partial philanthropy. THIS IS THE NAKED TRUTH, LET WHO WILL DISBELIEVE IT!! But I would at the same time add, that he cannot, he will not act inconsistent with himself, destroy the equilibrium of his divine attributes, and the reasonableness of man's free agency, in order to bring man from present misery to future happiness; THE FACT IS, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO DO IT. There can be no true happiness but in the love of God, and that love must not be forced, but must be of free choice, as any other love is unworthy of him. He nevertheless can, and he certainly does, use every means consistent with his attributes, to win man to his own happiness, as I have demonstrated in our second department. How feelingly does he expostulate with the rebellious and ungrateful Israelites, in the fifth chapter of Isaiah.* • In the phraseology of Isaiah, I would ask the reader, or I would rather entreat him to ask his own "Now will I sing to my well-beloved, a song of my beloved touching his vineyard; reason and common sense, What God could do more for him than what he has already done? "What could' I do for my people that I have not done?" Reader, O! do!! read and answer these kind interrogations, as you will wish you had done, when you are nailed on the bed of death, or arraigned at the bar of God, which perhaps will shortly be the case! "What could thy best friend on earth, what could pitying angels, what could the Author of all good, do for thee, that has not been done? Thy Creator hath given thee reason to distinguish between good and evil; to know what is thy life, and what will seal thy ruin. He hath placed conscience in thy breast, to warn thee in the moment of thy guilt. He hath sent down to thee, Him, whom he had dearest in all heaven, to give thee yet ampler instruction in the way to bliss. And the Son condescended to come with the same willingness as the Father sent him, though with the certain knowledge, that, like a patriot rising in defence of his country, his coming must cost him his life. The richest blood that ever flowed, has been shed for thy worthlessness, and for such as thou art. Shame and torture have been despised for the sake of bringing My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it and gather thee to good. And wilt thou grudge to forego a lit. tle sordid pleasure, to shew thyself grateful for all this goodness? Go with me then, to Golgotha, and insult thy suffering Saviour in his agonies. Behold there a sight, which the sun would not look upon. View with dry eyes, what made angels weep. Har. den thy heart at an object, which rent the rocks, and brought the dead out of their graves. His arms stretched on the cursed tree, invite thee to bliss. Though now feeble and languid, they will quickly raise a world from the grave, and lay the angel of death full low. I am not describing a fancied scene. The witnesses of the death and resurrection of Jesus, have sealed the truth of what they saw with their blood. But canst thou find a heart to crucify him afresh, by persisting in the crimes, which brought on him this cruel death? If thou hast been so wicked, bethink thee of thy obstinacy. If thou dost, even now, repent, he has prayed for thee, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.'-Behold how deadly pale his sacred countenance ! Cruel are the agonies, which rend his tender frame. His strength fails ; his heart breaks; the strong pangs of death ed out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jeru are on him. Now he atters his last solemn words, • It is finished.' What is finished? The suffering part, to which his dear love for mankind exposed him. The rest is victory and triumph; and the salvation of a world will reward his glorious toil. But what salvation ? Not of the obdurate, with all their vices about them; but of the heart-bleeding penitent, who has bid a last farwell to vice, and to every tempta. tion, which leads to it. To such the blessed gospel speaks nothing but peace. For them it has no terrors." I would humbly entreat the reader, before he proceeds farther in the perusal of these strictures, to meditate five minutes upon the above interrogations, upon the past mercies and favours of God, which he has experienced ; finally, upon the solemn interrogation of our blessed Lord, viz. “What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and loose his own soul?” and then let him candidly answer each interrogation. salem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, Yet these same ungrateful Israelites attended to all the formalities of religion, as many professed Christians now do, yet alas! it |