7

the Synod by the Remonstrants, his words are these: must needs say, the Remonstrants had no favour; for I will assure your Lordship, that the President picked out the worst part of it. There were some five leaves read, which contained nothing but a bitter satire against Calvin, Beza, Pareus, Piscator, Whitaker, Perkins, Bogerman, Festus, and twenty more. But in truth, though unhappily, yet fuely penned, me thought it was Episcopius's tongue."-And, in his letters of April 9-19, he informis [him] thus: They are so eager to kill the Remonstrants, that they would make their words have that sense which no grammar can find in them. Upon Tuesday in the after-noon we had a session, in which were read the Canous of the first and second Article, and were approved, except the last of the second Article, which were never heard of till that hour, and the second Heterodox in that same Article. What they were, Dr. Davenant will inform your Lordship. The last was such, as I think no man of understanding would ever assent to." Then, speaking of the last Heterodox, “Wherein," saith he, our College maintained dispute against the whole Synod. They condeinned the thing itself as a thing most curious, and yet would have it retained only to make the Remonstrants odious, though they find the very contrary of that they would father upon them in their writings !!"

3. They would not (at the most earnest importunity of the British Divines and some others,) condemn any of the most horrible expressions and phrases, that had been used by the Calvinian Doctors, (as was noted above,) no nor so much as these two: "That God moves the tongues of men to blaspheme,”, and "That a man can do no more good than he does."-[This being an im portant test by which to try the professions of the Synod, it may be well to add the following account from Balcanqual's Latin notes. This subject had been mentioned in the preceding session, when the remark quoted in a former note (page 458) turned the discourse, and the President, as usual, begged to defer till the next day the consideration of "the hard sayings" of some of the Calvinists, that might seem to deserve Synodical reprehension. Accordingly, next day, (April 20,) the epilogue or CONCLUSION of the Canons was read and in that part of it which endeavours to remove the calumnies with which the Remonstrants had loaded the received doctrine, (but for which it will be seen they had generally given both chapter and verse,) the British Divines wished to have added the two objectionable expressions which are quoted at the beginning of this paragraph, as well as some others of the same kind. The Hessian and Bremen Divines united with them in the same request; but Bogerman again had recourse to his tricks, and moved that the suffrages of the inland Divines should not be received till the next session, when the British very properly exposed the falsehood and duplicity of the President. Balcanqual says, "Before the President proceeded to receive the votes respecting the request urged in the morning, he desired the Synod to listen to the ideas that had been in the mean time entertained by himself and his assessors respecting the rejection of those harsh expressions. He requested, the Synod well to consider these two observations: FIRST, That none of the "Dutch Divines had ever written or taught any doctrines of that kind; they "were not, therefore, at all applicable to this assembly, which was only a Dutch Synod.-SECONDLY, That the Doctors among whom those more rigid sayings might be found, had been and still are either English, French, or German Divines; and, since they had never been reprehended by their own Princes or Churches for those harsher forms of expression, it was very probable that those Princes and Foreign Churches would be displeased if this National Synod should pass a vote of censure on them for those sayings.". The form of the CONCLUSION had been entirely re-modelled, and in it were rejected a greater number of those improper phrases than had been in the first copy; but none of those additional expressions which the Foreign Divines had wished to embody in it. This form was then read, and the opinions of the Synodists were requested. The British Divines carnestly urged the addition of more harsh expressions to be classed among the rejections, aud particularly those which they had mentioned in the forenoon session. To the

7

two reasons produced by the President, they gave the following reply FIRST, "That in the declarations which the Remonstrants had presented to the Synod, they had quoted many passages from the Contra-Remonstrants, [the Dutch Calvinists,] and had referred to the very books and to the pages in which such expressions occur; therefore, unless the Synod should manir fest its disapprobation of those harsh writings, Dutchmen could by no means be liberated from those calumnies. SECONDLY, That foreign Di vines undoubtedly ought not to be censured in the Synod; but, in case of their having spoken or written any thing that might lie as a reproach against the Reformed Church, it was in the power of the Synod to reject [such ob jectionable sayings or writings] by whomsoever employed, and the Synod ought to proceed to such rejection without delay. lf, perchance, they might not prove to be Dutchmen who thus wrote or spoke, the reason for such persons being exempted would hold equally good in reference to Sos cinus, with whom the Synod on that principle would not be permitted to meddle, yet it had ventured more than once to condemn that man's dogmas * in its Canons: Nor, on the same principle, ought the king of Great Britain to have passed any resolutions against Vorstius, who was not one of his subjects. It was their earnest wish to see a most extensive collection made of those expressions which were rejected; and they did not think that any Reformed Church would take offence, because they desired to have nothing rejected that had been approved by the consent of any Reformed Church. It was their particular wish to

the rejections, No man can possibly dove this sentence classed among

эт

more good than he actually does, "because, by rejecting it, no reproach would be cast on the memory of any deceased Reformed Doctor, since it was a sentiment conceived only yester day, which had scarcely attained to the seventh year of its age. The other foreign Divines, being desirous (as they declared) to sacrifice much to peace, agreed to the form of the CONCLUSION which had been previously read. Yet those of them who had in the morning produced reasons why several more of the harsh expressións should be numbered among the rejections, now repeated their wishes. All the inland Divines approved of the form as it had just been read; and the Dutch Professors of Divinity employed many arguments and contended, that the Synod ought not to mark with any censure the sayings of men, who had in other respects merited much at the hands of the Reformed Church! Yet Doctor Sibrandus said, it could not be denied, that there were some persons in the United Provinces who taught much more rigid doctrines, than even those which the British Divines had enumerated in the catalogue which they had formed of objectionable phrases.-Towards the close of the discussion, the President advised, as this was a matter not of doctrine alone but likewise of order, that the opinion of the Commissioners should be asked. Their Lordships were accordingly interrogated on this point, and promised to make it a subject of their deliberations till the session of next morning.

-'["Session 133.-The President requested the Commissioners to be pleased to announce to the Synod their sentiments concerning the CONCLUSION which had been read in the preceding session. Their Lordships desired that it might again be read; it was read accordingly, when their Lordships ex-, pressed their approval of it, and entreated the Synod, if possible, to signify their acquiescence. They likewise beseeched the members, to hasten, with all practicable speed, to finish this affair of the FIVE POINTS; because they had received from the States General urgent orders, which were once more repeated, to press for the conclusion of that business. The suffrages of the Synod were then asked about the form of the EPILOGUE: The British insisted by all means on the addition of some further rejections, and principally of this,-No man can possibly do any more good than he actually does! But, in case this favour could not be obtained, that they might make a great sacrifice for the sake of peace, one of their number suggested, that the list of re⚫jections should be enlarged by the addition of this sentence, ET QUE ALIA &c. And many more which are of the same kind; so that when any horrible sen

- pogod stom od

❝tence was objected to them, as one which they had not rejected, they might "excuse themselves by means of that parenthesis, and assert that all expres sions of this description had, in that clause been rejected by the Synod." To save time, therefore, and to preserve peace, the British signified their acquiescence.”

,!.

[Thus, it appears, the notable expedient to blunt the force of any harsh Calvinis ic sentiment, by asserting that it is not countenanced by the body, is uo new invention, though it has in our days become a very common pracfice. The Calvinists of the Church of England who think they find grounds for their peculiar opinions in the Articles and Homilies, and the members of the Church of Scotland who derive their Calvinism from the Assembly's Catechism, one of its purest sources, while they acknowledge themselves amenable to the doct: inal tribunals under which they respectively place themselves, have certainly some plausible excuse for disavowing every sentiment that is not contained in those ancient national formularies. But those persons who have adopted the Independent form of Church-government, and who are commonly the most successful propagators of Calvinism, possess no restraining documents of this kind, and are on that account qualified to ward off many imputations which attach to the others, and to make their own election of those writers whom they consider to be the prime and constitutional organs of Calvimsm. On this principle it frequently happens, that while one Independent congregation in a town will not acknowledge Calvin, Beza, Gomarus, Crisp, Toplady, aud Hawker, as the legitimate expounders of Calvinism;another congregation in the immediate vicinity will regard those men as their soundest Divines, and reject the doctrine of such men as Davenant, Baxter, Bates, Howe, and Doddridge, because it is too mild for their taste. A flexible latitude of sentiment is therefore of considerable importance to a rising Independent teacher, since it enables him to accommodate himself to the exceedingly variable doctrinal barometers of different congregations to which he may be called. But, without any reference to such a latitude of opinion, a minister who is a man of peace and entirely dependeat for support ou the people of his charge, places himself under a manifest temptation to meet the views of those whose spiritual instructor he ought to be, and whose doctrinal views and christian characters it should be his labour to bring up to what he conceives to be the standard of the scriptures.}

4. When it was moved by Dr. Davenant, "That the Collegiate suffrages might be read publicly," (that the auditors might take notice of their ingenuity in condemning no more in the Remonstrants, and something in the Contra-Remonstrants too,)" because we know," saith Mr. Balcanqual, "the Provincials, in forming of the Canons, will carry us down by voices, and no words of ours that sound that way shall be expressed:" This was refused upon very trivial pretences; but the real ground was, that the auditors might not take notice of this their moderation and impartiality, which would have too much implied the want of them in others.-[One of the pretences of -the President is thus expressed: "Because, though the suffrages of the Colleges do agree (as he perceived by reading of them,) in the thing itself; yet because there was some disagreement in phrases and forms of speaking, it was to be feared that the Remonstrants and other Jesuits aud Dominicans present, would make great matter of these verbal differences, that they would east abroad among the people strange reports of the dissensions of the Synod; and in another case, that the Remonstrants, no question, (as Jately they had done) would put out in print the opinion of the Synod concerning the Articles, before the Canons were formed by the Synod, and in their pamphlet no doubt they would oppose sentence to sentence, wheresoever they might take hold of the least suspicion of difference."-It is then subjoined: "The President, in the mean time, sent Dammannus, one of the scribes, to entreat us to give way to the President's motion; and, no question, they laboured other Colleges as well as us; but certainly all the President's reasons above mentioned might easily have been answered; for my part, I think

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164

his course was tutior [the safer one'], but ours honestior ['the more honourable']." (Balcanqual's letters of March 9.0 20modi of betonido enw good a 5. The Canons were drawn up in private, and, as it were, dictated by the President, as was noted above, and complained of. (See Balcanqual's letters of March 25.) ad,903 97be of

V. All which passages duly considered, I shall upon the whole matter make a few queries, and so conclude the reader's trouble. Det opp fjendt) 1. Whether (for all the Lord Ambassador's care to prevent it,) that were not a true prognostication of Mr. Balcanqual, in these words "If your your Lordship's care do not now most of all shew itself for procuring of good counsel to be sent hither for the constitution of the Canons, we are like to make the Synod a thing to be laughed at in after ages." (March 25.)nd oft 2. Whether that observation of D. Tilenús hath not as much truth as acri, mony in it, in his notes and animadversions upon the conclusion of the Canons of the Synod of Dort. His words are these: Aristidem narrant historic in privata vita ita se, gessisse, &c, ["History informs us, that Aristides conduct, ed himself with such propriety in private life, as to procure the surname of 'THE JUST;' and, that, at the same time, in administering the affairs of the Republic, he committed many acts that accorded neither with justice nor equity, while he accommodated his measures to the interests of his country which, he said, required the aid of much injustice." This piece of political sophistry has appeared to the Divines of Dort worthy of imitation For though with regard to other affairs, they may have considered it right to ob serve the rules of truth and justice; yet, in this, they perceive that their only hopes of victory are placed in the arts of fraud, injustice, and calumny, and in popular attempts of that description."] (Page 181.) tebaturo4 zieda 3. Whether Malderus had not too much cause to pass that censure upon the faith of the Synod, which he doth in these words: Non abs re Synodus in præfatione sua testatur, &c. [" It is not without good reason that the mem bers of the Synod testify in their Preface, that they promised, at its com> mencement, by a solemn oath, to account the sacred scripture the sole rule by which to form their judgment; and that, in making themselves acquainted with this cause and in deciding upon it, they would proceed and act with a good and upright conscience. And with the greatest seriousness they endeavour to persuade the world, that it was by the particular grace of God that they performed this promise, with the greatest diligence, fidelity, and conscien“ tiousness, and that the Synodical judgment was delivered with the unanimous consent of all and each of the members!-If all this had not been told,I scarcely think, that any man who has not been previously warped aside by party-prejudices, would attach the least credit to the declaration that the Synod had acted with a good and untainted conscience in this arena, had pronounced on the FIVE controverted POINTS of doctrine a sentence which wds at once true and agreeable to the Word of God, and had rejected whatever was false and contrary to the Holy Scriptures!"] (MALDERI Anti-Synodica, cap. 16. 308.)

4. Whether these letters of Mr. Hales and Mr. Balcanqual do not sufficiently justify all the complaints of the Remonstrants, expressed in their Historical writings? See Acta et Scripta Synodalia Remonstr. in Script. Histor-Brevis Narratio, et Antidotum in Præfat.-D. Tileni. Not. in Cun. Synod. Dordrac. in Epist. ad Lectorem.

5. Whether the Remonstrants had not just cause to except against the incompetency of these judges, as they did? (Mr. Hales, Dec. 1-11) Crady 6. Whether, when the President dismissed them, after a most bitter speech, in these words: Quamobrem vos &c., [" Wherefore, in the name of the delegates and of the Synod, 1 dismiss you. Begone!,"] Sapma had no reason to say, Exeo ex ecclesia malignantium, ["I depart out of the congregation of malignants"]? (Mr. Hales, Jan. 5-15.)

7. Whether that Synod be not null by Mr. Balcanqual's own confession, in his letter of Feb. 13, (amongst Mr. Hales's letters ?) His words are these: They [the Remonstrants] were called in and dismissed with such a pow>

66

9aht not but y

dering speech, as I protest 1 am should

that the

Lordship hath heard with grief enough : I think of it. For if the Remonstrants President pronounced a sentence which was not the the Synod, they should VESIBM 2015 France, who write much about the f Forma Alami lawyers and Canon of urge

senter

exceptions

omitted in the Council of Trent,

less moment than these. So neither was there above al sententia ferri nequit : [from which

third part of the voices asked, either was the sentence conceived in writ,

judgment could not be given:

and approved by the Synod, and the bitter words in the sentence were not the words of any of the suffrages, unless that some of them w man only di‍llit 10 bys94 1990 baN 79VON VANY were spoken by one

8. Lastly, Whether it be not evident, that the Doctrine and Judgment of the Church of England are not at all concerned in the temerarious decisions of this Synod. 54 1633 90061109 For (1) whereas it was declared in the conclusion, on, that that bib stall

that was to be ac counted the doctrine of the Reformed Churches, which was contained in those canono the British Divines moved to have it altered, professing, that they, deputed by the King's Majesty, and not by the English and Scottish Churches, had no authority to explain the Confessions of their Churches; that they delivered their own private judgments only, which true; that they had concluded many things in their canons as true, of which they thought were the Confessions of their Churches had determined nothing," &c. (After Mr. Balcanqual's Letters.) [See a preceding note, page (2) Whereas there was a difference amongst those of the British College

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relate to the second sins of all mankind;

Whether these

about the sense of the words of our Confession Article of the Remonstrants,) That Christ died for or, for the sins of the whole world" The question was, words were to be understood of all particular men, or only of the Elect, who consist of all sorts of men." (Mr. Balcanqual's Letters, Febr. 9.) This Mr. Balcanqual thought a matter of so great consequence, that he propounded it to the Lord Ambassador, to procure them advice from England what course to follow. And what that advice was, we may collect from his letters of March 17, where he tells the Lord Ambassador; “ I must needs say, that the Directions which your Lordship hath sent from Secretary Nanton, do s us to be as favourable to the GENERAL PROPOSITIONS as may be, giving as little seem to will offence to the Lutherans as we can.”” on kJ:

3. Had they differed about any other Article, and sent into England for advice, in all probability their instructions would have tied them to have had a very tender regard to the doctrine of the Lutherans in that also. This they understood well enough at last, and therefore, Sess. 137, (Mr. Balcanqual's Letters,) they vindicate the Lutherans to be part of the Reformed Churches and because these Canons of Dort were not consonant to their Doctrine, therefore they object against their personal censure, wherein they declared, "their Synodical Articles were according to the judgment of all the Reformed Churches; [The better to understand this matter, the whole paragraph is here given from Balcanqual. The observations of Schultetus, Polyander and Bogerman, are true in regard to the fact stated, but not exactly true with re spect to the cause assigned. "TiE REFORMED" is actually made a party appellation in several countries on the Continent: where it is impudently assumed by the Calvinists as the badge by which they choose to be distinguishedy much in the same way as the majority of their vain brethren in Great Britain are pleased to style themselves "EVANGELICALS!" No surprize therefore can be excited at a moderate Lutheran declining the term which, is employed to designate a Calvinist.-Balcanqual proceeds thus: "By which phrase, (all the Reformed Churches,') it was insinuated, that the Lutheran Churches that profess other sentiments, are not to be numbered among the Reformed, which appeared to them (the British) as a very harsh expression. Scholtetus and Polyander replied, "that the Lutherans themselves depre'cated the application of the term to them, and were accustomed to excite envy against our Churches by the use of the name REFORMED.—The President also added, "Our Churches in Holland are accustomed to be distinguished