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would probably be discountenanced in any other seat of learning on this side of the Tweed.

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creature must be ascribed to the will of the Omnipotent; as I apprehend that the inference will remain unaltered, whether the present course of things is simply permitted, or expressly ordained. The doctrine of final annihilation is, I am aware, maintained by some persons, but though preferable to the notion of never-ending punishment, it is by no means sufficient to satisfy the mind on this momentous question.

It is an opinion which prevails among a numerous class of Christians, and more particularly, I believe, among those of the Unitarian persuasion, that a future state cannot be satisfactorily proved except by revelation. I confess tu never could concur in this sentiment; for, without having recourse to any arguments which have been deduced from the immateriality of the soul, I conceive that this most important doctrine is capable of convincing proof from an attentive consideration of the Divine character. This is not the place for entering into the question with the minuteness which it deserves, and I must, therefore, content myself with merely suggesting a few hints. It appears to me to be utterly impossible to establish the equity of the Deity without recurring to a future state of existence, and to the ultimate happiness of the whole human race. A preponderance of evil allotted to any sentient, and much more to any rational being, taking the whole of his existence into consideration, appears to be totally inconsistent with all our ideas respecting justice and equity. The case of a single individual in these circumstances is equally strong with that of a multitude, and, in my apprehension, equally militates against the benevolence or the power of the Creator. Now it cannot be denied, that if death is to be the final termination of our existence, many human beings will be found to have undergone a much larger share of misery than of pleasure, and will, therefore, present a formidable difficulty in our views of the Divine administration. And this difficulty nothing, in my opinion, will remove, λ, (as we Cambridge men are but a future state of retribution. On the other hand, admitting the truth of a world to come, the common belief of an eternity of punishment will enhance instead of diminishing the objection; for it is clear, even from the language of Scripture, that by far the greater portion of the human race will unhappily incur the sentence of condemnation. And the case will appear in a still stronger light when we consider, that, both on the Libertarian hypothesis as well as on that of Necessity, the situation of every moral

Of the benevolence of the great. Parent of the universe, who that has ever contemplated the beauties of nature or the structure of the human frame, can entertain a moment's doubt? But if benevolent at all, it follows, as a necessary consequence, that he must be so in an infinite degree. Limit the extent of this, or any other of the Divine attributes, and you destroy the fundamental proof of an uncaused, self-existent Deity. How then can the infinite goodness of the Supreme Intelligence remain unimpeached, if any of his creatures be compelled to endure physical and moral evils which do not terminate in good? And how is it possible that these evils should thus terminate, unless we admit the truth of an existence hereafter, and of the final restitution of the whole rational creation? I would ask, therefore, first, why a future state cannot be as satisfactorily proved to the mind of the philosopher by necessary inferences from the known attributes and character of the Deity, as to the unlettered Christian by the declarations of Scripture? In the one case, the proof consists in the legitimate deductions of the reasoning faculty; and in the other, in the testimony of competent and unbiassed witnesses. For the multitude, the

in the habit of saying,) the latter I admit to be the only effective means of producing a salutary conviction; but for the intellectual and speculative part of the species, I should wish to know why the former mode of proof is not to be considered as adequate to the production of the same effect?

I would likewise ask, secondly, whether the strictest impartiality does not form a part, and a very material part, of the Divine character; and if so, how we are to reconcile with this

On a Translation of Eichhorn's Opinions respecting the Book of Genesis. 427

attribute the striking fact, that a comparatively small portion of mankind are conducted in the path of virtue through this life, to the possession of eternal happiness in that which is to follow, while the great mass of human beings are ordained (for it will not be denied that external circumstances are the true efficient causes of moral character) to pass through those scenes of vice and misery by which they are inevitably corrupted in the present world, to the endurance of the bitterest pains and torments reserved for them in the next? The only answer that can be given to this question, I should imagine, must be, the final restitution of the iniquitous to virtue and happiness. But even on this supposition, how widely different will have been the treatment of these two disproportionate divisions of mankind, which in the Calvinistic system are emphatically termed the elect and the reprobate? To the one is granted the substantial enjoyments of both states of existence, with no other alloy than the transitory evils "that flesh is heir to;" while the countless myri ads who constitute the other class, are doomed to experience, not only the horrors of sin and wretchedness in the first stage of their being, but all the unspeakable and protracted miseries of the next, though, we will be lieve, they are finally to be restored to participate in the felicity of their more fortunate brethren. It will probably be said, in mitigation of this strong statement, that the eternal duration of that happiness will infinitely more than compensate for the experience of former pain, and that the very recollection of suffering will be come gradually evanescent; but still it is impossible not to observe a manifest and marked difference in the conduet of the Creator, whom we must believe to be all-just, benevolent, wise and powerful, towards these two distinct classes of his moral creatures.

This question may probably be as difficult of solution as that of the origin of evil; and any attempts to dissipate the clouds which encircle the one, may be followed with as little success as the hypotheses which have been framed for elucidating the other.

Indeed, I am decidedly averse to the practice of introducing theological points of an abstruse nature to the notice of persons of little leisure, and of as little requisite information. With the great bulk of Christian believers, the tendency of these discussions is rather to unsettle the principles than to enlighten the mind, and to engender a love of disputation rather than a genuine desire of discovering the truth. But among the thinking few, among men of learned education and of enlarged views, I conceive that these objections do not exist to the same extent; and if our inquiries are at length baffled, and our strenuous ef forts totally fail, we desist from the pursuit with a deeper conviction of the follies resulting from human pride, and of the contracted powers of the human intellect.

Should the subject of this communication call forth the remarks of any of your correspondents, more conversant with these topics than myself, I have only to observe, that I shall read them with pleasure, and consider them with attention.

SIR,

CANTABRIGIENSIS (II.)*,

July 13, 1822. HAVE to apologize to your correspondent R. W. [p. 284,] for not having replied earlier to his letter, calling upon me (or some one more qualified) to forward to your Miscel lany, a translation of Professor Eich horn's opinions respecting the book of Genesis.

If none other of your various correspondents (one or two of whom I recognize by their signatures as being fully competent to the task) anticipate me, I shall feel most happy to accept R. W's invitation, and furnish the materials after which he inquires, in the course of a month or two, leaving it to your superior judgment to insert them or not, as may be found most suitable to your views, and the design of your Magazine.

1. I.:

This signature being pre-occupied, we have subjoined the numeral for the sake of distinction. ED.

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