imaginations which incessantly delude the wicked. That the natural consequences of vice are misery, is a truth known to every moralist. He has learned it from his remarks on the depraved, and the experience of the depraved assures them, that he is not mistaken. Every wicked man knows that he has the seeds of misery within himself; that in every vicious indulgence he is passing through momentary gratification, into fatal and permanent consequences, where repentance and remorse will be his companions. Let his imagination place him in some unknown region, where his sinful enjoyments will be no more, and all their wretched consequences will remain; where none of the artifices of dissipation can prevent the worm from perpetually gnawing, or quench the incessant flames of his anguish. Let him advert to the important fact, that the supreme Being in all his operations, hath always employed physica. means to promote his plans, to the extent of their efficacy, however slow the process. If the righteous be destined, in the present state, to pass through many tribulations, before they enter into their heavenly inheritance, the wickea in their individual capacities, may be expected to pass through many more, in the future state, before their qualification may commence,

or be duly advanced. The moral history of this world informs us that, of collective bodies, the progress in moral improvement has always been extremely slow; and that without the advancement of the whole, the felicity of reformed individuals must be incomplete.

Nine hundred years were consumed, before the propensity of the human race to the grossest idolatry, was in any degree restrained. Upwards of eighteen hundred years have elapsed, and the great majority of mankind, continue strangers to that religion, upon which all the hopes of future felicity must depend; and many of its professed admirers, have not only impeded its salutary effects, by their officious intermixtures, but have rendered it an engine of oppressions, hatreds, and animosities; compelling those who have followed after righteousness, to encounter every species of misery and distress, during their sojourn in the present state. In a world destined for the reception of the assembled wicked, how many periods may be exhausted, before their polluted souls shall be prepared to enjoy that happiness which is the result and the reward of distinguished piety and virtue !

It is possible that, in a future state, the bad consequences issuing from evil deeds, shall be perceived, and deeply lamented, without the

hopes of any other remedy, than such as may be appointed to operate slowly, in order to operate effectually. It is possible, that negligent and vicious parents may severely suffer; from the perception of the misery they have inflicted upon their own offspring; and their bitter remorse may continue as long as the evil shall exist. We are assured, that those who have committed comparatively few sins, shall be beaten with few stripes. The egregious offenders will be punished with many. It is possible that these stripes will be proportioned to the extent of the miseries they may have diffused, and they may endure as long as the consequences of their vices shall continue to operate; inevitably diminishing that satisfaction which might result from the perception of their own moral improveIf positions like these cannot lay claim to certainty, they are within the limits of reason. They are in conformity with our ideas of retributive justice, and they are calculated to alarm the most unthinking mind.

ment.

Again that very doctrine which is supposed to be necessary for the conversion of sinners, occasions great multitudes to continue in their sins. Those who maintain that every unbeliever will suffer never-ending misery, should be peculiarly cautious not to increase their num

ber. But this dogma is one grand cause of infidelity, and exposes the unbeliever to all those irregularities which infidelity is prone to authorize. Men who are taught by the light of reason to renounce this doctrine, and yet are taught by Theologians, that it is an essential article of the Christian faith, will think themselves fully justified in renouncing the whole of Christianity. The rational being who admires the beauties of the creation, and adores the benevolence which is there displayed towards all men indiscriminately, is astonished that the very God who shews so much indulgence to the wicked, in the present state, should be represented as pouring out the vials of eternal wrath upon them in a future world; under a dispensation which is emphatically termed a covenant of grace! He turns from such glad tidings of great joy, with horror and indignation; and being ignorant of the true design of Christianity, he becomes a determined unbeliever. These are historical facts. They are known to exist in every country in Europe. They will increase, in proportion as the minds of men become emancipated from implicit faith, in their spiritual instructors, and they will continue until the gospel shall appear to them, " to be more worthy of all acceptation."

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Finally, we must remark that the doctrine of the eternal misery of the wicked is very inimical to those devout affections, which it is our duty and our happiness to cultivate, towards the God of transcendent excellence. We are commanded to "love the Lord our God, with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strength, and with all our minds." These are glowing expressions, uttered by him who was in the bosom of his father, and who hath revealed him unto us; expressions which manifest how supremely he deserves our love, because he alone is supremely good. It is the attribute of essential Goodness on which the duty is founded; it is this which renders it a most rational and a most pleasant duty. But is it possible for those to perform the duty aright, and to the due extent of the grateful feelings, who are habituated, by their creed, to consider the author of their being as an object of terror? We cannot love whom we please, and to the degree that we please, merely because we are commanded. Nor can the affection be called forth to a due extent, by a general indefinite acknowledgement that he is good. We cannot feel a warm affection for any human being, or an admiration of his character, until we are made acquainted with some extraordinary