saism of many papists had been before by the council of Trent.

It is true, that as some good men in the church of Rome have boldly withstood pharisaical errors, and openly pleaded for salvation by grace through faith; so some good men in the protestant churches have also steadily resisted antinomian delusions, and publicly defended the doctrine of salvation, not by the proper merit of works, but by the works of faith as a condition. But, alas! as the popes of Rome crushed, or excommunicated, the former almost as fast as they arose; so have petty protestant popes blackened or silenced the latter. The true quakers, from their first appearance, have made as firm a stand against the antinomians, as the Valdenses against the papists; and it is well known that the antinomians who went from England to America, with many pious puritans, whipped the quakers, men and women, cut off their ears, made against them a law of banishment upon pain of death, and upon that tyrannical law hanged four of their preachers, three men and one woman, in the last century,* for preaching up the Christian perfection of faith and obedience; and so disturbing the peace of the elect, who were at ease in Sion, or rather in Babel.

I need not mention the title of "heretic," with which that learned and good man Arminius is to this day dignified, for having made a firm and noble stand against wanton free grace. The banishment or deprivation of Grotius, Episcopius, and other Dutch divines, is no secret. And it is well known that in England, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Wesley, and Mr. Sellon are, to this day, an abhorrence to all antinomian flesh.

I am sorry to say, that, all things considered, these good men have been treated with as much severity by protestant antinomians, as ever Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin were by popish pharisees. The antinomian and pharisaic spirit run as much into one, as the two arms of a river that embraces an island; if they divide for a time,

* Their names were, William Leddra, Marmaduke Stephenson, William Robinson, and Mary Dyer. See "the History of the Quakers," by Sewell; and "New-England judged," by George Bishop.

it is only to meet again, and increase their mutual rapidity. I beg leave to speak my whole mind. It is equally clear, from scripture and reason, that we must believe, in order to be saved consistently with God's mercy; and that we must obey, in order to be saved consistently with his holiness. These propositions are the immovable basis of the two gospel axioms. Now, if I reject either of them, it little matters which. If I blow my brains out, what signifies it whether I do it by clapping the mouth of a pistol. to my right or to my left temple ?

Error moves in a circle; extremes meet in one. warm popish pharisee, and a zealous protestant antinomian, are nearer each other than they imagine. The one will tell you, that by going to mass and confession he can get a fresh absolution from the priest for any sin that he shall commit: the other. whose mistake is still more pleasing to flesh and blood, assures you that he has already got an eternal absolution, so that, "under every state and circumstance he can possibly be in, he is justified from all things; his sins are for ever and for ever cancelled.”

But if they differ a little in the idea of their imaginary privileges, they have the honour of agreeing in the main point. For, although the one makes a great noise about faith and free grace, and the other about works and true charity, they exactly meet in narrow grace and despairing uncharitableness. The pharisee in Jerusalem asserts, that "out of the Jewish church there can be no salvation;" and his companions in self-election heartily say, "Amen!" The pharisee in Rome declares, that "there is no salvation out of the apostolic Romish church ;" and all the catholic elect set their seal to the anti-Christian decree. And the antinomian in London insinuates, if not affirms, (for he is ashamed to speak quite out in a protestant country,) that there is no salvation out of the Calvinistic, predestinarian church. Hence, if you oppose his principles in ever so rational and scriptural a manner, he supposes that you are "quite dark," that all your holiness is "self-made," and all your righteousness a cobweb spun by a poor spider out of its own bowels;" and if he allows you a chance for your salvation, it is only upon a supposition, that you may vet

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repent of your opposition to his errors, and turn Calvinist before you die. But might not an inquisitor be as charitable? Might he not hope that the poor heretic, whom he has condemned to the flames, may yet be saved, if he cordially kisses a crucifix, and says "Ave Maria” at the stake?

And now, candid reader, look around, and see what these seemingly opposite errors have done for Christ's church. Before the reformation, Christendom was overspread with superstition and fanaticism; and since, with lukewarmness and infidelity. But let us descend to particulars.

What has pharisaism done for the church of Rome ? It has publicly rent from her all the protestant kingdoms, and secretly turned against her an innumerable multitude of deists; for while bigots continue ridiculous bigots still, men of wit, headed by ingenious infidels, continually pour undeserved contempt upon Christianity, through the deserved wounds which they give to popery. They represent Christ's rational and humane religion as one of the worst in the world, unjustly charging it with the persecuting spirit and horrible massacres of those catholics, so called, who, mangling the truth, and running away with one half of the body of Christian divinity, disgrace the whole by childish fooleries, and worse than barbarian uncharitableness.

And what does pharisaism for the protestant churches? So far as it prevails, spreads it not around its fatal leaven, a general indifference about heart-felt religion? Turns it not the lively oracles of God into a dead letter; the sacraments into empty ceremonies; the means of grace into rattles to quiet a guilty conscience with; the precious blood of Christ into a common thing; his hallowed cross into an inglorious tree; external devotion into a cloak for secret hypocrisy; and some acts of apparent benevolence into the rounds of a ladder, the bottom of which reaches hell, and behold spiritual fiends (all manner of diabolical tempers) are seen continually ascending and descending on it?

Does it not incline us to despise those who are emi

nently pious, as if they were out of their senses; to despair of those who are notoriously wicked, as if they were absolute reprobates; and to prefer a popular imitator of Barabbas, to a meek follower of Jesus? Does it not prompt us to lay an undue stress upon trifles, and to make an endless ado about some frivolous circumstance of external worship, while we pass over judgment, mercy, and the love of God? And by that means, does it not confirm modern Herodians in their antinomianism, and modern sadducees in their infidelity? In a word: does it not render the stiff neck stiffer; the blind understanding blinder; the hard heart stouter; the proud spirit more rebellious, more indifferent about mercy, more averse to gospel grace, more satanical, readier for all the curses of the law, and riper for all the woes of the gospel?

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But let us consider the other extreme: What has Calvinism done for Geneva? Alas! it has in a great degree shocked and driven it into Arianism, Socinianism, and infidelity. See the account lately given of it in the French Encyclopædia, article, Geneva: Many of the clergy of Geneva," says judicious Mr. D'Alembert, "no longer believe the divinity of Jesus Christ, of which Calvin, their leader, was a zealous defender, and for which he had Servetus burned, &c. They believe that there are punishments in another world, but only for a limited time; thus purgatory, which was one of the chief causes of the reformation, is now the only punishment which many protestants admit after death. A new proof this, that man is a being full of contradictions. To sum up all in one word: the religion of many pastors at Geneva is perfect Socinianism."

*

• Servetus's heresy is thus described in the fourteenth of the "Forty Articles of religion," which the ministers of Geneva still subscribe, and which, if I mistake not, were drawn up by Calvin himself: "We likewise detest the devilish imaginations of Servetus, who attributes to our Lord Jesus Christ an imaginary divinity; forasmuch as he says, that he is the idea and pattern of all things;' and calls him God's Son in a personal or formal manner; and moreover supposes him to have a body made up of three uncreated elements, thus mixing and destroying both the natures of Christ." This heresy of Servetus, which we may well suppose is not placed here in the most favourable light, does not differ much from the sentiment of those English divines who have considered

What good has Calvinism done in England? Alas! very little. When a bow is bent beyond its proper degree of tension, does it not fly to pieces? When you violently pull a tree towards the west, if it recovers itself, does it not violently fly to the east? Has not this generally been the case with respect to all the truths of God, which have been forced out of their scriptural place one way or another? Calvinism in the days of Oliver Cromwell was at the very same height of splendour at which popery had attained in the days of king Henry the Eighth, and they shared the same downfal. Mole ruunt suấ. At the reformation the first grand doctrine of Christianity, (salvation by grace through faith,) which had been forced out of its place, and almost broken by the papists, fled back upon them with such violence, that it shook the holy see, frightened the pope, and made some of the richest jewels fall from his triple crown. In like manner the second grand doctrine of Christianity, (salvation not by the proper merit of works, but by the works of faith as a condition,) which had been served by the antinomians just as the first gospel axiom by the papists, recovering itself out of their hands flew back upon them with uncommon violence at king Charles's restoration, by an indirect blow shook two thousand Calvinist ministers out of their pulpits; and, getting far beyond its scriptural place, began to bear hard upon, and even thrust out, the grand doctrine of salvation by grace. Thus the absurdity and mischief of antinomianism began to drive again the generality of English protestants into pharisaism, Arianism, Socinianism, or open infidelity; that is, into the state in which most of the learned are at Rome and Geneva.

the Father as the one self-existent unity, and the Son as the one infinite variety in this eternal unity: so that, of course, something in him is the idea and pattern of all that exists, except sin and the curse. Nor is what Dr. Watts says of the super-angelical nature of the Logos, and of his appearing in an angelical body before his incarnation, so very far from Servetus's doctrine of Christ's spiritual and wonderful body, when he appeared as an angel to the patriarchs. See the sermons of Peter Sterry, fellow of Emanuel College, Cambridge, on Psalm xlv. 1, 2; and Dr. Watts's fourth dissertation concerning the Trinity.