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final doom of all mankind, he will resign his power into the hands of God, that he may be all

in all.

Glorying, then, in our holy and honourable vocation, let us resolutely prosecute our Christian course, till "we come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the spirits of just men made perfect; and to the general assembly of the first born, whose names are enrolled as citizens in heaven; and to an innumerable company of angels; and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new Covenant; and to God, the Judge of all;" to whose divine and eternal majesty be ascribed all honour, praise and glory, world without end.Amen.

NOTES.

P. 426.-(1) It has been asserted, that not one of the ancient Roman families has been extant for eight hundred years past. This may well be credited from a passage in Tacitus, (Ann. xi. 25.) "Iisdem diebus in numerum patriciorum adseivit Cæsar (Claudius) vetustissimum quemque e senatu, aut quibus clari parentes fuerant: paucis jam reliquis familiarum, quas Romulus majorum, & L. Brutus minorum gentium appellaverant, exhaustis etiam quas Dictator Cæsar lege Cassia, & Princeps Augustus lege Senia sublegere." Such was the consequence of the civil wars.

If God has any further purpose to effect by means of his chosen people; if, as they themselves and many others sup

pose, they are to be reunited and reinstated in their ancient settlements, they are ready at call. They retain their laws and traditions, their ceremonies and customs, their pedigrees and language: they are strangers and aliens in the lands in which they dwell; excluded from the privileges of citizens, disencumbered of lands or houses, unconnected with the soil on which they live, but proverbially rich in transportable treasures; free from every social tie to those among whom they reside, and as ready at all points for emigration, as when they took their departure from the land of Egypt.

POSTSCRIPT TO THIS VOLUME.

I HOPE and trust, that I have done with controversy. It was forced on me, in advanced age, by the peculiar character of the times. Having reluctantly exposed our differences, I wish for the future to dwell on points, in which we agree: and to one, who reflects on the important doctrines, in which we coincide, and the insignificant or unintelligible questions, on which we differ, our dissentions are equally a subject of wonder and regret. In apostolic times, the harmony of the disciples was insured by the simplicity of their faith; and it might still continue, if modern Christians would confine their creeds to the same points of doctrine, or even to those, in which we now concur. "Sed hominum curiositas-nullis repagulis cohiberi potest, quin & in vetitas ambages evagetur, & in sublime se proripiat; nihil, si liceat, arcani quod non scrutetur atque evolvat, Deo relictura."-Calv. Inst. iii. 21.

All Christians unite in the belief of one God; and maintain, that he is possessed of every natural and moral perfection, in its utmost extent; that he created and upholds all things; and that he exercises a providential care over all his works, and watches over the moral and spiritual interests of all his rational creatures; that independently of his acts of goodness to mankind in general, the Scriptures contain an account of special displays of his grace; and that these were all spontaneous acts to which the world had no claim of right,

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They are unanimous in their belief, that God sent the Lord Jesus, to be the medium of his communications with mankind; to make known to us more fully the nature and will of the Almighty; to lay down rules for our conduct; to recommend his instructions by his example; to give us an assurance, that all, who please God, shall partake of a happy immortality, while the wicked will experience his displeasure; and to confirm all by unquestionable miracles, especially his resurrection from the dead.

With regard to Christ himself, there is no question concerning his divine mission, and the events of his life; his miracles and prophecies; or his precepts of repentance and faith, holiness and charity.

It is, with few exceptions, the profession of all Christians, that the disciples should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ; and partake of the memorials of his death with a reverential and grateful recollection.

Even on those points, which have been most warmly contested, there is a greater coincidence of opinion, than the parties are willing to confess.

Notwithstanding the variety of doctrines, concerning the persons in the Godhead, and the nature of their union, all assert, that there is but one God. Whatever sentiments they may entertain with respect to the Son and the Holy Spirit, there is a general agreement, that they proceed from the Father, and that there is a perfect union among them; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and that the Holy Spirit is God.

'It is strange, that such animosities should be excited by predestination, election and reprobation, while all agree, that the Deity foresaw every event from the beginning, and consequently the character of each individual; and pre-determined, that the righteous should enjoy his favour, and the wicked in.. cur his displeasure. Since the mere existence of a revelation evinces the operation of divine grace, surely the disputes about its extent, limitation or mode of operation, should not

disturb that harmony, which all admit to be an essential part of Christian morals.

While we hear believers of every sect vying with each other in acknowledging their dependance on God, "for life, breath, and all things;" must it not be evident, that any difference concerning the necessity of divine assistance, must relate to trifling distinctions, or to matters, of which they are all equally ignorant?

We all confess, that we are unprofitable servants; that such imperfect and sinful creatures can have no claim of justice against their Creator; that our services are as disproportioned to an everlasting reward, as the term of human life is to eternity; and that, therefore, the redemption of the world, and the salvation of each individual, must be an act of spontaneous and unmerited favour. What, then, remains to form the foundation of those disputes, relative to free grace and the merit of human actions, which have distracted and disgraced the Christian Church? It is equally preposterous and unaccountable, that men should select the merits of Christ and his influence with the Father for a subject of strife.

Here it may be profitable to advert to some of the causes, which contribute to these unhappy divisions. Among individuals many of our dissentions may be fairly ascribed to pride of understanding. This occasions an unreasonable tenacity of our own opinions, and a fretfulness against those, who presume to differ from us, and who thus indicate a rivalry and competition, to which we think they have no pretensions: and when these pretensions are incontrovertible, our self-love is still more alarmed by a dread of being humbled in our own estimation, and that of our friends and partisans. These feelings influence men in civil as well as religious affairs; and if individuals were left to themselves, they would be so mitigated in religion, as well as in the affairs of private life, by experience and social intercourse, that their ill effects would hardly be felt or seen in society. But unfortunately men have formed themselves into classes, distinguished by

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