Gospel than that which we have preached unto

you, let him be accursed, &c. *"

In setting up an inward revelation of superior authority to Scripture, the Quakers dishonour Scripture. They fling a stone of imputation at its veracity. Scripture is a revelation to be received by faith, as equally certain with any that might be INFALLIBLY whispered to the mind. To reduce it, then, beneath that which we only IMAGINE to be whispered to the mind, is to appeal from faith to supposition; from what ought to be assurance, to what is, at the best, but fancy; to what the Quakers themselves acknowledge MAY BE fancy, in appointing judges to examine the qualifications of candidates for the office of teaching in their meetings.

There is every reason to think, in opposition to the tenets of Quakerism, that immediate revelations have ceased, because the power of working miracles, the only certain test of extraordinary inspiration and assistance, has ceased. And, indeed, so far as we may presume to reason on the dispensations of Providence, the present state of the religious world appears not to require, that the same measure of preternatural aid should be bestowed on Christians, as the first disciples received. Nec deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus Inciderit,

may, with all reverence, be transferred from its

* Galat. i. 8, 9.

original application, to the dealings of the true God. Christianity had to struggle, in its infant years, with the pride of philosophy, the prejudices of Judaism, the superstitions of pagan worship, not less than with the interests of priests, and the power of magistrates, engaged in support of long-established systems. As the poor, simple, humble, unlearned fishermen of Galilee could not surmount obstacles so various and powerful, without the ability of working miracles; they can hardly be supposed capable of undergoing, with fortitude, the persecutions to which opposition, thus combined and determined, subjected them, unless endowed with an extraordinary afflation of divine succour. But as soon as Christianity had settled itself, or gained a footing in different countries, it is reasonable to suppose, nor are we war-ranted not to suppose, that this latter extraordinary aid was withdrawn along with the former and for the same reason, namely, its being no longer necessary. Not that all spiritual aid whatever ceased with the cessation of miraculous gifts: for the depravity of nature is, and ever will be, far : too commanding to be overcome by the power of man, unaided by supernatural influences. Besides, our Saviour declares, "Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world:" God is with us in his capacity of the third Person of the Trinity. But the aids of his grace are now measured out according to the existing necessities of

Christians. It is to the Son, alone, that God is affirmed not to have given the Spirit by measure. John, iii. 34. Unto every one of us is given. grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Ephes. iv. 7. Christians, therefore, are now endowed only with such aid as is needful; with that preventing, and that furthering help, which prompt, assist, and strengthen their own exertions and co-operations in holiness of living.

Of the fourth, fifth, and sixth of the propositions in the Apology, relating to man as fallen and depraved, to Christ as the salvation of believers, and to the universal benefit of this Redeemer's death, the doctrines are strictly orthocox. When it is asserted, however, that EQUAL benefits are undoubtedly derived, from the merits of Christ, by those who have never heard of him, as by those who have known him from their birth, the statement, thus unqualified, is contrary to reason, to Scripture, and to the practice of the Quakers themselves. It is adverse to reason; for, both in this world and the next, a higher degree of happiness will attend a purer morality, and the purest morality is known only to those to whom the Gospel is preached. It is adverse to Scripture; for, although it be right to admit, that men will not be condemned who act up to their imperfect light, yet salvation is represented generally the nature of a covenant, of which faith is the bond on the part of man; and faith cometh by

1

x. 17.

hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; how, then, shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed; and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? &c." Rom. x. 14. Lastly, this notion is opposed by the laudable zeal of the Quakers for the diffusion of Christianity; which would be superfluous expense and trouble, if the heathens were precisely under the same circumstances of advantages from the death of Christ, which they would enjoy in receiving the light of the Gospel, If this principle were strictly just, what would become of the societies for propagating Christian knowledge, for missions, for Bibles, for civilizing and christianizing the world? The truth would have been confined within the limits of Judea, and the Apostles might never have moved beyond the sea of Galilee. But, "Forsake your nets, and follow me; and go ye into ALL nations; and I will make you fishers of men."

"As many," says the seventh,thesis, "as receive the light of the Spirit, in them is produced a holy birth, bringing forth holiness and purity, &c.; by which holy birth, as we are sanctified, so we are JUSTIFIED." By the work of the Spirit the man is, doubtless, born again; but neither this new birth, nor the fruits of it, justify him, seeew ing we are justified, or accounted just before God, by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The eighth thesis maintains the doctrine of PERFECTION, though qualified by the Quaker, as by the Methodist, with an admission, that deçay is possible, and advancement necessary. As this doctrine is merely a speculative tenet, we shall only oppose to it a lamentable series of facts, consisting of the experience of all men from the be-ginning of the world. Point out the man who lives a single day in the world, without doing, say, ing, or thinking something, for which a delicate conscience would chide itself at night. To place an imaginary standard of perfection, or Christ, ⚫the real standard, continually before the eye of our minds, is consonant to the scriptural maxims, "Let us go on unto perfection," Heb, vi. 1; and, "Let the path of the just shine more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. iv. 18. It is, likewise, expedient in practice; for Herbert has well observed, that he who aimeth at the moon, though he will never reach it, is likely to shoot his arrow higher than another, who only directeth it at a tree. But to cherish a perpetual sense of our occasion for daily repentance, for continual remission, to feel our unworthiness, and to recline upon the Saviour, is, in compliance with the dictate of the same Scripture, to own ourselves unprofitable servants, and, while we do justice and love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. Luke, xvii. 10; Mic. vi. 8.

In the ninth proposition, the Calvinistic doc