of worship was held. If any thing in the profession of religion, that is absurd and unreasonable, were to surprise us, it would be the censure that was cast upon those who gently attempted to stem this tide, which threatened the destruction of true religion as a reasonable service. Where the essence of true religion is placed in customs and usages, which have no tendency to sanctify the several powers through the medium of the understanding, we ought not to be surprised, when we contemplate instances of extravagance and apostacy. Human nature, in general, is not capable of such exertions for any length of time, and when the spirits become exhausted, and the heat kindled by sympathy is subsided, the unhappy persons sink into themselves, and seek for support in intoxication. It is not to be doubted but there are many sincere and pious persons to be found among this class of people-men who think they are doing God service, whilst they are the victims of fanaticism. These are the objects of compassion, and doubtless will find it in God. But it is certain, from incontestable facts, that a number of persons have attached themselves to those religious societies, who place a very disproportionate stress on the practice of jumping, from suspicious motives. The theory and practice of such a religion are easily understood; for the man who possesses an unblushing confidence, and the greatest degree of muscular energy, is likely to excel in bodily exercise. Upon the whole, it is probable, as such an exercise has no countenance in reason or revelation, that it has been, and is still, productive of more evil than good. Many of the ministers who have been foremost in encouraging jumping seemed to have nothing in view but the gratification of their vanity, inflaming the passions of the multitude by extravagant representations of the character of the Deity, the condition of man, and design of the Saviour's mission. The minister that wishes not to study to shew himself approved of God, has only to favour jumping, with its appendages: for as reason is out of the question in such a religion, he can be under no fear of shocking it. It is some consolation to real religion to add, that this practice is on the decline, as the

more sober or conscientious, who were at first at a loss to judge where this practice might carry them, have seen its pernicious tendency.

Such is the account of the Jumpers, which, with a few alterations, was transmitted to me by a respectable minister, (the Rev. Job David, once of Frome and Taunton, latterly of Swansea, where he died in 1812, much beloved and respected.) It is to be hoped, that the exercise of common sense will in time recover them from these extravagant ecstacies, which pain the rational friends of revelation, and yield matter of exultation to the advocates of infidelity.

About the year 1785, I myself happened, very accidentally, to be present at a meeting which terminated in jumping. It was held in the open air, on a Sunday evening, near Newport, in Monmouthshire. The preacher was one of Lady Huntingdon's students, who concluded his sermon with the recommendation of jumping; and to, allow him the praise of consistency, he got down from the chair on which he stood, and jumped along with them. The arguments he adduced for this purpose were, that David danced before the ark, that the babe leaped in the womb of Elizabeth, and that the man whose lameness was removed, leaped and praised God for the mercy which he had received! He expatiated on these topics with uncommon fervency, and then drew the inference, that they ought to shew similar expressions of joy, for the blessings which Jesus Christ had put into their possesion. He then gave an impassioned sketch of the sufferings of the Saviour, and hereby roused the passions of a few around him into a state of violent agitation. About nine men and seven women, for some little time, rocked to and fro, groaned aloud, and then jumped with a kind of frantic fury. Some of the audience flew in all directions, others gazed on in silent amazement! They all gradually dispersed, except the jumpers, who continued their exertions from eight in the evening to near eleven at night. I saw the conclusion of it; they at last kneeled down in a circle, holding each other by the hand, while one of them prayed with great fervour, and then all rising up

from off their knees departed. But previous to their dispersion, they wildly pointed up towards the sky, and reminded one another that they should soon meet there, and be never again separated! I quitted the spot with astonishment. Such disorderly scenes cannot be of any service to the deluded individuals, nor can they prove beneficial to society. The late William Richards, of Lynn, had great merit in putting down this tumultuous spirit among his countrymen, a circumstance honourable to his memory. See his "Memoirs," by the author of "The Sketch," where will be found a very curious letter on the subject. Whatever credit we may and ought to allow this class of Christians for good intentions, it is impossible to speak of the practice itself, without adopting terms of unqualified disapprobation. The reader is referred to Bingley's and Evans's "Tour through Wales," (the latter author was a clergyman at Bristol, now deceased,) where, as many particulars are detailed respecting the Jumpers, his curiosity will receive a still further gratification. It pains the author of the present work, that he has not in his power to give a more favourable account of them. The decline of so unbecoming a practice will, it is to be hoped, be followed by its utter extinction.

UNIVERSALISTS.

The Universalists, properly so called, are those who believe that, as Christ died for all, so, before he shall have delivered up his mediatorial kingdom to the Father, all shall be brought to a participation of the benefits of his death, in their restoration to holiness and happiness. Their scheme includes a reconciliation of the tenets of Calvanism and Arminianism, by uniting the leading doctrines of both, as far as they are found in the scriptures, from which union they think the sentiment of universal restoration naturally flows, in opposition to the common and almost universally-believed doctrine, of the eternity of hell torments.

Thus they reason:"The Arminian proves from

scripture, that God is love: that he is good to all; that his tender mercy is over all his works; that he gave his Son for the world; that Christ died for the world-even for the whole world; and that God will have all men to be saved.

"The Calvinist proves also from scripture, that God is without variablness or shadow of turning; that his love, like himself, alters not; that the death of Christ will be efficacious towards all for whom it was intended; that God will perform all his pleasure, and that his counsel shall stand. The union of these scriptural principles is the final restoration of all men.

Taking the principles of the Calvinists and Arminians separately, we find the former teaching, or at least inferring, that God doth not love all; but that he made the greater part of men to be endless monuments of his wrath the latter declaring the love of God to all, but admitting his final failure of restoring the greater part. The God of the former is great in power and wisdom, but deficient in goodness, and capricious in his conduct— who that views the character can sincerely love it? The God of the latter is exceeding good, but deficient in power and wisdom-who can trust such a being? If, therefore both Calvinists and Arminians love and trust the Deity, it is not under the character which their several systems ascribe to him, but they are constrained to hide the imperfections which their views cast upon him, and boast of a God whose highest glory their several schemes will not admit.

The Universalists teach the doctrine of election, but not in the exclusive Calvinistic sense of it: they suppose that God has chosen some for the good of all; and that his final purpose towards all is intimated by his calling his elect the first born and the first fruits of his creatures, which, say, they, implies other branches of his family, and a future in-gathering of the harvest of mankind.

They teach also that the righteous shall have part in the first resurrection, shall be blesssed and happy, and be made priests and kings to God and to Christ in the millenial kingdom, and that over them the second death

shall have no power; that the wicked will receive a punishment apportioned to their crimes; that punishment itself is a mediatorial work, and founded upon mercy; consequently, that it is a means of humbling, subduing, and, finally, reconciling the sinner to God.

They add, that the words rendered everlasting, eternal, for ever and for ever, in the scriptures, are frequently used to express the duration of things that have ended, or must end; and if, it is contended, that these words are sometimes used to express proper eternity, they answer, that then the subject with which the words are connected, must determine the sense of them; and as there is nothing in the nature of future punishment which can be rendered as a reason why it should be endless, they infer that the above words ought always to be taken in a limited sense, when connected with the infliction of misery.

The Universalists have to contend, on the one hand, with such as hold the eternity of future misery, and on the other, with those who teach that destruction or extinction of being will be the final state of the wicked. In answer to the latter, they say, "that before we admit that God is under the necessity of striking any of his rational creatures out of being, we ought to pause and inquire

"Whether such an act is consistent with the scriptural character of the Deity, as possessed of all possible wisdom, goodness, and power?

"Whether it would not contradict many parts of scripture; such, for instance, as speak of the restitution of all things-the gathering together of all things in Christ-the reconciliation of all things to the Father, by the blood of the cross-the destruction of death," &c. These texts, they think, are opposed equally to endless misery, and to final destruction. Be it recollected also,

"Whether those who will be finally destroyed, are not in a worse state, through the mediation of Christ, than they would be without it? This question is founded on a position of the friends of destruction, viz., that extinction of being, without a resurrection, would have been the only punishment of sin, if Christ had not become the resur