thing of a special nature, which it would be interesting for you to hear. J. W. A.

ON FREE-WILL.

(Concluded from page 155.)

Men, in their sinful state, were dead as to the knowledge and the moral perfections of God. The Holy Scriptures teach us this, the history of all ancient ages, and the present state of nations who know not the gospel, yield confirmation of it. They were neither able, nor willing, of themselves, to know and serve God. That they might be otherwise circumstanced, it was necessary that God should reveal himself to them, in order that he might "work in them both to will and to do." He "works in them to will," by dissipating the darkness, prejudices, vain pretexts, and false reasonings, which obscure our feeble understanding; by imposing silence upon our passions, and by a sweet and holy persuasion, turning our will from evil, and directing it to good. He "works in them to do," by coming to the aid of those who are "willing to come to him for life," by sustaining, conducting, and drawing them to himself by the Spirit of grace, power, and sanctification, through whom he renders them victorious over their own flesh, the world, and death; and by conferring upon them freely the crown of a blessed immortality. In this manner the divine Sun of righteousness, by his pure light, illuminates those who "walk in the valley of the shadow of death," and enlivens them by the benign influence of his beams. Thus, the Spirit of Christ restores in man the image of God, which sin had effaced. Being liberated from the law of sin, we are made truly free. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Redeemed from the power of Satan, we obtain the right "to be sons of God," and the power to call him "Father." As we all die in Adam, so we are made alive in Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, we repel the calumny of those who accuse us of teaching that man is forced, in spite of himself, to do good, by the power of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, we teach that Christians are made free by the pure gift of God, that they "choose the good part" without constraint, and that they forsake all to follow the Saviour, because they "know that he has the words of eter nal life; because they believe and know that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God." They are "a willing people to God;" to obey him is their joy. They speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

What individual, now, will tell us, whether man is able to enlighten his own mind, change his heart, break the bands of sin, extricate himself from death, and be at peace with God, by the natural powers of his own free will? Until he reply to us, they who know "the gift of God," will bear a perpetual testimony to him, that they had no good thing in their heart before they knew that gift, and that they have ALL received of his infinite mercy. They who will not receive of him, accept his grace, trust in his promises, and be guided by his word, with the humility of little children, remain in their obduracy, in the death of sin; "they are condemned already."

With the confession of the Swiss churches, we further observe, that liberty is not perfect in the regenerate; that, on the contrary, it is weak in them, on account of the unhappy remains of the old man which God leaves in them, to render them continually sensible of their weakness, and that they may not boast of the liberty which they have received, as if they had not received it. So long as we are in this world, which is under the curse on account of sin, “the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things that we would." But we know that "all things are possible to them that believe," and that "this is the victory over the

world, even our faith." If we watch over ourselves, we shall not fall into the snares of the "roaring lion, who incessantly roams around us, seeking whom he may devour;" and if we continually implore the help of our heavenly Father, he will invest us with divine armour, (Eph. vi. 15, 18,) and render us "more than conquerors."

It may be asked, on the subject of original sin, why the children of the regenerate are not born with dispositions to good, rather than to evil? "Of the righteous baptized person, (says Augustine,) the unrighteous is born. The foreskin which was taken away in circumcision, was found in the children of the circumcised. Chaff, which is separated from grain, by the art and labour of man, is nevertheless still found to envelope the grain, produced from that which had been cleaned. As the seed of a wild olive produces a wild olive, and the seed of the genuine and cultivated olive produces still but a wild olive; so, as well of the flesh of the right eous as of the sinner, a sinner is produced."*

The Roman Catholics also say to us, If we be deprived of liberty to do good, why do the Scriptures contain so many commands and exhortations? Here is the answer which Andrew Rivett makes them: "These exhortations are either addressed to unregenerate man or to believers. If to the latter, we deny not that they have the liberty of doing good, with the assistance of the Spirit of the Lord, and so exhortations are profit able to them. If to the former, we say that it is not a vain or absurd thing to urge a debtor to the payment of what he owes, although he may not have the good will to pay, or even the power to do it. If we have forgotten our debt to God, if we are unacquainted with our want of power to pay it, the Scripture makes us sensible of it; and if we

Treatise on Merits, b. iii. c. 8; Trea

tise of Marriage, b. xvii. c. 19.

Summary of Controversies, Tract III.

have not wherewith to pay, it shows us where we may find a surety, a Saviour, who will bestow riches upon us freely. And to those who remain in their perverseness, it shows that God does them no wrong in punishing them, or in making them pay in sufferings, what they owe, since they have been rendered insolvent through the bad conduct of their father, approved of and persisted in by them." Prosper replies to Cassian, a semipelagian, who made him the same objection: "These things are commanded, that man, by the divine precepts, may be informed of the good which he has received, know what by his own fault he has lost, and be sensible that the demand which is made upon him is not unjust; and so relinquishing the letter which killeth,' that he may have recourse to the spirit which giveth life,' and seek in grace the power which he has not found in nature. If he do so, he will find that this [the command of God in Scripture] is a great mercy of the Lord; and if he do not, he will experience that there is a just punishment of sin." In a word, by such exhortations, as by useful instruments, God works in his faithful people, doing in them what he commands; he answers internally, by the operation of his Spirit, to the exhortation which he makes externally by his word.

They bring still as an objection against us, this passage of Augustine, (De Verb. apost. serm. 17.) "He that without thy aid created thee, without thy aid shall not save thee;" that is to say, they add, without free will. We reply, that we have strong reason to believe that this passage is corrupted; for in several ancient copies it reads, "He that without thy aid created thee, without thy aid shall he not save thee ?"

To conclude, let it be well attended to, that if ever so little be conceded to the power of man, upon the same principle much may be conceded, and we may even make the child of Adam the author of his own salvation. Then we render useless the

grace of God, the sacrifice of Christ, and revelation itself. Let the punishment of those proud men be remembered, who attempted to build a tower, whose top should reach the heavens, and who were confounded in the au

dacity of their presumptuous enterprise. "No one," said our Lord, "can come to me, except my Father, who hath sent me, draw him-Draw us, 0 Lord, and we will run after thee!" Amen.

We have a very good library on board, belonging to the captain; and upon examining it, I found that it contained many valuable and interesting works. I had also a good supply of books of my own, and "pleased myself with the prospect of the hours which I should revel away in feasts of literature." My hours of study were systematically appointed: my friend Dr. G. and myself were to recite French to each other every day-for we expected to pass a considerable portion of our time in France before we returned-I had poetry, and narrative, which I supposed would amuse my mind in any possible mood. But all my schemes for study and literary enjoyment have found were vain Except skimming over a few pages in a magazine, or dipping here and there into a guide book to the places I expected soon to visit, I may say I have read nothing; and as far as I can perceive, every passenger on board is in the same predicament. If there be such a thing as an “aching void," go to sea as a gentleman, or as a person who has nothing to do, and you will feel it. The "tranquil bosom of a summer sea" is, I assure you, beautiful only in poetry. In the language of

an intimate friend, I was almost tempted to exclaim

"Better to hang on icy shrouds, When billows dash against the clouds, Than in mid ocean's waste to lie Becalmed, beneath a sunny sky."

During our present calm weather, I have employed myself in watching and obtaining some molluscous animals, which are constantly floating by us. Those taken were a species of the ianthina and velella; they are beautiful, often exhibiting the colours of the rainbow. In the evening a favourable breeze sprung up, and carried us again on our course.

29th.-You must not be surprised that I commence my daily notices with the state of the wind, for it is by far the most interesting circumstance which occurs at sea

"She

a ship in sight, or a water-spout at a distance, cannot compare with it. The first question you ask the servant when he comes into your room in the morning is, "Which way is the wind?" and then "How many knots an hour?" These are also the last inquiries before going to bed. Our servant, Charles, was however but little to be depended upon in these matters; for his general reply in all cases was, keeps her course, sir." A strong, propitious wind, which blew all night, still drives us to our destined port, which we shall probably make in ten or twelve days. The sea is quite smooth, except a few white tops of the small waves which ruffle it: it looks something like a vast cemetery, filled with marble tombs, and brings to my mind the lines of Young:

be arrested by a calm or head winds. In spite of reason and religion, the mind becomes ruffled and disturbed under these circum

stances.

4th. This is the second Sunday I have passed on board, and I can truly say they have been no "Sabbath days to me." My mind perpetually wanders, not only from serious, but from all other objects, on which I attempt to fix it. I cannot think, or read, or write, or talk, or sleep, or eat, or walk, or do any thing else, here out of soundings, as I can on terra firma; and I now think, if I once get home, nothing can tempt me to cross the seas again.

This morning the wind changed in our favour. Upon going on deck I saw three or four large birds, like hawks, called by the sailors Boatswain birds, sailing round the masts of our ship. One of them fluttered for some time, pecking with his bill the very top of our mainmast, just as a humming-bird flutters about a flower; and this was done though we were going between eight and nine miles an hour. The noise made by the bird pecking on the top of the mast, carried my mind back to the scenes of my childhood, when I used to wander alone through my native woods, when all was silent except now and then the noisy prattle of the Blue-jay and the Woodpecker, tapping some tall and decaying tree. If I know myself, I do not think I am apt to be lost in reveries of this kind; but somehow or other, the most trifling occurrence here at sea, will set me musing about home and the days of my youth. In the evening, the wind turned against us, so that we made little or no progress.

5th. This morning the mate, at our request, called Messrs R. and S. and myself, very early upon deck, to see the sun rise out of the waves. The rising of the sun is always an interesting object, but I

think not more so at sea than in an open country situation: the only thing which struck me, as being at all peculiar, was his apparent nearness: this I suppose must be occasioned by the absence of all other objects with which to compare its distance. We were all disappointed, and duly resolved that for the future we would pass the hour of sunrise in our state-rooms, and not upon deck. The setting of the sun I have always thought produces a much more beautiful effect upon the heavens, than he does at rising; the heaps of golden clouds reposing on the surface of the dark blue sea -the fantastic forms and gorgeous colours of different portions of the sky-and the long and brilliant track of light which is thrown over the waves, as he appears to sink beneath them, are certainly very fine; yet all the imagery of this beautiful picture, except the last trait, which is certainly the least impressive, may be enjoyed to more advantage on shore. Never shall I forget the glorious sunsets I have seen, when taking my evening walk in our spacious garden

at P.

We are now in an almost perfect calm, the sea being as smooth as the still surface of a lake. We are therefore arrested in our progress, and begin to give up the hope of making a very short passage. Just as I had prepared some glass vessels, hermetically sealed, to sink into the sea, in order to ascertain what effect the pressure of the water would have upon them, the wind sprung up, and thus disappointed us all. This was peculiarly mortifying, as the wind was ahead.

6th. Still a slight head wind when it blows; the calm, however, predominates-producing a very unpleasant rolling of the ship, and a horrid flapping of the sails against the spars; the weather is nevertheless pleasant. We are scarcely nearer our port of destination now,