sing them all, the evil and the good, the thankless and the thankful, with genial suns and copious showers. Those whose conduct, in loving and blessing their enemies, bears the most striking resemblance to the examples of the Great Universal Friend of all, are best entitled to the name of his children ;-"the children of your Father in heaven." But I shall weary your patience, I fear.

Inq. By no means, Sir. The theme of your discourse must be grateful to every benevolent mind. That heart must be perverted that would not thrill with joy while pondering on the noble sentiments of David, and of David's Lord and Saviour, in regard to the obligations of men, to praise the Lord for his great and wonderful goodness, and to imitate him as far as possible in all his imitable perfections. While you were speaking, I was reminded of the beautiful words of the Psalmist, on which my soul has often dwelt with unspeakable devotion and rapture. I thought you might have quoted them with propriety. They are found in the 72d Psalm, and nearly as follows. "He (Christ) shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; and all nations shall serve him. His name shall endure forever his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him: all

nations shall call him blessed." These are precious promises; and the righteous, howsoever scattered abroad and divided by sectarian names, may have this consolation, that the greater the number of the blessed in Christ, the greater will be the number to call HIM BLESSED. Should it be all nations of the earth, we should have reason to rejoice rather than mourn.

But can it be shown that the apostles of our Lord enjoined the practice of good works, on the ground of the universal grace of God, revealed for the salvation of all men? If this can be made evident, I shall be almost persuaded, that the difficulty embraced in my query is wholly removed.

Uni. Well, Sir, I can at once convince you that the apostles of Christ followed the example of their leader, and taught after the manner you have suggested. Still I am not anxious to have you, or any one else who has been educated in a limitarian scheme, become too easy a convert to the universal doctrine. I hope you will not yield assent, so long as a reasonable doubt of the truth of the system lingers in your mind, or a fragment of prejudice influences your will.

But now for the evidence in question. In the Acts of the Apostles, the doctrine of repentance, conversion, and forgiveness, is immediately connected with the "restitution of all things," as announced by all the holy prophets of the Lord. (See Acts iii, 19, 20, 21, which may be examined at leisure.) And St. Paul, in his eplstle to the Romans, after having labored his cause in a masterly manner, and shown that God had concluded all, both Jews and Gentiles, in unbelief,

that he might have mercy upon all, commences the 12th chapter of that book, with a warm and energetic exhortation to believers, to bring forth fruits worthy of the doctrine he had just illustrated and established. And to preserve a due connection between theory and practice, the premises and inferences, he grounds his moral suasion on "the mercies of God," which David represents as universal, and ever-enduring. Thus, "I beseech you, therefore, [or in view of the preceding arguments] brethren, by the mercies of God, [as just illustrated] that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed

to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." (Rom. xii. 1, 2.) Good works are here enjoined on Christians, in the most affectionate manner, on the ground of the universal goodness and mercy of God, and in reference to his will, that all men should be saved.

The next passages I shall name, are from the same apostle: "But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, &c. For the grace of God which bringeth salvation unto all men, hath appeared teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, &c. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works. These

things are good and profitable unto men." (Titus ii, in toto, and iii, 8, with the context.)

I may as well stop here as to multiply proofs. If the above selections do not demonstrate that the framers of our Profession of Faith followed the teaching of the apostles, then no language could afford such demonstration. However, if

Inq. Excuse me for interrupting you, Sir, as no further proof is demanded. All that remains to be done is, to remove such objections as may fairly be brought to bear upon the credibility of the doctrine of the restitution and salvation of the world. And yet, I am rather too fast. A query arose in my mind a few minutes since, which I had like to have forgotten to mention. It regards an important point of doctrine, which seems to have been purposely or accidentally omitted by the framers of your creed and the founders of your doctrine in America. There is nothing said about the moral agency or accountability of the creature. Nothing is said of sin and its punishment; whether the whole penalty of the divine law is endured in this life, or not at all, or in the future. How shall I understand this matter?

Uni. How shall you understand it, my good friend? Why, by divesting yourself as much as possible of prejudice, and looking over the matter with more care. You imagine that our Creed, as you call it, presents no declaration concerning the moral accountability of man; and yet, the first article reads, "We believe the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain a revelation of the character of God, and of the duty, interest, and final destination of mankind."

What "duty" could man owe to his Maker, if he suffered nothing by disobedience? The words "moral agency and accountability," it is true, are not mentioned in the article; neither are they in the Scriptures. The article is truly Protestant, leaving every one at full liberty to read and judge for himself, in regard to the nature of sin, and the time and duration of its punishment; all agreeing, however, that sin and misery are finite, and cannot extend beyond "the times of restitution," "the dispensation of the fulness of times," or "the delivering up of the kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all." And, certainly, there was no necessity of introducing that topic into the Profession of Faith.

Inq. Indeed there was not! and why so, pray tell me? Why not rather the utmost propriety in giving it a place?

Uni. Answer; for the plainest of all reasons; because, if there is any express revelation on the subject, there was no more necessity for naming it in the articles of belief, than there was for mentioning many other things which are plainly declared. The doctrine of a resurrection from the dead, is of paramount importance; and yet it is not mentioned in our Profession of Faith.

Though we all agree that it is clearly revealed in the Scriptures that the dead shall rise, and this mortal put on immortality, yet there is no testimony on the subject so definite, as to produce a universal agreement, as to the time and manner of their rising. Similar remarks will apply to the subject of rewards and punishments. It is admitted on all hands, that God has expressly said, that he will reward every man according

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