refractory, and heretical fellow! But let the arguments be produced by which each of these charges may be proved, that every one who hears them may have an opportunity to judge of their truth. I made such a proposal as this to Helmichius of pious memory in our last conference together at Amsterdam; but he was silent about it in the presence of Uitenbogardt, who was amazed that nothing was produced in the form of proof, although it had been declared, that I laboured under a suspicion of heresy with many people, while I resided in that city. I understand, a certain person among you is of opinion, that I will not, according to the orders which I have received, deliver in writing what I spoke on a late occasion. That person, however, is mistaken; for 1 have already delivered it in a written form, and with such fidelity as will cause every one, though indulging the greatest malevolence against me, to desire nothing more ample and compendious. I have omitted no portion of what was then spoken; but have explained a few things a little more fully, upon which I was prevented from enlarging by the brevity of the time allotted to that purpose. I am not in the least afraid of any consequences that can ensue from this circumstance. Indeed there is no necessity for entertaining any such fear, which on my part would be very unbecoming: Because those who ambitiously aspire in our church to exercise dominion over the faith of others, are not able to kill even the body."-Towards the close of the letter, he mentions the base slanders of some individuals, who had invented seven curious theological articles and circulated them in his name, and then alludes to the advice of his friends :-" They think, such a fair occasion ought not to be neglected. Some people, it seems, act in this manner, that they may irritate me to write: But when I once break through that ice, a most extensive sea will be opened to me in which to pursue my course. Do not suppose, that, when speaking thus, I employ the language of impatience: Those who possess the most intimate knowledge of our affairs, wonder and are astonished at my rigid silence, when so many and such fair occasions have been offered and now daily present themselves for defending my own cause and that of truth. The only circumstance which prevents me from adopting their suggestions, is, the hope I cherish concerning THE REPENTANCE OF MY BRETHREN."-What a noble and benevolent spirit is here displayed! Every reader of sensibility will admire the breathing of the same spirit of dignified forbearance in the contents of the subjoined pages; in which, with a manly eloquence, our author gives an exact and scriptural account of his creed, especially in those important points in reference to which it had been vainly attempted to accuse him of heterodoxy.

TO THE NOBLE AND MOST POTENT THE STATES OF HOLLAND AND WEST FRIEZLAND, MY SUPREME GOVERNORS.

My most noble, potent, wise and prudent Lords,

AFTER the Conference which, by the command of your Mightinesses, was convened here at the Hague, between Gomarus and myself, had been held in the presence of four ministers and under the superintendence of their Lordships the Counsellors of the Supreme Court, the result of that meeting was reported to your Highnesses. * Some allusion

• This Conference between them was held on the 24th of May, 1608. Arminius and Uitenbogardt had been greatly traduced for the part which they

having been made in that report to the nature and importance of the controversy between us, it soon afterwards seemed good had acted, and the advice which they had given, in the Preparatory Convention, which had been held on the 22d of May, in the year preceding . In consequence of this, they addressed a joint memorial to the States of Holland, beseeching them, to hear the relation of that whole affair from the mouth of those who had been present, and to grant the Dutch Churches a National Synod even ou other terms than those which they had themselves before proposed to their Lordships. The States of Holland, as well as the States General, were at that period engaged in momentous negociations with foreign powers, and particularly with Spain on the subject of a truce for twelve years they could not therefore attend to the prayer of that memorial. But Arminius soon afterwards addressed a petition on his own account to their Lordships, in which he represented the false reports concerning him which were industriously circulated, the very rigid manner in which those students who had been under his care were examined, and the disregard that was shewn (by some of the ecclesiastical assemblies,) to those testimonials to character and ability which, as Professor of Divinity and according to the practice of all Universities, he gave to the candidates for holy orders who had received from him their theological tuition and acquitted themselves with credit. He therefore earnestly besought their Lordships, whom he acknowledged as the supreme rulers of his country, to take regular cognizance of his cause, and in their wisdom to devise and appoint a method,either that of a Conference, or of an Ecclesiastical Convention to be held under their auspices,-by which an early opportunity might be afforded to him of refuting all such calumnies, that all further inconvenience might be avoided, and that a mutual agreement might be established, such as ought ever to exist between those who profess the same religion.

The States of Holland and West Friezland, with the intention of preventing a greater evil, summoned Gomarus and Arminius to appear at the Hague, and to enter into a Conference together, attended by four of the ministers who had been present at the Preparatory Convention in 1607: These four ministers were Becius, Uitenbogardt, Helmichius, and Herman Gerards. The two Professors were to be heard before the Counsellors of the Supreme Court, whose instructions were, to see if by means of an amicable Conference on sacred subjects instituted between those two learned individuals, the dissension subsisting between them might be healed; and the right honourable Counsellors, who on this occasion acted as moderators, had to report the result to the States. But the deputies of the Churches adopted every method to thwart the design of their Mightinesses and to hinder the execution of this decree Instead of the proposed Conference which was appointed to be held before the Supreme Court, they requested, that a Provincial Synod might be convened, in which this ecclesiastical cause might come under the cognizance and judgment of ecclesiastical persons who had been deputed by the Churches to form a decision upon it. The reply of the States was, that the cognizance of the cause was the only matter that had been committed to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and that the judgment or decision to be formed upon it might afterwards be obtained either from a National or a Provincial Synod.

On the day appointed for this Conference, after the right honourable President of the Assembly had introduced the business by a few prefatory observations on the decree of the States and the design which their Lordships had in view by instituting this kind of proceeding, he commanded Gomarus to declare if any dissension existed between him and his colleague, and without any kind of eavsion to explain its nature. Gomarus replied, that he was ' truly devoted to the service of the illustrious States, and confessed that the · present assembly of the Supreme Court consisted of famous and prudent 'men, whose province nevertheless was not to decree judgment on sacred.

to your Highnesses to cite each of us, with those four ministers, to appear openly before you in your honourable Assembly, and

subjects, but on those only which were civil and secular; that this business 'did not belong to their jurisdiction, but to that of the Churches, and that 'the cognizance of it could not be commenced in that place without a manifest prejudice both to his cause and to that of the Churches; that God must ' receive that which is God's, and to Cæsar must be rendered that which is Cæsar's; but that it was better to obey God than men.'-The President replied, that no doubt existed respecting the religious nature of the cause which was then about to be discussed, and that he and his honourable 'colleagues had by no means been wishful to arrogate to themselves the authority to decide upon it, the sole province assigned to them being that of taking cognizance of it. They intreated Gomarus therefore, once more, that he would not refuse to engage in the explanation of his cause and to 'disclose it to them.'-Gomarus began to invent excuses, and artfully to postpone the consideration of the business, by contending at first, that it would be unjust in him to undertake the province of accuser against Arminius, with whom he had hitherto lived on terms of familiarity; that he was likewise entirely ignorant of those things which had been written by his colleague, or which had been delivered in his public lectures or in his private classes: But, as Arminius had himself occasionally introduced the mention of certaiu doubts and scruples which he felt, the preferable course would befor him now to produce those scruples. As it respected himself, he cherished no doubts concerning any of the articles of Christian doctrine as they were comprehended and explained in the Confession and Catechism, and he felt no desire to raise a controversy about any of them.' Being urged by the Court to deliver a more express reply, he was at length, after all these disingenuous subterfuges, reduced to the necessity of confessing, that there undoubtedly was some latent dissension between him and Arminius; but that it seemed to him very injudicious, and prejudicial to the liberty of the Churches, then and in that place to give an explanation of its nature and 'origin.'

Arminius, who had during the whole of the preceding discussion been silent, then declared, It was matter of astonishment to him, after various reports about his heterodoxy had been circulated among all the churches and after the conflagration which he had excited was stated to have flamed forth even above the roofs of the Church, that still such a great difficulty was here pretended to exist concerning the nature of this dissension and the doctrine which he had taught in contradiction to the ⚫ formularies of consent. It was wrong to exact such a declaration from him, and in this manner to have the materials for his accusation procured from his own mouth. No person would produce what it was that he had 'taught privately or in public against the Confession and Catechism. It 'was scarcely equitable that he should declare the scruples which he entertained, unless he received the commands of the Supreme Magistrate to that ' effect, who had already determined on having the Confession and Catechism reviewed in a National Synod.'-Gomarus immediately undertook to prove, that Armininius had taught such an opinion concerning a primary article of the Christian Faith, (the Justification of man before God,) as was at variance with the Holy Scriptures and with the Confession of the Dutch Churches. To sustain this charge, he produced the very words which Arminius had employed both in his propositions on Justification, and in a certain letter to a friend, (Hippolytus a Collibus, Ambassador from the Elector Palatine to the States General,) in which he had asserted, that in the Justification of man before God the righteousness of Christ is not imputed for righteousness; 'but that faith, or the act of believing, is, through the gracious acceptance [or act of acquittance] of God, that righteousness of ours by which we “are justified.'—After Gomarus had desired these expressions to be inserted

in that public manner to intimate to all of us whatever you then judged to be expedient. After we had appeared before among the recorded transactions of that meeting, Arminius on the other hand dictated the following expressions for insertion in the same acts: ' For the purpose of declaring how abhorrent my mind is to every desire of un'necessary contention or dispute, I here profess, that I esteem as true, 'pious, and holy, that doctrine of Justification before God which is made from faith to faith, or of the imputation of faith for righteousness, and 'which is contained in the Harmony of Confessions from all the Churches; that I do now approve and always have approved of it, and that I perfectly acquiesce in it. And in order to afford a more luminous testimony of this 'my intense desire for the general peace of the Reformed and Protestant 'Churches, I here sacredly affirm, that, if an occasion should present itself 'that would require a statement in writing of my opinion on this point, both 'with regard to the matter itself and to the phrases used and the manner of 'treating it, (which opinion I am prepared with firm arguments to defend ' against all objections,) I will with pleasure submit that written statement 'to the definitive sentence of all those Churches, so that, after a sufficiently 'legitimate cognizance of the cause has been taken according to the resolution ' of the Supreme Magistrates of my country, if those Churches shall consider that such an opinion and the author of it are not to be tolerated, I will instantly recede from that sentiment, on account of being better instructed, ' or I will desist from all further exercise of my functions.'-When Arminius had made this manly avowal, and when Gomarus still refused to acquiesce in it, and could not be induced to confess, that our author held the same sentiments on this subject as those of the Reformed Church, Arminius made another attempt to testify the peaceable spirit with which he was animated; and, to avoid all vain and useless disputes, he exclaimed, Behold, here are my sentiments concerning this doctrine, conveyed in the very expressions of ⚫ the Heidelberg Catechism.' Then reciting the exact words of the Catechism, he immediately subjoined, I believe in my heart, and confess with my 'mouth, that I shall pass as a righteous man before God, only by faith in 'Jesus Christ: So that, though my conscience may accuse me, not only of having grievously sinned against all the commands of God, but also of not 6 having observed one of them, and of being likewise inclined to all evil; yet, provided 1 embrace these benefits with real confidence of heart, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ will be imputed to me and bestowed on me, without any merit of my own and purely from the mercy of God: Exactly as though I had never committed any sin, and as if no stain or taint had adhered to me; nay, more than this, as though 'I had perfectly performed that obedience which Christ has performed for me: 'Not because I can please God by the dignity of my faith, but because the 'sole satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ are made my right< eousness before God: But I am not able to embrace this righteousness, ' and to apply it to myself, in any other manner than by faith.' What form of words could be more sound and evangelical? Yet this scriptural confession did not satisfy Gomarus, who began to criticize the expressions of Arminius, by saying, that he had laid down faith as the ' object or matter of Justification, and yet had made the righteousness of Christ the meritorious cause of Justification.'-When Gomarus made this remark, he seemed to feel some complacency within himself as though he hád performed some mighty achievement, or had unravelled a great secret. But to the great majority of the members of the Supreme Court, his objection wore a different aspect: For they thought, that it amounted to nothing better than a mere logomachy, a strife about words; because it was evident from the statements of both these learned Professors, "that neither of them placed the cause of man's justification by faith, in the dignity of that work, but in the grace of God."-When Gomarus seemed desirous to extort from

your Mightinesses, Gomarus affirmed, "that the controversy. between him and me, was of such immense importance, that, with the opinions which I professed, he durst not appear in the presence of his Maker." He likewise asserted, "that, unless some mode of prevention were promptly devised, the consequence would be, that the various Provinces, Churches, and cities of our native land, and even the citizens themselves, would be placed in a state of mutual enmity and variance, and would rise up in arms against each other."-To all those allegations I then made no reply, except "that I certainly was not conscious of entertaining any such atrocious sentiments in Religion, as those of which he had spoken;* and I confidently Arminius his sentiments on some other controverted points, it was the pleasure of the Supreme Court, who perceived the iniquity of such a course of proceeding, to command each of them to deliver to their Lordships, in the form of written propositions, his individual opinion on each of the principal articles, respecting which any controversy had ever been raised between them; and then for each to write his own animadversions and strictures on the written propositions of his antagonist. This equitable plan was pursued; and after Gomarus and Arminius had delivered to their Lordships these two documents with their mutual animadversions and strictures appended, the Conference was terminated. The members of the Supreme Court perused both these writings, and afterwards gave the following decision, as a just report of the whole matter, to the States of Holland: As far as we have been able ' to perceive from this Conference, we judge that the controversies which have arisen between these two Professors are not of very great importance; they relate principally to some disputes concerning Predestination, which ' are rather too subtle, and which may either be omitted, or may pass 'without animadversion by means of a mutual toleration.'

6

After receiving the Report, the States were pleased, on the same day to summon before them, in the great Hall of the public Sessions, both the Professors and the four attendant ministers; and the most honourable the Lord Advocate of Holland, addressing himself to these ecclesiastical personages, declared, among other things, his gratitude to God because the controversy did not at all concern the chief points of the Christian Religion. He then proceeded, in the name of that noble assembly, "to thank both of them for this renewed and faithful attempt to obtain a mutual good understanding, and enjoined them to secresy respecting the transactions of that meeting, to speak and publish nothing contrary to the Sacred Writings or to the Confession and Catechism, and to direct all their counsels and energies to procure the peace of the Churches and of the University." He also promised, "that the States would endeavour to have these controversies decided by a National Synod, or by a Provincial one provided the other could not be speedily convened."-What did Gomarus say, when he heard this conclusion of the whole matter? Thinking the Calvinistic view of the points in dispute to be of far greater importance than it had been estimated by the Supreme Court, he asked permission to speak, and in that full legislative assembly broke out into a rhapsody, to which Arminius briefly alludes in the text, and which has already been related, page 74. Every one must admire the mildness, the dignity, and the Christian forbearance which are so conspicuously united in the reply of Arminius.

In this part of his answer, Arminius stated, that the points in controversy between him and Gomarus were not so momentous as they had been