punishing vice as such, may often be interrupted, it is never reversed.

When, therefore, we consider the effects produced by virtue and vice on our bodies, minds and circumstances; the pleasures bestowed, and the pains inflicted, by conscience; the approbation and contempt of our fellowmen; and the rewards and punishments of domestic and civil life-we cannot fail to perceive that the righteous, and the righteous only, are on the side of the divine administration. They are the friends of God—the heirs of his favour and protection. On the other hand, it is equally clear that the wicked are rebels against his government, and exposed to the vials of his wrath. Happiness is the natural consequence of virtue, and misery the natural consequence of vice; and we have reason to believe that the tendencies of virtue and vice to produce their own consequences, are uniform and invariable. Like the God of nature himself, by whom they have been fixed, they do not, cannot, change.

While these conclusions rest upon obvious grounds, we ought never to forget that our present state of being, is an imperfect onethat we are living in a degenerate and disordered world. Hence it follows that these settled tendencies of virtue and vice, though always the same, and always, as it were, alive, are exposed to innumerable obstructions, and are seldom carried into full effect. The pains naturally produced by vice are here often avoided; and the pleasures bestow

ed by virtue, are mingled with many sorrows. The righteous are often afflicted, oppressed, and persecuted; the wicked often prosper, often triumph. But while the proper tendencies of virtue and vice may well be deemed unchangeable, the obstructions which are here permitted to oppose their effect, belong to the circumstances of this present world, and are in their nature temporal.2

2 Those who are acquainted with the writings of Bishop Butler, will easily perceive that many of the sentiments contained in the present section are borrowed from his 66 Analogy." I would earnestly recommend this admirable work to the attentive perusal of every inquirer after truth. In the mean time I am happy, like other writers on Christian evidences, to avail myself of the resources of the bishop's great and truly original mind.

He

In his chapter on the moral government of God, But-" ler justly observes, that there is an essential tendency in virtue, to procure for its possessor, not only happiness, but influence and power. Even in the present disordered state of things, an individual who maintains integrity, self-denial, and charity, in his whole life and conversation, is sure to obtain considerable influence over others. rules over them in the authority of virtue and love; and Butler has clearly shown that if a large body of people -a nation for example-were united in the practice of virtue if all their private conduct, and all their public acts were ordered by these principles-they would obtain universal dominion. With a sway at once gentle and irresistible, they would rule over the world.

It is remarkable that in accordance with these sentiments, the Bible promises to the righteous, not only future happiness, but future power. In the world of spirits nothing will resist the paramount influence, the natural omnipotence, of virtue. "If we suffer with Christ," says the apostle, we shall also reign with him."*

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* 2 Tim. ii, 12.

What then are the conclusions from these premises, which force themselves on the mind. of every inquirer after truth, who takes into view the holiness and omnipotence of God? They appear to be as follows-that virtue, militant here, will be triumphant hereafter; that the first fruits of God's moral government which are now perceptible, are the sure tokens of the future perfection of the system; that in the world to come, all things which now appear to be morally uneven in the lot of mankind, will be balanced and rectified; and finally, that when all obstructions are removed, the essential tendencies of virtue to produce happiness, and of vice to produce. misery, will operate in their full force, without interruption, and for ever. We have already

considered the natural evidence of a future life. This is its moral proof, of which, the more we reflect on the subject, the more we shall feel the strength.

It now only remains for us to compare these results of experience and the reasoning to which they lead, with the declarations of Scripture. We open our Bibles and there we find the fulness of light on this, to us, the most

"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father."+"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me, in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne."‡

† Rev. ii, 26, 27. .

Rev. iii, 21.

important of subjects-our moral responsibility, our future destiny. The sacred volume declares, under multiplied forms, yet in the plainest terms, that God is the moral Governor of the world-that he abhors vice, and delights in virtue, rewards the righteous, and punishes the wicked.

Let the sinner tremble before the light of revelation, which fully detects him as the enemy of God. The Bible assures us that even here," the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest;" "3 that their momentary prosperity will but aggravate their future woe; and that finally, they will be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord."

Let the good man rejoice under the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness," who has arisen upon him "with healing in his wings.". The Bible declares that he is the reconciled child of God-the object of his heavenly Father's love; that even here, his portion, is "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding;" and that his light afflictions which are but for a moment, shall only be the means of better fitting him for his eternal inheritance. In the world to come, he shall be made partaker of the fulness of joy; he shall shine" as the brightness of the firmament," and "as the stars for ever and ever."

To conclude, the light of Scripture respecting the moral government of God, and future

3 Isa. lvii, 20.

rewards and punishments, as well as respecting the law itself, far exceeds the light of nature, both in clearness and extent. Yet with that fainter, narrower light, it is in just accordance-in perfect harmony. The analogy between the declarations of religion on these topics, and that which we see, and feel, and know, is palpable and undoubted. Well may we therefore conclude, that the objections which some men urge against the Christian doctrine of judgment to come, are founded on a fallacy. Well may we draw the inference that Christianity is indeed true, and that the God of nature, is the God of the Bible.

SECTION III.

ON THE SINFUL AND ENSLAVED CONDITION OF MAN.

MANY of the doctrines of revealed religion, although proposed to our faith on grounds satisfactory to reason, are far beyond the reach of our own powers either of reason or observation. But there is one truth discovered to us by Christianity which, now that we know it, is so palpable and obvious, that we can hardly imagine how great would have been our ignorance on the subject, did we not possess the Scriptures. The truth to