to presbyterian church government may be thought to have this tendency: but no reason can be given why the doctrine of the divine sovereignty and decrees should have a similar effect; when it leads him who enters into the genuine spirit of it into a cordial acquiescence in every providential dispensation, as the appointment of infinite wisdom, truth, and goodness.-If this be meant to insinuate that modern Calvinists, in the church of England especially, are less disposed to subordination, and less attached to regal government than others, I shall only oppose to it a confident assertion on the other hand, that his present Majesty, his royal offspring, and the establishment in church and state, have not, in any one body, proportionably a larger number of decided and cordial friends, than the evangelical clergy and their congregations..... Political discontents led soon after the accession of James to the formation of parties. The Calvinistic part of the nation, whether attached to the establishment, or not, being hard pressed by the growing power of their opponents, generally united with the political party which was inimical to public measures; a vast proportion of whom, till long after, had nothing further in view than the security of politicalliberty against what they deemed the encroachments of prerogative. This, together with the violence and success of the Arminian party, led the Calvinists to concur in unjustifiable measures. Still, however, Arminianism prevailed, and in the reign of Charles I. under Archbishop Laud, it seemed to obtain a triumph. But the victory of the parliament over the royal party proved also a

short lived apparent victory to the Calvinists, many of whom becoming united with the Presbyterians lost their attachment to the external establishment of the church; and concurred in their violent measures. But the Presbyterians, being, as they vainly hoped, on the eve of a full establishment of their whole system, were overreached by the Independents, and lost all the fruits of their victory over the church of England. Among those who adhered to the royal party and to the established church, in her abject state, even the faults and successes of the Puritans, Presbyterians, and Independents, were arguments (and indeed they still are so,) against Calvinism; so that they became more and more Anticalvinistic, without studying the subject, by a sort of heartrevolting against principles which they erroneously supposed had produced these terrible effects. I say erroneously: for, except among a few honest but undiscerning men, and a company of wild enthusiasts, religion, as to the leaders in these tragical scenes, was merely the pretence; and, if the nation had been divided into zealots for popery and zealots for Mohammedism, the designing sagacious leaders would have known how to avail themselves of their prejudices; and the event would have nearly been the same as the affairs of the late twenty years on the continent may evince. However that may be, at the Restoration, a large majority of the clergy, who kept their stations in the church, or succeeded to those which became vacant, were Anticalvinistic, and have continued so to this day.-I feel little interest in the subsequent history of Calvinism.]

[The early Calvinists of this country having 'thus failed in their endeavours to obtain a change ' in our Public Formularies, their more modern 'successors, despairing of alteration, have adopted a different mode of proceeding, and have boldly 'contended that the Articles, Liturgy, and Ho'milies are already Calvinistic, and admit of no ' other interpretation. That this is a groundless assertion, I have, I flatter myself, sufficiently ' proved in the former part of this volume.'1

(

That some persons, in former times have wished to render our Articles, &c, more exactly agreeable to the tenets of Calvin, or even Calvino Calviniores, cannot be denied: but the evangelical clergy are not their successors.' They do not despair ' of alteration;' for a man never despairs of what he does not desire, but most earnestly deprecates. The despair of alteration is found among those, who devise a variety of ingenious schemes, to reconcile men's consciences to subscribe what they almost openly avow that they do not believe. The evangelical clergy do not contend (at least I am no advocate for those who do,) that our Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies are in every tittle exactly coincident with the sentiments of Calvin; but that they contain, in a more unexceptionable form, all that they deem essential in his doctrine; and are Calvinistic exactly in the same sense that we are Calvinists.]

'In confirmation of this historical detail, which may be considered as a sort of external evidence of the Anticalvinism of our church, and in addi

1
1 Ref. 585.

'tion to the internal positive proofs to the same purpose which have been adduced in the first 'four chapters of this work, it may be proper to ' remark a circumstance of a negative kind, which 'seems to deserve attention, and to carry great weight with it: There is not in any part of our 'book of Common Prayer, or in our Articles, a single expression which can fairly be interpreted ' as asserting or recognizing any one of the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism. Redemption is 'never declared to be irrespectively partial; hu'man co-operation is never excluded where the 'influence of the Spirit is mentioned; divine < grace is never considered as irresistible or inde'fectible; good works are never represented as unnecessary to salvation; sudden conversions ' and sensible operations of the Spirit are no where acknowledged. These assertions, being of a negative nature, admit not of regular proof; but "it has been shewn, that doctrines opposite to 'those just mentioned, are contained both in our 'Liturgy and Articles: and therefore, if we admit

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that our Liturgy and Articles are consistent with 'themselves and with each other, the truth of 'these assertions necessarily follows. It is scarcely possible to imagine, that Calvinists would draw up a set of prayers to be daily used in the church, together with the form of administering the two 'sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper, a

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catechism for the instruction of youth, an order "for confirmation, for the visitation of the sick, 'for the burial of the dead, and all other offices relating to Christian worship, in which the sub'jects of grace, faith, good works, and redemption,

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'must of necessity frequently occur, without once ' unequivocally declaring or indicating their sen'timents upon any one of those points; and I call upon the supporters of Calvinism to produce a passage from our Common Prayer Book, the plain and obvious sense of which is decidedly 'Calvinistic.'1

'The circumstance of a negative kind which 'seems to deserve attention, &c,' and which is brought forward with great confidence; when ascertained by logical rules, may be thus stated: Major. That which cannot fairly be interpreted, as asserting or recognizing any one of the pecu'liar doctrines of Calvinism,' cannot be Calvinistic:' Minor. No part of our Book of Common Prayer, or of our Articles, contains a single expression, which can fairly be interpreted as asserting or recognizing any one of the peculiar 'doctrines of Calvinism :'

Conclusion. "Therefore our Common Prayer ' and Articles are not Calvinistic.' Or, in fewer words, That which contains nothing of Calvinism 'cannot be Calvinistic.' If this be not the whole amount of the argument, let the contrary be logically shewn: and how much such an argument proves let the logicians determine.-It is plain from the following statement, however, that it was not meant that those doctrines, which in common language are called Calvinistic, are in no way contained or implied; but only that redemption is no where declared to be irrespectively partial; that human co-operation is never excluded where the influence of the Spirit

Ref. 585-587.