served him. Because one man or nation is good, does that circumstance ensure that good man's or good nation's reward to the wicked? Never.

Thus we have, in a short way, explained, in our estimation, those all engrossing texts so much resorted to by Universalists, by the use of our key text, furnished by St. Paul, respecting how to understand the promise made to Abraham, which was to all people, on the condition of faith, and not otherwise. This is not to be considered as contradicted by any of the prophets, since the world began, however it may thwart the notion of Universalists about an unconditional entrance of all mankind, both good and bad finally into heaven.

Mr. Ballou, Balfour, and all Universalists, make themselves much sport in trying to show that the orthodox sects by fair consequence, make out the devil to be rather more powerful than God is, on account of his having far more subjects among men than God has. But do Universalists fix things any better? We think not; for their devil, the lust of men, has full as many in his power, if not a great many more; which God should prevent, unless their lust-devil is supposed by them to be somewhat stronger than God. Universalists allow, nay they contend, that all mankind, are always more or less wicked till death, on their view of wickedness; consequently their lust-devil is certainly much stronger than God. Thus we see, this ridicule of theirs, in charging the orthodox with having a devil who is stronger than God, is turned upon themselves. But neither of these, the fallen angel of the orthodox faith, or the lust-devil of the Universalist faith, are strong at all; only as human beings allow them by temptation to get the mastery, which need not be. Mr. Ballou, in his Treatise on Atonement, spends many pages of that work to make it appear that if any of the human race are, or will be miserable after death, then all will be; and this he makes out on the ground of sympathy, supposing that all holy beings must sympathize, and therefore suffer, on the account of those who are damned. But this chimera is refuted in two ways. The first is, from a consideration that God is the best, the holiest, and consequently the most sympathetic being there is in existence. Now this God being perfectly acquainted with all the cases of sufferings and distress, not only in this world, but in the universe, and has from eternity known this, and must continue to know, even after all suffering shall come to an end, supposing such a thing possible; is therefore just as miserable as he is sympathetic, on the position of Ballou, as above alluded to; and makes God, therefore, the most miserable of all beings, which all will at once deny notwithstanding, and proves his position absurd. It is refuted secondly, from the possibility that God may eternally prevent a thought of the. sufferings of the damned ever crossing the minds of heaven's in

habitants, except the holy angels, in whose presence and that of the Lamb, it is said they shall be tormented forever and ever. It is refuted on another view, even though all the souls who shall be saved from the earth should forever know the sufferings of the lost, from a consideration that just as much as they who are saved shall partake of the nature of God in the quality of holiness, will just so far be removed from a liability to suffer by sympathy, on account of the sufferings of the damned, even though Ballou's doctrine of sympathy suffering were certainly true; for if God does not suffer on that account, with respect to the misery now endured in this earth, how is it to be shown that he cannot endue those, who shall be saved in heaven with as great a quantum of his own nature as shall protect them from this supposed sampathy suffering? it certainly can be thus supposed, and thus believed. We consider the position, therefore, answered and refuted; as God does not suffer from sympathy, on account of the sufferings of others, as now experienced in this world and in others; the Sodomites for instance, who in the time of St. Jude, were suffering the vengeance of eternal fire --not of eternal salvation-nor yet that of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans-who did not exist as a nation by thirteen hundred years, as soon as did the Sodomites.

For salvation from all sin, Universalists depend on the operation of God, to be exerted in and upon them at the time of the general resurrection; by which they contend that then every human being is to be treated alike, all having a glorious resurrection, from not only the dead, but from all sin contracted in their life time, so as to fit them for the joys of heaven. But that an equal consequence arising out of that great event, is to accrue to all of the human race alike, is shown not to be true, from Heb. xi. 35. In that chapter is St. Paul's account of the horrid suffering of thousands of Christians in his time, of whom he mentions even women, who refused to receive deliverance from torture on such conditions as no doubt was offered them, contrary to their consciences; submitting to death for Christ's sake, expecting thereby to have a better resurrection. This, however, cannot be true, if the rusurrection is to operate on all alike. What resurrection did those martyrs suppose could not be a good one, on which account they desired a better? This is answered in many places of the Scriptures, where it is said that the wicked dead are to rise or come forth to a resurrection of damnation, and of shame and eternal contempt, as the original every where reads. This only hope of all Universalists, therefore, is in this Scripture annihilated beyond all doubt, as a good and a bad resurrection are here spoken of.

In order to give God a good chance to make all mankind holy in an arbitrary and coercive manner, Universalists suppose the soul dies when the body does, or sleeps, to say the least of it, till

the resurrection; this is their reason for not believing in the soul's immortality; but this is but a fond chimera, in order to save all who die in their sins, notwithstanding Christ has said that if a man dies in his sins that he cannot come where he is, the place which he has promised to all his saints who shall die in the Lord.

It is said by the Saviour, respecting Judas his betrayer, that it had been better for that man had he never been born. Mark, xiv. 21. But if universal salvation in heaven is certainly to be the lot of all men, this Scripture cannot be true; as no matter how great a man's suffering may be in this life, if he goes to heaven at last; it cannot be said of him in any way it can be viewed, that it would been better if he had not been born. Here then the doctrine of future sufferings is also taught, which no Unversalist can possibly avoid or subvert, and give the text its full force and meaning. Even though it could be said of Judas, that in addition to any sufferings he may have endured during his natural life and at his death, he should suffer in hell myriads of ages, and then be released, and enter into a ceaseless state of happiness, it could not be said with truth, that it would be better if he had not been born. There is no way to make this out but on the idea of eternal punishment. By Universalist writers, however, it has been attempted to be shown that the Saviour's words, "good were it for that man (Judas) if he had never been born," than to have betrayed the son of man-meant after all, nothing more than a mere allusion to the sufferings of Judas, from the time he went out and told the Sanhedrin that he had betrayed the innocent blood, till the time he went and hung himself, including his death; and that the words, "good had it been," &c. were but a common mode of expression, then in use among the Jews, when they wished to speak of any one whose crimes had rendered them obnoxious to the laws of society. They contend that the Saviour used these words only in their common acceptation, as in use among the Jews. But if so, then it follows that the same might have been said by him in relation to all the Christians of that day, for they were counted as criminals, and went to the death for their opinions; good then, it might have been said, had they never been born, as Judas' condition was no worse than that of the martyrs, who were put to death in the most awful manner, except his soul was damned. But we are not at liberty to suppose the Saviour would bandy words, or common place speeches, with but little and uncertain meaning, even allowing the Jews did often use it in such a manner; for all the words of Jesus Christ are the words of the eternal God, incarnate, who spoke as never man spake.

According to Universalists, Judas Iscariot, in a few hours after his crime, went directly to heaven, or to a peaceful grave, soul

and body, to await with all saints the sound of the last trump, when he with them, and all the good and the bad together, are to ascend to heaven; while the disciples, who did not betray Christ, remained on the earth, some a longer and some a shorter time, suffering all manner of abuses, and lastly death, in the most shameful manner; and gained nothing thereby, more than Judas did, who saved himself the trouble of a longer state of suffering by his more sudden death.

Are we to believe, in order to make out that there is no hell after death, as do Universalists, that Christ had no other allusion than to the few hours of affliction Judas endured, after he had betrayed his master, in those awful words, "good had it been for that man had he never been born?" We are not-except we wish to charge the Saviour with a falsehood; as except the soul of Judas went to a ceaseless hell in eternity, the words he there uttered are not strictly true. Christ came not into the world to use uncertain language, or common place phrases, by which to communicate his doctrines-but to speak the truth-to be a reprover-a corrector of errors- -a purifyer of opinions and doctrines-to guide men in all coming ages till the end, into all truth; it is derogatory to his God-like character to think otherwise. Had poor wretched Judas have known the doctrine of Universalists, as to the final happiness and holiness of all men, how it would have buoyed his soul up with hope in that dreadful hour, and would have made him so happy as that he might almost have been persuaded to kill himself, with joy and triumph, instead of horror.

Whether there is a state of suffering or not after death, there would seem to be no doubt, from the reading of the 73d Psalm; and though we have so abundantly proved that there is in the course of this work, yet we will add the following: David, it appears, had nigh well given up his religion, and concluded that as the wicked were so prospered in this life, that he had suffered for naught in the cause of his God and religion; he even went so far as to say that he had cleansed his heart and washed his hands in innocency in vain; but that when he went into the sanctuary God had shown him that this was not true; for he there discovered that the end of the wicked was to be damnation in hell after death, as we understand him; then he made his confession, and acknowledged that he had been exceeding foolish. See what he says of them in that Psalm: "There are no bonds (or fears) in their death, their strength (of mind at that hour, is firm," (being ignorant.) During their lifetime, he says of them that they were not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued as other men. Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart can wish. And they say, How doth God know? is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world." But what is

the closing scene respecting them? "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment? they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakeneth, so O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image." Now, when can all this take place respecting these characters? Certainly not in this life; because the text describes them as temporally happy all their lives, even to death, and even then they have no fears. We defy, therefore, all the ingenuity of all the Universalists of Christendom, to save these characters from a state of suffering after death, as here attested to by David; and if they cannot, then the hell which the orthodox sects believe exists, is made out. Who are the characters in this life, whose image God despises? None is our answer; for it is written, his tender mercies are over all his works" (in this life.) But there is coming a time when this will not be true-a time when God will despise the image of the wicked, and will utterly destroy them with terrors.

If Universalism is true, then the Apostles preached it; but if they preached the glad tidings of no hell, no day of judgment, and no devil, why did the Pagans persecute them? Nay, it was because they preached the exact contrary in all the above res pects. Can an instance be found, where the wicked have ever put to death a Universalist, for telling them that these things do not exist? It cannot. Their doctrine agrees so well with the carnal mind, that persecution cannot be produced from that quarter. Do not the wicked, if they believe it, rejoice in Universalism?" as it offers them the prospect of happiness after death, on which account they care nothing about this life? and no reason why they should, for if heaven is sure to all, why trouble themselves with self denial and the spirituality of orthodox Christianity?

Universalists deny the doctrine of the forgiveness of sin, when men repent and reform, holding that the conscience suffers, till divine justice is satisfied; on which account pardon is made impossible. But the Scriptures are against this dogma of theirs, which to prove we quote as follows: Col. iii. 13, "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another; if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." In the Lord's prayer, the doctrine of forgiveness is as prominent a doctrine as any inculcated in it; which says, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them who trespass against us." As far back in time as the era of David, this doctrine was believed, even in the Jewish church; see the 32d Psalm, verse 5: "I acknowledge my sin unto thee, (O God,) and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." In the same Psalm, at the 1st verse, the same doctrine is expressed: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven." Also in the