statements, the absurdity of which would be perfectly manifest, if stated in precise and ordinary terms. From the same cause proceeds the frequent use of the words fitness, suitableness, propriety, with ●thers of a like nature, in reference to acts of Divine goodness. It is possible to connect these terms, without palpable absurdity, with the supposed necessity of the Divine determination to that which is best. This cannot be done with benevolence. According to the universal notions of mankind, its exercise, when not enjoined by a superior, is perfectly free, directed by sovereign pleasure, not by necessity of any kind.

These remarks are, I think, confirmed by the declarations of Scripture. In the communication of gifts and benefits to his creatures, God is uniformly represented as being influenced and directed, not by necessity, but according to the good pleasure of his will. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Such passages have commonly been understood to teach that the exercise of goodness and grace does not proceed from any necessity in the Divine nature, and also, that it is directed and regulated by his mere good pleasure. This interpretation seems to be justified by the consideration that similar language is never applied to justice. These different attributes are thus uni

formly distinguished according to their peculiar nature, and in a manner perfectly agreeable to the essential judgments of the human understanding. It is a peculiar infelicity, then, under which this theory labours, that it cannot be maintain

ed without confounding those things which are so accurately distinguished by the common language and understanding of all men, and by the infallible declarations of Scripture.

5. A great and obvious objection to this scheme is, that it is hardly reconcileable with a belief in the omnipotence of God. It has been the common belief of Christians, in conformity, as they thought, with Scripture, that the power of God can accomplish any thing which does not in its very statement involve a contradiction. But it certainly involves no contradiction to say that the number, the perfections, and the enjoyments of created beings might be greater than they are; and "as far as human eyes can judge," says Dr. Johnson, "the degree of evil might have been less without any impediment to good."

"Surely a man should have spoken more cautiously of Omnipotence, nor have presumed to say what it could perform, or what it could prevent. I am in doubt whether those who stand highest in the scale of being, speak thus confidently of the dispensations of their Maker. I will venture to admonish him to spend his time, not in presumptuous decisions, but in modest inquiries, not in dogmatical limitations of Omnipotence, but in humble acquiescence and fervent devotion." It grates upon the ear of piety to be told that the existence of evil is unavoidable in the best possible system, and that the present system includes the greatest amount of good which the power of God can effect.

It has been said that if the ne

I have great pleasure in referring the reader to Dr. Johnson's Review of Jenyn's Origin of Evil,-a work exhibiting his usual strength of thought and splen dour of language, and containing one of the best specimens to be found, perhaps, in any language, of the legitimate use in exposing the rashness and presumption which may be made of ridicule and irony, of gratuitous speculations.

cessity of the Divine determinations to what is best be denied, there can be no wisdom in his purposes and works. Happily we have much better evidence of the wisdom of God, than any which can be supposed to be afforded by this baseless fabrick. The works of creation, and the dispensations of his providence, furnish incomparably stronger proof, and more unequivocal illustrations of this perfection, than any theory which the human imagination can devise.

The reader, I am persuaded, will be gratified with the following quotation from a writer, whose works, on a great variety of subjects, uniformly discover an understanding the most comprehensive and discriminating, and whose sound and cautious judgment effectually preserved him from those fanciful speculations, which unfortunately are too often looked upon as the infallible marks of a great and original genius. The excellence of the quotation will be the best apology for its length. "Of this scheme," says Dr. Witherspoon, "it is the leading part, or rather the foundation of the whole, to say that God infinitely wise and good must necessarily choose the best in every thing. That, therefore, of all possible systems, this which he has chosen, because it has taken place, must necessarily be the best, and he could not choose any other; so that from the unalterable rectitude of his nature, he is as invariably determined by necessity as any of his creatures. This boasted demonstration would be defensible perhaps, were it not that its very foundations are good for nothing. Its ideas are not applicable to the Divine Being; better and best are definite terms, and actual comparisons. We say a thing is better when it is preferable to some others, and best when it is a thing absolutely preferable to all others. Now, with what propriety can it be said that in the plans that were possible to infinite VOL. V-Ch. Adv.

wisdom and power, there is one best? Have we comprehension sufficient to see this, and therefore to say it? It seems to me that a demonstration might be given to the contrary. The whole system of creation is either finite and temporal, or infinite and eternal. If it be finite, it seems absurd to say that it would not be made better by being made larger and similar; and if it was not from eternity, it might have been made many thousands of years sooner. If on the contrary, it be infinite and eternal, the possible combinations of an infinite system are truly infinite, and there cannot be a best. The patrons of this scheme, when pressed with these difficulties, have recourse to what they should have begun with, the incomprehensibleness of time and space, and say that we cannot apply any of the ideas of sooner or later to eternity, or larger or less to space. The impossibility of uniting infinite to definite qualities, should have prevented them from saying, that of all possible systems infinite wisdom must choose the best."

STATE OF RELIGION IN FRANCE.

We have very recently received the subjoined letter from Professor Hodge, of the Theological Seminary at Princeton. We are not able to account for the length of time which elapsed after this letter was written, before it came to our hands. Still, we think it will afford a better general view of the state of religion in France, at the present time, than has hitherto, so far as we know, been given to the publick-It is on this account that we publish it. we publish it. We are persuaded that the information it contains will be gratifying to many of our readers; and we regret that we cannot make room, in our present number, for the whole of the communication. 3 L

Professor Hodge is now at the University of Halle, in Saxony; and we hope shortly to receive from him a communication, relative to the state of religion in Germany. Through his instrumentality, an exchange of the Christian Advocate for the Archives du Christianisme, has been effected. And since his residence at Halle, he has been the medium through which we have received a request from Professor Tholuck, of that University, for an exchange of our miscellany, for one in which he is concerned as a conductor and principal writer. From these exchanges, we anticipate much gratification to ourselves, and much useful and interesting information for our readers.

Paris, January 17th, 1827. Reverend and Dear Sir,-I have not forgotten the request which you made when I was about leaving America, that I would make some communication to you of the state of religion in the several places which I might visit. I feel every disposition to comply with this request, but am at the same time very sensible of the difficulty of obtaining any information of general interest, upon which implicit reliance can be placed. I have had, of course, little opportunity of learning much from personal observation; but I have endeavoured to obtain, from well informed gentlemen, what knowledge I could, as to the state and prospects of religion in this interesting country.

The first impression of a Protestant, who has never been in a Catholick country, upon entering France, is certainly of no very favourable character. The Sabbath is so openly violated, the service of the chapels has so little of the spirit of genuine Christianity about it, that the stranger looks around him in vain, for those evidences of piety with which he was familiar in his own country. It is obvious, how ever, that conclusions drawn from

such general and superficial views, cannot be relied upon. And amidst all that is obviously evil, he cannot fail to observe some things, from which Protestants themselves might derive useful lessons. One of the circumstances of this nature with which I am particularly struck, is the attention which is paid to the religious instruction of children. In the first Catholick chapel which I entered, I saw nearly two hundred boys, in companies of about fifty each, reciting their lessons to the priests or their assistants. These lessons were repeated with the utmost fluency, and the teachers appeared to take the greatest pains, to explain and enforce upon their pupils the import of what they had learned. This was at Havre; -at Rouen and Paris I have witnessed similar exhibitions of the zealous attention devoted to this subject.

The first Sabbath which I spent in France was at Rouen. Much as I had heard of the little respect paid to this sacred day in Catholick countries, I was not prepared to see it so utterly disregarded. Not only were the shops generally open, but the markets were crowded; workmen were engaged in their usual occupations; and in short scarcely a single indication was visible that it was the Sabbath. I went in the early part of the day to the celebrated cathedral, which is said to be one of the finest gothick structures in the kingdom. It was commenced by William the Conqueror. Its painted windows, its lofty roof, its long aisles, and venerable appearance, are very imposing, to one who has never seen any thing but the modern and simple edifices of our own country. There were a great number of ecclesiasticks engaged in celebrating mass. The audience was small, and the greater portion of the persons present did not appear to be attending to the service, but were scattered over the church, kneeling before some image,

silently repeating their prayers. It was with far different feelings that I attended the service in the Protestant church. Here every thing was so simple-so much like what I had always been accustomed to, that I scarcely felt myself in a strange land. The audience did not exceed three or four hundred. I took the liberty of inquiring of the pastor, the extent of his charge. He told me there were about 1200 French Protestants in Rouen, and from 300 to 400 Scotch. This is a small proportion of the 81,000 inhabitants, which the city contains. The Scotch are principally connected with the manufacturing establishments in the neighbourhood. They have no pastor; but they meet every Sabbath afternoon for religious worship. On the day which I spent in Rouen, a clergyman of the church of England preached to

them.

You cannot easily imagine the excited feeling with which the stranger approaches the capital of France. If he enter it from the west, he cannot fail of having his expectations more than realized. It so happened that I arrived in the evening, when every object, half discerned and half imagined, made an impression on my mind; much stronger than I had permitted my self to anticipate. But it is no part of my design to attempt to describe a city which has been the subject of so many volumes, and with which you are already so well acquainted. I shall confine myself to mention ing the few facts, relative to the state of religion, which I have been able to collect.

It is said that there are somewhere about 30,000 Protestants in Paris. They have two churches, the larger of which has three pastors-the smaller only one. These belong to the Reformed church. The Lutherans have a distinct establishment, and are provided with two pastors. While speaking of the places of Protestant worship, it

may be proper to mention those which are allotted to the English and Americans. The British ambassador has a chaplain attached to his suite, who preaches in the morning in the Ambassador's Hotel, to an audience of several hundred persons, and in the afternoon he preaches at the Oratoire (the French Protestant church). This gentleman, I presume, would not consider himself complimented, by being thought to belong to the evangelical party. The Rev. Mark Wilks, preaches regularly every Sunday, to an American and English audience. His room, which will accommodate 2 or 300 persons, is generally well filled. Mr. Lewis Way, with whose history you are acquainted, has purchased a very handsome hotel, formerly the property of a French nobleman, the largest room of which he has fitted up as a chapel. This is the most beautiful private chapel I have ever seen. Mr. Way preaches here both morning and afternoon. His sermons are remarkably energetick, and distinguished by a fervent spirit of piety. He seldom, I believe, fails to allude to the state and prospects of the Jews, and the coming of the millennium, which he apprehends is just at hand. Upon these subjects, his opinions are considerably in advance of those commonly entertained, on our side of the Atlantick.

From the account which I have just given, you will perceive that there is no deficiency, as to places of Protestant worship. And I am happy to say, they are all well attended-Some of them frequently so crowded, that I have found considerable difficulty in procuring a seat. And if the sincerity of worshippers can be judged of by their demeanour in church, the comparison of the Protestant churches of Paris with those of America, would not be very disadvantageous to the former. Little, however, I admit, can be learned, as to the state of

real piety among a people, from mere serious and devout manners in a place of worship.

Paris is the heart of France the centre of knowledge and influence. It is here, therefore, that the Protestants have organized so cieties, analogous to those which have been put into operation in other parts of the Christian world. With the Bible society you have been long acquainted. According to its last report, its receipts were about 6000 dollars; and it has, I am informed, about one hundred auxiliaries. This institution excites the greatest interest throughout the country. Mr. Wilks told me, he has known many persons rise at two or three o'clock in the morning, and walk nine or ten miles, to attend the meeting of one of its auxiliaries. By law, the society is bound to confine its distribution of Bibles to Protestants. It is, there fore, only as private Christians, that those who are zealous for the circulation of the word of life, can promote this object among the Catholicks. In such cases, the Catholick version is always preferred; which is said to have been faithfully and ably executed by its author; but it has, in some points, been considerably altered since his time. The Tract Society of Paris has been very efficient, during the few years which it has been esta blished. The average number of tracts which it annually distributes, is about two hundred thousand. The Missionary Society is of a more recent date than the Bible Society; but appears to excite an almost equal degree of interest. The quarterly journal which it publishes, contains not only an account of the proceedings of the Society itself, but a summary of missionary intelligence, from all parts of the world. This institution has a school under its charge, at Paris, designed for the education of missionaries. There are at present, seven or eight scholars in this esta

blishment. The superintendant is spoken of in the highest terms, for his piety and learning. The monthly meeting for prayer is regularly observed in Paris: and I have seldom attended any meetings of the kind, where more interest in the great objects of the missionary enterprise was manifested. With respect to Sabbath schools, little has as yet been accomplished. There are two in Paris, and perhaps about fifty in other parts of the kingdom. A society has been recently organized to promote their establishment. Attention having once been called to this interesting subject, there is little doubt that the benefits of religious instruction will be rapidly disseminated.

It is conjectured that there are at present between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 Protestants in France. The organization of their churches is, in all essential points, similar to our own. Each congregation has its consistory, which is composed of the pastor or pastors, and from six to twelve lay members, chosen from the number of those who pay the greatest amount of taxes. The consistory chooses the pastor, when a vacancy occurs; but this choice must be confirmed by the government. One consistorial church is allowed by law, for every six thousand souls; and five consistorial churches form a synodical district. As the Protestant population is often very widely dispersed, there are several congregations attached to the same consistorial church. Every synod, or as they are more commonly called, every consistory, (as this name answers both to our session and presbytery) has a permanent President, and is composed of a pastor and layman, from each congregation. Some years since, it is said that a large portion of the Protestant ministers, openly professed Socinian doctrines. At present, there are very few who make this open avowal, and a considerable proportion is considered as be