without conditions, but will invent some of their own. Now let us understand it in either of these ways, it is as false as it is ungenerous. A man that will open his Bible, and read it with attention, with a simple desire to ascertain the mind of God, and say that there are no conditions in it, must be strangely prejudiced against the truth. The many solemn admonitions to sinners to repent, to be lieve, to watch and pray, and to be faithful unto death, in order to attain to salvation and eternal life, are nothing more than the deceitful echoes of a false prophet, if they do not imply a condition on our part, on the performance of which hangs suspended our salvation. It being taken for granted that every believer in divine revelation must admit the explicitness with which these conditions are made known, we ask what other terms the Arminians have invented and proclaimed as necessary to man's salvation? No. So far from "stipulating terms of our own in order to obtain salvation," we only insist on the sinner's complying with those made known by God himself in the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ. We consider, therefore, this charge, resting as it does upon the simple assertion of a fallible man like ourselves, unworthy of farther refutation.

4. "It is carried on by the power of his own free will and faithfulness." As often as this unfounded assertion has been reiterated, it has been refuted. We consider it, therefore, but the repetition of a threadbare slander, which should long since have been consigned to oblivion. Where, we ask our antagonist, in what book, written by Arminius or any of his genuine followers, in what sermon, in what article of faith of the Methodist

Episcopal Church, do you find this bald and soul despairing doctrine advanced? Until something like proof is produced, our simple denial of its truth, is all that any one has a right to demand. Our denial is deserving as much credit at least as the bare assertion of our antagonist.

5. "It is finished by the merit of his own good works, procuring him justification before God and his title to everlasting life." If Dr. Brownlee, or any one else, will point to a single sentence in any of our approved publications, in any article of our faith, or in any thing published by Arminius, which, fairly interpreted, will sustain him in this charge, we promise, not only to renounce it, but to confess that we have until this moment laboured under a most dangerous delusion. We call for proof. Until that is produced, we set this down among the effusions of a disordered imagination.

6. "This system is utterly op posed to the gospel of a free salvation, calculated to nourish human pride, and derogatory to the glory of the Saviour." This, it must be confessed, is a sweeping stroke. A "system utterly opposed to the gospel of a free salvation," cannot be remotely related to infidelity. The gospel is briefly summed up in the words of the angel to the shepherds: "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." That both Arminius and the Methodists have preached, and the latter continue to preach this great truth, is known to all who know any thing of their doctrine. Those points of doctrine embraced in the present controversy may be seen in the following articles of our church:

"VII. Of Original or Birth Sin.-Original sin standeth not in the following

of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk,) but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually. "VIII. Of Free Will.-The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and works, to faith, and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will. "IX. Of the Justification of Man.—We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings:-Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very

full of comfort.

"X. Of Good Works. Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgments: yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known, as a tree is discerned by its fruit."

If these doctrines be opposed to the gospel of a free salvation, why then we confess guilty to the charge. If not, we submit it to our readers to determine how far the Dutch Reformed Magazine has departed from the strict line of gospel truth and charity.

We shall conclude our strictures on these subjects with a few general remarks.

1. We have to request of those who undertake to question the orthodoxy of our sentiments, to quote from the articles of our faith, or from some of our approved publications, and not bring a general sweeping charge against us, without a shadow of proof to support it. 2. If names of distinction must be used, we prefer being distinguished by that by which we are known. We have no objections to VOL. XI. January, 1828.

being called Arminians, provided the writers who choose thus to distinguish us, will state our doctrines accurately. It is as unjust as it is detrimental to the interests of truth, for any one to cry out Arminian! and then attempt to dress us up with the garb of Pelagius or the robe of Socinus, to render us odious in the sight of all sober, orthodox Christians.

3. We submit it to the calm deliberation of all friends to the Redeemer, whether the conduct of which we complain, is likely to subserve the interests of pure religion. "Truth is mighty and must prevail." Its injured rights will ultimately be avenged by its sacred Author. If any, therefore, commit depredations on them, they may not hope to escape with impunity. And when the curtain is drawn aside, and the light of truth exhibits the deep designs of those who have artfully endeavoured to hide its lustre, the innocent will triumph over the guilty, while the victory will proclaim the disgrace of those. who may have attempted to suc ceed by such dishonourable means. We do not say that our antagonists in the present discussion have been guilty of wilfully perverting our sentiments; but we say that if their conscience acquits them of this charge, they ought to have known better.

4. We are not conscious of any ill will towards Dr. Brownlee, or the member of the association who helped him to the article in question. If any improper asperity of expression has escaped us, we willingly retract it, and hope in future to profit by any errors he may point out, either as to facts or arguments. We make no lofty pretensions to "deep reading," neither do we succumb to the petulant charge of having "issued from behind the

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Though knowledge be power, yet every thing depends upon the use which we make of that power; and all are accountable for the proportion of talents received. It is an humiliating consideration, that while the classes of inferior animals are constantly found performing the will of God, the only exception is to be found in man:-in man, who alone has been endued with the faculty of knowing his Creator; -in man, who was destined to communicate with him in a spiritual manner, and who was placed here, as in a state of preparation, for the enjoyment of his presence for ever. Good and evil are set before us: we are free to choose or to refuse; and we may be assured, that in proportion to the degree of light and knowledge received, so will be the nature of the account at the final close; for justice is no less an attribute of the Supreme Arbiter of the universe than wisdom or power. But while the most courageous among the sons of men may be appalled at considering this attribute, yet our gracious Creator is equally distinguished by that of mercy; he in infinite compassion provided the means, in the person of the Redeemer, for reconciliation with himself; and this is the only

The Supreme Being, though not an object of our senses, like the masses of matter with which we are daily and hourly conversant, is, nevertheless, actively present with us, influencing that immortal part in his rational creatures, which is also of a nature wholly different from any thing in the material world. He must be deficient, indeed, in intellect, who cannot discover, that a power far surpassing any thing conceivable by human capacity, must have been at work, in all that surrounds him. "In Him," it has emphatically been said, "we live, and move, and have our being." Invisible in his nature and essence, he is constantly influencing our minds to all that is virtuous. To him we owe every good thought and determination; and as he wills the happiness of all his creatures, we are sure that when we dry up the tear of the widow and the fatherless, when we succour the distressed and afflicted, when we endeavour to promote peace and good will among men, we are performing the will of God. To cherish these dispositions and feelings is of more importance than the great bulk of mankind imagine. They become stronger by exercise, and tend, by degrees, to bring the mind into that harmony with the Divine will in which there is not the least disposition to hurt or destroy.

On the other hand, they shut

sources of joy and consolation, who harden their hearts against these benign sensations; who, puffed up with a foolish pride in consequence of their imaginary attainments, refuse to believe any thing which is not cognizable by their natural senses and faculties. But until a part shall be proved to be greater than the whole,-until it shall be shown that finite can comprehend infinite,-the well regulated mind must look with sorrow and amazementat men undertaking to measure the ways and operations of Infinite Wisdom by their little standard, and giving rash decisions upon the conduct of the Supreme Intelligence.

It would not be so much matter of surprise, if these unhappy individuals were found only in the class of the uneducated and ignorant part of mankind; but what shall we say for those to whose eyes the ample page of science has been unrolled; but who, notwithstanding, with inverted ambition, have struggled to descend below the dignity of their nature, and claim kindred with the brutes who know not God? To them we may apply the language of Young: "With the talents of an angel, a man may be a fool : if he judge amiss in the supreme point, judging right in all else does but aggravate his folly."

If, then, all that we admire in nature must have been the work of a kind and an Almighty Hand,—if we are convinced that all the powers we possess are derived from him, and sufficient only to give us a faint glimpse of his infinite perfection, is it too much to ask, that we should humbly trust in him for what must be above our comprehension; and rely with confidence, that in a future state of being, what is now merely the object

absolute certainty? It is no small consolation to reflect, that precisely similar conclusions have been drawn from the same premises by the most distinguished ornaments of science. Sir Isaac Newton, Boyle, and Locke, together with other illustrious characters, who laid the foundation of all those discoveries which will render the present age so conspicuous in the annals of time, had exactly the same ideas upon these important subjects. These great men were not ashamed to acknowledge their conviction of the truths of revealed religion; and that, in tracing the links of the chain, which, beginning at the lowest orders of created beings, terminates at the throne of God, the most acute individual would soon come to a point below, as well as above himself, at which he could only pause and adore. Indeed, our very existence is not more certain than that of an overruling, superintending Providence: -a conviction of his omnipresence has been the consolation of the wise and good in all ages of the world, and the effects of that conviction are described with peculiar force by one of the most elegant writers which this country has produced. The celebrated Addison exclaims, "How happy is an intellectual being, who, by prayer.... opens a communication between God and his own soul! Though the whole creation frown upon him, and all nature look black about him, he has his light and support within him, that are able to cheer his mind, and bear him up in the midst of all those horrors which encompass him. He knows that his helper is at hand, and is always nearer to him than any thing else can be, which is capable of annoying or terrifying him. In the midst