tween the ignorant and vicious, and the enlightened and virtuous inhabitants of the celes tial world. In the next place, a knowledge of the character of God, of his moral dispensations, and of his works of creation, must form a preparation for the exercises of the heavenly state; since these are some of the subjects which occupy the attention of "the innumerable company of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect." But how could we be supposed to engage in such studies, and to relish such employments, if we remain altogether unacquainted with them till our spirits take their flight from these tabernacles of clay? How could a man whose mind is continually grovelling among the meanest and the most trivial objects, whose soul never rises above the level of his daily labours, which necessity compels him to perform, whose highest gratification is to carouse with his fellows, to rattle a set of dice, or to shuffle a pack of cards, and who is incapable of prosecuting a train of rational thought-how could such a one be supposed qualified for entering, with intelligence and delight, into the sublime investigations, and the lofty contemplations which arrest the attention, and form the chief exercises "of the saints in light?" There is an utter incongruity in the idea, that a rude and ignorant mind could relish the enjoyments of the heavenly world, unless it be enlightened and transformed into the image of its Creator; and we have no warrant from revelation to conclude that such a transformation will be effected, after the spirit has taken its flight to the invisible

state.

But it is easy to conceive what transporting pleasures will be felt by an enlightened and virtuous individual when he is ushered into a scene where his prospects will be enlarged, his faculties expanded, and the causes which now obstruct their energies for ever removed. He will feel himself in his native element, will resume his former investigations on a more enlarged scale, and with more vigour and activity, and enjoy the prospect of perpetually advancing from one degree of knowledge and felicity to another throughout an interminable succession of existence. Having studied the moral character of God as displayed in his word, and in the dispensations of his providence; having acquired, after all his researches, only a faint and imperfect glimpse of his moral attributes; having met with many difficulties and labyrinths in the movements of the divine government which he was altogether unable to unravel, which produced an ardent longing after a more enlarged sphere of vision-how gratifying to such a mind must it be, to contemplate the divine character in the fulness of its glory, to behold the apparent inconsistencies of the divine government reconeiled, its intricate mazes unravelled, its wisdom and rectitude displayed, and the veil which con

cealed from mortals the reasons of its procedure for ever withdrawn! Having taken a cursory survey of the displays of divine wisdom and goodness, in the arrangerment of our sublunary system, and in the construction of the animal and vegetable tribes with which it is furnished; having directed his views, by the light of science, to the celestial regions; having caught a glimpse of the astonishing operations of almighty power in the distant spaces of the firmament; having been overwhelmed with wonder and amazement at the extent and grandeur of the divine empire; having cast many a longing look towards distant worlds, mingled with many anxious inquiries into their nature and destination which he was unable to resolve, and having feit an ardent desire to learn the history of their population, and to behold the scene of the universe a little more unfolded-what transporting joys must be felt by such an individual, when he shall enter into a world where "he shall know even as also he is known;" where the veil which intercepted his view of the wonders of creating power shall be removed; where the cherubim and the seraphim, who have winged their flight through regions of immensity impassable by mortals, shall rehearse the history of other worlds; where the sphere of vision will be enlarged, the faculties invigorated, and the glories of divine goodness, wisdom and omnipotence displayed in all their effulgence! Having familiarized such objects to his mind, during this first stage of his existence, he will enter on the prosecution of new discoveries of divine perfection, with a renovated holy ardour, of which rude and grovelling minds are incapable, which will fill his soul with extatic raptureeven "with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Let us suppose, for the sake of illustration, two individuals of opposite characters entering the future world at the same time-the one rude, ignorant, and vicious, and the other "renewed in the spirit of his mind," and enlightened with all the knowledge which science and revelation can furnish—it is evident, that, although they were both ushered into the same locality, their state and enjoyments would be altogether different. The one would sink, as it were, to his natural level, following the principles, propensi ties and passions which he previously indulged; and, although he were admitted into the society of pure and enlightened spirits, he would remain as a cheerless, insulated wretch, without intel- . lectual activity, and destitute of enjoyment. Finding no pleasures suited to his benighted mind and his grovelling affections, he would be fain to flee to other regions and to more congenial associates, as the owl flies from the vocal grove and the society of the feathered choir, and prefers the shades of night to the beams of day. Like this gloomy bird, which delights in obscure retreats and rugged ruins, and has no relish for

Blooming gardens and flowery meads-the unenfightened and unsanctified soul would feel itself unhappy and imprisoned, as it were, even amidst triumphant spirits, and the splendours of immortal day. Whereas the other, having ardently onged for such a state, and having previously undergone the requisite preparation for its enoyments, feels himself in a region suited to his taste, mingles with associates congenial to his disposition, engages in exercises to which he was formerly accustomed, and in which he delighted, beholds a prospect, boundless as the universe, rising before him, on which his faculties may be exercised with everlasting improvement and everlasting delight, and, consequently, experiences a "fulness of joy" which can never be interrupted, but will be always increasing "world without end."

Such are the views we must necessarily adopt respecting the state and enjoyments of these two characters in the life to come; and there is no resisting of the conclusion we have deduced respecting the ignorant and vicious individual, without supposing that something, equivalent to a miracle, will be performed in his behalf, immediately after his entrarce into the invisible world, to fit him for the employments of a state of happiness. But, for such an opinion we have no evidence, either from scripture or from reason. It would be contrary to every thing we know of the moral government of God; it would strike at the foundation of all religion and morality; it would give encourage ment to ignorance and vice; it would render nugatory all the efforts of a virtuous character to increase in knowledge and holiness during the present life, and it would give the ignorant and the licentious an equal reason for expecting eternal happiness in the world to come, as the most profound Christian philosophers, or the most enlightened and pious divines. Besides, we are assured by the "Faithful and True Witness," that, as in the future world, "he who is righteous shall remain righteous still," so "he who is unjust shall remain unjust still, and he who is filthy shall remain filthy still;" which expressions seem evidently to imply, that no more opportunities will be granted for reforming what had been amiss, and recovering the polluted and unrighteous soul to purity and rectitude. *

• Whatever opinion we may form as to the doc. trine of Universal Restoration,-it will be admitted, even by the abettors of that doctrine, that an unholy and unenlightened soul is unfit for celestial happi. ness, on its first entrance into the future world, and thousands or millions of years, or a period equiva lent to what is included in the phrase, “ages of ages," may elapse before it is fit for being restored to the dignity of its nature, and the joys of heaven. Even on this supposition, (although it were warranted by Scripture) the preparation of human be ings in the present life for a state of future happiness, must be a matter of the highest importance, since it prevents the sufferings denoted by "devour.

If, then, it appears, that we shall carry the knowledge and moral habits we acquire in this life along with us into the other world,-and if certain portion of rational and religious information and moral principle is essentially requisite to prepare us for the employments and felicities of that state-by refusing to patronise every scheme by which a general diffusion of knowledge may be promoted, we not only allow our fellow-men to wander amidst the mists of superstition, and to run heedlessly into numerous dangers, both physical and moral, we not only deprive them of exquisite intellectual enjoyments, and prevent the improvement of the arts and sciences, but we deprive them, in a certain degree, of the chance of obtaining happiness in a state of immortality. For as ignorance is the parent of vice, and as vicious propensities and indulgences necessarily lead to misery, both here and hereafter, the man whose mind is left to grope amidst intellectual darkness, can enjoy no well-founded hope of felicity in the life to come, since he is unqualified for the associations, the contemplations, and the employments of that future existence. As in the material creation, light was the first substance created before the chaos was reduced to beauty and order, so, in the intellectual world, knowledge, or light in the understanding, is the first thing which restores the moral system to harmony and order. It is the commencement of every process that leads to improvement, comfort, and moral order in this life, and that prepares us for the enjoyments of the life to come. But ignorance is both the emblem and the prelude of "the blackness of darkness for ever." This is one of the most powerful considerations which should induce every philanthropist to exert every nerve, and to further every scheme which has for its object to diffuse liberty, knowledge and moral principle among all the inhabitants of the earth.

SECTION IX.

ON THE UTILITY OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE IN RELATION TO THE STUDY OF DIVINE REVELATION.

Or all the departments of knowledge to which the human mind can be directed, there is none of greater importance than that which exhibits the real character and condition of man as a moral agent-his relation to the Deity-his eternal destiny-the way in which he may be delivered from the effects of moral evil-and the worship and service he owes to his Almighty Creator. On these and kindred topics, the

ing fire, weeping, walling and gnashing of teeth," during the indefinite and long-continued period of ages of ages."'

Christian revelation affords the most clear and satisfactory information, and the details which it furnishes on these subjects are of the highest moment, and deeply interesting to every inhabitant of the globe. But ignorance, leagued with depravity and folly, has been the cause that the sacred oracles have so frequently been treated with indifference and contempt; and that those who have professed to recognise them as the intimations of the will of Deity have been prevented from studying them with intelligence, and contemplating the facts they exhibit in all their consequences and relations.

In order to a profitable study of the doctrines, facts and prophecies contained in the Bible, it is requisite, in the first place, that a deep and thorough conviction be produced in the mind, that they are indeed the revelations of heaven, addressed to man on earth to direct his views and conduct as an accountable agent, and a candidate for immortality. From ignorance of the evidences on which the truth of Christianity rests, multitudes of thoughtless mortals have been induced to reject its authority, and have glided down the stream of licentious pleasure, sporting themselves with their own deceivings," till they landed in wretchedness and ruin. The religion of the Bible requires only to be examined with care, and studied with humility and reverence, in order to produce a full conviction of its celestial origin; and wherever such dispositions are brought into contact with a calm and intelligent investigation of the evidences of revelation, and of the facts and doctrines it discloses, the mind will not only discern its superiority to every other system of religion, but will perceive the beauty and excellence of its discoveries, and the absolute necessity of their being studied and promulgated in order to raise the human race from that degradation into which they have been so long immersed, and to promote the renovation of the moral world. And, those objections and difficulties which previously perplexed and harassed the inquirer will gradually evanish, as the mists of the morning before the orb of day.

The evidences of Christianity have been generally distributed into the external and the internal. The external may again be divided into direct or collateral. The direct evidences are such as arise from the nature, consistency, and probability of the facts; and from the simplicity, uniformity, competency and fidelity of the testimonies by which they are supported. The collateral evidences are those which arise from the concurrent testimonies of heathen writers, or others, which corroborate the history of Christianity and establish its leading facts. The internal evidences arise, either from the conformity of the announcements of revelation to the known character of God, from their aptitude to the frame and circumstances of man, or from

those convictions impressed upon the ininu og the agency of the Divine Spirit.

In regard to the external evidences, the fol lowing propositions can be supported both from the testimonies of profane writers, the Scriptures of the New Testament, and other ancient Christian writings; viz. 1, "That there is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be original witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, to new rules of conduct." And, 2, "That there is not satisfactory evidence, that persons pretending to be original witnesses of any other miracles, have acted in the same manner, in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief of the truth of these accounts." These propositions can be substantiated to the conviction of every serious and unbiassed inquirer; they form the basis of the external evidence of the Christian religion; and, when their truth is clearly discerned, the mind is irresistibly led to the conclusion, that the doctrines and facts promulgated by the first propagators of Christianity are true.

The following propositions can also be satisfactorily proved, viz. That the Jewish religion is of great antiquity, and that Moses was its founder-that the books of the Old Testament were extant long before the Christian era; a Greek translation of them having been laid up in the Alexandrian library in the aays of Ptolemy Phi ladelphus-that these books are in the main genuine, and the histories they contain worthy of credit-that many material facts which are recorded in the Old Testament are also mentioned by very ancient heathen writers-that Christianity is not a modern religion, but was professed by great multitudes nearly 1800 years ago that Jesus Christ, the founder of this religion, was crucified at Jerusalem during the reign of Tiberius Cæsar-that the first publishers of this religion wrote books containing an account of the life and doctrines of their master, several of which bore the names of those books which now make up the New Testament-that these books were frequently quoted and referred to by numerous writers from the days of the apostles to the fourth century and downwards-that they are genuine, or written by the authors whose names they bear-that the histories they contain are in the main agreeable to those facts which were asserted by the first preachers and received by the first converts to Christianity-that the facts, whether natural or supernatural, which they record, are transmitted to us with as great a de gree of evidence (if not greater) as any historical fact recorded by historians of allowed cha

racter and reputation-and that these books were written under a superintendant inspiration. These and a variety of similar propositions intimately connected with them can be fully substantiated; and the necessary conclusion of the whole is, that Christianity is a revelation from God to man, and that its truths are to be believed, and its precepts practised by all to whom they are addressed.

Miracles form one part of the external evidence by which revealed religion is supported. If God, in compassion to our benighted and bewilderea race, has thought fit to communicate a revelation of his will, there is no conceivable mode by which that revelation could be more powerfully attested, than by empowering the messengers whom he inspired to work miracles, as attestations of the truth of the doctrines they declared. Accordingly we find, that at the introduction both of the Jewish and the Christian dispensations, a series of uncontrolled miracles was exhibited to those to whom the messengers of revelation were sent, as evidences that they acted under the authority of the Creator of the aniverse. Under the administration of Moses, who founded the Jewish economy, the waters of Egypt were turned into blood, darkness covered all that country for three days, thunders and hail terrified its inhabitants and destroyed the fruits of their ground, and all their first-born were slain by a celestial messenger in one night-the Red Sea was parted asunder, the tribes of Israel passed in safety through its waves, while their enemies "sank as lead in the mighty waters;" water was brought from the flinty rock, manna from heaven was rained down to supply the wants of two millions of human beings in a barren wilderness; mount Sinai was made to tremble to its centre, and was surrounded with flames and smoke; Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with all the thousands that joined their conspiracy, were by a miraculous earthquake swallowed up in a moment; Jordan was divided when its waters overflowed its banks, and at the sound of horns the strong walls of Jericho fell prostrate to the ground. When Jesus Christ introduced the gospel dispensation, he gave incontrovertible proofs of his divine mission, by curing diseases of every description merely by his word, causing the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the blind to see; raising the dead to life, stilling the tempestuous waves and the stormy wind; turning water into wine, feeding five thousand men in a wilderness on a few loaves and fishes; and, particularly, by his own resurrection from the dead, after he had been "crucified and slain." These, as well as the miracles wrought by Moses, were demonstrative evidences of the agency and interference of the Most High; they were completely beyond the power of mere human agency, and were altogether different from the tricks of jug

glers and impostors. They were performed in the open face of day, in the presence of multitudes of persons of every description; they were level to the comprehension of every man whose faculties and senses were in a sound state; and the conclusion which every unbiassed mind behooved to draw from them, was, that "no man could do such miracles unless God was with him;" and, consequently, that the truths declared by those who were empowered to perform them, are the revelations of heaven; for it would be inconsistent with the nature of the Divine Being to suppose, that he would interpose his almighty power to control the laws of nature, for the purpose of giving his sanction to falsehood or imposture.

Of the reality of the miraculous events to which I have alluded, we have as high a degree of evidence as we have for the reality of any other fact recorded in the scriptures or in the history of the world. The single fact of the resurrection of Christ, a fact so important in the Christian system, and with which all its other facts and doctrines are essentially connected, rests upon a weight of evidence so great that the rejection of it would be almost equivalent to the adoption of universal scepticism. This fact does not rest upon the testimony of an unknown individual, or even of an unknown multitude, but on the twelve apostles who had been previously chosen for this purpose, who had accompanied their Master in all his journeys, who had been the witnesses of his miracles, sufferings, and crucifixion, and who affirmed, without the least hesitation, and in the face of every threatening and persecution, that they had seen him alive at different times, and held intimate converse with him after he had risen from the dead. It rests likewise on the testimony of the seventy disciples, and on that of the five hundred brethren who had seen the Lord after his resurrection. These persons had full opportunity of information as to the fact they asserted; they could not be deceived, for it was brought within the evidence of their senses. They saw the body of the Lord Jesus after he had been crucified and laid in the tomb-not with a passing glance, but at different times and in divers places; they had an opportunity of handling it to convince them it was no phantom; they heard him speak, and entered into intimate conversation with him on the subject of their future ministry. They saw him, not only separately, but together; not only by night, but by day, not at a distance, but immediately before then. as they could not be deceived themselves, they could have no motive for deceiving others; for they were aware that, by so doing, they exposed themselves to scorn, persecution, sufferings, and death itself, without the most distant hope of recompense cither in this world or in another. Their character and conduct were strictly

And

watched and scrutinized. Their enemies had taken every precaution which human wisdom could devise, to prevent the dead body of their Master from being removed from the sepulchre, either by fraud or by violence, and to secure the public from being deluded by any attempt at imposture. And yet, only a few days after he was buried, and in the very place where he was crucified, his resurrection was publicly asserted and proclaimed; and no attempt was made on the part of the Jewish rulers to invalidate the testimony of the apostles, by producing the dead body of him whom they had crucified-on whose tomb they had set a seal and a guard of Roman soldiers. For it is evident, that if his body could have been found, they would have produced it as the shortest and most decisive confutation of the story of the resurrection. All these circumstances being considered, to suppose that the apostles either were deceived, or attempted to deceive the world, would be to admit a miracle as great as that of the resurrection itself. But if the fact of Christ's resurrection be admitted, the truth of the evangelical history and of the doctrines of Christianity follows as a necessary consequence.

Prophecy forms another branch of the external evidences of religion. As God alone can perceive with certainty the future actions of free agents, and the remote consequences of those laws of nature which he himself establishedprophecy, when clearly fulfilled, affords the most convincing evidence of an intimate and supernatural communion between God and the person who uttered the prediction. It is evident, however, that prophecy was never intended as an evidence of an original revelation. From its very nature it is totally unfit for such a purpose, because it is impossible, without some extrinsic proof of its divine origin, to ascertain whether any prophecy be true or false, till the period arrive when it ought to be accomplished. But when it is fulfilled, it affords complete evidence, that he who uttered it spake by the spirit of God, and that the doctrines he taught were dictated by the same spirit, and, consequently, true. To us, therefore, who live in an age posterior to the fulfilment of many of the ancient prophecies, and while some of them are actually accomplishing, the fulfilment of these predictions forms a powerful and striking evidence of the divine authority of the writers both of the Old and the New Testament.

The first prophecy which was given forth in the garden of Eden, that "the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent," and the predictions of the Jewish prophets respecting the appearance, the miracles, the sufferings, the death, resurrection, and subsequent glory of Messiah, and the opposition he was to endure from the people to whom he was sent, were literally accomplished, when Jesus Christ appeared in

the world; and the narrations of the evangelists may be considered as a commentary upon these ancient prophecies. The deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and its ac complishment by Cyrus,-the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, foretold by Jeremiah,-the succession of the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman monarchies,-the persecution of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes, and the erection of the papal kingdom foretold by Daniel,and the destruction of Jerusalem and the dreadful miseries which should befall its inhabitants, foretold by Jesus Christ, have all received their accomplishment, according to the spirit and import of the original predictions, and this accomplishment is embodied in the history of nations.

But there are prophecies which were uttered several thousands of years ago, of the accomplishment of which we have sensible evidence at the present moment, if we look around us and consider the state of the nations and empires of the world. For example, it was prophesied respecting Ishmael, the son of Abraham, "that he should be a wild man; that his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him; that he should dwell in the presence of all his brethren; that he should be multiplied exceedingly, beget twelve princes, and become a great nation." This prediction has been literally accomplished in the Arubs, the undoubted descendants of Ishmael, who, for time immemorial, have been robbers by land and pirates by sea; and though their hands have been against every man, and every man's hand against them, they have always dwelt, and at this day, still dwell, in "the presence of their brethren," a free and independent people. The greatest conquerors in the world have attempted to subdue them, but their attempts uniformly failed of success. When they appeared on the brink of ruin, they were signally and providentially delivered. Alexander was preparing an expedition against them, when he was cut off in the flower of his age. Pompey was in the career of his conquest, when urgent affairs called him to another quarter. Gallius had penetrated far into their country, when a fatal diseaso destroyed great numbers of his men, and obliged him to return. Trajan besieged their capital city; but was defeated by thunder, and lightning, and whirlwinds. Severus besieged the same city twice, and was twice repelled from before it. Even the Turks have been unable to subdue the Arabs, or even to restrain their depredations; and they are obliged to pay them a sort of annual tribute for the safe passage of the pilgrims who go to Mecca to pay their devotions. The curse pronounced upon Hum; the father of Canaan, could also be shown to have been signally accomplished in the case of the Canaanites, and the Africans, their descendants, who have been literally "a servant of servants