infliction of torment inexpressible, because it is mentioned, that as the rejection of sin and reception of the Saviour became their salvation from hell into the imparted bliss of Heaven, so the indulgence and state of sin and rejection of Christ is their banishment from Heaven into the torments of hell; seeing that equal conduct in behalf of sin and against the Saviour deserves equal duration of separation from Heaven, and torments of hell, with such conduct in behalf of the Saviour and against sin, which deserves endless safety from sin and enjoyment of Heaven. It is also said that if one state upon their conduct is endless, then the other state upon their equal conduct is endless too, both being on one principle.

It is secondly said, that there can be no rea-· son for any end of future punishments, because it has ever been the choice of the individuals with knowledge of such torments, which choice being their own doings when they might have had an equal duration of bliss and glory by choice, leaves no reason for any ground of end to torments; and they have none to blame, save themselves, having had before such perdition an equal power to avoid the same, and have as durable bliss and glory.

A third reason for endless duration of torment to the lost, is the united testimonies of the Scriptures of God, who being the truth and immutable in himself, and what he saith in his word, does stamp thereby an endless duration upon torment.

These three seem to include the chief reasons for teaching endless date to future punishment: I shall examine each of them, and prove that the loss of Heaven is endless to the damned, as the state of happiness is to the righteous; but

that the positive torments of the lost souls are not to be endless, or as the separation of them from Heaven. In proceeding to do which, I am ou the principles of regularity, bound to produce the evidence of reason, because the mentioned proofs of endless punishment are chiefly from reasonings on the state, which to answer, must be on reasonings, otherwise they will not be as the mentioned arguments on the other side, but will be foreign from the point.

First, it is maintained that as the indulgence in sin, and rejection of the Saviour, is equal with a rejection of sin, and an embracing the Saviour, it is in the same principle of conduct one way as the other, and therefore on all proper reason must have one duration of state; which is equal conduct having equal state, and one in proportion with another, This has been a long principle of Divines and others, on which to found their belief of the state of punishment; but it is as erroneous as it is of a long continuation, and that as follows. The punishment for sin, is truly for sin, without any reference to the Saviour; it is the rejection of Christ the remedy for sin, which is the cause of not having such remedy; but Christ is no where said to be a cause of punishment, it being the rejection of him which exposes to the full weight of punishment for sins committed, and no more punishment is absolutely taught to be for sin only, yet it is so taught both by reason and the Scriptures; and when sin is committed, in the possession of divine light or knowledge it is a worse sort, but it is only sin, the cause of punishment, and has therefore no increase of punishment through the Redeemer, who is the remedy to speak of a remedy being a cause of punishment, is absolutely a flat contradiction of

terms: thus it is taught as relative to the cause of punishment. But as it regards the saved, they do not become so saved because of their rejecting sin and embracing the Saviour as a conduct on their own part, but it is because of the boundless love of God and the Saviour only; their endless duration of Bliss and Glory there. fore is not by their own conduct, bnt by grace in Christ only. One namely perdition therefore is through sin only of various sorts, but endless salvation is not so by their conduct, but through, boundless grace in Christ; thus it is taught in the whole of the sacred writings (which I shall have occasion to quote by and by) nor can all the world prove otherwise. Now this being the case, reason at once says that there is not any resemblance in the cause of punishment and that of salvation, tho' said by many to be one principle of conduct; and as there is no resemblance in one with the other then it at once does away with the idea of equal duration of punishment with that of salvation, being I say on quite different principles, as one is by sin only, but the other by Christ only as in the Gospel.

Second, as it regards the choice of the individuals, being a reason of perpetual punishment, as maintained by the merciless punishers I see no reasonable cause of such a duration of punishment hereby. I see an equal power taught to choose life or death eternal but if eternal torments must result from such a choice, or that choice be a reason of such punishment, then on the same principle of choice the eternal state of bliss is so continued; but where is it taught that such continuation of bliss is by their own choice? nowhere! for it is plainly declared, that it is through Christ

only and not of works or choice! then as one namely, eternal salvation is not by choice, or the choice of salvation is not a cause of it; neither can eternal torments be through choice, or choice cannot be a reason for it; because it is one case of choice in both respects, and one case or cause must have one power or effect, which not being the reason of eternal duration of one state, as it is through Christ, cannot be an eternal duration to the other, otherwise one case would be opposite to itself. Moreover the due punishment of crime is not the part of the guilty; but it is the part of the legislator, and is as much right to be just on his part as possible; and God who is just cannot annex and inflict punishment beyond the proper proportion of equity. The choice of sin and its punishment is one, but the due duration of punishment or its proper proportion is quite another part, being that of the legislator; and therefore has no possible connection with any cause or reason of punishment:thus therefore the choice of mankind the sinners to sin, and have its punishment is no reason of its eternal duration but being the righteous appointment of God, will ever be in a due continuation.

Thirdly, as it regards the testimonies of the divine word, which have been quoted as pointed testimonies of the endless duration of punishment, I am sure they have been awfully strained and corrupted to a meaning on the subject that they do not intend, and thus they have been falsified, and which will appear in the subsequent representations.

Having made these foregoing remarks upon the reasons assigned, for the sticklers of perpetuated torments in eternity, maintaining the same, I shall now pointedly show that while the wicked are for ever excluded the Kingdom of Glory, that they will have an end to positive tor

ments, as taught from fair reasonings on holy writ, in union with the positive evidences of nature itself. The sacred Scriptures denote, that they who die unholy cannot enter Heaven, St. Johns Gospel, viii. 21, latter clause, "whither I go ye cannot come" again in the same Gospel xiv. 6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me," and in St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews xii. 14, “follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Thus the Saviour declares that they who would die in their sins could not come unto him, consequently they could not, nor can, be admitted into the Heaven of the righteous, for there is Christ": he also saith that he is the way to the Father, that none can come to him without Christ, consequently all who die out of Christ, are out of the way of Heaven or the Father, and having lost the Saviour as their way, there remains no other possible way, but the only one lost, by which there is no having Heaven; and not having the total way to Heaven, they then can have no Heaven in like manner as a man can have no proper end of a journey if he is out of the way of such end: the Apostle is also as clear to the same point when he saith that without holiness none can see the Lord; all who die in sin are unholy, nor is there any promise of it after Death; that unholiness must remain, which remaining is their barrier of separation from God, as thus said. We therefore have no reason to believe that any of the lost souls will be with the Lord in Heaven: but we are thus assured that none can be there at any period as their state of Happiness, who die in sin or out of Christ the only way; notwithstanding the