fabricating by him,

"who from the beginning

was a liar and a murderer."

May that Jesus, whom, like Saul the persecutor, you have wounded in his members, and "who is exalted as a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and forgiveness of sins," bestow on you these invaluable mercies, without the possession of which, you will be a stranger to peace here, and to felicity hereafter.

I am, Sir, &c.

LETTER X.

SIR,

of

AFTER the glorious victory which you flatter yourself to have gained over the army scarecrows, which you have taken no inconsiderable pains to make, in order to personify two thirds* of the inhabitants of Reading, you proceed to notice what you call the religious establishment of Calvinists; and here, Sir, you have again manifested that you are a complete ignoramus in relation to the different sects of religion that obtain in the town which you have made the object of your libellous animadversions. You are as much mistaken in your remarks on the Calvinists, as you are when you imply that two thirds of the inhabitants of Reading are of a religious denomination which does not exist in the town: for certainly you do imply this, by asserting that two thirds are Methodists-that they are not Calvinistsand that they make annual returns of their num bers. Now, Sir, all Methodists who are not Calvinists are Arminians-all Methodists likewise who make annual returns of their numbers are

* See Stranger, page 132.

Arminians. It follows therefore, on your premises, as an uncontroverted conclusion, that two thirds of the inhabitants of Reading are Arminian Methodists. But what is the fact? Not a family of this denomination is to be found in the borough!!

You make the Calvinists a particular sect, composed of Presbyterians and Independents. But as you are so totally unacquainted with your subject, allow me, Sir, to offer you some little information in relation to it. The name of Calvinists was originally given to those who embraced not merely the doctrine, but the church government and discipline established at Geneva by the learned, eloquent, pious, and venerable John Calvin, in order to distinguish them from the Lutherans. The two celebrated reformers, Luther and Calvin, differed in relation to church government, and in respect to the sacrament of the Lord's supper; the former maintaining the real presence of Christ in the elements of that ordinance, while the latter considered them merely as signs; but as to the five points of dispute between the Calvinists and the Arminians or Remonstrants, Luther was no less a Calvinist than Calvin himself, as may be seen by his valuable and learned comment on the epistle to the Galatians. Since the Synod of Dort, the term Calvinists has been chiefly applied to those who embrace his leading views of the gospel, to distinguish them from the Arminians. In the former and original sense of the term, there are now

:

very few Calvinists in England, the Presbyterian congregations, which are properly Calvinistic, being nearly annihilated. But though nearly extinct in England, Calvinism is the established religion of Scotland, where it was first introduced in the year 1561, by John Knox, a disciple of Calvin, and where it has remained ever since, except during the period when episcopacy was re-established, and which continued from the Restoration to the Revolution-a space of twenty-eight years. In the latter sense in which I have used the term Calvinists, and which is now its common acceptation, it may undoubtedly be applied to a large majority of those persons in this country who make a credible profession of religion. Indeed, with the exception of professed Arminians, Arians, Socinians, Quakers, hyper-calvinistic Antinomians, and a few other sects, the numbers of which are not extensive, the remainder of religious professors are Calvinists, with some few shades of difference. It may, however, be remarked, that many persons who in the main accord în sentiment with the Institutes of Calvin, do not like to be called after his name; because they consider the doctrines he taught not peculiar to himself, but in the general consonant with the Scriptures, and with the professed creeds of almost all Protestant churches. Their objection is undoubtedly on some accounts reasonable; but a moment's consideration must convince them that,

in treating on the doctrinal views of the different sects into which the Christian church is at present divided, it is impossible to avoid the terms in general use without constant difficulty and circumlocution, The terms Calvinist, Arminian, &c. I use, therefore, from necessity; and after this explanation, I trust none will be offended with them.

Let us now, Sir, return to Reading. In the first sense in which the word Calvinists has been: explained, and which is that adopted by you, there are no Calvinists in the town in the latter, the religionists of every denomination are generally so, with the exception of a few Quakers, Sandemanians, Antinomians, and Universalists. But never was I in a place in which any profession of religion was made, in the sense in which that phrase is now generally understood, where the points in dispute between the Calvinists and Arminians were less known, or less attended to, controversially, than at Reading. According to the best of my recollection, I never yet heard the subjects of difference professedly entered into in any pulpit, either in the Establishment or among the Dissenters; nor have I been a witness of their being introduced as topics of conversation. It has been much the fashion, of late years, to dress up and exhibit Calvinism as a bug-bear. If, therefore, some of the good peo ple of Reading were to be told they were Gal