Arguments, drawn from the Practice of Men; which in the general I
have answer'd already: and, had I proper Leisure, it would be no
difficult Matter to give a clear and distinct Answer to every one of
them: And these very Gentlemen would, on other Occasions, had they
no favourite Point to carry, reject such Reasoning with all the
Contempt, and Indignation, it deserves. It is with some Reluctance,
I find myself obliged to disapprove the Sentiments of such wise and
worthy Grey Hairs, to whom the World hath been long and deeply
indebted for his many excellent Services, both from the Pen and the
Pulpit. I have read over Mr. _J--s_'s Book, in Answer to Taylor's
_Free and Candid Examination;_ and tho' I have no personal Knowledge
of that ingenious Gentleman, yet I hope he will permit me to say,
'Tis pity, great pity, that fine Talents (pardon the Expression)
should be prostituted in the Defence of such an unholy and
incongruous System of Religion. Superior Degrees of Learning and
Knowledge are, in themselves, most excellent Things, and eminently
serviceable, when rightly applied to the Honour and Defence of
Truth: But, like a two edged Sword, they cut both ways, and are also
too frequently employed in the Propagation of Error.

While I am thus rendering _human Learning_, its just Tribute of
Praise, _Truth_ requires, that I should be free to detect those
little Arts, so often practised to deceive the Unwary, and misguide
Mankind. As I am fully persuaded, the Generality of those Writers;
who stick by this _Covenant_, and endeavour to vindicate the Honour,
Justice, and Goodness of God therein, do it _only_ for Decency sake,
_and to put_ (as I observed) _a more plausible Outside on their
Doctrines;_ I think it incumbent on me to _detect_ this _equivocal_
Way of Writing, and shew, that while the Doctor is endeavouring to
persuade you he _does not_ believe these Doctrines in their most
_harsh_ and _severe_ Sense, there is Reason to suspect he does
notwithstanding, _secretly_ and _strongly_, believe them in that
_very Sense:_ nay, he seems to resolve _them_ very artfully into the
_Sovereignty_ and _Majesty of God_. Any Man, who reads the Book, may
perceive, how greatly the Doctor is _put to it_ for _Arguments_, to
answer _Objections;_ and he himself knows it to be impossible to
make any tolerable or reasonable Defence, of such unreasonable and
unaccountable Doctrines: and therefore, lest his _own People_
should, from some Expressi