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must beg to decline the obliging offer you make of my perusing your manuscript."

With respect to that gentleman's character, this after-clap does not alter my thoughts of it. I cannot but still love and honour him on many, very many accounts. Though his warm attachment to what he calls "the doctrines of grace," [and what we call "the doctrines of limited grace and free-wrath"] robs him, from time to time, of part of the moderation, patience, and meekness of wisdom, which adorn the complete Christian character; I cannot but consider him as a very valuable person. I do not doubt but, when the paroxysm of his Calvinistic zeal shall be over, he will be as great an ornament to the church of England in the capacity of a gentleman, as he is to civil society in the capacity of a magistrate. And justice, as well as love obliges me to say, that in the mean time he is in several respects a pattern for all gentlemen of fortnue; few equalling him in devoting a large fortune to the relief of the poor, and their leisure hours to the support of what they esteem the truth. Happy would it be for him and for the peace of the church, if to all his good qualities he always added "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit; and if he so far suspected his orthodoxy, as to condescend to weigh himself in the Scripture Scales,

AN

EQUAL CHECK, &c.

PART THE SECOND;

OR,

THE FIRST PART

OF

THE SCRIPTURE SCALES.

SECTION I.

FIRST and second causes, leading and subordinate motives, may perfectly agree together. The hinder wheels of a chariot need not be taken. off, because they are not the fore wheels. It would be absurd to pull down the left wing of a palace, merely because it is opposed to the right. And a man makes himself ridiculous, who destroys

one of his scales because it accidentally outweighs the other. For both scales may recover their equilibrium, and answer the best of purposes.

Such, if I mistake not, is the necessary distinction, and such the nice union, that subsist between those two opposite, and yet harmonizing; exploded, and yet capital doctrines of the gospel, which we call freegrace and free-will. To demonstrate that their due conjunction in our hearts, forms the spiritual marriage of faith, and gives birth to all good works, I have ventured upon the construction of the SCALES, which the reader will find in these pages. If their composition is human, their materials are divine; for they consist of plain Scriptures, chiefly placed under two heads of doctrine, which, for their justness and importance, may be called the WEIGHTS OF THE SANCTUARY. 1. Our salvation is of God. 2. Our damnation is of ourselves. The first of these propositions is inseparably connected with the doctrine of free-grace, nor can the second stand, but upon the doctrine of free-will; two doctrines these, which the moralists and the solifidians have hitherto thought incompatible; and about which some have contended with the utmost acrimony of temper and language.

Even men of piety have rashly entered the lists, some against freegrace, others against free-will; warmly opposing what they should have mutually defended. The cause of their misunderstanding is very singular. They are good men upon the whole, therefore they can never oppose truth as truth: and, as they are not destitute of charity, they cannot quarrel merely for quarrelling's sake. Whence then springs their continual contest? Is it not from gross partiality, excessive jealousy, wilful inattention, and glaring prejudice? They will not look gospel truth full

in the face they are determined to stand on either side of her, and by that means, seldom see above the half of her beauty.

But all the protestants are not so partial: for, while the solifidians gaze upon the side-face of Christianity on the right hand, and the moralists on the left; her unprejudiced lovers, humbly sitting at her feet, and beholding her in full, adinire the exquisite proportion of all her features; an advantage this, which the opposite rivals can never have in their present, unfavourable position. Therefore, while a mere moralist considers as enthusiastic rant," the doctrine of free grace extolled by the solifidians; and while a bound-willer brands as "dreadful heresy," the doctrine of free-will espoused by the moralists; an unprejudiced Christian equally embraces the pretended" enthusiasm" of the one, and the imaginary heresy" of the other; being persuaded, that the different sentiments of those partial contenders for free-grace and free-will, are only the opposite truths, which form the complete beauty of genuine protestantism.

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This contrary mistake of the moralists, and of the solifidians, is attended with the most fatal consequences; for, as they receive only one part of the truth, they think to do God service by attacking the other part, which they rashly take for a dangerous error: and, so far as the influence of their contrary misconception reaches, the whole truth is destroyed. Primitive Christianity, in their busy hands, seems to be in as much danger of losing her capital doctrines, as the elderly man in the fable was of losing his hair between his two wives: One was young, and could not bear his partly-silvered locks; the other, who was old, wanted him to be altogether as grey as herself. Both accordingly fell to work; and in a little time the young wife had so plucked out his white hairs, and the old woman his black ones, that he remained absolutely

bald.

Will you see their ridiculous conduct exemplified in the religious world? Consider Honestus, the sedate moralist; and Zelotes, the warm solifidian. Honestus, who values the ten commandments far above the three creeds, seldom dwells upon Christ's redeeming love and atoning blood. Out of the church he rarely mentions the inspiration of God's Spirit, or the comforts of the Holy Ghost; and it is well if he does not think, that our addresses to the Mediator are remains of papistical idolatry. He piques himself much upon his honesty; and hoping that his free-will, best endeavours, and good works are almost sufficient to save him, he leaves the doctrine of a sinner's justification by faith to Zelotes and St. Paul.-Zelotes flies to the other extreme. His creed is all; and, so far as decency permits, he insinuates, that believers may break the first and second coinmandment with Solomon, the third with Peter, the fifth with Absalom, the sixth and seventh with David, the eighth with Onesimus, and the two last with Ananias and Sapphira; in short, that they may go any length in sin, without endangering in the least their title to a crown of glory. He thinks that the contrary doctrine is rank popery. Some of his favourite topics are: 1. God's unconditional election of some to finished salvation; an election this, which necessarily includes God's unconditional appointment of the rest of mankind to finished damnation :— 2. An unchangeable fondness of God, and a partial atonement of Christ, for a comparatively small number of the children of men; a fondness and an atonement these, which include also an unchangeable wrath against, and an absolute reprobation of all the world besides:-And 3. A zealous decrying of free-will and sincere obedience, under the specious pretence of exalting Christ and free grace. As for the justification of a believer by works, and not by faith only, he leaves it to Honestus, Bellarmine, and St.

James.

If the sum of Christ's religion is, cordially believe, and sincerely obey;

and if Honestus makes almost nothing of saving faith, while Zelotes makes next to nothing of sincere obedience, is it not evident that between them both, genuine protestantism is almost destroyed? If I may compare Christianity to the woman, that St. John saw in one of his visions; how barbarously is she used by those two partial lovers? Both pretend to have the greatest regard for her: both have publicly espoused her: both perhaps, equally recommend her from the pulpit: but alas, both, though without any bad design, use her with the greatest unkindness; for, while Honestus divests her of her peculiar doctrines and mysteries, Zelotes robs her of her peculiar precepts and sanctions: thus the one (if I may carry the allegory so far) puts out her right, and the other, her left eye: the one stabs her in the right side, and the other in the left: and this they do upon a supposition, that as soon as all their dreadful operations shall be performed, Christianity will shine in the perfection of her native beauty.

While the heavenly woman, mutilated by those partial lovers, lies thus bleeding and deformed in the midst of spiritual Egypt, Lorenzo casts his eyes upon her, and starting back at the sight, he wisely protests, that he cannot embrace so deformed a religion: and it is well, if, in this critical moment, a painted Jezebel, who courts his affections, does not ensnare his unwary soul. She calls herself Natural Religion, but her right name is Scepticism in infancy, Infidelity in youth, Fatalism ir ripe years, and Abaddon in old age. Guilty, thrice guilty will Honestus and Zelotes prove, if they continue to drive the hesitating youth into the arms of that syren, by continuing to render Christianity monstrous in his eyes!

O mistaken men of God, before you have caused Lorenzo's ruin, be persuaded to review your doctrine; nor refuse to weigh it in the balance of the Sanctuary. If fine gold loses nothing in the fiercest fire, what can your sentiments lose in my Scripture Sca es? Let cheats dread to have their weights tried by the royal standard: but do not you start from the trial. I acknowledge your honesty before hand. If your weights should prove false, your reputation is safe. My readers will do you justice; they will perceive, that, far from having had any intention to deceive others, you yourselves have been the dupes of your own prejudice ; thus will your mistakes be found out to your profit, and not to your shame.

The error of Honestus and that of Zelotes being opposite, so must be their method of using the Scripture Scales. Honestus who inclines to the neglect of Christ, and to the contempt of free-grace, must weigh himself against the Scriptures which follow No. I, and batter down pharisaic dotages: That is, he must read those scriptures over with attention; asking his conscience, if he honestly insists upon them as the primary truths of Christianity; and if he may not rank with modern pharisees, so far as he opposes or despises those Scriptures. On the other hand, Zelotes, who leans to the disregard of sincere obedience, good works, and free-will, must weigh himself against No. 2, under which he will find the Scriptures, that oppose the Antinomian delusion; confessing that, so far as he sets them aside, he clips away the secondary truths of the gospel, mangles Bible-Christianity, and strengthens the hands of immoral gospellers and flagitious Antino

mians.

If Zelotes and Honestus will not weigh their doctrine in the Scripture Scales, Candidus will do it for them. Prejudice has not yet captivated him, nor is he unacquainted with church-history. He believes, that the Pope himself is not infallible: he knows all that glitters as gospel is not gospel-gold: he remembers, that for several hundred years, the worship of a consecrated wafer was esteemed a capital part of “ or