been a most zealous and active champion in the cause of the Reformation. Yet he was loaded with reproaches, and his name was cast out as evil. "The Heretic" and "The Libertine" were the usual epithets by which he was known among his enemies; and to refute his supposed errors from the press and the pulpit, was the labour which almost every petty synod in the United Provinces delegated to one of the most able of its members. When Lydius, therefore, who was an admirer of Beza and consequently a supralapsarian, had sent the pamphlet published by the ministers at Delft, and had solicited Arminius to defend the sentiments of his old master, against those which were then considered to be much too mild and fraught with error, at the very same period the ecclesiastical senate of Amsterdam preferred a request to him that he would undertake the 'province of exposing the errors of Coornhert. Thus, by a remarkable co-incidence, was committed into the hands of Arminius, a young divine of the greatest promise, the momentous charge of refuting what were deemed to be two very opposite heresies. The providence of God, under whose control are all the affairs of his church, seems, for the wisest and most beneficent purposes, to have brought into immediate contact, at a remarkable crisis, two clashing propositions involving an important verity of christian doctrine, that they might arouse the attention and excite the energies of a mortal who had been highly gifted of God, and upon whom had been bestowed an enlarged and most capacious understanding, and a mind so peculiarly trained to close thought and logical deductions, as if it had been educated with the sole intent of skilfully eliciting the portion of conflicting truth contained in each of these propositions, and of framing from them a grand and scriptural system which most signally "justifies the ways of God to man.

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Bertius has correctly stated the progress of conviction, which a gradual developement of truth produced on the mind of Arminius at this most interesting period. But as every circumstance, however trivial in appearance, becomes of importance when connected with the name of our author, and with the consequences which resulted from his lucubrations, it may be proper to add, that Lydius was not disinclined to answer the pamphlet written by the Delft brethren, and had pledged himself to perform that duty, but he preferred engaging

Arminius; and, to induce him to undertake this province, he not only urged the propriety of defending his old tutor, but hinted that such an employment would be an excellent preparative for his refutation of Coornhert, which had been assigned to him by the ecclesiastical senate of Amsterdam. It has been already related, that when he had maturely weighed all the arguments that might be produced against the supralapsarian scheme of Calvin and Beza, he felt inclined to subscribe to the milder scheme of the sublapsarians; but on further research and study, which he never remitted till he had satisfied his own mind on this important point, he at length settled in a firm belief of that particular view of predestination which now bears his honoured name, and which may be clearly demonstrated from the scriptures themselves, and which receives additional confirmation from the writings of the early Christian. Fathers. This view of predestination attributes the electing grace of God solely in its application to christian CHARACTERS, as such, and only while their dispositions and conduct remain truly christian; but both the other views have respect entirely to persons who have once been the subjects of divine grace, without making any abatement or surcease in God's electing love on account of any subsequent misconduct and unchristian practices on the part of such persons. The opinions finally adopted by Arminius respecting predestination, were, with some guarded modifications, the same as those which had been espoused and defended by Coornhert, and which had likewise, in the best and purest periods of Church History, found patrons and advocates among the ablest both of ancient and modern divines.

In this state of mind, and having never accustomed himself to slight the dictates of an enlightened conscience, he determined to act with prudence, and to do nothing unworthy of a sincere and impartial enquirer after truth, by prematurely opposing either the one scheme of doctrine or the other. He therefore abandoned the task of refutation which had been assigned to him, and betook himself, at every moment of leisure which he could abstract from the duties of his profession, to a still deeper research into these matters, by diligently reading the sacred scriptures and comparing them with the writings of the Primitive Fathers and of later divines. After all his study, he was the more confirmed in the recent discovery which had been made to his mind, of the true and scriptural doctrine of predestination; yet he was particularly

guarded in his expressions, and did not venture at first to say any thing in public against the current dogmas on this subject, but for the sake of peace he concealed that, and some other truths allied to it, within the sanctuary of his own bosom.

In the course of a few months, however, when their truth was made still more apparent, he felt an impression on his mind, that it was inconsistent with his vocation, as a teacher and propounder of the mysteries of God, to defer so far to the erroneous prejudices of some good men as to hide within his own heart that which had been committed to his trust for. the common benefit of others. He resolved, therefore, in a modest manner, to testify his dissent from some vulgar and received errors, in his occasional discourses on such passages. of scripture as obviously admitted of an interpretation that accorded with his more enlarged views of God's economy in the salvation of sinners, and contributed at the same time to promote practical godliness. This became a settled practice with him in the year 1590.

To trace the progress of truth on an ingenuous spirit, is a task that yields both pleasure and improvement. On more. closely inspecting this change in the sentiments of Arminius, his conduct appears to be entitled to particular commendation. As soon as the first glimmerings of the light of truth broke in upon his mind, he did not confer with flesh and blood, but yielded to the force of his convictions. When further light. from heaven was communicated to him, he abandoned without regret the sublapsarian scheme which he had recently embraced, and intrenched himself within the scriptural stronghold of General Redemption. In both instances, that which appeared erroneous was instantly abandoned; and on neither of those occasions did he betray any wish to fortify himself in falsehood, by seeking out subterfuges which might enable him still to profess his former opinions, or the most ingenious mode of mystifying those doctrines of the truth of which he had been convinced. But both the supra-lapsarian and the sublapsarian systems were at that time popular in Holland, while General Redemption was so imperfectly understood or in such small esteem, as to be usually classed with Arianism or Socinianism. If Arminius therefore had any possible inducement to prefer one of the prevailing schemes to the other, his worldly interest must have evidently been in favour of supraLapsarianism, which he had forsaken on the outset of this investigation. Honour and renown would have been his re

ward, and no eulogy would have been considered too great to bestow upon him, had he successfully defended the popular doctors of that æra, against what were received by their adherents as most pernicious novelties. Or if he had even proceeded no further than sublapsarianism, and refrained from shewing any attachment to General Redemption, he would still have conciliated some of the regards of the followers of Calvin. But being led on by the guiding star of truth, and disregarding all inferior considerations, he fearlessly pursued his course, and only stopped at that place to which it pointed. To produce doctrines that were subversive of Particular Redemption, was looked upon as an unpardonable offence; and which must always experience the greatest share of obloquy from the pharisaical adherents to the dogmas of mere earthly teachers. But his doctrines were all drawn from a higher source than any thing earthly; and when they were first espoused, there was no man living, whom, in relation to their bearing and application, he could call MASTER. He expected no mercy from those who derive all the principles of their religious belief from human authority alone, and either never try them by the elevated standard of the scriptures, or attempt to bring the scriptures down to the level of their principles. Yet, knowing all this, and having counted the cost, Arminius voluntarily subjected himself to many years of ignominy and painful suffering, rather than be found to compromise the highest interests of the truth of God, the convictions of his illuminated conscience, or the spiritual welfare of his fellow-creatures,—all of which were implicated in the doctrines which he had been drawn by the Spirit of God to espouse and defend. Indeed, no other course of conduct could be expected from the man, who, while but a youth, had behaved with such courage and resolution at Geneva, in reference to the philosophy of Ramus; and, in the face of the whole University, had defended that excellent system in opposition to the subtleties of Aristotle.

There are certain doctrines, as well as facts, which, having been imbibed in early life and held as axioms on the subjects to which they relate, are not discarded without much regret,— even after we have discovered that the principles, on which they professed to rest, are false and untenable. They are so associated with the beloved teachers from whom we received them, are so entwined with the endearing remembrance of our youthful friends in whose company they were first instilled into us, they frequently derive so much interest from the situations

or the circumstances in which they were inculcated, and are so interwoven with other incontrovertible doctrines and facts,-as not to be withdrawn or separated from all these attractions without a most distressing effort, a kind of mental amputation. With sensations somewhat allied to these, Arminius parted from the supralapsarian doctrines, which he had imbibed in his very boyhood, and which were afterwards confirmed and fixed in him by the authority and persuasive eloquence of the venerable Beza, who had magnified them into such importance as to make the recognition of them and of all their eventful consequences a sine qua non to salvation. But it is not intended by these remarks to detract from Arminius any portion of that praise to which he was eminently entitled for his noble resolution, when he soared above his own personal feelings, and declared himself much more friendly to the dictates of truth than to the dogmas of any human system,—though the latter. were, in this instance, arrayed in all the seductive attractions to which allusion has been made in the preceding part of this paragraph. Such a triumph over a man's tortured feelings, is a real sacrifice to principle; and in this way Arminius approved himself to be a great and estimable character.-To withdraw himself from the sublapsarian doctrines cost, comparatively, no painful effort, because to him they appeared as acquaintances of only a few months' standing; but to bid adieu to associations long cherished and highly prized, and to admit others that had nothing to recommend them except the severe yet chaste lineaments in which truth had depicted them, was a considerable trial to his mild and grateful spirit. But as hist judgment had been strongly convinced and his understanding greatly enlightened, he espoused the good cause to which he was invited, and held fast his integrity. This sacrifice of our feelings is the price which we are sometimes compelled to pay for the correction of previous errors and the reception of clearer truths; but it is a price which, we are assured by our subsequent experience of the purchase, is neither exorbitant nor has been foolishly expended. Other persons beside Arminius have complied with this demand; and, through many years of suffering, apparently arising from the choice which they had then made, have reflected on their determination with no such feeling of regret as that which they at first endured.To the eye of a philosopher this topic presents one of those anomalies of which man is said to be a compound: Man loves truth, and is earnest and sincere in his enquiries after it; yet VOL. I.

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