of the wil- low, the superincumbent arches must be light and buoyant, or they cannot be sustained. Gentlemen, I perceive a current, in these times, whose drift is rapid, broad, and strong. I have stated my apprehen-^ions freely ; nor have I a doubt that they are just. As to the furious censures that many will hurl at these suggestions, I regard them as chaflF; and the neglect, which others will consider as a better revenge, I shall not feel. I have as much at stake, in these concerns, as any person living, and no more: — the eternal ap- probation of God is to be gained or lost by us all, and the so- lemn hour when that great and unalterable decision is to be made, is near and approaching. Neither the reflections corrtained in this or the preceding numbers, or series, are the offspring of haste or passion ; they have resulted from long observation, and deliberate conviction. The drift I see is from light to darkness: — the movement is retrograde ; and if the golden calf, which is to lead back to Egypt, is not already cast, and shown to the camp« I shall be glad Youi talents your long experience, your conspicuous stations, your standing in the public confidence, and your correct senti- 91 ments, are pledges which the church holds, that your exertionti in the cause of truth will be equally distinguished and decided. I am, Gentlemen, with great respect, your obedt. Servant, INVESTIGATOR. No. V. It is done. The extraordinary scene which has agitated the public mind for sosne time, is closed, and closed in a manner which ought to fill every pious mind with alarm — every inde- pendent mind with new circumspection and resolution — every generous mind with indignation. The young men's Missionary Society, in this city, by a majority of 160 to 90, have con- demned Mr. C as holding heretical doctrine, on the sole ground of his being a Hopkinsian. Thus, a young man of most unblemished moral character, of ardent piety, and uncommon talents, is laid under the odium of public censure ; is rejected by the missionary board, and overwhelmed with all the disgrace which the ultimate censure of that society can carry with it to every extremity of the Union. But do the people of this city consider what this censure im- plies, and how far it extends.^ Are they aware that it extends to a very great proportion of professing Christians in the city? It reaches every man who does not come fully up to the horrible and loathsome restrictions of the triangle ; to every man who does not believe the whole human race deserving of eternal damnation for Adam's first act; that Christ made propitiation for none but the elect; that all men were not only condemned for Adam's first act, but utterly incapacitated thereby, in a way which has no connexion with their disinclination, to obey God; or, in other words, that their inability, caused by Adam's sin, does not consist in want of will to obey God. Citizens, is every man in this city and country to be con- 95 demned and disgraced as an heretic, who does not come tip to these monstrous opinions ? Imagination can scarcely reach to the atrocity and insolence of this whole business. The men who have condemned an innocent and worthy young man, claim to be Calvinists. They claim to be what they are not. Calvin never disgraced religion so much as to teach the doc- trines they teach. I have told you, in the Preface of the First Series, what Calvin thought of original sin. It was at the same distance from their views of it, that I am ; and as to a general atonement, these men have been called upon, in vain, to show that Calvin denied it. They cannot show it ; and there is much reason to believe that this young man, whom they have con- demned, does not differ from Calvin in his views of the atone- ment. The doctrine of a general atonement has been the great doc- trine of the Church in all ages, and almost all its sections. It has been denied as rarely as the divinity of Christ; and if the whole Christian Church be considered, and the whole period of its duration, it will be found that as many have denied the di- vinity of Christ, as the doctrine of universal propitiation for sin. But, citizens, you are told that the Socinians of Boston, and that region, are sprung from Hopkinsianism. You are told this by men who are ready to assert any thing that will answer their present purposes. Never was a more obvious or infamous falsehood asserted. The Socinians of those parts are descended from such men as opposed and ridiculed the reformations un- der Whitefield ; such men as. drove Jonathan Edwards from Northampton ; such men as have ever opposed Edwards, West, Bellamy, and Hopkins, for the last fif(y years, on the same grounds, and for the same reasons, that they are opposed in this city — the Antinomian ground. And I here repeat the observation made in the first number of the first series of this work, that the strain of doctrine pre- dominant in this city, or, at least, in many churches of it, will present no barrier to vice or error, but will ultimately prepare the way for both. Yet dangerous and fatal as this scheme of doctrine is, could 96 truth and error have been left to a fair and open conflict, I would have preferred to have descended to my grave in silence, assured that, wherever that conflict is carried on, on equal ground victory must crown the advocates of truth. But here it has been far otherwise. While truth was hushed, and hissed, and terrified into total silence—while no man presumed to lift his voice against a torrent of opinion and prejudice, which rolled on broad and deep as the Ganges—while pulpits thun- dered, presses groaned, and conversation murmured with exe- crations and anathemas, against a strain of doctrine of which the people were kept in perfect ignorance, it was time that a record of facts was published: — "and after the manner which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers." IN VESTi GATOR. THE TRIANGLE. FOURTH SERIES OF NUMBERS. THE INVESTIGATOR. T^TOyjvyig Itt' ol^iTt^v ofuag TroAAvr? Tfrcu. JK'EW-TOnKt PRINTED AND PUELISPIED FOR THK AUTHOR. Van Winkle, Wilry & Co., Printers. 1S17. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH SERIES. The resentment which certain individuals still maintain, and coa- tinually express, against the Triangle, and which, whether the breeze whispers or storm roars, still reverberates through the city, ex- cites io me various sentiments, but no variation of purpose. Regard- ed in the light of a furious, relentless, arrogant, and haughty intoler- ance, 1 canaot but hear it with contempt ; but considered, as in many initauces it is, as the result of prejudices corroborated from the cradle, or of ignorance of e^nal age and respectability, I cannot but feel con- cern mingled with pity. Had not a course of events occurred in this city, since this publi- cation began, wbicl. have fully justified most of the assertions in the former numbers, and especially in the first ; had not these events been witnessed by the public eye, attested by the public ear, and sanction- ed by the official acts of public bodies, this continual and furious roar of execration might be thought less extraordinary, and perhaps more excusable. The Triangle is accu:ed of three capital faults : of laying false ac- cusations, of using indecent language, and of advancing corrupt sen- timents. la relation to the first of tliese charges, the city of New- York may judge for herself, how much exag-geration I have been guilty of; when she has lately heard the whole body of these men fiercely in)plead the Ilopkinsiaus at the public bar, and lay to their charge, not merely in the idle slanglof chimney-corner debate, but before a large Missionary Society, almost every grade, species, and aggravation of error, such as Socinian, Deistical, and Atheistical heiesies. And, reader, when you hear these charges thundered frosn the house top, and propagat- ed by the trumpet'; blast, can you be Vt eak enough to believe that it has not long been the theme of their perpetual tattle, their gossip- ing, their whispers, and intrigue. You may not know it ; I do. And as I said, at first, but which doubtless was not heeded, this controversy, this furious contention has, as it did in the Missionary So- ciety, in every instance, begun with these men. They have sought the quarrel — have waged the battle — have given the provocation — have premeditated the attack — have thrown down the gauntlet — have bared their weapons, in every instance. The advocates of Hopkin- sian sentiments, from their arrival in this city, earnestly, anxiously, laboriously, humbly, and, I may certainly add, prayerfully, studied the peace and quiet of the city, and of the church. Yet, as I said, the most industrious measures were presently taken to root them out, and the whole art and science of attack, in all its variations, was long practised upon them. And, reader, one day you shall know, in cpite of all your reluctance, that I have not exaggerated on this poi nt. With reference to indecent language, I shall say little. The lan- guage of sarcasm is often resorted to, and I most conscientiously "be- iieve, if ever admissible, in any case, it was on these occasions. The spirit of bigotry and intolerance affected in this free country — the figure and phi^ oy3.7tolimelangere gossiping about in this free and en- lightened city — the contour of a man's character and conduct, who shall here set himself up as a little spiritual despot, are things too con- temptible and base, too dariag and audacious, to merit systematic and solemn argument. It is hardly worth while to erect a scaffold for punishing a spider, when you can crush him with your foot. As to satire and raillery, and soinclinies couched in tolerably gross phrases, I must bej these humble admirers of yreat men to road Jlr. Witherspoon's " Characteristics,'* while, at the same time, i ex- hort some whose consciences are so terribly wounded by the Triangle, to be careful not to strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel, in their behaviour concerning it. Whether the Triangle advances corrupt sentiments, the eternal fountain of light and truth will judge. Much of the rage of these tender-hearted men is levelled at this article. For as to censures, sarcasm, raillery, and abuse, if they have been in the habit of attend- ing various churches in this city, they have heard as much from the pulpit, and probably smiled, nodded assent, or slept under it, and thought it very well said. I blame no man for opposing the sentiments of the Triangle. But, as the quaint proverb says, " there is a thing different from that thing." They have not such a flaming disinterested love of truth as to be up in arms when mere error is advanced. The tremendous crime com- mitted is, that some one has dared to tell men what they do. But the half— the thousandth part has not been told. The most deplorable state of society is that in which a set of men claim, and enjoy^ the prescriptive privilege of saying and doing what they please, when to trace their steps, and lay open their conduct, is judged an unpardonable crime. Tliis is slavery of the deepest shade, and most miserable character; and in this way people, if they are let alone, will rivet their own chains ; will, like the people of Rome, be the first to immolate Brutus and Cassius, who had fairly broken them. But the free discussions which have lately agitated this city, and which bigots, spiritual Lords would he, and some near-sighted people have regarded as the most dreadful of all dreadfuls, have already pro- duced the most happy effects. The veil is rent, the prescriptive sovereignty of prejudice, superstition, and mysticism, is abolished, and the reif^n of spiritual despotism is at an end. The Phoenix has arisen ; a society of more than five hundred men is formed, wiao know they have a right to think lor ihemselves In the mean time, 1 wish the triangular men every degree of hap- piness and good fortune. Demeaning themselves as good and virtu- ous citizens, I hope they v/ill be loved and respected as such : I only- wish them suspected and despised where they attempt to throw over people's heads the thoags of iatolcrauce, which every man lias more reason to hate and fear than he would tlie horrid bow-string of the eastern despot. Let them rest assured tliat I think them worthy of liberty, but not to reign. And, for the good men so terribly put out with the Triangle, I must beg them to be composed, and devote tlie exuberance of their time and talents a little more exclusively to the cultivation of their own virtues, by which means, I think, society would receive benefit. They might, in this way, render themselves very agreeable and use- ful companions. But among authors, and in public disputes, they will not 1)0 able to effect much. I question whether the writers of the present day will think it worth while to ask them what they may write. I fear tiieir uneasiness arises from too high an opinion of their own importance : men may become very extravagant on this }w> ing you, we are under the necessity of asking the same favour of you which you did of us." This address of Truth was received with a haughty air, and these men looked as though they would give the reply, given on a somewhat similar occasion, when the arch fiend had en- tered into the garden of innocence, and was there detected by Ithuriel and Zephon, two of the angelic guards of Paradise* When they demanded bis name, he replied, " Not to know me argues yourselves unknown.^' These men were dressed in black, and so exactly resembled three clergymen whom I knew, that had not one of them de- clared their names to be Orthodoxy, Zeal, and Vigilance, i should have supposed I knew them. It brought to mind, how- ever, what I have often heard asserted, that men who in form and features resemble each other, are generally found to have a likeness in mind and character. A remark, in favour of which, I think philosophy can furnish some reasonS) howeyer experi- ence may decide. 4 22 Orthodoxy was a man of middling size, of dark complexioHj rather inciining to Roman or aquiline and acute features, re- markably grave, quite precise in his language, affected in his manners, and looked jealous, hypochondriacal, very solemn, and sourly religious. The superciliary and frontal muscles seemed long obedient to the agencies of spleen, pride, and ar- rogance ; and his whole expression seemed to say, that he ex- pected to be treated with great respect. Zeal was a small man, rather spare, of tolerably regular fea- tures, of the light and choleric temperament of complexion, looked sharp, uttered quick, voluble, sententious, and round pe- riods, with a voice which, had the man not been seen, might have been supposed to have proceeded from a much larger body, putting me in mind of the fable of the wolf and nightin- gale ; and I observed that he had a remarkably little head. Vigilance was a tall, thin figure, without colour in his face, or other expression than the faint gleaming of an uneasy smile, which pain excites, rather than pleasure. He had the brown, un- animated aspect of cloudy November twihght; and if a sheep could be turned into a wolf, he seemed to resemble the mon- grel that would be the result, provided that metamorphosis could be suddenly arrested when two thirds accomplished. With a long neck, and rather small features, it appeared as if, after the outline was struck, the contour had been contracted through scarcity of material in the internal fabric. In short, the eyes of this man, which were small, far separated, and of the colour of the dark oxyd of iron, void of all brightness, expressed the dull and wandering glare of morbid wakefulness, and seemed a window through which suspicion, treachery, and cruelty, alone held commerce with the world. These gentlemen, however, appeared with an assumption of great dignity, and with a scornful smile informed Truth that they had heard of this young man, meaning me, before, and well knew that he was *' unsound in the faith," desired to be no fur- ther troubled with impertinent intrusions ; with which, turning suddenly upon us, they went into the room, and shut the door with such violence that the jarring noise reverberated througli the neighbouring apartments to a great distance.* • This clash was heard from Philadelphia to New- York— /. §3 In our walks round this building, I discovered that there were two sraalJ buildings standing just behind it, resembling it inform, but smaller in size, and built of different materials. They might have been mistaken for wings to the doric edifice, as they joined up to it, and between them was an opening which might have formed a court yard, but that it was overgrown with briars and thorns, and presented no passage but a narrow foot path, through which whoever passed would be liable to be scratched and torn, if not bitten by some noxious reptile that crawled be- low. These edifices appeared, however, very decent, and as my curiosity prompted me to view their internal arrangements, I proposed to my guides to take a view of them. I saw the la- dies smile at each other, but did not know the meaning of it; as it was their object to instruct me more by actual experience than by mere intelligence. They accordingly approached near the door of one of them, and I was not a little surprised to see the same three figures standing before it. As we happened to see them at a distance, I instantly halted, and begged of Toleration to spare me another interview with Orthodoxy, whom I did not very much admire. We accord- ingly turned about ; and as I had seen these men planted at this door, I concluded that we should find the entrance to the other building free, or, at least, guarded by visages less grim and repulsive. We approached the door, and were about to open it, when, looking up, we saw inscribed in large letters over it, " None are admitted here but such as will sign the Covenant.^'' Truth, however, gave a loud rap, and immediately the door was opened ; but the reader may conjecture, if he can, my sur- prise when, behold, there again stood Orthodoxy, Zeal, and Vigilance, looking more stern and terrific than ever ; and I seem- ed as though I could hear the ancient maxim, " turn or burn," distinctly pronounced. I was ready, with the poor Frenchman, to exclaim, " Monsieur Tonson again !" I also recollected Milton's famous passage, '" Black he stood as night. Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, And shook a dreadful dart.'' 24 We turned from them without parley, and having now visited most jarts of the hout-e my curiosity wished to ?ee. there only remained one apartment in the second story, which, for reasons I do not think proper here to mention, 1 desired to visit, before I left the house. We accordingly proceeded thither. But here, as usual, while as yet we had scarcely come within sight of the door, which led to this fair and beautiful chamber, for it appeared to have been fitted up with more than usual pomp and elegance, these hopeful figures crossed us, and forbid our en- tran -e. My surprise, on seeing them, yet at a distance, was redoubled, and 1 could not but remark to my guides, that this extraordinary triumvirate must either be supernatural beings, taking no time for change of place, as I was sure they could not bf omnipresent, or else there must be a great number of an appearance too similar to admit of discrimination. *' Tliey are not men," said Truth, ' but phantoms, which Almii^hty Providence has given the semblance of men, and they personate the spirit and disposition of n:en of a certain descrip- tion. They appear to the eye of reason in every place, where a spirit of bigotry, intolerance, and persecution are found ; and they act, ostensibly, as men of that description would act did they feel no restraint from motives of interest and policy. No ey»' sees them in these buildings, nor is the number great who feel the disposition they represent Yet they have their follow- ers, whose real characters are closely veiled, and who, under the cloak of orthodoxy, cherish bigotry ; who hide intolerance in the pretence of zeal for the truth, and indulge the bitterest spirit of persecution under a sh(»w of vigilance and activity to promote Eound doctrine and discipline But they are as destitute of sound policy as they are remote from the truth and the love of God By disclosing too openly the malignity of their hearts, and baseness of their principles, they shall open the eyes of mankind upon their true characters, which shall be as much detested amf>ng men, as they are abhorred in the sight of God. This is your last interview with them, and from what you now see you may jud'tr" of tb-ir final catastrophe." As Truth and Toleration drew nearer, these semblaaces of 25 Bien seemed to grow more frightful ia their appearance. Their features turne^aid sonne of (iod, Jesus Christ, who died for vs, and that through such a faith, not through works, degrees, or orders, we may be deliuered from any sinne. " For the sixth, that such a faith is a gift of God, which we haue not purchased by any foregoing workes or deserts, neither canattaine there unto by our owue powers; but the Holy Ghost giues and prouides it, as it hath pleased him, into our harts when we attend unto the gos[»el of Christ. " For the seventh, that such a iaith is our righteousnesse before God, for which the Lord esteems us just, righteous, and holy, without all works and deserts, and thereby delivers from sinne, death, and hell, takes to grace and saveth for his sonnes sake, in whom we so bclieue, and thereby are made partakers of his sonnes righteousnesse and life, and of the benefit of all his trea- sures; therefore al cloister lining, and Abbey lubber life, as unprofitable to salvation, are vtterly condemned." The subsequent articles relate to the visible ordinances of the gospel, viz., of preaching, of baptism, of confession, of magistracy, of the Lord's Supper, &c., which have no peculiar interest in this place. In reference to the holy supper they say : " And though it be so that at this time we cannot agree whether the true body and blood of Christ, bee bodily in the bread and wine, yet ought the one part to performe Christian loue to the other, so far as euery man's conscience will beare, and both sidea entreate the Almighty God, with al feruency, that he would settle vs in the right vnderstanding by the Holy Ghost. Amen. Signed, MARTINUS LUTHER, STEPHANUS AGRICOLA, PHILIP MELANCTHON, JOHANNES OECOLaMPADIUS, JUSTUS JONAS, VLRICUS ZWINGLIUS, ANDREAS OSIANDER, MARTINUS BUCER, JOHANNES BRENTIUS, CASPER HEDIO." The above declaration of doctrine was the result of a famous conference held between Luther and Melancthon on the one part, ami Zwinglius and Bucer on the other, together with their principal adherents, to come, if possible, to an agreement on the great points of religion, and particularly, concerning the sacrament of the supper, in which Luther could not get tully clear of the Romish doctrine of the real presence in the bread. These were the distinguished leaders in the Reformation in Germany and Switzerlasid, and among the best and ablest of their divines. If the reader will turn to the statement I have given of the doctrine of original sin, in the first series, he will, at first sight, perceive it not to differ from the views of these great Keformers. The ground there taken is, that " original sin descends from Adam to us by birth and inheritance," and is a part of the grand constitution of nature, that every thing, propa- gated in a series of generations, shall produce its own likeness. Though the view of the leading doctrines, in the above state- ment, is exceedingly concise, yet no part of the Triangle is there discoverable. As to the atonement, it is well known, to all the world, that the German Reformers, almost to a man, held to the doctrine of universal propitiation. It was oertainly so with Luther and Melancthon, Zwinglius and Bucer, and all the ten, whose names are signed above. But I shall detain the reader with few remarks here, since the cbove is but a quota- tion from a much more full and complete confession of faith, of the Psaltzgrave church, in the founding and forming of which, Zwinglius Wis the principal leader. To that I shall imme- diately proceed. INVESTIGATOR. 30 No. III. The work is entitled.^ ** A full declaration of the faith and ceremonies professed in the dominions of the most illustrious and noble Prince Frederick V., Prince Elector Pala- tine. Published for the benefit and satisfaction of all God's people : according to the originall, printed in the High Dutch Tongue. Translated into En- glish bj John Rolte, and published in London, A. D. 1614." The English translation is dedicated to the Right Honourable Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice of England. " A full declaration of the faith and ceremonies of the Fsaltzgraues churches. « CHAP. I. " That we have not such a ilelestMe faith as is measured to vs ahrode by peace-hating people. "Now to begin : we protest before God, and whole Christen- dome, that we have not, in any sort, such a detestable faith, as peace-hating people ascribe vuto vs, whereas they say : That we deny God's omnipotency. That we make God the author of sinne. That we make God to be a tyrant. That we deuy the Godhead of Christ. That we deny the personal union of both natures in Christ. That we say, that the divine and human nature in Christ have no actuall and working fellowship with each other. That we deny originall sin. 31 That we deny the power of the death of Christ. That we deny the necessity of beleeving in Christ, &c. Sac. ♦' Such, and many more the like blasphemies against God, do they accuse vs of, that we both beleeve and teach." The reader will do well to recollect, and keep in mind, that several of the heaviest of these charges are constantly urged against the Hopkinsians, and perhaps he will also find, in these pious and venerable Reformers, an apologist for the Hopkinsian doctrines, which our Triangular men, who have so loudly and so long claimed all the Keformers as their own, will not relish. If all the divines in the dominions of the illustrious Frederick Elector Palatine should turn out to be Hopkinsians, probably the Rev. and most distinguished Mr. M s will pronounce them " unsound in the faith." This denunciation, however, would not disturb their peaceful slumbers in the grave. The divines of the Psaltzgrave church having noticed the errors and heresies of which they were accused, proceed in this chapter with some general observations, in which they show that, in these points, they agreed fundamentally with the great Reformers, as well as the ancient churches. In the course of which they take occasion also to enumerate the errors of which Luther himself was accused, as in the following paragraph : " Or do not the defamers know that the wretched fellow, Doctor Pistorious, now, at this present, concludes against blessed Doctor Luther? He writes, (i. e. Pistorius,) Doctor Luther was, A Tritheist, who said there was three Gods; A Sabellian,who said there was but one person of the Godhead; An Arian, who denied the euerlasting Godhead of Christ ; An Eutichian, who mingled the two natures of Christ in one ; A Nestorian, who separated the two natures in Christ; A Valentinian, who was so mad headed as to say the human nature of Christ descended from heaven; A Marcionite, who blasphemed that Christ was not crucified in very deed, but only in show. " Such, and many more the like detestable heresies that wretched fellow Pistorius construeth upon blessed Doctor Lu- ther. And, to prove the same against him, cites his own words, which make a great show to that end." 32 I beg the reader to remember, that a similar attempt waa made }(i iiiis city in which a fellow, probably quite as wretched as Doctor Pidtorius, garbled the writings of Calvin and Hopkins, and published a book called the " Contrast." The writers of this declaration, after showing that, in those points in which they were accused of heresy, they did not dif- fer from Luiber, nor from the primitive church, proceed to the second chapter, in which their confession of faith begins. To this 1 now proceed. "CHAP. II. •* What ourfailh is in very truth. " Now if any man shall further demand, what then is oup faith indeed, the which we willingly acknowledge, then is this our answere. as followeth. •' Wee beleeue there is one only true God, the Father of our Xord Jesus Christ, with the Sonne and Holy Ghost; and that accordingly, there are three distinct persons in that one Godly Essence, the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost. " Wee beleeue further, that the same one God is everlasting and almighty, and CiU dc whatsoever he will. Also, that hee is infinite, and accordingly is present in all places at one lime, ?ind seeth, heareth and knoweth all things. Also that he is just, and punisheth no man without desert. Also that he is merci- ful, and hath no delight in the death of sinners, but that they would repent themselves and live. '* Wee beleeue further, that the same one true God created heaven and earth, and all that therein is, of nothing. " Wee beleeue further, that God sustaineth and ruleth all things which he created ; and that hee hath them so in his hand, that no creature can siirre or move itselfe without will; and therefore nothing can come to passe without his permis- ssion, whether it be good or evill. Also, all that God dolh at present, or perraitteth to come to passe, hee foreknew from everlasting, and with well be thiugbt councell had determined, (hat he would even so doe it, or permit it. Also, that he did 33 not determine or permit any thing to come to pae&e, but that Whic he couhl and would lurn to a good end. •' VV^e beleeue further, that in the beginning God created all the angels and men holy and good, and especially man in his likfnesse, and to blessed immortality. But they, to wit, the angels and the two first of mankinde, did shortly after their cre- ation, fail from God their crt-aior; and have by such their fall, brought not only upon themselves the wrath of God, but also such a pollution of their natures, that now they can no more cither will or accomplish any thing that is good, which pollution fell on the lost angels at one time. But mankinde inherits such defilement, together with the guiltiness both of the first and se- cond death, by propagation, om from another. From whence it is, that the same corruption of mankinde is called original sinne." Before I proceed, I must entreat the reader to notice the statement here given of the doctrine of original sin ; at least, if his object be to discover the opinion of the Reformers con- cerning that doctrine, and if he be desirous to know how that dortrine stood, among what may be called the doctrines of the Reformation. And I here assure him, as 1 have already, again and again, that the notion of the imputation of the guilt of Adam's sin, as our Triangulars hold it, at this day, was un- known to the Reformers, or, if not unknown, was rejected by them as repugnant to all the dictates of reason, justice, and the word of God. And the talk they make about the federal head- ship of Adam, as they call it, plnnges them but deeper in ab- surdity. T(t make a creature guilty of the sin kA another, in- dependent of any moral desert of his own, is a case perl'ecrly similar to charging an innocent person with guilt; wiiile, at the same time, it is perfectly dissimilar to the case of the imputa- tion of righteousness where it is not due. The goodness ot God may certainly go beyond a sinner's merit, but divine jnsdce cannot go beyond his desert, or charge him with crimes of which he \^ not guilty ; nor can any possible cousttlulion. head- ship, or federal relation, he\p out the difficulty. These terms may indeed iielp out a man's prejudice-, and caj-t a mist before bis eyes, but they cannot aid his rational conyiction. 34 But, reader, whether the crude and rank, the horrible and ab- surd notion of imputation be true or not, is not the present question — but whether that notion was taught by the Reformers ; and I say it was not. They held that Adam's corrupt and de- praved nature descended to his posterity, and ruined his whole race. They held, as in the declaration I)efore us, that " Man- kinde inherits such defilement by propagation one from another.** And hence, they were accused, precisely as the Hopkinsians are, and for the same reasons, of denying the doctrine of origi- nal sin. But I proceed. " Wee beleeue further, though such a fearefuU fall, both of angels and men, could not haue come to passe witliout Gods permission, and that he appoints nothing without good conse- deration, yet is not the fault of this fall in any manner to be as- cribed to him ; considering that hoe so created the angels aud men, that they had free will to turn to good as well as to bad. *' Wee beleeue further, that it becomes not poor creatures to dispute with God, wherefore he created the angels and men so that they could fall. Also, wherefore he hindered not such a fall, whereas hee could not well haue done it. He is the Lord, and his wills euer iust and good, though wee alwaies vn- derstand it not. The Apostle Paul saith, that God hath shut vp alt onder vnbeleefe, or vnder sinnc, thai hee might haue mercy on all ; that is, that no man may bee saued but meerely by the mercy of God. By this ougiit wee, in all reason, to let it so re- maine. ♦' Wee beleeue further, that the fallen angels and men could not free themselues from the almighty goueruance of, but that they, on the one side, as well as on the other, are in the hand of God, and their wickednesse cannot break out, than as God hath permitted it. Aod this our faith is our greatest comfort on earth. For and if the wicked angels and men had the bridle in their own powers, where should we bee able to abide for them ? •' Wee beleeue further, that though God permit many einnes, in the fallen angel^ and men, and that hee vseth often times their sinful actions to accomplish his holy workes (as he did the abominable deeds of Absalom, to the punishment of David, and the treason of Judas io the fieedome of mankinde) also 35 though he often punish slnne by sinne, and blind and harden those commonly at last, who with seeing eies will yet be blinde (as formerly he did Pharaoh, yet neuer the lesse, hee himselfe hath no pleasure in sinne, much lesse doth hee prouoke or driue any man thereto : but that the precedent, working cause of all sinne, which goeth before is onely and alone, the free and vn- forced will of wicked angels and men. " Wee beleeue further, that God hath adjudged the fallen an- gels to euerlasting fire, without any grace or mercy, to terrify us thereby ; that we make not a iest of the anger of God against sinne. *' Wee beleeue further, that God hath indeed iust cause and power also, to push downe the fallen men into euerlasting hell- ish fire, without any grace or mercy. But hee hath not done it, bid hath offered grace again to man. And that so he might shew the mercy without breach of his iustice, hee ordained his onely begotten Sonne to bee our surety and Mediator, and to take the punishment upon him, which wee deserued, and so deliuer vs from euerlasting well deserucd death, by his innocent death. " To accomplish the said counsell and wil of God, the hea- venly Father the Sonne of God our Lord, and Redeemer Jesus Christ, became man in the last times of the world, conceiued by the Holy Ghost, borne of the virgin, and like vnto vs in all things, sinne excepted. And when he had liued as a man thirty yeeres, he began to preach and to teach the merciful pleasure of his heavenly Father towards vs poore sinfu! men ; and in the fourth yeere after that, he was captiued, crucified, put to death and buried, descended into hell, and rose againe from the dead the third day, and ascended into heaven, forty days after, and set himself at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; from whence hee shall return to iudge the quicke and the dead. " And, therefore, we beleeue of Christ, that he is not a bare man, but that fie is tlie euerlasticg Almighty Sonne of God, who, at the appointed time, tooke the nature of man upon him, and is now together God and man, and so shall remaine euer- lastingly in one vnseparable person. " And, being thus at present, both God and man, in one vn- •eparable person, therefore do wee beleeue Ajrlher, that all may 36 be said of him. that may be said of God — all that may be said of man; yet with this caufioo, that euery thing must be vnder- stood of him to be true, the diuine thing, according to the di- uine nature, and the humane, according to the humane na- ture, k,c. " According to which then we doe beleeue, that indeed and truth the sonne of God died for vs, but yet, not according to the Godhead, but onely according to the manhood, for the Godhead cannot die. " Of the power of the death of Christ beleeue wee, that the death of Christ, whitest he being not a b^re man, but the sonne of G')d died,) is a full a>i stifficient payment,not onely for our sinnes, hut a!so the si tines of the whole world. And thai bee by his 'leath hntii purchased, not only foririuennesse of sinnes but also the new birth by the Holy Ghost, and, lastly, everlasting life. •' But wee beleeue therewithal!, that no man shall be made partaker of such a benefit, but onely hee that belieueth on him. For the scripture is plaine where it saith, he that belieueth not shall be damned. " We beleeue further, that the true sauing faith cannot bee without repentance and good works. For such a faith layeth hold on Christ wholly who wa? made of God, not onely righte* ousness vnto vs, but also sanctification, *' Wee beleeue. further, that true blisse-making faith can- not be without good works, yet, neuerthelesse, the man before God's iustice seate, (that is, when hee is thoroughly touched with his sinnes,) neither can, or should beare himself vpon his good workes, it so being that they are euer vnperfect. But that a man shall appeale onely and alone vnto the grace of God, before his iudgement seate, which grace hee hath prepa- red for vs in Ciirist, and take hold on the same grace with a belieuin;?, heart, and so shall God forgiue him his sinnes, and esteeme him iust for the full satisfaction of Jesus Christ. And that is our meaning when we siy that man is iustifird be- fore God, onely by faith, without heipe of good work? ; name- ly, not that good workes should be abandoned, but onely that a man should not put any confidence therein. 37 <' Wee beleeue, further, that God hath ordained the preach* iag of his gospel to this end, that he would worke in vs faith in Christ thereby, and that the same preaching of God the Lord is no iest, but that it is his earnest will and intent, that all peo- ple that hear such preaching should beleeue the same, and should return to Christ." And here I must beg the reader to notice, that if the atone- ment of Christ, and his propitiation for sin, regards only the elect, then surely the preaching of the gospel to the non-elect is, indeed, no jest, because it is a thousand times worse. It is the greatest possible imposition, in the most serious of all con- cerns, to offer salvation to a sinner for whom there is no salva- tion; to invite him to come to Christ, who never died for him; to condemn him for unbelief, when, should he believe, he would believe a falsehood. Thus it was viewed by the Reformers. " Wee beleeue, further, that mankind is so corrupted by the fall of our first parents, that they cannot vnderstand, or enter- taine, the preaching of Christ, vnlesse God open their under- standings by his holy spirit, and tvrn their hearts to Christ. '* And that, therefore, the gospel is a spiritual worke of God, which God bestoweth not upon all men, but also that the un- derstanding and the receiving of the gospel (or to speake with one word) faith, is an especial worke of God." With great pleasure could I go through the copying this no- ble and beautiful declaration of the faith of these able and excel- lent reformers. But as the remaining points of it relate' to the ordinances of the gospel, and do not involve the doctrines which are specially called in question in these Numbers, I thought it needless to give the whole, but shall close with their last article. «' And we beleeue lastly, that, for the most part, God hold- eth his church under the crosse, and will first make it fully per- fect, and glorious hereafter in the world to come ; according to the patterne of his sonne, who entered into glory by afiSictioa and suffering." Reader, you hear, in the above confession of faith, the voice, not of an individual, but of a body of the ablest and best divines the German Reformation produced, at the head of which was 6 33 the celebrated ZwingHus —I have only to request you to notice tbrir vie.vs of original sin, of the atonement, of faith, and of jusfification. This 1 do, because they differ on those points, in no material -idea from the doctrine called Hopkinsian; and you will perceive how little that doctrine is deserving of the epithet of New Divimty. But 1 proceed to the third chapter. CHAP. III. " That wee kaue not founded and learnt such our faith from blinde reasoiiy much less from the revelation of Satan, (as f'Otne talumniatt tis,J nor from the weak writings of men, hut solely and atone out of the infilliblc word of God, through the gratious enlighleniiig of his hoty spirit. " Wee reade indeede, also, the writings of men, especially those whom God hath stirred up in these last daies, against the idolatrous Popedome, such as were Luther, Melamthon, Zwinglius Oecolampadius, Bucer Brentius, Calvin, Bez8, &c. And confesse, to the glory of God, that we have received in- formation from them, and do daily receive, the better how to vnderstand aright the holy scriptures, and to use them to our profit. " But we do not found ourselves in matters of faith upon the same, or any man's else, but we found ourselves in mat, the hand of him that hetrayeth me, is ivith me at the table, and truly the son of man goeth as it is appointed. Luk. 22. 21 ; and to the like effect, as it is written of him. Math. 26. 2A. (Note. As it is appointed, and as it is written of him, is taken m the holy scriptures, for all one. By which it is manifest, that all that stands written in the scriptures, that should come to passe, in time to come, was so appointed by God, that it should come to passe, and that these sayings, the scripture must be fulfilled, and the councetl of God must stand, are all one.) " And Peter saith, whilst it was so appointed or so written, it mu?t, therefore, be accomplished. The scripture must have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David, spoke before of Judas. Yea, not onely the treason of Judas, but also of all the wicked deeds and murtherous acts, which Herod and Pilate, with the heathen and people of Israel com- mitted against the sonne of God, saith the scripture, thei^ did Tvhalsoever the hand and councell of God determined, beforf, to be done. 4cts 4. 28. Yea, the scripture ascnbeth this whole 44 worke throughout to Gud the Lord himselfe, and saith, The Lord would breake hhn, and make him subject to infirmities. So was the work principally the work of God, but Judas, Herod, and Pilate, with the heathen and people of Israel, were but in- struments and tooles which God used to accomplish such a worke. " Another example. Whereas the brethren of Joseph sold their innocent brother Joseph to perpetuall slavery into Egypt, was not that a great sinne ? Yet Joseph saith, You sent me not hither, but God. Gen. 45. 8. Did God then doe it ? Then did he determine before, and conclude (hat hee would doe it, for hee effects nothing inconsiderately, but he worketh all things after the councell of his owne will. " Another example. Wliereas Sampson tooke a heathen woman to his wife, against the expresse word of God, and against the faithful disswasion of his parents ; was not that a great sinne ? And yet the scripture saith, it came of the Lord. Judg. 14. 4. " Another example. That Shimei cursed the Lords anointed, was not that a great siune ? And yet for all that Dauid saith, The Lord hath bidden him. " Another example. Whereas Satan prouoked Dauid to num- ber the people, and Dauid did it; that was a great sin, as well of Satan as of Dauid. Neuertheless the scripture saith, not barely and alone, that God did permit it, but it saith also, that God did it himselfe, as appeareth by the plaine text. Jnd the rvrath of the Lord rvas againe kindled against Israel, and he tnoued David against them, in tlml he said^ go number Israel and Judah. 2 Sam. 24.1. " Another example. Was not that a fearfull great sinner ? (hat the unnaturall sonne, Absalon, hoisted his aged and decaying father from his kingly state, lying with his fathers ten concubines in the sight of all Israel? Yet, saith God to Dauid, not onely I will permit it, but I will doe it. I will take thy wives be- fore thine eyes, and give them vnto they neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sonne: for thou diddest it secretly, but I will doe this thing before ail Israel. 2 Sam. xii. 11. 45 '' TfaesG, and the like examples, whereof there are great store in the Bible, doe manifestly witnesse that the permission of God, when hee permitteth that which is evill, is not a bare and naked permission, but that he, also, bath a hand in the worke, and he gouernes and turns it after his owne pleasure. Other- wise hee could not say, ' I will do it, or, I haue done it.' " But, yet, they are bard sayings, might some one say, and they seeme, in truth, to import as much as if God was thereby made the causer of sinne, and had a delight in sinne. For how is it possible that hee should not bee the' causer of sinne, and have a delight and pleasure in sinne, when he hath not onely determined the san;e that it should be accomplished, but, also, hath himselfe a hande in the worke, and moueth mankinde therevnto? " Answer. Blind, mad and peremptory reason thinks so indeed. But whosoeuer submitteth himselfe to the word of God with an humble heart, he shall well know and learn to vnderstand that God is no causer of sinne, or hath delight and pleasure in sinne, though indeed he haue ordained that this or that sinful worke of bis creature should come to passe, and the worke must be done, yea, hee ascribeth it to himself. The which the better to vnderstand, by the God-fearing reader, wee will impart (his information in short, according to our powers, for his assistance. " The Almighty God, as he once created all things, euen so gouerneth hee all things continually by his prouidencc There- fore the prouidence of God is nothing else then the Almighfy gouernment of God ouer all creatures, both good and bad, and containeth two parts in it, " 1. That hee maintaineth the being and power of all creatures* so far, and in what manner it pleaseth him ; without which maintainance no creature can be sustained a minute of one hour, or is able tp rule or moue himselfe, in the least measure, as Paul saith, hee giveth to all life and breath and all thingi. Also, In hime we Hue, and moue, and haue our being. " 2. That he hath the motions of all creatures in his hands, and turneth them which way he will, according to the work, which hee will accomplish by them ; as Dauid saith, they c.on- 1 46 tinue all by thine ordinances. Ps. cxix. 91., and the examples manifest that, soaielinies fire, someiiines water, sometimes good, sometimes bad angtis, somelimes godly, sometimes wicked men, sometimes fr-.-gs, sometimes lice, &c.. must serue to accomplish his councells. And there is nothing ex- empt from such a disposing God. Euen, also, that which Beemeth to be alread} performed, as it is written, The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposition thereof is of the Lord ; not yet the very harts and thoughts of men, as it is written, From the hatnlation of his dwelling hee hcholdeth all them that dwell on the earth ; hefashioneth their hearts euery one. " It is true, God hath, indeed, the angels and men with that kind and nature that they can move themselves by their own free will, and either intend this or that. Euen, indeed, as they doe. But for all that, hee holdeth the raines of their free will in his hande, in such a manner that, either hee can let them proceed when it goeth after his will, or hee can pull it backe, or moue it to this, or the other side, euen as sometimes a man draweth on a beast to a snare, which he letteth either passe freely before him, or puUeth backe, or can turne hither or thither, which comparison God himselfe vsefh, where he saith to the king of Assiria, ' I will put my hooke in thy nostrils, and my bridle in thy lips, and will bringe thee backe againe, the same way thou comest.' Esa. xxxvii. 29, " From whence it may well be said that the permission of God is not a bare permission, but that God hath alvvais a hand with them in the action. For in all permissions of God con- curre these t-.vo parts of the foreknowledge together. First, that he sustaineth the beiug and power of the creature, even in the committin*; of sinne, as is well known. Second, that he hath, also, their wicked and sinful motions in his hands, and so turneth them that the same must be effected thereby, which hee will have effected to the furtherance of his glory, and the benefit of his servants. Tlierefore, hee also ascribeth the worke which is effected in this manner, oftentimes to himselfe, as the abovenamed examples doe witnesse. " The same is one part of the special vnspeakeable wisdome of God, that hee can so manage iiis government, that he, also. 47 with those creatures, which yet doe what they doe, out of free will, and in respect of Iheir natures could do otheivvise, yet, for al! that, can unfaillibly accomplish the saoie, which hee hath determined to have accomplished by them. " Doctor Luther saith thus of this matter: If not wee our- selves, but Gf»d worketh in vs our salvation, then cannot wee act any thing bodily, before such time as his, is there ; doe wee, frame wee, and worke wee it, the best wee can. And 1 say wee must doe wickedly, not that we are enforced thereunto; but as we vse to say, it must be so of necessity, without resist- ance, and yet not by any powerful compulsion or force. That is, when a man hath not the spirit of God, then is hee not. as it wrere, driven headlong by force, that he must commit wicked- nesse against his will, (as they vse to carry a theefe or mur- therer to the gallows against his will,) but he doth it willingly and gladly. &.c; that is here, by vs, called a mt st, or a must BE OF NECESSITY, which is not subject to alteration. Wit. Germ. fol. 479. Also, we know well that Judas betrayed Christ willingly ; but we say that such a will in Judas was cer- tainly and vnchangeably to be accomplished, at the time and houre, as God had determined it. Or, if wee bee not yet vn- derstood, then wee must make a difference of two necessities — one necessity where a thing must come to passe at a certaine time without constraint. He that now heares vs speake, let him know that we speake of the last, and not of the Jij-sL That is, we do not speake of this, whether Judas was willingly a traitor or against his will; but whether it must come to pass at the time and hour which God had determined vnchangeably, that he should betray Christ willingly. Fol 529 A. " This is the construction of vs and Doctor Luther, how these things are to be understood ; that nothing cometh to passe un- lesse God hath ordained that it should come to passe, whether it bee good or euil, and that it must come to passe, euen as the Lord hath determined it. And that the permission of God is not a bare and empty permission, but that alwaies there is min- gled something of his working." They proceed to answer objections, and to some further il- lustrations, but a sufficiency has been taken to show the readef , 48 that (lieir reasonings on this subject are precisely the same as those of the writers of New-England, who are so continually ac- cused of holding that God is the author of sin. I shall there- fore close this number with a few remarks. 1. From the opinions of these German divines, so largely quoted, it appears that they believed there was a certain divine efficiency in all the accountable actions of creatures, both good and bad, which, however, no way impaired or altered their ac- countability: or, in their own words, " that the permission of God is not a bare and empty permission, but that alwaies there is mingled something of his workeing." Less than this cannot be inferred from the nature and perfections of an almighty in- finitely wise God, who created, and every moment sustains, all creatures, and all their actions. 2. They clearly perceived two kinds of necessity operating on the actions of creatures. Flrst,force, or what may be term- ed physical necessity. This always destroys accountableness, or is incompatible with it. Thus the planets move by physical necessity ; and thus a criminal, who is carried forcibly to exe- cution, moves under a physical necessity. Secondly, moral ne- cessity, which is so far from being inconsistent with accounta- bleness, that it is essential to it. As in the above quotation : " Then," says Luther, " we must make a difference of two ne- cessities : one necessity y where I am forced to worke by force — the other necessity, where a thing must come to passe at a certaint time:* Moral necessity arises from the infallible certainty that all beings possessed of reason will act according to their choice, or, as says Jonathan Edwards, '* according to the greatest ap- parent good, at the time." Hence the moral order of events is as established and unalterable as the natural or physical; and moral necessity is as essential to freedom and accountableness, as physical is incompatible with it ; and if this kinf animals, vegetables, and inorganic matter. These various modes of being together with their characters, spheres of action, properties, affections, and offices, are the proper sub- jects of knowledge. Sow, nothing can be more evident than that a wicked creature, whose will is totally deprave^d, is as truly susceptible of the knowledge of these various orders of being, of their characters and attributes, as a holy creature. I think nothing but incorrigible ignorance, or incurable prejudice, will undertake to deny this. A wicked, depraved creature can, beyond all question, form as correct a notion of any one being that exists, as a holy creature can, provided he be fur- nished with the means of information. There are immaterial beings, and such are the supreme be- ing hinfjself, as well as the various orders of an^eU : we our- gflves have an immaterial, or incorporeal part, cfl'vd the soul, which part is neither visible, audible, nor tangible, ti- the bi-dily organs, and is immortal. But these truths are ae justly appre- 76 hended by bad men, as good. God is infinite, eternal, oinnipre* Bent, omnipotent, and immutable. He is the sole creator and governor of all creatures ; rational creatures are accountable to him for their conduct, as to their supreme moral ruler and universal father. They are all governed by one law — the ge- neral and graud obligation of which is supreme love to God, and perfect obedience to all his requirements. But there is nothing in all this which wicked men and devils may not, and do not, as truly understand, as good men and holy angels. The nature and obligations of the law^ of God are as truly un- derstood by wicked men as good men. There is nothing in the guilt of sin, the nature of holiness, the notion and necessity of pardon, which is unintelligible to the depraved heart; and, in a word, the government God exercises over his creatures, in all its parts, is as easily and truly understood as the govern- ment of an earthly monarch, and as much more so as the di- vine laws are more clear and simple, more evidently just and excellent, than human laws, with this only diiference, that the good man loves, and the wicked man hates them. Furthermore, the scheme of salvation, by Christ, is no less plainly set forth, and clearly understood, by sinful creatures, than the other parts of the divine dispensations. The sinner as truly and justly feels himself condemned by the divine, as by human laws. The nature and force of conviction are often equally plain, and far stronger in the latter, than in the former case ; and the whole character and work of Christ, his power and willingness to save the sinner ; the duties he enjoins as essential to discipleship, and incitements he offers as powerful motives of actibn, are all perfectly clear to every apprehension, as I trust I shall soon show, under its proper head. But at present I say, that, as to every purpose of intellccl, knowledge, reason, understanding, these subjects are as plain as any other subjects, in proportion to the intelligence afforded concerning them, and that is abundant; plain as the arts and sciences, as history, geograpiiy, laws, or manners. There are certainly mysterious points in the great doctrines of revelation, as there are, at least, as many in natural relii;ion, and even in nature itself. But these are not mysterious to 11 wicked men, as such, speculatively considered. They arfc equally so to gooil tQ«n, saving wnat resulu from greater atten- tion ; and it is, beyond all doubt, a fact, that many a wicked, uureuenerate man, has a far more correct knowledge of the great doctrines of revelation, than some good and very piout Christians have. As far as the bare intellect is concerned, they are far sounder in the faith, in the range of knowledge common to both ; beside that, they have ten, perhaps a hun- dred times the range, or extent of knowledge, in the whole plan of truth. And the spiritual discernment of a Christian is his perception of the loveliness of truth, and the God of truth, in which he differs from the sinner. Seldom did the grand adversary of God and man ever lay a deeper snare for the feet of the unwary, than is perceivable in this most absurd and insidious error. The term .spiritual, misunderstood, aud misapplied, is the bate or lure which leads thousands of simple souls after an i:(nis fatuus into total dark- ness. The supporters of this distinction must take one of the two followinj; grounds : either, A Christian must needs have two intellects, and two kinds of knowledge, a natural and a spiritual. The natural, or unrenew- ed ;oaii, they say. has no spiritual knowledge ; of course, his spirifual intellect is totally dark ; and this lays the foundation of an inability to come to Christ, independent of his will. Or, 2. The soul having but one intellect or understanding; must, nevertheless, be capable of two kindiof knowledge, viz. natu- ral and spiritual, and the latter must be wholly destroyif d by sin- or else it cannot be equally depraved with the will. If (he understanding retains the least degree of spiritual knowledge, it cannot be totally depraved, and their scheme i> overthrown. But, reader, what matchless and incredible absurdity meets the eye, and shocjcs the common sense, of every mind in tins scheme. And this rises obviously and wholly from the loose- ness of their metapSiysical reasoning. S[jiritual knowledge, or understandin?, can mean but one of two things. Either, 1. The kiiowiedje, or understanding, which any rational mind may have about spiritual beings. For examj)le, whoever n u knows there is a God, that his perfections are infinite, etema!, and immutable ; that there is a heaven and a hell — a futore state; that the soul is immortal; that there are good and bad angels; that God governs creatures by a moral law, &c. has knowledge, or understanding, of spiritual things, and, of course, has spiritual knowledge. Or, 2. Which is the common scripture use of the phrase, a heart and disposition attached to spiritual things; in a word, love to spiritual objects, or holy love. But the want of this is the very essence of moral depravity— is sin in itself, and bears no re- lation to depravity of understanding, or relevancy to this argu- ment. As far as mere intellect is concerned, the understanding is certainly less depraved than the will, and it will be no easy matter to prove that it is depraved at all, or, in any degree, as an immediate and necessary consequence, or concomitant, of depravity of will. And as to two kinds of knowledge, as re- lates to the intellect alone, nothing can be more absurd than the supposition. There is nothing in sin which impairs the sin- ner's knowledge of spiritual beings, of his own duty and obli- gations, or of his guilt and danger. And this, I trust, will ap- pear to be the light of the sacred scriptures on this subject. Nevertheless, it is proper here to observe, 3. Sin may be, and is, remotely and consequentially, the cause of much ignorance, not only of God and divine things, l)ut of all branches of human knowledge. But this, as I said above, is adventitious to the nature of sin, and its immediate and genuine effect on the mind. The degeneracy of the hu- man race into a state of extreme ignorance, in consequence of sin, is no certain proof that intelligent creatures, placed in other circumstances, would become ignorant, or would not, in fact, increase in knowledge. It is certain that many wicked men have made great progress in knowledge, not only in arts and sciences, but in the doctrines of religion. Yet it would bp rea- sonable to suppose, that depraved and sinful beings would take little satisfaction in meditating in religious truth, which con- demned their conduct, or endeavouring to improve their know- ledge of God, whom they hated. It might be presumed that 79 they would " not like to retain God in their knowledge." And they accordingly say in their hearts, *• Depart from us, O Lord, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." It will be readily granted that the extreme ignorance of sa- Tage nations has been caused by sin ; or, perhaps, more properly ■peaking, that their moral depravity has been the cause of their not rising from a savage into a civilized state. But it would be easy to show, by the most copious and minute details of argu- ment, that the ignorance which sin occasions is a voluntary ig- norance ; that sin depraves the understanding, by shutting the eye of the soul, that is, withdrawing its attention from the most important objects, thence inducing a voluntary or wilful blind- ness, and not by producing a physical effect on the understand- ing, causing an unavoidable, a necessary ignorance, which, whe- ther the sinner will or not, will prevent him from coming to the saving knowledge of truth. 4. It will be readily perceived that the loss of external and adventitious advantages to gain knowledge, whether greater or less, occasioned by the fall of man, cannot be taken into the number of the arguments in support of the depravity of the un- derstanding. The certainty that a ship caonot sail where there is no water, is no certain proof that there is any deficiency or derangement of its constituent parts. We might presume, from the light of reason, and much more from the light of revelation, that if man had never fallen, his intercourse with his Maker would have been attended with the greatest improvements in knowledge and wisdom. Sin, which alienated his heart from God, and withdrew his attention from the glorious fountain of knowledge and excellence, occasioned the loss of those di- vine communications which would have enriched him in every mental and moral quahty which adorn and dignify a ra- tional creature. But it must be remembered, that a similar withdraw of those divine communications from man, had he remained uncorrupt- ed by sin, would have lessened, to an amazing degree, the re- sources of his improvement; and probably even the strength and acuteness of his intellect But when we undertake to ex- amine the goodness of an organ, of an eye, for instance, we do ■ot put it in a dungeon — we do not withdraw from it the ob- jecis of vision — w.- do n it induce the [leison to w(ing, and acute, in relaion to one object as another; that, if it is less successful and correct in religious, than in worldly mat- ters, it is solely owing to less means of information, or less at- tention to thp means afforded ; that the distinction of spiritual, from other knowledge, is wh ot' rfciiy;ious truths and dottiiutn is v im td with an inscrutable ve I of mystery, is one of the boideai and most mischievous of Satan's devices. Under the shameful pre- tence of paying a high compliment to the sacredness of truth, they cover it from human eyes with a cioud. not of mystery, but 'if mist, which, following their definitions, no mortal can understand; and under a pretence uf setting human nature low, they release the conscience from remorse, and a moral agent from bis duty. That the spiritual discernment, or understanding of truth, re- lates to its moral excellence and beauty, and belongs to the will and affections of the soul, is evidently agreeable to the whole tenor of the scriptures. This I shall endeavour to show, in considering what light the scriptures throw on the doctrme of the depravity of the understanding. But this must be re- served to the next series. 1 he intelligent and candid reader will perceive a wide dif- ference between him who shuts his eyes to avoid seeing, and him who was born bimd. The former of these cases answers to the conduct of men ; hence, saith the word of God, " This is the condemnalion that lifiht'has come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evik" INVESTIGATOR. No. VI. Doctor M'Llod's Skrmotvs. A volume of sermons, entitled "• The Life and Pnwer of CJod- line*^ ' 'iilely |>ublished. is U. i re the public, 'i he inijj -ing titi.^ ! i fy '"''" PRINTEDINU S A. **',,. y-H^^Mt^- ^i^- .mm' ?