eulties, persecutions, and afflictions, overcame through the Blood of the Lamb; and has now reached that happy place, where storms and tempests can never come; and where the wicked cease from troubling.

In her we have seen another proof of the power and excél. lence of divine grace: which was not only sufficient to make a weak timid woman calm, patient, and serene, in the most afflictive circumstances, but truly happy and joyful with death in full view. Can the dead formalist,-the painted hypocrite,—the advocates of infidelity, or the sons and daughters of dissipation, produce any thing like this? Ah! no. Their strength fails,their courage dies,-and fears surround them like an armed host, in the trying hour when God requires their souls. Tenby, May 31, 1811.

MISCELLANEOUS.

JOHN WATSON.

THE following Queries were sent to us by a Correspondent, who signs himself A. P. in order to their being answered. We trust, that. the reply given to them will afford some assistance to the inquirer, by enabling him to surmount certain difficulties which he has to encounter in his theological investigations. Meantime, we would suggest to him, and others similarly cir cumstanced, that difficulties arising from metaphysical disquisitions are of no weight, when opposed to any doctrines, either expressed in, or clearly deduced from, the oracles of God.

1. Q. Does the Almighty will the existence of that which is contrary to his will?

4. Certainly he does not, if by willing be meant his being the cause or author of it; for the absolute perfection of his nature, renders it impossible for him either to contradict himself, or be the cause of evil. Whatever, as Sovereign of the Universe, he absolutely wills, infallibly comes to pass; but he does not thus will the salvation of moral agents in a state of probation, and hence his will, thus understood, always was, now is, and shall be eternally irresistible. As the Supreme Lawgiver, he, with infinite sincerity, wills that all men should be saved, as free, not necessary agents. He does not absolutely will that sin should not exist, otherwise its existence would be impossible; but he wills conditionally that all men should be holy, and to that end, does all that is consistent with infinite Wisdom and Goodness. Without admitting a distinction betwixt God's willing absolutely and conditionally, there is no sense in which it is true that he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance," 2 Pet. iii. 9.

2. Q. What is the difference betwixt God's not willing the existence of any thing, and his willing its non-existence?

A. In whatever sense God does not will the existence of any thing, in the same sense he wills its non-existence. For instance: he conditionally wills that none should perish, and in that sense wills the non-existence of their eternal misery; but he does not absolutely will either the one or the other.

3. Q. Is any thing willed by God, which is not intended and determined? Or is there any difference betwixt his Will and Decrees?

A. Nothing is absolutely willed, by God, which is not intended and determined, and which will not, of course, come to pass. Now, he tells us, in language not to be misunderstood, that he wills all men to be saved; but we know that, eventually, many will perish: hence we justly infer, that he conditionally, not absolutely, wills the salvation of all men. Between God's absolutely willing and decreeing, there does not appear to be any difference.

4. Q. If the non-existence of any thing be determined by God, can such thing exist?

A. It certainly cannot; for God does whatever he absolutely wills or determines.

5. Q. Docs it not impeach the Omnipotent, to say that his determinations can be thwarted. And, in that case, does it not imply that there is an arm stronger than his?

A. It would, undoubtedly, be to impeach Omnipotence, ta say that any of God's absolute determinations can be thwarted, and it would imply, (which is replete with blasphemy.) that there is an arm stronger than the Almighty's. But while we admit the scriptural doctrine of God's sovereignty, we must take care not to reject those of his Justice, Holiness, Goodness, and Truth. With these doctrines, that of the Divine Sovereignty perfectly accords. Many, by confounding the will of God, which, as the Sovereign Lawgiver, he has revealed to his ran somed creatures on earth, with his absolute will, which is irresistible, infer the doctrines of unconditional election and reprobation. Making no distinction betwixt God's absolutely and conditionally willing, they maintain the necessity of all events, the most cruel and abominable not excepted; and ground that necessity on the will of the Sovereign Lawgiver of the Universe. 6. Q. If no arm is stronger than God's, then why does moral evil exist?

4. No doubt, for reasons infinitely becoming the wisdom and goodness of the Divine government.-Without the possibility of moral evil, neither men nor angels could have ever been placed in a state of trial; but in that state Infinite Wisdom placed them, having made them "just and right,

"Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall."

Some of the angels fell, and afterwards the first human pair, hence the origin of evil. Its continuance neither is, nor can be any impeachment of the Divine power or Goodness, on the supposition that none suffer for unavoidable sins, nor more than their crimes justly deserve. But if, losing sight of this sober and scriptural view of the subject, we refer moral evil, with all its consequent train of sufferings, to an eternal and irresistible decree, we pour contempt upon all God's moral attributes, and involve ourselves in endless labyrinths of doubt and perplexity.

REMARKS ON MR. BROMLEY'S PLAN TO AVERT THE NATIONAL CALAMITIES.

SIR,

To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine.

Ir the following Extracts from, and Observations upon, Mr. Bromley's PLAN TO AVERT THE NATIONAL CALAMITIES, meet your approbation, your allowing them a place in your Miscellany will oblige, Your's, sincerely,

L. M. MR. BROMLEY, who is Paymaster in the 23d Reg. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, is an old officer, who has observed, with a discriminating eye, the state of public morals both at home and abroad. Evidently alive to the best interests of mankind, and manifestly acquained with religious principles, without the adoption of which profligacy of manners is, in general, unavoidable, he has, in his Pamphlet, attempted to point out the cause and cure of the deplorable state of Society in England. The two giant sins which chiefly occupy his attention, are prostitution and drunkenness. These, he shews, are never to be found solitary vices, but such as draw in their train numerous others, which are highly subversive of both civil and religious society.-The following paragraph, which begins the work, is calculated to make a deep impressión upon the mind of every intelligent

reader.

"In the present age, no circumstance claims more strongly the notice and attention of the British legislature, than the crime of prostitution; whether considered in a moral or political point of view it is fraught with the greatest calamities that can befal the individual, or the community, and, unless efficient measures are taken to stem the fatal torrent, it will eventually sap the foundation of the empire. The neglect of virtuous principles, and civil duties, plunged Rome into the lowest depths of degradation; and finally blotted her out from among the nations. Babylon, the grandest city the world ever beheld, was totally destroyed; and Sodom consumed, as in a moment: Constantinople, once the most Christian city in the world, lost her glory by the relaxation of her morals: and have

we a license to sin with impunity-are our sins less heinous than those of other people? Quite the reverse, considering the many blessings we enjoy, as a nation-the number of ad vantages for religious knowledge and practice, which we both have enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, above all the nations on earth; considering these circumstances, our wickedness is highly aggravated-it admits of no excuse." (p. 2.)

The author, after observing that the sin of prostitution, with all its baneful consequences, is awfully increased in this country, proceeds to point out the horrid evils consequent upon drunkenness. This vice, he says, exists in England, to an extent far beyond calculation. An author, saith he, who has lately published on this subject, observes; That that which most deeply affects the best interests of the community, is the abuse of low public-houses. It is next, in dangerous operation, to the prevalence of prostitution, of which, indeed, it is a powerful instrument. The evils which spring from this corrupt fountain, and the depravity occasioned by them, far surpass calculation: some of these houses are literally dens of thieves-from these haunts many hundreds go forth every night to the perpetration of crimes of all descriptions to these places thousands of the lowest classes of the people are constantly resorting; here they waste their time, and spend their money in gaming and tippling, whilst their neglected children, covered with rags, are crying with hunger here on the Lord's day, the poor of both sexes, at a very tender age, are first taught habits of vicious indulgence, and afterwards inured to crimes of the deepest die! Mr. Colquhoun observes, that there are no less than 5,201 licensed public-houses in London, and within the bills of mortality; and that the money expended in beer and spirits, by labouring people only, amounts to three millions sterling a year." (p. 5.)

The author's account of the causes of prostitution, recom mends itself to the serions consideration of all classes of society. Parents, especially, ought to peruse it with the closest attention. Alas! how many of them, by not subjecting their children to proper and necessary restraints, contribute to their present and eternal ruin! This remark will be justified by the following quotation.

Among the causes that lead to prostitution, none have contributed more than systematic seduction by gentlemen, so called, in the higher classes of society, and officers of the army and navy, some of whom are known to have devoted years to the ruin of particular objects, sparing neither oaths, promises, nor expense, in order to accomplish their abominable designs; and it is a lamentable fact, that a large body of officers, of some particular corps, for seasons together, have separated every evening at an early hour, into different parts of certain towns,

for the sole purpose of laying wait for their prey, vieing with each other who should first accomplish his iniquitous object; and, no sooner has the poor female listened to temptation, and fallen into their snare, than they have abandoned her to her fate, in order to go in pursuit of another." (p. 6.)

Such mousters of impiety and cruelty as are here described, are a disgrace to human nature; and ought to be shunned, as the plague, by all who have not outlived both a sense of character and the feelings of humanity. Such pests of society ought to be left to herd together, and considered as enemies of the human race; characters with whom it is extremely dangerous to have any social intercourse. But such is the state of morals in this Christian country, that well known perpetrators of the crime in question, are generally admitted, without hesitation, into the private as well as public parties of fashionable life.

"It is melancholy, continues the author, to observe with what indifference the parents of some young men listen to the stories of their criminal amours, and too frequently turn them off with a smile, or pass them as a good joke; but the more tender female, who, in an evil hour, listened to temptation, is thrust forth upon the unpitying world-shivering in the stormpining in some filthy abode-shattered in constitution-a spectacle to the world-or agonizing with remorse, amidst heaps of companions, witnessing infamy not to be told, and sharing in wretchedness scarcely to be imagined-or, probably, allowed to expire, without one ray of hope beyond the grave."

There are other parents, in a humble sphere, who have no right to expect that their children can be fitted for any situation but honest servitude, who yet bring them up with ruinous notions of gaiety, and will not allow them to fill the station Providence appears to have allotted them; but they are taught fancy-work, or are bound to mantua-makers, milliners, &c.; and this custom has become so general of late years, that, were there double the population, sufficient employment could not possibly be obtained for the number of young women, who are constantly sent to London and other large towns for instruction; who, when the term of their engagement is expired, are frequently destitute of work, of friends, of every personal resource to obtain a lawful subsistence, and are actually starving each ether; and, as it would be difficult to distinguish many of then from the more genteel part of the community, they are consequently more agreeable objects for the other sex, and fall an easy prey to the watchful intriguer, or the more artful procuress; by this means many thousands are added annually to the dreadful stock of the market of iniquity, and the nation thereby deprived of so many valuable servants. (p. 7, 8.)

After shewing that the fancy-dress of the present day, in which