secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." This is also put in the future, the same as St. Paul has stated the doctrine, and cannot therefore be in this life.

That the wicked, departing this life in that character, are never to change for the better, or be converted in eternity, we further show from Rev. xxii. 11, as follows: "He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he which is filthy let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous let him be righteous still, and he that is holy let him be holy still." That this statement of the Revelator is intended to be applied to the moral condition of the souls of men after death, is evident from the fact, that in no period of human life, does the word of God so fix the conditions of men as that it can be said of them, "he that is filthy let him be filthy still;" or, "he that is unjust let him be unjust still;" as if at some period of life, it were impossible after that to reform one's character. It is in vain to apply this Scripture to the overthrow of the Jews by the Romans, because it was not written till about twenty years after that occurrence, according to the best authors on that subject, as we have before shown. This sense of the quotation is confirmed by Jesus Christ to the Revelator, in the verse next ensuing, who says, "Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." But says the reader, how can this Scripture be applied to the day of judgment, on account of its saying, "Behold I come quickly," as if it were expected this should be fulfilled immediately? It can be applied in this way, the Christian dispensation is the last dispensation of the earth; or as it is said in another place, "it is the last time;" which dispensation will soon be over, when the end will come; and then shall every man receive according to his doings, and if found filthy and unjust, so he must remain, for all any light the Scriptures give on this subject to the contrary. We have not the least possible doubt that the 46th verse of the 25th of St. Matthew has this very subject in view when it says, "And these shall go away into (eternal or) everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life (everlasting or) eternal." Now if these are to go away into eternal punishment, which is according to the original, it is impossible to be understood otherwise, as every educated Universalist or orthodox scholar well knows; how is it therefore possible, that the idea, as suggested by Mr. Ballou, of conversion after death, is in any way admissible? And if not, then an insurmountable barrier is opposed to universal, unconditional salvation, sure enough, even according to Mr. Ballou's own admission. It is, however, proper for us in this place to state, that after Mr. Ballou had written his Treatise on Atonement, in which he has suggested the possibility of men's dying in their sins, and of their being converted after death, as above noticed, that he has seen fit in his preface of that work to draw back a

little from the position, and rather to disallow either; as no doubt he found out that it was in reality admitting the existence of too much hell after death, as he says sin and misery are not to be separated. In relation to this we remark, that it is likely Mr. Ballou and his coadjutors in opinions, had not exactly made up their minds to believe in the grand salvo of the resurrection, which is to save all, both good and bad, and to fit them for heaven. Thus we see that it is a thriving system, and to what size it may yet arrive is hard to guess.

But we come now to notice one of the strangest vagaries on theology ever propagated as sober truth, and this is the opinion of Universalists about the fire of the New Testament, into which, sinners are there threatened to be cast, and to be burnt without end. We will quote a few passages, and then state their belief of their meaning. "And now, also, the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire." Matthew, iii. 10. Also, in verse 12, it is said of Jesus Christ, that "he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire."

thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body should be cast into hell." Matth. v. 29. "But whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Verse 22. Also, in Mark, chap. ix. verses 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, the subject of the fire of hell, which is there called unquenchable, is over and over repeated, in the same form of speech, and set forth as a state of distress and punishment, as well as the other passages before quoted on the subject of hell fire. But what think ye is the opinion of Universalists of all these passages, and others like them, as found in all the Scriptures? Why that they denote salvation, the fire of God's love, &c.; which, were it so, all we can reply is, that the wicked in the New Tes tament, are threatened with nothing less than eternal salvation for all their sins; a circumstance remarkably calculated to reform the wicked wherever they may chance to be read. According to this opinion, the hell fire which can never be quenched, and into which the wicked, which are called chaff, are threatened with being cast, is the love of God, the happiness of the Christian religion, and salvation. To prove Universalists believe this, see Ballou's Treatise on Atonement, pages 161 to 167 inclusive. Of this belief, says Mr. Ballou, "I am as fully persuaded.... as I am of any idea in all my study."

If threatenings and promises mean the same thing, then virtue and vice are but one, rewards and punishment are the same, heaven and hell are the same, God and the devil are but one and the same being, saint and sinner are but the same characters, moral government is a farce, accountability is nothing,

farther than a mere accountability to one's self, and even this is of no mortal use: angels are men, and men are devils, and devils are saints; because men are saints, the fall is no fall, sin is not sin, death is an enemy, yet was appointed of God, Christ was a mere man, and needed salvation as well as others; there is no free agency, all is fate, all is one great machine, all is according to the will and desire of God; and yet sin, it is argued, exists. Thus Universalist arguments on the Scriptures, jumble and confound truth and error, without end, object, or aim, so far as we are able to understand their views; on which account we consider their system a system of infidelity, of the most complex, confused and bewildering description, ever propagated amongst

men.

Here also we will state that Mr. Ballou in the preface of his book on Atonement, has in a measure, recanted, in relation to the fire, so often spoken of in the New Testament; which, in the body of that work, he says was that fire which purifies the soul of man, but that he now thinks it wholly applicable to the ruin of the Jews, and their suffering. Here also we discover the instability of these writers: they seem to have but little condence, after all, in their strange dogmas; and that which they write at one time, they will perhaps disallow at another; but whether their alterations will be better or worse, we shall have to wait and see before we can tell as it respects the above draw backs, we do not perceive that he has bettered the matter at all.

In a certain place, it is said by St. Paul, that if in this life, Christians have hope only, that of all men they were the most 'miserable. Now on the ground of Universalism, had not Paul have been far happier, and better off, if he had abandoned Christianity?-as from his own statement, he has made out that he and his fellows were the most miserable of men, except the hope they had of heaven, if they proved faithful to the end. But according to Universalists, Paul had no more hope than any other man; as heaven was sure to all alike: was he not therefore foolish that he did not abandon it? It is of no use for Universalists to say that St. Paul was happy in the midst of his sorrows; for Paul himself, has said that he and his fellows were of all men the most miserable, without that hope: and as Universalists do not allow that heaven is to be a reward, for what a man may suffer here for righteousness' sake,--we perceive that Paul's hope, (with that of all Christians,) was not a reason why they should suffer, as Christians, so much misery, as he speaks of; consequently they suffered as fools, if Universalism is true. A greater deception was never practiced, than is practiced by Universalist writers; who, when they find any general expressions of Scripture, making large, free, and full promises to the righteous, who have complied with the conditions, immediately seise upon it, and claim it for all, both good and bad-uncondi

tionally. One' such text, we will here exhibit, upon which Universalists seize as a key text, by which they explain many others, in the same way. This text is Gen. xii. 3: "And I will bless them that bless thee, (Abraham) and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Now on this text, they claim universal salvation for each individual of the human race, as if anything short of this could not be a blessing, though ever so much opportunity were afforded to all the families of the earth, and to such persons as should choose to abuse the blessing of opportunity, to be saved-could be no blessing. But to show that this promise was, after all, a conditional one, as it related to certain salvation in heaven, we quote Gal. iii. 8, 9, where it is found that faith was to be the condition of salvation. The text reads: "And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."

Here it is shown by St. Paul himself, who wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that though the promise to Abraham included all the families of the earth, yet not one of those families could be saved, except they should have the faith of faithful Abraham: and which of all the Universalist Rabbies can prove that God would compel them to believe, or to have faith in the Saviour-the seed of Abraham?

If the salvation of the Scriptures is not to be extended to individuals of the human race, conditionally, then it would appear to us, that in the economy of God's government of the world. means should have been arbitrarily taken, as early as the apostacy of Adam, if not before, to have rendered it impossible for sin to have taken place, if God does not like it-and that he does not, is shown from the Scripture, where it is said that God cannot look upon sin with the least allowance-hence, he was not its author, as he is not pleased with it.

There being many Scriptures which speak of the restitution of all things, and that all nations are yet to serve Christ, and that all tears shall be wiped from all eyes, and that there shall be no more sorrow nor crying,-they are to be understood as coming to pass conditionally, and as nationally. What though all nations may yet serve Christ, before the millennium, yet this does not prove that every individual will do so, or that every individual will certainly be saved, even in this life, according to the Universalist view of salvation, because tears are to be wiped from all eyes; for it is to be understood after all, that tears can be wiped only from such eyes as weep; the wicked do not weep much in this life, it is the righteous who weep, because it is through great tribulation that they enter into the kingdom: but not so the wicked, as they are not plagued as are the righteous, nor

chastened, nor scourged, as sons that they may be received at last. As to the times of the restitution of all things in the earth, it is to be understood in relation to the rectifying of the disorders and wretchedness, sin has produced in the world, the ignorance of mankind, their want of civil governments, in which the rights of man are to be known and respected, as are at present in the countries of Christendom-the lands of the Bible-and in no others to the same extent: all of which, we owe to God, through Jesus Christ.

This will be a restitution good enought to suit a Universalist, as common morality is all the religion a man needs, or that the Scriptures speak of as they teach the people-and such will be a restitution good enough to answer the fulfilment of the text on that subject, which the reader may find Acts, iii. 20, 21, and reads thus: "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive (retain) until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world (the earth) began; for Enoch was a prophet, and lived before the flood.

The phraseology of the above text, shows plainly, that from time to time, or from period to period, called collectively, times of restitution, the influence of religious truth shall prevail in the earth, till all things relative to human happiness-so far as a state of good morals can bring about-shall be restored, and man as a great whole, be temporarily happy, or at least, shall know the rights of both God and men-which, as yet, they have not fully known.

Till this is done by the influence of the Bible, the heaven must retain Jesus Christ, when he will come to gather in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth. This text is found Eph. i. 10. By the things in earth, we understand the souls of men and their bodies, who have had the faith of Abraham in its essence; and whether dead or living when Christ shall come from the heaven now retaining him, they shall be gathered from the four winds, or from all parts of the earth and the sea to him, to ascend to heaven. As to the things in heaven, which are also to be gathered into Christ, or by Christ, we understand the souls of all such as have died in the faith of Abraham, and are now in paradise; which we have before said in this work, is situated in the heaven all round the globe, where they are kept till the resurrection, when they and those on the earth shall be all brought together, to ascend to the final heaven of eternal happiness, with Christ, the head and captain of their salvation. Or it may be that the expressions all nations shall serve Christ, means the glorious time of the millenium, which is to endure a thousand years, when truly all nations will serve Christ. But allowing they will, this circumstance cannot benefit such nations and individuals as have not