- IF Baptifm imports Covenant, and implies Engagement, can he offer to deny any more, that there is no moral Truth nor Fitness in that Pofitive Can he, if he has any Ingenuity or Honour left, refufe, or delay to retract his Book full of fuch fenfelefs falfe Accufations? For does the Understanding apprehend any Thing that carries more moral Rectitude with it, than keeping Covenant, and being true to Engagement? Or does the Will almoft dare to recede from it? Or the Paffions be any longer forward to rebel against it? And is not this Means and Method perfectly fuitable and congenerate to all the Moral Powers and Efforts of Man for Production of Moral Righteousness in Thought, Word, and Deed?

3. In the Lord's Supper is reflected upon with any due: Attention, that will be found to be far from being a Mechanical Means of Grace, but, on the contrary to be replete with rational Truth, and moral Fitnefs of Things. Our Author where, (as above) he denies the Death of Christ to be the Meritorious Caufe, he is free to acknowledge it a Moral Means of Salvation; tho' I will do him Juftice, that he means no more than fo far as an Example the most perfect in all the World, is a moral Cause or occafion of imitating Righteoufnels that is all the faving Virtue he allows, in Chrift our Saviour and Redeemer. But that is but one (perhaps the leaft) part of the Remembrance of him dying and hedding his Blood for the Remillions of Sins. If his Example, and our Imitation in Virtue, is the Principal, or the whole lafting Duty of the Remembrance, as he would fondly fint and confine it, tho' it

is never once faid or offer'd to the Communicant this is my Example, but this is the New Co venant in my Blood, or, as it is varied, this is my Blood in the New Covenant, for the Re million of Sins, then it ought to have been exprefs'd, that Chrift died for our Virtues, for the Juft, not for our Sins, nor for the Unjuft; if hé folely and only died for what is to come after. A good Example has fome relation to, and connexion with Virtue, "fo as to be faid to be or dain'd for it; Sins ftand in need of Propitiation, Atonement, Forgiveness, not Virtue, But how fhould the Example of one be an Atonement, Propitiation for, or Remiffion of the past Sins of another, it may poffibly be an Inducement to future Obedience, but how does the fame Example as fuch and no more; bring the needful Peace of Confcience and Satisfaction to the Mind, how paft Difobedience is forgiven and remember'd no more against the Perfeverer in, after fober, righteous and godly Living? This is forcing Senfe upon Words, nor can it with any propriety be reconciled to the Expreffion of dying for Sins, or Forgiveness of, or being á Propitiation for them, or making our Peace with God; nor can any Figure of Speech, but that called Nonfenfe, make any Apology for it.

IN fhort the Mediatorial Scheme in the New Covenant, which is recogniz'd in the Lord's Supper, ordain'd by the Mediator of it purpofely until his coming again, to preserve by that Method, and keep up in that Solemnity, our Relation to himfelf as Mediator of our Redemption and Interceffion, is a moft divine Scheme (not of Clerical, Hierarchical Inven

tion) of the most profufe ftupendous Love of Heaven, in conferring the greatest Benefits that God could beftow, or Man receive. If it is a Commemoration of the most ineftimable Benefits, Favours, and Bleffings, then the Scene of Gratitude, with all the Inducements and Obligations in the World, opens itself to the Heart of Man, furprizes his Attention, and delights his Remembrance. Than fuch Gratitude, fuch a bounden, fuch a willingness of Duty, can there poffibly be laid a more Divine, more Godlike Scene for attracting Human Nature, for convincing a Rational Creature, or for prevail. ing upon a free moral Agent to do as he ought to do? Who can refufe fuch an Invitation leading and haftening him to Repentance? or not rejoice in feeing the Oppreffion of his guilty Fears taken off, and his Prayers carried up fafe to the Throne of Grace, and there received with a clear Welcome, and all perfect Acceptablenefs? Upon Remembrance of so much Kindness, and fo great a Benefactor thus dying for him, and of the New and better Covenant in his Blood for reception of accumulated Privileges and Bleffings, filial Freedom, fearless Frailties of human Nature, and the Opening the Kingdom of Heaven and Glory to all Believers, who are honeft fincere Doers; the Understanding of the devout Communicant is in raptures of Divine Sentiments, and yet is calm and undisturbed; his Will is captivated to Godliness and Duty; his Love and Affections in remembrance of fo vaft a Love and infinite Affection, confer'd, and ftill prefiding over, is pre-ingaged to God and his Saviour, and not at liberty, for any long Time, to follow after Follies, or be led aftray with the Delufion of falfe perifhable Happiness.

Thus

Thus all the moral Powers of Man are concenter'd with a treble Vigour in the Purfuit of Righteousness, the Love of God and every Man, and in the fteddy Qualifications for his ime mortal Happiness. And if all this, with much more, is and certainly may be the happy Confequence of a due Participation of the Lord'sSupper, I hope it will for the fake of its intrinfick Excellence, be admitted by every body elfe, as a moral fitting Means, and in time, by our Author himself as a congenerate one, clofely united to, and wholly defirous of, the Religion of the End; and I appeal to the Publick, whether if I, in my Turn, fhould call it a generative (moral) Means to that End, it would not much better exprefs its good Effect and Defign, than when he from denying it to be congenerate, denies it to have any Connexion to the End;, which I have fhewn to contain no less than two Falfhoods.

IF a Raven, Sparrow, or Lily may be a moral Means, I might add congenerate, for improving Faith or Truft in God's Providence, why may not thinking upon the Bread and Wine in the Lord's-Supper, thinking upon the Command of receiving, thinking efpecially upon the End of receiving, be a moral and congenerate Means of preferving Faith in the Mediator, keeping up our Sense and Confcioufnefs of the New Covenant, and of our Entrance and Engagement in it? But it furprizes one most of all to find this Author from our Saviour's Manner of moralizing Occurrences, multiplying Sacraments with the Papifts, not only to feven but to feventy *. When

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at the fame Time he will not allow fo much as one Sacrament upon any one monal Account, and particularly explodes the two Proteftant Sacraments as being in his rafh Opinion, and most cenforious Temper, void of all Pretence of being any moral congenerate Means at all to the End of moral Righteoufnefs. How thoughtless and fuperficial this is in fo profound a Writer, let others judge.

AFTER denying roundly, that there is any Religion at all in Pofitives, he in one Paffage fpeaks with fome Diffidence *. "If any Reli"gion in pofitive Laws, it must confift in keep

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ing close to the original Inftitution;" but he happens to be almoft as much mistaken in this, as in the other. For if moral Truth, Reafon, and Fitness mix with and prefide over these Pofitives, what is of a moral Character is variable according to Circumftances as the Providence of God is pleafed to vary them; and confequently the original Defign of the two Sacraments may be punctually obferv'd and complied with, though all the original Circumstances are not, nor perhaps cannot fo well, for changeable providential Reasons, be punctually continued ; but may nevertheless by human Prudence, which is always fuppofed to correfpond to Divine Providence, be varied to the Approbation of God, where-ever he has fuperinduced a genuine undifi fembled Reason, for a prudential Alteration in all fuch Cafes the everlafting equitable Maxim, I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice, will be the Juflification over the Face of the whole Earth.

See the Index to his Book, p. 110.

III. The