To the author this enigma is solved by the character of Edwards's writings, which, like those of many other metaphysicians who hold theories contrary to common sense, are _contradictory and inconsistent_. Thus it is seen that one class of very acute minds find in Edwards's _Treatise on the Will_ the most complete exposition and defense of _fatalism_, and thus the author regards it. Another class, equally acute, claim this same essay as a full exposition and defense of the contrary doctrine of _free agency_. The Augustinian theory of a totally depraved mind, transmitted through the Catholic Church to its reformed offsets, was received by Edwards. He perceived that if God was the cause of this depravity, he is the author of sin, and so he labored to prove that all mankind "sinned in Adam and fell with him," and thus caused their own depravity. He perceived, too, that requiring men to originate holy acts with a totally depraved nature seemed to demand what they had no power to perform, and thus made God unjust. So he brought forth his _Treatise on the Will_ to prove that man had a _natural ability_ to obey God, and a _moral inability_; and so at once he established _fatalism_ to one class of minds, and _free agency_ to another. Thus it is that the New Haven divines find language in Edwards that sustains their views, while their antagonists find as much, or more, that condemns them. The ancient followers of Pelagius, the modern Unitarians, and the leaders of the New Haven school of divines, all hold exactly the position set forth in this work of the _perfect organization_ of the human mind, while the only depravity maintained by them is that of _voluntary action_. At the same time, it is believed that but a very small portion of the younger clergy of _any_ theological school in New England, or in a large portion of the Presbyterian churches, would openly avow a belief in the depraved mental constitution of man as created by God, either directly at or near birth, or indirectly by hereditary transmission. It is interesting, yet sad, to trace the dominant influence of the Augustinian theory of a depraved mental constitution in originating most of the leading sects of the present Christian world. Man being assumed to be thus miserably miscreated, and his sole hope being the gift of the Holy Ghost to recreate, the priesthood soon claimed to be the only medium through which this gift could pass; and having the eternal life and death of the soul in their hands, they speedily thus gained that domestic, civil, and religious power which made the papal hierarchy the most tremendous tyranny that earth ever witnessed. The question of the transmission of this power through properly ordained persons was the chief feature of the Episcopal organization.