minding and labouring to improve by the judgment, and God's wonderful preservation of them. Others return, and sin as hard as they can, having been taken off for a while from those opportunities and free liberties for sin which they had before. Most began now to sit down at rest in their houses, when summer was come and the plague did not return; and they bring back all their goods which they had carried into the country because of the plague. They did not imagine they should be forced to remove them again so soon by the great fire."

Our allusion to Vincent's work would be very unjust, if, after the above notice of its historical details, we laid it down without copying a portion of his faithful and striking exhortations. They are seasonable at all times, but more especially at the present moment.

"The first sin of London is slighting of the Gospel. The Gospel in England hath above this hundred years, shined forth out of the clouds of Popery and AntiChristianism, which before did overspread the land; and in no place of England hath the Gospel been preached with greater power and purity than in London; and what entertainment hath it found; hath it been valued according to its worth and excellency; hath it been received as if it had come down from the God of heaven, expressing his love and good-will towards the children of men, as if it had brought such good news and tidings, as salvation by Jesus Christ?

"Read the eulogium which the Apostle Peter gives of the salvation made known by the Gospel, 1. Pet. i. 10-12. 'Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did

signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow; unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things which are now reported unto you, by them that have preached the Gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into.' The Prophets of old did inquire and search, but did not so clearly understand the Gospel as now it is revealed; our Saviour tells his disciples, Luke x. 24, that many prophets and kings had desired to see the things which they saw, and had not seen them; and to hear the things which they did hear, and have not heard them; for indeed this mystery was hid from ages and generations, which God then made manifest unto the saints.' Col. i. 26. And the Apostle Paul tells us, that' though the ministration of the law were glorious, insomuch that it made the face of Moses to shine,' unto whom the law was revealed upon the Mount, yet that it had no glory in comparison with the ministration of the Gospel, whose glory did so far excel,' 2 Cor. iii. 7-10. The mysteries of God's wisdom and love revealed in the Gospel, being so glorious, surely are worthy of acceptation and esteem, especially when the angels, who are not so much concerned, desire to look into these things, unto whom it is said, Eph. iii. 10, 'Is made known by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God.' And yet these great things which have been reported by them, who have preached the Gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, have been undervalued in London. The Gospel hath been. slighted in London; and though some have been more notoriously guilty, yet who can altogether excuse themselves from this sin?

"All these persons have been

slighters of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the ignorant, the profane, the hypocrite, and the erroneous; and if you place them all in one company, how few will there remain in London that have sincerely and heartily embraced the truth as it is in Jesus, and upon whom the Gospel hath made a powerful and saving impression! And even amongst those that have been affected and converted by the preaching of the Gospel, and had it greatly in esteem at first hearing and believing, how was their esteem of the Gospel fallen, and their affection cooled! Did not Gospel ordinances begin to lose their worth and excellency, and grow tedious and wearisome unto them? O, how generally unthankful was London for Gospel privileges and liberties! Yea, many began to be very nice and wanton, and the Gospel was not relished, unless it was served up with such neatness and dressings, in which some ministers possibly did too much endeavour to please themselves and the people; and then the sauce was more relished than the food itself, and the appetite of many was so spoiled, that plain, wholesome, soul-saving truths, would not go down with them. Londoners began to be glutted with the Gospel; and, like the Israelites in the wilderness, their souls began to loathe the manna which came down from heaven. A strange curiosity there was in spiritual palates which, in many, turned to a loathing of the food, insomuch that the Gospel became a burden unto them, and thence it was that many turned away their ears from the truth, and were turned unto errors; and they could not endure to hear sound doctrine, but having itching ears, heaped up unto themselves teachers ac cording to their lusts.' 2 Tim. iv. 3, 4.

"And those that continued steadfast in the truth, did not duly

prize the Gospel, none of them according to its dignity and worth.

"If London do not repent ere long and labour to recover its relish and esteem of the Gospel, and make more evident demonstrations of it, I fear the Lord will quite remove the Gospel from them; and then nothing is like to follow but desolation and wo."

ADDRESS OF THE MANAGERS OF THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

The African Repository for the month of June contains an address of much interest, which is thus introduced:

"The practicability of coloni zing in Africa, any number of the Free People of Colour of the United States that may choose to emi. grate, being demonstrated, the Ma nagers of the American Colonization Society, address their fellow citizens, under a deep conviction that this whole nation is now sum. moned to aid the work, by the most weighty considerations of interest, duty, and charity."

The address is too long to be inserted entire in our pages, but we give the concluding part, in which an appeal is made to certain descriptions of persons and associa tions, relative to the collection of funds and the employment of influence, in behalf of the great enterprise over which the managers preside. We rejoice to see that the colonization cause is gaining friends in every part of our coun try; and indeed we see not how any friend to humanity, civilization, and the propagation of Christianity, can fail to be a friend, and to the extent of his ability, a patron too, of this most benevolent enterprise. We think it high time that it should be countenanced and supported by the general government. But while this is neglected, there is a more earnest call on pri

vate individuals and voluntary associations, to exert themselves spiritedly and efficiently. By so doing, the nation will sooner be brought to aid in an undertaking in which all its interests are deeply concerned. In congregations in which collections have not already been taken up for the funds of the Society, we do hope that nothing will prevent its being done with all practicable promptitude. The concluding part of the Managers address is as follows

"The Managers feel that the time has come, when it were criminal on this subject to be silent. They feel that something should be done, compared with which all that has been done is nothing.-They know that a spirit should go abroad throughout all the borders of the land, like that which kindled in the hearts of our fathers, when they staked their all for independence; that every lover of man and of God is called, as by a mandate from Heaven, to lift up his voice and bring forward his contribution to effect an object, the doing of which, will, in all after ages, be deemed our nation's chief glory, while Africa will record and celebrate it as the great moral revolution in her history. True, the work is a great one, and, therefore, worthy a nation like this. That it is practicable to any extent desired, is as evident as that it is great. The sum saved in a single year to the state of New York, by the partial reformation from intemperance, would transport to Africa the annual increase of the whole coloured population of the United States. And shall we, the most prosperous people in the world, who are legislating not to increase, but reduce our revenue, want for such an object, a mere pittance of that which is, yearly, by luxury and intempe rance, worse than wasted? The magnitude of the work and the expense to be incurred in its accomplishment, constitute no valid ob

jections to it, because the importance and glory of it exceed the former, and our means the latter. And that history gives no precedent for such a work, will prove but a miserable apology for neglecting it, unless it be reasonable to make the standard of our duty and the measure of our renown correspond to those of long buried nations, rather than to the greatness of our obligations to God, of our opportunities and means of usefulness, and the height of Christian charity. Surely the people of the United States cannot forget how God hath delivered and exalted them by his own right hand, that the light of their example might bless the world; nor will they sacrifice both duty and renown, for fear of showing to mankind that it is possible for nations, as well as individuals, to be magnanimous and illustrious for virtue.

"The Managers appeal, then, to the clergy of every denomination, and invite them, annually, on or near the day consecrated to the memory of our Independence, to bring the claims of the Society before their people, and to receive, in furtherance of its object, such free-will offerings as gratitude to God and love to men may incline them to bestow.

"They appeal to the Auxiliary Societies, and urge them to come forward with increased power to the work, to assist in forming other kindred associations, and by widely diffusing information to excite the whole American community, duly to consider and pro

mote the cause.

"To their fair country-women, who are ever first to feel for the wretched, and foremost to administer relief, whose moral influence in society, though their own modesty may undervalue it, humanity and religion acknowledge to be of vast power and unspeakable worth, Africa, darker in her mourning than her complexion, offers, in silent

grief, her plea, which it were impossible to render more convincing by argument, or touching by eloquence. She looks to American benevolence as to that in which all her precious hopes are treasured up, and for their fulfilment nature itself will plead more strongly than we can, in every fe

male heart.

"Nor would the managers omit to say to those who control the public press, that almost omnipotent engine for moving human minds to action, that to them belongs the power of securing to the design of this Society, the amplest means for its speedy consummation. Let every Editor in the country feel himself responsible to make known throughout the limits of his influence, the views, operations, and success of the Society, and that which it has been attempting in weakness, will be done with power, that which private charity has so well commenced, be completed by the bounty of the states and the nation.

"In concluding this perhaps too protracted address, the Managers beg leave to say, that not less than one thousand emigrants are now seeking a passage to Liberia; that the colony is prepared to receive them, that funds only are wanting to enable the society to prosecute its enterprise on a large scale, and that all which can appeal to our interests, or encourage our hopes, or move our hearts to charity, now commends the cause of African colonization to the affection and li

REVIEWERS REVIEWED.

(Continued from p. 265.)

berality of our countrymen. Nor will they, the Managers are persuaded, remain insensible to the merits of this cause. Every where meet us the indications of its growing popularity. Justice and Compassion, Mercy and Charity, have gone forth in fellowship to plead for it, and the Managers trust in the great Author of all good to send forth his Spirit to their aid that Spirit, under whose divine illuminations and all-gracious but all-subduing energies, men of every country and condition shall finally rejoice in peace and love, sharers in unity of the same faith, and of the same hope of the great and common salvation. And if, from the thick gloom overshadowing Africa, light begins to break forth, let us look for brighter glory, and believe that he who made Joseph's captivity the precursor of his honour, and his usefulness, and the death of his own Son, at which nature trembled, the means of human redemption, will finally change the evils which have cursed Africa into blessings; that the slave trade and slavery, which have been to her a torrent of wrath, laying waste all her happiness and hopes, will end in a tide, deep, tranquil and refreshing, flowing forth to awake life and gladness in all her wildernesses and solitary places, and to make even her deserts to bud and blossom as the rose.

Agreeably to an intimation in our last number, we are now to combat the assertion contained in

By order of the Board.
R. R. GURLEY, Sec'ry."

the review, by the Christian Observer, of Mr. Scott's last volume of the history of the protestant reformation that "He [Calvin] did not hold the doctrine of the impu tation of Adam's sin to all his posterity."

In any inquiry, and especially in every controversy, it is of prime importance that the meaning of terms be clearly ascertained, and kept constantly in view. In the allegation which we controvert, the term imputation may be used with some variety of meaning, and requires to be definitely ascertained, in its application to the subject before us. This we think can be done in no way so unobjectionable as to take the explanation of it-if such an explanation can be found-from some accurate writer, who has used it in treating professedly on the subject in discussion. Such a writer, we think none will deny, was the first president Edwards; and he gives his definition or understanding of this term, in the very first paragraph of his extended treatise on Original Sin." We will quote the whole paragraph-" By original sin, as the phrase has been most commonly used by divines, is meant the innate sinful depravity of the heart. But yet when the doctrine of original sin is spoken of, it is vulgarly understood in that latitude, as to include not only the depravity of nature, but the imputation of Adam's first sin; or, in other words, the liableness or exposedness of Adam's posterity, in the divine judgment, to partake of the punishment of that sin. So far as I know, most of those who have held one of these, have maintained the other; and most of those who have opposed one, have opposed the other: both are opposed by the author, [Dr. John Taylor, of Norwich, England,] chiefly attended to in the following discourse, in his book against original sin: And it may perhaps appear in our future consideration of the subject, that they are closely connected, and that the arguments which prove the one establish the other, and that there are no more difficulties attending the allowing of the one than the other."

Ch. Adv.-VOL. X.

We wish that every clause of this paragraph were well considered; and we shall have occasion to advert to it for more than a definition of the word imputation-"The imputation of Adam's first sin,” is "in other words, the liableness or exposedness of Adam's posterity, in the divine judgment, to partake of the punishment of that sin." This is what Edwards understood, what Calvinistick writers have always understood, what we understand, and think we shall show that Calvin himself understood, by the imputation of Adam's first sin, to all his posterity. We add, that we truly believe that this, and this only, is what the Christian Observer means should be understood by the word imputation, in the sentence on which we remark: or if it is not, then we say, that we cannot tell, till we farther learn what his meaning is, whether we differ from him or not. The word first, indeed, is not in the Observer's assertion; and the word all, is not in Edwards' definition. But we think that no one will say, that this is a difference of any account in the present case: For we never heard of a Calvinist who said or thought, that any of the sins of Adam, after his fall-any sin but that first one by which he broke covenant with his God, was imputed to his posterity: And in like manner, we never heard of an individual who held that Adam's sin was imputed to his posterity; who did not hold that it was imputed to all of them-to one as much as to another.

Now, let us do what all logicians and fair reasoners allow may be done, and sometimes requires to be done-substitute the definition of a word for the word itself; and then the Observer's position will stand thus-"He [Calvin] did not hold the doctrine of the liableness or exposedness in the divine judgment, of all the posterity of Adam, to partake of the punishment of 2Q