rence of wicked deeds and the punishment which they deserve, and that his providence presides over the actions of moral agents, and gives intimations of the future destiny of those haughty spirits who obstinately persist in their trespasses. And, consequently, as the peace and serenity of virtuous minds are preludes of nobler enjoyments in a future life, so those terrors which now assail the wicked may be considered as the beginnings of that misery and anguish which will be consummated in the world to come, in the case of those who add final impenitence to all their other crimes. SECTION VIII. ON THE DISORDERED STATE OF THE MORAL WORLD, WHEN CONTRASTED WITH THE REGULAR AND SYSTEMATICAL ORDER OF THE MATERIAL. The disordered state of the moral world, contrasted with the regular and systematical order of the material, affords a strong presumption of another state in which the moral evils which now exist will be corrected. When we take a general survey of the great fabric of the universe, or contemplate more minutely any of its subordinate arrangements, the marks of beauty, order and harmony, are strikingly apparent. Every thing appears in its proper place, moving onward in majestic order, and accomplishing the end for which it was intended. In the planetary system, the law of gravitation is found to operate exactly in proportion to the square of the distance, and the squares of the periodic times of the planets' revolutions round the sun are exactly proportionate to the cubes of their distances. Every body in this system finishes its respective revolution in exactly the same period of time, so as not to deviate a single minute in the course of a century. The annual revolution of the planet Jupiter was ascertained two centuries ago, to be accomplished in 4330 days, 14 hours, 27 minutes, and 11 seconds, and his rotation round his axis in 9 hours, 56 minutes, and these revolutions are still found to be performed in exactly the same times. The earth performs its diurnal revolutlon, from one century to another, bringing about the alternate succession of day and night. in exactly the same period of 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds. Throughout the whole of this system, there is none of the bodies of which it is composed that stops in its motion, or deviates from the path prescribed. No one interrupts another in its course, nor interferes to prevent the beneficial influences of attractive power, or of light, and heat. Were it otherwise were the earth to stop in its diurnal revolution, and delay to usher in the dawn at its appointed time, or were the planets to dash one against another, and to run lawless.y through the sky, the system of Nature would run into confusion, its inhabitants would be thrown into a state of anarchy, and deprived of all their enjoyments. But, in consequence of the order which now prevails, the whole presents to the eye of intelligence an admirable display of beauty and harmony, and of infinite wisdom and design. In like manner, if we attend to the arrangements of our sublunary system-to the revolutions of the seasons, the course of the tides, the motions of the rivers, the process of evaporation, the periodical changes of the winds, and the physical economy of the animal and vegetable tribes the same systematic order and harmony may be perceived.-In the construction and movements of the human frame, there is a striking display of systematic order and beauty. Hundreds of muscles of different forms, hundreds of bones variously articulated, thousands of lacteal and lymphatic vessels, and thousands of veins and arteries all act in unison every moment, in order to produce life and enjoyment, Every organ of sense is admirably fitted to receive impressions from its corresponding objects. The eye is adapted to receive the impression of light, and light is adapted to the peculiar construction of the eye; the ear is adapted to sound, and the constitution of the air and its various undulations are fitted to make an impression on the tympanum of the ear. Even in the construction of the meanest insect we perceive a series of adaptations, and a system of organization no less regular and admirable than those of man ;—and as much care appears to be bestowed in bending a claw, articulating a joint, or clasping the filaments of a feather, to answer its intended purpose, as if it were the only object on which the Creator was employed.-—And it is worthy of remark, that our views of the harmony and order of the material world become more admirable and satisfactory, in proportion as our knowledge of its arrangements is enlarged and extended. Whether we explore, with the telescope, the bodies which are dispersed through the boundless regions of space, or pry, by the help of the microscope, into the minutest parts of nature, we perceive traces of order, and of exquisite mechanism and design which excite ad miration and wonder in every contemplative mind. Before the invention of the microscope, we might naturally have concluded, that all beyond the limits of natural vision was a scene of confusion, a chaotic mass of atoms without life. form, or order; but we now clearly perceive. that every thing is regular, and systematic, that even the dust on a butterfly's wing, every distinct particle of which is invisible to the naked eye, consists of regularly organized feathersthat in the eye of a small insect, ten thousand nicely polished globules are beautifully arranged on a transparent net-work within the compass of one-twentieth of an inch-and that myriads of aving beings exist, invisible to the unassisted sight, with bodies as curiously organised, and as nicely adapted to their situations as the bodies of men and of the larger animals. So that the whole frame of the material world presents a scene of infinite wisdom and intelligence, and a display of systematic order, beauty, and proportion. Every thing bears the marks of benevolent design, and is calculated to produce happiness in sentient beings. On the other hand, when we take a survey of the moral world in all the periods of its history, we perceive throughout almost every part of its extent, an inextricable maze, and a scene of clashing and confusion, which are directly opposed to the harmony and order which pervade the material system. When we take a retrospective view of the moral state of mankind, during the ages that are past, what do we behold, but a revolting scene of perfidy, avarice, injustice, and revenge,-of wars, rapine, devastation, and bloodshed; nation rising against nation, one empire dashing against another, tyrants exercising the most horrid cruelties, superstition and idolatry immolating millions of victims, and a set of desperate villains, termed heroes, prowling over the world, turning fruitful fields into a wilderness, burning towns and villages, plundering palaces and temples, drenching the earth with human gore, and erecting thrones on the ruins of nations? Here we behold an Alexander, with his numerous armies, driving the ploughshare of destruction through surrounding nations, levelling cities with the dust, and massacring their inof fensive inhabitants in order to gratify a mad ambition, and to be eulogised as a hero,-there we behold a Xerxes, fired with pride and with the lust of dominion, leading forward an army of three millions of infatuated wretches to be slaughtered by the victorious and indignant Greeks. Here we behold an Alaric, with his barbarous hordes, ravaging the southern countries of Europe, overturning the most splendid monuments of art, pillaging the metropolis of the Roman empire, and deluging its streets and houses with the blood of the slain,-there we behold a Tamerlane overrunning Persia, India, and other regions of Asia, carrying slaughter and devastation in his train, and displaying his sportive cruelty, by pounding three or four thousand people at a time in large mortars, and building their bodies with bricks and mortar into a wall. On the one hand, we behold six millions of Crusaders marching in wild confusion through the eastern parts of Europe, devouring every thing before them, like an army of locusts, breathing destruction to Jews and infidels, and massacring the inhabitants of Western Asia with infernal fury. On the other hand, we behold the immense forces of Jenghiz Kan ravag ing the kingdoms of Eastern Asia, to an extent of 15 millions* of square miles, beheading 100,000 prisoners at once, convulsing the world with terror, and utterly exterminating from the earth fourteen millions of human beings. At one period, we behold the ambition and jealousy of Marius and Sylla embroiling the Romans in all the horrors of a civil war, deluging the city of Rome for five days with the blood of her citizens, transfixing the heads of her senators with poles, and dragging their bodies to the Forum to be devoured by dogs. At another, we behold a Nero trampling on the laws of nature and society, plunging into the most abominable debaucheries, practising cruelties which fill the mind with horror, murdering his wife Octavia, and his mother Agrippina, insulting Heaven and mankind by offering up thanksgivings to the gods on the perpetration of these crimes, and setting fire to Rome, that he might amuse himself with the universal terror and despair which that calamnity inspired. At one epoch, we behold the Goths and Vandals rushing like an overflowing torrent, from east to west, and from north to south, sweeping before them every vestige of civilization and art, butchering all within their reach without distinction of age or sex, and marking their path with rapine, desolation, and carnage. At another, we behold the emissaries of the Romish See slaughtering, without distinction or mercy, the mild and pious Albigenses, and transforming their peaceful abodes into a scene of universal consternation and horror, while the inquisition is torturing thousands of devoted victims, men of piety and virtue, and committing their bodies to the flames. At one period of the world,† almost the whole earth appeared to be little else than one great field of battle, in which the human race seemed to be threatened with utter extermination. The Vandals, Huns, Sarinatians, Alans, and Suevi, were ravaging Gaul, Spain, Germany, and other parts of the Roman empire; the Goths were plundering Rome, and laying waste the cities of Italy; the Saxons and Angles were overrunning Britain and overturning the government of the Romans. The armies of Justinian and of the Huns and Vandals were desolating Africa, and butchering mankind by millions. The whole forces of Scythia were rushing with irresistible impulse on the Roman empire, desolating the countries, and almost exterminating the in abitants wherever they came. The Persian armies were pillaging Hierapolis, Aleppo, and the surrounding cities, and reducing them to ashes; and were laying waste all Asia, from the Tigris to the Bosphorus. The Arabians under Mahomet Christian era. and his successors were extending their conquests over Syria, Palestine, Persia, and India, on the east, and over Egypt, Barbary, Spain, and the islands of the Mediterranean, on the west; cutting in pieces with their swords all the enemies of Islamism. In Europe, every kingdom was shattered to its centre; in the Mahommedan empire in Asia, the Caliphs, Sultans, and Emirs were waging continual wars ;-new sovereignties were daily rising, and daily destroyed; and Africa was rapidly depopulating, and verging towards desolation and barbarism. Amidst this universal clashing of nations, when the whole earth became one theatre of bloody revolutions,-scenes of horror were displayed, over which historians wished to draw a veil, lest they should transmit an example of inhumanity to succeeding ages-the most fertile and populous provinces were converted into deserts, overspread with the scattered ruins of villages and cities-every thing was wasted and destroyed with hostile cruelty-famine raged to such a degree that the living were constrained to feed on the dead bodies of their fellow-citizens prisoners were tortured with the most exquisite cruelty, and the more illustrious they were, the more barbarously were they insulted-cities were left without a living inhabitant-public buildings which resisted the violence of the flames were levelled with the ground-every art and science was abandoned-the Roman empire was shattered to its centre and its power annihilated-avarice, perfidy, hatred, treachery, and malevolence reigned triumphant; and virtue, benevolence, and every moral principle were trampled under foot. Such scenes of carnage and desolation have been displayed to a certain extent and almost without intermission, during the whole period of this world's history. For the page of the historian, whether ancient or modern, presents to our view little more than revolting details of ambitious conquerors carrying ruin and devastation in their train, of proud despots trampling on the rights of mankind, of cities turned into ruinous heaps, of countries desolated, of massacres perpetrated with infernal cruelty, of nations dashing one against another, of empires wasted and destroyed, of political and religious dissensions, and of the general progress of injustice, immorality, and crime. Compared with the details on these subjects, all the other facts which have occurred in the history of mankind are considered by the historian as mere interludes in the great drama of the world, and almost unworthy of being recorded. Were we to take a survey of the moral world as it now stands, a similar prospect, on the whole, would be presented to our view. Though the shades of depravity with which it is overspread are not so thick and dark, nor its commotions so numerous and violent as in ancient times, yet the aspect of every nation under heaven presents to our view, features which are directly opposita to every thing we should expect to contemplate in a world of systematic order, harmony, and love. If we cast our eyes towards Asia we shall find the greater part of five hundred millions of human beings involved in political commotions, immersed in vice, ignorance, and idolatry, and groaning under the lash of tyrannical despots. In Persia, the cruelty and tyranny of its rulers have transformed many of its most fertile provinces into scenes of desolation. In Turkey, the avarice and fiend-like cruelty of the Grand Seignior and his Bashaws have drenched the shores of Greece with the blood of thousands, turned Palestine into a wilderness, and rendered Syria, Armenia, and Kurdistan scenes of injustice and rapine. In China and Japan a spirit of pride and jealousy prevents the harmonious intercourse of other branches of the human family, and infuses a cold-blooded selfishness into the breasts of their inhabitants, and a contempt of surrounding nations. Throughout Tartary, Arabia, and Siberia, numerous hostile tribes are incessantly prowling among deserts and forests in quest of plunder, so that travellers are in continual danger of being either robbed, or murdered, or dragged into captivity.-If we turn our eyes upon Africa, we behold human nature sunk into a state of the deepest degradation—the states of Barbary in incessant hostile commotions, and plundering neighbouring nations both by sea and land-the petty tyrants of Dahomy, Benin, Ashantee, Congo, and Angola, hantee, Congo, and Angola, waging incessant wars with neighbouring tribes, masssacring their prisoners in cold blood, and decorating their palaces with their skulls-while other degraded hordes, in conjunction with civilized nations, are carrying on a traffic in man-stealing and slavery, which has stained the human character with crimes at which humanity shudders.-If we turn our eyes towards America, we shall find that war and hostile incursions are the principal employments of their native tribes, and that the malignity of infernal demons, is displayed in the tortures they inflict upon the prisoners taken in battle, while anarchy, intolerance, and political commotions, still agitate a great proportion of its more civilized inhabitants.-If we take a survey of the Eastern Archipelago, and of the islands which are scattered over the Pacific Ocean, we shall behold immense groups of human beings, instead of living in harmony and affection, displaying the most ferocious dispositions towards each other, hurling stones, spears and darts on every stranger who attempts to land upon their coasts; offering up human sacrifices to their infernal deities, and feasting with delight on the flesh and blood of their enemies. If we direct our attention towards Europe, the most tranquil and civilized portion of the globe even here we shall behold numerous symptoms of political anarchy and moral disorder. During the last thirty years, almost every nation in this quarter of the world has been convulsed to its centre, and become the scene of hostile commotions, of revolutions, and of garments rolled in blood. We have beheld France thrown from a state of aristocratical tyranny and priestly domination into a state of popular anarchy and ronfusion-her ancient institutions razed to the ground, her princes and nobles banished from her territories, and her most celebrated philosophers, in company with the vilest miscreants, perishing under the stroke of the guillotine. We have beheld a Buonaparte riding in triumph through the nations over heaps of slain. scattering "firebrands, arrows, and death," and producing universal commotion wherever he appeared; overturning governments, "changing times," undermining the thrones of emperors, and setting up kings at his pleasure. We have beheld his successors again attempting to entwine the chains of tyranny around the necks of their subjects, and to hurl back the moral world into the darkness which overspread the nations during the reign of Papal superstition. We have beheld Poland torn in pieces by the insatiable fangs of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, her fields drenched with blood, her patriots slaughtered, and her name blotted out from the list of nations. We have beheld Moscow enveloped in flames, its houses, churches, and palaces tumbled into ruins, the blackened carcases of its inhabitants blended with the fragments, and the road to Smolensko covered with the shattered remains of carriages, muskets, breast-plates, helmets, and garments strewed in every direction, and thousands of the dying and the dead heaped one upon another in horrible confusion, and swimming in blood. We have beheld the demon of war raging at Borodino, Austerlitz, the Tyrol, Wilna, Smolensko, Trafalgar, Camperdown, Eylau, Jena, La Vendee, Cadiz, Warsaw, Friedland, Talavera, Sebastian, Lutzen, Leipsic, and Waterloo, demolishing cities, desolating provinces, and blending the carcasses of horses and cattle with the mangled remains of millions of human beings. We have beheld Spain and Portugal thrown into anarchy and commotion, and become the scenes of bloody revolutions-Turkey waging war with religion and liberty-Greece overrun with bloodthirsty Mahometans, and her shores and islands the theatre of the most sanguinary contests. And what do we just now behold when we cast our eyes on surrounding nations? Russia pushing forward her numerous armies into the confines of Persia for the purpose of depredation and slaughter, the Grand Seignior ruling his subjects with a rod of iron, and decorating the gates of his palace with hundreds of the heads and ears of his enemies,* while his Janizaries are * In a communication from Odessa, dated August 5, 1921, it was stated, that the five hundred heads and fomenting incessant insurrections,-the Greeks engaged in a contest for liberty, surroundea with blood-thirsty antagonists, and slaughtered without mercy,-Portugal the scene of intestine broils and revolutions,-Spain under the control of a silly priest-ridden tyrant, to gratify whose lust of absolute power, thousands of human beings have been sacrificed, and hundreds of eminent patriots exiled from their native land,— the Inquisition torturing its unhappy victims,— the Romish church thundering its anathemas against all who are opposed to its interests,the various sectaries of Protestants engaged in mutual recriminations and contentions,-and the princes and sovereigns on the Continent almost all combined to oppose the progress of liberty, and to prevent the improvement of the human mind. ant. If we come nearer home, and take a view of the every-day scenes which meet our eye, what do we behold? A mixed scene of bustling and confusion, in which vice and malevolence are most conspicuous, and most frequently triumphWhen we contemplate the present aspect of society, and consider the prominent dispositions and principles which actuate the majority of mankind,-the boundless avaricious desires which prevail, and the base and deceitful means by which they are frequently gratified—the unnatural contentions which arise between husbands and wives, fathers and children, brothers and sisters-the jealousies which subsist between those of the same profession or employmentthe bitterness and malice with which law-suits are commenced and prosecuted-the malevolence and caballing which attend electioneering contests--the brawlings, fightings, and altercations, which so frequently occur in our streets, alehouses, and taverns-and the thefts, robberies, and murders, which are daily committed,-when we contemplate the haughtiness and oppression of the great and powerful, and the insubordination of the lower ranks of society-when we see widows and orphans suffering injustice; the virtuous persecuted and oppressed; meritorious characters pining in poverty and indigence; fools, profligates, and tyrants, rioting in wealth and abundance; generous actions unrewarded crimes unpunished; and the vilest of men raised to stations of dignity and honour-we cannot but admit, that the moral world presents a scene of discord and disorder, which mar both the sensitive and intellectual enjoyments of mankind. Such, then, are the moral aspects of our world, and the disorders which have prevailed during twelve hundred ears of the Greeks, sent by the Cap tain Pacha to Constantinople, after the taking of Ipsara, were exposed on the gate of the seraglio, on the 20th of July, with the following inscription: "God has blessed the arms of the Mussulmans, and the detestable rebels of Ipsara are extirpated from the face of the world," &c. It was added, "AU friendly powers have congratulated the Sublime Porte on this victory." every period of its history. They evidently present a striking contrast to the beauty and harmony which pervade the general constitution of the material system-to the majestic movements of the planetary orbs, the regular succession of day and night, and the vicissitudes of the seasons; the changes of the moon, the ebbing and flowing of the sea; the admirable functions of the human system; and the harmonious adaptations of light and heat, air and water, and the various objects in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms to the wants and the comfort of animated beings. And can we, for a moment, suppose that this scene of moral disorder and anarchy was the ultimate end for which the material system was created? Can we suppose that the earth is every moment impelled in its annual and diurnal course by the hand of Omnipotence that it presents new beauties every opening spring-brings forth the treasures of autumn, and displays so many sublime and variegated landscapes-that the sun diffuses his light over all its regions, that the moon cheers the shades of night, and the stars adorn the canopy of the sky, from one generation to another -merely that a set of robbers and desperadoes, and the murderers of nations, might prowl over the world for the purpose of depredation and slaughter, that tyrants might gratify their mad ambition, that vice might triumph, that virtue might be disgraced, that the laws of moral order might be trampled under foot, and that the successive generations of mankind might mingle in this bustling and discordant scene for a few years, and then sink for ever into the shades of annihilation? Yet such a conclusion we are ɔbliged to admit, if there is no future state in which the present disorders of the moral world will be corrected, and the plan of the divine government more fully developed. And if this conclusion be admitted, how shall we be able to perceive or to vindicate the wisdom of the Creator in his moral administration? We account it folly in a human being when he constructs a machine, either for no purpose at all, or for no good purpose, or for the promotion of mischief. And how can we avoid ascribing the same imperfection to the Deity, if the present state of the moral world be the ultimate end of all his physical arrangements? But his wisdom is most strikingly displayed in the adaptations and arrangements which relate to the material system, and a Being possessed of boundless intelligence must necessarily be supposed to act in consistency with himself. He cannot display wisdom in the material system, and folly in those arrangements which pertain to the world of mind. To suppose the contrary, would be to divest him of his moral attributes, and even to call in question his very existence. We are therefore necessarily led to conclude, that the present state of the moral world is only a small part of the great plan of God's moral go vernment-the commencement of a series of dispensations to be completed in a future scene of existence, in which his wisdom, as well as all his other attributes, will be fully displayed before the eyes of his intelligent offspring. If this conclusion be admitted, it is easy to conceive, how the moral disorders which now exist may be rectified in a future world, and the intelligent universe restored to harmony and happiness, and how those moral dispensations which now appear dark and mysterious, will appear illustrative of divine wisdom and intelligence, when contemplated as parts of one grand system, which is to run parallel in duration with eternity itself. But, if this be rejected, the moral world presents to our view an inextricable maze, a chaos, a scene of interminable confusion, and no prospect appears of its being ever restored to harmony and order. The conduct of the Deity appears shrouded in impenetrable darkness; and there is no resisting of the conclusion, that imperfection and folly are the characteristics of the Almighty-a conclusion from which the mind shrinks back with horror, and which can never be admitted by any rational being who recognises a supreme intelligence presiding over the affairs of the universe. SECTION IX. ON THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN THE PRESENT STATE. The unequal distribution of rewards and punishments in the present state, viewed in connexion with the justice and other attributes of the Deity, forms another powerful argument in support of the doctrine of a future state. It is admitted, to a certain extent, that "virtue is its own reward, and vice its own punishment." The natural tendency of virtue, or an obedience to the laws of God, is to produce happiness; and were it universally practised, it would produce the greatest degree of happiness of which human nature in the present state is susceptible. In like manner, the natural tendency of vice is to produce misery; and were its prevalence universal and uncontrolled, the world would be transformed into a society of demons, and every species of happiness banished from the abodes of men. By connecting happiness with the observance of his laws, and misery with the violation of them, the Governor of the world, in the general course of his providence, gives a display of the rectitude of his character, and the impartiality of his allotments towards the subjects of his government. But, although these positions hold true, in the general course of human affairs, there are inu |