these great struths in view when we speak of the divine dispensations, and then we shall not go far astray; because, either, we shall not cadmitqipto our religious beliefor, we shall not deem im portant to our present welfare and future happiness, any thing, which, to the eyes of sober reason and confiding piety, may seem to be inconsistent with infinite wisdom, aided by unlimited power, and directed by unbounded goodness.dt ai doidw of Again; the relation of the Supreme Being to his rational creatures, is beautifully set forth, in the parental character;lgund od ot red ton liv That God is the Universal Father, is a funda mental principle of both natural and revealed religion. Both agree in proclaiming the essential, unbounded, goodness of the Deity: both declare that God is our Father that God is Love.' Here we are again presented with a standard whereby we may ascertain the state of our opinions. If they be true, they will agree with these declara+ tions of nature and scripture. When therefore we speak of the means which God liath instituted for the education and discipline of his rational family in this childhood of their being of the methods of his grace for their gradual/progress in the chief properties, and best distinctions, of the spiritual life of the provision made for the recovery of the sensual-the encourage ment of the virtuous the punishment of the sin ner, and the reward of the righteous, we should be especially careful to entertain no view of his dealings towards the human race, but such, as may agree with the well-known characteristics of

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a Father, who, in all his appointments and decreest, has agconstant regard to the final perfection and happiness of his offspring; who both punishes and rewards in justice and in mercyled enoigilar wo -iNow, as it seems to me, much of the popular beliefrespecting the divine. government and dis pensations, will not bear to be tried by the rule of truth. For instance; the doctrine of the Fall/ which is the foundation of the reputedly orthodox system of faith, and by which, it is attempted to account for the introduction of evil into the world, will not bear to be brought into juxtaposition with the principles we have laid down. And first, as to the manner of the Fall. Man, having been made upright, was assailed by the arts of an almost omnipotent adversary, and yielded in the disproportionate struggle. By attempting thus to explain the origin of evil, do we not render it a more intricate subject? Do we not cast, by implication, as it were, a stain upon the wisdom of God, in permitting such an attack to be made upon his hoblest earthly creature? Does it not throw, a shade around that watchful goodness, in which we live and move and have our being? Does it not give occasion for doubt as to the extent of that power which, we are taught to believe, ruleth supreme in the heaven above, and doeth according to its will in the earth beneath? Surely if the testimony of nature and revelation, with respect to the dominion and paternal character of God, be a faithful testimony, this fundamental tenet of the popular faith, cannot be true. What adversary durst oppose the Omnipotent, and attempt the

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2guidt 191992 adt to 9no ai blow edi. frustration of the plans of infinite wisdom and goodness, and plot the ruin of the world's chief TO AUDITO creature, man, that W that was made us to 29 made in the image of God? When the Tempter plied his unholy work, and the glory or the ruin of a world depended upon frail man's decision; when sin and misery and death stood eager to seize their prey, and the fate of unborn millions was to be sealed by the deed of their progenitor,-where was the eye which never sleeps, the mercy which delighteth to succour? Was the Lord's hand, shortened, 10 21044 6949 94 that it could not save? was his ear heavy, that he could not hear? And provided that the popu lar view of the origin of evil were correct, might it not be justly apprehended, that, since this powerful adversary had once succeeded in frus trating the Creator's design, and in accomplishing the ruin of his noblest earthly work, at the very commencement of the history of the species-he may, in some future condition of being, again assail us in our blissful Eden, and destroy the fair realities of possession, and dispel the bright visions of hope? Such are the questions which naturally occur to the mind when reviewing this fundamental doctrine of the popular faith, and comparing it with the character and attributes of God, as displayed in his works and word. Would it not be more consistent in us to to admit, that what we call evil, is a part of that administration of the Almighty, which worketh all things together for good?I. form the light and create darkness, saith the Lord: I make peace and create evil: I, the Lord, do all these things. That evil is per

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mitted in the world, is one of the 'secret things which belong unto the Lord our God,' and of the origin of which, it is vain for us to inquire. The figures of scripture, upon this subject, convey no certain knowledge to the mind; for the history of man's first disobedience, and the fruit of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste brought death into the world and all our woe,' is evidently an allegorical description, the explanation of which it is unimportant for us to know.

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To boob But some will ask, why was evil permitted to enter into the creation of God? I hesitate not tỏ assert, that the chief portion of man's evils arises from his own heedlessness and folly, and from his own defective institutions. Notwithstanding, if we have regard to the test of truth, namely, an agreement of our ideas, words, and actions, with the real nature and state of things,' it will be as impossible for us to suppose that it is unnecessarily allowed under the government of an all-powerful, wise, and good Being, as that it was introduced into the world by an adversary of the Supreme, to thwart his plans and mar his work. It behoves us to consider that, since the Creation teenis with proofs of the uncontrollable power, unfathomable wisdom, and unlimited goodness, of its Author, the system of moral government, to which he has submitted man, is best upon the whole, and is preparatory to that more perfect condition which revelation promises him. That this is the state of the case, we have good reason to believe, when we perceive that evil is self-destructive; and that it is, invariably, either preparatory to, or accompanied with, a certain portion of good.10.

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It is self-destructive in the way of restraint and correction. No man, having a clear perception of duty, or of real enjoyment, would pursue a line of conduct productive of evils Men invariably seek good, how much soever they may deceive themselves, as to what really possesses that character, or as to the means by which good may be attained. They are deluded by passion, or by a false view of the means of happiness, to pursue as good, what, in its consequences, is productive of great evil and suffering. They are apt to be led, by the deceitful hope of profit or of pleasure, from the path of duty and the practice of universal right eousness. Whereas, no real good can be attained apart from these. But when, regardless of the obligations of virtue and religion, men have sought good in the gratification of their vain desires, and have entailed upon themselves the sad consequences of their folly, few, methinks, com paratively speaking, would be so heedless of their own true interests, as again to expose themselves to suffering and misery, by a repetition of the crime od jobrog asta-saiquid bas eurodi It is conducive to good when it leads men to reflect upon the ways ways and dispensations of God's providence, upon the duties and responsibilities of their several stations, and when it points out the necessity of resisting temptation and of adhering to the path of duty. Evil, therefore, no less than goods offers proofs of God's wise and merciful administration. አዝ (x If evil were not mingled with the good in the present system of the divine government, man's nature must be totally different from what it is,