cluded against them without their being heard, nor was the overture so much as read to them, but they were told that they must answer certain queries to be given them. This

can find, there are several of these quotations which seem to us to contain nothing of what is charged upon them, as particularly upon the first head anent the nature of faith, pages 175, 176, 177. And upon the head of universal atonement, pages 127, 128. And upon the fifth head, anent the believer's not being under the law as a rule of life, pages 209, 210.

5. It is also hard, that the book is condemned as denying the necessity of holiness to salvation, and the believer's being under the law as a rule of life, without making the least intimation, that the one half of the said book, contained in the second volume, is an explication and application of the holy law, in its ten commandments, not only to unbelievers, but also to believers themselves, for their direction and excitation to holiness of heart and life, and humiliation for their transgressions of it; yea, and without that half of the book its being once under the consideration, either of the Assembly or Committee for preserving the purity of doctrine.

Right Reverend and Honourable,

Although we don't account of the deed of the late assembly in this affair, otherwise than as an oversight, nevertheless our hearts tremble to think of its native consequences, and what use in the present and succeeding generations may be made of the words of the Assembly's determination, in the points of doctrine above mentioned, and of their strictly prohibiting and discharging all the ministers of this church, either by preaching, writing, or printing, to recommend the foresaid book: And on the contrary, enjoining and requiring them to warn and exhort their people, in whose hands the said book is, or may come, not to read or use the same: A book remarkable for setting the difference between the law and the gospel, the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, in a clear light; and for directing to the true way of attaining gospel-holiness, by which it has recommended itself to the consciences of many judicious ministers and Christians in this church, holy and tender in their walk.

As the growing humour in this generation, for turning that religion left among us unto a mere morality, which hath nothing but the matter common to it, with true holiness and gospel obedience, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, is too notour to escape your observation. So it is with grief of heart we must say, that we conceive the above mentioned act of Assembly to have so opened the sluice to it, that if remedy be not timely provided, this matter must terminate in a confounding of the law and gospel, notwithstanding of our Confession of Faith and Catechisms witnessing against the same; which has been the lot of other public standards of doctrine before this time.

We are confirmed in these our fears of the dismal effects of that act, when we find in a following act of the same Assembly, namely, the 8th, en

the representers considered an irregular mode of procedure, having learned that the commission had already come to conclusions upon this case, which no answers of theirs could alter,

titled, Act for preaching catechetical doctrine, with directions therein,' two clauses, the one relating to justification, the other to the necessity of holiness, being expressed in the terms following, viz. Of free justification, through our blessed Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ, received by faith alone; and of the necessity of an holy life, in order to the obtaining of everlasting happiness :' Concerning which we crave leave to represent, that the said form of words, being another than what is used in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms on these subjects, is stumbling to us, and cannot fail of being so to many in the present situation of affairs with respect to doctrine in this church, caused by the former act, for binding on the necks of believers in Christ the yoke of the law, as a covenant of works; the ministers of this church had been directed to preach free justification through our blessed Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ, only for his righteousness imputed to us, and received by faith alone,' the ground of offence on the former head had been lessened: But that in such a circumstantiate case, the great doctrine of justification was winded up in such terms, as gave shelter to the erroneous doctrine of justification for something wrought in, or done by the sinner, as his righteousness, or keeping of the new and gospel law, is exceedingly grievous; especially, considering that a motion expressly made to the Assembly, for mentioning the righteousness of Christ in that case, was slighted. And whereas the said Assembly, by their former act, have condemned the above-mentioned plea, in answer to the law's demand of good works for obtaining salvation, and that the law acknowledgeth no works for obtaining salvation, but such as found a title to it before the Lord; we conceive their directing of ministers by the latter act above mentioned, to preach (evidently in contradiction to the condemned doctrine of the Marrow on that head) the necessity of a holy life in order to the obtaining of everlasting happiness, to be of very dangerous consequence to the doctrine of free grace. And in our humble opinion, the receding from that doctrine may be reckoned among the causes of, and as having no small influence upon, the want of the gospel-holiness, so much and so deservedly complained of by the ministers and people in these our unhappy days.

For brevity's sake, we do not here represent several other grievances, important in themselves, and weighty to us; yet we cannot but regret the flame raised in this church by the overtures concerning kirk sessions and presbyteries, transmitted by the late Assembly: Nor can we, without horror, think of the further evils and inconveniences that will inevitably follow, in case they should be turned into standing acts. But it is hoped this Assembly will be so guided by the great Master of Assemblies, as to put a stop to what further detriment the Church of Scotland may sustain by the said overtures; as also, effectually to prevent for the future, all grounds of complaint that may be made to subsequent Assemblies, against the proceedings of such as have

yet, for the vindication of truth, and to remove every shadow of suspicion that they wished to hide their sentiments, they agreed to receive the queries, though they were cautious enough, for the sake of justice, to do it under a protest.

In the month of March, the twelve brethren appeared again before the commission, and gave in their answers to the queries that had been given them in November.* These answers form

gone before them, and consequently to cut off all occasion for representations of this nature hereafter.

"May it therefore please the very Reverend Assembly, seriously and impartially to consider the premises, with the great weight and importance of this affair, in which the honour of our common Master and message, the salvation of souls, our Confession of Faith and Catechisms, our covenants, national and solemn league, and the remains of the peace of this Church, are so much concerned: And laying aside all considerations of another kind, repeal the 5th act of the late Assembly, entitled, 'Act concerning a book, entitled, The Marrow of Modern Divinity: And to provide such remedy as may remove the offence arising from the two above-specified clauses, in the 8th act of the said Assembly, entitled, 'Act for preaching Catechetical Doctrine, with directions therein: Which will afford matter of thanksgiving unto God, in behalf of the truth, and of yourselves, to many who love the truth and peace."

*The following are the queries, with the proviso under which they were taken up." I. Whether are there any precepts in the gospel that were not actually given before the gospel was revealed? II. Is not the believer now bound by the authority of the Creator to personal obedience to the moral law, though not in order to justification? III. Doth the annexing a promise of life, and a threatening of death to a precept, make it a covenant of works? IV. If the moral law antecedent to its receiving the form of a covenant of works had a threatening of hell annexed to it? V. If it be peculiar to believers to be free of the commanding of the law as a covenant of works? VL If a sinner being justified has all things at once that are necessary to salva

one of the most condensed and luminous pieces of divinity, to be found in our own or any other language, but are too long to be inserted here, and they do not admit of being abridged.* The reader, of ordinary penetration, cannot but

tion? And if personal holiness and progress in holy obedience is not necessary to a justified person's possession of glory in case of his continuing in life after his justification? VII. Is the preaching the necessity of a holy life, in order to the obtaining of eternal happiness, of dangerous consequence to the doctrine of free grace? VIII. Is knowledge, belief, and persuasion that Christ died for me, and that he is mine, and that whatever he did and suffered, he suffered for me, the direct act of faith whereby a sinner is united to Christ, interested in him, instated in God's covenant of grace? Or is that knowledge or persuasion included in the very essence of that justifying act of faith? IX. What is that act of faith by which a sinner appropriates Christ and his saving benefits to himself? X. Whether the revelation of the divine will, in the word, affording a warrant to offer Christ unto all, and a warrant to all to receive him, can be said to be the Father's making a deed of gift and grant unto all mankind? Is this grant made to all mankind by sovereign grace? and whether is it absolute or conditional? XI. Is the decision of the law as explained and applied in the Marrow to be justified, and which cannot be rejected without burying several gospel truths? XII. Is the hope of heaven and fear of hell to be excluded from the motives of believers' obedience? And if not, how can the Marrow be defended, that expressly excludes them, though it should allow other motives ?"

Edinburgh, November ninth, 1721:-" We, the subscribers of the Representation, and petition to the General Assembly, 1721, concerning an act of assembly, 1720, condemning the Marrow, being called by the commission of the late General Assembly, to answer some queries alleged to be founded upon the said representation. Considering that the reverend commission, having in August last, passed an overture, and therein made determinations upon the several heads of the representation aforesaid, which no answers of ours can warrant them to alter, and considering, that the putting queries to us in this manner, is, we conceive, an uncommon and undue manner of procedure, we do not look upon ourselves as obliged to answer them. Nevertheless, for the sake of truth, and to take off any shadow of suspicion, though ever so groundless, and being neither afraid nor ashamed to bring to light our sentiments on these points, in the form of answers to these queries, as well as we have already done in our representation, we judge it expedient to condescend to take them under our consideration, and to give answers thereto, against the commission in March. Withal, protesting, that this, our condescension herein, shall not be constructed an approbation of this method of proceeding, nor be improven as a precedent.

* These Queries, with the answers to them, have been several times printed. They have been lately imbodied in a neat little volume, entitled, " Gospel, Truth Stated and Illustrated," &c. containing a great mass of curious and use

observe, throughout the whole of this business, an insidious reference to the Marrow; as if gospel truth had had less of the representers' attention, than the honour of that book. The very titling of the queries, " Queries to be put to Mr. James Hog, and other ministers, who gave in a representation in favour of the Marrow," &c. manifest the same subtle and disingenuous management. This the brethren were too well acquainted with the history and the nature of polemical warfare to overlook, and they guarded against it, by prefacing their answers with the following caveat:-" Adhering to, and holding as here repeated, our subscribed answer given in to the reverend commission, when by them called to receive these querieswe come to adventure, under the conduct of the faithful and true Witness, who hath promised the Spirit of truth to lead his people into all truth, to make answer to the said queries. To the which, before we proceed, we crave leave to represent, that the title thereto prefixed, viz. "Queries to be put," &c. as well as that prefixed to the commission's overture anent this affair, hath a native tendency to divert and bemist the reader, to expose us, and to turn the matter off its proper hinge, by giving a wrong colour to our representation; as if the chief design of it was to plead, not for the precious truth of the gospel, which we conceive to be wounded by the condemnatory act, but for The Marrow of Modern Divinity; the which, though we value for a good and useful book, and doubt not but the church of God may be much edified by it, as we ourselves have been, yet came it never into our minds, to hold it, or any other private writing, faultless, nor to put it on a level with our approved standards of doctrine." Had these answers been fairly and freely read in the assembly, it is scarcely possible but they must have been approved of; but they were hushed in the commission, the subtile managers of which, most probably expected that they would never be allowed to go farther. At the same time, there cannot be a doubt, but that they reached conviction to many who were in the commission, which, with the universal clamour excited by the act

ful information, collected by the worthy Mr. John Brown, minister of the gospel, Whitburn.