Sect. 8, he asks, "Whence then cometh this depra. vity in man, to fall away from God? Lest it should be thought to flow from creation, God, by his commendation, approved of the works of his hand. Therefore by his own wickedness, he, i. e. man, corrupted that nature which he received pure from the Lord, and by his fall drew his whole posterity with him into destruction. Wherefore, let us rather be. hold the manifest cause of damnation, in the corrup tion of mankind which is nearer to us, than search for one hidden, and to us incomprehensible, in the predestination of God." In perfect consistency with this, Calvin says, Book II. chap. 3. sect. 5. quoting Augustine with approbation, "Therefore, let this important distinction be kept in view, that man, since he is corrupted by the fall, sinneth indeed willingly, not against his will, or compelled; by a most intense affection of mind, and not by violent force; by mo tion of his own lust, and not by external constraint: yet such is the nature of his depravity that he cannot but be moved and driven to sin."

From these extracts, the reader can judge, whether the Churchman's inference, already quoted, be fairly drawn, or honourably stated. Since the premises from which it is drawn are not Calvin's, but those of his opponents, our author ought to have said so; and since Calvin has most studiously guarded his view of predestination against such an inference, our author ought, in conscience and of right, to have shown, if he could, that the reasoning used was inconclusive, and therefore the inference valid. But this did not suit his purpose. He would then have been under the necessity of making a true quotation, and of reasoning correctly from the quotation; the consequence of which would have been too favourable to Calvinism for his Anti-Calvinistic prejudices. After the inference abovementioned, he adds, p. 6. "And yet the Scripture represents Adam's act as

displeasing to the Almighty, and the cause of all our wo"-as if Calvin represented the matter differently. But he does not. The insinuation is absolutely unfounded.

In book II. chap. 1. sect. 4. of the Institutes, Adam's act is called "a detestable wicked act, which God so severely punished;" and in the same section, it is said, "if apostacy be a filthy and detestable of fence, by which man draweth himself from the allegiance of his Creator, yea, outrageously shaketh off his yoke, then, it but vain to extenuate the sin of Adam." In the same chapter, from the 5th to the 11th section, Adam's sin is exhibited at full length as the cause of all our wo.

The other quotations are correctly given as it respects words, but disjointed in their connexion, so às to convey a meaning different from that which the author intended, and has actually avowed, in other parts of his writings. There are a few instances we shall particularly adduce.

The first is, the reference to Calvin's tract on eternal predestination, which is in the note to the first quotation. This tract is about forty pages folio, two columns to a page, closely printed. The extract is hardly a line, taken from the midst of a long sentence. This sentence is contained in a series of remarks explanatory of the end for which God made man, in reply to the objections of Pighius. In the course of these remarks, Calvin makes the distinction, before quoted from his Institutes, between the proximate and remote cause of the sinner's destruction. He proves, that the same objection which is made to the decree of reprobation, even if that be rejected, will be valid against the doctrine of original sin. "For impiety will object to God," he says, "Why did not Adam sin for himself, so that he alone should be punished? Why hath he involved us, who have not deserved it, in his mis

fortune? Nay, what right has God to transfer the punishment of the guilt of another upon us? The objection," he observes, "is made to a fact which none can deny, that a deadly wound has been inflicted upon all on account of the sin of one man." He closes his observations with the sentence from whence the extract is taken, which will be given in italics. "If then it appears evidently that the beginning of destruction commenced with Adam, and that every one finds the more immediate cause of it in himself, what hinders our faith from adoring at a distance with decent reverence the secret counsel of God, by which the fall of man was ordained; and also from contemplating, what appears nearer to us, the whole race of man in the person of Adam as bound in the guilt of eternal death, and thus obnoxious to death? Therefore Pighius did not, as he thought, discuss that excellent and beautiful symmetry by which the more remote and more immediate causes agree among one another."

The reader will observe, that the words marked in Italics, are quoted by the Churchman, as if they contained by themselves a distinct meaning of this kind; viz. that Calvin's view of the secret counsel of God was of such a nature, "that Adam's eating the forbidden fruit was the necessary effect of the divine decree; and therefore was not a sin, but bure, formal, and commendable obedience." We have already shown, by extracts from the Institutes, that Calvin guards against such conclusions; and this extract, from the tract on predestination, contains similar cautions. The conclusions, therefore, are exclusively the Churchman's, and he is answerable for them. The premises from which he draws them are sufficiently guarded, to prevent an honest man from mistaking them. The conclusions are, therefore, the result of ignorance or design, and in either case are unwarranted.

(To be continued.)

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE,

DOMESTIC.

Annual Report of the Board of Directors to the New-York Missionary Society,

Presented and Approved March 25, 1811.

THE returning period of the Society's annual meeting, calls upon every member to review his efforts for the promotion of the Gospel during the year past; to retrace the dealings of God in his providence; to rejoice in his smiles; and to bow in submission, and adore, where his ways are inscrutable.

The propriety of these observations will, it is apprehended, be clearly evinced by the following narrative.

It has, for some years, been an object of solicitude with the Directors, to enlarge their field of Missionary labours. In the pursuit of this object, and with a single eye, as they trust, to the glory of the Redeemer, they have confided in the great Head of the Church, for the provision of means adequate to the end.

Experience has convinced them, that the generous supporters of the Association, were equally anxious for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom: and the great complaint, issuing from almost every mouth, was, that too little was done, and that the liberality of individuals was not reciprocated by correspondent exertions on the part of the Di

rectors.

To these complaints the Directors can only reply, that their course must be pointed out by divine Providence; that they can proceed no faster in the execution of their trust, than the dispensations of an all-wise, and all-seeing God permit; and, that it is their business to employ the means wherewith he has furnished them according to their best judgment, and with an humble and ready submission to his divine will.

They trust that, in retracing the events of last year, it will be found they have not been deficient in the performance of the duty allotted to them.

In the month of April last, soon after the annual meeting of the Society, an application, accompanied by a liberal offer of subsistence, was made to a Minister of the Gospel, of good standing in the Church of God, who expressed a great desire of being employed in the Missionary vineyard, and who was at that time disengaged from any tie to a particular congregation. This application was well received, and the Directors were encouraged to hope for success. Their hopes were, however, eventually disappointed. Determined to pursue, with unremitting diligence, an object they had so much at heart, they immediately made a similar offer to another respectable Preacher, whose peculiar situation appeared to warrant the proposal; but were a second time disappointed. The last mentioned gentleman, however, zealous for the promotion of the Missionary cause, recommended to the notice of the Di, rectors the Reverend John Alexander, a minister of the Gos pel, regularly ordained, and of about forty years of age, as a suitable person to undertake the charge of a Mission among the Senecas; to which nation the views of the Directors had been for some time turned. Jabez B. Hyde was in the same manner introduced to the knowledge of the Board, and proposed as a proper character to instruct the Indian youth.

Applications were immediately made to these gentlemen; and the acceptance of Mr. Hyde was announced by letter. Mr. Alexander, in conformity with the request of the Directors, arrived in this city in February last, and had a special interview with a Committee appointed for that purpose. This Committee, after the fullest and most faithful examination they were able to make, both of his Christian and Ministerial qua lifications, reported to the Board, their decided and unanimous opinion, that Mr. Alexander was a person proper to be employed in the proposed Mission.

His appointment and acceptance were the immediate consequences. The event must be committed into the hands of the Supreme disposer of all events, who opens, and none can shut; and who shutteth, and none can open: and whose protection is ensured to his Church and people, by many gracious and infallible promises.

The Directors have the consolation of having employed every precaution which the nature of the case would admit, to avoid the danger of a rash and inconsiderate engagement; and after so many abortive attempts, desire to bless the Lord, that so far he has been pleased to countenance their endeayours for the advancement of his kingdom.

The salary allowed to the Reverend John Alexander, is four hundred dollars; and that to Mr. Hyde, the Teach No. IV, No. V.

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