cause, however strong their judgment or reason may be on other matters, till their minds are divested of that religious frenzy which at present possesses them, in points of theology they are not to be considered as reasonable men, and accordingly their judgment, censure, or applause, are all of equal consequence; that is, of no value or consequence.

Requesting the reader to pardon this digression, I shall observe, that Calvin asserts another erroneous position, one diametrically contrary equally to the letter and spirit of Scripture. He asserts,

they now do for a liberty to preach, they were required to pay fifty pounds, and in their licence a clause was to be inserted, which confined their preaching to a definite district, the existing evil would be much lessened: and as to their paying fifty pounds for the privilege of preaching, they would have very little reason to complain, as there are few Clergymen of the Established Church whose education does not amount to more than twelve times that sum, before they obtain the same privilege. Ireland exhibits at this moment a striking example how fatal to the welfare and repose of a nation it is, when the minds of the lower classes of the people are under the entire influence of a bigotted illiterate Clergy; which is the case with the lower order of Roman Catholic Priests in Ireland, in a degree scarcely to be imagined by those who have never been in that country. It is by no means impossible that at some future time the same melancholy consequence may happen in England, if some legal stop is not put to the encroaching strides of these itinerant illiterate enthusiasts; of whom it may most truly be said, that their doctrine, by invalidating the necessity of good works, and inculcating an unscriptural predestination, is contrary both to Law and Gospel.

in the 23d chap. sect. 7. of the 3d book of his Christian Institution, "that God not only fore

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saw or suffered, but also by his own will dis"posed the fall of the first man." What blasphemy, what absurdity, does not Calvin dare to impute to his Creator! and how justly does he incur Dr. Clarke's censure, in his Sermon on the omnipresence of God, that "vain men, by clog

ging religion with inexplicable absurdities, have "made its doctrines (as far as in them lay) not "venerable, but ridiculous!" No man has more justly incurred this imputation than Calvin; for, upon Calvin's interpretation of this part of Scripture, and maintaining, that God caused the fall of Adam, how ridiculous and unintelligible, as well as cruel and unjust, would be the following declaration of God to Adam: "Because thou hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat "of it all the days of thy life." Thus Calvin first makes God the author of what (as the Scripture informs us) God himself imputes to Adam as sin; and then Calvin makes God punish Adam, because he fell in obedience to his own will and pleasure.

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There is another most abominable assertion of Calvin's, in the 22d chap. p. 311. of his 3d book of Christian Institution, which equally contradicts. both the letter and spirit of the Gospel. It has

been just observed, that our blessed Saviour says to his Apostles, "Go ye into all the world, and "preach the Gospel to every creature. He that "believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he "that believeth not shall be damned." Now, in direct opposition to this, Calvin presumes to affirm as follows: "It is certain that the doctrine of sal"vation is wrongfully set open in common to all

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men to profit effectually." In the same chapter he makes another assertion, if possible, still more reprehensible, in these words: "By outward preaching all men are called to repentance and faith; "and yet not to all men is given the spirit of repentance." Good God! that a simple, indivi dual, uninspired Clergyman should thus dare to shut the gates of heaven and of mercy against the human race, which our blessed Saviour, when he had overcome the sharpness of death, opened to all believers! that this Clergyman should presume to infer, and to assert, that the spirit of repentance would be withheld from any man desirous of availing himself of that gracious declaration of his merciful Creator, addressed to all his human creatures in these words by St. Peter; "The Lord is "not slack concerning his promise, but is long"suffering to us-ward; not willing that any should

perish, but that all should come to repentance!" In the 2d chapter of the Acts, the same Apostle says, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you."

And in the 17th chapter he thus expresses himself: "God commandeth all men every where to re

pent." And that the greatest and most flagrant sinners are capable of repentance is decided beyond all dispute; because to Simon Magus the sorcerer, who is reproached by St. Peter as a man, whose heart was not right in the sight of God, and as being in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity; to this man even St. Peter says, on his wanting to purchase even the power of the Holy Ghost, "Thy money perish with thee, because "thou hast thought that the gift of God may be

purchased with money. Repent therefore of this "thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the "thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee."

But there is a passage in the 3d chapter of Ezekiel still more in point, if possible: it is as follows: "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman "unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the "word at my mouth, and give them warning from 66 me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt "surely die; and thou givest him not warn

ing, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his "wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked "man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will "I require at thine hand." Now this supposes so clearly and unequivocally a power in every wicked man to repent, that under any other supposition the whole passage would be perfect nonsense. Does

not our great and merciful Creator thus proclaim his goodness to his frail and fallible creatures? "When the wicked man turneth away from his "wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth "that which is lawful and right, he shall save "his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turn"eth away from all his transgressions that he hath "committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die." Can any man, after this declaration, imagine that God would withhold the spirit of repentance from any human being, who properly employs his reason, "who considereth," and is desirous of turning from his sins to God? No man can entertain this opinion who believes that man is a free agent, and a rational being, and that the God we worship is a God longsuffering, abundant in goodness and mercy, who pardons iniquity and sin, and who, instead of withholding the spirit of repentance, not only freely offers it to every human being, but earnestly commands his adoption of it.

All these errors of Calvin are, I apprehend, to be imputed to that grand source of spiritual error, a mystical interpretation of those doctrines of Scrip ture which relate to our faith and practice, and to the attributes of the Deity, and which should be always understood and received in the plain, literal, unambiguous manner, in which they are expressed. To what else, but to a deviation from this rule, are we to ascribe those various sects,