but his holy will be done; duty requires I should calmly wait the summons."After awaking from one of those momentary slumbers which intervened between those alarming and truly distressing paroxysms of coughing, which he bore with Christian fortitude, he observed, "I thought I was gone. O! in a little time I shall stand at the right hand of my God. O yes! that is my stand."

His chamber was a continued scene of prayer and praise. His exhortations excited the astonishment of all. I never entered his house, but the impression rested on my mind, God is here! On the 23d of May, after admonishing all around him to meet him in heaven, he called for his shroud, gently folded his arms across his peaceful breast, closed his eyes, and calmly fell asleep.

Poetry.

Reflections on hearing of the death of Mrs. Harriet Dusinbery.

The note of sorrow reach'd my ear. I caught
The mournful accents, and felt the parting
Anguish of my dying friend: Was it the
Requiem sung by angels, o'er the last
Bright hours of Harriet's days? Or was it
That kindred sympathy of soul which melts
At others woes, and claims, tho' distant, tears
Of sorrow. This sacred sympathy of
Soul is Heaven's best gift, it lightens care, and
Smooths the pilgrim's path thro' toilsome life, till
Joys immortal springs within the breast with
Ecstacy divine.Methinks I hear the
Dying words of Harriet's tongue full of
Eternity! while angels hov'r'd round
Waiting to bear their sister spirit
To her native skies. Sudden thy transit
To a world of bliss! I ken thy rapid
Flight, and trace thy shining way, above the
Lucid spheres. And art thou gone so soon my
Friend! and left behind so many charms to
Tempt thy tarriance here?-Bright was the hour
Which hail'd thy bridal morn: A few seasons
Roll'd their waves of bliss and crown'd thy happy
Days-But oh! this changing life, this varied
Scene-how vain it is. Transient as a dream.
And like the sunbeams dancing on the wave,
Or brightly colour'd bow which decks the arch
Of Heav'n, are all our joys.-The fairest morn
Is soon o'ercast-sudden the tempest frowns
And blackens all the sky! The surges rise
And lash the sounding shore. Toss'd upon the
Sea, the fragile bark in vain contends with
Raging elements and sinks to rise no
More. But Harriet is safe-her lovely
Form, where youth and beauty bloom'd, where
Ev'ry grace its lustre shed; has droop'd away; but
Oh! that Heav'n-born mind where shone effulgent
Beauties more divine-still lives, and lives to
Bloom for ever more. That voice which oft with
Me hath swell'd the note of praise, now swells the
Strain immortal thro' the Jasper skies, crown'd
With a diadem of light unsullied.

-Friendship may weep around thy early grave,
For worth departed loudly calls for tears,
And excellence like thine is seldom seep.

Thy name enrolled among the zealous few
In Jesus' cause. Obedience mark'd thy steps
Up to the gates of Heav'n. But oh! thy walk
Of private life, there shone the female mind
Unrival'd. I feel I touch a string that
Vibrates thro' the souls of friends surviving.
-But Harriet sleeps in death. Oh! could I
Shed the tear of sympathy o'er her tomb,
With those who deepest drink the cup of woe,
"Twould ease my aching heart and mitigate
The anguish. Methinks the last sad sigh of
Sorrow now I hear; the rising sobs of
Grief. breaking the awful stillness of the
Dying hour. The falt'ring tongue half whis'pring
She's gone! Harriet breathes no more! Wrapt in
All the agony of woe, her bosom friend,
Despairing, sees his earthly solace gone,
While clinging to his arms their lisping babes
Repeat her name in vain. The weeping group
Of friends, which round her hung, seem present to
My thoughts. It is not fancy-Mournful the
Muse attunes the low strung lyre to notes of
Real woe. The chords respond to sorrow's touch,
And breathe an air unlike the strains of joys
Terrestrial; but like the cadence of a
Dying hour, when trembling nature quits her
Hold on earth and fastens on the skies. To
Thee, death seem'd an angel in disguise. The
Gospel hope its golden anchor lodg'd deep
In the veil fix'd o'er eternity. On
That thy spirit lean'd, till wafted to the
Port of endless bliss. Now pours that
"Blaze insufferable" upon thy soul!
Mingling with Seraphs round the August throne
Thy burnish'd plumes reflect the glorious
Light.-Thine was the diguity of virtue.
In life most lovely--lovely still in death,
The mild lustre of those beaming eyes can
No more give a charm to virtue; but thy
Tranquil life of active goodness still speaks
"Thy works do follow thee:" I'll mark tby steps
And patient travel thro' this vale of tears,
Till I my rest shall gain and join the theme
Of everlasting love.
MIRANDA

Baltimore, Feb. 18, 1824.

THE

METHODIST MAGAZINE,

FOR JUNE, 1824.

Divinity.

For the Methodist Magazine.

AN ESSAY ON ATONEMENT.

BY THE REV. T. MERRITT.

AT a time when the article of atonement is denied by some, and misunderstood by others, it becomes our duty to state the doctrine as clearly as possible, and support and defend it by reason and scripture. In order to do this in some degree, I would inquire, 1. What is atonement? 2. Whether atonement implies a change in the law under which it was made? and 3. Whether it was made for actual sins?

I. What are we to understand by atonement?

The word atonement properly signifies the condition of being at one, in a state of agreement, or reconciliation; "By whom we have now received the xaraλλayny, reconciliation."* The Hebrew word signifies covering, and intimates that our guilt is covered from the justice of God.† Christians have generally expressed their sense of atonement by the word satisfaction. And it is in this sense I here speak of it.

"He

From the scriptures we learn by whom, and how the atonement was made, namely, by Jesus Christ, "Who made (by his oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." is the propitiation for our sins."-"He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”—“But now in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

To understand the nature of atonement we must consider mankind as having incurred the curse of the divine law by transgression, and Jesus Christ as having borne that curse in their stead.

*Rom. v. 11. WESLEY and A. CLARKE. BUCK and Woon upon the word atonement. See our Second Article.

1

When we look narrowly into this subject, the giving man a law, and annexing a penalty to the transgression of that law, appear to be matters of no small moment. Had God put man into the world without giving him a law, he would have had no rule to direct his conduct. Had he given him a law without annexing a penalty for the transgression of it, he would have had no means by which he could estimate the value of obedience, or ascertain the evil of disobedience. If, when he had transgressed, the threatened penalty had been executed upon him, he could never have been saved. If, when he had transgressed the law, his Lawgiver had pardoned him without exacting the penalty, he would have shown a disregard for his own law and character. Finally, as man's own happiness, the interest of society, and the glory of God, depended on his obedience; it was an instance of the wisdom, goodness, and justice, of God to command his obedience, and to enforce it by threatening a punishment proportionate to the criminality of disobedience. When, therefore, God had given man his law, and had said, "in the day thou transgressest thou shalt surely die;" he could not rescind the penalty without disannulling the law, and equally disregarding the interest of society and his own wisdom, goodness, justice and truth.

Should it be said, that upon repentance God could have pardoned guilty man without an atonement; the answer is, first, we have no authority for saying this, seeing there was no provision made for repentance and pardon, nor mention of either in the law. Secondly: Guilty, condemned man could not repent of himself, and God could show him no favour; for that would be to make void the penalty of the law. If the Lawgiver would respect his own character, and maintain his authority, he must proceed against the offender, and execute the sentence of the law, or find a substitute for him. He did the latter. He did the latter. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

We must, however, distinguish between atonement and the application of it to guilty man. These are two distinct things, 1 and the former may exist without the latter. The atonement has been made, and in itself is complete; but its application is conditional. I speak not now of mankind as regarded in Adam their head; for there the application of the atonement is unconditional, and continues so till the time of actual transgression; when it becomes necessary that the transgressor should repent and receive the atonement by faith, in order to be saved by it.

It is clear then that we must distinguish between atonement and its application to the trangressor. By confounding these, or by making the latter, as well as the former, unconditional with respect to man, we should run into Calvinism and Antinomianism on the one hand, or Universalism on the other. The atonement never was designed to make obedience unnecessary, or to release

the impenitent from the obligation of punishment. Of course, when we speak of atonement as a satisfaction, or a reconciliation, these terms must be understood with some limitation, and not in such a sense as would represent God as well pleased with his creatures while they live in obstinate disobedience.

Again: We must distinguish between atonement and the payment of a debt. By confounding these we run into great difficulties and absurdities. A debt is an obligation which one person is under to pay another a certain sum. The creditor in this case has no claim upon the debtor for any thing but the debt. Nor can he refuse to discharge the debtor when the debt is paid. If the debtor be insolvent, and a third person pays his debt for him, it is the same in law as though the debtor paid it himself. The payment of the debt in this case is a matter of agreement between the third person and the debtor.

But suppose the payment were not an agreement between the third person and the debtor, but between the third person and the creditor: and suppose it were a part of the agreement that the debtor should not be immediately and absolutely discharged upon the payment, but should have his full discharge at a future period upon condition of his good conduct: suppose, I say, that this were the agreement, the transaction might, in a popular way of speaking, be called the payment of the debt, though it differ from the proper payment of a debt, in that it gives the debtor no claim to his discharge till he has performed the condition. In this case the transaction between the third person and the creditor is an expedient binding the debtor to his good behaviour, and making his good behaviour the condition of his discharge, as well as the payment of his debt.

Let what has now been said be applied to illustrate the doctrine of atonement. Here then we have the sufferings of Christ in the sinner's stead, with the agreement between him and the Father that the sinner shall not be immediately and absolutely discharged, but that he shall have his discharge, and enjoy all the benefits of the atonement at a future period upon the conditions contained in the agreement, (which they had a right to enjoin) namely, repentance and faith.

It has been said that atonement places the salvation of the sinner upon the ground of justice, and not that of grace, and that it gives him a legal claim to a discharge from the demands of the law. But I would ask what claim the sinner can have in justice on the ground here stated. He has not paid the debt in any sense whatever. He has paid neither by himself nor proxy. And though Christ has made an atonement equal in value to the debt, yet it is not the same as paying the debt, because it gives the sinner no legal claim to a discharge. The debtor, in order to a discharge must pay the debt himself, or a third person must so pay for him that it shall be legally his own payment. But to

have it legally his own payment, he must have the will of him who pays for his discharge; because, being under no obligation to pay, he has a right to say whether the payment shall be considered absolute or conditional; and if he say conditional, the debtor can have no claim to his discharge till he has performed the condition. And thus it is with the sinner. The atonement gives him no claim till he has performed the appointed condition; and then his salvation is not of debt but of grace.

It has also been said, that though it were an act of grace in Christ to make the atonement, it is not so in the Father to discharge the sinner upon atonement being made, but what he is in justice bound to do, as the creditor is bound in justice to discharge the debtor when the debt is paid. The considering atonement as the payment of a debt, has represented the Father to be mercenary, selfish, inexorable, and his character far less amiable than if he should forgive his disobedient, but penitent children, by free mercy, without requiring any satisfaction from another-"How plain is it, says one, according to this doctrine, that God, instead of being plenteous in forgiveness, never forgives; for it is absurd to speak of mankind as forgiven, when their whole punishment is borne by a substitute."*

This view of the character of our heavenly Father could never have been given, if atonement had not been considered the proper payment of a debt. Surely the creditor who refuses to release a poor debtor till every farthing is paid by him or his surety, manifests far less kindness and generosity, than if he should give up the debt and release the debtor freely. But it should never be forgotten that atonement is not the payment of a debt.

The payment of a debt is an act of private, commercial justice, and goes to the benefit of the creditor. But it cannot be said that the atonement goes to the benefit of the Father, any more than that it is an act of commercial justice. Were sin a private matter, and did it affect no one but Deity, we may suppose it would have been forgiven without an atonement. But when we consider God as the Governor of the world, man a member of society, and sin an injury to society, the case is essentially altered. We can no longer view sin as a private matter, or as a debt that may be forgiven if the creditor please but we must view it as a crime that must be punished to satisfy public justice, to give warning to others, to extend protection to the obedient, and maintain just authority. Hence it is not a matter exclusively between the sinner and God, but there is a third interest to be taken into the account, namely, that of society. Here then God must be regarded as the Lawgiver and Governor of his creatures, and not as a private person. A private person may give up his right if he please. It is a private matter, and he has no one to consult but

DR. CHANNING.