honestly refuse credence to a proposition which is so plainly taught, I am quite as confident that I shall be able also to convince you that whatever God hath Determined, 'shall surely be brought to pass.'

Here is another passage which beautifully illustrates the merciful disposition and benevolent intentions of the Heavenly Parent towards the children of men. 'I know the

thoughts which I Think toward You, saith the Lord, thoughts of PEACE and NOT of Evil, to Give you an Expected [a hopeful] End. Then SHALL ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek Me, and SHALL FIND ME.'-Jer. xxix. 11 --13. Mark, again, 'YE SHALL!' 'I WILL!'

God hath NOT APPOINTED US TO WRATH, but [He hath Appointed Us] to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for Us,' [even for all,' 'for every man,' for his ‘enemies,' 'for the whole world.']-1 Thess. v. 9, 10.

There are some, and there have been theologians of eminence, who have professed to disbelieve in any such thing as an original, vast, and all-comprehending Design, or Purof God in the creation of the universe. Their reasonpose ings have amounted to this. That in the event of creating at all, it was well known to Deity that certain circumstances must necessarily arise which would operate counter to the general good tendency of things, and thus introduce into the elements of the spiritual and natural world, a confusion that to an immense extent would be absolutely irremediable forever. This being the case, it were impossible for God to fix and chain the order and relations of things to all eternity, sufficient to bring about an ultimate consummation which would comprise the highest possible excellence and harmony of all things. Consequently, all that may be inferred concerning any eternal or original Purpose, is, according to this view, that God designed to work all things together so that as much good as possible should be evolved, under the circumstances; or in other words, that He resolved to do as well as He could, (though, indeed, He could not bate the awful demands of His Justice for the sake of good,)

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while the act of creation itself, though it should inevitably result in the production of so much final, endless evil, was perfectly justifiable on the supposition that God was confident of His ability to produce in the end of things a larger aggregate of good than evil. (Yet strange to say, the abettors of this same theory fix their criterion of human salvation at a mark, such that, not one-millionth scarcely of the whole family of our race from Adam until now shall possibly escape the doom of endless burnings!) It would seem that no individual who is tolerably conversant with the Scriptures, could entertain so unworthy, so inglorious an opinion concerning the Divine Purposes, as that which we have above cited. But there is such an almost irradicable predisposition in the minds of the greatest part of Christendom, and even with many of the pious and learned, in favor of the truth of endless misery, that almost any straw of a support will be caught at that it may be kept afloat, no matter if that supporting principle be as contradictory to revelation and to reason as the other. It will require but very little reflection on the part of the reader to discover how such a conception of things as we have stated above, debases the lofty, infinite attributes of Jehovah, His Power aud Wisdom, even down upon a level in kind with the imperfection of those qualities in man.

But what possible view of this question except that which Universalism assumes, is reconcilable with this grand theological maxim, this infallible test of religious truth, that each of the divine attributes are illimitable and infinite in measure? Or shall we say that the wonderful and mighty work of this beautiful and harmonious creation was undertaken by the Almighty Architect without regard to any defined, all-skilful, and all-comprehensive Plan,-that this stupendous machinery of the worlds was all broken into being and hurled into its complicated evolutions at hazard, and blindly regardless of its immense consequences, of its progressive developments of, and final resolution into, weal or woe, with the myriad immortal hosts with which it is peopled? This, surely, it were madness to suppose, for it is denied by every teaching which is spoken from the glories

of nature, through the admirable traces of design that are everywhere discoverable, and all the skilful adaptations of the elements and objects of the creation which are seen, to the production of good and the perpetuation of harmony. A proposition like this would arraign the Wisdom of God. Shall we then say, as there seems to be a lingering notion in the creeds, that until the fall of man, the earth and man and all things were perfect; that the introduction of evil was a casualty unforseen and unprovided-for, and which consequently did not enter into the original Design of creation, which design was all comsummated in perfection universal, when the rebellion of the angels and the fall of humanity ushered into the universe irremediable ruin?Nay, for we should impugn the infinite Knowledge. Should we then admit the Arminian proposition of God's original purpose, firm and determinate, to confer immortal happiness upon all the creatures of His hands, even though the existence of evil were foreseen, a Purpose which extended uniformly down even to the advent of the Redeemer; yet, after all, that its accomplishment was allowed to hinge upon the variableness of subordinate circumstances, upon the brittle thread of emergency and conditionality, upon the frail impulses and manifestations of creature wills, so that the eternal purpose must inevitably be swallowed up of everlasting and inglorious defeat? Not with the Scriptures in our hands could we countenance such an opinion, for we should be continually upbraided with a denial of the Divine Omnipotence, which is sovereign over every soul of man to turn it 'whithersoever He will.' What then? Ought we to acknowledge with the Calvinist, that all things, even to the most trivial and minute circumstance that ever bubbled upon the sea of existence, that every motion of nature, and every slight or mighty impulse of mind or instinct, whether it open into evil or good, are all universally and forever interwoven into the sure dependencies of a magnificent series of cause and effect, which to the veriest item all revolves in the unerring lines and fixed courses designated by the unwavering index of the Infinite and Original Decree ? but that the great cycle of eternity shall roll its round and

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evil, and suffering, and darkness shall still prevail? Is this a God-worthy idea of the Purpose of Deity in creation ?— Not if that Being is a God of universal Love and Goodness. Which of these views, then, of this important subject, bears most the semblance of truth? for beyond these several conclusions men have searched in vain for alternatives. For our own part, we can rest in no other but that which we have briefly developed above from the Scriptures, the same which a distinguished poet conceived and sung in the following lofty strain:

"From the wide complex

Of co-existent natures, there shall rise
One ORDER, All-involving and entire ;
For He, beholding in the sacred light
Of His essential Reason, all the shapes
Of swift Contingence, all successive ties
Of action propagated through the sum
Of possible existence,-He, at once,
Down the long series of eventful time,
So fix'd the dates of being, so dispos'd
To every living soul of every kind

The field of motion and the hour of rest,
That all conspired to His Supreme Design,-
TO UNIVERSAL GOOD."—AKENSIDE.

COMPLETION OF THE ARGUMENT.

Shall this Great PURPOSE of the Almighty be Accomplished? "The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have Thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have PURPOSED, SO shall it stand.'-Is. xiv. 24. Yet, although 'He hath Purposed in Himself to Gather together in One All Things,' some Christians earnestly deny that God ever Purposed any thing of the kind, while others insist that such a Purpose can never be accomplished if it were made.

'I am God, and there is none else! I am God, and there is none like Me! Declaring [Decreeing] the End from the Beginning, and from Ancient times the things that are not yet done, [and] saying, My Counsel shall Stand, and I will Do All My Pleasure !'---Is. xlvi. 9, 10.

'Yea, I have spoken it, I will also Bring it to Pass. I have PURPOSED IT,---I will also DO IT! [Do what? Procure the Salvation of the wicked. Listen:] 'Hearken unto Me ye stubborn-hearted, that are far from righteousness I will bring near My Righteousness; it shall not be far off, and My Salvation shall not tarry: and I will place Salvation in Zion for Israel, My glory.'---Is. xlvi. 10--13. It is never, in fact, intimated in the Scriptures that men must convert and save themselves, in order to fulfil the Great Purposes of Jehovah; that the Salvation of God tarrieth or 'waiteth upon man's weak will or ministry.' But the general tone of all the Bible is, in this respect, I, the Lord have Purposed, and I will also Fulfil. 'I have spoken it, I have PURPOSED it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.'---Jer. iv. 28. Ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. For behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until He hath DONE IT, [such is the florid, poetic style in which the Prophets describe the punitive and disciplinary means by which the King and Father of men will bring the wicked' to become 'His People.'] and until He have Performed THE INTENTS [the Purposes] of His heart. In the Latter Days ye shall consider it.'—Jer. XXX. 22--24.

"That that is Determined [Decreed, Purposed,] SHALL BE DONE!'-Dan xi. 36.

'The Lord Jehovah hath PURPOSED, and who shall disannul it? His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?'-Is. xiv. 27.

'I will work, and who shall let [prevent] it?'-Is. xliii. 13. Arminianism answers, The mighty Spirit of Evil and his angels, and the rebelling self-power of millions of unregenerate hearts.

'I know, O Lord, that Thou canst do Everything.'-Job xlii. 2.

'If He form such a Purpose concerning Man, the spirit and the breath He WILL Gather to Himself: All Flesh