as it exists in the present day, the same conclusion forces itself upon the mind. When we behold, on the one hand, the virtuous and upright votary of religion struggling with poverty and misery, treated with scorn and contempt, persecuted on account of his integrity and piety, despoiled of his earthly enjoyments, or condemned to an ignominious death; and on the other, the profligate and oppressor, the insolent despiser of God and religion, passing his days in affluence and luxurious ease, prosecuting with impunity his unhallowed courses, and robbing the widow and the fatherless of their dearest comforts-when we behold hypocrisy successful in all its schemes, and honesty and rectitude overlooked and neglected-the destroyers of our species loaded with wealth and honours, while the benefactors of mankind are pining in obscurity and indigence-knaves and fools exalted to posts of dignity and honour, and men of uprightness and intelligence treated with scorn, and doomed to an inglorious obscurity-criminals of the deepest dye escaping with impunity, and generous actions meeting with a base reward--when we see young men of virtue and intelligence cut off in early life, when they were just beginning to bless mankind with their philanthropic labours, and tyrants and oppressors continuing the pests of society, and prolonging their lives to old age in the midst of their folly and wickedness—human beings torn from their friends and their native home, consigned to perpetual slavery, and reduced below the level of the beasts, while their oppressors set at defiance the laws of God and man, revel in luxurious abundance, and prosper in their crimes ;—when we behold one nation and tribe irradiated with intellectual light, another immersed in thick darkness; one enjoying the blessings of civilization and liberty, another groaning under the lash of despotism, and doomed to slavery and bondage, when we contemplate such facts throughout every department of the moral world, can we suppose, a moment, that the Divine administration is bounded by the visible scene of things, that the real characters of men shall never be brought to light, that vice is to remain in eternal concealment and impunity, and that the noblest virtues are never to receive their just recompence of reward?" To admit such conclusions would be in effect

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to deny the wisdom, goodness, and rectitude of the Ruler of the world, or to suppose, that his all-wise and benevolent designs may be defeated by the folly and wickedness of human beings. But such conclusions are so palpably and extravagantly absurd, that the only other alternative, the reality of a future state of existence, may be pronounced to have the force of a moral demonstration. So that, had we no other argument to produce in support of the doctrine of a future state of retribution, this alone would be sufficient to carry conviction to every mind that recognises the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, and entertains just views of the attributes which must necessarily be displayed in his moral administration.

When this conclusion is once admitted, it removes the perplexities, and solves all the difficulties which naturally arise in the mind, when it contemplates the present disordered state of the moral world, and the apparently capricious manner in which punishments and rewards are dispensed. Realizing this important truth, we need not be surprised at the unequal distribution of the Divine favours among the various nations and tribes of mankind; since they are all placed on the first stage of their existence, and eternity is rich in resources, to compensate for all the defects and inequalities of fortune which now exist. We need not be overwhelmed with anguish when we behold the pious and philanthropic youth cut down at the commencement at his virtuous career, since those buds of vir. tue which began to unfold themselves with so much beauty in the present life, will be fully expanded and bring forth nobler fruits of righteousness in that life which will never end. We need not wonder when we behold tyrants and profligates triumphing, and the excellent ones of the earth trampled under foot, since the future world will present a scene of equitable administration, in which the sorrows of the upright will be turned into joy, the triumphs of the wicked into confusion and shame, and every one rewarded according to his works. We need not harass our minds with perplexing doubts, respecting the wisdom and equity of the dispensations of Providence; since the moral government of God extends beyond the limits of this world,

and all its dark and intricate mazes will be fully unravelled in the light of eternity.

-“The great eternal scheme,

Involving all, and in a perfect whole
Uniting, as the prospect wider spreads,
To Reason's eye will then clear up apace.
Then shall we see the cause

Why unassuming Worth in secret liv'd,
And died neglected; why the good man's share
In life was gall and bitterness of soul;
Why the lone widow and her orphans pin'd
In starving solitude, while Luxury,

In palaces, lay straining her low thought,

To form unreal wants; why heaven-born Truth
And Moderation fair, wore the red marks
Of Superstition's scourge; why licens'd Pain,
That cruel spoiler, that imbosom'd foe,
Imbitter'd all our bliss.-Ye good distrest!
Ye noble Few! who here unbending stand
Beneath life's pressure, yet bear up awhile,
And what your bounded view, which only saw
A little part, deemed evil, is no more:

The storms of Wintry time will quickly pass,

And one unbounded Spring encircle all.-Thomson's Winter.

Thus it appears, that, although God, in the general course of his providence, has connected happiness with the observance of his laws, and misery with the violation of them, in order to display the rectitude of his nature, and his hatred of moral evil; yet he has, at the same time, in numerous instances, permitted vice to triumph, and virtue to be persecuted and oppressed, to convince us, that his government of human beings is not bounded by the limits of time, but extends into the eternal world, where the system of his moral administration will be completed, his wisdom and rectitude justified, and the mysterious ways of his Providence completely unravelled.

This argument might have been farther illustrated from a consideration of those moral perceptions implanted in the human constitution, and which may be considered as having the force of moral laws proceeding from the Governor of the universe. The difference between right and wrong, virtue and vice, is founded upon the nature of things, and is perceptible by every intelligent agent whose moral feelings are not altogether blunted by vicious indul.

gences. Were a man to affirm that there is no difference between justice and injustice, love and hatred, truth and falsehood; that it is equally the same whether we be faithful to a friend or betray him to his enemies, whether servants act with fidelity to their masters or rob them of their property, whether rulers oppress their subjects or promote their interests, and whether parents nourish their children with tenderness, or smother them in their cradles—he would at once be denounced as a fool and a madman, and hissed out of society. The difference between such actions is eternal and unchangeable, and every moral agent is endued with a faculty which enables him to perceive it. We can choose to perform the one class of actions and to refrain from the other; we can comply with the voice of conscience which deters us from the one, and excites us to the other, or we can resist its dictates, and we can judge whether our actions deserve reward or punishment. Now, if God has endued us with such moral perceptions and capacities, is it reasonable to suppose, that it is equally indifferent to him whether we obey or disobey the laws he has prescribed? Can we ever suppose, that He who governs the universe is an unconcerned spectator of the good or evil actions that happen throughout his dominions? or that he has left man to act, with impunity, according to his inclinations, whether they be right or wrong? If such suppositions cannot be admitted, it follows that man is accountable for his actions, and that it must be an essential part of the Divine government to bring every action into judgment, and to punish or reward his creatures according to their works. And if it appear, in point of fact, that such retributions are not fully awarded in the present state, nor a visible distinction made between the righteous and the violators of his law, we must necessarily admit the conclusion, that the full and equitable distribution of punishments and rewards is reserved to a future world, when a visible and everlasting distinction will be made, and the whole intelligent creation clearly discern between him that served God and him that served him not.

SECTION X.

On the absurdity of supposing that the thinking principle in man will ever be annihilated.

It is highly unreasonble, if not absurd, to suppose that the thinking principle in man will ever be annihilated.

But

In so far as our knowledge of the universe extends, there does not appear a single instance of annihilation throughout the material system. There is no reason to believe, that, throughout all the worlds which are dispersed through the immensity of space, a single atom has ever yet been, or ever will be annihilated. From a variety of observations, it appears highly probable, that the work of creation is still going forward in the distant regions of the universe, and that the Creator is replenishing the voids of space with new worlds and new orders of intelligent beings; and it is reasonable to believe, from the incessant agency of Divine Omnipotence, that new systems will be continually emerging into existence while eternal ages are rolling on. no instance has yet occurred of any system or portion of matter either in heaven or earth having been reduced to annihilation. Changes are indeed incessantly taking place, in countless variety, throughout every department of nature. The spots of the sun, the belts of Jupiter, the surface of the moon, the rings of Saturn, and several portions of the starry heavens, are frequently changing or varying their aspects. On the earth, mountains are crumbling down, the caverns of the ocean filling up, islands are emerging from the bottom of the sea, and again sinking into the abyss; the ocean is frequently shifting its boundaries, and trees, plants, and waving grain now adorn many tracts which were once overwhelmed with the foaming billows. Earthquakes have produced frequent devastations, volcanoes have overwhelmed fruitful fields with torrents of burning lava, and even the solid strata within the bowels of the earth have been bent and disrupted by the operation of some tremendous power. The invisible atmosphere is likewise the scene of perpetual changes and revolutions, by the mixture and decomposition of gases, the respiration