Hutchinson -DA407 .H9 H7 1806

48 was generally embrac'd by all religious and holy persons in the land. Mr. Hutchinson being desirous to informe himself thoroughly of it, when he was able to manage the question, offer'd it to his father, but Sr. Thomas would not declare himselfe in the poynt to him, nor indeed in any other, as wee conceiv'd, least a father's authority should sway against his children's light, who he thought ought to discerne things with their owne eies, and not with his. Mr. Hutchinson taking delight in the study of divinity, presently left off all foollish nice poynts, that tended to nothing but vaine brangling, and employ'd his whole study in laying a foundation of sound and necessary principles, among which he gave the first place to this of God's absolute decrees. This was so farre from producing a carelessenesse of life in him, a thing generally obiected against this ·Jaith," that, on the other side, it excited him tO' a more strict and holy walking in thankefullnesse to God, who had beJ1C plcas'd to chuse him out of the corrupted masse of lost mankind, to fix his love upon him, and give him the knowledge of himself by his ever blessed Sonnc. This principle of love and life in God, which had bene given him when be discern'd not what it was in himsclfe, had from a child preserv'd him from wallowing in the mire of sinne and wickednesse, wherein most of the gentry of those times were misemMrs. 1-lutchinson, in exculpating her husband, goes no part of the way towards shewing that the natural tendency of this principle dift'ers from that which is objected against it, but merely that he resisted this bias from another consideration. This is certainly not a suitable place to discuss such a subject; and it is therefore dismissed with this remark> that the partizans of the two opposite, or !)up posed opposite, principles of ·predestination and free will, while they endeavour tO implicate each other in absurdity and irreligion, agree in practice, and, guiding thei r aetions by the best discretion they are masters of, end with referring the event to J>rovidence, and praying to God for a blessing on their endeavours :-much more rationa l iu so doing than farther exposing tbe weakness of human understanding by disquisitions far too refined for its rettch. The conduct of rnode1·n times is in this respect more commendable than that of the past.

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