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evils of bigotry, partiality, and persecution, until they feel their dire effects; and that sometimes those who have once pleaded against persecution when themselves were the objects, plead for it when they had the sword by their side. But we give place to the following pertinent remarks. They are extracted from No. XIV., p. 28-31. ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.

"Serious reflection may convince us all that reformation is highly necessary, not only in matters of church government, but even in our general views of experimental and practical religion. Let us instance one or two particulars.

"While the ministers of religion have been crying aloud, and very justly, against pride, and covetousness, and sensuality, and many other evils, how is it that the great evil of bigotry has been nourished in the heart of the Christian church, as though it were an innocent or an indifferent thing? By bigotry is meant, a man's obstinate attachment to an opinion, or set of opinions which indisposes him to give a candid hearing to anything else, and makes him unwilling that his brother should have the same liberty of judgment which he claims for himself. This is one of the deepest and most violent roots of moral evil. It is a great, and seemingly insurmountable obstruction to the progress of truth and righteousness over the whole earth. It affords nourishment and defence for Infidelity, Mahometanism, Judaism, and for every other erroneous system under the sun. Its practical fruits are also abundant. It may be doubted whether covetousness, or sensuality, or the love of power, or the love of praise, have produced a more plentiful harvest of internal and external ungodliness, than this bitter enemy of all righteousness, which Zion's watchmen appear almost to have overlooked. For let it be considered that this same bigotry is the parent of almost all the evils, surmisings, heart-burnings, rash judgments, hard speeches, oppressions, and persecutions that can be found in the Christian world. It not only makes null and void the arguments of an opponent, but, alas! it boldly impeaches his motives, and assails his moral character. Not only are his talents to go for nothing-not only are his labours to be despised-but his virtue and piety-his zeal and heavenly-mindedness, though supported by an unblamable life—all, all must be disposed of with indifference or contempt, by the high, and bitter, and sovereign dictates of bigotry! And yet this dark and dreadful evil is not only winked at, but nourished in the hearts of all the churches in Christendom! Would to heaven this were a mistake! but, alas! the evidence is too manifest, that every church upon earth greatly needs a refor

mation in this particular. Infidels, and Mahometans, and Heathens, and sinners of every description, may look on with astonishment, and see Christians of every name, through the influence of this evil principle, animated with a more constant and flaming zeal against each other, than against the spirit of hell and all the works of darkness! And yet many seem not to be aware that it is to be regarded as à moral evil. Some, perhaps, may be found making high professions of justification and sanctification, and at the same time habitually nourishing this root of bitterness in their hearts. This is a mystery of mysteries, and can only be accounted for by supposing that a thick cloud of intellectual darkness has been overspreading the Christian world, especially upon this subject. For a candid and faithful examination of the matter must surely convince every intelligent mind that it is as perfectly vain for a confirmed bigot to make professions of holiness, as for a confirmed thief to make professions of honesty.

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Whether partiality must be regarded as the daughter, or as the sister of bigotry, may perhaps bear a dispute; but as they have the striking and identical likeness of twins, we may safely call them sisters. The just definition of partiality is, the confined affection and confidence which a man has for his own party, and which produces a corresponding disaffection and distrust towards all others. How lovely, in the estimation of such a man, are all the peculiarities comprehended under the particular ism by which he and his party are distinguished! and how dark and doubtful is all beside! While his mind is amusing itself in surveying the vast beauties of his party, and inimitable excellencies of its plan, the cloud which obscures the horizon of every other, appears to grow darker every hour! His feelings are sublime and inexpressible, and perhaps advance almost to that state of devotion which is due alone to the Deity, whose only plan is unexceptionable, and who has no party under the Now, as God has no party, and as his ministers are to do nothing by partiality, and as the wisdom which is from above is without partiality, as well as without hypocrisy, we might as well doubt whether hypocrisy be a moral evil, as to doubt whether partiality be such. And yet, alas! how has this great evil been spared in the Christian world! And not only spared, but the presumption is, that both it and bigotry have been protected and encouraged as the great champions and defenders of each sectarian cause. They make a man zealous and decided -they make him resolute and courageous! Yes, and let it be added, they make him uncandid, fierce, dogmatical, and blind. They are as fine and acceptable allies for a Jew or a Turk-for a Pagan or an Atheist-as they are for a sectarian Christian.

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"Let us survey, a little further, these evil dispositions in human nature, that we may judge of them by their fruits.

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First, consider their effects within any religious denomination. They say to the soul of every member, So far shall you go your meditations, and no farther: your business is not to inquire what is true, but merely to inquire what are the sentiments of our church, that you may defend them to the end of the world. You are not only to avoid contradicting them, but you are to make no addition to them; because our lovely plan is not only free from errors, but also contains the whole body of truth completely. You must silence every heretical thought of improvement, and merely walk in the good old way, as we have pointed it out to you. Thus, whatever error may be in the church, it must be held fast for all eternity. The intellectual faculties of the members must be hampered, and their hearts corrupted, by doing violence to honest conviction, and by warping both reason and revelation into the pale of their sectarian boundaries. And even the truth itself is hindered by these evils from producing its native and salutary effects: for truth, when believed merely with the faith of bigotry, is little better than error. Its evidence is not examined, and its value, as truth, is not apprehended; but merely its subserviency to the support of our beloved cause. For if we made our cause subservient to the truth, instead of making the truth subservient to it, we should be willing for our churches to follow the truth wheresoeveri might lead the way.

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Secondly, consider their effects upon the different denominations, in their relation to each other. We stand with surprise and wonder, to behold the errors and absurdities of other denominations: they stand with equal surprise and wonder, to behold the errors and absurdities of ours: while the true cause of wonder is, that each party cannot see that they are all holding fast the same identical error, namely, the infallibility of our own party. One party enjoins on all its members to defend everything here, and to oppose everything there: the other party does the same. Thus the inquiry, What is truth? is neglected and laid aside. One says, There is no religion with you; and One says, That is a another, There is no religion with you.

damnable heresy; and the other says, That is a damnable heresy. One wonders at the blindness and obstinacy of this people; the other wonders at the blindness and obstinacy of that people; while all Heaven pities the selfish vanity of man, and all Hell is pleased with our destructive and ridiculous conduct."

ORIGINAL LETTER OF MR. ROBERT SANDEMAN TO ARCHIBALD M'LEAN.

Mr. Campbell's Reply to Mr. Robert Semple, inserted in the last number of this Journal, has obtained so much notice, and been so favourably received by my readers, that I have been induced to think they might be still further gratified with the following short letter, the original of which has been in my possession nearly five-and-twenty years. I received it from the family of Mr. M'Lean, at the time of his decease, among a number of other manuscripts, and I have preserved it as an interesting autograph, the only specimen of his hand-writing that has fallen in my way.

My readers will please to keep in mind, that it was written in answer to some inquiries which Mr. M'Lean put to Mr. Sandeman, previous to his joining the Glasites, which he did, however, before the end of the year 1761, and the letter was written in the month of September of that year. He left them in 1762, and soon after became an Antipædobaptist. In 1764, Mr. Sandeman sailed for America, where he ended his days in 1771, at the age of forty-eight.

W. J. TO MR. ARCHIBALD M'LEAN, JUN., PRINTER, BRIDGEGATE, GLASGOW.

Dear Sir,

It gives me pleasure to see you sensible, that the wisdom of God, held forth in the Scripture for salvation to sinners, is conveyed to men of God's sovereign good pleasure, staining the pride of all our wisdom and reasonings. If we are duly sensible of this, it must greatly change our thoughts about ourselves, and about the world around us; and give our minds a new turn for understanding the will of God, as it respects not only our own conduct, but also the proper appearance of Christ's kingdom in the world. For, you see, the Apostle (Rom. xii. 2) plainly intimates that a man's mind must be changed from the taste of the world, or the sentiments that prevail in it, in order to his proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

The new covenant is always spoken of in Scripture with reference to, and in distinction from, the old covenant made at

Sinai. The Sinai covenant, in several respects, represented and recalled to mind the law given to Adam; and at the same time prefigured the new covenant: yet the Scripture does not lead us to think of the law given to Adam under the proper notion of a covenant. The notion of covenants is applied in Scripture to God's entering into friendly relation with sinful men as their God; and this could not be but by shedding the blood of sacrifice; for which there was no occasion, when God gave a law to Adam while he yet stood naturally in friendship with God. Paul's words about the law (Rom. v. 20, and Gal. iii. 19,) serve to illustrate each other. In the former place, he says, the law entered that the offence might abound; and in the latter, that it was added because of transgressions. God had given a promise of blessedness to sinful man through Abraham's seed, who was to redeem men from the curse by being made a curse for them; therefore, that men might be duly sensible of this great benefit, the law entered, or was added after the promise was given, to show in the strongest manner the condemning power of sin by denouncing the divine curse against every transgression. So it entered that the offence might abound, or that the condemning power of sin might abundantly appear. For the Apostle (Rom. v. and vi.) speaks of sin and grace as two mighty powers or potentates reigning in their several districts. Again, (Gal. iii.) he says, the law was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made. So the law was added, that transgressions might still be charged to account, till the time that redemption of sin should take place by the coming of the promised seed. Even the sacrifices, that prefigured the promised seed, answered the same end. For in those sacrifices, as Paul intimates to the Hebrews, there was a remembrance again made of sins every year, till the appearance of the true sacrifice, on which God said he would remember iniquity no more.

As to Rom. xi. 24, &c., you see Paul says, “blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved:" plainly intimating that the saved remnant of the Jews, together with those whom he called out of the several nations of the world, made up all the Israel appointed to salvation in the promise and purpose of God. And thus the Apostle makes out what he proposed to show at the beginning of the chapter, that however many of the fleshly Israel were rejected for their unbelief, yet God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew. And while he warns the Gentiles against high-mindedness or glorying over the rejected Jews, he assures them that, if they did not humbly continue in

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