of heaven! No, this cannot be, mercy must ever be the sinner's best friend. Ah! my dear sir, I am glad to see you have such honourable views of mercy; but permit me to inform you, my worthy friend, that it is only a mistaken notion of divine justice, which has led men to suppose that the justice of God any more opposed the salvation of sinners than his mercy. It is not justice, but it is cruelty, that would inflict an unmerciful punishment! And that tenderness, which sometimes exists in earthly parents, which would withhold a just punishment, is not mercy, but it is weakness! Thus, on this ground, we shall see justice and mercy meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other, in the salvation of

man.

It is on this moral relation that God claims the souls he has made as his own. If the relation were destroyed, they would be no longer his; if not his, they could not sin against him. For if all or any part of mankind have ceased to become the children of God, in the sense we are now speaking, and have of right and in justice become the children of the devil; then the only sin they can commit, while in this state, is, in keeping the commandments of God, in disobedience to their rightful sovereign, the devil! For he who has a right to my person or being, has a right to my services; and it would be wrong in me not to submit. These statements are made in this clear light, that the absurdity, of supposing that the moral relation which existed between God and man in creation is dissolved by sin, might more fully appear.

If this moral relation be not dissolved, then the reign of sin and Satan is altogether unjust, unrighteous, and unlawful. The question now is, whether God will ever sanction this reign, and settle the adversary of souls peaceably over the greater part, or even any part, of those mistaken mortals whom he has deceived and led astray? and thereby declare his reign, which was altogether usurpation, unjust, and wicked, in the first place, now to be legal, just, and right? insomuch so, that he shall no more be molested in his dominions, to the wasteless ages of eternity!!

66

My soul shrinks with horror from the awful thought. If this be the secret of the Lord, which is with those that fear him, I can truly say, in the sincerity of my heart, "O my soul, come not thou into their secret ; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united!" (Gen. xlix. 6.) For how can that, which was at first unjust, be made just by its long continuance? If the devil be the proper owner of any part of the human race, there can be no more justice, for aught that I can see, in God's attempting to redeem them out of his hands, (unless it be by a mutual agreement,) than there was in the serpent's beguiling our mother Eve! But the reconciliation and redemption of man is always represented in the scriptures as the work of sovereign power and goodness; destroying the works of the devil; subduing his kingdom; opening the prison doors, and letting the captives go free; and that too, without even asking the consent of the adversary; all of which presupposes his dominion to be unjust, unrighteous, and unlawful.

If it were to be contended that the dominion of Satan should finally be established over all the works of God, and that God will give up all his rational offspring into his hands, there are none but what would see its impropriety at once. Yea, to contend for such a doctrine as this, viz. that God will abandon the works of his own hand, and give them (i. e. human nature) all up to his arch-adversary, the devil, or, in other words, make them all endlessly miserable, would be giving the eternal JEHOVAH the blackest character possible!

I am well aware it has been contended, that we all deserve this; and, of course, it would be right and just in God, should he inflict it: but we ought in charity to presume that such do not realize what they say. Let them suppose a God diametrically opposite in all his attributes to the one they imagine, and in whom they believe; could he do any worse by his creatures than to make them all endlessly miserable? Certainly not. Then what are they contending for? Why, that an almighty devil, having the power to create human beings, could do no worse than what they say would be right and just for Gon to

do! O my God! forgive, I humbly beseech thee, the wounds which thy character receives in the house of thy pretended or mistaken friends!

But it is contended that man has had his choice; and he has chosen the way which has led to this eternal death. It is therefore his own fault, and he has no reason to complain.

With such fallacious arguments as these, thousands have been silenced, though, I presume, not satisfied. But this fallacy must be exposed. It has deceived mankind long enough. It does not help the matter in the least. For, when God gave man a law, did he not know his moral capacity to fulfil that law? and did he give him a law suited to his moral capacity, or did he not? The difficulty is in supposing that there was a principle of justice originally and inherently in the Deity, by which he made a law which could render it just for him to punish the transgressor unmercifully! If such an effect has been produced, this effect must, a priori, be traced to its cause; and, whatever we may suppose the means by which this effect is brought about, the cause was originally in God. But it is impossible that such a cause should exist in God, because God is love: whereas, this hypothesis supposes a principle the basest and most malignant the human mind can conceive of. Thousands reject with horror the doctrine of Calvinism, as they understand it, being shocked at the idea that God should create millions of human beings for the express purpose of being glorified in their eternal damnation! And yet, they are not disturbed at all at the idea that God should create the same miserable souls, with a certain knowledge, and that too at the time of their creation, that they would be eternally damned! soothing themselves with this idea; why, the creature has had his choice, and if he be damned eternally, it is his own fault! Now, for myself, I can see no difference in the moral character of God, on these two principles. They are, to me, both alike, horrid and abominable! If I am to be endlessly miserable, it matters not to me, whether God has fixed that to be my doom by an irrevocable decree, or whether

I am brought to this circumstance by any other means whatever; only let it be admitted that God knew this would be my fate when he brought me into being, and yet he gave me existence with this knowledge. But if he created me without this knowledge; and yet, if such an awful circumstance shall ever happen, it appears to me (O may the thought be forgiven, if it be an error) that both God and myself would be objects of pity; and yet, there would be no one in the universe who could help us! For I feel sure, that that God, who is LOVE, loves me so well, that he would be as much grieved at such a circumstance as I should, and therefore would help me, if it were in his power. See Gen. vi. 6, 7.

But God has all power, as well as wisdom and goodness. Whatever, therefore, his goodness dictates, his wisdom deviseth the plan, and his power carrieth the same into effect. We have no necessity, on this principle, of admitting any conclusion, however plausible it may appear, which, according to our understanding, would be inconsistent with infinite and divine love. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget," saith God, "yet will not I forget thee." God's love to his offspring is represented by the most endearing ties imaginable. "God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son," &c. for what? "not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." And again, Christ saith, "I came not to condemn the world, but to save the world.” But I need not enlarge here, as these subjects will come more properly under our consideration hereafter.

3. I am to speak of the design of God in the creation of moral intelligences.

And here, let it be remembered, that none by searching can find out the Almighty to perfection. His ways are in the great deep, unfathomable by man. Therefore we should be exceedingly cautious not to attempt to be wise above what is written on these great and important subjects. If, however, we were permitted to draw a conclusion from what we know of the nature of the Deity,

respecting his motive or purpose in creation, that conclusion would certainly be favourable to man. For,

It will be admitted that all rational beings ever act with some motive; and that they have some ultimate object in view to which all other purposes must be subservient. Now, what must have been the ultimate object of LOVE, in giving existence to a rational being? Can any thing short of a communication of its own nature to that being, in proportion to its capacity to receive it, and, of course, to render the creature which he hath made as happy as possible, be considered an object worthy of such a heavenly principle as divine love? This appears to me to be the most reasonable conclusion; and therefore, were we left to draw conclusions only from what we know of the divine nature, this appears to be the only conclusion which ought to be admitted. But we are not left to reason alone for our guide. We have some divine testimony on this subject. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honour, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Rev. iv. 11.) Here we have in express words the design of God in creation. All things, and, of course, all mankind, were created for the pleasure of the Almighty.

But what is the pleasure of our Maker? He has informed us, not only what it is, but also what it is not. "As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11.) Now, if God have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and the wicked do die, it proves that the death of the wicked is not the ultimate object of God. He suffers it to take place, upon the same principle that he permits sin; not that he has any pleasure in iniquity, nor in the wages of sin, which is death, but in the good which will be brought about by infinite wisdom, through these means. It is the life, which God hath pleasure in, which the wicked enjoys after having turned from his wickedness. And who can say that the enjoyment of this life, i. e. eternal life, will not be greatly heightened by