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    Smith would justly smile at such logie * , if us ^ d by his Opponents . Before 1 conclude * allow" me to * remark' , that the Geaevese have sufficient reason for wishing to exclude the doctrines of the Trirtity and Predestination , with the leading- tenets of Calvin , from their pulpit -discourses * and for confining their preachers to scripture language . The cruel mur *

    ders and persecutions which theenforceuien t of tlie | e 4 pctrines occasioned in Geneva lor one hundi ^ ye ^ ilfife the Reformation , naturally directed the attention of the pastors to iiiauira

    more fully into the grounds of & faith which produced such bitter fruits , $ he attempt of Calvin to take ^\ yay tfie ^ life of Bolsec for denying the predestination of infants to eternal t <> rn 3 eiits , was an instance of intolerance almost

    unequalled ia history . Tlie Moloch of Pagan worship was appeased by the occasional suffering : of a few children expiring in the flames , whose mo- * mentary torments might be rewarded with a happy immortality ; but the Being- whom Calvin worshiped can only be appeased bv the everlasting burning "

    of myriads of infants , whose unutter ^ able anguish will endure through the countless ages of eternity . At the sight of their never-ending tortures , the elect will sing forth rapturous hallelujahs to celebrate the triumph of sovereiga justice— -all " creaturely affections" will be lost and swallowed

    up in the contemplation of this astonishing proof of the goodness of their God . Nothing engendered by the superstitious idolatry of the most barbarous nations appears to me half so horribly impious as this doctrine , and yet its denial was deemed by Calvin to deserve death I * r

    We have seen with what warmth Dr . S . defends the passage in The Refuge where it is stated " that the man iu whom concentres all the moral evil committed since the fall , and the man in whom resides all the moral

    excellency that ever dignified human * Calvin ' s persecution of Castalio for denying Predestination , was carried on by calumny , as he was not in his power ; but he proclaimed Castalio to be a

    blasphemer , re viler , full of ignorance , bestiality and impudence , an impostor , a mocker of God , a contemner of all reli * gion , a filthy dog , a knave , a vagabond and beggarly rascal , ( balatronem ^ &c . — Bayle Diet . Hist ,

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    m Reply to £ > r . J . Pye Smith . Lett-IV , fflBL

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    daily discussion .- —What I have stated in Letter I . respecting M . Malan haying evinced , a persecuting spirit in his religious discourses ^ was ibunded on

    my own knowledge . I have attended the services of that gentleman , both his preaching and the examination of his catechumens ; — a circumstance which occurred during the latter , I have stated in my Travels . The conversation between 'M . Malan ktid Mr .

    Rooke , giv&n in Letter I ., was repeated to me by the latter gentleman almost immediately after it took place * and I carefully noted it down . It was also repeated by him to many , if not all the leading members of the English Church then at Geneva . I consider

    it as rather disingenuous in Dr . Smith to say , that the young gentleman mentioned did frequently attend the ministry of Mr- Rooke , and that this throws a shade of discredit upon my account .

    Dr . S . knows very well that a gay , high-spirited young man as M . M— " t-—d was , would not be restrained by female dictation to attend a Methodist

    meeting only , —for such M . Malan's chapel was considered by many of the English . But he might attend both services the same day with perfect convenience , as the hour of assembling admitted it . That he attended M .

    Malan , I am certain , having seen him there . With respect to M . Malan ' s declaration , that " he was perfectly assured of his own salvation , " is there any thing extraordinary in it ? Does

    not every true Calvinist , who feels himself justified and in a state of grace , believe the same ? It was only on the peculiar tenets of Calvinism that M * M . had to examine Mr * Kooke ; on other tenets he knew him to be

    orthodox , as they were on friendly terms with each other . It is quite futile in Dr . S . to bring forward passages from M . Maian ' s sermons , in which he does not censure the pastors and people in a violent maqner : k was not likely , while he considered himself a pastor

    of the Genevese Church , that he would publish any thing particularly offensive : this negative evidence proves nothing . It reminds me of an Irishman who was accused of taking- a shirt

    from a hed # e in the day-time- When the fact was proved by the testimony of four persons , who saw him . take it , he replied in his defence , " Please your honour , I can bring forty persons who did not see mo take it , " Dr .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1824, page 743, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2531/page/39/