countrymen; yet, by this mode of proceeding, you have yourselves taken from me the authority of doing that which you desire: By this form of request, you place an effectual barrier against your own petition. You will probably be amazed at what I say; and yet it is quite true: For you request the favour of my judgment, just as you do that of the Universities and of all studious persons together. If you ask this generally, you are not therefore desirous that I alone should pass sentence: But if you ask it particularly, do you suppose any of us to be so destitute of reason, when the judgment and the aid of such a number of good men are required, as for some one Palæmon among us to assume the supremacy, and singly to decide about a matter, the decision of which is asked of so many persons equal in learning, and indeed much more learned [than myself ], and who are far better adorned with piety, judgment, and experience; a matter which demands serious deliberation, holy intercourse and exchange [of counsel], and a mature and irreprehensible judg

ment?

"III. But what shall I say on the THIRD Point? My very dear brethren, you perceive, I think, if I neither am able nor ought on those conditions to return an answer concerning the two preceding Points, it would evidently be an act of injustice were I to determine any thing at present, in favour of either party, respecting the CONCLUSION which you draw from those premises. But I hesitate, brethren, I demur in this cause, as I am commanded to do by God and nature, by reason and by all laws. From the things which you have just read, you will, I think, have discerned the causes of my hesitancy; and you will learn them, besides, from other things which God, I hope, will supply through the Spirit of truth and of prudence. I neither ought to form a judgment within my own mind concerning things of which I am ignorant, or which are undoubtedly not yet sufficiently proved; nor ought I, before you or other people, to deliver such a judgment with still more precipitate boldness, when it is not evident enough to myself. The Lord knows and judges, to whom as many as are his servants either stand or fall. But if this were not the case, I believe you are not ignorant, that there are three things which the holy Fathers have always, from the very infancy of the Church, wished to be discerned in the people of God, according to his word: Their Faith or Doctrine, their Mode of Life or Manners, and the Order of their Discipline. But all wise men have, with one consent, taught, and delivered the fact to posterity, that, wherever the foundation of the doctrine of truth remains, which is the citadel of salvation, although

it may be associated with manners and discipline the most corrupt, there THE CHURCH continues in existence; and that it is not the duty of any man rashly to separate himself from that Church, while he can abide in it with safety to his faith and to his conscience, or to refuse it the title of a Church. This is especially the case, since Pastors and a Flock constitute every Church: Now, if some Pastors or Superintendents disturb a Church, it is improper to deprive the other Pastors of their title; this is testified by Christ himself in the word of truth: Neither can the Flock be deprived of its title [a Church], because Christ has purchased it with his blood, and sanctifies it daily by the laver of regeneration through the word.-This ought to suffice you, if in any respect you did not stand in an amicable relation with your countrymen, that the fatherly providence and indulgence of God have now manifested a special regard for you in another country. In brief, while you attack those Churches, you will not by such means render this your cause any better, or even cause it to wear a greater air of plausibility, among good men. If you have not yet formed a due conception of this truth, from reason, from my advice, or from the admonitions of those who are desirous of your welfare, all these consequences will at length be verified to you by sad experience itself: God grant that such experience may not be too late! And may He instruct you Himself in that which is good! For you will approve yourselves and your cause, by the truth of your doctrine, by the sanctity of your lives, by the work of your faith and patience, and by your offices of charity, even towards those by whom you declare yourselves to have been offended; and to much better effect, than by clamours, or publications: In this way our Saviour himself is said to have brought forth judgment to victory, not by crying aloud, and causing his voice to be heard in the streets, but by blowing gently the smoking flax, and gently shaking the bruised reed. Since these are important truths, I beseech you, well-beloved brethren in Christ, by that most holy name of Christ which you profess, and by those bowels of mercy with which Christ from above hath embraced you, direct your attention to some other method, enter upon another way to salvation, to edification and peace. If your Faith be accordant [with that of other churches], do not compose it again and present it for discussion by new reasons: Your motives are suspected. But if it be necessary for your [Confession of] Faith to be discussed, account it enough if it obtain, in the first instance, the approval of those servants of God in the midst of whom you now reside: This method is undoubtedly legitimate.

With christian charity forgive those who have inflicted injuries on you, if any such there be; and with christian prudence conceal those injuries from other people: By this course you need not be afraid of bursting; for God will enlarge your bowels by the Spirit of charity, in a manner the most opportune and beneficial. Attend to yourselves; let all acerbity and bitterness of mind be laid aside; that ye may be acceptable to Christ and useful to the Church; and that the savour of your piety, being most fragrant, may, by your doctrine, life, and order, be diffused abroad among all the godly, without the nauseous smell of schisms and envyings. Judge not, that ye be not judged. But refrain from those more grievous determinations and conclusions (as they are called) against others. Strive not to obtain abettors in support of that your former judgment ;-for such conduct on your part would be said to have the semblance of faction, and, on the part of your supporters, the semblance of imprudence; and do not lead them to an unseasonable, uncivil, improper and dangerous declaration of their opinions. [Misereat] Have pity, I beseech you, well-beloved brethren, have pity on yourselves, and on the whole flock that is collected among you. Have pity on those by whom (through error and infirmity) you declare yourselves to have been molested. Have pity on those in the midst of whom you enjoy the rites of hospitality; among whom it would be most iniquitous for you to sow these tares, especially after you have been admonished to the contrary; and whom it would be improper to excite, by these your clamours and writings, to entertain suspicions and to form unjust judgments about you, about those whom you account your adversaries, or about both parties. Have pity, in the last place, upon the Church of Christ; for it is neither decent nor expedient, nay it is highly improper, that she, who has had so many and such deep wounds inflicted on her from all sides, should receive from you this particular wound. Thus, may the Omnipotent God love you! and may Jesus Christ, that merciful Lord and our Saviour, have mercy upon you.—But if I shall be able to contribute any thing beneficial in the cause between you and the public, rest assured that I will spare no toil, labour, or trouble, to cement the union between you and us, that all of us may together, in holiness and peace, (without both of which no man shall see God,) be filled with the good things of the Lord in his house and immediate presence. Now may the God of peace, that brought again 'from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you

.

'that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ : To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen! And I beseech 'you, brethren, suffer this word of exhortation: For I have ‹ written a letter to you in few words. The grace of God be with you all. AMEN.-LEYDEN, the Sabbath, January 9, 1599."

Some readers will probably think, that the last clause of Junius's quotation from scripture (a letter in few words) is not very appropriate, when applied to his production, certainly not one distinguished for brevity. But the boisterous reply of the Independents was still more prolix, and breathed the same querulous and litigating spirit as their other productions.

About two months afterwards, in the same year, (1599,) Arminius and John Taffin, Pastor of the Walloon Church at Amsterdam, addressed a letter to Professor Junius at Leyden, which, though omitted by the biographers of our author, is deserving of a distinct notice in this place ;-not merely because it exhibits, in a forcible manner, the disingenuous conduct of the Brownists, (or Independents, as they were soon afterwards called,) at a time when all around were on friendly terms with them, and desirous to shew them every indulgence in their banishment ;but because this sect long remembered and resented the decided part which Junius and Arminius took in their affairs, though it will be seen that the latter acted only ministerially in behalf of the Dutch Pastors, as Taffin did in behalf of those of the Walloon Church. No wonder, therefore, that the Independents shewed themselves to be the most bitter and unfair adversaries, whom Arminianism had in its infancy to encounter either in Holland or England. The following is a translation of the letter:

"JOHN TAFFINUS and JAMES ARMINIUS wish Grace and Peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, to FRANCIS JUNIUS.

"Most famous Man and our reverend Brother in Christ,

"We have received the letter that you had directed to the brethren of the English Church which is among us, and have read it, according to your wish, with uncommon delight of mind. We were more particularly glad to find, that your judgment and our own were in exact unison respecting the matter which those English brethren are discussing. We therefore thought it both useful and necessary to deliver it to the English brethren; and we conceived no small hopes, that, after considering like saints and pondering in the Lord the importance of the reasons and arguments which are so plentifully and with great force produced by you, they would desist from their purpose, and would devote

themselves to quietness, which, they may truly boast, they have found in this country. But the result was different from what we had expected: For it has seemed good in their eyes to oppose to your letter a reply sufficiently prolix, which they delivered to us, that we might read it through, and afterwards transmit it to you. They have employed the same mode of treating the subject, as you had previously done. We therefore judged it proper to read it in the first instance, and then undertake to convey it to you according to their request. But while in the act of complying with their wishes, we observe certain things interspersed in their answer which concern us, and which are of such a nature as, in our opinion, imposes upon us the necessity of writing to you somewhat more at length respecting them, that the truth of those things which we relate may appear to you with greater clearness, and that you may the more correctly determine what will be further necessary to be done: This we leave entirely to your charity and prudence.

6

"The first matter in which we are concerned is this: They say, in the first line of the second leaf, that the description given in their Confession, is not obscure respecting those points ' on which there is not yet an accordance between the Churches ' of this city and theirs.' But this description, neither you, most learned man, nor any one else, though he be one of the most quick-sighted, will easily discover in their Confession. For in that production no mention whatever occurs of any controversy which they have with our churches, much less any express proposition of the points in controversy. Certain things, it is true, concerning which some controversy lies between them and us, are intermixed with the Articles of that Confession; but they are proposed there under the form of simple affirmation and Confession, and in such words as admit of an interpretation which, without any kind of wresting, is not in the least dissimilar to our sentiments. For the purpose of shewing you this, we present you with the subjoined Articles, which they propounded to a certain pious and learned man, (who was not long ago an elder of their Church, and who now exercises the functions of JointRector in the Public School in the upper part of this city,) that, after having enticed him away from our church-meetings, (of which he is a member according to the office that he sustains and by his own willing and conscientious assent,) they might draw him back again to their assemblies. The Articles are these:

"I. The constitution of the Church of Amsterdam is so confused, that (1.) The whole church never assembles together at one time.-(2.) The ministers as well as their flocks never