The Iniquities of Man, through the Misery which they entail upon him, are so ordered by the care and wisdom of Providence, that they shall in some measure, work out their own cure.

'Thine own wickedness shall CORRECT THEE, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore, [by grievous experience,] and see, that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.'-Jr. ii. 19.

'I will feed them with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood, [they shall be surfeited and intoxicated with their own filthiness,] as with sweet wine; and ALL FLESH shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.'-Isa. xlix. 26.

'Behold, is it not of the Lord, that the People shall labor in the very fire, and that the People shall weary themselves for very vanity? For the Earth shall be FILLED with the Knowledge of the Glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.'-Hab. ii. 13, 14.

'Then shall remember ye and your your own evil ways, doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. Thus saith the Lord God, in that day I shall have Cleansed you from all your iniquities.'-Ezek. xxxvi. 31--33.

'Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, -- that thou may'st remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord.'-Ezek. xvi. 61--63.

The parable of the Prodigal Son, (xvth Luke,) affords a beautiful and striking illustration of this principle.

"Crime, misery, and evil are in earth,
Falsehood, mistake, and lust.

But if the soul,

In the eternal world shall yet be taint,
The Spirit shall provide effectual cure.
Some eminent in virtue shall start up,
Ev'n for the succour of perversest souls:
The truths of their pure lips, that never die,
Shall bind the scorpion Evil with a wreath
Of everlasting flame,

Until the monster sting itself to death !"-SHELLEY.

PROPOSITION THIRTY-FOURTH.

The Transitory Existence of EVIL was Fore-Known and Fore-Appointed of the Lord, and thus is not an Irremediable or Almighty Principle, but is entirely Subject to Infinite Power and Wisdom, and was Ordained for the ultimate attainment of a more superlative degree of Universal Glory.

1st. That the Evil Principle is a Divine Agent.

"Happy the man who sees a God employ'd,
In all the good and ill that checkers life;
Resolving all events with their effects,
And manifold results, into the will

And arbitration wise of the Supreme."-CowPER.

PROOFS.

'Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth the instrument for his work and I have Created the Waster to Destroy.'—Isa. liv. 16.

'I am the Lord, and there is none else! I form the Light, and Create Darkness; I make Peace, [Good,] AND CREATE EVIL. I, the Lord, do all these things.-Isa. xlv. 6, 7.

'Shall we receive Good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive EVIL?'-Job ii. 13.

'Shall there be EVIL in a city and the Lord hath not done it?'-Amos iii. 6.

'The Lord hath Created even the Wicked for the day of Evil.'-Prov. xvi. 4. 'God, in whose hand is our breath, and WHOSE are all our ways.'-Dan. v. 23. For, 'In Him we live, AND MOVE, and have our being.'-Acts xvii. 23.

'Affliction cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth Trouble spring out of the ground.'—Job v. 6. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'-Job i. 22. Yet all the sore afflictions which it was the misfortune of this good man to suffer, are in other places, ascribed to a personification called Satan, (i. 6--12; ii. 1--8; xxiii. 14, &c.) Granting the actual existence of a

spiritual being or beings who are messengers of evil doing, it must be admitted, if its believer acknowledges the Sovereignty of God and Good, that such beings are as much dependent and subordinate creatures as we are, and are therefore ordained by Him, for wise and benign purposes, although they cause temptation, sinning, delusion, and suffering, and can do nothing except by permission and commission. See 1 Sam. xix. 9; Judges ix. 23.

'The law entered that the offence might abound.'—Rom. v. 20. The Creation was made subject to vanity; God hath subjected the Creation to the Bondage of Corruption.Rom. viii. 22. The spirit of man is sown in Dishonour.

1 Cor. xv. 51.

'I find then,' says Paul, 'A LAW ['in the flesh,'] that when I would do good, [that is, when he would obey the natural impulses of the soul,] evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the [promptings of] the inner man, [the soul.] But I see another LAW, in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity. to THE LAW OF SIN, which is in my members. [The apostle here represents sinning to be a natural, fixed Law of this weak, mortal body.] Who shall deliver me, (exclaims he,) from the body of this death? God, I thank, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So, then, with the mind, I serve the law of God; but with the flesh, THE LAW OF SIN.'-Rom. vii. 21--25.

'When Jesus dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, after which Satan [the temptation] entered into him.'-John xiii. 26. None of them is lost from his apostleship] but the son of perdition, that the Scriptures might be Fulfilled.' -xvii. 8. Those things which God had shown by the mouth of all His Prophets, that Christ should suffer, He hath so Fulfilled.'-Acts iii. 18. 'Him being delivered by THE DETERMINATE COUNSEL and Foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.'-Acts ii. 23. 'Against thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the People of Israel, were gathered together

for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy Counsel BEFORE DETERMINED TO BE DONE.'---iv. 28.

"The Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithopel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.'---2 Sam. xvii. 14.

'And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and be converted and healed.'---Isa. vi. 8--10. Is not this a plain evidence that the unbelief of the Jews is in accordance with the most wise Purpose of the Lord? Do you not recollect that, 'As many as were ordained to eternal life [only,] believed?'---Acts xiii. 48; see Rom. viii. 29, 30; ix. 18. 'And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, [this is a proof against unlimited freewill,] that I might show these signs before him.'---Exod. x. 1. 'He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtly with His servants.'---Ps. cv. 25.

him, and thou

Now therefore,

'And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice shalt also prevail; go out and do even so. behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.'-- 2 Chron. xviii. 21, 22. •

"Can imperfection from Perfection come?

Can God make ought less perfect than Himself?—
There are in all things but these three proportions,
The greater, equal, less. God could not make
A God above Himself, nor Equal with-
And thus is He necessitately Highest.
So, if He make, it must be lesser minds,
Little and less, from angels down to men,
Whose natures are imperfect, as His Own
Must be All Perfect. These two states are not
Except as whole unto its parts, opposed;
And Evil is itself no ill, unless

Creation be. Is God then Evil's author?

Only as evil comes from imperfection,

And imperfection from the things He hath made,

And what He hath made, from His wil! to make."-BAILEY.

2d. That God overrules all Evil in Good.

"We only know that God's best Purposes,

Are often wrought through dreadest means, and sinful.
Is thunder evil, and the dew divine?

Does virtue lie in sunshine, sin in storm?

Is not each natural, needful, wisest, best?

How know we what is evil from what good?"-FESTUS. 'The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be' compared, ['are nought in comparison with'] the Glory that SHALL be revealed in us.'---Rom. viii. 18.

'For our light affliction which is for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of Glory.'---2 Cor. iv. 17.

'Thus saith the Lord, as I have brought all this great Evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the Good that I have Promised them.'---Jer. xxxii. 42. I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal.'---Deut. xxxii. 39.

'Weeping may endure for a night, but Joy cometh in the morning. Ps. xxx. 6.

'It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might' learn Thy Statutes.'-Ps. cxix. 71.

"The Lord hath torn, and He wILL HEAL US; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.'---Hos. vi. 1. 'He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands make whole.'---Job v. 18. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to hell, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, and lifteth up.'-1 Sam. ii. 6, 7. Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.'---Job xiii. 15.

'It shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break through, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord.'---Jer. xxxi. 28.

'But, where Sin abounded, Grace did MUCH MORE abound. That as Sin hath reigned unto death, EVEN SO might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life.'---Rom. v. 21. 'Ye thought evil against me, [said Joseph to his wicked brethren,] BUT GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD.'---Gen. xl. 20. 'Surely, the wrath of man shall praise [Glorify] Thee,