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the Protestant Expositions, he mentions Calvin's in the following terms:

John Calvin wrote a Commentary on all the Prophets and the Evangelists. His part in the Reformation is well known. In many respects his comments are allowed to be learned and judicious. He was a strenuous advocate for the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith; and for what he justly calls decretum horribile, the horrible decree of sovereign, eternal, irrespective reprobation. This opinion, from the manner in which it has been defended by soine and opposed by others, has tended greatly to the disunion of many Christians; and produced every temper but brotherly kindness and charity.'

It is very far from my wish to prejudice any of your readers against Dr. Clarke's Commentary. I doubt not that it will contain very valuable and interesting matter; but I think it is due to the name of Calvin, to take some notice of the above statement.

1. I beg leave to observe that Dr. C. has, perhaps inadvertently, suffered himself to fall into a common mistake respecting Calvin's application of the above phrase. Had Dr. C. allowed himself to examine the Institutes of Calvin, he would have found the words in question applied, not to the decree of reprobation, but to God's permission of the fall of Adam. The passage stands thus:

Unde factum est ut tot gentes una cum liberis eorum infantibus aterna morti involveret lapsus Adæ absque remedio, nisi quia Deo ita visum est? Hic obmutescere oportet tam dicaces alioqui linguas. Decretum quidem horribile, fatcor: inficiarı tamen nemo poterit quin præsciverit Deus quem exitum esset habiturus homo, antequam ipsum conderet; et ideo præsciverit quia decreto suo sic ordinarat. Whence is it, I ask, that the fall of Adam should involve so many nations, with their infant offspring, in eternal death, but that it was thus known of God? On such a subject every tongue ought to be silent. The decree, I acknowledge, is an awful one; yet no man can deny but that God knew, before he created man, what the event would be; and he so foreknew, because he had by his own decree thus ordained.'

2. Even admitting that Calvin had applied the above phrase to the awful subject of reprobation, it seems unworthy of a fair and candid opponent, to render it in English 'horrible decree;' when it is obvious that Calvin designed to convey the notion of awful, or venerable, just as Cicero in pleading the cause of Quinctius, says,' Horribile est causam capitis di cere, horribilias priore loco dicere.' It is a solemn thing (not horrible one) to plead a cause of life and death, still mo

Institut. lib. iii. cap. 23. sec. 7.

solemn to open such a cause. Virgil too, talks of the awful anger of Juno,' horribiles iras +.'

3. Dr. Clarke, in a long note, traces the etymology of the word Elohim (Gen. i. 1.) to the Arabic Alaha;' which he adds from Wilmet, signifies,' He worshipped, adored, was struck with astonishment, fear, or terror; and hence-he adored with , sacred horror and veneration: Cum sacro horrore ac veneratione coluit. Hence Ilahon, fear, veneration; and also the object of religious fear, the Deity, the supreme God, the tremendous Being. What should we think of Dr. C. if, from this etymology, he had told us that God should always be worshipped with horror? —and yet, where is the school-boy who does not see that it would be just as good a translation as the horrible decree?'-Let us learn to do to others as we would that they should do to us.

+ Georgics, lib. iii. 152. See Ainsworth in verb.

A CONCISE VIEW OF

THE PRESENT STATE OF EVANGELICAL RELIGION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

NO. VII.

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[Continued from p. 90.]

AFRICA.

THE sable sons of Afric pass next under our review :-in science, and all the arts of civilized life, exceedingly inferior to the other quarters of the globe. Brutish ignorance, savage manners, and slavery in its worst form, reign throughout. The curse of Ham seems still to rest upon them. Egypt itself, once so famed for wisdom, is sunk to the lowest step of degradation in intellectual attainments, enslaved, oppressed, and torn by factions, the servants of servants, slaves reign over them! Africa, like Asia, is divided by the same strong lines of Hea thenism and Mahomedanism, with the small remains of Christianity, which, once so flourishing in Egypt, and through the vast regions stretching along the borders of the Mediterra nean Sea to the Pillars of Hercules, is now nearly extinct; and scarcely a trace remains (like the desolate cities, whose ery ruins have perished) to shew that it ever subsisted. he northern part of Africa is wholly subject to the grand postor: the Moors and Arabs of the desart are his bigotted ciples. A line drawn from the sources of the Niger to its ction with the river of Egypt (if indeed it be not the same am) will divide generally the Mahometan from the Pagan inion. To the north, as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the exception of several nations bordering on the Atwho continue Heathen, the rest are followers of the

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false prophet, with an abundant mixture of Pagan superstition. A greater extent of country in Africa is unexplored than in any other part of the world; and much entirely desolate, destitute of water, with moving sands, like the waves of the sea. South of the Niger to the coasts of the Eastern Ocean, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Babelmandel, the Abyssinian empire excepted, and a few nations on the sea-coast towards the east, where the Mahomedan delusion hath made many converts, the great body of the people is in the deepest heathen ignorance and savageness, and almost wild as the beasts, whose empire is yet unmolested by man. In many places a vast population is seen, and everywhere slavery established in its most hateful form. Of these millions of immortal souls, few have ever heard the fame, or seen the glory of Him who came down from heaven to seek and to save that which was lost, without respect to persons or colour, black men or white, bond or free. On account of the burning climate, its unfavourableness to European constitutions, and the difficulty and danger of penetrating into regions so inhospitable, fewer efforts have been hitherto made to communicate the knowledge of salvation to Africa than to any other quarter of the globe; and a smaller number of those who bear the Christian name will here be found, than in the other countries of both the great continents. The following slight sketch will afford some faint lines of the Christianity yet remaining, and the endeavours which have of late been made to enlarge its pale among these most desolate of all the regions of the earth:

In Egypt, a small remnant of the Greek church subsists in the Copts, who have a few churches and monasteries; but with the Christians of every name, whom Commerce collects, or those who in the greater towns have maintained a feeble existence in the Greek church, they can hardly be said to have a name to live.' Sunk into the lowest state of impo-" tence and degeneracy, from whom apparently no hope of revival remains, and their utter extinction is rather to be ex-. pected.

Except the Spanish town of Ceuta, not a name of Christian is to be found from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean; and Spanish Christianity affords not the least glimpse of hope of the diffusion of the gospel in truth and purity. Along an immense space of the eastern coast, on the Atlantic, under the empire of Morocco, all is bigotry and tyranny in the extreme, and no prospect of amelioration in government or religion.

The Christian nations of Europe have carried their arms for the vilest purposes to the shores of Africa, bordering the At lantic; and for the purchase of gums, ivory, gold, and above all, for the hateful merchandize of men, have formed numerqus settlements on the coast; and according to the genius of

Popery, wherever the power of her subjects prevails, their religion is enforced by weapons not of our warfare. The Portugueze were the first to make conquests; and continued for a while to reign over the sea-coasts without a rival. They built cities and established factorics on the eastern and southern coasts of Africa, and made many converts to their Christianity, such as it was; of whom no small body remains at Loango, on the one side, and Mosambique on the other. Even this, with all its superstitions, is highly preferable to the state of brutish ignorance which they found; but when we speak of Christianity in its genuine form and character, we can little hope for a spark of evangelical religion among these half-converts from Paganism.

The other nations of Europe have followed these first conquerors, and dispossessed them of a great part of their coast and factories. The Dutch, the English, the Danes, and the French, have all in succession come in for a share in the trade, formed settlements, and built fortresses on the coast. With the settlers and military, chaplains have indeed been sent, and each nation taught the form of Christianity established in their country; but neither the object of pursuit of the several nations, or the ministers employed, could be supposed to lead to any favourable influence in promoting of vital Christianity among the Heathen. Accordingly, during the long series of years that the coast has been frequented, I have never heard till of late that any vigorous steps have been taken to introduce the gospel into the nations adjacent to the several factories; but as I have heard a friend say, who once resided there, The white men grew black, and became like the Heathen, instead of the natives offering a convert to Christianity.'

By a series of providences in the shifting scenes of the world, the English of late have nearly established their dominion from Senegal to the Cape of Good Hope, and from thence to Caffraria; and though long involved in equal guilt with other European nations, they have at last, when they might have engrossed the whole of the lucrative trade in slaves to themselves, though after much hesitation and many struggles, nobly and most Christian-like renounced, and, 1 hope for ever, the detestable and criminal traffic of human flesh: a practice not only utterly repugnant to the followers of Him who came to preach deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who were bound,' but inconsistent with the jealous care of that political liberty, in which every Briton makes his boast. Thus hath the nation rolled away her reproach, and possessed of territory and influence, may now be justly expected, for its own best interest, to promote civilization and commercial improvement of the country; to which nothing will so powerfully and effectually contribute as the introduction of pure religion and holy examples.

anthropic

One noble attempt was indeed made b Society, at the close of the last century, to form a sett ement on principles of true Christianity, and with a view to the instruction of the natives in our arts and sciences; at least, those of the commonest use and most easy attainment. A colony with a Christian governor at its head, faithful ministers his assistants, and some gracious men from England, and black men from Nova Scotia, opened their career with great expectations of success; but the unfavourableness of the climate, an unhappy war, the depredations of an enemy, the foe to humanity, with other unforeseen difficulties, reduced the resources, and disappointed the hopes of the Sierra Leone Directors; and rendered the return of a number of young natives, sent to England for education, less profitable than had been reasonably expected. A succession of faithful missionaries, from different denominations, were sent to promote the great object of this Society; but the sultry and unfavourable climate destroyed some, disabled others, and drove them enfeebled back to the land from whence they came. The efforts of all proved abortive; and the necessity of their circumstances compelled the company to surrender what remained of the settlement into the hands of government, with the total loss of all which had been subscribed; yet, hath not the attempt failed or been abandoned: the colony is yet maintained in its original plan by the government; and the lately instituted African Missionary Society hath sent out several faithful ministers, chiefly Germans, to learn the languages of the natives, to penetrate into the Foulah country, and to maintain and increase the spirit of true religion, which still subsists among the original settlers; and more than one black congregation assembles for the worship of Him who died for them, and rose again. It is indeed a day of small things; but a grain or two of wheat, though apparently lost in the surrounding chaff, may still preserve the holy seed, and grow into great increase.

[To be continued.]

Sir,

ON SUDDEN CONVERSIONS.

To the Editor.

·

Perhaps, you may deem the following Extract of a Letter, which i lately received from a friend, on the subject of Sudden Conversions,' worthy a place in your Magazine. Your humble Servant,

London.

H. F.

--WITH your request for my general opinion on the present Bishop of L-'s Primary Charge to the clergy of his diocese, my numerous engagements do not permit me to com

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