the selfish heat of party spirit, to the diffusive warmth of Divine and brotherly love. I say Divine, as well as brotherly love; for he "that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?"

My regard for unity revives my drooping spirits, and adds new strength to my wasted body.* I stop at the brink of the grave over which I bend: and, as the blood, oozing from my decayed lungs, does not permit me vocally to address my contending brethren, by means of my pen I will ask them if they can properly receive the holy communion while they wilfully remain in disunion with their brethren from whom controversy has needlessly parted them? For my part, if I felt myself unwilling to be reconciled on Scripture terms, either with my Calvinian or Arminian neighbours, I would no more dare go to the Lord's table, than if I had harboured murder in my heart; and this scripture would daily haunt my conscience, "Whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, [thou silly free willer, thou foolish bound willer, thou heretic!] shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift before the altar, and there rememberest that thy [Calvinian or Arminian] brother hath aught against thee; leave thy gift and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly"-thy religious as well as thy civil adversary-him with whom thou differest about the gold of the word; as well as him with whom thou contendest about the gold of this world.

Not to be reconciled when we properly may, is to keep up divisions; and to keep up divisions is as bad as to cause them. And what a dreadful thing it is to cause divisions, appears from St. Paul's charge to the Romans: "I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them," Rom. xvi, 17. Avoid them, for those who have the itch of contention, and the plague of party spirit, are not only in a dangerous case themselves; but they carry about a mortal infection, which they frequently communicate to others.

Should party men exclaim against my reconciling attempt, and say that "there always were, and always will be divisions among the children of God, and that to aim at a general reconciliation, is to aim at an absolute impossibility;" I reply,

(1.) This plea countenances the lusts of the flesh. "Walk in the Spirit," saith St. Paul, "and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh :" and among these lusts he immediately numbers "debate, emulations, wrath, contentions, and such like," observing, at the same time, that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, gentleness, meekness," &c. Now when party men insinuate that we can never live in peace and harmony with our Christian brethren, do they not indirectly teach that "debate, emulations, contentions, and such like, must" still waste our time, disturb our minds, and impair our love? And is not this an underhand plea for a wretched obligation to neglect "the fruit of the Spirit," and for an Antinomian necessity to bring forth the "fruit of the flesh?" (2.) It militates against St. Paul's conflict for believers: "I would,"

* Mr. Fletcher was judged to be now in the last stage of a consumption.

says he to the Colossians, "that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted; being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God,” Col. ii, 1, 2. It opposes also the end of the apostle's prayer for the Romans: "The God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded, &c, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, &c. Wherefore receive you one another, as Christ also received us," Rom. xv, 5, &c. But what is far worse, it directly contradicts Christ's capital prayer, which I have already quoted: "I pray," says he, "that they [believers] may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee: that they also may be one in us: that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one: that the [unbelieving] world may know that thou hast sent me," John xvii, 20, &c. Now if our Lord asked for an absolute impossiblity, when he asked for the perfect union of believers in this life, where was his wisdom? And if he cannot make us one in heart and mind (supposing we are willing to abide by his reconciling word) where is his power?

(3.) It strikes at the authority of these evangelical entreaties, exhor. tations, and commands:-"Be of the same mind," Rom. xii, 16. “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment," 1 Cor. i, 10. "Finally, brethren, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind; live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you," 2 Cor. xiii, 11. "Let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ: that I may hear ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind; striving together for the faith of the Gospel. Fulfil ye my joy that ye be like minded-being of one accord, of one mind. I beseech Euodias and Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord," Phil. i, 27; ii, 2; iv, 2. "Finally, be ye all of one mind, &c. Love as brethren, be courteous. For he that will see good days, &c, let him seek peace [with his enemies, much more with his brethren ;] and let him pursue it," 1 Pet. iii, 8, &c. “Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things," Phil. iii, 16. "With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love: endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all," Eph. iv, 2, &c. The same apostle, writing to the divided Corinthians, tries to reconcile them by comparing again the body of believers to the human body, and drawing a suitable inference: "The body is one," says he, "though it hath many members; that there should be no schism, [no division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another; all suffering when one member suffers, and all rejoicing when one member is honoured," 1 Cor. xii, 12-26. Hence it follows that to plead for the continuance of schisms and divisions in Christ's mystical body, is evidently to plead for a breach of "the bond of peace," and for the neglect of all the above-mentioned apostolic injunctions.

(4.) It gives the lie to the following promises of the God of truth. "The hatred to Ephraim shall depart, &c. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, neither shall Judah vex Ephraim," Isa. xi, 13. "I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them and of their children," Jer. xxxii, 39. "I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them," Ezek. xi, 19. "I will turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent, &c. Other sheep I haye, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd," John x, 16.

(5.) It contradicts the following accounts of God's faithfulness in the initial accomplishment of the preceding promises :-"They were all with one accord in one place; continuing daily with one accord in the temple," Acts ii, 1, 46. "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul," Acts iv, 32. "If we walk in the light, &c, we have fellowship one with another. For he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is in him no occasion of stumbling:" nothing in his heart will either cause or keep up divisions, 1 John i, 7; ii, 10. "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, because your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth," 2 Thess. i, 3. "By one Spirit, all complete Christians are baptized into one body, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, whether they be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit"-the Spirit of truth and love; and (unless they leave their first love as the Corinthians did) they sweetly continue to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," 1 Cor. xii, 13; Eph. iv, 3. From these accounts of the unity of the primitive Christians before they "left their first love," I infer, that unity is attainable because it was attained. The arm of the Lord is not shortened; "the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him ;" and if we be not obstinately bent upon despising the "wisdom from above, which is peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of good fruits and without partiality;" we shall find that "the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace;" and we shall evidence that all the sincere followers of Christ can yet " continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship," instead of perversely continuing in their own mistakes and in the spirit of discord.

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Lastly: the objection I answer has a tendency to stop the growth of Christ's mystical body, and opposes God's grand design in sending the Gospel: for he gave apostles, evangelists, and pastors, for the perfecting of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ; till all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we be no more carried about with every wind of doctrine, &c, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head, even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love," Eph. iv, 11, 17. No believer can, I think, candidly read these words of the apostle, without being VOL. II.

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convinced that union and growth are inseparable in the Church of Christ, from whom all the body, by joints and bands having nourishment [or help] ministered, and being knit together, increaseth with the increase of God," Col. ii, 19.

From these observations, I hope, it appears, that whether we consider the earnest entreaties of the apostles; their conflicts and pious wishes for their converts; the wisdom of our Lord's address to his Father for the union of believers; the repeated commands of the Gospel to be of "one mind and one judgment;" the promises which God has made to help us to keep these commands; the Divine power, by which the primitive believers were actually enabled to keep them, so long as they walked in the Spirit; or whether we consider the end of evangelical preaching, and the unity and growth of Christ's mystical body; nothing can be more unscriptural than to say that believers can never be again of one heart and of one mind.

And as this notion is unscriptural, so it is irrational; inasmuch as it supposes that the children of God can never agree to serve him, as the children of the wicked one do to honour their master; for St. John informs us that "these have one mind to give their power and strength unto the beast," Rev. xvii, 13. And experience daily teaches that when the men of the world are embarked in the same scheme, they can perfectly agree in the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, and fame, or in the performance of duty. If ships that sail under the command of the same admiral do not give each other a broadside, because they have different captains, and are employed in different services; if soldiers, who follow the same general, do not quarrel because they belong to different regiments, because their coats are not turned up alike, or because they do not defend the same fort, fight in the same wing of the army, hear the same drum, and follow the same pair of colours: and if the king's faithful servants can unanimously promote his interests, and cheerfully lend each other a helping hand, though their departments are as different as the fleet is different from the army, is it not absurd to suppose that Christ's faithful soldiers and servants, who are the meekest, the humblest, the most disinterested, and the most loving of all men, can never live in perfect union, and sweetly agree to promote the interests of their Divine Master? I conclude, therefore, that the objection which supposes the contrary, is not less contrary to reason than to the word of God.

SECTION II.

Pious, moderate Calvinists, and pious, moderate Arminians in particular, may be easily reconciled to each other; because the doctrines of grace and justice, about which they divide, are equally Scriptural, and each party contends for a capital part of the Gospel truth; their grand mistake consisting in a groundless supposition that the part of the truth they defend is incompatible with the part which is defended by their brethren.

SOME persons will probably make a more plausible objection than that which is answered in the preceding pages. They will urge, "that truth

should never be sacrificed to love and peace; that the Calvinists and the Arminians holding doctrines diametrically opposite, one party at least must be totally in the wrong; and as the other party ought not to be reconciled to error, the agreement I propose is impossible: it will never take place, unless the Calvinists can be prevailed upon to give up unconditional election, and their favourite doctrines of partial grace; or the Arminians can be persuaded to part with conditional election, and their favourite doctrines of impartial justice; and as this is too great a sacrifice to be expected from either party, it is in vain to attempt bringing about a reconciliation between them."

- This objection is weighty: but far from discouraging me, it affords me an opportunity of laying before my readers the ground of hope I entertain, to reconcile the Calvinists and Arminians. I should indeed utterly despair of effecting it, were I obliged to prove that either party is entirely in the wrong. But I may without folly expect some success, because my grand design is to demonstrate that both parties have an important truth on their side; both holding opposite doctrines, which are as essential to the fulness of Christ's Gospel, as the two eyes, nostrils, and cheeks, which compose our faces, are essential to the completeness of human beauty.

"The language of Scripture seems to favour the one as well as the other," says Dr. Watts on a similar occasion: "but this is the mischief that ariseth between Christians who differ in their sentiments or expression of things; they imagine that while one is true, the other must needs be false and then they brand each other with error and heresy: whereas, if they would but attend to Scripture, that would show them to be both in the right, by its different explication of their own forms of speaking. In this way of reconciliation I cannot but hope for some success, because it falls in with the universal, fond esteem that each man has of his own understanding: it proves that two warm disputers may both have truth on their side. Now, if ten persons differ in their sentiments, it is much easier to persuade all of them that they may be all in the right, than it is to convince one that he is in the wrong.'

I shall illustrate this quotation by a remark, which occurs in the beginning of my Scripture Scales; only taking the liberty of applying to pious Calvinists and pious Arminians what I said there of pious Solifidians and pious moralists:-"The cause of their misunderstanding is singular. They are good men upon the whole; therefore they never can oppose truth as truth: and as they are not destitute of charity, they cannot quarrel merely for quarreling's sake. Whence then spring their continual disputes? Is it not from inattention and partiality? They will not look truth full in the face: determined to stand on one side of her, they seldom see above one half of her beauty. The rigid Calvinians gaze upon her side face on the right hand, and the rigid Arminians contemplate it on the left. But her unprejudiced lovers, humbly sitting at her feet, and beholding her in full, admire the exquisite proportion of all her features: a peculiar advantage this, which her partial admirers can never have in their present unfavourable position."

To be more explicit a rigid Calvinist has no eyes but for God's sovereignty, unconditional election, and the doctrines of partial grace; while a rigid Arminian considers nothing but God's equity, conditional