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holy-one of Israel. So, that although Israel be as the sands of the sea for multitude, yet every individual of this wide spreading family hath a deep and unalienable interest in this Holy-One of Israel. Nay, he is their head; and the holiness of this One, is in reality theirs. So that all those who in this state of things, are, for reasons best known to the great Master, rejected and cast off, shall hereafter be renewed and blessed with all spiritual blessings, according to the oath which he sware unto the patriarch, saying, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Truly there is sufficient room, and the blessing is of sufficient magnitude, to admit and encompass the whole family of man. "There is," said the celebrated Mr. James Hervey, "more merit in one drop of the Sa viour's blood, than demerit in the sins of the whole world;" but we needed not the testimony of this great man to confirm this truth. Right happy should I be, if these great men were always found witnessing the truth, if they were uniform supporters of the honour of their Redeemer's name. It is really a pity, that such well meaning gentlemen should so frequently expose themselves, by the indecision of their language. How often do we hear individuals, in a mortified tone of voice, remark, “We were delighted with the commencement of his discourse, but by a denial of the testimony with which he began, the close of his sermon involved us in thick darkness."

It is greatly to be lamented, that preachers and writers cannot decide upon what is truth, that they will not declare either for, or against the gospel of God our Saviour; that we might ascertain upon what we have to depend. "If," says the prophet, "Baal be God, serve him; if Jehovah be God, then serve him;" but thus continually giving reason to believe, that the preacher himself cannot admit a plan so inconsistent, must have a tendency to injure the cause of truth. This method, it should seem, has been of long standing. Hence the barriers raised against it under the Mosaic dispensation. The law expressly ordained, that the people should not plough with different animals, nor sow their fields with different seeds; nor were they permitted to habit themselves in a garment constructed of different materials, for it was particularly enjoined on the people of God, that they should not wear a garment of linen and woollen. The linen we are told was the righteousness of the saints, which is certainly the righteousness of Jesus Christ, wrought by him as made under the law, not to break, but to fulfil the law.

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The wool, the product of the sheep, leads to the consideration of the righteousness of the creature, these must not be mixed; they are both desirable in their place, yet we had better go naked, than wear this garment of mixed materials.

But there is, blessed be God, no necessity for going naked; we may at all times say, " O Lord, I will praise thee, for thou hast clothed me with the garments of salvation, thou hast covered me with the robe of righteousness ;" and, in fact, the righteousness of God is unto all, and upon all those who believe. Whosoever believes the gospel, in that very assent to divine truth, in believing, puts on the Lord Jesus, as made of God unto him righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and having thus received him, as he hath received him, so he walketh in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith which he has been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

Thus is the smell of the elder son's garment, as a field which God hath blessed. Mr. Westley piously and emphatically says: "Let the world their virtues boast,

Their works of righteousness..

I a wretch undone and lost,

Am only saved by grace.

"Other title I disclaim,

This, only this, be all my plea,
I the chief of sinners am,

But Jesus died for me."

But the author of these lines had no objection to human excellence; neither have I who transcribe them. Would to God that virtue, humanly speaking, every where abounded. Yea, we conceive that virtue, virtue of the fairest growth, will abundantly prevail where the garment of Christ's righteousness is put on. We confess we do not worship the virtue or the religion of any person, who has no acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ. Acquaint now thyself with God and be at peace, for what is called religion or virtue, distinct from the. Author and finisher of our faith, can obtain no place as the matter of our justification before God.

Speaking as a man, I delight in the growth of human rectitude, I am a gratified observer of domestic happiness. A faithful and affectionate married pair, patient and judicious parents, obedient and grateful children, attached and confiding brothers and sisters, obliging neighbours, social excellence, all these I truly admire, all these

possess my veneration, and I am charmed with every thing which can justly be considered as ornamental to humanity.

The philanthropic possessor of opulence, who delighteth to do good and to distribute, who visiteth the sick, who clotheth the naked, who feedeth the hungry, and giveth drink to the thirsty, who breaketh the chains of the prisoner, and receiveth into his mansion the destitute stranger; such an individual my idolatrous heart is inclined to worship. I have wept with pleasure at the benign liberality of a Penn, and I have followed with sensations bordering upon adoration, the luminous footsteps of a Howard; I have, in imagination, entered those prison walls which he hath irradiated by the light of his countenance, and I embrace him in the arms of my affection, of my esteem.

Friendship I have considered as the balm of life, and the virtues which combine in the character friend, possess my entire approbation. The good works which are profitable to my species, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; these I unite with the Apostle to praise; on these I would contemplate with inexpressible complacency. In one word, I would promote with my -whole soul whatever would elevate, whatever would adorn human

nature.

But the grand work of redemption, that which authorizes my appeal to the great Author of rectitude, that by which I am furnished with the answer of a good conscience toward God, all this must be looked for in a purer source.

Nor can I consent to wear, when making my appearance before my Creator, a garment composed of materials which he has strictly forbid me to mix; I cannot wear the linen and the woollen garment, the garment spotted by the flesh; I cannot sow the field with dif ferent seeds. When I appear before the King of heaven, I must have on my wedding dress, the robe of my Redeemer's righteousness, the garment of my eldest brother, that so the smell of my raiment may be like a field which God hath blessed:

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I am happy, my friend, that you can understand me. May your views of an opening heaven be brighter and brighter, unto the perfect day of your God. Farewell.

1

MY DEAR SIR,

LETTER XVII.

To a Preacher of the Gospel.

MR. W. leaving this town for the place of your residence, early in the morning, I take the opportunity of adding to the large packet, written by our dear mistaken friend P. which Mr. W. will hand you. You will find in this manuscript a number of useful hints, and singular observations; and you will, as I trust, be as much disgusted with some remarks, as you will be pleased by others. I am astonished to find a person knowing so much of divine revelation, at the same moment that he knows so little. Poor gentleman; he makes our Saviour the devil and all, with a vengeance; he tells us that when we arrive at such perfection in divine knowledge, as to behold in our Saviour, the man who had not on the wedding garment, we shall be furnished with a key which will introduce us to an acquaintance with many other passages, viz: The tares and the wheat; the sheep and the goats, &c. &c. Upon this gentleman's plan or principle, Jesus is the judge; who says unto Jesus, the goats, Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire!! Jesus is also the tares which the scriptures, say, and we believe, were sown by the wicked one; and which tares, we conceive, he who saveth his people from their sins, will in the end of the world command his servants to weed out, binding them in bundles and burning them." But, no," says Mr. P. "the tares are Jesus;" so that when the tares, Jesus, is separated from the people and burned, then shall the people shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father. Shocking blasphemy! Would you not suppose this the language of a lunatic? You will be surprised at the account he gives of Jacob and Esau, and of the fowls of heaven being called to the supper of the great God. I am beyond expression amazed at the old gentleman! Surely, surely, the scriptures as expressly delineate the adversary of the human family, as they do the Friend and Redeemer of mankind; they describe the fallen angels as unequivocally as they describe fallen man; they speak of the judgment of the one as plainly

as of the judgment of the other; they expressly designate the works of God, and the works of the devil. How is it then, that these scriptuarians make such horrid blunders, throwing the whole plan of revelation into confusion. Yet, after all, as I before observed, there are many excellent remarks made by the writer, by which we may profit; and as the old gentleman has given me leave, in a letter which accompanied the manuscript, to do with it just what I please, I would, were I able, publish from this manuscript, every thing calculated to do honour to the gospel of God our Saviour.

I think I mentioned something to you of a Mr. W. who had been in Boston some time past, preaching against our Saviour; the poor soul thought he was only preaching against me. He was uncommonly zealous and very popular, and the worshippers of anti-christ boasted much of him; but they are proportionably dejected, for he is now (if I may judge of him by a letter I have recently seen written by him, to Mr. B.) a most zealous preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the very same manner, that it was preached by the apostle Paul. I will endeavour to procure you a copy of this letter, and I will, at the same time, send you a copy of the letter I am going to send to this same Mr. W.; my name is mentioned in Mr. W.'s letter to Mr. B. not, I assure you, to my advantage. I suppose he had received from the enemy to whom he writes, a droll account of me and my sentiments, to which Mr. B. by the by, is a stranger; but I will endeavour to send you all about it; I am sure it will please you.

I could not forbear smiling at your remarks on Bacchus; yes, he has indeed drank of that wine, which produces a worse intoxi cation than the juice of the grape; and his disciples are more mischievous than were the Bacchanalians of old.

I have a letter from Boston, earnestly requesting me to draw my pen in answer to this opposer, and that absurd defender of the grace that wrought out, and brought in salvation for all men. I have written to this requester, that beside my inability which is an insuperable objection, I have sufficient reasons to prevent my taking. public notice of either of these writers. With respect to Bacchus, every unprejudiced person possessing only a moderate share of common sense, will readily discover that the poor man has confounded himself; and to a persons of a contrary description, a Paul or Relly would write in vain.

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