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ings and thoughts, both in public and private, into the minds of his co-pastors, and of the youth who were committed to his care and intended for the sacred ministry. Because he knew it to be some advance towards the completion of this concord, if every one would purge out of his own mind the leaven of hatred, malice and contention, would apply himself to true piety, would abstain from forming unjust judgments about his neighbour, would purely and with sincerity treat the word of the Lord, and, discarding thorny questions, would pursue those things alone which conduce to edification; he therefore exhorted all men, each for himself, to attend to these serious studies.

But Satan disappointed these his pious endeavours: For while he was engaged in them, he was oppressed with suspicions of a nature directly contrary, and was attacked by accusations, as if, under the impulse of ambition and the desire of glory, he was attempting to innovate in affairs that were securely settled, clandestinely to introduce pernicious opinions into the Church, and to destroy all ecclesiastical concord. Thus was the man traduced who was bestowing benefits; and thus was he misrepresented as desirous to wound and lacerate the peace of the Church, whose principal concern it was to heal her wounds, and to collect and bind together her lacerated members. Arminius, however, relying on the testimony of his conscience, endured all this contumely for some time in silence, and with Christian patience and modesty; for he thought the result would be, that in process of time the hollowness and falsity of these suspicions and accusations would be rendered apparent. But when they increased beyond his expectations, after the conference which was instituted between him and his colleague before the Senate of the Supreme Court, for the purpose of appeasing and destroying them, he at length produced, before a full meeting of their Mightinesses the States of Holland and West Friezland, a true and open Confession of his Faith on some of the principal articles of the Christian Religion, respecting which he was reported to have cherished certain monstrous heresies, and a luminous testimony of his earnest desire for the peace of the Church of Christ, and of a mind that was averse to every species of strife and altercation. As Arminius did this with the design to approve his innocency before the Supreme Magistracy, and to remove all the apprehension, which had been excited by these frequent accusations, of a schism originating with him; so, I have no doubt, both these objects were answered with all those whose minds had not been too much pre-occupied with prejudice. The Declaration therefore of this good man, was, after his death, translated into Latin, by a certain learned individual who was a passionate admirer of truth and peace, out of Dutch, in which the author had composed it, and was published in both those languages, to defend his fair reputation from the calumnies with which it had been on all sides assailed, and to manifest his ardent desire for peace.-Preface to the Defence of the Sentiments of Arminius.

STEPHEN DE COURCELLES.-1645.

In this posthumous production of Arminius, of blessed memory, may be observed the same ingenious dexterity, strength of demonstration, and perspicuity of learned discourse, as in his former works. So that in our Arminius you behold a lively representation of the Scribe, who is well-instructed for the kingdom of Heaven, concerning whom The Lord Jesus speaks in St. Matthew's Gospel, and who, as an

opulent householder, brings forth out of his treasury things new and old. If any man ever was most passionately attached to peace and concord, it was he; and if Gomarus had cherished the same regard, that dreadful schism, which now disturbs the Churches of the United Provinces, would probably have been stifled in its origin. -Preface to Arminius's Examination of the Theses of Gomarus.

CYRIL, Patriarch of Alexandria.-1613.

There are some things of greater necessity than these, about which I might write to you,-things which relate to the topics which are in this age discussed by the learned, such as the Freedom of the Will, Predestination, and Justification, concerning which it has not yet been made evident to the world what ought to be received for certainties. But my want of leisure prevents me at present from writing on these subjects: And I consider such a labour unnecessary, because it is better suited to men of greater gravity and learning. This labour has been executed in a compendious manner by JAMES ARMINIUS, who was, in my judgment, A LEARNED MAN. But since the theses which he wrote contain matters of great importance, it is necessary to give his book a careful perusal, and not (as I have done) cursorily to look over its contents.-Epist. Eccles. et Theolog.

THE EDINBURGH ENCYCLOPÆDIA.-1811.

By all, except the bigotted few, who are so much attached to the doctrines of election and reprobation as to think a belief in them necessary to salvation, Arminius has ever been regarded as a man of unaffected piety and upright conduct, of principles and of character that were truly Christian, and fully justified the hopes of immortality which supported him through life, and consoled him at death. His learning was considerable; his understanding was at once solid and acute; his discourses from the pulpit were impressive, eloquent, and useful; his labours as a minister, and as a professor of divinity, were faithful and productive; his private life was animated with the spirit, and adorned with the grace, of the religion which he taught; and his writings, which are more excellent than numerous,* are distinguished by a great deal of accurate thinking, by distinct views of the subjects he discusses, and by a simple and perspicuous style.

EDITOR OF HERVEY'S LETTERS.-1760.

Arminius was Professor of Divinity in the University of Leyden, a man of great learning, of a strict life, and of a most meek spirit. His attachment to his principles exposed him to great sufferings, which affords a strong presumption of his sincerity. It is likely, that he and his followers mean pretty near the same thing by the word GRACE, which the Calvinists do by IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. Each party maintains, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord; and that there is no name under heaven given unto men, whereby we must be saved, but only the name of the Lord Jesus. If any one had asked Arminius, Whether he did not hold that heaven, that is to say, our inheritance in it, was the sole purchase of Christ's

The writer of this excellent article immediately adds, "though in many places deformed by that scholastic jargon which characterized his age, and in some by a coarseness and bitterness of invective which, in his case, excites more regret than surprise." Of the many authors who have described Arminius, this is the only one who has charged him with the faults just enumerated. I could point out the origin of this writer's mistake,-how, by merely turning over a leaf in one of his references, he has claimed the faults of Episcopius for Arminius. See my remarks in pp. 673-74.

blood, he would have undoubtedly answered in the affirmative. And if, on the other hand, one had asked Mr. Calvin, To whom is it that Christ is the Author of Salvation?, his answer would have been, To those that obey him.-I would not be understood to assert, that there is no difference of opinion between Arminians and Calvinists : My meaning is, that it is not near so great as it is apprehended to be, and the way to heal, is not by railing and reproachful language, but by fair and calm reasoning, and modest appeals to the Holy Scriptures.-Preface to a Collection of the Letters of the late Rev. James Hervey, A.M.

SIMON EPISCOPIUS, D. D.-1623.

ARMINIUS, that servant of Christ, in order to approve himself before God, chose to endure the hatred and contradiction of all mankind, rather than to violate his conscience.-He held out to the whole Christian world the ensign of peace and concord, and he wished a commencement to be made in the Reformed Churches. Being a man of prudence and mild in spirit, he perceived that those Churches were distracted and separated from each other in many ways, and that in these days neither measure nor end was observed in making secessions; that endeavours were therefore to be used to induce the contending parties to lay aside animosity, and to sing a funeral song over their unnecessary enmities and quarrels; that every exertion was then to be employed, to take an accurate account of such doctrines as are absolutely necessary, and each party to confine itself within those limits; that, with regard to all the rest, whatever was capable of being tolerated, or did not hinder salvation, should receive toleration; that the rule of Prudence and Charity alone is sufficient for this purpose; and that, without these, continual strife and hatred must be perpetuated, which would cause the tears of the Church afresh to flow. This was the design of Arminius; and he persisted in it to the close of his life, nothing being such a source of grief and sorrow to him, as the obstinate resistance of those who ought to have shewn themselves the most favourable to this design. Whether it was laudable or not, let those judge who are affected with commiseration at the sight of the whole of Christendom divided into most minute parties: I entertain no doubt myself of its being a pious purpose.

Arminius was too great an admirer and practiser of that Apostolic direction, Let your moderation be known to all men, ever to indulge in bitter or reviling expressions. He will never be detected in having traduced, much less in having rendered odious and infamous, or in having injured by a single word, those whom Capellus calls "the Reformers." Indeed, no one ever dissented from them with greater moderation. Let the writings of Arminius be inspected, and my assertion will be found correct. Such, in fact, was the modesty of this pious and learned man, that he thought all errors, especially those which he accounted to be injurious to piety, ought to be attacked with boldness and according to the meaning of their authors but that the wanderers in error themselves ought to be treated with mildness and according to the mind of Christ Jesus. For he knew, how easy it is to commit a mistake, how unjust to visit with reproaches him who is in error, how disgraceful to speak evil of a pious man, and how necessary it is for a Christian, and particularly for a Bishop, to be no striker, but patient, (1 Tim. iii. 3,) gentle to all men, and in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. (2 Tim.

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ii. 24.) Such were his sentiments, such was his conduct, most opposite to those opprobrious arts which Capellus employs !

Arminius was as averse to a new Confession, as he was to a schism. Those things which he considered as desiderata in the Church, he wished to be corrected by the Church and within herself; and he thought those things could be amended there more efficaciously and with greater safety. From new Confessions he did not hope for a remedy, but feared more dangerous paroxysms. To adhere to the scriptures alone; or, where any Confession was established, to tolerate certain improper phrases, solely through a hatred of schism, and either to reconcile them with scripture by the benefit of a mild interpretation, or to correct them by the aid of a lawful revision,was, in his opinion, a much better course than to expend labour upon new Confessions which might serve to foment schisms. For as a prudent man he perceived, in this age fruitful in strifes and quarrels, the usual consequence is, that wherever new Confessions are formed, there the minds of men are separated and distracted by their different opinions.-At no period of his life did he assert, much less did he contend, that the article on Predestination in the Dutch Confession was false or bore evident marks of falsehood, that it contained heresies or abounded with them, much less that it abounded with a multitude of them: As an unexceptionable proof of this it may be stated, that he always endeavoured to establish his sentiments by many and strong arguments from the Dutch Confession itself; and he professed that he was prepared to retire from the ministry, if at any time, either in secret or in public, he had spoken or written any thing contrary to that formulary. He always denied, that the sentiments which he opposed were those of the Confession: He said, they were those of some particular divines, from which he was perfectly at liberty to dissent.

Arminius never said, that the whole human race was at the same time reconciled and healed by the satisfaction of Christ. He was a man of greater accuracy, than to speak in that manner. He has said, that mankind were reconciled by the satisfaction of Christ : But who, except a dotard, would say that they were healed? Arminius only teaches, that God for Christ's sake bestows, on those who are reconciled to Him through Christ, a new power [ability], when they are called by the Gospel, that they may be enabled to free themselves from that servitude, provided they use diligent endeavours, and be not wanting to themselves and to the grace of God. But he who teaches this, teaches a doctrine contrary to that which Capellus wishes. For such a man teaches, that those who are reconciled are still under the servitude of sin; but that, by the aid of grace which is newly bestowed on them by God, it is possible for them to be gradually healed of that servitude. For it is one thing to impart an ability to any one, by which he may come out of his servitude: It is another thing, actually to come out of servitude, or to be healed of it.

Those persons who have lived with Arminius, and who, as the phrase is, have eaten a bushel of salt in his company, can bear testimony to his candour and integrity. France, your country, never produced a spirit possessed of greater integrity. Unless he had been studious of these virtues, he would neither have incurred the chance of so much hatred, nor have subjected himself to the peril of such

obstinate contradiction. If he occasionally used prudence, out of a greater regard to his own conscience and to the public peace, he did nothing more than what was the duty of a good man and a Christian. He could do this, and he actually did it, without any design to deceive; nay, he did it with the design to approve himself the more to God, who alone inwardly inspects the heart, and to whom, he knew, a hypocrite is more hateful than a man that is openly wicked: For when a bad man wishes to appear a good one, he is then the worst of all.

What could any one desire that was more open, candid, and nervous, than the Declaration of Arminius before the States of Holland? I wish his adversaries had, with equal candour and ingenuousness, declared their sentiments on Reprobation, at the Hague Conference, and more recently at the Synod of Dort! But if ever any persons employed dissimulation, or declined to disclose their sentiments, they were certainly the members of those two assemblies. Indeed it is a thing common in its occurrence,-for a man, when he perceives himself to be guilty of a crime, to use indecent haste in boldly charging it upon others, that he may seem to be at the greatest possible distance from it himself.

In conclusion therefore I say, that Arminius acted in all things with perfect good faith and candour; that he openly professed the doctrine which he held; that according to his own declaration, he always ingenuously believed this doctrine to be contained in the formularies of the Churches; that he never condemned those formularies; and that he never disclosed, except in the assembly of the States and at their command, the considerations which he had marked down according to the decree of the Supreme Magistrate and at the request of the Synod. Capellus therefore, without any just cause, laments the absence of candour in this most candid breast.-Eramen Thesium I. Capelli.

THE REV. JOHN FLETCHER.

Among the divines abroad, who have endeavoured to steer their doctrinal course between the Pelagian shelves and the Augustinian rocks, and who have tried to follow the reconciling plan of our great Reformer Cranmer, none is more famous, and none came nearer the truth than Arminius. He was a pious and judicious Dutch minister, who, in the beginning of the last century, taught Divinity in the University of Leyden in Holland. He made some noble efforts to drive Manicheism, and disguised Fatalism, out of the Protestant Church, of which he was a member: And, so far as his light and influence extended (by proving the evangelical union of Redeeming Grace and Free-will) he restored Scripture-harmony to the gospel, and carried on the plan of reconciliation, which Cranmer had laid down. His sermons, lectures, and orations, made many ashamed of absolute reprobation, and the bad-principled God, who was before quietly worshipped all over Holland.

Jansenius, a Popish bishop, overdoing after Augustine, brought the doctrines of unscriptural grace and free-wrath with a full tide into the Church of Rome: While Arminius, (or, at least, some of his followers,) drove them with all his might out of the Protestant churches. Many countries were in a general ferment on this occasion. A great number of Protestant Divines assembled at Dort in Holland, confirmed

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