short time usually allotted to the delivery of an address on this occasion, and the defects of my own genius, have preexplanations and defences of their sentiments on the Five Points. The book was dedicated "to all Christian Universities and Churches." The Preface is a remarkably clever performance and every way worthy of the holy cause which Episcopius and his colleagues defended. One peculiarity in that great work will arrest the attention of every observant reader; it is the unanimity of the cited persous, and the consistency of their opinions, on all the points then in controversy. This is a characteristic feature of the system itself, which so signally defends the Divine Purity and Philanthropy, and offers some just and scriptural reasons why God has condescended to employ intreaty and persuasion with all who have erred and wandered from him, and why the whole process of the saving economy of his grace is carried on by exhorting men to acts of repentance, faith and holiness. The opinion which the Calvinists themselves entertained of the Synodical writings of the Remonstrants, may be gathered from this declaration, which Festus Hommius made in one of his excursions to the Hague, during the sitting of the Synod, "The last papers of the Remonstrants contain many new and unexpected matters, which far exceed what they offered at the Hague Conference, and the contents of their other writings." Voetius also, another Synodist, stated, "that the Remonstrants had then defended themselves with more ability than they had displayed at the Hague Conference."-This famous performance by the Remonstrants, which embraces a reply to every argument that had up to that period been employed against their principles, is exceedingly rare and very little known in this country. Fifty copies at least of the Calvinistic "Acts" may be met with in the Catalogues of the English booksellers, before one of the "Acts" of the Remonstrants can be found. Let the two books be com pared together, and the excellences which we have pointed out in the latter will be instantly apparent; while in the former, the advocates of almost every varying theological opinion may find arguments severally in their favour. This was more particularly a fault with the Dutch Divines, who are thus correctly described by Balcanqual: "We begun to read the judgment of the College of the Belgic Professors, where at the very first, to our grief, we observed the BELGIC HUMOUR of particular opinions; for there are but five of that college, as we are of ours, and yet they are divided into three parts, and have given in three distinct and several judgments." Of these very discordant variations the synod seem to have been perfectly aware; and, in the preface to their" Acts," astutely turn it to the following good account: "It is not to be doubted, that the prudent reader will discover in these several JUDGMENTS the greatest and most admirable agreement. If to any one a certain diversity in more minute matters should seem to occur, even that circumstance will be a proof, that, while a due liberty of prophesying was permitted in this venerable assembly, all the members with accordant sentiments agreed fully in the doctrine expressed in the CANONS of this Synod, and all of them, without the least hesitation or exception, subscribed those Canons, for the sake of testifying this their consent." That Preface ought to have subjoined this additional information, that no member of an ecclesiastical Council signs such general articles or conclusions, except with a salvo in favour of his recorded judgment, which is accepted for the rule by which his consent must be interpreted.

The Calvinistic "Acts" of the Synod were not published without exciting the animadversions of the Remonstrants, who with the greatest justice remarked, "that the PREFACE to those Acts was untrue. and not composed with fairness,-since it made WHITE to be black, and was calculated to varnish over the most unchristian proceedings of the Contra-Remonstrants.When the ACTS were composed, read, and approved, during the sessions of the Synod, the whole was transacted with great partiality. Those Acts were published only in an abridged form; this could not be done without retrench

vented me from treating this subject according to its dignity and amplitude.

ing and omitting several things: They submitted it, therefore, to the judgment of men of understanding, what credit ought to attach to those Acts, especially in those parts which tended to the disadvantage of the Remonstrants. The partiality of the compilers was very perceptible: As a proof, it was only necessary to adduce the case of Maccovius, which was discussed with such uncommon warmth; yet his name was not once mentioned, but his affair was disguised under this phrase, Causa particularis Frisica, the particular case of the Friezlanders.' That affair, however, was of far greater importance than the falsehoods of which Episcopius was accused, and with which so many pages of the Acts were filled, or than the confession of the two brothers Geerstang, which appear to have obtained insertion for no purpose except that of stigmatizing the Remonstrants.-The accusation preferred by Acronius against the Remonstrant ministers of Campe is twice recorded, while no part of the two answers which their advocates delivered to the Synod is given, or even the letters which the magistrates and Consistory of that town presented in their defence. The whole dispute with Martinius of Bremen, which arose to such a height as almost to induce the deputies of that city to leave the Synod, is glossed over with the following expressions: 'A ⚫ discussion was held between the Dutch Professors and the Divines of Bre'men, concerning various questions in explanation of the Third and Fourth Articles; also about the use and abuse of philosophical terms in theological ⚫ controversies.'-All the proceedings of the Synod, after the departure of the foreigners, were [in that work] entirely suppressed; though it was only in those subsequent sessions that they composed the ecclesiastical Constitution, and the Formularies of Subscription, which they attempted to introduce in every place. All the papers which the Remonstrants, both before and after their expulsion, had delivered to the Synod, were, with the exception of one or two, omitted in those Acts: The explanation of the First Article which they had presented to the Synod, was passed over with no other notice than the mention of the Preface to it: There was likewise no mention made of the other large documents, which comprised the explanation and justification of their cause, though the reasons were as strong for their insertion as for that of the written judgment of Paræus or Du Moulin.-Most of the speeches and arguments of the inland and foreign Divines, respecting the opinions then in controversy, were passed over in complete silence; and nothing obtained such ample insertion, as a few sermons or harangues, which bore no actual relation to the chief matters that were under decision.-From all these circumstances it is easy to infer, that two faults were committed: (1) The studied concealment and falsification of the proceedings of the Synod; and (2) The wilful suppression of the truth by omitting the principal papers of the Remonstrants,"

But, it may be asked, " For what holy purpose was all this labour undertaken, and all these grave deliberations instituted?" Episcopius shall answer the question: "The whole affair always at length returns to the fatal and inevitable necessity of all things, both present and future, good and evil, those which may conduce to the salvation of men or to their damnation: So that, according to this opinion, no mortal man will ever come into existence who will not be born to salvation or damnation, by the will and ordinance of God, and who will be able to do or to omit any thing more than he actually does or omits, to procure his own salvation or to promote his own damnation. -From this fountain and spring must necessarily flow, as streams, all those horrid and harsh sentiments which certain Divines have hitherto professed, not so much through want of consideration as through sheer impudence, and which they are not ashamed to disseminate among the vulgar. All candid judges of these matters must necessarily confess, that all those glosses, interpretations, and distinctions are nothing more than a mere pretence, and

May the God of truth and peace inspire the hearts of the magistrates, the people and the ministers of religion, with an ardent desire for truth and peace! May He exhibit before their eyes, in all its naked deformity, the execrable and pollut ing nature of dissension concerning religion; and may He affect their hearts with a serious sense of those evils which flow so copiously from it!; that they may unite all their prayers, counsels, endeavours, and desires, and may direct them to one point, the removal of the causes of such a great evil, the adoption of a mild and sanatory process, and the application of gentle remedies for healing this dissension,-which are the only description of medicines of which the very weak and sickly condition of the body of the Church, and the nature of the malady, will admit. "The God of peace," who dignifies "the peace-makers" alone with the ample title of " children,” (Matt. v, 9.) has called us to the practice of peace. Christ," the Prince of peace," who by his precious blood, procured peace for us, has bequeathed and recommended it to us with a fraternal affection. (John xiv, 27.) It has also been sealed to us

a sort of charm invented for stultifying the people and driving them to fury,— and are fictitious colours, that are drawn over those foul and deformed dogmas, to impart to them a plausible semblance of truth.

"To produce a case in point, the reader is here presented with this dilemma: Whatever may be the number of men in the world, they are all either elected or reprobated from eternity, according to the opinion of the Synod.(1) in reference to the ELECT, from the very moment in which God made his decree, without them and solely by his own Omnipotent force and might, he works and effects within them every saving good which they can either perform or possess; 'He keeps and preserves them in that good, by the same might, to the end; if they happen to fall into many grievous sins, they were forgiven to them before they had been committed, are not viewed in any other light than as infirmities, and cannot therefore by any means hinder their salvation; beside this, it is the will of God to effect repentance within them on account of those sins, even in the last moment of their lives, and thus at last to bestow upon them the destined salvation.

"With respect to the REPROBATES: It is the will of God to impute to them the sin of Adam, and therefore to punish them not only with death eternal, but likewise with such corruption and perversity as will cause them always to offend, and will not permit them to rise again from the sins into which they have fallen: He will not provide for them any saving grace, by which they may be converted. From these circumstances it necessarily arises, that, by the force of this innate corruption, they are continually falling into new sins, and when commanded to believe in Christ, they become unbelievers and such they remain: At last they impetuously rush into eternal condemnation both of coul and body.-Beside these two, no third class is presented. It is this kind, therefore, of fatal and invincible necessity which is antecedent to all causes, and which necessitates all things that are done or that happen in the world, whether in reference to the salvation or the damnation of men,-it is this kind of necessity which is sanctioned, established and ratified by the venerable Synod: and in this manner, if such be the Divine Pleasure, it restores religion to its primitive splendour."

by the Holy Spirit, who is the bond of peace, and who has united all of us in one body by the closest ties of the new covenant. (Ephes. iv, 3.)

Let us be ashamed of contaminating such a splendid title as this by our petty contentions; let it rather be to us an object of pursuit, since God has called us to such a course. Let us not suffer that which has been purchased at such a great price to be consumed, and wasted away in the midst of our disputes and dissensions; but let us embrace it, because our Lord Christ has given it the sanction of his recommendation. Let us not permit a covenant of such great sanctity to be made void by our factious divisions; but, since it is sealed to us by the Holy Spirit, let us attend to all its requisitions and preserve the terms inviolate. Fabius, the Roman ambassador, told the Carthaginians, "that he carried to them in his bosom both WAR and PEACE, that they might choose either of them that was the object of their preference." Depending not on my own strength, but on the goodness of God, the promises of Christ, and on the gentle attestations of the Holy Spirit, I venture to imitate his expressions, (full of confidence although they be,) and to say, "Only let us choose peace, and God will perfect it for us." Then will the happy period arrive when with gladness we shall hear the voices of brethren mutually exhorting each other, and saying, "Let us go into the house of the Lord,” that he may explain to us his will; that " our feet may joyfully stand within the gates of Jerusalem;" that, in an ecstacy of delight we may contemplate the Church of Christ," as a city that is compact together, whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the name of the Lord:" that with thanksgiving we may admire "the thrones of judgment which are set there, the thrones of the house of David,"-the thrones of men of veracity, of princes who in imitation of David's example are peace-makers, and of magistrates who conform themselves to the similitude of the man after God's own heart.

The whole of this brief paraphrase and application of the pacific Song of DEGREES, is very beautiful, and eminently expressive of the enlarged views and benevolent feelings of the peaceful and pious Arminius. It will not suffer in comparison with the inflated discourse on the same Psalm, which was delivered by Schultetus, before the Synod, at the thirty-third session. It is worthy of observation in this place, and will always be a just cause of surprise, that the reverend members of that Council should be so exceedingly incautious as to indulge in public invectives against the Remonstrants, from the very commencement of their sittings, and even before their cause had been brought forward for adjudication. By such a partial course, they have in their own "Acts" furnished strong proofs, were there not a hundred others, of their preconceived hostility and undisguised maliciousness.

Thus shall we enjoy the felicity to accost each other in cheerful converse, and by way of encouragement sweetly to whisper in the ears of each other, "Pray for the peace of the Church Universal," and in our mutual prayers let us invoke "prosperity on them that love her;" that with unanimous voice, from the inmost recesses of our hearts, we may consecrate to her these votive intercessions and promises: "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces: for our brethren and companions' sakes, we will now say, PEACE BE WITHIN THEE! Because of the house of the Lord our God we will seek thy good." (Psalm cxxii.) Thus at length shall it come to pass, that, being anointed with spiritual delights we shall sing together in jubilant strains, that most pleasant Song of Degrees, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity," &c. And, from a sight of the orderly walk and peaceable conduct of the faithful in the house of God, filled with the hopes of consummating these acts of pacification in heaven, we may conclude in these words of the Apostle, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy upon the Israel of God!" (Gal. vi, 16.) Mercy, therefore, and peace, be upon the Israel of God!-I have concluded.*

* Having with all practical conciseness elucidated the amazing difference, which may be perceived, in many essential particulars, between THE HEAVENLY ASSEMBLY which Arminius pourtrays in this Oration, and THE SYNOD OF DORT, I consider it a part of my duty, to devote a few additional pages to counteract some late unprincipled attempts at misrepresentation on this very important subject. But before I proceed to the execution of this task, I present to the reader the following small tract by Bishop Womack, who has extracted it from the letters of Hales and Balcanqual.—The reader is particularly requested to consider the authority of those letters. They are an importaut part of the epistolary correspondence between Sir Dudley Carleton and two of his agents at the Synod, and were generally written on the very day when the occurrences happened, or in the course of two or three days afterwards, while the recollection of the facts and arguments was recent and vivid. The Calvinistic and highly prejudiced feelings of both the writers, and the exasperation of their spirits against the Remonstrants, are perceptible in all their communications to his Excellency. Yet these men, in the opinion both of their countrymen and of foreigners, have furnished the most valuable account of the Synod of Dort which has ever yet been given. Its value consists in the honest disclosure of many reprehensible practices to which the managers of that Synod had recourse, and in the frank confession of the outrageous dispositions of the Dutch Clergy, and the flimsy pretences under which they disguised several of their most objectionable proceedings,-and all this without the least abatement of their genuine hatred to Arminianism! The value of those letters is not at all diminished by a consideration of the celebrated editor of them, the excellent BISHOP PEARSON, whose praise is in all the Churches' of Christendom for his luminous EXPOSITION of the Creed, and who imparted much interest to these instructive documents by his ingenious "under-scoring" of the most striking passages, which are consequently