spirit, that is truly admirable and divine. It is a lovely pattern, but the imitation is not easy. I took the freedom one day to ask him-How he acquired this wonderous humility, or whether he was born with no pride about him?"Ah! no," said he, with a sacred sigh, "I feel the working poison, but I keep my antidote at hand: When my friends tell me of many good qualities and talents, I have learnt from St. Paul to say, What have I that I have not received? My own consciousness of many fol. lies and sins constrains me to add, What have I that I have not misimproved? And then reason and religion join together to suppress my vanity, and teach me the proper language of a creature and a sinner-What then have I to glory in?" LETTER FROM DR. WATTS. Stoke Newington, near London, SIR, Jan. 21, 1735. YOUR letter, dated about the middle of October, should have been answered long ago, had I not been withheld from my study by long illness; nor am I yet fally recovered. I take pleasure, Sir, to find your honest inquiries after truth, and that you are not willing either to put off your children, or to be contented yourself, with a mere set of words, instead of clear and intelligible doctrines. I will therefore write you my thoughts, in a few lines, of that impotency and inability of man to believe, and repent, and return to God, which arises from the Fall, and which is, I think, the best and the only way to secure our thoughts from running into the extremes of Antinomian opin ions on the one side, or Arminian on the other. This impotency, though it may be called natural, or rath. er native, as it comes to us by nature in its present corrupted state, yet it is not a want of natural powers, either of under. standing or will, to know or choose that which is good; for if there were not natural powers suffi. cient for this purpose, I do not see how men could be charged as criminals, in not receiving the gracious offers of the gospel. This impotence, therefore, is what our divines usually call a Moral Impotence, i. e. their mind will not learn divine things, because they shut their eyes; their will refuses the proposals of grace, they shut it out of their hearts, they have a delight in sin, and dislike to Christ and his salvation; they have a rooted obstinacy of will against the methods of divine mercy, and against the holiness which is connected with happiness. And yet this Moral Impotency is described in Scripture by such methods as repre sent us "blind," or "dead in sin," and that we can no more change our nature than the "Ethi. opian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots;" and the reason of these strong expressions, is, because God knows this nat ural aversion to grace and holi. ness is so strong and rooted in their hearts, that they will never renounce sin and receive the sal. vation of Christ, without the powerful influence of the Spirit, of God; even that same Spirit which can cure those who are naturally blind, or can raise the dead. Now that this weakness of man to do that which is good is a Moral Impotence, appears by the moral remedies which are applied to cure it: viz. commands, promises, threatenings, which sort of methods would be useless and ridiculous to apply to Natural Impotence; that is, to make the blind see, or the dead arise. It must be concluded, therefore, that man has a natural ability, i, e. natural powers, to do what God requires, but at the same time, such a native aversion of will, that he never will do it with out divine grace. Thus there is a fair way laid for the necessity of divine grace, and yet at the same time a just foundation laid for the condemnation of impeni. tent sinners. I have spoken more largely to this subject in the eleventh of the Bury-Street Sermons, which were published last year in 2 vols. 8vo. May the wisdom and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ direct you to walk in a safe way to eternal life, and to lead your children therein at the same time assuring you, that the happening to take a little different turn of thought in some of the difficult inquiries, is not of so vast importance as some persons would make it to be, with respect to our salvation, provided we do but maintain a constant dependence upon the grace of the Spir. it of God in all our duties to assist us, and on the perfect right eousness or obedience and sufferings of Christ, as our atonement for sin, and the only effectual ground of our acceptance with God. I am, Sir, under frequent returning weaknesses rendered unable to write much, and therefore subscribe your friend and humble servant, Unknown, I. WATTS. ANECDOTES. A GOOD HINT FOR MEN IN BUSINESS. "I ENDEAVOR (says the late Dr. Fothergill in a letter to one of his friends) to follow my business, because it is my duty rather inseparable from a just discharge than my interest; the latter is of duty; but I have ever looked at the profits in the last place. most fervently, and I endeavor At my first setting out I wished after it still, to do my business with all the diligence I could as a present duty, and to repress every rising idea of its consequences, knowing that there was an Hand which could easily overthrow every pursuit of this kind, and baffle every attempt either to acquire wealth or fame." Lettsome's L. of Dr. Fothergill. THE SCOLD CONVERTED. THE late Rev. Mr. Westley relates the following circumstance in his journal of 1741 :— "Wednesday 9th, I rode over to a neighboring town, to wait on a justice of the peace, a man of candor and understanding, before whom, I was informed, their angry neighbors had carried a whole waggon load of these new heretics (the Methodists.) But when he asked what they had done, there was a deep silence; for that was a point their conductors had forgot! At length, one said, "Why, they pretend to be better than other people; and besides, they pray from morning to night." Mr. S. asked, But have they done nothing besides ?' "Yes, Sir," said an old man, "an't please your wor ship, they have convarted my wife. Till she went among them, she had such a tongue!-and now Ir is said that the late Rev, John Brown, of Haddington, when passing the Frith of Forth, between Leith and Kinghorn, had for a fellow-passenger, one who appeared to be a Highland nobleman. Mr. B. observed, with much grief, that he frequently took the name of God in vain; but suspecting that to reprove him in the presence of the other passengers might lead only to ir. ritate him, he forbore saying any thing until he reached the oppo. site shore. After landing Mr. B. observing the nobleman walking alone, stepped up to him, and said, "Sir, I was sorry to hear you swearing while on our pas sage. You know it is written, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." On this the nobleman, lifting his hat and bowing to Mr. B. made the following reply: "Sir, I return you thanks for the reproof you have now given me, and shall endeavor to attend to it in future: but," added he, "had you said this to me while in the boat, I believe I should have run you through with my sword." Ibid. REVIEW. DR. REES' CYCLOPEDIA. Is the account given of CHUBB, Thomas, though the reader cannot help observing the downward progress of error, and the gross moral darkness into which infi. delity plunges its votaries, yet every thing is done, which art could do, to extenuate and excuse the guilt of being a champion of irreligion. Dr. Rees states, (for we consider him as the only responsible person, let him derive the materials for his work whence he may,) that Chubb began to write as a rational Christian," (that is, in other words, bis first attack was upon the Trinity;) and there are no less than five separate instances in which his natural abilities are spoken of with high commendation. At the close of the article, we are told, that he was uni VOL. VIII. P. 2. formly formed for integrity, sim plicity, and sobriety of manners," and that he attended the services of his parish church to the time of his death." In short, nothing is said that would cause an unsuspecting mind to suppose that Mr. Chubb was at all to blame for his infidelity, or that his character was not, on the whole, a very desirable one. The American Editors have subjoined the following paragraph: "The natural tendency of Socinianism to Deism, or rather the near alliance which the one has with the other, is visible, as it ought to be in this life of Chubb. But we think, that the malignity of his opposition to christianity ought not to have been so much disguised, as it certainly is. Leland in his "Review of the Deistical Writers," states, among other Chubb, "He doth not allow a particular things, that in the posthumous works of providence, or that prayer to God is a duty. His uncertainty and inconsistency with regard to a future state of existence and a future judgment. He absolutely rejects the Jewish revelation. He expresses a good opinion of Mahometanism, and will not allow that it was propagated by the sword." Whoever may admire the "intellectual abilities" of such a man as this, we ask, for ourselves, to be excluded from the number." In addition to what is said, in this quotation, we beg leave to introduce an abstract of some of Mr. Chubb's doctrines, from Dr. Dwight's sermons on Infidel Philosophy, p. 26-29. Mr. Chubb declares, "That he hopes to share with his friends in the favor of God, in that peaceful and happy state, which God hath prepared for the virtuous and faithful, in some other, future world; and yet, That God does not interpose in the affairs of this world, at all, and has nothing to do with the good, or evil, done by men here: That prayer may be useful, as a positive institution, by introducing proper thoughts, affections, and actions; and yet he intimates, That it must be displeasing to God, and directly improper : That a state of rewards and punishments, hereafter, is one of the truths, which are of the high. est concern to men; and yet, That the arguments for the immortality of the soul are wholly unsatisfactory; and that the soul is probably matter: That men are accountable to God for all their conduct, and will certainly be judged and dealt with, according to the truth and reality of their respective cases; and yet, That men will not be judged for their impiety or ingratitude to God, nor for their injustice and unkindness to each other; but only for voluntary injuries to the public; and that even this is unnecessary and useless: That God may kindly reveal to the world, when greatly vi tiated by error and ignorance, truths necessary to be known, and precepts necessary to be obeyed; and yet, That such a Revelation would be, of course, uncertain and useless: That Christ's Mission is, at least in his view, probably divine; and yet, That Christ, in his opinion, was of no higher character, than the founder of the Christian sect (i.e. another Sadoc, Cerinthus, or Herbert :) That Christ was sent into the world, to acquaint mankind with the Revelation of the will of God; and yet, That his birth and resurrection were ridiculous, and incredible; and that his institutions and precepts were less excellent, than those of other teachers and law. givers : That the New-Testament, particularly the writings of the apostles, contain excellent cautions and instructions for our right conduct; and That the New Testament yields much clearer light than any other traditionary Revelation; and yet, That the New-Testament has contributed to the perplexity and confusion of mankind, and exhibits doctrines heretical, dishonorary to God, and injurious to men; and That the apostles were impostors; and that the gospels and acts of the apostles resemble Jewish fables, and popish legends, rather than accounts of facts: That, as, on the Christian scheme, Christ will be the Judge of the quick and the dead, he has not on this account (i. e. admitting this to be true) any disagreeable apprehensions on account of what he has written; and yet, He ridicules the birth and resurrection of Christ, postpones his instructions to those of the heathen philosophers and law. givers, asserts his doctrines to be dishonorary to God and injurious to mankind, and allows him not to be sinless; but merely not a gross sinner. He further declares, That the resurrection of Christ, if true, proves not the immortal. ity of the soul: That the belief of a future state is of no advantage to socisty: That all religions are alike : That it is of no consequence what religion a man embraces : And he allows not any room for dependence on God's Providence, trust in him, and resignation to his will, as parts of duty, or religion." That our readers may know how to appreciate the assertion that Mr. Chubb was uniform. ly formed for integrity," we beg leave to introduce another passage from the same excellent sermons, p. 45, 46. "Herbert, Hobbes, Shaftsbury, Woolston, Tindal, Chubb, and Bolingbroke, are all guilty of the vile hypocrisy of professing to love and reverence christianity, while they are employed in no other design than to destroy it. Such faithless professions, such gross violations of truth, in Christians, would have been proclaimed to the universe by these very writers, as infamous desertions of principle and decency. Is it less infamous in themselves? All hypocrisy is detestable; but I know of none so detestable as that, which is coolly written, with full premeditation, by a man of talents, assuming the character of a moral and religious instructor, a minister, a prophet, of the truth of the infinite God. Truth is a virtue perfectly defined, mathematically clear, and completely understood by all men of common sense. There can be no haltings between uttering truth and falsehood, no doubts, no mistakes; as between piety and enthusiasm, frugality and parsimony, generosity, and profusion. Transgression, there. fore, is always a known, definite, deliberate villany. In the sudden moment of strong temptation, in the hour of unguarded attack, in the flutter and trepidation of unexpected alarm, the best man may, perhaps, be surprised into any sin; but he, who can coolly, of steady design, and with no unusual impulse, utter falsehood, and vend bypocrisy, is not far from finished depravity." The article CHURCH is considerably enlarged, and some of the additions require notice. The compiler of the original article explains the word which is translated "church" throughout the New-Testament, to "denote either a single congregation of Christians, or the whole Christian community;" and adds that "the plural number is invariably used when more congregations than one are spoken of, unless the subject be the whole common. wealth of Christ." This the American editors suppose to be |