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MACKINLAy, BOOICSELLERS. 1841. i .^" .\ 5: ^jt- \ TEMPORAL RETRIBUTION. m u NUMBERS XXX3I. 23. BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT.' liters, Bostoji. INTKODUCTION. It is no heresy to affirm that the opinions of mankind in regard tp the doctrine o{ a specicU providence, are gen- erally vague, fluctuating, and superficial — and very cojn- monly are quite erroneous and false. It is natural enough that this should happen in the case of the sceptic or free- thinker. He labours to expunge the being and attributes of a God from the scheme of things. He endeavours ta disprove the likelihood of a system oi Jinal retribution. He impugns the notion of rewards and punishments in a world to come. What he denies to the future, it is not strange that he should deny to the present also. It is natural and consistent that he should refuse to see in the plan of the world as it is, that system of retributive jus- tice which he will not allow to enter into the arrange- ments of a future state. Neither is it singular that the practical unbeliever should be slow to discern, and loath to admit, the symptoms of such a scheme in the mechan- ism of this lower world. His thoughts flow in quite A f S7S11 I I <'. J Mother channel u- . . jects. He i, ,„o nuch 2 T^ f '*"'* '"«' •™»«'le ob. ;-l>ec.io„ ^.i tiZ^'i:'^' •"'" ""«' »'^- tomed to look only to th.f wi.- u °" '""«'' «<"»"- h-mself with thing, pur^XV-J-'J^ent, to occupy '»ind h« io,. the edT»d tr r** "*'"'""• »' »uch inquiries. BlldeTl. "or'.*'' "* "^»™«« «» •hints hi, interest, tot;*".!^''' K- "°* "'"■ "''« h« b'-ke him ,o the face^th!.f. ''*"""'"'* """"'<=- present view, of life-thy^wooM-K T- """"'«' •» W' security-that would i^ulnZlt^ " "J^" ""^ '"«'»« short-sighted «,d uneodiv B . .- "''"™~*"'hl,_ iMhe doubt, the daC;, t"^ "*'"•* P-»™« '"ange, testified in regard to hni!^" ,*"*" ."•« "difference ■ "omentous question ^^L^'f '""'""'""' '"'fi'"/ of Christ. '""*'"""'P^«of*e true church Among the variety of cla»«.. «*■ op-nion that are comorw u "'^" »'' -"hades of visible church, it i, ""C* """"" ">« compass of the .-ho admit a *c, se per";";"""— '<> «nd those i-Ss even echo the scrioto. T!. !"°'' '"'' "''»»« feel- "l .he head to be umCd "' '"''^ '"^ ""^ "-" fho«, who make this hlh prtfesfi"ol •'*'" *« "^^^ <" <« frequently appears to 8^5 ' ^'^^Wely tested, •heir specious VS often r ""^ "^^'''ihle than real J -thsuperstitio^VetMroV" '^ T "^'^ "»«»'«<' »"" vague. It looks ,1^ rl T "' '"'^' "^l «»<» credit than of deliberl ' ""> °«"^"''g "f easy «'-*'y than of tnoTdr xr"''" *''"' '«™'*<'' --defeature. Of the s^:em^r--^;: -ace «. , I % by other specu 'd sensible ob- iterial impulse hat exact self- niucli accus- ^ gross seJfish- Jt, to occupy bstract. His e requisite for «»^ith what he flat would re- >unter to his ipon his false B— earthly — sing strange, indifference, and awfuJIy rue church pass hades of of the find those i^hose feel- very hairs creed of ely tested, an real— 1 tinctured r all blind g of easy result of 5 to trace avow a Sweeping and implicit confidence—and hence it exerts not that practical influence on their conduct, which would be the effect of a faith more accurate, more enlightened^ and more experimental. These however with all theif imperfections belong perhaps to the highest rank of or<* dinary professing christians. Again, it is no rare event to meet with those Who acknowledge a high veneration for the power and wisdom of the Almighty, who admit that he has power sufficient to ordain, knowledge to fore^ Bee what is to come to pads^ and who in a general man<* ner are ready to acquiesce in all that the Scriptures allege on these heads— who yet when their creed id probed and examined, are found to be devoid of any well grounded, rational and consistent belief in a i^ystem Qf terrestrial retribution, M^hich would seem a necessary consequence of their professed opinions, and equally wanting in that course ot strictly holy practice which Would be the fruit of the doctrine were it sincerely held. Still more common is it in the church to encounter those, who endowed with a large share of sentiment and credulity, with a very moderate portion of judgment and reason, have not the ability to form one clear notion as .to the character of the system in question, but instead of this give themselves up to a blind faith in an over-ruling providence— =^so blind that it often differs in nothing from the fatalism of the infidel and the heathen-. ~ There id still another class of very frequent occurrence, who lay great stress on the fact that a system of future rewards and punishments is plainly developed in the scriptures^ who make this their main argument for a holy life, but who discern not in the present any traces or symptoms of a plan similar to that which they observe in the here* after-»-nay, who are wont to set the exact order of the i%.W ('■ /iiture reckoning, in vivid contrast with what they c6ll<' eeive the want of order in the present world. And again there is a class better instructed than the former/ ivho not only admit all Which the Scriptures advance aA to a final judgment, but who allow in addition, that the marks of a i^cheme of temporal retribution are di8cerni-> ble in the pages of the sacred volume. These are the most reasonable and erudite that are Commonly to be fbund w^ithin the circumfef'ence of the church of God — ^ yet even they according to our view want something of What is necessary to a complete systeraf. They make a distinction, tacit or avowed, between the old and the new method of God's providence. They regard the script- tures as describing a plan of things which obtains not on the earth since the Cuuon was closed. They suppose a break in the scheme — a want of Continuity in the pro^ cedure of the moral universe of God. - By so thinking they virtually make Jehovah to be mutable and inconsis-^ tent — they disturb what in another aspect sterns har- monious and regular — they retnove a great motive to virtue, by discountenaticing the notion of a present retri-< bution,' and by postponing such a scheme until thid world shall be brought to a close. These, and many other shades of doctrine, are to be seen among the people of God. But what is seldom to be found, is, that scheme of doctrine to which vre allude, which, embracing all thef other scriptural incitements to holiness, makes a full and enlightened estimate of the motive of temporal retribu- tion—and employs it as an efficient and practical assist^: ant in the life of faith. Believing that there is a flaw in this branch of theology — that the matter is loosely handled in most treatises — that it is too much disparaged by thinkers, and too little recognised hj christians in «lhsi«^' *vhaf ihey toti^ world. And an the formery rea advance atf Jition, that the 1 are discerni-' Hiese are the tnmonly to be rch of God— i something of They make a ^ and the netd ■^ the scripx t)tains not on ey suppose a ' in the pro* so thinking fid inconsis-i s6ems har- ' motive to esent retri- ' this world iany other people of at scheme »ng all the a full and il retribu- cal assist"- is a flaw s loosely sparaged stians it> m^riefBl, we are desirous to draw the attention of theolo- gians to this neglected point. If our opinion be sounds and if the fbllowirig pageii shall •succeed in difeciing the feelings of the christian public to this matter, we shall consider that we are doing a service to the theory and practice of religion. We Consider that to trace out the features of a plan of retributive justice on tj^ earth is to give prominence to a docti'ine vt^hich has been ihoch over- looked — is to exhibit a Continuity in the regufations of the Most High — is to connect eslrth and heaven more closely together — i^ to show a likeness between things as they were and things as they are — is to proVe a resem- blance also between things present ahd thmgs (o come—* is to display the finger of God manifestly put forth wherci even christians are apt to miSs seeing it — and is to demon- strate this world to be the inferior tribunal to that high chancery of heaven, wherein we are assured that strict justice is to be laid to the line^ and sti'ic't equity to the plummet. CHAPTER L A SYSTEM OF TEMt>ORAL RETRIBUTION CLtiAliLY DIS-' CERNIBLE IKT THt: ^CRlt>Tt7RES. The inspired volume may be likened with sufficient propriety to a piece of mechanism with the cover re^* moved, permitting the whdels with their c" Mankind "seJfa standing token „ i ^"^ suflerinm, is of ^T ««4z^rarrr '■''^''''^'«'- ;'.'''* ""' ™a«. .heds the Wood of b""' "•" *"'" '">"' The anger of the Aimighty^I, '""•"=«"' '""her. >^»ge^ce.-for he is dfoLJt? "T '"'"' «""■ '■^''^ ft„ °5"'« 'ong life oftldih,^ ""roughoue .he pi from the society of his feHo'ti"'"" ™«». «" outcast "^e flood abasing the mlT , T ''"'« "«» before f "« High by th^e a^l dfr;/ '°''«'''-''. P™.ol «n them waa '® '"igiit take '^ "light show J o« mnkind "erinjrs, ^g ^^ tei-restriai re- ' widest born cent brother. ^ *vith heavy ^o"t the pe- «n outcast '"en before evoked the "gs. The 5 heavens ^"diy race they, had ^^gment, ^^'^U sins 'o forgot bounced of men to build ^s, and admit them into the mansions of the upper world. Pun* ishment comes dOwn upon them, their plan is hindered, and they who before formed but one people are sepa- rated into tongues and nations. Abraham, the father of the faithful, is guilty of a falsehood in his intercourse with Abimelech, and is convicted and reproved by that prince. The wife of Lot disobeys a positive command- ment, and, fearfi'l judgment, is turned into a pillar of salt. Hagar is elated by her privileges, and is driven forth an exile from the house of her master. The cities of the plain push iniquity to its highest excess, and he who once swept away a godless generation by a flood of waters, in this instance rained down fire and brimstone from the heavens on (he dariilg offenders. Rebecca, led astray by maternal partiality, imposes on her hus- band, and obtains the blessing for the younger son. She is punished for the fraud by the dissension which broke out in the household, and by the departure from his home of him whom she favored. Joseph, for his youthful vanity, is driven from his home, and forced to pass through many mischances before the sun of prot^ perity again shines upon him. His brethren, too^ are sharply visited for their jealousy and cruelty, by the fear, the remorse, and the shame to which they were exposed in the sequel. The language of Judah (when Joseph feigned anger against him and his brethren) tells very pointedly his belief that sin is followed by a sure retri- bution. « And Judah said, what shall we say unto my Lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear our- selves ? God hath found out the iniquity of thy serv- ants." Pharaoh and his people deal harshly with the ^ Israelites. They are warned, they are entreated, they i are visited with plague upon plague, and at length, be- ; i la «hem«'^"'« offenders— . *"">' "nd con "«' fi»% there ZIV?'^ ^'"» '» • bZnZ '"'" "''«> were suffer J^T *"'" o' ""at whcJA ^'■'• Moses iinrf f "*'*<' 'o enter into .1. ■ generation •heir idolatry a„ ' ~"ntenancin» K "' •>' «o»e.in,e;:t ^^"Lr™'"^ 'o - '- ontf '" manner #n ^- '"'erposed in n «. . Canaan. <*«■ part otL ^^^P™"* oommand had , ™ ■*«''an •hecL^L"' t,'~«'' '^ena.Xicho rr""'^'"- ^P'l ne ls'"o/'l.,f ""^ '" «*« P" -nitlr Pwesthood hv #1. • *'" ^'w^race #hl J ^"® ^» p~«o«n?i ';;L:r^ -««. ' ^.e^: sr. '': •»'« tie arlc in jK '?*"• ""d they are , !" '"«'' '«"* against ilv"""'^«PM«tfnr R ? "" ""^^ oontrarTll • *" 'P'«e of Qod", "'"»"' «<>n- hewt IfT''' "'""utio^^""' '*"\'e»«in.on, .0 a -that oi^ ? "^ "^""nnal decie„. ™ «*""« ''« 'ei™ *"^i '^ S wl r- '■S:^"-;^a? '*•''" ' "-^ -ith frequent Tet^TCr t'le monarch and "•« of the Red fg^ through the ked their God to *"^ tWrst, fire ^arth, and con- amedown upon and stung great dfawn out into barren desert, ^'e generation "*of pronuae. ^ost, although the one by '^e people in ^ on Canaan. JJ»d peculiar riiusAchan '■'^ed to him- >und out by 's stoned to nee of the ice of the *" on high n as they 'aam con- 'd to the ^"iied in ^oiiy to a ^w reign ' 5 Jaw^of accord- his un- it checked passions distempered his mind, and subjected him to seasons of madness aid frenzy, his life is poi- soned with jealousy, fear and remorse, the grave yields up its dead to reprove him for his wickedness, and at length when he had refused reproof and persisted in sin, he dies by his own hand on the field of battle. David, the man after God's own heart, is guilty of the heavy offences of adultery and murder. He is exprtssJy pun- ished by the death of the child, the fruit of the (criminal connection, and there was a series of misfortunes from this time to the dose of his reign which were ^^ent as further chastisements of his dark crimes. Ahitophel assists Absalom in his rebellious . schemes against his father, takes umbrage at that prince, and hangs himself Joab is guilty of deeds of wanton vi"'ed by the jn genera] haying «y departed fron, { 'nto captivity in hey endure aJJ the >pression. Nebu- ^^«« by his pride, ^ down from his equal to Jehovah n»eanest among to herd with the n the same fare, ='«». Iheene- anego conspire own into a vast ' are preserved »ey who sought e P'"' - "rough, in ,„ s„pei™ 7;^"- Of tile minjstra- 15 'I PJincipJe, pointing '^ad pursued in the »P^"ng it mth the ^^e agreement of the ^^«n that the system ,^'«We ientence,- }^t people, runs on r this time. Tj,e ^^erent attitudes, '^ in war, victori- afflicted, at home 2ir annaJs include ' ^f the nation at ' ^^^Ss or proph- ow degree. But lod in which we ^y the principle '^^ by the evi- t^ce, dispensing t to the ungod- '^^e the people n»on, however "f^we notice- !^S'^g up the ■ng so uncon- ^he past his- "shers in a ^'ices differs ^ of retaJia- 'ts manifold istration of niinistra- # tions of prophets. These and many other alterations are introduced. But in spite of such changes the plan of temporal retribution appears as obvious on the face of the new dispensation, as it did op the pages of the old. The period embraced in the historical portion of' the New Testament is short — it is principally engrossed by the actions and discourses of our Lord, and the- other personages who appear on the scene are neither so nu- merous nor so prominently brought forward as in the case of the agents in the Old Testament. Hence it is not possible to illustrate our position by so many exam- ples as formerly — still there are enough to sustain the argument. Peter denies his master, and is punished by a remorse so poignant that it seems to have remained fresh on his memory through the whole of his subsequent career. Judas betrays the Lord for thirty pieces of sil- ver, and, most horrible of all dooms, murdeis himself in hopeless and unappeasable remorse. Herod, inflated with pride, lends an ear to the voice of flattery v^hich teiis liim th; t he is a God and no man. The angel of the Lord smites him, and he is eaten of worms — fit pun- ishment for a worm, that so far forgot its weaknes8,= as to aspire to be God. Ananias and Sapphira insult the holy apostle by a deliberate falsehood, and are struck dead on the spot. Elymas the sorcerer practises his black art, and resists the truth — at the command of the apostle he is seized with blindness. Jerusalem which had turned a deaf ear to the signal words and works of Jesus, and in the full rankness of her wickedness had crucified the Lord of glory, is visited with a destruction so fearfully intense, that since man was or cities were built, there is nothing like it in the history of our world. Thus through a course of 4,100 years, which is more than two thirds r'fCl ^k ■ / ""■o" remain, ui^""«'"' «o belieri?.'""'"' of .he ««« order t^'\r ""o "o,. Xtr-^^^Cion, •*« •he system r""^""* absenee nr"""" '"«- ''-'^e shall con? *"^* "o-M be be»efi 7""* "^ «"/ ""> »e<-n>ZT,X'' *'"' ""o^o Acts ^of"' "•'''''«»«- »" ""quiry lJ"t '" "V case tbTj" ^" '<> ««aWi.h ** «> « no«, sut,;^^ *"*""V«emof,i,6 *'■■■ '^ since time beiran oftwodispe„3,e?„; 'n«d the traces of « »«ny definite reason 'red so Jong, should ° « sufficient cause "« *hat evidently "^* s«it the last ^ wutaWe in his >conceive the sys- continue what it t we knoHT of the ««t his course of ' same direction, "Js reasons for a' » clear and con- unbroken testis ^^y intimatioa e want of any j/a' or necessa- "~ to estabJish J" forth on "^^ngthattJre system of the 17 CHAPTER II. tEMPOllAL RETRIBUTION EXERCISED THROUGH TH'^, IN* STRUMENTALITY OF CONSCIENCE. If it be true that there exists in the mind a percep- tion of right and wrong, with a tendency to bestow a feeling of approbation upon actions of the one class, and a feeling of blame upon actions of the other — then in the very degree in which this obtains, does God confer a reward upon virtue, and inflict a punishment upon vice through the sentiments of the?' moral agehi. It matters not whether this be done by tl^ -operation 6f a peculiar moral faculty distinct from the dthers,or whe0^ cr it be simply the reason which pronounces theverdiciV the consequence so far as our argument is concerned is the same. If there be an innate tendency in man of whatsoever sort, to receive satisfaction when doing well, and to feel compunction when doing evil, then in the precise measure that this happens does God who adjusted*, this piece of mechanism in the mind, exercise a sensi-^ blc control over the procedures of the moral world.: Now there has never been any doubt so far as we Rfi^*,. as to this general point. Discussion has commoii?^ turned on the minor question, what is the nature of th^^ moral power. The grand fact that there is such a power' or tendency, has been admitted by all except by sceptics who are disposed to impugn whatever others are inclin-l ed to believe. Now this is to bring the Supreme Ruler into very close connection with the affairs of the moral empire on earth. The workman who puts together a piece of mechanism, designing that it should produce 3* / t *"cli and Buch eff " fil'ed With 11, "PP""'a"''n is «.>"?' .•'^ "" ni.n. ■"""need, thel * ""'^'oe of co„7 * "»">»* el.e ""« "hen you T""". "Sonuin^;"^ "T"^ J-flicted of "•""i » code f„r 7 "^"anced in il , *"^ ""ion •"d west_i„ ff"" "^ ""« north and ""^ ^ ^und "' ™Pe«,i«o' p''°'^»o.eofiheL* '^.'"»«'<' Chi. f'-' or Cf r'-^in 'he ot,:C'-'Pe-i.n '««'onsofBer„., . ""'"-with th« r ."■* '"hUe "■"•-ed au,,';?;;';;^ '•™«. or the .ij**'!"''« in hi, zone. T|,„ ^.* 'Wfy and m.»„^ ^ Mexican en '"■"« »p2e. ZTT /"' '-^ trndT °' ;"• ^''^ '""'■ 'ha. menlr "' '""» -veafc h,, r^"""" «■« P"'hed i, (o ; ' "■""'«' '0 be . ^*" '" influ- ' '""^ ''ise mar*? r'" have any 1^ ' ""' "■"""d "■"■ '■> hi. -in-„orZ "a;r:^r "■• ;t., ■'T'"' 'he mind ^ ■■■■■■>- ^^!*^ «« possible coac^fti :«nd «uch is the re- 'e^'y and his moral Peculiar structure ^"^ofinen. The y the mightiest ^.^^^'^ the bosom ^'^^ nothing else ^'nnation is p^o. Ig^ry inflicted of ^o there is thij^, 'V^ ^"y nation ^'^^ge to have ® sure to find it * '»appiness is a ««e Hrith itself, 'l^y be found ^^> of the east fantastic Chi- sticaJ Persian ^<'the subtle ander in his Mexican en- ^^ the torrid "ghout this n its influ. ' fo' having it'ous stoic or misery ^^ denied over the 'he mind AJ Id |>l'oudl7 looked down from her lofty' pinnacle upon the petty influences of earth, and awed each event into an attitude of subjection, and imparted to each circum- stance her own coloring and shapes According to his creed, when the mind is fitly di'-'*,iplined and sublimed^ outward things lose the ability to affect its feelings — it becomes like a rock on which the surges dash in vain — a well tempered shield that blunts and flings aside the weapons that touch its polished surface. Thus arm- ed and defended, riches and poverty, high or low estate^ heat and cold, bodily pleasure and bodily pain, peace or war, in a word all those influences which are generally supposed to exert a strong empire over the feelings, be- come things nominal and matters indifferept^ There were other sects in the east and west that held a philoso- phy almost as aspiring — and there were men bdonging to their schools whose conduct, in many instances/ was so close a commentary on their doctrines, as to give wonderful vogue and credit to systems which did great violence to truth and to human nature. The wild 66th and wilder Indian, practical stoics both of them, stood within the circle of their implacable foes, endured the knife, the jagged arrow, the red hot pincer and the molten lead, they laughed at the weak endeavour to give them pain, they said that the women of their tribe could better act the executioner, they promised their enemies that when they should be taken by the men of their nation, that they should then be taught to inflict the torture. tVe mention these particulars, with a view to show both in the savage and the sage, how potent is the notion that the mind holds the balance of pleasure and pain, and that its awards have the largest influence on the happiness or misery of the man. ® ^ave a/re d -J«e.,i„„, r^*«'. and „„, ^^^^ *" "Tended J "'"'/««', , ™ answer „. '"y broiW,,, '^^ ''"■»o(Jy .„ ,. ft? -itT-^-rt^^^^^ *«^-" V' '" """taded Zi' '''*''* «o m. , . '"' after L '"""eve, zr-^'::^ "''p-e^ir' »^^-r;^ '""■ 8a ^ J"''«««nf ;;'; "'; -"-served <„ "l.""^'-"/ """eda^r' ^^'«^« 'ept^r:"''''' ^'-p.vl '*,' "^^'V J-^'-oe ofl: ''"""•'e, for S '""" ^'»^d ' ,. ^'^ «»- "^ lord Jh ''P">°l-- The """'"'ence c;„« ' ""'"P- ""-•'•"■■..:.:,t:j 21 'Whosoever ^" Nerval of out ''' ^'^^^ '" '^y special ' "P«« them at ^^Sht his own 'P^^* 'eaches I' ^ fictitious ' *^® ^'gnity ""^^^iy en. °^^. unsup. ^fii-med the "quired of 'O'nt, and ["e spate '®nt out .... ^y the 5ountfy^ Fn^enta of a guilty consoience, and went and hanged himself. jPaul, though he had long hardened hia heart against the [dootrines and followers of the new way, could not resist the appeal, ^'.Paul, Paul, why persecutest thou me 7 It is [hard for thee to kick against the pricks,*' — he sank to the ground overwhelmed by remorse and fear. Felix, th« governor and the judge, quailed before Paul the prisoner and the accused ; it is said of him that he trembled when Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judg- ment to come. The effects of a guilty conscience are powerfully delineated in that passage of the Apocalypse, wherein the wicked flee from before Messiah come to judgment. " And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : For the great day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand V* So great is the influence of conscience, so mighty is the ability of .the mind to render the man supremely happy or supremely wretched, that when poets and ro- mancers have cast about in search of subjects for their tales, they have been so struck by the fitness of this one as to employ it in numberless examples. Ancient and modern writers have given a great variety of draughts of the man at peace with himself, and the man harassed by the upbraidings of the monitor within. According to their delineation the existence of the one is a per- petual round of new delights. There is a gladness within his soul which communicates its own coloring to «I1 around. He is in friendship with God, with man, \<^-f ""■"■ »e<-e»i?!' "'"'«" mirror ^r .""■'' o-x-ard ' "*" *"»— «-«,, „„ '" "<>« oH tlia, h„ "'"' 8ood will ■ r '»•»« c««alrophea ! ' """<' of (hT ' "' "■«" i. a ^PPJ- and ,,„„ 7 "fe unabfe . J"" man ^J. * »r ctb' '■""" ''' z, ^jv'""""^ "*icrr " 'ess th.„ '■^^ «re of cn„. "^ '^''<*"» don-. , ., '^«'» oC' vf' '" "'"fe ^! ""'"' "'■'•■/err"'? "'■ « measure of .M"*'" ""•i gol ""P'^' "f composed ' ^^ich poets '^^ "0 the man fy more fauj^. f® ^ouncl, but ^^^Qtit out of ^ ffood con. Jf ession of a ^y ouhvard '"ess on its *^ose who '^^ a great '^'^ssages it has the ard man. 'the gate . le street; 33 the young men saw me, and hid tkemielvei ; and the aged arose, and stood up. The princes refrained talk- ing, and laid their hand on their mouth. The noblti I held their peace, and their tongues cleared to the roof of their mouth. When the ear heard me, then it blessed me ; and when the eye saw me, it gate witness to me. Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the father- less, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me ; and. I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me ; my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor ; and the cause which I knew not I searched out." David, in the following passage, delineates a nature of the same sort. " Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by (he rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." But if the peace of an upright man has been a theme on which the poets have been wont to descant, still more frequently have. they made the horrors of a guilty con- science and the anguish of a wounded spirit the matter of their tales. From the common consent with which they have seized upon this topic, one may judge how powerful, how dramatic, how terrible it is. More than one of the master-spirits of the olden tragedy has thought that there was'no subject more befitting his art than to depict from scene to scene the throes and agonies of a 24 "ith the theme. ThTv h! ^'^ ***" *^«% taken »"»ber. They have txhib .Id v""""'' " """» "'""out nent vigo, „d fane, but ... T""* "■*'» "f •■»!- «ri-g, and shownTn Lm. tMHn ' '""' '""'='■''' «"» «enai.yofthepa«,io„or,:r.^'"«;t:''''' "'*'' •- scribed must be an int»,.7. . " " «> "^^ de- nature. What the ablesT m ndrr T ~"»"»P«'t in to delineate, n,„,t needa b'» '^ *"'«*«'>"« choaen they adrance in this w^ iXeZ*'"; ""■"«• ^O" ""'t heightened and eX£fd ^Th? "' M ' ~'"'- "> teems with examples of th. , i, ® ""''' «" ''^ *«ken by an offended con'lVrt''"*'''"'''' «"" " wffer under it all their Hfelln "*""«' «en-«rho Of spirit,_all sen?o :V Jir^'^'T *" """^""o.^ under the weighfof an ins pl^:r"''%'''«8 "o"* a, around them upon this h«„^v^ , "*"'-"'''o look •ye that can J^L™ „„ "'me r" *'"■ ' ^«""'''«e'' objectson which it«ze, „? ? '" ""^ o"" of the , of health while thlyZ^^^'^T'^''' ""^ '"""""""o "hose mind has partedj th ,1 .*" ""'"''~"'''' P""^.- season when that 11 J M T" '^' ^^'n^'^ a a »i«h and groan a,^d a e in hi -^ "' ''«--«.-who -ho lire on, more f "„ ZbTl'T T"""^'' «<• from any enjoymen. wWch .heA * '" *'"''«' "■"" the annals of society furnlh ' ^k"" '" "'"S- Nay, J»«.llystiIlof thepnn'ist „,"' tf ;r """ '*" ""o conscience. Ven, often d! If ""^ "" exasperated »t«ng and maddened t it t' "T °^""'» "ho are so " '" ''"bed arrows, that to them '* 'ewt touched tbk, "««» the deen • ' oounteipar, i„ i^*f''«"echo«„" "' theme, tp-i.-* -nffeance that ig [ ^'« seen^vh^ ^'^ Hlong ^ V^'-yrho look ^ * jaundiced '^y one of the 'V°«tthehue '^'sprime,-^ PPinessat a enest,_^j,^ ^0"', and !° ''^"e, than '"^- iVay, * 'eJi more "^asperated 'ho are so * to them 25 pt positively seems a change for the better to rush un- called into a dread eternity, all horrible as the prospect lust appear. Of others, that, unable to endure the in- cessant rankling of a terrible secret, they have divulged rhat no eye but that of the Almighty had looked upon, [have become their own accusers, and hane thought a death of ignominy and pain less intolerable thair- the feaiful upbraidings of the witness within. With such palpable facts before our eyes, with a judge so powerful and righteous in our breasts, let us not say that this lower world is a medley, a chaos, a theatre of blind chance, a scene without plan or order, wherein virtue goes without its reward and vice without its punishment. Rather, bethinking ourselves who it was that planted in oi|r bosoms this faithful witness, and remembering how severe is its scrutiny, let us say that there is a plan in the events of this earth,— -that the providence of the Eternal is manifested in its concerns, — that his eye is visibly fixed upon our doings, — that his finger is evi- dently put forth to reward and to smite, — that he has appointed. this agent to be his vicegerent to punish the deeds of secresy, and to bring to light the things that wete done in darkness. Let us derive from the func- tions of this bis instrument, an argument to prove a plan of temporal retribution, and let us say that in this sense at least there is much meaning in the declaration of Moses, — " Be sure your sin will find you out." The truth is, that mankind are far from attaching suf- ficient weight to this point in their estimate of the con- dition of one another, and greatly because of this does it happen, that their notions of a special providence are 60 vague and indefinite. In judging of the happiness of their fellow beings, men are prone to consider only the 3 ht 86 Crf?'r'^"'''"'""'"»»"«<'esof .heir lo. .K • I wealth, family, station and Dersn„ ° 'o'—their account the «Br«/ peculiarii.r k T""' '"*'"» ''"<' 8«".d conatituenta of hi""! * "' """^ "•« «h. doctrinea which 1« e' e ,aL""'T '" '"''« «' remoteat time., in which 11^1?* '" "" ""'" fr"™ ' 'epe.. and asaevera.e the r„,r.K' T"^ '^"'^ P'oTHne. ■"i-d rather than in the '„],''''''''*'''''" 'he grosa ideaa are still prevalemotr' '1" ""«"'" ""« to obaem what an ex.ttr.lV!"''^'**'''"*' "'«»«« "cribing ,0 rank, weaKd*!: "» """ P*'™* ^" »eterately confine their Wew tl ^'""^ '^y «• '««««use they will „ot i„Z,, *" eifeumstances. »e"ch more closely, ^ausTtu l""'"' """'"S^^ ""d i»« that felicity is presenr„l^ '"'"'"* '" '"««»- found, because the,'^^*r»,^*'"*' '^"'^ ""i-g* are •ake small cognisa/ce of ThtL"' "'"'''='' ^ «» condition, because of all tht.T '""""' "^ * "»»'3 not-more nicely observe the wort •'""""■^' """ "-^J- -Jo "d the features of a piL of Z^T "' " P'<"idence, Here is one who bv .! . '^°"' '""''u.ion. thecourseof a^'; 7aST"' T"'"* ""-S" eat and most underling sXhnf ' 'k"'"" "' "" «™"- rounded himself with Zho».C k*' .*' '^"f"" »>"- ly regarded as the constituems o/ hi "" """""'■ ■ ».on is a palace decor.tedl^ h all t^''" .""' """- unbounded wealth can furnish H- . "' ''*•"'•'' •>/ 'y e^ent, variety, ,„d b™' ', »'"«•»;» '^ of prince- and unquestioned. His heal h .„? '"*""* " '"g« e^en by the touch of p,i„ '" «" "« ""'■"Paired •Pring up around him likel" "T "'' «•«"> <"»• To the nioes, ob erverh ^ ' ^""^ "^" "««- Of uneasiness or sorrow What '' ""' " '^'"P'»» What ,s wanting to Am ? I '« the ivorJd from ;;--<* and pror/r *^^PP.ness is i, ,,; J»en persist i„ J-<:ause the^ •„. ^«« c,reu,„3tances, ;^.^«'«^essasto ^;';'»« the^ do ; a providence, ^"bwion. '^"'"g through ;7^e,rosl ^ Wth sur- ^'■® current- ■ ' ^w njan- ■■* backed by '''^f prince. "^'^ is Urge unimpaired ^is ftnji/y W'eii Tvater- ^ sj'mptom to Attn? ia, 97 ^here are the tokens of retributive justice in his lot ? fe wants a soul — and all that feeling does to render a >ndition enviable, is lacking to him. He has extin- lished in his heart those emotions of pity and love, of jnevolence and sympathy, which are the well-springs of genuine happiness. He has no pleasing retrospect of rood deeds on which to look back, in his hours of leisure [and meditation. He never relieved the orphan, or pro- tected tbe widow, or befriended the friendless, or gave bread to the hungry. He never witnessed the look of [sincere approbation, never heard the tones of true affec^ ' tion, never received the thanks of gratitude unfeigned. He seems calm and composed. But how much of this may be the result of long habits of sternest self-control. He shows no indications of remorse. But how lojig may he have done the utmost violence to his feelings, ere he attained this artificial tranquillity ? Through how many bitter heart-aches, and terrible struggles may he have passed, before he arrived at his present apathy? How long and obstinately must he have fought against conviction, and outraged his conscience, before he could have rendered it thus mute and powerless? And may not the anguish which he has endured in such seasons, do more than counterbalance all the gross and brute satisfaction that he has known in the whole course of his base career ? Moreover he still lives, and there may be in reserve for him pangs which shall show that con- science is not dead, but only sleeping. A death-bed may await him, so full of horrors, that 4M)thing but actual hell could present anything more horrible. Then, when there is no longer any scope for the thoughts and avoca- tions with which he once contrived to engross his soul, when the agonies of a shattered frame are fearfully com- < xi 99 then, throajh /./.Tnd :S „? "" ?!'«'''> <•«'"'- ■nay he proclaim by ,,„, "! v °f "'"»'"««««d torture. by groans .„d shriet/ .h"f ^""''"'''^ ■""""' ''««■»» God', justice. .„d"f ^ li" • '"' "'"■ '» • 'heatre ot him out. *■" '"' '"" « 'e°««h have found Here is another who has r,.„ .i. "•-b, din. of uncol'o: a" ^ T" °' ' "^'^ thorough absence of Drinci»I. hlT """"' "'"■ « ly revenue-and has CZ!' .. '"" *"""'«•' » P^-ce- •b.. might enable mT:^,^^^^]^'''^ o"" bealth "Pacity. artifice and fraud JL' • "' Poetised -metin.es in their lar^^^ fC C" "l"' ™*»*. mean for his avarice-n^K """e bas been too appetite of gain. "^:-7'^"« j^^ast for his intense gamester, and the sld,er He '""•■■"' ""'"' "* and the strong, .he poor td th^sffl '""''«'"' "■" "'"k atantly escaped the arm Tf '■ "'"'• "« ha, con- «» the »er/pointofTei„'rt"'"*"'"Sh Cautiously carefully im'provinihLfrrudu'r "" "'"fl'' ^"^ managing his health and co„ !.*""'' ""'^"■'"'""y years and wealth. This t ^ '"""'' "' *«» <■»" «' properly such a character t """ "^ "" ""»?'*«- tury-and as such L.^ '^^"' '"'* "»«« » acen- exception to thetene" f uir'T!: e'^ "''''' ^ "" uncommon instance, if ,he m»„ I " '" ""» "C't « weak r^ '^as con- '« ^autious/v ^'es fuii of • 'n a cen- sed as an ^^« most ^'^^h the '^ss pres. question ^ception. >'/ than " njost 20 )robably show that there was not one element of real lappiness in the sum total of his existence. He ran a race with conscience — he practised black arts with bis [moral feelings. He found that it was hopeless to wi«ih [for peace, and in lieu of it he lived in a whirl of perpet- ual excitement — and he was enabled to persist in this artificial life by means of a frame of peculiar vigor. And whilst to those who carelessly eyed him from the distance, he seemed to die in peace — he probably depart- ed not until he had a thousand times felt that life was a miserable burden — nor until he had wrought himself into the horrid persuasion that there is no scene beyond the present. CHAPTER in. TEMPORAL RETRIBUTION INFLICTED BY THE OPINION OF SOCIETY. Man is eminently a social being, and af such, a large share of the happiness or misery which he is capable of feeling, arises out of the relation in which he stands to the community in which he lives. Surveying mankind in all their a^ects, as pagan or christian, ancient or modern, dwelling in the cold, the temperate or the torrid zone, as wise or unlettered, polished or barbarous, rich or poor, we are forced to admit that in all they exhibit themselves imperfect creatures, and consequently in no instance can their verdict be considered an infallible standard of right and wrong. So far indeed is it from a faultless criterion, that the history of human opinion as to the morality of actions, is crowded with things eccen- 3* 80 %on their/' ! '" P^'mrue evZ " ""^ "">« «»'' debtors 2/ ""*« «''''e, of e^f "'"""'« «>er. "•« »- oruZZ''Z-J'! 'arge ;:;. /^^ -« harsh deities, and havp ^ '."'J', have been «1 f *" Per. 'doiatrous wotl*,''""" ""«"vove„ ..^h r"^** '° "«"> * "Sht over ^h^ ""'' P^^ents ^ere "? ^'"'- ^»»ev. •""ng silent 2 ''.'"^''«'', or anjr n " """""-^ *° *« ■' '-'" thoul? '""'"^ '*"? nf off "^'"«''' 'he la,v •*« '"efl'st :: rr "^^'^^ "he?«ir '" «""'« """'fary was ^ft-r, ' 7"' '^S^^ded a! „„ . """" ""d "■« """ve «a„'s w'""^" ''yPo^ and"" ""» V" ""^ within the ran J ^"^ 'here are c ^* ""mbers 'ie-ed wi.r«^,'" """c* 'he si™ oT.r''^ '"""«"es --^- »d\Si;;:vr-ti:: trr ^'^ ««d one of their r^^>*obeW ^/Peciesoferu. ^portion of the 7,^"«' ^'iiniiiai. ^*« ^OBt harsh ' ^^ *^e world '''f ^^en pe,: ^'•^M to their ' "tes of their ^«» H^hich it is ^^«t- Insev. ^^ ^ith such ^"^^ry to kill *«^> the law ^« Sparta 9nsi8ted in »maijs and ®^on the ^Phers, a» n'aii its fices are lumbers )untries less are lass of tia;r 5^ »1 laid to have the sanction of general and established /Cus- tom. Throughout a large portion of Europe, it has long >een regarded as a very slight offence to defraud the revenue in many of its bi'anches, and large numbers have )ractised the imposition without incurring heavy censure ffrom society. Among more than one of the European nations, public opinion attaches but a slight stigma to the crime of self^-murder, and there is a numerous class in each of them who are disposed to exalt it to the rank of an act of heroism. In every country of Christendom, duelling is viewed with much less horror than its real turpitude would require — and among several of the peo- ples it is practised commonly, without punishment, cen* sure or opprobrium. In short, a survey of the world brings us to the conclusion, that there is a morality of the east and the west, of the barbarous and the polished, of the heathen and the christian, a morality of classes, of the high and the low, of the lettered and the ignor- ant — a morality of professions, of the soldier and the priest, of the physician and the lawyer, of the merchant and the artisan, of the mechanic and peasant, of the free-booter and outlaw. Where there has been and is so miTch variety, so much error, so many evidently wrong and wicked notions, it would be most absurd to hold up the rule as perfect and the criterion as infallible. It is but just however to remark, that the false views of man* kind look more apalling, when thus collected together into one group, than when scattered in their natural or- der along the whole , surface of the eatth. These are the errors of different times, of many nations and vari- ous countries. They cannot be found together in any one region or period. Afler making a just and liberal allowance for the defects of human opinion, there is 'h e''K ^' "^'5' itr"'"; """ - >»- "•""•nuniiiea V """• ^hus even 7f.u^-^'""'^ 'o '"«<«='«J crime, T*^"^ °^™«» ^r i ^"'^ "»«"«' *<"■-»/ ^^:: .*«'« <««" driven blj; JT", "' "«''' "^ emotion* h';"» '•«»%. ^nfluenc^'f .'!'<'"' ">« "eatise that J ' ""*' ^e may n„ ' * "* ""•"'e ^^^1^ ^f '^^l to infringe ® "^^fied out ir. l""'' '^ found l: "\^ '»«ch as ^^ o^n code of '^'^^ it could ^y question "^^^^ what ^^'on v^rhich '' ^o far to *'e strong ^ 'nuch to ^^otnpt to '^ taient, ^orn the ' POH'er- nature so/ne ^ise 0/ 5 con- 'f^orts 33 ;rith the hope that a wiser posterity may succeed which ihall bestow on his memory the honors that were denied to him while he lived — prompted by the same strong lassion, the soldier rilshes into the hot melee, where he mows that certain death awaits him, because he hopes fthat his country will inscribe his name in the list of her bravest warriors. The savage hero exults under the tor- tures inflicted by his cruel and ingenious enemies, telling them that the future warriors and the brown maids of his tribe will sing his exploits in the bold melodies of the nation. Strong is our lOve of indolence — yet what feats of activity, strength, and endurance are continually pro- duced by this our love of praise. Great is our fondness for ease — yet how frequently is it overcome — how often are the most cruel hardships cheerfully undergone, at the instigation of ambition ! Much is our love of wealth — yet the apostle leads us to conclude that a stronger influ- ence, the desire of praise, will cause men to ** give all their goods to feed the poor." Striking is the regard which we show for our persons and lives — yet the same apostle intimates, that pride will so far get the better of such feelings, as to induce a man " to give his body to be burned" — and his remark is amply corroborated in the memoirs of mankind. It was justified by the early professors of our faith, multitudes of whom filled with a fanatical love of fame, used to provoke their enemies to inflict the martyrdom which they would williijgly have spared them. It is vindicated up to our own da/s, in the case of the Hindoo widow who mounts the funoral pile of her husband, and dies in the flame which consumes his coipse. An unanswerable proof of the influence of society on the conduct of its members, is the fact that the law of God constantly specifies this as one of the ""«• "■«' when S r"'"'" »""- 'ho «r"- . ^ 'o- '"^'k !>>■ thp h '" «■•«'' other » , '^""'"ee of the "- '-''- "of i;"'!^ »"» -'00 rr: ''<'"'-'' .he '■"» out Ok "^^nder tha, u- " *'» justice, »„d -«' ".-, £--"o„ p„,,, - ;n »haH «„,,; -^ ""^'y- men "T "■""•»'■ ".^ shl,;r ■^"" "»•'«'. »eer«. "■e «ajori,v J; '^''''"ection of 0,7!. *'" '"^ lives ™un.ca,ed which ""?! /^"""ed, a, L « f '"''"' -<"»» '''^'««''. handed r; ''^ "^'Pod a4 t!" ' " <=<»"■ *»"e oWn,e« « J? ^"■''''' way „'/►,"' '"'^'^^e 9"> Wo„». ta™ej?;„/''"'™«e''»ouSe f ""= '«™. '"'Pe.'es., career "'' P^-'^ivc/y dr,w" .'"^^ ''enoath '''"--'>o™ other .::::':™-'-e'ief, 35 ' " seems '''^'^e chas, "'^^^ and in "]' «^ the in. •^"^^'^'^ and ^ ^'^iy Rnd ''^^t power, ^^« reward ^^ efl-ect is '^^ seldom ^^ ^ho by '«»^e their *^ef ^ives But in "^ seenjs '"« com- nian ig e of a 'brave 'SiiltO term, ieath and Uef, There is 'so much that is painful, striking, and even I terrible in this predicament, that the poets, who arel alive to moving scenes, have often made it the theme of | their tales. Sensitive as we are, even the worst among us, to praise or blame, it is truly a grievous case to be banished from the sympathies of our fellows and equals — to be met with the stern frown, the-cold repulse, the cutting rebuke, the scornful invective, or the frigid civility that endures no nearer approach. It would be quite insupportable, was it not in the power of him who is thus stigmatised, to descend to a lower class in the social scale, and to find there that fellowship and wel- come which he has ceased to encounter among the men of his former caste. And then the stigma of society in- volves with it results more palpable than the loss of good name. It often consigns the man to an unfriended and indigent career. It bars the road to wealth, place and preferment. The chastisement is at once of a moral and a material character. Occasionally we hear of men who affect to be above the reach of this tribunal, and I who pretend to despise the sentence with all its results. I But on examining closely, it will be found that these are vain, pretences. They are inwardly writhing under the chastisement which they affect to disregard. They are following the foolish policy of undervaluing what | they cannot regain. They are cajoling themselves with/ the a(fmiration of the weak and the wicked, who are; astonished by .their bravadoes. And they are probably I suffering more acutely than those who speak less vaunt-/ ingly of their stoicism and their firmness. Admitting then the existence of this jurisdiction, al- lowing its high power to reward and to punish, consid- ering its influence, at least in christian lands, to be upon 96 the whole consonant to the law of n..j providence, let us mve it » T ■""'=*""' °'\ •"•ile we ie alive C • "^r* '" "" ■^««'". »""«• CHAPTER IV. TEMPORHL RRTRIBUTIOV Evr„.. „ EXERCISED DY MEANS OF ^ "«^MAN LAWS. into sin, of other dll^X S " '° """'"' -"^ necessary. a„d ,,,« connec-ion »» ^'T"^ " "'""oit the family of vice i, !! "« ""* "^-nhers of »hensi„^isyieii:;o^::;'~^,0.in,.o.his. eiWe to specify the result r. ' """'^ '"Po* measure of crime or hi ^^ "'"*'"' *» ">« Wghest the other Wc^'t is ZZ:"'""" '^'"°^' ""^ "fe of perceptible that it is not ^ " ? ""'""^ ""'' »« i«i- n.erges into anotL^ Thr.h'" '""""' '"'" -« -» day to show that the man TL 1 '^ "''^ ""'""P'"' every -^li things, frequence t bvTu:,^^' 'f' "'"'" '» to purloin and plunder !nd h^^ ^ "^ '^"'' '''» hand forger or the iJingtX" BvT'' ""^ """'""' ""^ ■n the same manner, we notic. ,h T" '"°^'''' ""d drunkard or the libentr '"hbath-breaker, the l.bertme, proceeding to deeds of yet ^^« sanction of .''J^^"' '-ere /; f ° on in, o'anch off* ' '*« almost ^^bera of » *o this, 'y i'nipos- ' %hest K one of ' «o inj. ^ne sin every ^ii> in hand "» the and the [greater turpitude, — deeds of cruelty, of violence and Ibloodshed. Such things fall out every day. And thus they who have gone on braving the opinion of society, I despising its lighter chastisements, fall at length under its heaviest vengeance. It is well known, that it has ter- rible pupishinenia at its disposal, and it is certain that these descend with hiuch accuracy upon such as have violated its laws. It can impose upon the offender the last degree of odium and ignominy ,^t can tear him from his household and friends, and separate for ever the dearest ties that bind men to earth, — it can load his body with fetters, plunge him into a noisome dungeon, make him eat the bitter bread of captivity and exile, or doom him to a death of violence and shame. All this it can do with justice as iu guide, and heaven as its sanction. Scripture, which is a magazine of facts and doctrines adapted for instruction in every possible situation, comes to our assistance here also, and shows us in various ex- amples the projgressive tendency of evil principles. Thus, how Tair and comely does Saul appear when he is first ushered on the scene ; the eye rests on him with pleasure, so ingenuous and unaspiring does he seem. Yet this same man is presented to us in the sequel, ad- vancing step by step to the darkest crimes. He neglects the commands of Jehovah in lighter matters, and the evil spirit gaining upon him, he proceeds to worse of* fences, cherishes a deadly jealousy against the intrepid youth who had brought honor to his army and kingdom^ refuses to be won by his constant assiduity, deference and attention, lifts his javelin to smite him to the wall, pursues him from place to place, and relents not even when David had generously spared him, when he might easily have taken his life: — and though strictly enjoined 4 38 . "> slay all sorcerers and mtche, ^ r <• aa to employ a witch ,o dT^Ls'TJ" f**" ^^ ''•"^ «°1- Here is ,he pro Jell! ? "■' '"'*■"'»•» "f °»e 'vho, com™e„ciLl^irar.r "'"'• »«'« « •bout him, ^^^^^ f J'h -'I he semblance of good Wdened and heavenlZt ':;'":,'•'''' ^^^^ce of a 'he lilce sort may be s^ „!k ''"■■ Something of '-- to have p„Usrt:-^;«--f Absalom. «« courage, and in virtue of thele To h f ^'"""'"^ '»<' h« father and the people b1 ?T '^*" «•«" hoth to of ambition and the adv ceof evif "'^ '" ""^ '»■<=« hunselfup against the m^ afteTo 7""'"°"' """ ^"'ed »» old good „^, againsHhf l:? „r '"«"'. ^gai"" - h,m, against the kZ ,h. " • .*' j'"' *«'«'orfj' Wed ^g-in is sin exhibited 'il^r^t" °' "^ ^'''- ««'« ^'oel is presented a. two dffferlf ""^ " ''^"*»»«- Ha- A« the one he bears on him th!" '"""'° "' *"' '•'""^ »'>d when forewarned bv tl W'"*""" <"' '"'egrity <•« would afterwards pt^'^P' """«' °^ '"e crime ^hich •stonishment and horrorThat L!." T" '' "'' ^PP"»' «"' a dog that he should 7o\t """"' " ^^ ">^ »«"- other point he is behl 1 •^."" """8 '" At the -hich hefore.excited i' iT"'"'"* ">« "lack deed! Ahab began his reig^ 'm '"t^^ »d surprise he advanced his sinllrZ J ^^^ *^-i'ions, "«. a, •ng.-he espoused the daueL,"f * ^'^ "<• ?'■"- worshipped her g„d Baal !,! "/ '" "'<"'«-„s ting; honor of him, folTowed^h; . ^""^' ""d a'tars fn -t. slew the'right's N bl"'* ^ "'^ ''''=''-' -»- •he season of Line a„f ^^^ "t-'"" "'s people i,- ^^'""°^^^--'-»'»n::^r;i:rb:i^ •„■ "'good '""oence of .^owetiing Of 'Woffl. * °' ''"*">% and f ^" both to fs, and rais d ^.rWains, ""''^ly loved y- Here '*'*«• «a- *« Wsto,v *!^ '"'eerilj-, ' % ser r- ,^t the ""^ deed, ' ^«f as '^ g/ar- s king; fars i;,' ^ i/ie the een 09 selected by our Lord, to have been suffered by him and the disciples to company with them, to enjoy their inti- macy and friendship, In the whole of the history there is but one intimation that there was any thing especially faulty in his deportment, — where it is said " that he was a thief and had the bag." By which we are probably to understand that he was of a covetous and greedy nature, and that influenced by these feelings, he was addicted to purloin from the deposit committed to his charge. This is bad, yet what a progress in sin must there have been from this point, up to that other when he is seen to sell innocent blood, — when he is beheld betraying his gra- cious and divine master to the death, — doing so for thirty pieces of silver, — doing so in the presence of the people and his brother disciples, — doing so though -clearly forewarned by the lips of Jesus himself Were this the only example which could be alleged, there would be enough to prove the fatal tendency that there is in sin to go on increasing, and matter of warning and alarm to transgressors, lest being borne along 'by the current they should be plunged into a like abyss. A man cherishes an avaricious spirit, and terminates in the blackest crime by far which is to be found in the annals of the whole world, barters the best, the wisest, the most in- dulgent of masters for a price, makes merchandise of blood, gives perfect goodness to be crucified, sells G«id to men, consigns innocence over to devils ! The ancieAts were struck by this fact of the progressiveness of sinful in- clinations — their sages and philosophers moralized on it — their poets illustrateid and embodied it in the life and action of their personages. They seem to have formed so ytrong an idea of the power of the tendency, that in or/^sr to explain it they stripped men of their volition. 40 c[ivGstt*iJ tit ^edea and other rhn ^*"^ «"«ude are fP^- . ^V»«'% requisite .„" ^^f'" *o struggle, "'''"ell seeaiAd , P^^omenon must h * " *"<• "^-'edon the idea Ta '"" """""s whoTa ° " 41 thrust forward by a foreign influence which he cannot resist. He tampers with the *' paltering fiends" who, ministering to the passion of ambition which is strong in his character, sow the seeds which, cherished by the evil of his nature, and fostered by his wicked consort, produce in the end a rank crop of most odious crimes. Generous, frank and manly as he once was, this is he who sheds the Mood of his aged, kind and confiding sovereign, violating not only the law of hospitality, but fearfully abusing trust, and breaking one of the most solemn bonds by which man is united to man. This is he who sends the hired assassins against his ass^iate and friend. This is he who with wanton and gratuitous cruelty, slays the little ones when the father has escaped his grasp. This is he who steeps the kingdom in the blood of its best subjects. And this is he who after fighting in his fortalice with the savage ferocity of a wild beast tracked to its den, turns coward at the last, and flies from him whom he had so irretrievably wronged. This the perjured one, the traitor, the mur- derer, the assassin and the coward, is that same man who a little before stood forward so true, so loyal, so generous, so bold. In this history so true to nature, or rather in those scenes borrowed from real life, the tendency of guilt to continue and increase is exemplified in a most vivid manner, and that influence which heathens term fatality, . and Christians sin and Satan, is beheld hurrying its subject onward in a career wherein he seems to lose the ability of choice, and the characteristics^ of a rational and responsible being. In actual life, and in the domain of prose, it is matter of common occurrence to meet those who have been '"^P' onward r ' ' ">« s,a„ "' "« '•earl' ""• ^hen L "»* "e/o- ""-» ad ;::«r "-.^ df^n "»- ift""'''* "^ WWd rL "^ "-e ,„: '««»«ance t„ . ^'"'^tbe, ^J " 'P' 'o seem , '' «"«<« odI ' *'« deir ""' *» "■■' "-on dl"**- "'^yZlT'" '» it C* "' '•»«»■ , '^■»'»? to ,; ""'^'•^o'or """« '"ote, fteP'!"*'"*. "•PP'O^ .fca, ,r '"""'"'cy in s- ** ""» ''•''4 d^r?'C rt "-pufVa rr^''"^. /. ^'^ ®'n to ain r "'"firuiar to notin '""^ii it i« / . " is com. « «e could ann '^^ ^««- orT " -«^^ ' *'s route ''"^^^Aer and '"^"nt as he 'i ^'^ not so ,7>n and /".'' <''in,es ''^ch he re. '**®«t it as ' o^ influ. ' «Pite of ^'■ecipice, 'o^e and ^e first •ed bj, er the « 'a-v n,iah, <^eath Iia« K« . '^ offence Tk ^® ^^'^ severity enn>e of dulli "^'^ «»■ ™f- •gains, the ?«,!" "'*''"<'«. ««r lal""' '°^"""=e3 l^'b « once, ^r "■" *P'"' of ie '""", '» "^-d ''»8' human IT- ""^'^ '» 'W' dZV"'"'""' <" Jehovah „i^ "h'' *'""'• i' is not Tc! """"^ ''^'"^on '^'"O'eof U extel ?"" '"«»'''« ion I"" ""'^""''fy """""Ot be so il'r ^""^'^ 'bere Hh, i^i**""' 'be ^y. 'o .bisTs hT^'"' '" "» operation'''! "f '«"««. be P"' forth ,0 sn,'; "■' '^ '»•» o™ ba ed ^ """ ''^ »a^ ^' a/iowance *« Pun; i.^''*"'^/ ' °l' their . *'' o^ ««^. Of "' '" sonifi ;« " I «"^ cai„/brt '"Stances : *o offend 'Jt'on. or ^etH'een 'beatify '^i the •«5e, /,e e jnajr ^and ct of may Wije nee 46 [being made for their errors and omissions, may be said I to reflect with considerable accuracy the mind of the Most High, and to carry out with tolerable justice the Okdinances of his appointment. Hence it is that when we take a broad and general survey of society, when we include within the range of our observations, not a lim- ited but a large number of individuals, not a point of time, but a considerable lapse of years, it will be to us matter of astonishment to notice with what accuracy laws have done their duty, what a large proportion of the sins of the time has fallen beneath their cognisance, how very many of the offenders of the period have suffered under their lash, suffered much as any close observer of the ways of Providence would have anticipated and jus- tified, and how very few of the evil doers have escaped wholly unchastised. The survey of most countries, and more especially of Christian lands, will amply icorroborate this assertion. The mind will return from the inspection satisfied of this, — that if punishment descends not on the malefactor with that nice accuracy which exists in the laws of the universe of matter, there is at least enough of precision to cause men to tremble at the thought of transgressing, enough of method to enable them to see that there is a premium upon integrity and a tax upon vice. Descending to the details of the subject- — the slothful man is seen to neglect his affairs. from year to year, slighting the many warnings which caution him (o pur- sue a different course — after a while the just and natu- ral results of his folly and guilt come down upon him — the law lays hold upon him, incarcerates him in a gaol, where perhaps through the whole course of his future life he is compelled in solitude, in penury, among wick- •nd ende.,o,s to c„pe wi,* 2"' T "" ""^ " ""' J"»'. P'aced „.„, degree:::: ^T^t^^'f'"'^ '- . «»o. even if he be not ten,n.»^ , !*"'' '«»'e-he " 'aken in hi, wickele,7L d ""'".'"' '"" P"'"''"- •hose before who™ t wa/'hil t'T"*" '" ""* '^'«of «"«ght aa the inmate of a „H '""" '" ''"»«> «»1 '^ "■e punishment of p Xlitv nd' V' "■" «"'" «"«' «or who staba in the S L '""''• ^''* o"'-"™- or hia neighbour aa fair ' ame , T"' ""' '-'"'""« •hogratifieaaspiritof i>r ■"■" "^ •""« "I""". »prigh.-he at aome peril lA '" "* "■' «»'«' »"d "ken in the meahror.h . '" """"■ '' «<>">'»onlv h" dark offence The ; ^ T """P'^ "'''«" fo' i-digonce of hia houltld ;"'•," '*'"' '"«''» »«" -e ">e ruin of hia body „'T ''" '"" "' •>« good name. "ent. ia often Jo^ZtoS^Tf ""'""' P""'^'- h«'.■ The unjust man who ZtlC r*' ""' '"'"'''^'•ed. cozening and petty filehrTutn fi"/"""^ "^ ""«" «o acta more gUrin, "hat^he I ^ '"'' " ''^ advances and an arm .o'pun.^'h 't e Wd "" ''' '» "«-' "■e gratification of hia aenaut ''""'" "'"* "'«» ''o' "o obstacle i„ his p th wh 1 LT""'' '"" '^'■° «""» •his evi, course, Jy^'J^' he restricts himaelf to i»'o other offences, which br"'' v "'" '^ ""» "" *arp Uwa ,„d serere ch» .• "'"■'" "■* '^'"'h of severe chaat.semen.a. The profane 47 ^ ^'•e^ess and pay, proni. Industrious |s not juat, dence has sca/e^he Purioin, ® ^7es of e» and is ^'^it and caiumni- ^'haracter t down, ehoofi ^^ ood and ^monly ^ited for not the name, Punish- e rude >ts un- 'shed. sma/i »nces etect 8 for inds fto »in of ne man who makes the precepts and commandments of the scriptures a matter of bitter sarcasm, or scurrilous jest- ing, although he is allowed to pass unpunished whilst he limits himself to this, frequently steps from the infrac- tion of God's word to the violation of men's laws, and then is made to feel that the wicked shall not always go without retribution even on this side the grave. The thief and the robber however ad|roitly they practise their mischievous calling, whether alone or in bands, by sea or by land, in great towns, or among deep forests and high mountains, find with rare exceptions that the career of crime is short and dangerous, and that subtle as they are, the society whom they invade cannot always be outraged with impunity. How many such are speedily caught — how very few are there who escape long — how seldom does it happen that we hear even of one who evades the law through life — and still more seldom is it that one finds space for repentance, alters his ways and becomes an honest man. How many such are there who die a death of ignominy or of torture. How many thousai.d are there who linger out long years in subterranean pits, in cells and dungeons, in chains and shackles, in hulks and galleys, in sinks of vice, mis- er;* and hardship at home, in sinks of corruption and wretchedness in foreign lands, under burning suns and pelting hurricanes, tasked beyond their strength, goaded forward by the lash, hopeless and desperate both for the present and the future. What volumes might be writ- ten on this aspect of human society ! What romances of real life might be saturated with incident from the events of these dens of iniquity ! What chronicles might be compiled from the transactions of the dun- geons and prisons of any one of the nations of Europe ! 48 •"■"•^ heave, Z ZfT'" """'> ">« tea/.u ' 7' *""/ ine position whiVK . '*^'«iy wouJd thev «« ">« «o«t doom ,? *"" ^^"ed to him H "'^ "'^ V "fe« and „aUo„» •"*" ""J-dged in diff °^ "■* ' Parlicul., °«"°»' ">is awful ! '^^'•«'« <=oun- " "inifer.h:'! «"-"- -gioi: i:: J 'o ^ -- J ui.e. £jjg hour ftf K- , *^^^^^S soleaini^ He " immured i„ « a,°" °^. •»? doom ia read fo2 *'«* the memories of .1 " P"""ed i„ » eaire M ' •>*«» '•'» tenanls H 'J^f-ocessive murderer, tt ,^'"''' " visited like : ?." '^''^ '« ""-amped „I **"* "-ith breL .* '"''•' heast by his V. "■*'"'• He ""' ""' """—and after LSr "' '' ''«'' ne Jew days allotted to ' " ^^^ record. there would "^ggemion or '^y fell out, ' "tart, the -^nd Were "ustrate the '*! t^ey ex. "^e sure ■^•■oni the ^'onofthe ^«t homu accession »• and if ■ those of Irving of t of the 't coun- onjprise •e men. octrine ut not nioniy , man. Boini- forth. >hck bavie He fed Uo ' ib him are expired, even whilst the clock is striking the hour of doom, he is led forth upon a platform to be gazed upon by eager thousands, and amidst their yells and mockings and loud execrations he is seen to writhe and quiver suspended between earth and heaven. Even his body is not permitted to be dealt with like those of other men. It is given over to be cut and mangled, and torn piecemeal. Even his bones are not suffered to be laid in the grave — they are preserved in the museums of science, and future generations point to them and say, there hangs the skeleton of a murderer. And then the train of events by which this crime is so oflen brought to light. To look out upon the world, it would seem no hard matter for those who are wicked ^enough to perpetrate the deed, to escape from detection. To peruse the narratives of crime, it would appear, on the contrary, as if it were almost impossible. When the criminal does not become desperate and turn his own accuser, — when he does not disclose his guilt in the agony and'panic of dismal dreams, how oflen does' some circumstance quite as singular throw light upon the mystery, and lead to an inquiry which ends in bringing the offence home to its author. How frequently has this happened after many years have run by, after men have nearly lost all recollection of the event, — after its perpe- trator even has forgotten to trv.nble and «:eased to fear ! In a word, how often, how strangely, how palpably does the Most High seem to interpose to cast light upon those deeds of darkness, — so that even those who cannot be suspected of religious opinions, are fain to look upon the matter with superstitious awe, and to frame their thoughts intoby>words and proverbs, that "blood has a voice," — that '• murder will out." . ■ 6 ^ «e««,e at lea.., accorSo .h; f V""'^- » « -bear i„ „;„, ,^„ Z^^ ^t """I' ""''• ^" wewmg up ,0 ,he' poi„. „uL'iK "" "" '- ho"- generally and wi"X? u ^""'«™ember "omes do.„ „po„ ^^ J " ^^^'J-^M p„„i,h™e„. tt,en otnt to ou, „,i„H ,e, „, ."° "'"' '*«»« 'houghtg p,e. »'"«' in .he affair.';;' hi Zu 21 ""' """" '' ' »'-' '""•gine. Let u, again ,^0^" ?. " 7 "* ''"'^ "> •I"' Almighty i, more eviSVm r*" """'^'"^ "f P'one to conclude after I cu™ ""^""' ""» ''^ "« «'■«' here i. another Ld?7 '""«'• ^^ -» allow declaration of Moeea, .^e 1, ' * '"""^"J' '» "•• »««•" ' "*'"'* yo" sin will find you CHAPTER V. It i, of ""'" """"""' 0^ "^ temporal proXcHX""^ '° """^ ""' '"««» of a 6od pursue, at'^^tt rCol"' ""^ ""'"•' *<=^ to follow at the time of his fi„ J : / "'"'"•' "''''"' •>« is »»PA.W point of view i. ! " ^"^r*"' ^" " i'*''»- ou. consistency and u"itv in^T ' '° "°"'"' "" <"'"- %h. Nay, there is "1." '^'*"'" »'' "-e Most ™a«me thll i„ ^ impoZTri""'*'"* "'««'«'» '» ~en.ofthewo^ne:e^r;r^\:-;- [0 the aya- ^8 h the ''*«d, in a o'd. Let 'o on in- offender remember >ent iJjen [hte pre. ' 4 nicer >osed to 'ence of I we are js aJJow to the nd you LP- of a hich leis bvi- ^osf to ral ite M systems, one intended for time and the other for eternity. It is much more consonant to what we know of the char* acter of God to conceive that one plan with certain modi- fication! should answer for the two worlds. It is almost essential to what Jehovah has reyealed to us of his own nature, to suppose a similarity at least between his ar- rangements for the moral welfare of this life, and that which is to come — with such precise descriptions of himself as he has aflforded us, tending to show that he is subject to no variation or change, but is the same yes- terday, to-day and forever, it seems to be doing violence to his own declarations, to conceive that he has one plan for the present government of his creatures, and another for the future. Is not this he who names himself I Am, and who assures us that to him one day is as a thousand years, and " thousand years as one day ? In a religious view it is even more important to collect and scan the symptoms of a system of present retribution. It is an argument the more in favor of a holy life, and maamuch ati men are more strongly influenced by things adjacent than by things remote, it is one of the most emphatic considerations by which they can be addressed. It says to the transgressor, " Believe what you hear of the terri- ble chastisements that are reserved for sin, when you behold such plain harbingers in the present method of God's doings, — tremble for the great day 6f his reckon- ing, since he shows himself so dreadful even now when his anger is kindled but a little.'* It says to the right- eous man, ** Rely all the mure in the promises and re- wards that are laid up in store for you, when such sweet and abundant foretastes are afforded you in confirmation of the Sciipture that godliness is profitable to all things, having the promise of the life whilsh now is, and also of ~^mrf^ St «*« which is to come " Th. »>oother .h» i, i,, „,;, i. „*f,;°;;r,'": »-« -.ouM be •nnoipaie that the fa,u~ t.l '""'*'■ " 'ed » «"«. denoonce may C L "1^"^'' "'"■='' "» Scrip! •M„ga a, they ar^' ThHSlfof'r •\"''""»-' ^ P'ore ardMous than it i, ZZ, ""' *°»'d "^ yet « ~me degree fort^^^ lu t" "'''""« '"« Wieverc^ ftons of God cannot be inT ! ^" "•* "O"' ree, a ^^'^» in .hop,l«',t:S o:1'"''''"'*^' "»<"'-' •he action of hi. creature! 1^ '"i "'""""^ i-dsin^ be coi..idered in i,, turn = ^ u' '"'"' ""« "^ ">« vicet "^l be seen with suffi "e« ci'" '""""^ *'"--»«" ••""P. »en to think m!^ 1^^ Tft' ^'l'^ '"' """y ""ght to think, and to look do»„ ^"^^"^ *'"'» «he, Theyinducethem^tocS^ithtr'* ?' '^'^"g^ %her sphere. They su^jeTt .hi " "'"' '^'""S '^ « »"">al mortiBcation when 1 '*°"^" ^ con- ••ons draw down upon them ' *«"»»' «■« wretch- '"»« when it hurled the wicked „^t' ""'"• ^""» "•« ""cked archangel from heaven A IS3 hrould be p led 10 ™® Scrip. |ance8 of ^ yet fever can future h the "Canvass 'eg* a- ^d tJiai ' vices hrnzrk panity I t% vho«e to a con- ten- iiid or- to Bd Br t down to hell, it has been the source of a vast number of the crimes and enormities that have darkened the annals of the moral world. In every country of the world, in every epoch of its history, it would be possible to select, at least one personage whose career exemplified all that was bad and brilliant in the workings of ambition. And what heavy chastisement commonly alights upon the man under the influence of this passion. He mounts to a throne by rapid steps, he is cast down from his elevation, begs his bread from door to door, 'pines away the remainder of his life in a dungeon, or is cut off in the prime of his days by r, violent death. Or he attains all the desire of his iieait, and finds that he has been in pursuit of a shadow, and weeps like Alexander that there are not left him more worlds to conquer. Or he frets and fevers his mind in his passionate course, until it yields at last to the intolerable pressure, and he who perhaps knew no higher glory than an intellectual supremacy over his fellow-men, stands before them in that condition of idiocy which sinks him below all who have even a gleam of the power of reason. Sharp are the visitations which this passion inflicts, and accordingly the poets, who are quick to discover the most characteristic events of human life, have been accustomed to allot to it a dis- tinguished place, and have considered that there was no topic fitter for their descriptions than the rioe and fall, the inner throes and outward struggles of the ambitious man. Probably there are few things in poetry that are drawn with greater power, or that excite a more thrilling interest than such delineations. A sufiicient proof that the passion must punish severely, when even the fancied representation has such power to excite emotion. Envy and jealousy are feelings that belong to minds of a 5* id j|mailer dimension. Thei, i„ri *" parsed into a p,o,erb C '" '""'*' '''^ •>'«« *«Po«itiofi, and emaciate fh ^- ^ "* '"'' '^ «»""• tKe "% descriM as harjVfa Jr:; ^"'^ ■"=<"«!"- . tt>at «ea.he round the heaJof 1 , '^'- '^''^ """i^^ f «' thing,, ,,„b„3 *;;«^ f 'he furies are, amongst *« -nind of those afflicted t th^r"'" """P»»-ssl, »» „ sure to incur the Zikl eT""' "^^^ »"»"« '"•oreby to lose the good m^r ^ ^''"^•■"i'r, and fi«» v.hich society cSrs „t .t " *^'' ** »<"'" ''ene- ^- Sme Of th' C^'acTs *h": ""■" '"^''^ "«« of "o-e at the instigation of 2 t^'"'"'^'P«'"'« «« ""•t unhappy beS ^^"'^'^ P««».on, and some of the •""ery to nothing else bkT i? '''"^' -"^e their ^.n« reefing, lothl tott f ',"'«*"""* <" '"is cor- o-astisement along with Trhk '"«*'»''''" brings its -»merous pleasures that „ise ' ttt "'"**"» *<«« »f 'he mental and bodil. frdie , '" ''•"'^«.«='e«ion '» 4»order the powers ^fh oT' H ]'" *' '» *''« «H ' parent of one half ,h j ""' *»'• hody- It is .h» ^ '^"^W- It is the . "'''" ">^' «»'k» through ,t ♦K. "^^ cause of a fii.,^^ u "trough the 'h;opy and melancholy tfiat .n i? ''" "^ '"« ™"»- '* a burden. It j, the fte" fn,""""^ '"'"^<'*' «"<'er •"'fc all the train of discomfort ?'"""* "^ '"*««-'ce ■ »»''«»• Carelessness a^d"^ ""f" ™"<"^» ''Wchlt in- ;ery considerable poni^.J':^?'^"^ "« "•« origin of a f; "orld. The/ bring w^, T. """ P^«^-'» » '■o-'^eholds, they introdtnL "". ''■'?«»''»'=« into ■nto families, they Occasion ""*W»« and disunion •'^ "rough. into'cS" 77'" ""^'"^ '» »" '^h" "^ '0 penury, cont 2 d"!'''^"'' '*«^ «^»« 'he *ey frequently prompt'h^^^ft' "»?"«<">»«»., »d -"o-s the assertion thar;rod.X /n^ ■;-/' ^ •o sour the j^ contin- 'he snakes • amongst possesses I® envious I'l'ty, and Tid bene- e Weil of trate afe le of the ^e their his cor- ings its >* those xertion fie end, ' t is the ?h the nisan- Gnder fence 't in- of a 8 in into lion I'ho he Qd )f is liiahy instances leads to those offences which bring men to the gaol and the gibbet. The sin of lewdness is pro- ductive of manifold evil I'esults. It notoriously shortens life, squanders substance, carries an excess of wretclied- ness into families, produces some of the most cruel dis- tempers with which humanity is visited, and extihgui'^hes those gratiiicaiiods which flow but of the innocent inter- course of the sexes. What agonies of mind, what suf-< ferings of body, what misery to parents, what wretched- ness to husbands, what degradation to Woiiien, what division of households, what misery of every description, does not this vice produce wherever it appems. Glut- tony wears out the body prematurely, is the frequent occasion of sudden death, weakens the powers of the mind, and is the parent of several of the worst diseases; Intemperance is generally Regarded as the vice which of all otliers is the most fruitful of evil cdnset[uences. It isaps the vigor of the frame, disturbs the harmony of the nervous system, paralyzes the powers of the mind, dis^ orders the temper, interferes with all the duties of life, dissipates fortune, occasions disease, madness, sudden death, produces every degree of wretchedness in fami- lies, and entails sorrow, shame and degradation. The victim of this awful vice is generally poor, unhealthy j unhappy 'and short-lived. He is commonly a bad cFti- i&n, an undutiful son, an unkind husband and a care- less father. He often ends by becoming an idiot, a suicide, d muMerer or a thief Dishonesty, in the greater number of instances, draws down its own pun- ishmient. It prompts a man to aim at moie than fairly belongs to him, and occasions that he earns K j than he might do by thorough honesty. After having escaped detection in a few instances, he is at last caught in th«! 56 deed, suspicion ever afterwards attaches to his name, he becomes an object of dislike, the path to success and honor is closed against him, a blight falls upon his reputation, and his life, if he is not pushed into worse crimes, is one of poor success and evil estimation. The vice of lying greatly hinders the chances of suc- cess, brings hatred and contempt upon a man, and so affects his reputation, that he is not believed or trusted even when he may happen to adhere to the truth. Liars as a class are unhappy, poor and despised. Backbiting, detraction and slander do not any more than the former vices escape without punishment. They brin£; down certain odium on those who practice them — and they go far to hinder men from being happy, wealthy, or respect- ed. Anger renders its subject a person to be feared and avoided. It wears away the system, prevents all real enjoyment, hinders the formation of true and last* ing attachment, greatly stands in the way of success in life, and very often leads to violent and bloody deeds.^ Avarice makes a man an object of much dislike and scorn in the community, shuts him out from sympathy and affection, locks up his feelings against the emotions of love, pity, and generosity, the experiencing of which constitutes so large a portion of the finest part of human happiness, renders his mind the prey of continual and intense anxiety. The testimony of society affirms that the covetous man is one of the most unhappy of beings, that his mind is racked by the most tormenting solici- tude, and that he is excluded from all that the sympa- thies of his fellow beings can do to heighten his joys and relieve his sorrows. Ignorance in many instances may be reckoned one of the vices, being frequently the result of wilful carelessness and neglect. It too is the patent o| an anil and the I tellectuj of beavl thai is St ^ ■ „. It eondemna the man to patent of mach ""^appmes^ ^^ p,^^,„,, L animal existence. «>'«>»'»» „f .„ ewttion ot the in- and the benefits that «.-->;' ° ^,„„gh *ith a career tellectual powers, fo.ce. »..mt9g» ^^^^ j, of hea,y monotonous *'« W'"*^^, ^„ „i„a with that is large. »igb. '""'j^'XI' ^P^^tW"" »' •"'«' ptejudices and f 7' ^^ ^nt co^inuall, punished, bigotry. Neglea ;f cUiren ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ by the parent he-ng f<««;* ^^ ,„ «,.« in their career and crimes, and bemg «o™pe « ^ulgence. and the lamentable f »";/ '^^Xaience to parenU nev- more foolish carelessness. ^^^^^,^ ^.an half the er escapes without ,tschat.^men ^^^^ errors and crimes of ■■!'^'""t*is cause-and nothing .hey entail, may »« "^'^'^C* -rkable offender* m i, more common than to nou ^^ ^^^^ ^,^^^4. U confessions and ■»— ^7; ?v.e circamstance „ess and -ff^^'tTear ^th; counsels, warnings that they turned a deal e and reproofs of their parents. ^^^ ^j^^^ In sLt. without en77^:«*:,*o prove the point, we have a sufficient ho^Y "^^^ J™ , , sfing attached to that each member of he famUy ^^^ .^^„^ H_and that it « "^Vwithout being chastised uansgress the moral l«« °f ''° g„ „„« is this, that by an appropr^e P"'"'''™;! .„. of worldly men to Jere is a disposition -- » *Xuch a plan- It is a observe the marks and vest.ge» ^^^^ ^^ matter of common ''«'=»";"^*,*°J. „pon the general have not philosophy -f" t or ft Uh sufficient to mak« method of God's P;<>;f;X;;V •.„„, ,et so struck by - "' '"t;U^ht.S-' tokens of a system as what seem to them v"« 58 to be influenced in some degree by what they notice. Selfish worldlings and practical unbelievers may be found) who, ignorant and heedless of the nature of God or the peculiarities of a future life, are yet so moved by the symptoms in this world of a plan whereby virtue is rewarded and vice chastised, that they give demonstra- tion of their faith by imitating that line of conduct which they have noticed to be attended by agreeable results, and by assuming from temporal motives, that course of practice which they see the good and holy pursuing from heavenly principles. The confessions wrung from the devils, whom Jesus cast forth, in favour of his power and Godhead, are among the strongest of the testimonies in behalf of his divinity. The acknowledgements of these foes to all true religion and morality, in behalf of the system for which we contend, ought to have the like force and weight, being confessions extorted from those who would not willingly by word or deed lend any help to the cause of holiness. Nay, the case might be stated yet more broadly. There is a very considerable portion of human society of which it may be said that their practice is bet- ter than their principles. They exhibit in their deport- ment a degree of propriety and decency, of politeness and forbearance, of suavity and gentleness, of generosity and justice, of temperance and sobriety, which at first sight seem so goodly that we are disposed to assign them to a religious source, and to name them the fruits of genuine evangelical principle. On closer inspection it is found that a large share of these qualities is of earthly origin, is assumed at the instigation of worldly policy, is really put on because men have glimpses and surmises ot this system — because they see-enough to convince them h at honesty is the best policy — because they are so per- suaded notion for a value. roanWi^ dence I of reVil in the| citcui of ^'« ' they , ceedl tigH coui plaiil vrea Ufe sen tht ha th \i s' y notice, may be of God loved by virtue is nonstra- 5t which reouhs, >urse of ig from >m the i^er and •nies in f these of the a force 36 who to the !t more luman is bet- eport- teness rosity t first them lits of ion it rthly •y, is es ot hem per- 69 notion that evea tbe »!«""»° ,;„„„, u of g-reat ^ a pan of the g';^ J^»,.. . ,„ge ftactioa of ,.lae. It i-npl'" *'»"'"' '„,,„, gi,e a willing ev.- mankind. who would ^r »» '°^»; « .^e interests . dance in fa.oar of ^f^'^^.^e 'Ice their influence of religion, but would much rather p ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ in the very opposite direction are J- ^_^ ^^^^ ^^^ oircumstance t^-* 'h-*;^ ^1 antipathy to virtue of virtue, that with all the r na, ^^^^ ^^^ . the, labour most ass«l""»^J ^ P" " °^^ ^,^ ,,„,, jis- , ceed so well in their endeavor^ as ^o ^^^ ^,.,, •eerner to say wjvetbe'j. ^ -'^ ., of the righteousness of the hewt o J' ■ u ,s a ^ countenance. When Sa^anjuot F^ ^^ ^^^^.^^^ plain conf.-ion *''* "j'^^e plan of the present Lapon. When 'VoHdhngssef virtue, that they con- life to be so decidedly in favou ^ ^^^^ .^ ^^ ^„ h„„„ sent to a'f°«,.! '"'^;, , ,ery strong argument in be- through a long life, this « a J ^^^^ ^^^.^^^^ to half of our 'y^W"-'"^ ''^ 'fi'' er in the doings of this .he fact that God '^o- h'«nf ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ life, when the mos ^'""^t ,hey see it. Thus it ap- «trained to acknowledge that y ^^^^^^^ „en pears that there is a '"J ^en"^ ' J„f present retribu- !hat something approaching « a pla ^^. J ^^.^ y,, ^oth tion prevails in *e «»'"• .^„J what prevents ihem in their sayings and the« act^ ^^_^p,^j^_ ,,, f,om allowing the ^y^^^^^'^^ ^^^ Relieve in an ail-wise . --ro^"d^>b^ars-cuC:^:: 60 plan. The sceptic does not love to admit the system in its full extent, because that would be to allow more wis- dom and justice to Providence than he is willing to assign. The man of business excuses himself by saying that he has not leisure to investigate ihe whole dimensions of a system, of which he confesses that he sees some por- tions. The sensualist and voluptuary want inclination to examine matters intellectual, want morality Tb explain tilings pure and holy, and accordingly they perceive no more of this system than they can possibly avoid seeing. The man of mean understanding or narrow education, discerns but portions of the ocheme, because he has not solidity enough to weigh the matter, depth to explore it, or wisdom to classify and goneralise. But the most un- believing, the m'>st worldly, the most licentious, the most careless, the most stupid and th~ most ignorant, all dis> cern some segments or traces of the plan, although none of them perceive its whole compass and details. What hinders many others from forming a more accurate opin- ion on the matter, is the want of the power of analysis, owing to which they mix up subject.'} that have no bond of connection. Thus many fail to notice the accuracy wherewith sin is punished, not because they are un- willing to look, but because they have a confused view of the methods of providence, because they think cf God as one who is as hasty and undistinguishing as themselves, because they expect all sins to I o punished o;' the instant and with the same chastisements, and because tney can- not understand the operations of a system that is calm, nice, and appropriate in its decree:?. ' ♦* Because sen- tence against an evil work is not executed speedily, there- fore the hearts of the sons of men are full set in them to do evil." Men vho are disposed to admit the workings >^kt Ci^i^ ^s^M .«^>^.. WiOSt i dis: none >pin- ysis, ond acjr jn- of as ?, It /^^ of vt over-ruling providence will form such gross con* oeptions of the mode in which they consider it ought t9 act, that when they perceive it to follow a different course, they beco.nae offended, and exclaim that there is no plan, or that the plan which obtains wants regularity or justice. They are displeased because each different sin is not punished with that very chastisem,ent which they regard as the nxMt suitable and the most severe. Thus we are prone to be astonished when we see a sel- fish and rapacious man permitted to go on increasing in wealth — not showing p^ience tor the judgments of that God who has declared himself to be longHsuffering and slow to wrath, and n<^t remembering that there are other methods whereby he may be chastised than by stripping him of his wealth. We are displeased because an un- godly, man is allowed to attain to a green and heaHhy old age ; not considering that this may be only affording more scope to the punishments under which he may he< suffering — not thinking that he may be said to deserve \iM> bealih and old age*, inasmuch as it is the result of an observance of the rules of sobriety^ industry, and pru» Mviise^ which as much as any other are laws established and regulated by the Most High. W^ are offended to f>erceiv£ the man of an irregular and dissolute life ex- erting a jnighty influence over public opinion, and attracting the admiration of mankind. WheT'Oas the •qualities which we blame in him ar« drawing down their proper punishment, undermining his vigor, dissipating his substance, preparing Hiim for disease, indigence and short life. He is admire^ not because of these vices, but because of brilliant powers which make men forget tiis faults. Their admiration would be even stronger ^ere he free from these defects. We are j[>rone to muji' "•»(* ■-;'-*f •«•*-■ , -^-vl "Jor irhen we oba P^or. no art, .o g.i„ ,;„'*"" '^^Oon... „,„ ^^^ J; He „ .<,„i^ „„, JP J^~. Here .«, we .r. „„j„,^ ••■"e men belie,, him J ^ ? '""~"<"' >>«« be- *'«««e m«« fce • bu^d „ t.d ' ""' '"'^"^ The ^«d when lik,o,ber h,p„!^* ' ^ ^ ""'•P'^ «»'«'- raced. In , . „y J'" he .. detected .„d di^ . r » »o. p„ni.hed uniLr^f ?„!"'"" "^' '""^ine .ha' •"»e. and in ,he ve» „. *'"' "* «'»«»' at ihe ,erv «»_^ Becau« ^'mror/p""' ""'^ "-" pr ' Wh...y, intemperate «;'„l?""'^"- '-"ead of deny. '.=.d appropriate merarr""^"*' '» <""•". «»' •""^on.i^.al iniuiryX ° " "''"""' «>' "^ Pleaeing to fancy ,o L»!^ ""* '"'^J""- II i» ;;i'i«h.. and dark'ne^tt'r » -f- "'''-'«. "^ J[ •/'•«!«. of piety, ,o make m«? ,' '° " «'"""» "ck- ^.■nade matter .nn^So^"'""."' '''''"' ""»' "igh. •"•■oua dealing, of .he A^. 1° '^"^ "^ ""' 4«- -yery to observation, anj^l'f" «•» -bject .he .I»c.ou, folly i, u..ered on tbiLr " '"'""' •""-=" "■«ht be supposed capable of 7'"' r"*"' '''"'e "h<> nuter analysis applied to .hr T'* *«cernment. Mi. fortune, and more of inio„U ' ,1? T'"^' '*« "■ ">>'- ^"f^ are disposed rr„"rl''; "■°''-"«'«e'' an* 'ocaluy be singled out. the moun. r "'" '"'" P'OP'** . ne amount of wretchedness .ha* ^o em* ut be- The il the chaa- thia Qod'j Mbat very pre- ad of I, or*- t he and k>se t)rni ti» md hi m 18 to be found within its compass is great, sometimes apalling. Within its circuit is to be found the prison, the lazar-house, the penitentiary, the bedlam. Thickly sown through its range are to be seen dwellings, wherein ' there rages each form of disease, each aspect anddegre« of penury, each shade and variety of wretchedness. How much of this indigence with all the train of cruel sorrows that accompany it, may be traced without any difficulty to improvidence and sloth ! How much of this disease that racks the body and paralyzes the mind, is bred or fomented by intemperance of feeling or con- duct. Walk through the cells of the mad-house, where every form of mental alienation is classified, where the drivelling idiot, the maundering lunatic, and the raging maniac are to be witnessed in their turn. Examine the history of each. In some instances it is the child suf- fering for the sin or the infirmity of the parent. And this, if sin it be, is but sin in the distance. But in many more instances, it is th") man reaping the fruits of what he himself has sowed, wtithing under the fearful malady which he has brought on himself by long indul- gence of morbid feeling, or long habits of licentious practice. Traverse in like manner the wards of the crowded hospital, in which are assorted the manifold as- pects of bodilj derangement. In some instances you will be obliged to refer the matter to calamity or acci- dent. But in no small number if you accurately in- quire out the cause, you will find that some one of the vices was the real parent. Enter within the privacy of the dwellings of individuals, note the many shapes of misery and distemper that lurk within them, examine into the origin of the evils which you witness. Here also you will discover that sin has been at work, and } 64 here too you will be forced to admit, that if there is much calamity, it ia becauie there has been much tr^na- gresaion. We make no pretence to have exhausted a topic so wide and various ; at the utmost, we aspire only to have marked out its outlines, and to have shown the territory which it includes. Our argument we think authorises us to assert this much, that when any considerable por- tion of society is scaa.ied with proper sdbriety and patience— or when the care&r of any one individual is drawn out and examined with due attention, and with fair allowances and restrictions, it will be seen that each particular vice inflicts its own chastisement — it will be perceived that the complexion and character of the events of the presest world are no stigma upon the wis- dom, beneficence, and justice of the Almighty — it will be found that the mechanism of a system of retribution is to be met with on the earth, sufficiently well organized and developed, to entitle us to take up the words of Moses, and say to the transgressor, " Be sure your sin will find you out.'* CHAPTER VI. A SYSTEM OF TEMPORAL RETRIBUTION RENDERED PRO- BABLE BT THE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS OF A FUTURE STATE. The gospel has brought life and immortality to light, and it imparts very exact accounts of the character of the future world. In its pages there is explicit mention of a tribunal wherein judgment shall be executed with such the shal dan Th tur tiv m( an e^ \\ a 65 v»9rB is pio to |o hare \rritory orises epor- and ai ia tfith each in he f the » wis- will ^tion ized 8 of sin Accuracy, that strict reckoning shall be taken of every thought, word and deed. We have distinct information as to the character and quaiifieations of the judge who is to direct the proceedings — he is the omniscient God, the searcher of hearts, unto whom all things are known* from whom nothing is hidden, who hateth iniquity with a perfect hatred, and in whose sight sin is the abomina- ble thing which he cannot away with. We are informed in the word of him who cannot lie, that this court is to be held in the end of the world, that all the generations of men are to be assembled together, that God shall dis- pense judgment, and that the angels of heaven shall be the witnesses. We are instructed as to the r^ature of the sentence which shall be pronounced against the guilty— *a portion shall be assigned them in a lake of fire and brimstone, the worm that dieth not shall gnaw them, the fire that is never quenched shall consume them« they shall have for associates, devils, and the spirits of all the damned, and this shall endure throughout all eternity. There are many who admit ail^this in regard to the fu- ture world, who yet are blind to the symptoms of retribu'- live justice in the present life, — nay, there are many well meaning men, who make the very fact of future rewards and punishments, a key to the supposed mystery, and an explanation of the alleged absence of all retribution in the present ^orld. Hence they frequently draw broad and vivid contrasts between the two dispensations, com- pare the rigorous justice of the future scene, with the ap- parent want of plan that "characterizes this life. They suppose Jehovah now to be exercising his patience mere- ly, to be slumbering for a little, or to be gathering his wrath for that awful day when "it shall burn as an oven." To us it appears that this view of things is 6* / / 66f ^aally opposed to reason and experience, equally contra*' dieted by philosophy and observation. In our judgment the argument ought to be reversed, and the rewards and punishments of the future life instead of militating against the doctrine of a present retribution, ought to be regarded as a valid reason from analogy in proof of the existence of such a plan. There is an identity in the character of God to such a degree, that he is no wise affected by the lapse of time and the revolutions of ages. He is the same yesterday, to-day and forever, a thousand years are to him as one day, one day is as a thousand years^ Does not this feature of his moral nature authorize the supposition, that wh ere there is no plain and incontroverti- ble reason for a change of plan, it seems more natural that the same method should subsist ? Does not the sta- bility of the divine nature warrant men to imagine, that since justice is eminently manifested in the regula- tions of the future life, it must be exhibited •'"ore or less in the administration of the world as it is ? Where one method will answer at the least as well, if not better than two methods, is it not due to what we know of the steadiness, simplicity, and economy of strength of the Supreme Ruler, to conceive that he adheres to one plan ? Looking forward to the mechanism and arrangements of thi future life, and perceiving God to exhibit him- self therein under the aspect of a being, just, impartial and discerning, and bearing in mind how steadfast and immoyeable he is, — keeping in view, that we have no intimation from himself that he pursues two systems in the two kingdoms, is it not fair and reasonable to make use of the telescope of revelation, to transfer some part of the scenery of the future into the landscape of the present world, and to judge of things seen and temporal gorte^liil lind eterl his justj highest I seem toj the rigl inheritj able tc to be periodl just vi grant reserv and stimu the Ic delig to g' thin^ If of ^ shoi nat pre rat CO ti< Xtc ti ^ m somewhat after the fashion of the things that are unseen And eternal ? Moreover, God is remarkable not only for his justice, but also for his mercy and love. Forming the highest possible noition of these slttributes, do they not seem to countenance the system which we advocate ? If the righteous man is to receive in the world to come an inheritance of the most transcendant value, is it reason-' able to think that the whole excellence of his portion is to be veiled and hidden from him throughout the entire period of the present life ? Is it not more consonant to just views of God's wisdom to conceive that he should grant his faithful servant foretastes of the glory which is reserved for him, in order that by such glimpses his hope and trust might be increased, his exertions might be stimulated ? Is it not more agreeable to right notions of the love and kindness of God, to suppose that he would delight from the very commencement of the engagement to give his sincere follower an earnest of the better things whifch are provided for him in the heavens ? If the wicked man is to be consigned over to a doom of unmixed and unending wretchednei^s after the few short years of his pilgrimage here are completed, is it natural to think that he is to walk without any previous preparation into the horrors of hot hell ? Does it not rather harmonize with the wisdom of the Almighty to conceive, that he would afford the sinner loud and prac- tical demonstrations to turn him from his evil ways, and ,to open his belief of the future punishments reserved for transgressors, by showing him what evils they draw down upon themselves even in the present life ? Does it not also tally with the goodness and mercy of God to consider, that he would not permit even the worst of his wicked creatures to enter upon a miserable eternity, '^T^ M^-yi^^m^^^^^ mmftmm X^\ I »-' ee until he had first employed every possible means to con^ vince him of the hatefulness of sin ? And what method so efficacious as to teach him this truth in a practical manner, by letting him suffer under the effects of his iniquities? Thus, instead of looking at the regularity and justice of the next life, and concluding from this that it is natural that there should be an absence of such qualities in the administration of the. present, it seems more reasonable to take the opposite view. It appears more consonant to abstract reason, more true to actual observation, more agreeable to God's wisdom, more in harmony with his goodness, to argue from the one world to the other, to assist reason by revelation, to fortify sight by faith, and to judge of things temporal by things eternal. And thus while we rest the main weight of the question upon other arguments more direct and more substantial, — whilst we found a system of present retri- bution chiefly upon the plain declarations of Scripture and the clear testimony of sight, it is not out of order that we should bring in the evidence of analogy, and judge of the present by what we are told of the future. To sum up what has been advanced, — the doctrine of a plan of present retribution is supported by the following considerations. God's :3criptures show that such a sys- tem did subsist during 4100 years, or more than two thirds of the whole period that has elapsed since the creation, — they prove the fact by precept and example, by inference or by direct statements. The argument that results from this has considerable weight. It is to this effect, that the strong probability is, that a plan which subsisted through so long a period, continues still, from the circumstance, that the likelihood is in favor of the continuance of that which has been, in the absence retribuli| of the and t&i that it self di^ cteaturj of the and cc the ex8 verdict nounci ther e\ whichl ers, a reguls looke hitnse irans] the I wbic sertc nun whc per at< ou tit Ul P; s' t nhod JticaJ \f hi8 Jmty this |such Jems fears ftuai absence of any valid reason for a change. Temporal retribution (considered to exist) is exercised by means of the influence of conscience, which applauds virtue and reprobates vice, and which, in the direct measure that it does so, may be regarded as the Almighty him- self dispensing present rewards and chastisements to his creatures. It is further exercised through the medium of the voice of society, lauding that which seems good, and condemning that which seems evil, and which, in the exact degree that it follows the rule of truth in its verdict, may be regarded as the voice of Jehovah pro- nouncing praise or censure upon men. It is still fur- ther exercised by means of human courts and tribunals, which inflict punishments of various sorts upon oflend- ers, and which, in the precise measure that they are regulated in their sentences by divine rules, may be looked upon as the judicatures wherein the Almighty himself sits judge, and executes present vengeance on transgressors. And again, it is exercised by means of the self-chastising tendency of iniquity, — a tendency which prevails in so high a degree, that it may be as- serted with perfect correctness that each one of the numerous family of vice has a sting attached to it, wherewith it inflicts chastisement on the mind, or the person, or the outward fortune, and not seldom upon all at once. Finally, a system of present retribution is in our opinion rendered probable by the judicial regula- tions of the next life, — which, so far from making it un- likely that there should be a similar, arrangement in the present life, seem rather to point to the opposite conclu- sion. Such are the arguments by which we have sought to vindicate, or the instances by which we have endea- vored to illustrate the system in question. In a philoso- l> m> 70 closes. co„„ec.io„ C^ ^^r ' 'T'"' ""* '"« verse? But in » rcU • •'^"^^^n ana his moral uni- . ought ,0 be «>ie.JT Itill^^ I "■""«»"■"?<>«»»« it . P%n,e„. .0 s«ve/o-ed to «e- Surely i. ought to bel,'" hol,nesa,-a„d so they dom. to scan fe workman,!.- "r^"""""''* "^ "i^- 'o analyze aud toZ^T^'""' """'' '""S"""'.- P'ove him to be mi^^V'r r '""-«"» "hich his rational creature^ sLht 1"^'" "" "'""''"'' "' conducive to holiness to selfU ? '" ^ ^■""^''"y *is earth; to see him * ;^Ltn;?he "" "^ '""""^ "^ ishmentsof the present U^T^ '^"""^^ ^^ Pun- Scripture fulfilled, Ta Jr """"' "' '™'^ '"™ '"e things," and to ofec ,1™ T '' P""""""" '«> «" hreadthofthemora/unLtlK'. "■""'* '*"«"■ » SllPBatlKMl 11, I '< older IH, li! top so there is .^3, U botton> cautiously ./ \1 !t •' <:ontinfl'ally properly :y. 1 top so there is ;i|., .i " bottiHIl blows f;o. r. •< tup to cKpljiin til. ."i ' llOttOl'l him tor lij. I,-) ..' continual f.7 (i ••' /, open .^'J -J«U. ^ K^'ifi^y^i "y^. >''j,> S'C ' a ^- ■> fAA mS" '% '.5*; ij? .-s ■ i■^*■^