universe, (for there was no other possible way for sin to enter the system, but through the voluntary disobedience of free moral agents,) yet God, in full view of what would take place in respect to the disobedience of angels and men, determined or decreed to make them, and therefore, even according to the Arminian system, decreed that sin should enter the world. He could not decree to make man, without at the same time, decreeing that sin should enter the system; for, as the Arminians say, (and I believe every other man of common sense will say the same,) past, present and future, as they are conceived of by us, are with the great I AM, one eternal Now. That is, that all things from everlasting to everlasting are always present with God-that he sees the end from the beginning. If so he certainly always saw how man would behave if he made him-viz. that he would sin; and yet the Arminians believe that from eternity he decreed to make him, and consequently, that sin should take place. For, as I observed above how could he decree to make man without decreeing that sin should take place, when it was infallibly certain, if he did make him, that he would sin. The Arminians, then, in a certain sense, hold that God decreed that sin should take place; yet I presume they would complain, if they were represented as believing that God is the sinful author of sin -that his predeterminations deprive man of his free moral agency-that they make man a mere machine, bound, by chains of fatality, to sin-that he has made millions of men on purpose to damn them, &c. yet these things might as consistently be charged to their account as fair inferences from the premises which they have laid down in respect to the decrees of God, as they are charged upon Edwards, Bellamy, Fuller, and those who agree with them in their views of the divine decrees.

"They indeed believe that God reigns-that the ' wrath of man shall praise him and the remainder of wrath he will restrain'-that all the sin of men and levils shall finally be overruled to the glory of God and

the good of all holy beings-that there is not a sparrow that falls to the ground without God-that men and devils shall go no farther in sin and rebellion than he is pleased to permit-that he has predetermined that his Son shall have a reward for his sufferings in the salvation of an innumerable multitude of sinners; not out of partiality to them, but for the manifestation of the glory of his grace in saving those who were utterly undeserving his favor, whose salvation is not uncertain or precarious, but that it is immutably sure that God will have a people—that 'his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure' from everlasting to everlasting and throughout all his dominion, &c. but as for their teaching, that any decree of God takes away the free moral agency of men or angels, they teach no such thing to my knowledge; and I have read their theological writings on these points with care. They uniformly and explicitly state, that those who are finally lost, freely and voluntarily choose the road which leads to death-that they ruined themselves, and that nothing could have hindered their salvation who live under the gospel-no predestination of heaven or the devil or man; no situation in life, whether of riches or poverty, sickness or health, if they had not obstinately and with their whole heart, rejected salvation freely offered to them, and wilfully continued in this course through life, for which conduct they have no possible excuse. In short, I conceive that there is no just ground of finding fault with their ideas in respect to the decrees of God; and, when clearly understood, that none will find fault with them unless they feel unwilling that God should reign according to his sovereign will and pleasure. So far, Mr. Editor, are those who advocate these sentiments, from wishing to hide them, as was intimated by Portius, that they wish them to be universally known. They only deprecate the misrepresentation of them, in consequence of which many condemn them because they do not understand them. This has once been my unhappy lot, and, as I apprehend, there may be many now in the same state,

being imposed upon by misrepresentations of the truths and doctrines of the gospel, you will, I trust, indulge me in some future numbers of your paper, with the privilege of shewing, that other things have been laid to the charge of the class of theologians which I am advocating, of which they are by no means guilty. I am prompted to this, not with the vain expectation of benefitting the learned, but to help those who have not enjoyed the privilege, by reading and other means, of inquiring into these controverted points, and who, like myself in former times, have been imposed on by the cunning and sophistry of such writers as Portius' and others. RAY POTTER.

Pawtucket, March 10, 1828."

Thus we see that Arminians, in respect to the decrees of God are in the same predicament that they are in relation to the subject of God's dealing differently with men. They are obliged to own that in a certain sense God has predetermined all things, and that is all which Calvinists say. Ask a Calvinists, if he believes that God has predetermined all things, and he says yes. You take his answer without any further explination put your own construction upon it and make it look frightful, and call it the "dire and horrible decree." But how does he believe that God has predetermined all things? Does he mean that the decrees of God take away the free moral agency of man? By

no means.

He believes that men act with all the moral free dom which it is possible for them to possess. That is, they always act as they choose. Well you are an Arminian-do you believe that God has predetermined all things? O no! not in your sense-sooner let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth than ever propagate such an awful doctrine. But you believe that God, from all eternity, knew perfectly well all which would take place this day? O yes. Well, you believe that he could have prevented it if he had seen best? O yes. Well you see he did not prevent it

but determined that it should take place. O, but man is a free moral agent, you say, and does as he chooses! Very well; does not the Calvinist say the same? And now pray tell me how far you are from the same place that he is? You are both agreed that in a certain sense God has predetermined all things-and why find fault with what you are obliged to admit to be true? Objection. Then it is of no use to exhort sinners to repent

Ans. Stop a moment, and I will help you out with your objection. It is no use to exhort sinners to repent if Arminianism be true, for you might invite them, and invite them forever and ever to come to the feast, and they all with one consent will forever make an excuse and refuse to come-but according to the ideas advanced and vindicated in the foregoing work, it is of great use, and there is great encouragement to preach the gospel to sinners and to exhort them to repent, for God has promised that his son shall see the travel of his soul and be satisfied, and he will make the gospel the power of God unto the salvation of many souls, and will bring many souls to glory. Thus you pray my Arminian brother-you pray to God to change the hearts of sinners, and to bring them into the house just as we argue and preach. Why dont you preach as you pray; or pray as you preach? If you were to pray as you preach it would run thus-O Lord, thou hast done all which thou ever canst do consistently to save sinners, in making the atonement and preparing the feast, and now if sinners do not with their desperately wicked hearts improve the grace which thou hast already given them, they will all be lost! Now why do Arminians in their arguments with their opponents say that God has done all which he can do consistently, and then go directly to God, and beseach him to do more, even to bring sinners in to the feast.

CHAPTER X.

Relation of External Circumstances, continued from chapter 8th. Exercises and state of mind farther described, &c.

After being deprived of the meeting house to preach in, as I have given the relation in the 8th chapter, I felt the need of much grace to support me, and also wisdom to direct how to act and what course to take in such trying circumstances. There were opportunities for me in abundance to preach in other places with an apparent prospect (according to human calculations) of prosperous temporal circumstances, but I could not find liberty in my mind to leave a church who had stood by me through the whole scene of mental sufferings and outward calamities, which I had been wading through with a constancy which was truly admirable. They were true to me through evil report as well as good report, apparently deaf to the bribery of riches and voice of calumny and reproach; and therefore to leave them when they manifested great anxiety for me to remain, was more than any heart could endure. It was worse than death! But how to remain was a question which faith in God alone could answer. There seemed to be every possible means used by some to hedge up my way, and to reduce me to the necessity of leaving. Those who had contributed to my support were persuaded to desist. I was told, in one instance, that as one of my friends was coming to visit me at the time that I was so out of health as to be unable to attend to my ministerial duties, an attempt was made to discourage him, notwithstanding my sickness, with a wife and family of small and helpless children in destitute circumstances. Besides, when the difficulty was unsettled in respect to the meeting house, I had said, that if the case was left to men, and I lost the house, I would retire from preaching in the school house, where I then preached, after being shut out of the meeting house as has already