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being, or be an introduction to a better state of existence than the present. And much as this argument has always affected the mass of mankind, Plato seems to have felt its force but feebly, when he wrote his Phædon, or he would not have taken so much pains to establish the natural immortality of the soul; which he conceived, and, I think, justly in his circumstances, to be essential to the proof of a life to come. As it is not, I presume, an article of natural religion that a time will come when the whole human race will at once be raised from their graves, and restored to life and action, he who shall attempt, without the light of revelation, to establish the future existence of the human species, will fail in a material point if he omits to shew that there is something in man which must or may survive the stroke of death. It would not have satisfied Plato, nor would it satisfy me to say, It is in vain for me to inquire how I am to exist hereafter, since I am utterly unable to comprehend how I exist at present."

But to return to the argument under consideration. It rests upon the position that the phenomena of human life, without a future being, imply a defect of wisdom and goodness in the Creator. Thus far, then, the perfection of the Divine character is an hypothesis unsupported by fact. And unless it can be established by certain abstract reasonings, (and these, while they may appear satisfactory to some, will seem nugatory to others,) it will be precipitate to draw from it an inference so contrary to present appearances, as the future existence of the human race. But, says our Author, admit a future state," and we at once obtain a view of the scheme of Divine Providence, comprehensive, luminous and delightful." This I am by no means disposed to deny. But unless this view of it be confirmed by the authority of that God who alone knows his own counsels, it is only an hypothesis, and an hypothesis, which in many minds would not prevail against that universal analogy, which seems to forbid the hope that life, when once extinct, will ever be restored. Setting revelation entirely out of the question, we might say, that as a matter of fact, God seems to consult not

so much for the individuals of mankind as for the species, and that it would be difficult to prove that the continuation and progressive improvement of the species would not answer all the ends which the Creator had in view in their formation. Man, it might be said, is a noble work, but not so noble, perhaps, in the eyes of the Creator as in his own; and as for the waste of intellectual and moral attainment, which is implied in the destruction of the individuals of the species, it may be no great object amidst the immensity of creation, and in the estimation of a Being whose power, no doubt, is perpetually employed in producing life, intellect and happiness throughout his vast dominions. And were the whole human race what the great majority have thus far been, their extinction might not seem to form a much stronger objection to the plan of Providence, than that of the beasts that perish.

But our Author's argument, as stated above, seems to resolve itself into this simple proposition, that a perfectly wise and good Being could not form a rational agent without making him immortal. The fact, however, that man dies and is heard of no more, seems to negative the proposition; and that reasoning must be powerful which shall overcome this stubborn objection. I am by no means pre

* Even granting the perfections of the Deity, it would be difficult to shew that such a being as man, even though the individuals of the species should perish, would not be a desirable link in the chain of animated existence; and it has always appeared to me something like presumption to affirm that God cannot be wise and

good, unless A., B. and C., should be immortal. My view of the subject is well expressed in p. 18 of Mr. J. Kenrick's admirable Sermon on the Necessity of Re

velation to teach the Doctrine of a Future Life. In a word, the constitution of the world differs, in various respects, from what our limited understandings would have led us to expect from the combination power, wisdom and benevolence; and being thus, as it should seem, con

of infinite

victed of ignorance, (if these are in truth the attributes of the Deity,) we go beyond our province, when we confidently pronounce that the future existence of the human race is necessary to make the scheme of Providence complete.

Our Author's error (for if I had not

pared to prove that the proposition is false, but were my hope of a future life to rest solely or principally upon it, I should wish to see it confirmed by something like logical demonstration. In pp. 218, 219, of Apeleutherus, there is a fine passage on the painful moral discipline to which man is rendered subject, and which gives a more persuasive force to the argument. But I am afraid that the sufferings of which our Author treats so eloquently, would more generally excite a doubt of the perfection of the Divine attributes, than suggest a confident expectation of a life to come. Our Author rejects with disdain the argument for a future life, which has been drawn from the inequality of the Divine dispensations, asking, with the poet, What can we reason but from what we know? and quoting the well-known observation of Mr. Hume, "that you have no ground to ascribe to the Author of Nature any qualities but what you see he has actually exerted and displayed in his productions." I am surprised that he did not perceive that there is opportunity to apply this reasoning against himself. I take human life as I find it, che quered with suffering, deformed by moral evil, and terminating in death; and I ask, whether the plan of Providence, as far as we have any certain knowledge of it, corresponds to the

thought him in an error I should not have troubled myself to write what I have written) consists in magnifying presumptions into proofs, and attributing an undue force to certain considerations which ren

der revelation credible, in order to shew that it was not necessary. But as long as man should appear to be lost for ever in the grave, it would be at least a thing

ardently to be desired, that we could be distinctly informed by Him who made us, what he has yet in view respecting us. Setting aside the history of revelation, nothing like the restoration of a man once dead, that is, nothing which, as a matter of fact, could give any assurance of a life to come, has ever been heard of since the world began. As Mr. Belsham somewhere eloquently expresses himself, on the natural probability of a resurrection, "Experience is silent; philosophy is confounded; revelation alone darts a beam of light through the solid gloom; the messenger of heavenly truth announces, that all who are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth."

character of an infinitely wise, powerful and benevolent Creator? The ground on which our Author's argument is founded will oblige him to answer, no. How then am I to be assured that God is infinite in wisdom, power and goodness? The hypothesis of a future life, indeed, will settle every thing; but on what certain foundation is the hypothesis to rest, until the perfection of the Divine character shall have been established? It will not satisfy to say, that there must be a future state, and therefore that God may be infinitely powerful, wise and good; nor on the other hand, that God is all perfection, and therefore there must be a life to come. Here Christianity comes admirably to our assistance, and declares what otherwise, however plausible, would be assumption only, that this mor tal will put on immortality." But, it is said, the grand miracle on which Christians have usually laid so great a stress, namely, the resurrection of Christ, neither proves the immortality of the soul, nor the general resurrection of human bodies. Granting the reality of the fact, and, what I think will not be denied, that the apos tles understood its meaning, it is a divine attestation to the future existence of the human race; and an attestation which I would not exchange for all the arguments which have been advanced in favour of the doctrine, from the days of Plato to the present hour.

Upon the whole, I feel a decided conviction, that, without revelation, is involved in deep obscurity. And ! the question respecting a future life the exception of one or two indivi think it worthy of remark, that, with duals of a sanguine cast of mind, I have met with no one who doubted of the truth of Christianity, who did not doubt in an equal degree of a life to come. At the same time, the uncertainty in which nature leaves the subject is no objection to the reality of a future being, when it is confirmed by the voice of revelation. We are told, indeed, that "if Christianity be not built upon the solid rock of natural religion, it can have no foundation at all." If by this observation were meant that revelation cannot contradict the clear and certain deductions of reason, I should subscribe

to the proposition with all my heart and soul. But if thereby be intended that revelation cannot disclose what reason might never have discovered, I cannot help regarding it as mani festly false; since it is only saying, in other words, that God must reveal all that he chooses to make kuown of his purposes by one medium, which is what few men would choose to affirm. Or if it is to be understood as intimating, that no historical and external evidence can confirm the truth of revelation, I should reply, that this is a proposition which cannot be maintained without setting aside our faith in testimony, and undermining the principal foundation of human knowledge.

E. COGAN.

The Abbé Gregoire.

[Extract from a Letter from a Friend, dated Paris, March 28, 1819.]

Calvinistic preacher in Liverpool, I was much surprised to meet with the following information:

"Among the various projects which Buonaparte entertained, was that of becoming the founder of a new religious sect, or rather of establishing Unitarianism. He became acquainted with this system from the writings of a Baron Gussey, which accidentally fell into his hands. He found that the great generals of antiquity had left nothing but a name behind them they had no followers. But the founders of new religions were immortal in their disciples. 'I will,' said he, be the founder of a new religion. I will establish Unitarianism, and its disciples shall be Napoleonists. I will smile on Protestantism, and give religion liberty, as the means to accomplish my design. My people are so versatile, they will follow the court. On them I will heap my choicest

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No human being ever so much delighted me. His countenance and address are attractive and fascinating beyond description, and his conversation is a beautiful delineation of his pure and beneficent mind. His advanced years seem only to have added to the venerableness of his presence, while they have nothing destroyed of that benevolent energy, always active in the cause of freedom and of charity. Yet (as you know) this most exemplary patriot has been marked out as a fit object for the rancorous and unwearied obloquy of the tools of despotism: and I will own my very heart bled when he wrote in my Album the following words: "Faire aux hommes tout le bien dont on est capable, c'est un devoir imposé par la nature et par la religion; et presque toujours attendre d'eux tout le contraire, c'est le resultat d'une longue et penible expérience. Je desire que M. B. obtienne dans le cours de sa vie des resultats plus consolants.

SIR

HA

"Gregoire Evêque."

Manchester,

B.

March 17, 1819. AVING recently perused a "Tour on the Continent," by the Rev. Thomas Raffles, a popular

inconsistent with common sense.' 1 believe the source whence this information is derived is one on which full reliance may be placed."-Tour, p. 130.

Can any of your Correspondents speak to the correctness of this statement, [see also our No. for January, p. 31,] or supply information with respect to the character and writings of Baron Gussey?

I suspect that Mr. Raffles, who betrays strong prejudices against Unitarianism in various parts of his pub. lication, writes under their influence, when he attributes the views of Buonaparte in wishing to establish this system, in Mr. R.'s words, this new religion, to motives of personal ambition. It is, in my opinion, a much more probable conclusion, that "a religion, whose ceremonies and doctrines are inconsistent with common sense," was no longer calculated to meet the views of an enlightened people; and that Unitarianism was the only system which approved itself to reason, and which would support the most rigid investigation.

Mr. R. informs us, that at the Protestant Church in Paris there are three ministers; that the opinions and sermons of two of them are much in unison with those of the Unitarians of this country; but that the other,

whom he had not the good fortune to hear, is said to be decidedly evangelical.

SIR,

IN

WILLIAM HARRISON.

March 18, 1819.

N such a period of the world as this in which we live, and which appears to me as interesting and awful as at any former period of its history; if it be consistent with the plan of your Repository, I wish to point out and introduce a few remarks on the passing events, as connected with the word of God, or prophecy. It may be consolatory to some, and animate the drooping spirits of those conscientious Christians who suffer from the prevalence of political or religious despotism, known in Scripture by the name of Antichrist. As au illustration of my meaning, I send you my thoughts on the signs of the times. We now live in that period of the Christian calling, which may be denominated the evangelizing. See Rev. xiv. 6, where the angels or ministers of the gospel are authorized by their respective superiors to spread the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and "to proclaim unto those who dwell on the earth, and unto every nation, and tribe, and language, and people, saying, with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is coming." Observe, we are here commanded by the heavenly messsenger, not only to fear God and give glory to him, but to worship him who made heaven and earth, and the sea and the springs of waters. Does not this seem to imply, that the worship of the one only Creator of heaven and earth had not been strictly attended to by the Christian as well as the Heathen world? Even to this said time, the prophetic denunciation, which immediately follows in ver. 9, may be a subject of awful consideration in some future Number of your Repository, after the awful event has taken place. Thus, then, we have seen the fulfilment of this part of the prophecy, in the general spread of the gospel, in all parts of the habitable globe, perhaps Africa only excepted.

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I come now to the consideration of another not less conspicuous accomplishment of the word of God, than that which we have been remarking,

namely, Rev. xi. 7. We have seen the slaughter of the witnesses, and by what power it was accomplished. We have also seen the exact time of the exposure of their cause to the ridicule and rancour of their enemies, who were most numerous; and we have witnessed the exultation and triumph on this occasion. On the other hand, we begin to perceive the resurrection of the dry bones; that they not only stand upon their feet, but we have actually heard the great voice which has called them into power, and this too, in the very sight of their enemies, whose fear, no doubt, will be equal to their surprise. Compare the words of this prophecy, with what has recently taken place in a neighbouring nation, and we need not desire a clearer or stronger proof of the administration of a Divine Providence over the affairs of men, than is exhibited to our view in this most extraordinary and unlooked-for event. Let Christians then look forward to the grand closing scene of human depravity, to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, as mentioned in Rev. xi. 15, and to its most happy results, when the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Shall the heavens rejoice, aud shall not the earth be glad! ~ Rev. xi. 16, 17; xv. S, 4.

DR

PHILALETHES.

R. JOHNSON has said in his Life of Gilbert West, that he was one of the few poets to whom death might not seem terrible. This sentiment, though it proceeds from a great and good man, I suspect is a proof, in this instance, of superficial thinking. What was there in the life of Gilbert West to put his moral principles to any severe trial? He whose situation is such, that the requisitions of morality impose upon him little or no voluntary suffering, is entitled to no very deep veneration. Gilbert West was in most easy circumstances; a plentiful income, an affectionate wife and family, a literary taste; he indulged a pleasing life, and when a little fatigued by study, mounted his horse, and rode for an appetite for dinner. This is a virtue doubtless which may put all the poets and all other men to the blush! If this most superficial remark of John

son had not flowed from a feeling pretty general, which is the parent of similar remarks on characters, I should not have noticed it; but I think in our judgments of the virtues and vices of men, we ought never to forget their circumstances. Under this notion, I offer the following reflections:

A desire of enjoyment, and a desire of a freedom from suffering, are the origin of all the vices and all the crimes in the world. "We touch each other on every side," and he whose painful desires tempt him to violate the rights of others, becomes a thief, a seducer, a murderer, &c.! Now it should seem that he whose circumstances can, without any direct and apparent injury of others, command such a measure of enjoyment as to tranquillize his nature, is not called on to exercise any very distinguished virtue. He may be virtuous in fact, or he may think himself so, but the strength of his resolution in self-sacrifice, is not put to any obvious proof. They who cannot sacrifice little things, but indulge a malignant temper to the injury of others, are out of the question, as they give proof that they have not even the slightest sense of duty or virtue.

But look at the endless variety of human conditions, and before those that are in ease upbraid, let them realize the worst of these conditions as their own! It is easy for a rich man to be what is called honest.

Dr.

Johnson himself in his immortal work, the Rambler, has taken a juster view

of this subject than what we have just referred to. He there says, "He that without acquaintance with the power of desire, the cogency of distress, the complications of affairs, or the force of practical influence, has filled his mind with the excellence of virtue, and having never tried his resolutions in many encounters with hope and fear, believes it able to stand firm, whatever shall oppose it, will be always clamorous against the smallest failure." Alas! that man whose resolutions have not been tried, knows nothing of either his virtue or his real character. To illustrate this, how often do we hear people call out against suicide, who, perhaps, never were in such a state of suffering, as even to wish for death! Surely, surely, they are very poor judges of

the state and sufferings of him, who, to escape from intolerable torments, throws himself a miserable outcast upon the Divine mercy!

I have been led to these most solemn and awful reflections (for such they are) by four Sermons lately delivered in Essex-Street Chapel by Mr. Belsham, on the Future Condition of Mankind, in which were displayed great depth of thought, accurate research, and a spirit of most divine benevolence. I know nothing that excels the sermons of this gentleman, except it be his most exemplary life as a man; and although I cannot feel as a sectary in favour of the Unitarians, amongst that body I have known and do know men, of whom the world is not worthy.

HOMO.

P.S. Permit me to add one word more on suicide, which has been lately much written upon, and which is now, alas for human nature! very common in England, still more common in France, and more common still in Prussia. [See p. 133.] Those who perish thus may be the most miserable, but do not appear to be the most wicked of mankind. They are not in France, Lewis XV., or Napoleon, but Roland and Condorcet. They are not in England, King John, Henry VIII., and Charles II., but Hales, Whitbread and Romilly!

SIR, IT

Wisbeach, Feb. 13, 1819.

is hoped that not only are the nature, objects and plans of the Unitarian Fund now generally understood, but that also the value and importance of that institution are felt by the Unitarian public. Presuming this, I beg leave, through the medium of your truly valuable Repository, to address them on behalf of this institution, with which I have had the happiness of being connected from its very origin, in the service of which I wish to spend the little that may remain to me of life; and I am anxious for the extension of its efforts and operations, which must depend on the increase of its resources. Most denominations of Christians have felt the necessity of supporting public institutions among themselves, which might unite their exertions, and bring into exercise their collective strength

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