with all the authority of God; they specify the various duties of relative life with a particularity which is not generally imitated as it ought to be; and they enforce the observance of them as absolutely necessary to the glory of God, and the existence of the Christian character, and as constituting the several parts of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

Were this divine pattern constantly before the eyes of every minister of the Gospel, to observe and to copy, what improvement should we observe in their discourses. That it should be held up before the face of those who are engaged in controversies of this nature, is peculiarly necessary, as they are in imminent danger of having their minds turned aside from the purity and fulness of evangelical truth. It is needful too for the preacher who lives in a place where the dispute is carried on, though he himself may take no active part, as the error designed to be overthrown may have extended its ravages into his flock, and as his own mind is also in danger of receding to the opposite extreme. If the persons appear to verge to the antinomian system, let him preach the riches of divine grace, and all the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel as fully as he possibly can. If on the contrary, they run into what is called the legal and self-righteous scheme, and seem to overlook the great principles of the Gospel, let him not be afraid to bring forward, and enforce the duties of Christianity, and the commands of God; but let him inculcate them with as much earnestness and force as it is in their power to do. Let this difference however be seen between him and them: instead of confining himself to one part of divine truth and nearly

forgetting the other, let him, according to the pattern shewn him in the sacred Scriptures, diligently attend to both. While he enlarges with cordial delight on the doctrines of grace, let him display their sanctifying influence on the heart and life of the disciple of Jesus; insist on the absolute necessity that these effects should be produced; and maintain that where they are not produced, it is an evident proof that the doctrines are neither believed nor understood. When like a faithful minister he changes his theme, and treats on the duties and virtues of the Christian life, and presses them home on the hearts and consciences of his hearers, let him distinctly point out their connection with Christian principles, their dependence on the doctrines of the Gospel, the manner and spirit with which they are to be performed, and the absolute necessity of divine influence on the soul, in order to render man's obedience agreeable to the nature of God, and acceptable in his sight. By this method errors which threatened ruin, will most probably be arrested in their progress, and in time banished from the place. At any rate, whatever may be the issue, it is the way in which God has commanded his servants to act, to which therefore they ought carefully to attend. Should they, instead of observing the divine direction, follow the bias of the heart, and lean to the opposite side, the error which they wish to oppose will gain ground; the souls of the people will be injured from not having the whole counsel of God presented to their view; and an error directly contrary to the other be unhappily generated. From such beginnings, without any design to mislead, but merely to guard against erroneous opinions, the purity of the Gospel has in many places been gradually lost.

By this angry controversy, the character of the dissenters must have sustained considerable injury in the eyes of the world. Persecution they had borne with dignity, firmness, and patience and their conduct had exalted them in the judgment of impartial beholders. Might it not have been expected, that when the revolution presented them with peace and liberty, they would exert themselves with all their might to promote the cause of pure religion. But alas, in the short space of four years, many of them in the metropolis are wrangling about strifes of words; and instead of making extraordinary efforts for the salvation of souls, the strength and energy of their minds are wasted in unnecessary disputes. While those who, in the midst of the noise, kept aloof from controversy and its feverish heat, are entitled to praise, let the men who engaged in it so keenly and so long, from the pulpit or from the press, whether presbyterians or independents, bear that severity of reprehension which their conduct merits.

But what is worst of all, religion suffers amidst the strife. How extensively might these ministers have diffused the knowledge of Christ, while they were worse than uselessly contending with each other! Had the whole strength of their souls been concentrated in preaching Christ, so as most effectually to turn sinners from the evil of their ways, and bring them to the Saviour, what glorious success might have resulted from their labours! But they enter the pulpit to confute heretics, to dispute about theological nicknacks, and to rouse the passions of their hearers against those of the opposite side. Will this mode of instruction excite the attention of the young, the poor, and the multitude? Or if it should, will it

do them any good? Will the Spirit of God breathe on such discourses, and render them the power of God unto salvation? No: he will withdraw and leave the angry souls to their furious heats, and their favourite notions; and ichabod will be legible on the walls of the sanctuary, written with the finger of God himself.

At this distance of time, it is not easy to trace, with precision, all the effects of this unhappy controversy; but contemporaries unite in their assertions that it was extremely injurious to the interests of vital godliness'. If the question be asked, which party was most to blame, there appears reason to conclude that the independents must bear the largest share. Perhaps there was not a single presbyterian who did not hold what we account the doctrines of the Gospel. What apology then shall be made in behalf of the independents, for their stiff, unyielding, unaccommodating spirit, for their bitterness in charging their brethren with dangerous error, and for clinging fast to a certain peculiarity of opinion, and phraseology with which genuine orthodoxy had no necessary connexion. There is reason to conclude that many of them were narrow-minded men, and fierce for the singularities of their system; but who had not studied as they ought the enlarged, the humble, meek, and gentle spirit of the Gospel, nor read to a valuable purpose the thirteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. May the beacon, which the writers in this controversy erected, be seen, and the dangerous quicksands avoided by all their successors from age to age.

Calamy's Continuation. Nelson's Life of bishop Bull.

SECTION III.

CONTROVERSY

CONCERNING THE VALIDITY OF

THE DISSENTING MINISTRY.

ONE of the strongest passions in the human heart is the love of power. Whether it has been more displayed in ecclesiastial than in civil affairs, may admit of dispute; but it must be allowed to have been equally potent in the church as in the state. This spirit reigns equally in individuals, and in communities; and while it has been exhibited in numberless instances by kings and popes, it has shewn itself in as prominent a manner in the dominant party in the government, and the established religious sect in the country. A striking instance of this occurred during the present period, in a combination of numerous ecclesiastics to destroy, with deep thrusts of their spiritual swords, the very existence of dissenters as a Christian body.

However difficult such an attempt might appear to others, they conceived it to be perfectly easy, and that it was crowned with complete success. "The baptism of the dissenters (they say) is no baptism, their dispensation of the Lord's supper is no sacrament, their prayers, as ministers of Christ, are no prayers, and have no influence, and their preaching is no preaching, and utterly destitute of effect: they are therefore all of them without the pale of the church of God." But on what foundation could they rest so weighty a charge? They reasoned thus:“ordination is absolutely necessary to make a man a minister. This ordination