own will, but the will of him that sent them: of him that sent them; and this is the will and this is the will of God concerning them, of God concerning them, even their wickedeven their sanctification. Hence they are ness. Hence they are expressly said to be expressly said to be elect unto obedience. Not reprobated unto disobedience. Not indeed indeed chosen because of obedience, but chos- reprobated because of disobedience, but reproen unto it: For works are not the founda- bated unto it : For works are not the fountion of grace, but streams flowing from it. dation of wrath, but streams flowing from it. Election does not depend upon holiness, but Reprobation does not depend upon wickedness, holiness depends upon election. So far, but wickedness depends upon reprobation. therefore, is predestination from being sub- So far, therefore is predestination from being versive of good works; that predestination is subversive of bad works; that predestination the primary cause of all the good works, which to death is the primary cause of all the bad have been, and shall be wrought, from the works which have been, and shall be beginning to the end of time." wrought from the beginning to the end of time.

Dreadfully crooked as the left leg of Mr Toplady's system is, it perfectly agrees with the right leg; i. e. with his crooked election and his bandy predestination. He may deny it as absolutely as prisoners at the bar deny what is laid to their charge: but their denial goes for nothing: the witnesses are called in; and I produce two, who are capital, and to whom I suppose Mr. Toplady will hardly object. The first is Zanchius, and the second is his ingenious translator, who says in his translation, p. 50, "He [man] fell in consequence of the divine decree."-Observ. p. 7,"Whatever comes to pass, comes to pass by virtue of this absolute, omnipotent will of God." "Whatever things come to pass, come to pass necessarily."-Ibid. "Whatever man does, he does necessarily.”—Page 15," All things turn out according to divine predestination; not only the works we do outwardly, but even the thoughts we think inwardly.-P. 7, The will of God is the primary and supreme cause of all things.-P. 11, The sole cause why some are saved and others perish, proceeds from bis willing the salvation of the former, and the perdition of the latter.-P. 15, We can only do what God from eternity willed and

foreknew we should.-P. 7, No free-will of the creature can resist the will of God.P. 19, The purpose or decree of God signifies his everlasting appointment of some men to life, and of others to death: Which appointment flows entirely from his own free and sovereign will.-P. 57, If between the elect and the reprobate, there was not a great gulph fixed, so that neither can be otherwise than they are, then the will of God (which is the alone cause why some are chosen and others not) would be rendered of no effect.P. 56. Nor would his word be true, with regard to the non-elect, if it was possible for them to be saved. P. 15, The condemnation of the reprobate is necessary and irresistable-P. 25, God worketh all things in all men, even wickedness in the wicked."

On these propositions [the most unguarded words of which I have produced in Italics,] I rest the left leg of Calvinism: and taking my leave of the translation of Zanchius, I return to the" Vindication of the Decrees," and continue to make Mr. Toplady's doctrine of grace stand" on its legs," that is, on absolute reprobation to death, as well as on absolute election to life.

Left Leg.

ANSWER. NO. 2. Reason also joins with scripture, in asserting the indispensible necessity of wickedness, upon the footing of the most absolute and irrespective reprobation: Or, in other words, that the certainty of the end does not supersede, but ensure the intervention of the means.

Left Leg.

ANSWER. No. 2. It was necessary that, as unholy, they [the reprobate] should not only be appointed to punishment, and entitled to hell; but endued morcover with an internal meetness for that inheritance.-This internal meetness for hell, can only be wrought by the preventing agency of [the Manichean] GOD, the unholy ghost, who officiously engaged, and took upon himself in the covenant of wrath

Here Mr. Toplady adds, " and I believe, no body ever yet heard of a willing machine." But he is mis taken; for all moral philosophers call machine, whatever is fitted for free motions, and yet has no power to begin and determine its own motions, Now willing, begin the motion of a spirit, if a spirit cannot will, but as it is necessarily made to will, it is as void of a self-determining principle, as a fire engine, and of consequence it is [morally speaking] as a mere machine.

when he saw in the wilderness the carcasses of several hundred thousand persons, to whom God had promised the good land of Canaan with an oath, and who nevertheless entered not in because of unbelief, he saw several hundred thousand proofs, that God's promises are not absolute: And that when he deals with rewardable and punishable agents the decree of the end is not unconditional, and does by no means include an irresistible decree which binds upon them the unavoidable use of the means.

shalt not live; and a positive form, Thou shalt die. The means of executing the decree was already upon Hezekiah: He was sick unto death. And yet, so far was he from thinking, that the decree of the end absolutely included that of the means, that he set himself upon praying for life and health; yea, upon doing it as a Jewish perfectionist. "Then Hezekiah turn ed his face towards the wall, and prayed, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee with a perfect heart, &c. and Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, But, consider we the peculiar case of and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith [thus de- Joshua himself. "The Lord spake unto creeth] the Lord, I have heard thy prayer, I Joshua, saying, There shall not any man be have seen thy tears: behold I will add unto able to stand before thee all the days of thy thy days fifteen years, ver. 2, 5." From this life: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee," account it is evident, that Hezekiah might Josh. i. 5. Now this peremptory decree of the easily have reversed the decree about his life, end, far from necessarily including the means, by stabbing or drowning himself, as he reversed actually failed by a single flaw in the use of the decree about his death, by weeping and the means. The disobedience of Achan repraying; and that Mr. Toplady had forgotten versed the decree: For he disregarded the himself as much in producing the case of means or condition which God had appointHezekiah in support of Calvinism, as if he ed: "Turn not to the right or to the left, that had appealed to our Lord's sermon on the thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou mount, in defence of the lawless gospel of the goest," Josh. i. 7. Hence it is, that, when day. Achan had turned to the left, the decree failed, and we find Joshua prostrate before the ark a whole day, with his clothes rent, and dust upon his head; lamenting the flight of Israel before Ai, and wishing that he had been content, and had dwelt on the other side of Jordan. Nor do I see in God's answer to him, the least hint of Mr. Toplady's doctrine. "Why liest thou upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant:-For they have even taken of the accursed thing.-Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies,because they were accursed: Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed thing," Josh. vii. 1, 13.

A kind of infatuation attends the wisest men, who openly fight the battles of error. In the end, their swords, like that of the champion of the Philistines, do their cause more mischief than service. Mr. Toplady will perhaps afford us another instance of it. After producing Hezekiah to establish the absoluteness of God's decrees, he calls in the first Jewish hero. Joshua is brought to demonstrate, that the decree of the end always binds upon us an unavoidable submission to the decree of the means: Or, to speak more intelligibly, that God's decrees to bless or to curse, are always absolute, and necessitate us to use the means leading to his blessing or his curse.

ARG. XIV. [Page 23.] "Prior to the taking of Jericho, it was revealed to Joshua, that he should certainly be master of the place. Nay, so peremptory was the decree, and so express the revelation of it, that it was predicted as if it had already taken effect: I have given into thy hand Jericho, &c.' This assurance, than which nothing could be more ab olute, did not tie up Joshua's hands from action, and make him sit down without using the means, which were no less appointed than the end. On the contrary," &c.

Here we are given to understand, that Joshua and the Israelites would never cross any of God's gracious decrees by neglecting the means of their accomplishment; because they were necessitated to use those means. Thus is Joshua pressed into the service of calvinian necessity, and the absoluteness of God's decrees. Joshua, who of all men in the world, is most unlikely to support the tottering ark of calvinian necessity. For

Hence it appears, that, when Mr. Toplady appeals to Joshua in defence of the absolute. ness of God's decrees, he displays his skill in the art of logic, as much as if he appealed to the peremptoriness of the famous decree, "Yet forty days, and [ungodly] Ninevah shall be destroyed:" and yet penitent Ninevah was spared: so unscriptural is the assertion, that the decree of the end ensures the use of the means, when God tries moral agents in the day of salvation, in order to punish or reward them according to their works, in the day of judgment!

Mr. Toplady supports these unfortunate appeals to scripture, by the following appeal to reason.

ARG. XV. [Page 24.] "Suppose it was infallibly revealed to an army, or to any single individual, that the former should certainly gain such a battle, and the latter certainly win such a race, would not the army be mad to say, Then we will not fight a stroke? Would not the racer be insane to add, Nor

will I move so much as one of my feet, &c. Equally illogical is Mr. Wesley's impudent slander, that the elect shall be saved do what they will, &c. Either he is absolutely unacquainted with the first principles of reasoning; 'or he offers up the knowledge he has, as a whole burnt sacrifice on the altar of malice, calumny, and falsehood."

This severe censure will appear calvinistically gratuitous, if we consider, that it is entirely founded upon the impropriety of the illustrations produced by Mr. Toplady. If he had exactly represented the case, he would have said, "Suppose it was infallibly revealed to an army, that they should certainly gain such a battle; that they could do nothing towards the victory by their own fighting; that the battle was fought and absolutely won for them 1800 years ago; that if they refused to fight to-day, or if they ran away, or were taken prisoners, their triumph would not be less certain; and that putting their bottle to their neighbour's mouths, and defiling their wives, instead of fighting, would only make them sing victory louder, on a certain day called a day of power, when Omnipotence would sovereignly exert itself in their behalf, and put all their enemies to flight: Suppose again it was revealed to a racer, that he should certainly win such a race, and receive the prize, whether he ran to-day backward or forward; because his winning the race does not at all depend upon his own swift runaing, but upon the swiftness of a great racer, who yesterday ran the race for him, and who absolutely imputes to him his swift running, even while he gets out of the course to chase a ewe-lamb, or visit a Delilah;-that the covenant, which secures him the prize, is unconditionally or dered in all things and sure; that, though he may be unwilling to run now, yet in a day of irresistible power he shall be made willing to fly and receive the prize; and that his former loitering will only set off the greatness of the power, which is absolutely engaged to carry him, and all the elect racers, quite from Egypt to Canaan in one hour, if they have loitered till the eleventh hour:"-suppose I say, Mr. Toplady had given us such a just view of the case, who could charge the soldiers with "madness," and the racer with "being insane," if they agreed to say, We will neither fight nor run, but take our ease and indulge ourselves, till the day of power come, in which we shall irresistibly be made to gain the battle, and to win the race?"

From these rectified illustrations, it appears, if I am not mistaken, 1. that, when Mr. Wesley advanced his consequence, he neither "shewed himself absolutely unacquainted with the first principles of reasoning;" nor" offered up the knowledge he has, as a whole burnt-sacrifice on the altar of malice, calumny, and falsehood."-And 2.

that, when Mr. Toplady's appeals to scripture and reason are made fairly to stand upon their legs, they do his doctrine as little service as his limping arguments.

SECTION IV.

An Answer to the Arguments, by which Mr. Toplady endeavours to reconcile the Calvinian Reprobation with divine Justice.

WE have seen how unhappily the Translator of Zanchius has reconciled his doctrines of grace and absolute election with God's holiness: Let us now see if he has been more successful in reconciling his doctrines of wrath and absolute reprobation with divine justice.

ARG. XVI. [Page 35.] "Justice consists in rendering to every man his due.”—Mr. Toplady gives us this narrow definition of justice to make way for this argument: God Owes us no blessing, and therefore he may gratuitously give us an everlasting curse. He does not owe us heaven, and therefore he may justly appoint that eternal sin and damnation shall be our unavoidable portion.But, is not a king unjust when he punishes an unavoidable fault with uninterrupted torture, as well as when he refuses to pay his just debts?

ARG. XVII. [Ibid.]" God is not a debtor to any man."-True, [strictly speaking :] But, 1. Does not God owe to himself, to behave like himself, [that is, like a gracious and just Creator,] towards every man ?2. When God by his promise has engaged himself judicially to render to every man according to his works, is it just in him to necessitate some men to work righteousness, and others to work iniquity, that he may reward the former, and punish the latter, according to arbitrary decrees of absolute election to life, and of absolute reprobation to death ?-and 3. Do not the sacred writers observe, that God has condescended to make himself a debtor to his creatures by his gracious promises? Did Mr. Toplady never read, "He that hath pity on the poor, lendeth unto the Lord, and look, what he layeth out it shall be paid him again?" Prov. xix. 17. When evangelical Paul had fought a good fight, does he not look for a crown from the just Judge, and declare that "God is not unrighteous to forget our labour of love?" and if we confess our sins, is not God bound by his justice, as well as by his faithfulness, to forgive and cleanse us? 1 John i. 9.

ARG. XVIII. [Ibid.] "If it can be proved, that he [God] owes salvation to every rational being he has made; then, and then only, will it follow, that God is unjust in not paying this debt of salvation to each, &c.What shadow of injustice can be fastened on his conduct, for, in some cases, withholding