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there be two parts; death; burial of the old man. Death, or mortification, is an actual effect of the application of Christ's death by the Holy Ghost, to our nature; whereby our corruption, or body of sin, receiveth a deadly wound; is feebled, and dieth daily. Burial, is the going forward of death; and is an effect of the application of Christ's burial by the Spirit, whereby the old man, our body of sin, is more and more corrupted and, as it were, rotted in the grave." The putting on the new man, is when we take again of God habits and disposition to virtue; and it is called the rising, or the quickening of the new man; which is an effect of the application by the Spirit, of Christ's resurrection, whereby inherent holiness is begun, and, by degrees, continually increased. Thus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, are to us, a gift' of justification; a 'power' to mortify and quicken us; and, an example,' or type, to follow in our course of life.d "The subject, or person sanctified, is the justified man. The justified person is to be sanctified throughout: particularly we are to be sanctified in the understanding, the will, the affections, the actions. The Understanding is regenerate three ways: by teaching and illuminating the mind with necessary knowledge; by persuading the truth of God's favour to the believer; by confirming us in the hope of perseverance, and eternal life. The Will is sanctified by making it right, and ready: right, when the will is inclined and carried in a straight course to that which is good, rightly known: ready, when there is a power and faculty to follow and do the good apprehended, and flee evil. The Affections are sanctified, when our desires of meats, drinks, and other things that we lust after, are moderated according to God's law, and reason: and when our affections of joy, sorrow, love, hatred, anger, are so tempered according to God's law, and good reason, as we avoid all extremities of too much and too little, and keep the holy mean.1

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"This Sanctification is begun and perfected in this life. Always in this life, there is a mixture of the old man with the new; an inclination to evil by nature, an inclination to good by grace; the flesh and spirit are contrary one to another, so that we cannot do those things that we would." Seeing there is this contrariety in us, we must resist and fight against sin continually; in which, there must be a preparation; a conflict. The preparation, is by taking the whole armour of God, as the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit. The conflict, is the resisting of sinful temptations arising in us, or suggested any way to us; and the victory is, when we so resist as sin ruleth not in us.P

The infirmities and defects of our Sanctification, are forgiven us in Christ. Sanctification hath many degrees, sometime more, sometime less." The children of God have some special sin or sins whereunto they are most prone, which they must have most special

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care to mortify. Any one sin reigning in a man, argueth him to be wicked and unsanctified. The Effect of regeneration, or sanctification, is good works; namely, acts and operations proceeding from a regenerate will, understanding, and affections." c

Of God's Will.-" God's Will, meaneth either the faculty of willing, or the act of willing; or the object, that is, the thing willed. In the first and second meaning, God's Will differeth not really from his Essence or Being; in the third, it really differeth, as he willeth other things besides Himself. In the first and second meaning, there can be no cause properly assigned, for there is no cause superior to God himself: in the third meaning, to wit, the outward object or thing willed, it hath a cause of absolute necessity. God willeth himself only; but of other things, without [or out of] himself, he willeth only of conditional necessity, or most freely: of conditional necessity, because such things as he actually willeth he cannot but will, seeing his will is unchangeable: most free he willeth, because he was indifferent, by Himself, to will this or that thing without [or out of] himself. In the third meaning, God's Will may change; as he would, of old, be worshipped by sacrifices of beasts; but now, since Christ's death, he will not so be worshipped. In the first and second meaning, God's Will is unchangeable; neither doth God begin to will that which before he would not, nor ever ceaseth to will that which before he would. So it is one thing, for God to change his Will, which can never be; another thing, to will the change of the thing which before he would, which is often. Quest.: Seeing God's Will is the first and universal cause of all things, and that cannot be changed nor hindered; whether doth God's Will impose a Necessity upon the things that he would have done? Ans.: It doth, on some things; but not on all: for seeing His Will is most effectual, therefore not only are those things done which he would have done, but they are done after that manner which he would. Now, God would have some things done necessarily; and some things, contingently; and therefore he hath for some things fitted necessary causes, by force whereof they are necessarily done; and, for some things, contingent causes, whereby they are contingently done. And seeing His Will is unchangeable and not letted, it followeth that not only those things are done which he would to have done, but also those things are done contingently, or necessarily, which he would have so to be done: so things have such a Necessity as God would they should, to wit, either absolute necessity, or conditional. Touching evil things, neither is it God's Will they should be, neither is it his Will they should not be; but it is his Will to suffer them to be done. It is not his Will that they should be, because they be not good of themselves, but by accident; it is his Will, to suffer them to be done, because, of his wisdom and goodness, He can bring forth good out of sinful actions. Things must not be esteemed as they are by accident, but as they are of themselves."e

Being arrived at the close of Ainsworth's labours and life, we come to notice a passage penned by Roger Williams, who embraced anti

a Psal. xviii. 23.

Pages 63-66.

b Jas. ii. 10. Ezek. xviii. 10, 11.

d John iv.

e

Pages 73-75.

pædobaptism in New England, and who, in one of his controversial pieces, having remarked, of the "Separatists," that "most of them have been poor and low, and not such gainful customers to the Bishops, their Courts, and Officers," as the " Puritans;" adds, "That worthy instrument of Christ's praise, Mr. Ainsworth, during some time,—and some time of his great labours in Holland,-lived upon ninepence per week, with roots boiled, &c. :" his opponent replied, "Surely he was a man that deserved well of the Church, for sundry his learned, and painful, and profitable labours! One would hope that where the Lord blesseth a people with growth of godliness, the people would give best under the best ministers of that way. Mr. Ainsworth's name is of best esteem, without all exception, in that way who refused communion with the Church of England. And if his people suffered him to live upon ninepence a week, with roots boiled,' as the Examiner told us; surely, either the people were grown to a very extreme low estate, or else, the growth of their godliness was gone to a very low ebb."b It is observable, that much obscurity hangs about this statement of Ainsworth's privations. If it were so excessive, it proves, proportionately, the operation of the Divine principles which enabled him to persevere, and not to be "ashamed of the testimony" of his Lord and that "according to the power" given to him " of God," he patiently submitted to be a "partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel."c Yet that his condition was such as gave occasion for these strictures, at the end of his days, is not inferrible from a genuine source, which supplies another and withal a gratifying attestation to his general worth. The writer of what is about to be produced is unknown to us, for he has not given even the initials of his name, in connexion with it; but that he was most intimately acquainted with the character which he describes is apparent. It is prefixed to Ainsworth's" Annotations upon the Songs of Solomon," 1623. 4to.; and it is surprising that, with such testimonies as are borne in this, and by the publishers of Ainsworth's two preceding works, any persons should have paid attention to seemingly fabulous relations of the cause of Ainsworth's death.

"Christian Reader! Be pleased to take notice that the Lord, in whose hand our life is, took to himself this reverend and judicious man, Mr. Henry Ainsworth, before he had perfected this his last labour, as his desire was... Of this kind he hath wrote divers, upon the Books of Moses, and the Psalms ; but, in my shallow understanding, he hath, like the swan, as some report at his death, sung sweetliest in this. Works of other subjects, he hath wrote divers; all, useful and profitable for the people and churches of Christ... I, being one of

a "Mr. Cotton's Letter, lately Printed, Examined, and Answered. Lond. 1644" 4to. pp. 39, The et cetera at the end of the above quotation is

Williams's.

b"A Reply to Mr. Williams's Examination and Answer, &c. By John Cotton, B.D. Lond. 1647." 4to. p. 122. c 2 Tim. i. 8.

d See Neal's Hist. Purit. vol. ii. ch. i." and Dr. Stuart's " Account," p. lx. e All his "Annotations" were printed collectively, in 1627, and again in 1639, folio. They appeared separately, in the following order-Psalms, 1612; 2d Edit. 1617. Leviticus, 1618. Numbers, 1619. Deuteronomy, 1619. Genesis, 1621. Exodus, 1622. Songs of Sol. 1623.

his charge, if I commend him, it may haply be applied to me as one that openeth his mouth wide to praise his neighbour in the gate.' Yet, to stop the mouth of opened envy, and to perform, in reverence and thankfulness, some duty in this behalf; and that others may labour to be imitators of those good things they hear, and I know, to be in him, which I doubt not but all that knew him will testify with me, he was of nature, kind, courteous, and affable; of disposition, humble, meek, loving, and peaceable: in judgment, sound, modest, and judicious; in knowledge, excelling most, as an able minister of the New Testament, continuing a lightsome star in God's right hand, where the Lord placed him; in speech, profitable, and familiar: patient in bearing injuries; not opening his mouth to disgrace in the least, even him that notoriously and untruly slandered him; but clearing himself, commended his case to Him that judgeth justly. Briefly, for personal qualifications, he was a man of a thousand; yea, worthy of the rank of them that are to be preferred before ten thousand. In his ministry, painful and faithful, as a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Full of faith and good works; fruitful in his life; comfortable, in his death, to all the beholders, of which there were many, myself being one. But I must forbear to enlarge further, in that the more I consider of those excellencies that were in him, and the sweet society and profitable converse enjoyed in him, the more doth it pierce my heart with grief when I do consider the loss, not only I, but the whole Church of God that depended upon him hath, in special; besides the general want amongst others, by such profitable labours for general good, had the Lord pleased to give life and health to him."

CHAP. XXV.

ROBINSON'S ESSAYS.

THE contents of the literary miscellany, which constitute the bulk of the chapter on which we are thus entered, valuable as they are in themselves, give and derive importance from their being here intimately associated to the several other productions of their estimable author. The full title of the book is, "Essays; or, Observations Divine and Moral: Collected out of Holy Scriptures; ancient and modern Writers, both Divine and Human; as also, out of the Great Volume of Men's Manners: Tending to the furtherance of Knowledge and Virtue. By John Robinson.-The Second Edition. With two Tables; the one, of the Authors quoted; the other, of the Matters contained in the Observations.-Prov. ix. 9. Lond. 1638." 12mo.

pp. 566. The first edition bears the date of 1625, 4to. pp. 324. The author writes, in the Preface of this interesting manual, that besides the ordinary sources whence these Observations were collected, he had, in the days of his " pilgrimage, special opportunity of conversing with persons of divers nations, estates, and dispositions, in great

variety." And he affirms that "this kind of study and meditation" had been "full sweet and delightful," and that wherein he had often refreshed his soul and spirit "amidst many sad and sorrowful thoughts" unto which God had called him; he then prays that "it may find answerable acceptance with the Christian reader, and a blessing from the Lord."

Where all is good, it is the more difficult to select what shall give satisfaction to those readers, who, being governed by their own feelings and fancies, would have had what is selected by another to have given place for the introduction of what is in accordance with their particular tastes and impressions. This little volume is a depository of various excellencies. The method is "neither curious, nor altogether negligent;" but the themes, sixty-two in number, are in themselves generally attractive, being richly studded with apothegms; while the style in which they are embedded, is itself often intituled to commendation for its idiomatic purity.

We commence our extracts with parts of Observation

VII. Of Religion; and the differences and disputations thereabouts. -"Disputations in Religion, are sometimes necessary, but always dangerous; drawing the best spirits into the head from the heart, and leaving it either empty of all, or too full of fleshly zeal and passion, if extraordinary care be not taken still to supply and fill it anew with pious affections towards God, and loving towards men. And this the more, considering how the controversies in Religion are generally carried with more heat than of any other subject: for that, besides reason, art, credit, and persuasion of truth and right, which warm men in other differences, they are, in this, inflamed as it were with zeal for God and his service; for whom, and which, not to be fervent, seemeth to be derogatory to his and its honour. We are, therefore, carefully to beware, and earnestly to pray, that we may, in Controversies of Religion, strive for God, and according unto God; seeing in them, we both may easily and do dangerously err, if we miss at all: and therewith, that we neither make our adversary's cause worse than it is, nor conceive a sinister opinion of his affections in it, without reason: in both which, men seek unhonest and unconscionable advantages; and are sorry, in effect, that they whom they oppose are not worse than they are. He that strives for error, strives for Satan against God; he that strives for victory, strives for himself against other men; but he that strives for truth against error, helps the Lord against God's and his own enemy, Satan, the father of lies; and this, specially, if withal he handle God's cause according unto God. A man shows most knowledge and understanding in the matter of truth; but most grace in the manner of handling it, with reverence, holiness, and modesty.b

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No difference, or alienation, in Religion, how great soever, either dissolves any natural or civil bond of society; or abolisheth any the least duty thereof. A king, husband, father, &c. though a heathen, idolater, atheist, or excommunicate, is as well and as much a king, husband, or father, as if he were the best Christian living; and so both a John viii. 44. b P. 79.

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