feeble-minded, and support the weak," bearing patiently with them. See also Rom. xv. 1.

2dly. Endeavour to preserve peace and unity among the people, Eph. iv. 3; and in order to do this, suppress evil-speaking and tale-bearing as much as possible. "The words of a talebearer are as wounds," Prov. xviii. 8. "He that repeateth a matter, separate th very friends," chap. xvii. 9. "The north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue," chap. xxv. 23.

3dly. If at any time discord should take place between brethren, act as peace-makers, and make up the breach as soon as possible; and to effect this, appoint a meeting for the parties; call in a few select persons that are judicious, candid, and of a meek and quiet spirit, to assist you: begin with solemn and earnest prayer; then desire the plaintiff to speak, charging him, as in the presence of God, to declare the simple truth, and nothing more; and suffer not the defendant to interrupt him till he hath done speaking. After the plaintiff hath represented the case, if any thing seem dark, doubtful, or ambiguous, desire him to explain his words, that every thing may be clearly understood by all present. Then call upon the defendant to reply, as though he was standing at the judgment seat of Christ; and if he be capable of answering, let him proceed, that the business may be settled as soon as possible; but if he seem embarrassed, [for some persons cannot properly reply to sudden charges, because they need time for recollection before they are able to give a sufficient answer,] then let him have time to consider, and appoint another meeting, at whieh he may speak in his de fence; and let not the plaintiff interrupt him till he hath answered fully to the chage. If they have witnesses, hear them also, and proceed to act yourselves in the most impartial manner, as those that are to be cited before the highest tribunal; nor leave any means untried, which are in your power, to reconcile the parties, and to restore brotherly love again. And be not discouraged if you should not succeed, according to your wish, at the first; but persevere, in a loving, meek, and gentle spirit, as long as any shadow of hope remaineth. "Blessed are the peace-makers; for they shall be called the children of God," Matt. v. 9.

4thly. Go after backsliders. Is not this a duty that is very much neglected among us? If sheep astray from the flock or fold, doth not the shepherd seek diligently after them until he find them? "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?" Luke xv. 4. "How much then is a man better than a sheep?" Matt. xii. 12. Therefore, those that are entrusted with the care Christ's flock, ought not to suffer themselves to be outdone by

common shepherds. If a religious man is overcome by temptation, and falleth into some open and scandalous sin, is he not frequently despised, and, of course, slighted, when he so greatly needeth help? Satan hath gained an advantage over him, cast him down, and will not suffer him to rise again if he can hinder him; or, perhaps, the person is so tempted and dejected, that he hath no courage nor strength to rise; his conscience condemns him, guilt has seized on him, his face is covered with shame, his spirit sinks within him, his bosom is filled with anguish, and his soul is overwhelmed with grief; go, therefore, to him, and lend him all the assistance you possibly can, until you have raised him up again, and brought him back to the fold; so shall he have reason to bless the Lord for your brotherly love and tender. care to all eternity. Remember, also, that you are to avoid harshness and severity, especially when a person is deeply humbled;. lest, thereby, you provoke or discourage him, and thus make a bad matter worse. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted,” Gal. vi. 1. "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a a multitude of sins," James v. 19, 20.

5thly. Help the poor and needy as much as you are able, and endeavour to make their situation in life as comfortable as possible, that they may attend upon the Lord without distraction, 1 Cor. vii. 35. " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ," Gal. vi. 2.

6thly. Walk in brotherly love with those parts of Christ's church which are not in connexion with you; viz. Christians of other denominations. Think and speak well of them, whoever they are; reverence and esteem them; be not bigotted to your own opinion; be not narrow-hearted; honour the image of Christ wherever it is seen, and embrace such as bear any part thereof with the arms of love. "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common," Acts x. 15. "God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him," verses 34, 35. "Every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him," 1 John v. 1.

[3.] With respect to the world.

1st. The things of it. Remember, earthly things may harm you, but can never satisfy your immortal spirit, and will soon leave you, or you will leave them. "This I say, brethren, that time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives, be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they

hat buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away, 1 Cor. vii. 29-31.

"

2dly. See that ye walk circumspectly before the people of the world, Eph. v. 15.

In conversation: Keep your word, fulfil your promises, be punctual to your engagements. "Use sound speech that cannot be condemned: that he who is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you," Titus ii. 8.

In behaviour: Be humble affable, courteous, yet modest, serious, and grave. "A bishop, or presbyter, must be sober, of good behaviour. Likewise must the deacons be grave," 1 Tim. iii. 2, 8.

In all your actions; Be strictly honest and just, do nothing unworthy of a Christian. Give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully," 1 Tim. v. 14. "In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works," Titus ii. 7. "Whether therefore

ye eat or drink, or whatsocver ye do, do all to the glory of God," 1 Cor. x. 31.

Thus walk (circumspectly and) in wisdom, toward (or before) them that are without the church, that is, the people of the world, Col. iv. 5.

(To be continued.)

THE TRUTH OF GOD DEFENDED.

To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine.

Your acquaintance with the religious world, has given you an opportunity of observing the different opinions maintained and supported by men of learning, as well as by the ignorant enthusiast and from your knowledge of human nature, you must have concluded that various anti-scriptural hypotheses which have gained credit, have originated, either in pride or ignorance. When a new system has been embraced, ingenuity and imagination have been set to work to decorate and give it a favourable appearance; and the more novelty it has possessed, the more it has been admired by those who set up reason as an oracle, and reject every thing they cannot, or pretend they cannot, comprehend. It is a little singular that these doughty champions of intellectual endowments and free inquiry, should find subjects involved in mystery, and beyond their ability fully to understand, no where but in the bible. Is there any other reason to be assigned for this unfair proceeding, than, that the Scriptures contain truths, which are designed to humble the pride of man, or bring

to his recollection facts which he wishes to be kept out of sight, or is unwilling to acknowledge? If he manufactures a religious theory, in order to render it plausible and imposing, he must support it with numerous quotations from the Sacred Writings, and use all his skill to bring down the mind and meaning of their supernaturally inspired authors, to an exact level with his own views, in order to support his system:-he must be at great pains in examining the etymology of words; in collating sentences of Divine truth with heathen writers, and rest his conclusion upon a verbal criticism. It may be asked, was this the method the disciples of our Lord pursued in propagating the gospel in the world? No: "The apostles were not assisted to find out the truths of the gospel by reasoning; they received them as a revelation from God. When these holy men preached the gospel to the world, they did not attempt to establish its doctrines by reasoning; but declared them simply: and required mankind to believe them on the authority of the inspiration by which they had been discovered to themselves; because as a revelation from God, these doctrines were not subjects of human discussion, but were to be believed implicitly upon the testimony of God. Had they been proposed as the conclusions of reason, they might have been called in question by infidels; and their authority as a revelation from God, would have been destroyed." The pure unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ, is the good old way, the plain path in which all have walked who have honoured God, by giving him implicit credit for his testimony, respecting his attributes and designs; his moral government; and the dispensations of his providence and grace. Here the footsteps of the Old Testament saints, the apostles, and the church of God are recognised, and the character of the traveller identified by those unchangeable marks which cannot blend with the excentricities of fancy. This way is so plain, that the way-faring man need not err; for Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, is the way, the truth, and the life, and hath said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

I have been led to make these remarks, by reading an article in one of our public journals, in which Dr. Taylor, of Norwich, is alluded to. The doctor is one of the most subtle of the Socinian writers, and on that account ought to be read, if read at all, with great caution. He does not alarm your fears by informing you that this is a false reading, and the other has been the blunder of an ignorant copier. His attempts are to make the Scriptures speak his own language, and support his own hypothesis, contrary to the opinion of the most learned and best of men, in all ages of the church. I do not affirm, that opinions sanctioned by authority, and the suffrage of all orthodox interpreters of the Scriptures, are infallible; but I mean to say, that they ought not to be re

jected on a slight ground. If Dr. Taylor's commentary on St. Paul's epistle to the Romans be a just exposition of the gospel, then it will appear clear to every unprejudiced mind, that we have nothing to do with the doctrine of man's total depravity, justification by faith, and the atonement made by Jesus Christ for the sins of the whole world. We must then believe that all the vice and immorality in the world are the mere effects of imitation and custom, of acquired habit, of corrupt example, of injudicious tuition and that Christianity, as taught by Jesus Christ and his apostles, is but little better, only more refined, than the ethicks of Socrates and Epictetus. The doctor further maintains, that conversion, means only renouncing heathenism, and professing Christianity: and that the words, bought, redeemed, saved, justified, sanctified, &c. signify no more than, that God conferred high privileges on all who gave up paganism; and that Jesus Christ had no pretensions to a higher character than that of a minister or agent, appointed by God to put mankind into the possession of these honours and privileges. Upon this principle we have a conversion without a change of heart or nature; and a religion without a Saviour, except indeed a man be his own saviour, by copying a correct example, and the process of mental cultivation.

The gospel of the Socinians, is not a gospel suited to men in their ignorant, depraved, aud guilty condition; a condition in which all men are, whatever shades of difference there may be, arising from education or example: for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Without having reference to the scriptural account of man's fall, with its consequences, it is "impossible to account satisfactorily for the poor, dark, stupid, and wretched circumstances, in which so great a part of mankind are brought into this world, in which they grow up age after age in gross ignorance and vice, thoughtless respecting their duty to the God that created them, and negligent of the true happiness flowing from the enjoyment of his favour." The gospel of Jesus Christ embraces the condition of all, learned and unlearned, and makes provision for their present and future happiness. Jesus Christ "died the just for the unjust. Christ our passover is sacrificed in our stead. Christ died in due season for the ungodly." The gospel of Jesus Christ is fully suited to the condition of man, as it clearly describes the cause of his disease, and points out the only true, sovereign remedy, a remedy provided for the vilest of sinners, sufficient to save them from all sin, and raise them to holiness and happiness, when they repent and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Methodists may see the opinion that the Rev. John Wesley entertained of Dr. Taylor's hypothesis, in a letter he wrote in the year 1759, in which, addressing the doctor, he says, "Take