uses, according to its fitness and his pleasure.But as this is nothing to the purpose, I think I have taken too much pains here already; and I should have said little or nothing upon this part of the objection, were it not continually urged, as though the whole controversy turned and terminated upon this allusion, than which nothing seems farther from the meaning of the text; which, in its true sense, appears to be this-that as certainly as full clouds must empty themselves upon the terraqueous globe, and that every thing is what it is, and where it is, and no where else; and as a tree falling to the south, does not fall and lie to the north; and, vice versa, so, with the same certainty, shall liberality be blest and rewarded.

Friend. I have nothing to object to what you have said upon the text; it appears natural. I formerly thought it indeed, that as persons were laid in the grave, so they should rise, and that there could be no change after death; but I am fully convinced, that this belongs not to the subject. But there is another passage, in the book of Ecclesiastes, (chap. ix. 4, 5, 6.) that I should be glad to hear your opinion of: "For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know, that they must die; but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten, Also, their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever, in any thing that is done under the sun,"

Minister. It is evident that the wise man, in this and many other of his observations, only considered things with respect to the present life, without any regard to a future state. In this view, his declarations are consistent with truth; but in no other. Let the following serve as a specimen. "No man knoweth either love or hatred, by all that is before them. All things come alike to all; there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath," ver. 1, 2.- -Nothing could possibly be more false than these observations, applied to a future state, though they are generally true in this life; for if there are no future rewards and punishments, no state of retribution hereafter, there is an end to all religion. But he does not finally leave the matter so; but makes a most excellent conclusion to this book; saying.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear (or revere) GoD, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For GoD shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil, chap. xii. 13, 14.

Thus it is plain, that a living dog is better, (more useful in this world) than a dead lion; which is no longer capable of doing good or evil; that a man when he dies, loses all hopes of enjoyment in this life, and is rendered incapable of exercising the functions of it any longer; has no more a portion in any thing belonging thereto.

Thus, in fine, all the observations that can be fairly made, upon this and similar passages, belong entirely to the present state of things; and therefore, do not at all affect the argument, either one way or the other.

Friend. This is so plain, that nothing can be more so; but our Saviour's words (St. John ix. 4.) deserve a particular consideration, "I must

work the works of him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work;" -which is explained commonly of the night of death, when no more works can be wrought.

Minister. Our Lord was diligent in his labor, he constantly went about doing good; he was never idle; he was in haste, till he had finished the work which his father had given him to do. In this he was-as in every thing else—a glorious pattern and example for us! And, O that we might follow him! Now we may feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the na ked, be eyes to the blind, feet to the lame; may take in the stranger, relieve the distressed, visit the sick, the fatherless, widows and prisoners in their affliction; may bury the dead, and constantly perform works of benevolence and mercy, while we remain in this state of our existence; which if we here neglect, we never can perform at all, and of consequence, never can obtain the rewards which are promised to the obedient; but as it is not the state of rewards and punishments that we are now discoursing about, but a state beyond-even the Restoration of all things; neither is the dispute about what men can do after this life, but what God

can do, or what he has purposed to do with and for them, in the ages to come, after the dreadful sentence is past; whether they shall be left under the same, while God exist; or whether they shall ever be restored; or whether they shall be annihilated; this, you know, is the state of the question; some hold the first and others the last; but I am apt to think both these opinions are extremes, and therefore judge it safest to maintain the second, which I take to be the medium here.

Friend. Indeed I am convinced, that no circumstance preceding the general judgement, can affect the argument; because we are informed, that the condemnation of the wicked shall be at that day, when God will render to them according to their deeds, and will say to them, Depart from me, &c.-But the following texts of Scripture form a strong objection to the universal Restoration, which I would wish you well to consider.

"The expectation of the wicked shall perish; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish. Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. The eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape; and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost. His confidence, shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors. For what is the hope of the wicked, though he hath gained, when GoD taketh away his soul? Will GoD hear his cry, when

trouble cometh upon him? He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish; and the hope of unjust men perisheth. Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as a desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind: when distress and anguish come upon you: then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer: they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of JEHOVAH. They would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices," Prov. x. 28. Job, viii. 13, 14, 15. xx. 27. xi. 20. xviii. 14. xxvii. 8, 9. Prov. xxix. 1. xi. 7. 1. 24 -31.

These, and abundance of other similar passages, declare the future state of the wicked to be desperate, without hope; they and their hopes perish together, as the spider's web; they have no hopes or prospect of being redeemed; they can look for nothing but judgement and fiery indignation, which shall devour them as stubble fully dry, and as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. Solomon says. "The ex

pectation of the wicked is wrath," Prov. xi. 23. "As he loved cursing, so shall it come unto him; as he delighted not in blessing, so shall it be far