way to comprehend God's system is, to consider for what ends he has revealed his Gospel. We have said, His Gospel is a remedy : and it is a remedy, suited in itself to the necessities of man ; and suited, in the manner of its proposal, to the powers of man. Now man, however fallen, has faculties and powers, agree- ably to which God will deal with him : for God draws us, not as beasts, or as stocks and stones, but " with the cords of a man f ;" that is, in a way con- sistently with our intellectual and moral powers. Now man has within him certain principles, as hope and fear ; and by these principles God will move him. But, if there were in the Scriptures nothing but promises, what scope would there be ioxfear? or if there were nothing but commands and threaten- ings, what ground would there be for hope? But the Scriptures, meeting both of these principles with appropriate declarations, call forth both of them into act and exercise ; and thus, as two forces from dif- ferent angles, striking simultaneously and with equal strength on a given object, will propel that object forward in a straight line, so do these different declarations operate on the mind of man, and urge him forward in the path of duty and of holiness. As for those who would wrest the Scriptures to make them all speak one language, they, whether Calvinists or Arminians, shew that they have not duly consi- dered the true design of God in the revelation of his will. They need to be reminded of this great pecu- liarity in the sacred records, that they are altogether suited, no less to the powers, than to the necessities, of man ; and if the different parties would agree to meet upon that ground, there would be an end of all their controversies and animosities. Only strive to simplify the Scriptures, and they will be simple : but strive to perplex and confound them, and they may soon be made a theatre for endless disputes.
To keep out of view every thing that is of a ques- tionable nature, has been, and shall be, my earnest
f Hos. xi. 4.