After I had found religion, I began to reflect on my experience, and perceivmg that I felt a love to all, though I had been taught that God only loved a few, which he had given to his Son,* I could not reconcile the two ideas together, how my love should exceed the love of God • and feehng within myself that I stood in danger of falling into sin, and con. .sequently into condemnation, I could not reconcile it with the common idea, that if a man once obtained religion he was always safe, let him do as he would. This put me upon examining the scriptures for myself, and comparing past ideas therewith : and on examination of the same, I could find no promise that any should be saved, but those who endure unto the end. On the other hand, the Bible seemed to correspond with my feel ings, that there was danger, being full of cautions; and there is no need of caution where there is no danger. The more light and knowled-e a person hath, and commits a crime, the worse it must be ; because he'lins against the more light. Therefore, any sin is greater in a professor of reunion than in a non-professor, seeing he sins against the greater light. It the sin is the greater, of course the condemnation and punishment must be proportioned ; as Christ saith, " He that knoweth his master's will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes ; whereas, he that knoweth not his master's will, shall be beaten with few." There-tore. If the sinner, who never had religion, deserves to be damned for ac- usticr"^^""^^^'""* "^^^ "°^ ^^'^ professor, upon the principles of impartial Now, it appears to me that this doctrine, once in grace, always in grace, IS inseparably connected with the doctrine of particular election, and re' END OF THE JOUHNAL. hamTrn^/mt'l^H'fV^ n"?^ covenant between the Father and the Son before all worlds a c^nf^Hin. ^ should have a certain number of mankind, which some call theX is a re?:^etwop"ati;T'knd'thT;r^ For firsUcovenrtisaLnLa^id: Tho.lr P^"'e«v ° \^^^^ cannot be a covenant without two parties ihaMherrwe^erw'; dMnh*' Father and Son made a covenant, wffi be to adopt the idea G^ds R^.r^to R^? divmiues, winch would d§ide the (iodhead, and of course areue two A^in ^f h! P ^ ' ^"l»'?'-*e8 us t^ believe in one God and no more. ^ if softhin there wa^a^'flr/ ^ ^°'^"^"'' '^'^'^ ^"^ ^ "'^ ^»»^" ^^^^X ^^^^ »t, and eternity unlesl UP «nnn? ^^''^^^^^ ™^^« ",' consequently it was not made from all sist^nt becau^ J^^,v"Pjfn r ^^^^"''^ ^^^'*" ^' '''^ *^™^ ^^^" "^^^ ^^^^ ^^ v^'nch is incon-Bvciii, oecause eternity implies unbegmning time. term the oW«i/ r^v^n J ^^""«»"^ years ago, cannot be called an old one. Therefore, to likTputti^he cirt befo^^ ""^ '5^ "'"'^'^^^ '^^ "^ °"^' >« ^ J"^'^^ "^ inconsistency^ uch a ci,^;^^ m th« 1?K? ' K ^''*' ^u^ you cannot deny it. For, there is no account of people -Z^\uJet » ' ^^^^®/" ^^« Father and the «on, but "between God and hisr^P<«, to wliom Christ was given for a covenant, <fcc. 1: 248 CHAIN OF LORENZO. CHAIN OF LORENZO 249 probation ; and to deny the latter, and to hold to the former, to me ajipearg inconsistent. For, if a saint cannot be punished in proportion to his con- duct, then he is not accountable ; and if he be not accountable, then not rewardable ; and if neither rewardable nor punishable, then his salva- tion or damnation docs not turn upon his actions, pro nor con, but ujion the free electin^^ love of God. Therefore, God will have mercy upon whom he will, and"whom he will he passeth by. Thus, they appear connected, like two links in a chain. And it appeareth moreover, that the doctrine of particular election leadeth to Universalism. For, accordinjr to the above, we must suppose that God decreed all things ; if so, God being wise. whatever he hath decreed, he must have decreed it right ; consequently nothing cometh to pass wrong : then there is no sin, for it cannot be sin to do right. If then one shall be damned for doing right, why not all ? And if one be saved for doing right, why not all ? according to tlie rule of impartial justice. Again, this doctrine of election saith, all that were given by the Father to the Son, in the covenant of grace, will be saved ; none that Christ died for can be lost. The Bible saith, '-Christ gave himself for a//," (1 Tim. ii. 4, 6. 1 John ii. 2 ;) and A-double-L does not spell part, nor some, nor few, but it means all. Well, now if all Christ died for will be saved, and none of them can be lost, then Universalism must be true, and you cannot deny it. And now it appears furthermore, that Universalism leads to deism ; for, if all are saved, none are lost, and of course no future punishment. Therefore, the threatenings in the Bible must be false, like a sham scare- scrow hung up in the fields to represent what is not real. And if the threatenings be false, the promises are equally so ; for, while the promises are given in one scale to encourage virtue, the threatnings are put in the opposite one, to discourage vice. To deny the one, disallows of the other, and of course breaks the chain of the Bible, and thereby destroys its authority ; consequently, ye cannot suppose with propriety that it came from God by divine direction ; but rather, that it was hatched up by some cunning politicians, to answer their political designs, to keep the people in order ; and that it has been kept on the carpet ever since, by the black and blue coats, to get a fat living out of the people. " Away with the Bible," says the deist, " I will be imposed upon by that no more, but I will go upon reas(m ; for, whoever came back from the other world, to bring us news from that country about heaven or hell, or exhibited a map thereof?" Now, if I denied the Bible, I should of course deny miracles and inspi- ration ; for, if I admit of them, I must in reason admit of the propriety of the Bible. But no one who denies inspiration and miracles, can prove the exist- ence of a God. There are but six ways to receive ideas, which are by inspiration, or one of the jive senses. Deny inspii^ation, there are but the five ways ; and matter of fact demonstrates, that a man by these outward sensitive organs, can neither hear, see, smell, taste, nor feel God. How then can we know him but by a revelation in the inward sense. " Why, ' saith the deist, " the works of nature pfoclaim aloud in both my ears, there is a God.' " But I deny it according to your scale of reasoning, for you deny miracles ; and yet you say, what has been once, may be again. Now, if there was a miracle once, there may be one again. If "fc» BO, then there may be such a thing as revealed religion, for that is but miraculous. But, if there cannot be a miracle again, that is an argu- ment there never was one, and of course denies the works of creation. If there was no creation, then there is no Creator. For, it must have been a miracle to have spoken the world into existence, and to have formed intelligent beings. Therefore, if there never was a miracle, then 'there never was such a thing as creation ; consequently, the works of nature do not speak forth a Divine Being, for his hand never formed them. But they argue, that matter is eternal, and that all things come by nature ; for it is evident, that if nought had been once, nought had been now; for nothing cannot put forth the act of power and beget something : yet it is self-evident that something does exist ; therefore, something must have existed eternally. Then saith reason, if all things come by nature, then nature is eternal ; and when forming from its primitive chaos, into its present position by congelation, brought forth mankind, beasts, and vegetables spontaneously ; something like the mushroom growing up without seed, or the moss growing on the tree ; and are kept on the stage by transmigration, like the caterpillar, transmigrating or turning into a beautiful butterfly, or the muckworm into a hornbug. Thus, nature as- sumes one lorm or shape for a while ; then laying that aside, takes up another. In confirmation of this idea, it appears, that one race of ani- mals, or beings, goes from the stage, and another comes on the carpet. For instance, the bones of a certain animal found in different parts of the continent of America, demonstrate there was a race of beings once, called the mammoth, which, as far as we know, are now extinct. The Hessian fly, which was discovered a few years since, near where the Hessian troops encamped, and from thence took its name, is supjiosed to have been brought by them from Hesse ; and since, this insect has greatly spread over New England, and destroys the wheat. I have made much inquiry, but cannot learn that it is found in the country from whence the Hessians came. From this, one may infer and argue, that it is an ani- mal come on the stage within late years, as it appears some other insects have done. In further confirmation of this idea, and which stands op- posed to the account given by the Bible, " that all animals were drowned except those with Noah in the ark," we find, that although it is natural for us to conclude, that all animals would generate and be found on that part where the ark rested, yet the racoon is peculiar to America. This, then, is a new species of animal, and we may say the account cannot be admitted that all other parts were drowned. But again, in confirmation of revolutions in nature we perceive, that even if scripture be true, once giants did exist, but now they are apparently extinct. On strict exami- nation, it appears that earth and shells congealed form marble, and wood when put into certain lakes of wateijbecomes stone. The turf bogs in Ireland, which are found on the tops of the highest nwuntains, or in the valleys, miles in length and breadth, and scores of feet deep, evidently appear to have been vegetables washed together by some singular cause, or awful deluge ; whole trees, with ancient artifi- cial materials, being found many feet below the surface. I likewise was informed of a spring in that country, by putting bars or sheets of iron therein, they would be converted into copper. On my way from Georgia, I could not but observe great quantities of 250 CHAIN OF LORENZO. CHAIN OF LORENZO. 251 shells, which to me appear to belong to the oyster, some hundreds of miles from any salt or brackish water, and it is quite improbable they could have been brought by human art, considering the vast quantities found in the savannahs or prairies to Tombigbee, and thence to the Natchez coun- try and in the Chickasaw nation. It evidently appears likewise, that this western country was once inhabited by a warlike, informed people, who had the ujse of mechanical instruments ; and there are evident marks of antiquity, consisting of artificial mounds and fortifications, &c., pronounc- ed by the curious who have examined, to have been deserted long before the discovery of America by Columbus. One of these mounds, a few miles above the Natchez, covers about six acres of ground, forty feet above the common level, on which stands another, forty feet high, making in all eighty feet. Great numbers of these artificial mounds, fortifications, and beds of ashes, are to be found, extending from the western parts of Geor- gia, to the Mississippi, and then northward with the waters of said river, to Lake Erie, &c., all which denote that it once was a populous, and since is a forsaken country, which neither history nor tradition hath given us any information of. Therefore it appears, that greater revolutions have taken place in this terraqueous globe, than many imagine ; and herefrom we might suppose, that the earth had stood longer than six thousand years calculated from scripture—and with the Chinese assent to their boasted ancient histories, &;c.* Thus I shall be an atheist instead of a deist ; but I cannot be one or the other according to reason ; for if there be no (jod, nature depends on chance, and this earth would be like a well-stringed instrument, without a skilful hand to play upon it ; or a well-rigged vessel, without mariners to steer her : for every thing that hath not a regulator, is liable to go to ruin ; and if all things depend on chance, then by chance there may be a God and a Devil, a Heaven and Hell, saints and sinners; and by chance the Saints may get to Heaven, and by chance the sinners may go to Hell. It is evident in reason, that as a stream cannot rise higher than its fountain, so confusion can never produce order ; for the effect cannot be more noble than the cause : consequently, if confusion had been once, it must have remained. But as the stars keep their courses without infring- ing on each other in their different revolutions, so that the astronomer can calculate his almanacs years beforehand, it is evident there is such a thing as order ; and to suppose thi^ order to have been eternal, would be arguing that the earth has stood forever as we now behold it ; and to sup- pose that the earth has forever had its present form, is to suppose that there has been an eternal succession of men, beasts, and vegetables, and that to an infinite number ; (for if the number be not infinite, how could the succession have been eternal ?) and yet to talk about an infinite num- ber, is a contradiction in terms, forthere is no number but what may be made larger, by the addition of umts ; but that which is infinite cannot be enlarged. Again, if there has been an eternal succession of men and beasts, by the same rule there has been an eternal succession of days and nights, and years likewise. It must be allowed that infinite numbers are equal, for if one number be smaller than the other, how can it be said to I be infinite ?
PolakMicho
Obydwa prześliczne są 🫶
aknmghnhkty
After I had found religion, I began to reflect on my experience, and
perceivmg that I felt a love to all, though I had been taught that God
only loved a few, which he had given to his Son,* I could not reconcile
the two ideas together, how my love should exceed the love of God •
and
feehng within myself that I stood in danger of falling into sin, and con.
.sequently into condemnation, I could not reconcile it with the common
idea, that if a man once obtained religion he was always safe, let him do
as he would. This put me upon examining the scriptures for myself, and
comparing past ideas therewith : and on examination of the same, I could
find no promise that any should be saved, but those who endure unto the
end. On the other hand, the Bible seemed to correspond with my feel
ings, that there was danger, being full of cautions; and there is no need
of caution where there is no danger. The more light and knowled-e a
person hath, and commits a crime, the worse it must be ; because he'lins
against the more light. Therefore, any sin is greater in a professor of
reunion than in a non-professor, seeing he sins against the greater light.
It the sin is the greater, of course the condemnation and punishment
must be proportioned ; as Christ saith, " He that knoweth his master's
will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes ; whereas, he
that knoweth not his master's will, shall be beaten with few." There-tore. If the sinner, who never had religion, deserves to be damned for ac-
usticr"^^""^^^'""*
"^^^ "°^ ^^'^ professor, upon the principles of impartial
Now, it appears to me that this doctrine, once in grace, always in grace,
IS inseparably connected with the doctrine of particular election, and re'
END OF THE JOUHNAL.
hamTrn^/mt'l^H'fV^ n"?^ covenant between the Father and the Son before all worlds a
c^nf^Hin. ^ should have a certain number of mankind, which some call theX is a
re?:^etwop"ati;T'knd'thT;r^ For firsUcovenrtisaLnLa^id:
Tho.lr P^"'e«v ° \^^^^ cannot be a covenant without two parties
ihaMherrwe^erw'; dMnh*' Father and Son made a covenant, wffi be to adopt the idea
G^ds R^.r^to R^? divmiues, winch would d§ide the (iodhead, and of course areue two
A^in ^f h! P ^ ' ^"l»'?'-*e8 us t^ believe in one God and no more. ^
if softhin there wa^a^'flr/ ^ ^°'^"^"'' '^'^'^ ^"^ ^ "'^ ^»»^" ^^^^X ^^^^ »t, and
eternity unlesl UP «nnn? ^^''^^^^^ ™^^« ",' consequently it was not made from all
sist^nt becau^ J^^,v"Pjfn r ^^^^"''^ ^^^'*" ^' '''^ *^™^ ^^^" "^^^ ^^^^ ^^ v^'nch is incon-Bvciii, oecause eternity implies unbegmning time.
term the oW«i/ r^v^n J ^^""«»"^ years ago, cannot be called an old one. Therefore, to
likTputti^he cirt befo^^ ""^ '5^ "'"'^'^^^ '^^ "^ °"^' >« ^ J"^'^^ "^ inconsistency^
uch a ci,^;^^ m th« 1?K? '
K ^''*' ^u^ you cannot deny it. For, there is no account of
people -Z^\uJet » ' ^^^^®/" ^^« Father and the «on, but "between God and hisr^P<«, to wliom Christ was given for a covenant, <fcc.
1:
248 CHAIN OF LORENZO. CHAIN OF LORENZO 249
probation ; and to deny the latter, and to hold to the former, to me ajipearg
inconsistent. For, if a saint cannot be punished in proportion to his con-
duct, then he is not accountable ; and if he be not accountable, then not
rewardable ; and if neither rewardable nor punishable, then his salva-
tion or damnation docs not turn upon his actions, pro nor con, but ujion the
free electin^^ love of God. Therefore, God will have mercy upon whom
he will, and"whom he will he passeth by. Thus, they appear connected,
like two links in a chain. And it appeareth moreover, that the doctrine of
particular election leadeth to Universalism. For, accordinjr to the above,
we must suppose that God decreed all things ; if so, God being wise.
whatever he hath decreed, he must have decreed it right ; consequently
nothing cometh to pass wrong : then there is no sin, for it cannot be sin
to do right. If then one shall be damned for doing right, why not all ?
And if one be saved for doing right, why not all ? according to tlie rule
of impartial justice. Again, this doctrine of election saith, all that were
given by the Father to the Son, in the covenant of grace, will be saved ;
none that Christ died for can be lost. The Bible saith, '-Christ gave
himself for a//," (1 Tim. ii. 4, 6. 1 John ii. 2 ;) and A-double-L does not
spell part, nor some, nor few, but it means all. Well, now if all Christ
died for will be saved, and none of them can be lost, then Universalism
must be true, and you cannot deny it.
And now it appears furthermore, that Universalism leads to deism ;
for, if all are saved, none are lost, and of course no future punishment.
Therefore, the threatenings in the Bible must be false, like a sham scare-
scrow hung up in the fields to represent what is not real. And if the
threatenings be false, the promises are equally so ; for, while the promises
are given in one scale to encourage virtue, the threatnings are put in the
opposite one, to discourage vice. To deny the one, disallows of the other,
and of course breaks the chain of the Bible, and thereby destroys its
authority ; consequently, ye cannot suppose with propriety that it came
from God by divine direction ; but rather, that it was hatched up by
some cunning politicians, to answer their political designs, to keep the
people in order ; and that it has been kept on the carpet ever since, by
the black and blue coats, to get a fat living out of the people. " Away
with the Bible," says the deist, " I will be imposed upon by that no more,
but I will go upon reas(m ; for, whoever came back from the other world,
to bring us news from that country about heaven or hell, or exhibited a
map thereof?"
Now, if I denied the Bible, I should of course deny miracles and inspi-
ration ; for, if I admit of them, I must in reason admit of the propriety of
the Bible.
But no one who denies inspiration and miracles, can prove the exist-
ence of a God. There are but six ways to receive ideas, which are by
inspiration, or one of the jive senses. Deny inspii^ation, there are but the
five ways ; and matter of fact demonstrates, that a man by these outward
sensitive organs, can neither hear, see, smell, taste, nor feel God. How
then can we know him but by a revelation in the inward sense. " Why, '
saith the deist, " the works of nature pfoclaim aloud in both my ears,
there is a God.' " But I deny it according to your scale of reasoning,
for you deny miracles ; and yet you say, what has been once, may be
again. Now, if there was a miracle once, there may be one again. If
"fc»
BO, then there may be such a thing as revealed religion, for that is but
miraculous. But, if there cannot be a miracle again, that is an argu-
ment there never was one, and of course denies the works of creation.
If there was no creation, then there is no Creator. For, it must have
been a miracle to have spoken the world into existence, and to have
formed intelligent beings. Therefore, if there never was a miracle, then
'there never was such a thing as creation ; consequently, the works of
nature do not speak forth a Divine Being, for his hand never formed
them. But they argue, that matter is eternal, and that all things come by
nature ; for it is evident, that if nought had been once, nought had been
now; for nothing cannot put forth the act of power and beget something
:
yet it is self-evident that something does exist ; therefore, something must
have existed eternally. Then saith reason, if all things come by nature,
then nature is eternal ; and when forming from its primitive chaos, into
its present position by congelation, brought forth mankind, beasts, and
vegetables spontaneously ; something like the mushroom growing up
without seed, or the moss growing on the tree ; and are kept on the stage
by transmigration, like the caterpillar, transmigrating or turning into a
beautiful butterfly, or the muckworm into a hornbug. Thus, nature as-
sumes one lorm or shape for a while ; then laying that aside, takes up
another. In confirmation of this idea, it appears, that one race of ani-
mals, or beings, goes from the stage, and another comes on the carpet.
For instance, the bones of a certain animal found in different parts of the
continent of America, demonstrate there was a race of beings once,
called the mammoth, which, as far as we know, are now extinct. The
Hessian fly, which was discovered a few years since, near where the
Hessian troops encamped, and from thence took its name, is supjiosed to
have been brought by them from Hesse ; and since, this insect has greatly
spread over New England, and destroys the wheat. I have made much
inquiry, but cannot learn that it is found in the country from whence the
Hessians came. From this, one may infer and argue, that it is an ani-
mal come on the stage within late years, as it appears some other insects
have done. In further confirmation of this idea, and which stands op-
posed to the account given by the Bible, " that all animals were drowned
except those with Noah in the ark," we find, that although it is natural
for us to conclude, that all animals would generate and be found on that
part where the ark rested, yet the racoon is peculiar to America. This,
then, is a new species of animal, and we may say the account cannot be
admitted that all other parts were drowned. But again, in confirmation
of revolutions in nature we perceive, that even if scripture be true, once
giants did exist, but now they are apparently extinct. On strict exami-
nation, it appears that earth and shells congealed form marble, and wood
when put into certain lakes of wateijbecomes stone.
The turf bogs in Ireland, which are found on the tops of the highest
nwuntains, or in the valleys, miles in length and breadth, and scores of
feet deep, evidently appear to have been vegetables washed together by
some singular cause, or awful deluge ; whole trees, with ancient artifi-
cial materials, being found many feet below the surface. I likewise was
informed of a spring in that country, by putting bars or sheets of iron
therein, they would be converted into copper.
On my way from Georgia, I could not but observe great quantities of
250 CHAIN OF LORENZO. CHAIN OF LORENZO. 251
shells, which to me appear to belong to the oyster, some hundreds of miles
from any salt or brackish water, and it is quite improbable they could
have been brought by human art, considering the vast quantities found in
the savannahs or prairies to Tombigbee, and thence to the Natchez coun-
try and in the Chickasaw nation. It evidently appears likewise, that this
western country was once inhabited by a warlike, informed people, who
had the ujse of mechanical instruments ; and there are evident marks of
antiquity, consisting of artificial mounds and fortifications, &c., pronounc-
ed by the curious who have examined, to have been deserted long before
the discovery of America by Columbus. One of these mounds, a few
miles above the Natchez, covers about six acres of ground, forty feet above
the common level, on which stands another, forty feet high, making in all
eighty feet. Great numbers of these artificial mounds, fortifications, and
beds of ashes, are to be found, extending from the western parts of Geor-
gia, to the Mississippi, and then northward with the waters of said river,
to Lake Erie, &c., all which denote that it once was a populous, and since
is a forsaken country, which neither history nor tradition hath given us
any information of. Therefore it appears, that greater revolutions have
taken place in this terraqueous globe, than many imagine ; and herefrom
we might suppose, that the earth had stood longer than six thousand years
calculated from scripture—and with the Chinese assent to their boasted
ancient histories, &;c.*
Thus I shall be an atheist instead of a deist ; but I cannot be one or the
other according to reason ; for if there be no (jod, nature depends on chance,
and this earth would be like a well-stringed instrument, without a skilful
hand to play upon it ; or a well-rigged vessel, without mariners to steer
her : for every thing that hath not a regulator, is liable to go to ruin ; and
if all things depend on chance, then by chance there may be a God and a
Devil, a Heaven and Hell, saints and sinners; and by chance the Saints
may get to Heaven, and by chance the sinners may go to Hell.
It is evident in reason, that as a stream cannot rise higher than its
fountain, so confusion can never produce order ; for the effect cannot be
more noble than the cause : consequently, if confusion had been once, it
must have remained. But as the stars keep their courses without infring-
ing on each other in their different revolutions, so that the astronomer can
calculate his almanacs years beforehand, it is evident there is such a
thing as order ; and to suppose thi^ order to have been eternal, would be
arguing that the earth has stood forever as we now behold it ; and to sup-
pose that the earth has forever had its present form, is to suppose that
there has been an eternal succession of men, beasts, and vegetables, and
that to an infinite number ; (for if the number be not infinite, how could
the succession have been eternal ?) and yet to talk about an infinite num-
ber, is a contradiction in terms, forthere is no number but what may be
made larger, by the addition of umts ; but that which is infinite cannot
be enlarged. Again, if there has been an eternal succession of men and
beasts, by the same rule there has been an eternal succession of days and
nights, and years likewise. It must be allowed that infinite numbers are
equal, for if one number be smaller than the other, how can it be said to
I
be infinite ?