by the fall; the passage is adduced merely as introductory to what next follows.

P. x. 1. 1. Every good affection, towards God, ' and towards man, was not totally extinguished.' It must not be concealed, that we Calvinists do maintain, that all good affections towards God were totally extinguished by the fall.' "That which is born of the "flesh is flesh:" and, "the carnal mind is enmity "against God:" and enmity against God is wholly incompatible with good affections towards him.*-If natural instinctive love to near relatives, or any of those things, which have before been mentioned, as found in fallen man, apart from special grace be good affec'tions,' we allow of them; but in no other sense. Be

cause, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we 'can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help ' of thy grace.' Things good before men, no doubt, fallen man can do without special grace: but not things good before God; as his Lordship afterwards concedes.

P. 10. Note from Melancthon. This note I shall attempt to translate; and then it will speak for itself. Therefore the true definition of the law of nature is, 'that the law of nature is the knowledge of the divine law, implanted in the nature of man. For on this ac'count man is said to have been created after the image ' of God; because the image shone forth in him; that is, 'the knowledge of God, and a certain liekness of the 'divine mind: that is, the discrimination of things ⚫ honourable and base: and with this knowledge the

powers of man agreed. The will, before the fall, was ' turned unto God; true sentiments also glowed in the 'mind, and in the will, love towards God; and the heart 'assented, without any hesitation, to the things known. And they determined, that we were created to ac

• John iii. 6. Rom. viii. 7. † Col. 1 Sunday after Trinity.

'knowledge and praise that God, and to obey that Lord 'who created us, sustained us, and impressed his image 'on us; who demands and approves righteous things; ' and on the contrary, condemns and punishes things unrighteous. But, though in this corruption of nature, 'the image of God being defaced: these things known do 'not thus shine forth, yet they remain: but the heart resists, and certain doubts rush in which seem to con'tend against these known truths.' The reader will observe, that all, except the last sentence, is spoken of man as God at first created him; and the energetic expression, sed cor repugnat, 'the heart resists,' clearly establishes our sentiments, and shews the need which we have of a "new heart," in order to "walk in newness "of life." "Make the tree good, and his fruit good: "for a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit."

P. xi. 1. 17. To those who, &c.'* Did not our Saviour preach the glad tidings of the Gospel?' And were they not conveyed to his hearers till afterwards?t If John the Baptist, and our Lord and his apostles, and the seventy disciples, during his life on earth, preached the gospel: then most clearly the instances of good things in men, during that period which are afterwards mentioned, should be ascribed to the grace of the gospel.

P. xi. 1. 21. "I am not come," says Christ, "to "call the righteous, but sinners to repentance:" we 'may therefore affirm upon the authority of our blessed 'Saviour himself, that there is at least a degree of righ'teousness in some men.'-If any be righteous in themselves, without Christ; he did not come to call them to be his disciples, or to seek salvation from him. If their own righteousness be sufficient for their justifi

To those who heard the preaching of our Saviour, and to whom the glad tidings of the gospel were afterwards conveyed.'

Matt. iv. 23. Mark i. 14. Luke iv. 18.

cation, they may be saved without him: yet for this, 'some degree of righteousness' will not suffice: "But "Christ shall profit them nothing," if he do not call them to come unto him and trust in him. The persons spoken of either had previously repented, or they had not: if they had repented, and were then penitent; this was an acknowledgement of their sinfulness and need of mercy; if they had not repented, either they had never sinned, or they remained unpardoned; for it will scarcely be maintained, that impenitent sinners have obtained forgiveness. "God com"mandeth all men every where to repent:"* and he who has not repented, and yet "needs no repentance," must have been perfectly holy in heart and life, from his very birth.

P. xii. 1. 15. By the righteous, &c.'t &c.'† Whether Dr. Whitby's comment on the scripture referred to, or that of those who wish to reconcile this passage to the 'Calvinistic system,' be preferable, must be left to the decision of the reader. But it may be observed, that many in reality need the spiritual Physician,' who think they do not; and therefore despise and neglect him; on the other hand, there are none of the whole fallen race of man, who do not want him. I have 'need,' says he, who "was filled with the Holy Ghost "even from his mother's womb;' "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"

• Acts xvii. 30.

By the righteous, (says Whitby, very justly,) we are not to understand 'those who are only righteous in their own conceits, such as the Pharisees 'were, who justified themselves before men, and trusted in themselves that 'they were righteous, and despised others, in comparison of themselves: for ⚫ such are not whole, but have great need of the spiritual physician: and 'such especially the gospel calleth to repentance.'

P. xii. 1. 25. Moreover, &c.'* Did our Lord then come to call none but such as live in the customary practice of sin?' Are others excluded from his salvation? Or, have they no need of it? Are the righteous here described, become righteous without the grace of the gospel? And is their righteousness sufficient for their acceptance with God, without the merits and atonement of Christ?' We have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working in us, when we have that good will.'t 'Works done before the grace of Christ, and 'the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God.'‡ 'Good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow 'after justification, cannot put away our sins, and en'dure the severity of God's judgment; yet they are 'pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ.'-Were then Job, and Zacharias and Elizabeth, "righteous be"fore God," by a natural good disposition, or by special grace? His Lordship grants, that our weak and • unassisted nature will not allow us to perform,' an action good in the sight of God. 'T Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous before God; therefore "by the

• Moreover, the word sinners here imports such persons as live in a cus'tomary practice of sin, so that the tenor of their lives is wicked, and who ' are therefore to be called to that repentance which consists in the change of ‹ their lives, from the service of sin to holiness, from slavery to Satan to the <fear of God; and therefore, by the righteous who need no repentance, we are not to understand those who are entirely free from sin; for so, there is not a just man upon earth, nor any man who is not a sinner; but those who ' are truly and sincerely righteous, have truly reformed their lives, who carefully endeavour to abstain from all known sins, and set themselves sincerely to the performance of their whole duty both to God and man, and so are righteous and acceptable in the sight of God; in which sense Job was righ. teous and eschewed evil; Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous, walking in all the commandments of the Lord; and Simeon; snd so they needed not that repentance which consists in the change of the life from a course of 'sinning to a living unto God.'

¶ Page 67. Ref.

grace of God they were what they were." It is said of Simeon that "the Holy Ghost was upon him; and "the goodness of his character must surely be ascribed "to special grace; yet he also waited for the consola"tion of Israel," and welcomed the child Jesus, as "the Salvation of God."

If the persons spoken of needed not that repentance which other sinners did, it was because they had repented, and were daily repenting; for no impenitent sinner can be "righteous before God," whether his sins have been many or few; and "there is not a just man on "earth, who doeth good and sinneth not."*-But they 'lived before the gospel dispensation.'-Was it then peculiar to Abraham, that he was justified by faith, long before the coming of Christ? Might it not be said of all believers, from the beginning, as well as of him; "It is of faith, that it might be by grace?" Their light, and comfort, and fruitfulness came from the dawning of the "Sun of Righteousness," before he became visible above the horizon. My good child know this, 'that thou art not able to do these things of thyself, nor 'to walk in the commandments of God, and to serve 'him without his special grace.'t Was the case then different before the coming of Christ? and were men at that time able to keep the commandments of God, and 'to serve him, without his special grace?'

P. xiv. l. 14. That on the good, &c.'t Will his &c.'‡ Lordship then maintain, that "the honest and good

• Ec. vii. 20.

Ques. in Cat. before the Lord's Prayer.

"That on the good ground," says Christ, "are they which in an honest "and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with "patience;" here we have again our Saviour's authority for say ing, that there ' is some honesty, some goodness of heart in the human race; and that dif. ferent men possess tl.ese virtuous qualities in different degrees, since of the 'seed which fell upon good ground, some brought forth" an hundred fold, "some sixty, some thirty."