holy, righteous, and partial Free-grace. For conveniency's sake, these axioms may be shortened thus: 1. The doctrine of holy Freegrace and partial mercy in God, is true: 2. The doctrine of rectified, assisted Free-will in man, and of impartial justice in God, is true also.

This lovely pair of evangelical propositions, appears to me so essential to the fulness and harmony of the gospel, that I doubt not but if Pelagius and Augustine themselves were alive, neither of them would dare directly to rise against it. Time, or envy, has destroyed the works of Pelagius, the great assertor of free-will and the doctrines of justice; we cannot therefore support the doctrines of freegrace by his concessions: but we have the writings of Augustine, the great defender of God's distinguishing love, and the doctrine of free-grace and yet, partial as he was to these doctrines, in a happy moment, he boldly stood up for free-will and the doctrines of justice. This appears from the judicious and candid questions, which he proposes in one of his epistles [Si non est gratia Dei, quomodo salvat mundum? liberum arbitrum, quomodo judicat munqum ?] "If there be no free grace in God, how does he [graciously] save the world? If there be not free-will [in men] how does he [righteously] judge the world ?"

To conclude: Whoever holds forth these two Bible-axioms, [There is free grace in God, whence man's salvation graciously flows in various degrees ;] and, [There is free-will in every man, whence the damnation of all that perish justly proceeds :]-Whoever, I say, consistantly holds forth these two self-evident propositions, is, in my humble judgment, a gospel-minister who rightly divides the word of truth. He is a friend to both the doctrines of partial grace and impartial justice, of mercy and obedience, of faith and good works: In short, he preaches the primitive Gospel, reunites the two opposite Gospels of the day, and equally obviates the errors of Honestus and Zelotes, who stand up for the modern Gospels.

If you ask what those errors are, I answer, Honestus the Pelagian or rigid Arminian, seldom preaches Free-grace, and never dwells upon the notorious partiality and absolute sovereignty, with which God at first distributes the various talents of his grace: and, when he preaches free-will, he seldom preaches free-will initially rectified and continually assisted by free-grace: rarely, if ever, deeply humbling his hearers by displaying the total helplessness of unrectified, and unassisted free-will: And thus he veils the delightful doctrines of God's free-grace, clouds the evangelical doctrine of man's freewill, and inadvertently opens the door to self-conceited pharisaism. On the other hand, Zelotes, the Solifidian, or rigid Cal

vinist, seldom er never preaches rectified, assisted free-will; he harps only on the doctrine of absolute necessity: And when he preaches free-grace, he too often preaches: 1. A cruel free-grace, which turning itself into free-wrath, with respect to the majority of mankind, absolutely passes them by, and consigns them over to everlasting, infallible damnation, by means of necessary, fore-ordained sin. And, 2. An unscriptural freegrace, which turning itself into lawless fondness, with respect to a number of favourite souls, absolutely ensures to them eternal redemption, complete justification, and finish. ed salvation, be they ever so unfaithful.

By this means Zelotes spoils the doctrine of free-grace, undesignedly injures the doctrine of holiness, and utterly destroys the doctrine of justice, For when he denies that the greatest part of mankind have any interest in God's redeeming love; when he inti mates, that the doctrines of an absolute necessitating election to eternal life, and of an absolute necessitating rejection from eternal life, are true; and that God's reprobates are not less necessitated to sin to the end and be damned, than God's elect are to obey to the end and be saved; does he not pour contempt upon the throne of divine justice? Does he not make the supreme Judge, who fills that throne, appear as unwise when he distributes heavenly rewards, as cruel, when he inflicts infernal punishments?

Honestus and Zelotes will probably think, that I misrepresent them. Honestus will say, that he cordially believes God is full of free-grace for all men, and that he only thinks it would be unjust in God to be partial in the distribution of his free-grace. But when Honestus reasons thus, does he not confound grace and justice? Does he not sap the foundation of the throne of grace, under pretence of establishing the throne of justice? If God cannot do what he pleases with his grace, and if justice always binds him in the distribution of his favours, does not his grace deserve the name of impartial justice, far better than the apellation of free-grace?

As Honestus tries to save appearances with regard to the doctrines of grace, so does Zelotes, with regard to the doctrines of justice. "The gospel I preach, says he, is highly con sistent with the doctrines of justice; I indeed intimate, that the elect are necessitated to believe and be eternally saved; and the reprobates to sin on and be lost: But both this salvation of the elect, and damnation of the reprobates, perfectly agree with divine equity. For Christ, by his obedience unto death, merited the eternal salvation of all that shall be saved: And Adam, by his first act of disobedience, deserved the absolute reprobation of all that shall be damned. Our doctrines of grace are therefore highly consistent with the doctrines of justice."

By whom chiefly the Gospel-axioms were systematically parted; and under what pretences, prejudiced, good men, tore asunder the doctrines of grace and justice; and rent the one primitive, catholic gospel, into the partial gospels of the day.

FROM the preceding Section it appears, that, to preach the gospel in its primitive purity, is so to hold forth and balance the two gospel-axioms, as to allow both the doctrines of grace, and the doctrines of justice, the place which is assigned them in the word of God It is so to preach holy Free-grace, and rectified, assisted free-will, as equally to grind Pharisaism and Antinomianism [the graceless and the lawless gospel] between these two evangelical mill-stones. And thus the gospel was, in general, preached by good men for above three hundred years after Christ's ascension. If ever the tempter put successfully in practice his two capital maxims, Confound and destroy,-Divide and Conquer, it was in the fourth century, when he helped Pelagius and Augustine, two

gave a desperate thrust to the right side of primitive Christianity; and that heated Augustine, in his hurry to defend her, aimed a wellment blow at Pelagius, but by over-doing it, and missing his mark, wounded the left side of the heavenly woman, who from that time has lain bleeding between these two rash antagonists. "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water," says the wise Man. These waters of strife, which Pelagius and Augustine let in upon the Church, by breaking the flood gates of Gospel truth, soon overflowed the Christian world, and at times, like the waters of the overflowing Nile, have. almost been turned into blood. When streams of self-justifying, rigid, Pelagian freewill, have met with streams of self-electing, lawless, Augustinian free-grace; the strife has been loud and terrible. They have foam ed out their own shame, and frightened thousands of travellers to Sion out of the noisy ways of a corrupted gospel into the more quiet paths of infidelity.

For above a thousand years, these waters of strife, have spread devastation through the Christian world: I had almost said also through the Mahometan world; for Mahomet, who collected the filth of corrupt Christianity, derived these errors into his system of religion: Omar and Hali, at least, two of his relations and successors, became the leaders of two sects, which divide the Mahometan world. Omar, whom the Turks follow, stood up for bound-will, necessity and a species of absolute, Augustinian Predestination, and Hali, whom the Persians revere, embraced rigid free-will, and Pelagian free agency. But the worst is, that these muddy waters have flowed, through the dirty channel of the Romish church, into all the Protestant churches, and have at times deluged them; turning, wherever they came, bro therly love into fierce contention. For breaking the evangelical balance of the gos pel-axioms is as naturally productive of polemical debates in the church, as breaking the parliamentary balance between the king and the people is of contention and civil wars in the state. How this plague first in fected Protestanism, will be seen in the next Section.

SECTION IV.

Luther and Calvin did not restore the Balance of the Gospel-axioms. The honour was reserved for Cranmer the English Reform er, who modelled the church of England very nearly according to the primitive Gospel -How soon the Augustinian doctrines of lawless grace preponderated.-How the Pelagian dectrine of unassisted Free-will now preponderates.

When the first Reformers shook off the yoke of papistical trumperies, they fought

gallantly for many glorious truths. But it is to be wished, that while they warmly contended for the simple, scriptural dress of the primitive gospel, they had not forgotten to fight for some of its very vitals, I mean the doctrines of holy Free-grace, and rectified assisted Free-will. They did much good in many respects; so much indeed that no grateful 'rotestant can find fault with them without reluctance. But after all, they did not restore the balance of the doctrines of Grace and Justice. Luther, the German Reformer, being a monk of the order of Augustine, entered upon the Reformation full of prejudices in favour of Augustine's solifidian mistakes. And he was so busy in opposing the Pope of Rome, his indulgencies, Latin masses, and other monastic fooleries, that he did not find time to oppose the Augustinian fooleries of fatalism, Manichean necessity, lawless grace, and free-wrath. On the contrary, in one of his heats, he broke the left scale of the gospel-balances. denied there was any such thing as Free-will and by that means gave a most destructive blow to the doctrines of Justice: A rash deed, for which Erasmus, the Dutch Reformer, openly reproved him, but with too much of the Pelagian spirit.

Calvin, the French Reformer, who, after he had left his native country, taught Divinity in the Academy of Geneva far from getting light and learning moderation, by the controversy of Luther and Erasmus, rushed with all the impetuosity of his ardent spirit into the error of heated Augustine; and so zealously maintained it, that from that time it has been called Calvinism.

If Calvin did not grow wiser by the dispute of Luther and Erasmus, Melancthon, another German Reformer did; and our great English Reformer Cranmer, who in wisdom candour and moderation, far exceeded the generality of the Reformers on the Continent, closely imitated his excellent example. Nay, to the honour of this favour. ed Island, and of perfect Protestanism, in a happy moment he found the exact balance of the Gospel-axioms. Read, admire, and obey his Anti-Augustinian, Anti-Pelagian, and Apostolic Proclamation. "All men be also to be admonished, and chiefly Preachers, that, in this high matter, they, looking on of Grace, and the doctrines of Justice] so both sides [i. e. looking both to the doctrines ther they so preach the grace of God [with attemper and moderate themselves, that neiheated Angustine) that they take away there. by free-will; nor on the other side, so extol free-will, [with heated Pelagius] that injury he done to the Grace of God." Erud of a Christian man, Section on Free-will, which was added by Cranmer. Here you see the balance of the doctrines of Grace and Justice, which Augustine and Pelagius had broken

and which Luther and Calvin had ground to eternal damnation, began currently to pass dust in some of their over-doing moments; for gospel. And doctrines of justice were you see, I say, that important balance per- swept away, as if they had been poisonous fectly restored by the English Reformer. cobwebs spun by popish spiders. Hence it With this short, valuable quotation, as with is, that Mr. Toplady, describing the triumphs a shield of impenetrable brass, all men and of rigid Calvinism in the days of Queen Elichiefly Preachers, may quench all the fiery zabeth, says in his letter to Dr. Nowel, p. darts cast at the primitive gospel by the 45, that "Those who held this opinion of preachers of the partial gospels of the day: I God's not being any cause of sin and dammean the abettors of the Augustinian or of nation, were at that time mightily cried out the Pelagian error. against, by the main body of our reformed church, as faultors of false religion,”—and, "That to be called a free-will man, was looked upon as a shameful reproach, and opprobrious infamy; yea, and that a person so termed was deemed heretical."-A proof this, that Dr. Peter Heylin speaks the truth when he says, "It was safer for any man in those times, to have been looked upon as a Heathen or Publican, than an anti-calvinist.”

Mankind is prone to run into extremes. The world is full of men, who always overdo or undergo. Few people ever find the line of moderation, the golden main; and of those who do, few stay long upon it. One blast or another of vain doctrine, soon drives them East or West from the Meridian of pure truth. How happy would it have been for the Church of England, if her first members had steadily followed the light, which our great reformer carried before them. But alas, not a few of them had more zeal than moderation. Cranmer could not make all his fellow reformers to see with his eyes. In the time of their popish superstition many of them had imbibed the errors of Augustine, whom the Church of Rome reveres as the greatest of the fathers, and the holiest of the ancient Saints: These good men finding that his doctrine was countenanced by Luther, Calvin, Peter Martyr, Bucer, and others, whom they looked upon as oracles, soon relapsed into the Augustinian doctrines of lawless grace, from which some of them had never been quite disentangled. Even during Cranmer's confinement (but much more after his martyrdom) they began to renounce the doc trines of justice, which were only indirectly secured in the 17th Article of our church; warmly contending for the doctrines of necessitating grace, which are always destructive of the doctrines of justice. Thus, while some of them erected the canopy of a lawless solifidian free-grace over some men elected according to Calvin's notions, of an absolute election to eternal life; others cast the sable net of free-wrath over the rest of mankind; imagining that from all eternity most men were absolutely predestinated to eternal death, according to the Calvinian doctrine of absolute, unconditional reprobation. Thus the balance of the gospel-axioms which Cranmer (considering the times) had maintained to admiration, was again broken. gid Calvinism got the ascendency; the doctrines of justice were publicly decried as popery and heresy, almost all England over. All the reprobates were exculpated: by the doctrine of necessity, their unavoidable continuance in sin, and their damnation, were openly charged upon God and Adam. Decrees of absolute predestination to necessary holiness and eternal salvation, and statutes of absolute appointment to necessary sin and

Should the judicious reader ask how it hap❤ pened, that the doctrines of unscriptural grace, and free-wrath, and necessity, were so soon substituted for the doctrines of genuine Free-grace, and rectified, assisted Free-will, which Cranmer had so evangelically maintained; I answer, that although Thomas Aquinas and Scotus, the leading divines of the Church of Rome, through their great veneration for Augustine, leaned too much towards the lawless, wrathful doctrines of grace; yet Luther, Calvin, and Zuinglius, leaned still more towards that extreme. This was soon discovered by some of the popish Doctors: and as they knew not how to make a proper stand against the genuine doctrines of the Reformation, they were glad to find a good opportunity of opposing the Reformers, by opposing the Augustinian mistakes which Luther and Calvin carried to the height. Accordingly, leaving the extreme of Augustine, to which they had chiefly leaned before, many of the popish divines began to lean towards the extreme of Pelagius, and commenced rigid and partial defenders of the doctrines of justice, which the German, French, and Swiss reformers had indirectly destroyed, by overturning the doctrine of free-will, which is inseparably connected with the doctrine of a day of just judgment, Hence it is, that at the Council of Trent, which the Pope had called to stop the progress of the Reformation, the Papists took openly the part of the second gospel-axiom; and in the Ri-spirit of contradiction began warmly to oppose Augustine's mistakes, which the first Jesuits had warmly embraced; Bellarmine himself not excepted. Party spirit soon blew up the partial zeal of the contending divines. Protestant bigotry ran against Popish bigotry: and the effect of the shock was a driving of each other still farther from the line of Scripture moderation. Thus many Papists, especially those who wrote against the Calvinian Protestants, became the partial