who were already in Christ, “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Observe; not our bodies, but our body, i. e. the whole mass, or aggregated family. The idea is certainly a beautiful one, that the redemption of a part cannot be considered as complete until the redemption of the whole is so; for are we not members one of another? And if one member suffer, doth not the whole body suffer with it? Why else do angels themselves sympathise with the dwellers upon earth, and rejoice as each sinner is added to the company of the redeemed? I pity the man whose heart is so narrow, and whose christian philosophy is so circumscribed, that he can anticipate a futurity of perfect bliss for himself, at the same time that he thinks that millions, flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, will scream in ceaseless fire!

To deny that from the beginning God had a purpose regarding man's ultimate destiny, is to charge him with folly, for none but an idiot will work without a definite purpose. To say that his purpose respected the final happiness of but a part, is to charge him with cruelty. To say it respected the ultimate happiness of all, and yet that all will not be ultimately happy, is to represent him as impotent. Now the scriptures represent his purposes as eternal; (Ephe. iii. 11.) and they teach us that our salvation in a future state is to be, not in accordance with our works or merits, but according to his own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." (2 Tim. i. 9.)

It will here be objected, that "inasmuch as God has no pleasure in sin, and yet, contrary to his approval, it exists, and has existed for centuries, what assurance have we that his pleasure will be fulfilled in a future any more than in the present state?" I admit this to be the most formidable objection which can arise in this inquiry, and although I have more than once anticipated it in my former pages, yet, as this seems its proper place, I now again bring it in directly-the reader will at least not suspect me of wishing to keep it out of view. That God has no pleasure in sin for its own sake, is clear, for it is opposed to his nature. That he does not approve of it as an ultimate object, is also clear, for it entails misery, and infinite benevolence did not create for such an end; but that God does will its existence, for the present, and with reference to some future purpose of goodness, it were the

essence of folly to deny, for otherwise it would not be. When a father corrects a child, has he pleasure in the pain he inflicts? No. Why then does he inflict it? Because he approves the end it is designed to bring about. Did God approve of the betrayal, denial, and murder of his son, on their own account? No. Nevertheless, it is clear from the scripture, that he appointed these events; and to what end? A world's redemption. Now would not the philosophy have been weak and hobbling in the extreme, which in Christ's day would have argued, "that inasmuch as God's pleasure had been violated in the matter of his son's death, that therefore it might to all eternity be so violated, and all his purposes respecting his rising again, and ascending to glory, be forever baffled ?" You must see the weakness of such reasoning in that case; why not then in regard to the case before us? The fact that God's will, pleasure, and purpose, are in favour of the ultimate extinction of sin and redemption of mankind, warrants the conclusion that these objects will in due time be effected; for the apostle does not affirm that God wills such a consummation at the present, but "in the dispensation of the fulness of times."

THIRD. This doctrine is in agreement with THE PROMISE OF GOD. (Gen. iii. 15. Acts iii. 25. Ibid. 21. Gal. iii. 8. Titus 1, 2, etc.) We are often told, I know, that the promises of God respecting future blessings are exclusively applicable to the righteous; to those who have been born again, &c. but such is not the fact; for when Peter was preaching to the murderers of Jesus, and shortly subsequent to the wicked transaction, he told them, "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, In thee shall all nations be blessed." (Acts iii. 25.) If the murderers of the saviour were the legitimate heirs of this promise, can any good reason be assigned why any are not so? When God is represented as saying, in regard to the Jewish people, "For this is my covenant with them when I shall take away their sins," (Rom. xi. 27.) are we to understand the promise as applicable to those only whose sins were already removed? "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee." (Psl. xxii. 27.) This, surely, is not subject to the limitation above noticed! Not only all the nations are here embraced, but all the

kindreds of the nations. "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. (Psl. lxxxvi. 9.) If there are any nations whom God hath not made, they, to be sure, are not included in this promise. "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (Isaiah xl. 5, 6.) This passage cannot (as some pretend), refer to the millennium, for the state of things signified by that word, it is supposed, will be gradually and progressively effected; but here we have the assurance of a simultaneous discovery of the divine glory on the part of all mankind, "all flesh shall see it together." Again, the same prophet saith, "And in this mountain will the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined; and he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast upon all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people will he take away from off all the earth, for he Lord hath spoken it." (Isaiah xxv. 6, 1, 8.) To whatever event the prophet may have looked, it is certain that Paul understood the language as appropriate to the era of the resurrection, for while writing upon that theme, he Bays, "And then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. xv. 24.) And, indeed, to what other time or circumstance will the language intelligibly apply? The apostle conceived that the morning of the resurrection would be one of unclouded glory, the opening of a day which should never give place to night, an era of universal rejoicing and triumph. Who, in his description,.can find one word to countenance the horrible idea, that the bursts of rapture, the extatic swells of praise, shall be blended with the despairing groans of full three-fourths of a world?

From the following passage, I have often thought the revelator must have had in his eye the promise of God to Abraham; and if so, he certainly understood it in the widest sense of which the language is susceptible. "After this I beheld, and lo, a great

multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and to the lamb." (Rev. vii. 9, 10.) Suppose we limit this great, this innumerable multitude, to a part only of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues; even then it would form a circumstance against the doctrine of endless suffering; for it is certain that, if that theory be true, there must be many nations and kindreds out of which no part could be saved. For example, all that were involved in the deluge; and since, the people of Sodom, Gomorrha, Tyre, Sidon, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, &c. beside the numerous tribes that have perished from the earth in a condition of moral darkness and idolatry; whereas the multitude John saw was composed of ALL nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues. Stronger phraseology could scarcely be framed for expressing the entire human family. If, however, stronger language for the purpose can be found, we have it from the same writer, and upon the same subject, "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,* heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and to the lamb for ever and ever." (Ibid. v. 13.) Here then we have the Psalmist's exhortation reduced to practice, "Let every thing which hath breath praise the Lord." (Psl. cl. 6.) What scene could be more fitting for the winding up of earth's affairs? What commentary upon the text "God saw all things that he had made, and behold they were very good," could be more beautiful? Does not such an issue justify the angelic rejoicings at the birthday of time? When the morning stars sung together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." (Job xxx. 7.) A foresight of such a consummation might well cause all the arches of eternity to echo and re-echo with rejoicing. And when infinite love creates, what rational being can doubt, that such will be the result?

* Ah! but it does not include those that are in hell." Perhaps not. Let me see. Are you quite sure that hell is not "under the earth?" I pretend to no accurate knowledge with regard to its locale, but if the christian hell be the ha-des of the heathen poets, which I shrewdly suspect, then must it come within the range of the above passage.

FOURTH. The theory of universal salvation is in accordance with the OATH OF GOD. "Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. Surely shall say [I omit the words added by the translators] in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall come; and they that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified. and shall glory." (Isaiah xlv. 22-25.) This is very absolute and very unequivocal; it expresses not merely the fact of the ultimate salvation of all, but also the nature of that salvation; which will consist in their being clothed with divine strength and righteousness; and this indeed constitutes the essence of gospel salvation: for the removal of moral beings from one to another of the different worlds in the universe (however agreeable the exchange in a physical point of view) can make but little difference in the enjoyment of those beings, except their moral condition be suited to it. Salvation

from sin, therefore, not in it, is that for which we contend; when every individual shall be able to say, "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength;" there will be no sinners in existence, and if no sinners, no moral suffering.

The great apostle has given us the above prediction in a version somewhat different, but which diminishes nought of its universality. "Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11.) I know of but one scriptural way of access to God, and Christ is that way. "No man," saith he, "cometh to the Father but by me." (John xiv. 6.) Our opponents tell us there is no change after death; and it is certain that infants, and the hundreds of thousands who yearly pass from time ignorant of the gospel, do not in this life come to God by that only way. What ground of assurance have we, then-what scriptural ground, that these shall be saved? None whatever, if the doctrine of endless misery be true! Paul, however, removes the difficulty