most kind and tender husband. It is expected that a small volume of his sermons will be published by his executors for the benefit of the family.

DEATHS.

Lately, at Bath, the Reverend DAVID BRYMER, M. A. late Fellow of Wadham College.

June 18. At Newmarket, after a long and painful illness, the Reverend Dr. FRAMPTON.

June 20. At Bath, LORD HARROWBY, aged 66. He is succeeded by his son, the Right Honourable Dudley Ryder.

June 22. At Stoke Edith, after a long and painful illness, the Honourable EDWARD FOLEY, one of the members of parliament for the county of Worcester.

June 25. At Bath, the Reverend WILLIAM SOMERVILLE, A. M. of Dinder, Prebendary of Wells, Rector of Somervilles Aston, and Vicar of Bibury, Gloucestershire.

June 25. At Charing-cross, Mr. JOHN WALTER, upwards of forty years bookseller there, and eighteen years Director of the Westminster Department of the Phoenix Fire Office.

Lately, aged 86, the Rev. W. HALL, A. M. Master of the Free School at Liverpool, and formerly Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge.

Lately, at Riby Grove, near Castor, Lincolnshire, MARMADUKE TOMLINE,

Esq. He had no near relations, and has

left the principal part of his property, to a considerable amount, to the Bishop of Lincoln.

July 2. The Reverend PHILIP ENEAS MACKENZIE, A. M. of St. John's College, Cambridge, and many years Minister of Teddington, Middlesex.

At Castlemadocty, South Wales, the Rev. HUGH PRICE.

At Ord, in Røsshire, in the 81st year of his age, THOMAS MACKENZIE, Esq.

In Wimpole-street, aged 15, Miss EMMA CHAPLIN, Second daughter of Charles Chaplin, Esq. M. P.

At Broome-house, in Barham, Sir HENRY OXENDON, Bart. aged 81.

In consequence of a fall from his horse, Mr. CRANE, Apothecary, of Wem.

The Reverend SAMUEL HARPER, F. R.S. upwards of forty-seven years Librarian of the British Museum, and thirty-seven years Chaplain to the Foundling Hospital.

At Islington, the Reverend Mr. CROLE, Master of the Boarding-school, Queen Betsy's-lane.

EDWARD GORDON, Esq. of Bromley, aged 76.

At Harforth, near Richmond, Yorkshire, Mrs. RAINE, Wife of the Reverend Mr. Raine, and mother of the Reverend Dr. Raine, Master of the Charter-house School.

At Cote, near Mastock, the Reverend J. SASFORD, late Curate of Sherborne. His death was occasioned by drinking cold water when in a heat.

At Birmingham, the Reverend RADCLIFFE SCHOLEFIELD, a Dissenting Minister in that town.

MARIA'S Paper has come to hand.

G. B.'s Letter will find a place.

A CURATE OF THE SOUTH in our next.

No. 20.

HE following "ACCOUNT OF THE

OF HER BEHAVIOUR ON HER DEATH BED," was written by the late Rev. and learned CHARLES LESLIE, author of the Short Method with the Jews and Deists, and many other learned and ingenious treatises. The only liberty which has been taken with it is that of occasionally omitting a sentence, when it could be done without injury to the sense. No apology seems necessary for laying this account before our readers, as in addition to many other valuable ends which it is calculated to answer, it seems important to preserve from oblivion a tract, in which are distinctly exhibited the sentiments held by its venerable author respecting some of the principal doctrines of our holy religion, and particularly on the subject of justification by faith.

ACCOUNT OF THE CONVERSION OF A

QUAKER.

THE person I am to speak of, was bred a quaker from her infancy, being born of quaker parents, and was not baptized till after she was married. She was of a quick and ready apprehension, and a cheerful temper, nothing inclined to enthusiasm. She discoursed with judgment and concern in matters of religion, of which I had frequent occasions, lodging a long time in the same house with her. She had an entire confidence in me, and opened her mind to me as to her confessor.

She died of a consumption, of which she had been ill, and wearing weaker and weaker, two years before her death, in all which time I attended her.

She had some relations who were Independents, and had acquainted her with their doctrine of assurance, of which we often discoursed, and of their marks of election and reprobation, which were built upon a strong CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 20.

[No. 8. VOL. II.

imagination, and a fancy of their own

cannot give of it, since they make even the good works of the reprobate hateful to God.

I preached to her the doctrine of faith, as set forth in our homilies of salvation, of faith, and good works, which she often read with great plea

sure

-that the atonement and satisfaction to God for our sins, was made wholly and solely by the perfect obedience and meritorious sufferings and death of Christ our blessed Lord in our nature, in our stead, as our sacrifice and our surety, who had paid the whole debt to the utmost farthing, to the last demand of infinite justice; that our good works had no merit in them, nor must come in for the least share of the satisfaction made for sin, as being mixed with our infirmities and our sin, whence all our righteousness was filthy rags, and our best repentance had need to be repented of; that there was no merit neither in our faith, which at the best was but weak, and that we had all reason to say, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief; that all our dependence was upon the perfect and complete satisfaction made by the sacrifice of Christ, wholly without us, for our sins; that our faith was only a hand which reaches a medicine to us, the virtue being in the medicine not in the hand, no more than it was in the eye which looked upon the brazen serpent, and a less perfect sight did cure, as well as the strongest; that sight is the nearest bodily representation of faith, as our blessed Saviour himself makes the allusion, John iii. 15. That as the serpent was lifted up," (and the cure was wrought only by the sight) "so was the son of man lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life;" that good works are a necessary effect of faith, as fruit is of a tree; it is a dead tree that bears no fruit, so it is a dead faith that bring

3 M

eth not forth good works, as there is occasion.

And St. James, whom some would make to oppose St. Paul in that matter, lays the whole upon faith, only brings the works to shew, that the faith was true; he says, James ii. 22. "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works?" And the scripture was fulfilled which said, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." It was the believing was imputed, and he did believe, because he did work, else he had not believed: but after all, there is no merit, either in the faith or in the work, but it is attributed chiefly to the faith, because faith is that which immediately lays hold upon, and reaches and applies to us the infallible Catholicon, the satisfaction and atonement made for us by the passion and death of Christ our Lord; and as a tree is sometimes denominated by the fruit, so the works of faith are called faith, and the effects of faith are attributed to the works; and on the other hand, faith itself is called a work. John vi. 28, 29. "What shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent:" so that faith implies works (where works can be wrought), and works imply faith, the one as the tree, the other as the fruit.

Upon this subject the person I am speaking of, and I, have spent many hours, especially the last year of her life. As she drew nearer to her end, she used to say, This makes the way to heaven very easy, and gives an infallible assurance, that neither the weakness of our faith (though the stronger the more comfortable) nor the unworthiness of our repentance, so it be sincere, can give us any ground of despair; because our trust is not in them, but in the all-sufficient satisfaction which our Lord has made for us.

I told her I was glad she found it so easy, for that this faith was the gift of God; and some would purchase it (if possible) with the whole earth, were it all their own; for all men have not faith, though it is not only very clearly revealed in holy scripture, but most consonant to our reason, for that God is not only just (as we use the word among men) to have some, or `a great deal of justice in him, but he

is justice itself, justice in the abstract; and justice cannot remit any thing: to remit is not an act of justice but of mercy, and God is as much justice as mercy, and one attribute must not fight with or oppose another; that would be to argue contradiction in God; therefore since it is of the nature of justice to require satisfaction, and satisfaction that is not full and complete is not satisfaction (for justice requires the uttermost farthing), it must needs follow that God, who is justice itself, will require it. This was both required and paid in the full and complete satisfaction which Christ made for the sins of the whole world, in our true and proper nature which had offended, by his perfect obedience, and the sacrifice of himself upon the cross. Herein the justice of God was infinitely exalted, in that a full, that is, an infinite satisfaction was given to it in the sufferings of a person who was of an infinite nature. This infinite satisfaction made to the justice of God, does equally exalt his wisdom in finding out so wonderful a means for our salvation. Again, this infinity of justice and wisdom both equally exalt the infinity of the goodness and mercy of God, in affording to us such a propitiation, in sending his son to take our nature upon him and to make satisfaction for the sins of that nature. And thus the attributes of God stand each full and complete; they fight not or oppose each other, but each does exalt and magnify the other. This is the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. This is it which the angels desire to look into and adore to all eternity; this it is which the quakers have trampled upon and rejected, meaning no more by God manifest in the flesh than the light which, they say, is manifest in their hearts, and that there the satisfaction is made for sin, by that light within them, which they call the mystery. But the outward coming of Christ, and all that he did or suffered upon earth, they call the history, or facile representation of what is wrought within them by what they call their light, and say, that this is the great mystery of godliness; thus literally denying the Lord who bought them. Somewhat akin to this is the Independent notion of assurance, which they make necessary to salvation, and mean not by it the faith, as above explained, but some

thing darted immediately into their hearts; therefore they will oblige men to tell the hour, minute, and occasion of their conversion (as they call it), and when this light first struck them, whence they date their regeneration, and being in a state of grace; and this, notwithstanding their having before believed the Christian faith: so that this assurance is something else than faith; it is not the assurance of faith, there is no reason to be given for it: whereas the apostle enjoins that we should be always ready to render a reason of the faith that is in us. But what the Independents mean by assurance is a thing wholly unaccountable, and cannot be explained: it is omy an impulse upon the mind and differs nothing from the wild enthusiasm of other sects: it is something that strikes upon the imagination, but has no deeper root. This appears in the strange accounts they give of their conversion: as some date it from such a sermon with which they were much affected, from such a discourse or prayer; so others from the wildest extravagancies, and the very act of monstrous sins.

Imagination is a noble instrument of religion, when it is built upon reason, and acted by it. It enlivens our devotions, it carries us even beyond our strength in our duty, makes us patient even in tribulation, by shewing us the crown that is set before us, and gives us zeal, but still according to knowledge. The impressions made by the holy spirit of God upon the imagination of the holy prophets and apostles, in the visions and revelations given to them, always tended to the improvement of their reason, and made it stronger. But the impressions made by evil spirits upon the imagination, always tend to the clouding of our reason, that the imagination might govern alone and without controul.

Another remarkable difference betwixt the impressions made by the good and evil spirits is, in the visible effects, even upon their bodies. The holy prophets were even much moved, and their bodies for a time rendered weak, during the impressions of some extraordinary visions; but still with gravity and decency, befitting the awe they had to the divine presence then exhibited to them: whereas the Heathen priests, when they were

possessed with their*

and

gave forth oracles, fell into convulsions and strange distortions of body, wallowing and foaming at the mouth in dreadful manner, yelling, and sending forth hideous outcries, beyond their common strength, to the terror even of beasts which heard the noise. The very same was among the quakers, whence they got the name; and it often seized even little children among them, so that it could be no counterfeit. And the like has been observable at the beginning of most of our sects of Anabaptists in Germany, and of the Presbyterians in Scotland, at the first setting up of their solemn league and covenant; and it lasted ten years among them, and was called the Stewarton sickness, because it began in the parish of Stewarton; and people at first flocked out of all parts of the country to see it as a wonderful thing. But themselves boasted in it as the great power of God, and wrote in defence of it; and they had one stock of it in the great Church of Edinburgh, upon their first establishment since the revolution, with which they were as much pleased as others were affrighted, seeing their seats move and people thrown off their stools, with such violent shakings and humming noise they made, as obliged the preacher to desist till things were composed again. An account of this I have seen in letters from thence.

When the Jews were cut to the heart, and repented, upon the preaching of the apostles, it is said, they smote their breasts and returned; but they did not fall into fits, roar and bellow like madmen: no such ecstatic conversions are to be found in holy scripture; all was grave, serious, and lovely. The spirit that descends from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated. The reverse of which is the spirit that ascends from beneath; its birth is in monstrous forms, its gravity sour and sullen, the most difficult to be entreated, and the most impossible to be convinced; for, having abandoned reason, what can convince? What can a man answer to what you say you feel within you, for which you give no reason nor hear any against it.

* A word wanting here in the MS.