We find a great deal more to the fame purpose in our author's letters; yea a great part of his book contains nothing but idle repetitions of what is advanced in the passages just now quoted, which indeed contain the very substance of his doctrine concerning the misery of man's natural state and his recovery out of it. But his fentiments, with regard to these matters, will be found not only opposite to what the Scripture teaches concerning man's natural corruption by fin, and his recovery by grace, but a very fink of errors and abominations. Here the most gross Arminianism and Antinomianism are so artfully blended together, as to form a scheme seemingly opposite to both, while really it contains the very quinteffence of both.

According to this scheme, if a man stung with remorse and a sense of guilt, which on many occafions he can hardly avoid, will only admit the truth of the resurrection, or that Christ died and rose again for the benefit of the guilty; or give a rational affent to this propofition, That Jesus was delivered for our offences, and rose again for our juftification, which he may and must do, if he acknowledges the Scripture to be the word of God, and attends to the evidence of the facts recorded in the New Testament, he commences a true believer. And the affent which he gives to that truth, so as to find some kind of relief to his mind or conscience, is justifying faith, and the spring of all true love and obedience to God. Having this faith, he becomes immediately furnished with every Chriftian grace, with every good difpofition and affection necessary to influence him in the practice of holiness. In short, by that which every thinking man must acknowledge to be no more than an act of natural reason, having revealed truth for its object, he is justified and sanctified, becomes a new man, and is thoroughly furnished to every good work.

Should we attempt to prove, that this is the very reverse of what the Scripture teaches concerning the misery of man by nature, the way of falvation by grace, and the neceffity of a supernatural work of the divine Spirit upon the fouls of men, to convince them of sin, enlighten their minds in the knowledge of Christ, renew their wills, and determine them to believe on the name of the Son of God; as also to incline and enable them to perform acceptable obedience to the divine law; it would only be to affront the understanding of any reader who has the least acquaintance with the Sacred Writings. And, indeed, to make good this point, we needed only transcribe the several passages in the Old and New Testament, in which the least mention is made of any of the particulars above-named.

Hence it appears, that the letter-writer does not without reason shew a warm opposition to what all found divines, since the commencement of Chriftianity, have taught concerning the special agency of the Spirit of God in the beginning, and carrying on a work of grace and holiness in the hearts of believers, or in applying the benefits of redemp tion purchased by Christ to his chofen people; for according to his scheme that is altogether unnecessary; as a natural confcience in every man, and his own reason, furnished with a new object of knowledge, or the truths of the gospel as materials to work upon, do fully supply the place of it. And it must be owned, that with no less reason he rejects that sense of the words, grace, converfion, regeneration, holiness, &c. which has hitherto been given by all who have paid any due regard to what the Scripture teaches in relation to these matters: for grace, conversion, regeneration, holiness, nefs, &c. which Christians have hitherto thought themselves sufficiently warranted to call fruits of a gracious operation of the divine Spirit upon the fouls of men, must, in his opinion, all be the produce of unrenewed nature improved by divine revelation; which every man, merely by the affiltance of natural reason, may fully understand, believe, and attain the whole benefit of. But to affert, that this is the sense given of the words abovementioned, in the New Testament, shews a degree of impudence, that is truly aftonishing, and seems to be Palæmon's peculiar characteristic.

Though, from what has been already observed, it appears, that the whole of that religion which the author of the letters so earnestly contends for, confifts only in such an improvement of the gofpel-revelation, as corrupt and unenlightened reason directs to, with fome extravagant and whimsical conceits that have no foundation either in Scripture or reason; yet if he only meets with the word rational in any of the writings or discourses of his antagonists concerning religion, he immediately takes occafion to charge them with fetting forth a merely rational, or natural scheme of justification, and confequently with corrupting and perverting the gospel of Christ, and obscuring the glory of the divine grace and sovereignty. Thus, he is pleased to tell us, that the popular preachers sometimes set forth as rational and natural a scheme of juftification as any philosopher could desire. For proof of this, he refers his reader to a passage in a fermon preached by that eminent and judicious divine Mr. Thomas Biston.

"Mr. Boston," says this Gentleman*, " as if " he had learned to apply mathematics to the

* Letters, &c. p. 167.

" Christian doctrine, is ready to shew us by what " ratio or rule of proportion we are to expect the " favours of divine grace or pardoning mercy to " be distributed among men, who are yet acknow"ledged to be equally destitute of any claim up"on that grace, in a fermon upon Luke xxiii. 42. "intitled, The extraordinary case of the thief upon "the cross, &c. He says, it is unreasonable to "think, that it should fare at the last with those " who have had means of grace all their days, " and despised them, as it may do with those who

never have fuch means until they come to die." Afterwards he tells us, " that it is very common " with this eminent preacher, and others of "his class, when they emerge a little out of "their depths, to address their hearers thus:"But we must deal with you as with rational creatures, and work upon you by rational argu

"ments."

Hence Palamon would have his readers believe, that the scheme of religion recommended by these worthy men, in their fermons and writings, is wholly founded upon those dictates of human reafon by which men endeavour to fortify themselves in their oppofition to the truth of the gospel; though they have fallen upon a notable expedient for concealing their own real sentiments, by having frequent recourse to mystery, and plunging into their favourite depths, whereby they endeavour to confound, and perplex the minds of their readers, or hearers, who otherwise might easily perceive the native scope and tendency of their

doctrine.

Was there ever a greater degree of impotent malice than is discovered in these infinuations? Are there not many texts of Scripture that a profane wrangler might pun upon in the fame man

ner

ner the letter-writer has done upon the words of Mr. Boston, above-quoted? Does not the Spirit of God, in the Scriptures, frequently intimate, that the condition of such who have all their days abused and despised the means of grace, and rejected all the calls and invitations of mercy they have been privileged with, is far less hopeful, and more dangerous, than that of those who never enjoyed such privileges? If any doubt of this, we shall only defire them to confult the following texts of Scripture, Pfal. lxxxi. 11, 12. Prov. i. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Ifa. vi. 9, 10. Jer. vi. 8. Hof. iv. 17. Luke xiii. 34, 35. Does not our Lord warn many who had attended his public ministry, and been privileged with the calls and offers of his grace, and yet misimproved the former, and rejected the latter, that it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for them? Does he not plainly intimate, that their case was, even then, far less hope-. ful than that of those who never enjoyed the benefit of divine revelation*??

It is easy to fee, that these words of our Lord, and the passages of Scripture formerly quoted, would furnish the letter-writer with abundantly more matter for displaying his critical talent upon, and give more occafion for his impertinent cavils, than any thing advanced by Mr. Boston †, in that paf

* Matt. xi. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.

+ I have omitted the title of Reverend, least it should offend our author; who carries his resentment, not against the popular preachers only, but against minifters of the gospel in general, so far, as to envy them the small degree of honour and respect imported therein, which has been usually paid to their office and character. Why he should bear fuch a grudge againft men invested with that character, I know not, unless we may suppose he hates them for their work's fake.