to prevent any evil which may happen to these states by Lord Drummond's further continuing communication with their enemies.

Resolved that the articles enclosed by Ld Drummond to Ld Howe whereby it is proposed "that it shall be ascertained by calculation what supply towards the general exigency of the state each separate colony shall furnish, to be increased or lessened in proportion to the growth or decline of such colony, & to be vested in the king by a perpetual grant, in consideration whereof Great Britain should relinquish only her claim to taxation over these colonies," which the sd Ld Drummond suggests "the colonies were disposed not many months ago to have made the basis of a reconciliation with Gr. Britain," were the unauthorized, officious & groundless suggestions of a person who seems totally unacquainted with either reasonings or the facts which have attended this great controversy; since from its first origin to this day there never was a time when these states intimated a disposition to give away in perpetuum their essential right of judging whether they should give or withhold their money for what purposes they should make the gift, and what should be its continuance.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.1 (JOHN HANCOCK.)

C.C.

WILLIAMSBURGH, Octob. 11, 1776.

Honorable Sir,-Your favor of the 30th together with the resolutions of Congress of the 26th Ult came safe to hand. It would argue great insensibility in me could I receive with indifference so confidential an appointment from your body. My thanks are a poor return for the partiality they have been pleased to entertain for me. No cares for my own person,

1 A reply to a notification of his election as a Commissioner to France.

nor yet for my private affairs would have induced one moment's hesitation to accept the charge. But circumstances very peculiar in the situation of my family, such as neither permit me to leave nor to carry it, compel me to ask leave to decline a service so honorable & at the same time so important to the American cause. The necessity under which I labor & the conflict I have undergone for three days, during which I could not determine to dismiss your messenger, will I hope plead my pardon with Congress, and I am sure there are too many of that body, to whom they may with better hopes confide this charge, to leave them under a moment's difficulty in making a new choice. I am, Sir, with the most sincere attachment to your honorable body & and the great cause they support, their and your most obedient humble servt.

NOTES ON RELIGION.1

J. MSS.

[Oct. 1776?]

Sabellians. X heretics. That there is but one person in the Godhead. That the 'Word' & holy spirit are only virtues, emanations or functions of the deity.

Sorcinians. X heretics. That the Father is the one only god. That the Word is no more than an expression of y godhead & had not existed from all eternity; that Jes. Christ was god no otherwise than by his superiority above all creatures who were put in subjection to him by the father. That he was not a mediator, but

1 These are endorsed by Jefferson: "scraps early in the revolution." They were probably materials and notes for his speeches in the House of Delegates on the petitions for the disestablishment of the Episcopal church. Owing to the rebinding it is practically impossible to say if any order was intended.

sent to be a pattern of conduct to men. of hell are n eternal.

That the punishments

Arminians. They think with the Romish church (ag the Calvinists) that there is an universal grace given to all men, & that man is always free & at liberty to receive or reject grace. That God creates men free, that his justice would not permit him to punish men for crimes they are predestinated to commit. They admit the presence of god, but distinguish between fore-knowing & predestinating. All the fathers before St. Austin were of this opinion. The church of Engld founded her article of predestination on his authority.

Arians. X heretics. They avow there was a time when the Son was not, that he was created in time mutable in nature, & like the angels liable to sin; they deny the three persons in the trinity to be of the same essence. Erasmus and Grotius were ✓ Arians.

Apollinarians. X heretics. They affirm there was but one nature in Christ, that his body as well as soul was impassive & immortal, & that his birth, death, & resurrection was only in appearance.

Macedonians. X heretics. They teach that the Holy ghost was a meer creature, but superior in excellence to the Angels. See Broughton, verbo ' Heretics,' an enumeration of 48. sects of Christians pronounced Heretics.

Locke's system of Christianity is this: Adam was created happy & immortal; but his happiness was to have been Earthly & Earthly immortality. By sin he lost this-so that he became subject to total death (like that of brutes) to the crosses & unhappiness of this life. At the intercession however of the son of god this sentence was in part remitted. A life conformable to the law was to restore them again to immortality. And moreover to them who believed their faith was to be counted for righteousness. Not that faith without works was to save them; St. James. c. 2. sais expressly the contrary; & all make the fundamental pillars of X to be faith & repentance. So that a reformation of life (included under repentance) was essential, & defects in this would be made up by their faith; i. e. their faith should be counted for righteousness. As to that part of mankind who

never had the gospel preached to them, they are 1. Jews.-2. Pagans, or Gentiles. The Jews had the law of works revealed to them. By this therefore they were to be saved: & a lively faith in god's promises to send the Messiah would supply small defects. 2. The Gentiles. St. Pa. sais―Rom. 2. 13. 'the Gentiles have the law written in their hearts, i. e. the law of nature: to which adding a faith in God & his attributes that on their repentance he would pardon them, they also would be justified. This then explains the text 'there is no other name under heaven by which a man may be saved,' i. e. the defects in good works shall not be supplied by a faith in Mahomet Foe, [?] or any other except Christ.

The fundamentals of X" as found in the gospels are 1. Faith, 2. Repentance. That faith is every [where?] explained to be a belief that Jesus was the Messiah who had been promised. Repentance was to be proved sincerely by good works. The advantages accruing to mankind from our Saviour's mission are these.

1. The knolege of one god only.

2. A clear knolege of their duty, or system of morality, delivered on such authority as to give it sanction.

3. The outward forms of religious worship wanted to be purged of that farcical pomp & nonsense with which they were loaded. 4. An inducement to a pious life, by revealing clearly a future existence in bliss, & that it was to be the reward of the virtuous.

The Epistles were written to persons already Christians. A person might be a X" then before they were written. Consequently the fundamentals of X were to be found in the preaching of our Saviour, which is related in the gospels. These fundamentals are to be found in the epistles dropped here & there, & promiscuously mixed with other truths. But these other truths are not to be made fundamentals. They serve for edification indeed & explaining to us matters in worship & morality, but being written occasionally it will readily be seen that their explanations are adapted to the notions & customs of the people they were written to. But yet every sentence in them (tho the writers were inspired) must not be taken up

& made a fundamental, without assent to which a man is not to be admitted a member of the X" church here, or to his kingdom hereafter. The Apostles creed was by them taken to contain all things necessary to salvation, & consequently to a communion.

Shaftesbury Charact. As the Antients tolerated visionaries & enthusiasts of all kinds so they permitted a free scope to philosophy as a balance. As the Pythagoreans & latter Platonists joined with the superstition of their times the Epicureans & Academicks were allowed all the use of wit &railery against it. Thus matters were balanced; reason had play & science flourished. These contrarieties produced harmony. Superstition & enthusiasm thus let alone never raged to bloodshed, persecution &c. But now a new sort of policy, which considers the future lives & happiness of men rather than the present, has taught to distress one another, & raised an antipathy which if temporal interest could ever do now uniformity of opn, a hopeful project! is looked on as the only remedy agt. this evil & is made the very object of govm't itself. If magistracy had vouchsafed to interpose thus in other sciences, we should have as bad logic, mathematics & philosophy as we have divinity in countries where the law settles orthodoxy.

Suppose the state should take into head that there should be an uniformity of countenance. Men would be obliged to put an artificial bump or swelling here, a patch there &c. but this would be merely hypocritical, or if the alternative was given of wearing a mask, ths must immediately mask. Would this add to the beauty of nature? Why otherwise in opinions? In the middle ages of X" opposition to the State opins was hushed. The consequence was, Xty became loaded with all the Romish follies. Nothing but free argument, raillery & even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion. 2 Cor. 1. 24. the apostles declare they had no dominion over the faith.

A heretic is an impugner of fundamentals. What are fundamentals? The protestants will say those doctrines which are clearly & precisely delivered in the holy Scriptures. Dr. Vaterland would say the Trinity. But how far this character of being clearly delivered will suit the doctrine of the trinity I leave others