their Author, as well as his perfect wisdom and infinite power. And if these perfections are not so clearly displayed in the powers and faculties of man, and the circumstances of the present state, upon the presumption that death annihilates the thinking faculty; but are perfectly reconcileable with them upon the contrary supposition, it is reasonable to conclude that there is a future state of retribution, where all the irregularities of the present life will be rectified, and the natural and moral attributes of the Divine Being will appear in all their lustre to an assembled universe.

For the purpose of examining the subject more narrowly, let us consider that this wise and good Being has imparted a vital principle to men, evidently superior to, and distinct from, the body, with its various appetites and affections. This principle is capable of knowing, loving, and adoring its Creator. It is furnished with many admirable faculties which are capable of progressive and endless improvement. It entertains, too, an ardent and inextinguishable desire for a future state of existence; and is evidently placed in this world, in a state of responsibility and trial. Now if we are intended only for the present life, why, in the first place, are we formed religious creatures? Why are we capable of knowing God, of loving him, trusting in him, and resigning ourselves to his disposal? We might have performed all the duties of this life, and passed through it with tolerable composure, without this sublime knowledge. Why are we formed, in some measure, to see and to know him, if we be never to know him more perfectly, and if we be never to receive fuller

communications of his goodness, and of his love? Every thing tells to us that there is a God: our own frame, the order, the regularity, the utility of every part, our mercies, our judgments, all speak loudly, all proclaim to us the same thing. But why all this instruction? To what wise purpose? What is its object? Our capacity of discerning, of reading, or of hearing all these voices, which we enjoy, greatly superior to every other creature, assures us that the whole of this instruction is principally addressed to us. Yet for what purpose, unless we are peculiarly interested? This leads us then to the conclusion, Verily there must be a future state for which we are designed, and which has all this instruction for its object.

In the second place, many of the faculties of the soul seem unnecessary and superfluous, if we were intended only for the present life. As inhabitants of this earth, only, we should certainly have been much happier without these hopes, and fears, and desires, and that longing after immortality. We might have been enabled to perform all the duties of the present life, without that high degree of reason, and imagination, which are peculiar to man. That instinct which directs the lower animals to make proper provision for themselves and offspring, might have been sufficient to have guided, and to have prompted man to all the duties that are required of him, as a mortal creature. The knowledge of a Supreme Being, and of his perfections, that inquisitive principle which leads us to search out and examine the works of the Creator, which, not content with what we meet with in this world, raises man to con

nect himself with other worlds, and to search after those laws which govern the universe, which excites man to pursue with avidity, more and more knowledge, are all unnecessary if he be only the creature of a day, the short-lived inhabitant of this earth. To make provision for the immediate wants of nature, to procure food, and to provide proper habitations, require none of those high powers which carry man beyond his present happiness. Chained down to the present existence, his wishes should have been confined to the present spot, and to the engagements of the day; for he, has no concern, and no interest in other worlds, and futurity is not his portion. For what use are all these natural fears implanted in his breast? Conscience is every now and then giving to him uneasy alarms, and tormenting him with awful forebodings. To what point are all these forebodings directed? It is the language of nature, pointing out to us an hereafter, and telling man that his existence, and all his powers, must extend beyond the grave. If there be no hereafter, such a principle can only serve to distress man, and to imbitter all his enjoy

ments.

Thirdly, there is an unextinguishable desire for immortality, implanted in the hearts of all men. A principle so steady and universal, must have been given him for some wise end. That this is a natural principle, we may infer from all men having it in possession. However different in capacity, in civilization, talents, education, and every thing,-wherever we find human nature, and under whatever form, we always find a passionate desire for the continuation

of existence. Men in general desire existence even when loaded with misery. Death, as the extinction of being, is ever looked upon with horror and aversion. There is, to be sure, one case, where annibilation appears desirable. A guilty conscience dreads a future judgment; and hence men are induced, and strive to believe, that all may end with the present world, that there may be no account, no God, and no ETERNITY.

But in general, existence is so desirable, that men wish to retain it in almost any condition. The most miserable seldom abandon their hope. The dread of falling into nothing, makes death terrible, even to the wise and good. Now this passionate desire for existence, renders it highly probable that there must be some object corresponding to this desire, some eternal world that so powerfully attracts every heart. That the future world is not an object of sense, that we cannot see it with our mortal eyes, is no objection to its existence. The longing after immortality points to a future world. In the works of nature, some secret attraction indicates the existence of some universal agent. The magnetic needle assures us that there is some corresponding object to which it turns, sufficiently powerful to produce this attraction; and in whatever quarter of the world it is placed, it always directs itself to this point. So, in like manner, the soul, wherever situated, is ever stretching to a future existence, as the centre and object of all its wishes, and towards which all its desires are directed. The all-wise Creator has made nothing in vain. Every appetite and every affection

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found in man, is planted there for some wise and benevolent purpose; and is intended to answer some good end in the constitution of our nature.

And

must there not, then, be some object in the universe, some future world which all men so earnestly seek after? For what other purpose could such a principle be planted so deeply in the human heart? There is, perhaps, not a single plant, nor insect, in nature, but what is intended to answer some wise purpose. All is useful, every thing in its proper place. And can we then suppose that in the most perfect of all God's works here below, we find a principle deeply implanted, and universally prevalent, without any object corresponding to this principle?

Let us consider lastly the circumstances of man in connection with the infinite holiness, goodness, and justice of the Supreme Being. Now it would be highly dishonourable to him, to suppose him to deviate from the strictest rectitude in his actions, and to dispense final good and evil without regard to the moral character of his creature.

This being the case, we naturally expect to find the dispensations of providence exactly harmonizing with our inherent conceptions of his holiness and goodness, justice and wisdom. But what is the fact? In this life we often see good men born to sufferings, unfortunate in business, unjustly despised and persecuted, unhappy frequently in their families, their children, their connections, and born to suffer, not for themselves, but for their families and friends. the other hand, the triumphs of vice are equally

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