exist no longer; so when the Son of God destroys the last enemy death, it does not follow that all death's former effects are nullified by redeeming to life those whom he has struck with his venomed dart, but that for the future it is to be no longer known amongst men, that it is" abolished," or in the words of the voice John heard, Rev. xxi. 4, "There shall be no more death."

U. I cannot agree with this.

I do not see the force of this reasoning; it seems like evading a plain statement.

B. Allow me, then, to illustrate. Suppose God, in compassion and pity to the men of that region of the earth, were to commission some being to destroy the famous Norwegian whirlpool; but that before he had any right to destroy it, he must, in his own person, overcome it by descending into its mighty vortex, and, re-ascending, bringing forth whatever he found precious within. Suppose having done this, this conquering being cast in every enemy he had, in order that thus perishing they might no more annoy him, would it be necessary, in order to destroy this whirlpool, that it should be made to disgorge those very enemies the conqueror had cast in? Would it not rather be a refusing to obey his will? And could he not, after it had engulphed them, just destroy it by putting an end to its motion, and thus, would the whirlpool cease to exist? The application is obvious, Christ having in person overcome death by rising from the grave; when he shall have rescued every saint from its power, a complete victory will be gained by them, as well as by him, by him in them, by them through him; then having made all his other enemies his footstool, i.e., rendered them subservient to his purposes, he will destroy them, by subjecting them to the second death; thus having made death also do his bidding, he will destroy it likewise, and mortality amongst men shall be known no more.

U. I see now clearly what you mean. A man might do a great deal of mischief, and some one might put an end to his life, but this would not undo the ill he had done: it would only prevent his doing further mischief; still he would be destroyed.

B. Exactly so; and, therefore, to prove your doctrine of universal salvation for the wicked as well as the righteous, you must find other foundation than the promised destruction of death.

U. Let us now consider the promise of God made to Abraham"In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Seeing that so many of the families of the earth have sunk into the grave without a participation in this blessing, either they must rise from the dead, and receive it, or the promise is broken.

B. Do you then infer from this, that every individual of all those families will be blessed?

U. I do, since if we assert of a family that they are a talented family, do we not include every individual?

B. I think not; but, generally speaking, the bulk of that family. U. Well, granting this, how could you bless the bulk of all the families of the earth without raising them from the dead?

B. The answer I give to this is, that there shall come a time when all families then existing on the earth shall be blessed; and that state of things will be when Israel, as a nation, shall themselves be blessed, and exalted above every nation then existing; but, if I mistake not, there are many other passages to the same purport. U. There is one (Gen. xviii. 18), " And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." Again (xxii. 18), And in thy seed shall all nations be blessed." Also, xxvi. 4. Now I argue, since some of the nations of the earth are now extinct, they must be raised from the dead, that they may be blessed. How do you get rid of this difficulty without evading it?

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B. I notice that God not only speaks of blessing, but of cursing also, I will curse him that curseth thee."

U. Yes; but he does not say the curse is to be an eternal one. Mark the passage. First, "I will bless them that bless thee; I will curse him that curseth thee." Here is the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those whose sins are covered and those who are exposed to the wrath of God; but then follows the universal blessing--"In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

B. There is the same gradation in the view I take. First, the blessing of certain individuals on certain conditions, and in the end the full blessing of the nations then existing; yes, and of every family through the instrumentality of the Jewish nation. allow me to enquire what you understand by justification?

But

U. There are two kinds of justification; one from the punishment entailed on all mankind by Adam's transgression, and which Paul (Romans, v. 18) calls a "justification to life," and which he tells us is come upon all men to the same extent that judgment came upon all men to condemnation; the other justification is the acquittal from the punishment due to each one's individual sins, and to escape which a sinner, by a living faith must become united to Christ, and thus be justified from all things. But what has this to do with what we were before speaking of? B. Much. Allow me to ask further. Do you consider the blessing spoken of in the promise to Abraham, concerning the universality of it, to be respective or irrespective of faith in the individual, i.e., is it what you call "justification to life,” or “justification from all things?"

U. Doubtless justification to life, and utterly irrespective of the

faith of individuals.

B. Then Paul's words (Gal. iii.) completely take away these passages as any foundation for the doctrine of universal salvation, since he applies them to "justification by faith." v. 8. "And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen, i.e., the Gentiles, or the nations through faith preached before the gospel (i.e., the good tidings) of this to Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed;" and verses 13 and 14, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive this promise (made by) the Spirit through faith." If this promise of blessing is to be received through faith, it is manifest that those only receive it who believe.

U. But I cannot think that this soul-cheering news, communicated to Abraham, can be fulfilled in the few saved, that have been gathered out of the Gentile nations at present,-God does not fulfil his promises in such a half-like sort of way.

B. I agree with you, and believe that those who have yet received the gospel into their hearts, bear the proportion to those who shall be saved, that the firstfruits bear to the harvest; in fact, we find that though Paul says (Rom. xvi. 26,) the gospel is now "made known to all nations for the obedience of faith," yet it is "to take out of them a people to his name" (Acts xv. 14,), it is the gathering of the firstfruits. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." James i. 18.

U. Then if those who are justified by faith, and now made the sons of God by adoption and favour, are the firstfruits only, how or where will you find the harvest, if you do not admit the salvation of others than these sons of God, this seed of the woman?

B. I shall not most certainly find the harvest in the “seed of the serpent:" the firstfruits are the same kind of grain as the harvest, and if the former are saved by faith, the latter must be also; the gathering of firstfruits, the taking out of the nations a people to the name of the Lord, continues only until he shall "return to build again the tabernacle of David that is fallen down, and to close up the breaches thereof;" then "the residue of men (those nations who were not reckoned amongst the known world at the time the Apostles received their commission) and all the Gentiles upon whom the name of Christ is called, shall seek after the Lord, Acts xv. 16, 17; and during the everlasting age, under the new institution connected with the kingdom of God will the harvest be ripened, and finally, redeemed; but among the thousands, and tens of thousands-the innumerable multitude, the "all nations and all families," who receive the blessing, none will have it but " through faith;" the word of the Lord that shall go forth from Jerusalem, spoken of Micah iv. 2.

Isa. ii. 3, will be the subject of faith, and the law issuing from Zion will have to be obeyed; thus the fulness of the blessing of Abraham, as well as the earnest of it, will come upon the nations through their faith, and thus the harvest will not disgrace the firstfruits.

U. Candour induces me to confess that this is a very fair view of the case; and if the salvation of the whole of mankind rested on these two arguments alone, I should be inclined to be silent about it for the future; still I wish to give your ideas of the passages a more critical examination, and will therefore, if you are agreeable, suspend the conversation for the present, and resume it at some future time. Still I believe there are declarations concerning universal salvation, which do not admit of any evasion or of any other interpretation.

B. That we shall see, then, when we meet again; in the meantime flet us beseech of Him who giveth wisdom, to guide us into all truth. S. A. T.

Correspondence.

EZEKIEL'S VISION OF DRY BONES.

Lincoln, September 15, 1849.

Mr. EDITOR,-Your correspondent, although he "loves and reads his Bible," must take a very peculiar view of that which is styled in the Scriptures, the first resurrection," to suppose my view of Ezekiel's vision can refer only to the living of Israel, for we see that the regal advent of the Messiah, as king in particular, possessing "the throne of his father David," must necessarily be the signal for the sleeping righteous seed of Abraham to be "raised in the twinkling of an eye."

I complain likewise that your correspondent confuses the political resurrection with the spiritual. These necessarily have an order. As a proof that the early part of this vision was not literal, but figurative, Ezekiel details such an order of events, so slow in progress, and withal, that for some time there is even no breath in the organized bodies-that all harmony is lost between this and the statements of Paul, of the resurrection being in a moment-in the twinkling of an eye. God gives the explanation, that these were (or represented) the whole house of Israel. Again, Ezekiel asserts in the following chapter, that after a partial restoration of the captive Jews to their own land, that the land is to be invaded by the combined powers of the North, &c., at which time the Merchants of Tarshish, and the young Lions are to stand forward as the champions or protectors of the Jews, to demand the reason of this invasion (for the Jews are never to have a constitution and political life of their own "till He comes whose right it is "); but this conflict is to be decided by the personal advent of the world's Monarch. Isa. lxvi. 15 verse to end. Zech. xiv. 4 verse, &c., at which time the dead in Christ (whether Jew or Gentile, after the flesh), if of the righteous principle of Abraham, will share the regal honours, &c. of his glorious kingdom and empire.

Subsequently to his appearing, the restored Jews are to look on Him whom they have pierced, through unbelief, &c., and shall mourn and repent. "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you." Also Ezek. chap. xxxvii. 23 v. Jer. chap. xxxi. 31 ver.

In reference to your correspondent's views, of "the resurrection of the body being the hope of Israel," for the proclamation of which Paul was a prisoner, and like to be a martyr, I would only ask why he alone was apprehended? For the Pharisees most certainly proclaim the same great truth. Yours in the hope of the gospel, J. LUXFORD.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

12, South Kinning Place, Glasgow, 19th Sept. 1849.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE GOSPEL BANNER.—

Dear Brother, Since I wrote yon, I have spent about two and a half weeks in Sanquhar, visiting and preaching in private and in public. I baptized one female. The church here has "a good report of those that are without," and Brethren who visit them speak of their brotherly kindness and love. I preached two nights at Thornhill, about twelve miles from Sanquhar, a very dark place. Had a considerable discussion at the close of my last discourse; also with a good few next day.

I returned to Sanquhar, and sent them a lot of tracts, which I got from the Brethren. I expect a good result. Having left Sanquhar, I preached once at Old Cumnock, twice at Auchinleck, once at Irvine, was with the congregation at Kilwinning on the 9th, preached at Stevenston in the evening, and arrived here the following night. I have good reason to hope that much good will follow the labours of my tour. Having visited and preached in this city Brother James Murray and I went to Hamilton on Friday. We visited, con-' versed, and distributed tracts. I delivered six discourses, baptized four females, previously members of the church, and left yesterday. I returned by Bellshill, preached faithfully the good old way, and was told that I had certainly brought some new things to their ears. The church at Hamilton numbers forty, and dates its existence from 28th January last, when six persons, dissatisfied with the popular systems with which they had been connected, met, confessed their faith, and on the 4th February they brake bread for the first time. They were soon joined by others, and their attention having been directed to the consideration of baptism, seventeen were immersed in June, and since then twentythree. They have hitherto had open communion, but as they are now all baptised, and as I have "taught them the way of the Lord more perfectly," I hope this practice will soon be discontinued. They edify themselves, have a large proportion of respectable talent, are generally decidedly devoted to God, and respectable in society.

Some few of them have been Elders in Presbyterian congregations, and, in general, they appear to be humble, and willing to learn.

May favour, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ be with them, and add to them of the saved. Yours in the hope, R. SERVICE.

Obituary.

Dundee, September 15, 1849.

DIED at Bethany Cottage, Auchtermuchty, on the 6th instant, at one o'clock, A.M., our beloved and highly esteemed Sister EUPHEMIA W. DRON, daughter of Sister Mrs. W. Dron, after a protracted illness of three months, which she endured with the greatest Christian fortitude. Her loss will be deeply felt by a large circle of friends and relatives, to whom she was endeared by the strongest