nate event, or effect, constantly follows certain circumstances, or causes, the connexion between cause and effect is concluded to be invariable, and therefore necessary.

It is universally acknowledged, that there can be no effect without an adequate cause. This is even the foundation on which the only proper argument for the being of a God rests. And the Necessarian asserts, that if, in any given state of mind, with respect both to dispositions and motives, two different determinations, or volitions, be possible, it can be on no other principle than that one of them should come under the description of an effect without a cause ; just as if the beam of a balance might incline either way, though loaded with equal weights. And if any thing whatever, even a thought in the mind of man, could arise without an adequate cause, any thing else, the mind itself, or the whole universe, might likewise exist without an adequate causé.

This scheme of philosophical necessity implies a chain of causes and effects, established by infinite wisdom, and terminating in the greatest good of the whole universe; evils of all kinds, natural and moral, being admitted, as far as they contribute to that end, or are in the nature of things inseparable from it.* Vice is productive not of good, but of evil to us, both here and hereafter, though good may result from it to the whole system: and, according to the fixed laws of nature, our present and future happiness necessarily depend on our cultivating good dispositions.+

Our learned author distinguishes this scheme of philosophical necessity from the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, in the following particulars :

1. No Necessarian supposes that any of the human race will suffer eternally: but that future punishments will answer the same purpose as temporal ones are found to do; all of which tend to good,

and are evidently admitted for that purpose.-Upon the doctrine of necessity also, the most indifferent actions of men are equally necessary with the most important; since every volition, like any other effect, must have an adequate cause depending upon the previous state of the mind, and the influence to which it is exposed.

2. The Necessarian believes that his own dispositions and actions are the necessary and sole means of his present and future happiness; so that, in the most proper sense of the words, it depends entirely on himself, whether he be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable.

3. The Calvinistic system entirely excludes the popular notion of free-will; viz. the liberty or power of doing what we please, virtuous or vicious, as belonging to every person, in every situation; which is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of philosophical necessity, and indeed results from it.

4. The Necessarian believes nothing of the posterity of Adam's sinning in him, and of their being liable to the wrath of God on that account; or the necessity of an infinite Being making atonement for them, by suffering in their stead, and thus making the

Deity propitious to them. He believes nothing of all the actions of any man being necessarily sinful: but, on the contrary, thinks that the very worst of men are capable of benevolent intentions in many things that they do; and likewise that very good men are capable of falling from virtue, and consequently of sinking into final perdition. Upon the principles of the Necessarian also, all late repentance, and especially after long and confirmed habits of vice, is altogether and necessarily ineffectual; there not being sufficient time left to produce a change of disposition and character, which can only be done by a change of conduct of proportionably long continuance.

In short, the three doctrines of Materialism, Philosophical Necessity, and Socinianism, are considered as equally parts of one system. The scheme of necessity is the immediate result of the materiality of man; for mechanism is the undoubted consequence of materialism: and that man is wholly material, is eminently subservient to the proper, or mere humanity of Christ. For if no man have a soul distinct from his body, Christ, who in all other respects appeared as a man, could not have a soul which had existed before

his body and the whole doctrine of the pre-existence of souls, of which the opinion of the pre-existence of Christ is a branch, will be effectually overturned.* Sce Unitarians. MELCHITES. The Syrian, Egyptian, and other eastern christians in the Levant, who, though they are not Greeks, follow the doctrines of the Greek church, except in some points which relate only to ceremonies and ecclesiastical discipline. They were called Melchites, i. e. Royalists, by their adversaries, by way of reproach, on account of their implicit submission to the edict of the emperor Marcion, in favour of the council of Chalcedon.t

MELECIANS, a denomination in the fourth century; so called from their leader, Melecias, bishop of Lycopolis, in Egypt. This prelate declared with great zeal against those christians, who, having apostatized, desired to be reconciled to the church; and would not have those admitted to repentance who fell into sin, though their contrition were ever so great.

The Melecians fastened little bells to the bottom of their garments, and sung their prayers, dancing all the time; and this they thought a sure mean to appease the wrath of God.‡

MELCHIZEDICHIANS,

a denomination which arose about the beginning of the third century. They affirmed that Melchizedek was not a man, but a heavenly power superior to Jesus Christ: for Melchizedek, they said, was the intercessor and mediator. of the angels; and Jesus Christ was only so for men, and his priesthood only a copy of that of Melchizedek.

This denomination was revived in Egypt by one Hierax.§ See Hieracites.

MELATONI, so called from one Mileto, who taught, that not the soul, but the body of man, was made after God's image.

MENANDERIANS, a denomination in the first century, from Menander, a disciple of Simon Magus. He pretended to be one of the aions sent from the pleroma, or celestial regions, to succour

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the souls that lay groaning under bodily oppression and servitude, and to maintain them against the violence and stratagems of the demons that hold the reins of empire in this sublunary world. He baptized his disciples in his own name; and promised them after this baptism a more easy victory over the evil spirits, and that after this life they should become partakers of the resurrection of the dead and of immortality.*

MENNONITÉS, a society of Baptists in Holland; so called from Mennon Simonis, of Friesland, who lived in the sixteenth century. It is a universal maxim of this denomination that practical piety is the essence of religion, and that the surest mark of the true church is the sanctity of its members. They all unite in pleading for toleration in religion; and debar none from their assemblies who lead pious lives, and own the scriptures for the word of God. They teach that infants are not the proper subjects of baptism; that ministers of the gospel ought to receive no salary; and that it is not lawful to swear or wage war upon any occasion. They also maintain, that the terms person and trinity are not to be used

in speaking of the Father, Son, and holy Ghost.

year

The Mennonites meet privately, and every one in the assembly has the liberty to speak, to expound the scriptures, to pray, and sing. They assemble twice every from all parts of Holland, at Rynsbourg, a village about two leagues from Leyden, at which time they receive the communion, sitting at a table, where the first distributes to the rest. All denominations are adınitted, even the Roman Catholics, if they please to come.

The ancient Mennonites professed a contempt of erudition and science; and excluded all from their communion who deviated in the least from the most rigorous rules of simplicity and gravity, in their looks, their gesturcs, their clothing, or their table. But this primitive austerity is greatly diminished in the most considerable denominations of the Mennonites. Those who adhere to their ancient discipline are called Flemings, or Flandrians.

The Mennonites in Pennsylvania do not baptize by immersion, though they administer the ordinance to none but adult persons. Their common method is this: The per