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into a mean, contracted system of favouritism. It pleafed God (fays this writer) to command the veil from my eyes, and I faw things in fome measure as they really were. Believe me it was not a whim or a dream that changed my fentiments and conduct, but a powerful conviction which will not admit of the least doubt; an evidence which, like that of my own existence, I cannot call in queftion without contradicting all my fenfes.' In a letter to a friend, the Author fays, you place the whole ftrefs of your enquiries upon reafon. I am far from difcarding reason, when it is enlightened and fanctified; but fpiritual things must be fpiritually difcerned, and can be revived and difcerned no other way; for to our natural reason they are foolifhnels. This certain fomething I can no more defcribe to thofe who have not experienced it, than I could describe the taste of a pine apple to a perfon who hath never seen one.'

It was neceflary to difcredit natural reason, in order to eftablish fuch an unnatural pofition as the following: unless mercy were afforded to those who are faved, in a way peculiar to themfelves, and which is not afforded to those who perish, I believe no one foul could be faved. For I believe fallen man, univerfally confidered as fuch, is as incapable of doing the leaft thing towards his falvation, till prevented by the grace of God (as our article fpeaks) as a dead body of reftoring itself to life.' There is a difcrimination of perfons by the grace and good pleasure of God, where by nature there is no difference, and all things refpecting the falvation of thefe perfons are infallibly fecured by a divine predeftination. I do not offer this as a rational doctrine (though it be highly fo to me) but it is fcriptural, or else the scripture is a mere nose of wax, and without a determinate meaning. What ingenuity is neceffary to interpret many paffages in a tenfe more favourable to our natural prejudices againtt God's fovereignty.'

We are not at all furprized to hear men of fuch principles, as this Writer efpouses, exclaim fo bitterly against reafon. They are conscious of an irreconcileable hatred between the common fense of mankind, and a faith that fets all reafon and nature at defiance. The abettors of this dark and dreadful creed, efcaped from the common feelings of humanity, take refuge in the fovereignty of God, and under the pretence of fubmiffion to his will, fully his nobleft attribute of benevolence. But we reflect the highest dishonour on the deity, by fuppofing that his proceedings are under the direction of mere arbitrary fovereignty. Upon this fuppofition we have no fecurity for any thing. Order may give way to confufion; mifery may prevail over happiness; wisdom, juftice, truth and mercy, may in one moment yield to that fovereignty, which, armed with omnipotence, may unfettle the univerfe, and turn heaven to hell.

That God created the world merely for himself, as if he needed it to make it a theatre on which to difplay all the varieties of his power, is an hypothefis that shocks the humane and pious heart; but which, though not expreffed in fo many words, is the very hypothefis contended for by thofe writers who have eftablished predeftination as the beginning and everlasting punishment, as the final event of a reasonable creature's doom. Upon the genuine principles of this hypothefis, if pursued to their natural confequences, there is no fecurity for the happinefs of any created being in the universe :-no, not even for the happiness of the Elect. But our Calvinistic cafuifts are difpofed to tell us, "that though God might juftly have condemned "them, as well as others, yet he hath promised that he will not;

and it is impoffible for God to lie." How (we afk) are they certain of that? Wherein lieth the impoffibility of it? If the Divine Being can act against all the claims of juftice in one cafe, may he not in another? But perhaps it will be faid, "that we can "not judge of the nature of Divine rectitude from that contracted ftandard of juftice which is adapted to the sphere of "civil fociety; and therefore as no comparison can be made, fo "no conclufion can be drawn." We may reply, on the fame principles, that truth in man, may not be of the fame nature with truth in God, and therefore we cannot argue from the one to the other. If God may break through all the laws of what we call juftice, by decrecing the eternal damnation of the greatest part of the human race, on the condition of leaving them in the ftate in which it fhould be impoffible for them to avoid finning; and all this to execute his vengeance for the fake of one man's guilt, before any of his offspring had received their exiftence, or were capable of joining actually in his offence :-if God can act thus contrary to the fentiments which we are formed, by the very fpirit which he hath given us, to conceive of juftice, we can readily believe that he may act as directly contrary to all our natural fentiments of truth; and then the foundation of the Elect's happiness is by no means fo fecure as they fondly prefume it is.

We repeat it again, that we are not furprized that this Author makes fuch a grievous outcry against reafon. Whitfield did the fame; and complained moft bitterly of the obftruction which it occafioned to his labours. This hath been the common com- . plaint of defigning fanatics in every age. Reafon was at first infulted, that prieftcraft might gain fome credit for nonfente; and nature was degraded, that contradiction might triumph. It was on the ruins of humanity and common fenfe, that puritanifm in the laft age, and methodifm in the prefent (following the fierce Calvin, who followed the dogmas of one of the later Fathers) erected thofe mifchievous fyftems. of theology, which reprefent

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reprefent God rather as a tyrant than a parent ;-partial, revengeful, inexorable !-to a felected few; a very few, all mercy and grace to others, the great bulk of mankind, unmingled vengeance, and eternal deftruction! To these forfaken wretches, who are faft fealed up under the irrevocable decree of reprobation; grace, though offered with one hand, is reftrained by the other! Why?-That they may, be punished for refufing what they were, by an invincible fatality, unable to accept! Thus what is a privilege to others, becomes a curfe to them and that which bears the face of mercy, in offering them grace, contains virtually those very principles which in the end will prove their double damnation! Well did Calvin, on a review of this doc

trine, both in its principles and conclufions, exclaim borribile de- The p.479. cretum! Here honeft Nature was for once permitted to speak; and in spite of the fophiftry of metaphyficians, and the cant of enthufiafts, it will have the laft word.

B..d...k.

ART. V. A Complete Digeft of the Theory, Laws, and Practice of Infurance; compiled from the beft Authorities in different Languages, which are quoted and referred to throughout the Work; and arranged in Alphabetical Order, under many fele&t Heads, with ample References, and a general Index; affording immediate and full Information on every diftin&t Matter, Queftion, or Point, &c. By John Welket, Merchant. Folio. 21. or, with the Preliminary Difcourfe, 21. 5 s. Richardfon and Urquhart. 1781.

TH

HE Public are now in poffeffion of an elaborate work, for which their expectation was prepared by the Preliminary Difcourfe, noticed in our Rev. vol. Ixi. p. 422.; and for which the mercantile world, under the former uncertain state of the doctrine and practice of infurances, are greatly indebted to the intelligent and induftrious Author.

The performance is digefted in an alphabetical form, under thofe heads that will naturally be fought for when the various circumftances relating to infurance are in queftion; and abounds with rules, cautions, reports of decided cafes, and the neceffary forms of obligation in contracting to infure againft naval rifks. As the fubject is however too diffufive and intricate in the various circumstances and events of marine tranfactions for the entertainment of general readers, it will be fufficient for the purpose of giving an idea of the work, to exhibit some one article intire, to fhew how it is executed. In our prefent hoftile circumstances, perhaps no argument may be more feasonable, than that on infuring the veffels and property of enemies, ag inft the arms of our own country. We fhall therefore felect the article

ENEMY.

ENEMY.

1. It has long been the subject of great controverfy in the commercial world, "Whether it be right, advantageous, or even legals to insure an enemy's frips, or merchandises, in time of war or hoftilities ?". -I fhall therefore collect, and lay before my readers, an abstract of all the arguments which have been made ufe of for and against the practice, with fome interelling remarks thereon.

2. Those who maintain the affirmative of this question fay, that it is idle to make laws to prevent a tranfaction which may be carried on by means of a written correfpondence; and that, even if fuch prohibitions could put a flop to the practice, it would be highly impolitic to lay fuch a reftraint on the commerce of infurance, which produces a certain profit:-that we ought to be cautious when any new regulation is propofed with respect to trade, especially a regula. tion which may perhaps ftrip us of the only branch of trade we enjoy almost unrivalled, and may very probably transfer it to our enemies : that there is a great deal more of the infurance bufinefs done In England than in all Europe befides; and it is fuch a trade as must always leave a large balance in ready money here in England, from the great profits made by the infurer,. the profits made by the broker or office-keeper, the profits made by the factor, and the profits made by our dealers in exchange:that as foon as the French fhould hear of a prohibitory law being paffed here, public offices of infurance will increase in France, and multitudes of rich men there will undertake the bufinefs:-that the French merchants will find an easy and fecure accefs to infurance at home, the very moment we exclude them from it in England:that if the premium of infurance be fo high, that no profit the merchant can expect will anfwer it, and fomething more for his own trouble, and the ufe of his money, he will certainly refolve to fend out no cargo at all; therefore if, by the fuccefs of our fquadrons and cruifers, we should be able to raise the price of infurance upon French fhips to fuch a height, that no trade can bear it, we shall much more effectually and more fafely put an end to the French commerce, at leaft in their own fhips, than we can do by prohibit ing insurance on them; and if they fhould fall upon any way to carry on their commerce in neutral bottoms, this regulation can no way affect it:-that if you cramp the bufinefs by prohibitions, you will extinguish the Spirit here, and you may, you certainly will, raise it in France; fo that in a few years the French migh: become the chief infurers of Europe.

3. On the other hand, it is urged, that by the Stat. 25 Edw. 31 and by the conftant practice fince that time, it is declared high treafon to aid the king's enemies either within or without the realm; and it is ufual in his majefty's declaration of war againft France, exprefsly to forbid us to hold any correfpondence or communication with the fubjects of the French king:-that without a cheap, eafy, and fecure access to infurance, no nation can ever acquire, or long preferve, an extenfive commerce; and by preventing the French merchants meeting with any infurances here, during a war, we fhall very much distress, if not altogether ruin, their commerce, and force many of them out of trade, by the captures we might make; for,

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from experience we know, that an opinion prevails generally among the merchants in France, that they cannot depend upon any infurances but thofe they meet with in England:-that there is reason to fufpect, that fome of our infurers may give intelligence to their correfpondents in France, fo far as they can learn, of the ftations and courfe both of our cruifers and privateers:-that we ought to take every method in our power for diftreffing the declared enemies of our country :-that although to evade thefe arguments, it is faid, that the French might refolve to carry on their commerce, and fupply their colonies, by means of neutral fhips, which might be all infured in England; yet we might prohibit infurances being made upon any ship bound to or from any port in the French dominions; and with regard to their colonies, they could not be fupplied even by means of neutral fhips; for, as their colonies can be fupplied no way but by fea, if we fhould block them up by fea, in order to force them to farrender for want of fobfiftence, we should have a right, by the law of nations, at least to feize, if not confifcate, every neutral fhip that attempted to carry them any provifions:-that, as our infurers in fure at a cheaper rate, and in cafe of a lofs pay more punctually, than the infurers of any other country are found to do, we fhall by the fame means recover the poffeffion of this business whenever we pleate:-that the practice gives the enemy all the advantages of the principle of infurance, and defeats the first principle of war with respect to the infurers :-that if commerce is the fource of maritime power, and it is the first principle of war to weaken and destroy that power in your enemies, undoubtedly you are guilty of the greatest poffible folly and madness, if you render the commerce of your enemy fecure, and give her new fources of maritime power :that befides, if money is the foul of war, it may be more advantageous to your enemy to be paid ready money for fhip and cargo, when taken, by means of infurance, than to wait the flow return of the merchants to whom the cargo was configned, had it arrived in fafety-that fuppofing your infurers to be confiderable gainers, yon must be fenfible this must be a branch of commerce conducted on false principles; for individuals would gain, while the nation fuffered by having the hands of her enemy strengthened:-that, however, if the naval power of the infurers is fuperior to that of the infured, it is most likely that the infurers would lose by this illicit commerce with the enemy; and thus what the fuperior naval ftrength of our country gained on the one fide, would be thrown away by the merchant-infurers on the other.

4. During the war in 1747, the parliament of Great Britain, at the time they prohibited all trade with France, took into confideration whether the infurance of goods, imported or exported from France, and her colonies, fhould not likewife be prohibited ?-Many merchants magnified the advantage arifing from this particular branch of infurance: feveral speeches made in parliament on this occafion, all agreed in this fundamental point, that "no affiftance, or means to preferve the fubflance of the enemy, ought to be allowed of:"but thofe perfons, whofe immediate intereft it was to execute the orders for these infurances for the enemy, infifted with great confidence, that they were attended with large profits in general; and al

leged,

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