spiritual and secular, which has never been possessed by the clergy, without its most palpable abuse.

We have now looked, but looked in vain, for that purity of conduct which is supposed by you to accompany the fear of endless misery. We deny not that some professors of this belief have been bright and shining lights, and the ornaments of human nature. So have heathens been distinguished amid the surrounding darkness, by excellent principles and corresponding conduct. Nor have Catholics wanted their valuable, their virtuous members, of whom it might be said, that they had almost redeemed the name of their sect from infamy. But the cry is still heard, "The spirit of popery is persecuting and cruel." And yet, with all its evils, a first rate Calvinist, no less a man than William Wilberforce, Esq. member of the British Parliament, has declared before the British and Foreign Bible Society, that the eternal war which he had waged against the Romish religion should terminate, the moment when that denomination should join in the circulation of the scriptures! Yes, popery, persecution, and all! I forbear to comment.

But the criterion to which your attention is now called, is near at hand. Facts, drawn from undoubted history, and the broadest concessions of professors, leave your doctrine in more than a suspected state. But these facts, however obvious, are not the criteria which carry the most pungent testimony in the face of your principles. Another circumstance comes home to the business and bosom in the most direct and convincing manner. Are you prepared to hear, and dare you answer as to the God of the whole earth, the questions which shall be proposed? You speak unhesitatingly as to the final, interminable misery of some of our race, which is presumed to be the will of God. Do you pray for this event-can you thank God for this dispensation of misery-and do you enter into peace and

joy in believing it! I leave the answer to your own soul to your own master you stand or fall.

For ourselves, we believe that the will of God is the restoration of all men to holiness and happiness ; we therefore pray in faith, nothing doubting. We thank God who has given us a reason for this prayer, that he will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth; and we who believe this consoling doctrine, enter into rest, in the full assurance that his counsel shall stand, and that he will do all his pleasure. We are persuaded that his pleasure is to gather together in Christ, the fulness of the human race, and that the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs of joy; and the scriptures testify in the fullest manner, that Jesus gave himself a ransom for all. For this faith we are termed heretics, and it is no less true now than in the apostolic day, that we" labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe."

The criterion is now before you. Dare you, do you pray for the fruition of your belief? If not, where is that faith, without which you pray? If you do, where is the command, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself?

If you thank God, is it for the infliction of interminable, unmerciful suffering, on your brethren according to the flesh? If so, why compass sea and land by your missionaries, to save men from that which is a cause of thanksgiving? If you pray for, and thank God for the gift of salvation, from whom do you derive the spirit which it dictates? Are you more merciful than our heavenly father? But, it is hardly necessary to inquire, Do you enter into peace, and joy, and rest, believing as you profess in the vindictive, unrelenting vengeance of an incensed, implacable God. Impossible. The more you feel that you are a son of Adam,

a member of the human family, and that God hath made of one blood all nations-unless you possess a heart more callous than a Nero or a Caligula—the more you must feel, that nothing but the fiat of omnipotence, can render you submissive to a catastrophe, the thought of which has frequently led to distraction and suicide, but never, no, never to the love of God Yours,

or man.

CANDIDUS.

NO. 6.

To Rev, Joel Hawes,-Hartford.

SIR-In the prosecution of my original design, I now proceed to maintain the position, that your Letters offer, as proof of certain tenets, scraps of scripture in a mutilated form, bearing obvious marks of handling the word of God deceitfully. In sustaining this charge, the appeal is made to every man of information to every man of candour; and means shall be placed within the reach of those who will use them, for determining the matter with the most indubitable certainty. Should I succeed in this attempt, the case will be left to the decision of a writer in the Connecticut Observer, No. 49. As this extract has already passed the ordeal of your inspection, no further authority need be offered.

"We would just remark in this place, that although Mr. H. is accused of doing injustice to an eminent divine, the injury does not appear to be that of quoting falsely-a mode of procedure, which, whenever adopted, argues criminal inadvertence, or MORE CRIMINAL DESIGN."

Your attention is now called to the following paragraph from Letter 5.

"To begin then with the Old Testament; it is said of the wicked, they are to be turned into hell; their name is to be put out forever; the portion of their cup is snares, brimstone, and an horrible tempest; they shall perish; consume into smoke; consume away; they shall die in their iniquity; they shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt; their joy is but for a moment; their candle shall be put out, and their hopes perish; their hope is like the giving up of the ghost; their triumphing is short; their end is to be cut off; a day which burns like an oven, shall burn them up, and leave them neither root nor branch ; they shall be suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy; God will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh; he will tear them in pieces, and there shall be none to deliver; their expectations shall perish; their hope shall perish like the spider's web."

The first quotation contains no less than four words of scripture, extracted from Psalm 9: 17, the whole of which reads thus ; "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." An old version reads thus: The wicked shall go into hell. That this is the strongest passage which is quoted in the whole paragraph, will not be disputed. If the doctrine you labour to support be clearly taught in this verse, an examination of its contents will close the present review, and my belief in the doctrine, which a sense of duty leads me now to vindicate, will then be publicly renounced.

The

The language is evidently without limitation. wicked-not some, not a part-the sum total of the wicked shall be turned into hell-yes, and all the nations that forget God. Truly this is a sweeping declaration. But, who are the wicked? The same writer informs us, that God, in looking from heaven, could find no others! All were wicked. In the days of

Says this

Paul, the same character was sustained. apostle-"We have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are ALL under sin." Yes--" For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Indeed, the picture begins to gather gloom, and if the meaning of the term hell be what you represent it, and none are redeemed from it, the result will be universal damnation! If every mouth shall be stopped, and all the world shall become guilty before God, your hypothesis leads to a catastrophe more dreadful than you anticipated. But to relieve the subject, let us examine the import of the word hell, as used in the passage before us.---And first, the writer of the text shall be called as a witness to settle the meaning of his own language. This course appears rational it ought to be convincing. In Psalm 16: 10, we read; "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Whether this primarily referred to the writer, or merely to Christ, is immaterial. Common sense would be most wretchedly violated, in saying that the Psalmist could refer to a soul neither then in nor ever to be in, hell. In Acts 2: 27, Peter speaks of this passage in reference to Christ. The following words, in the 31st, evidently refer to what was said in the 27th verse; 66 He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." If the apostle were correct in this allusion, whatever be the meaning of the word hell, it is evident that the soul of Christ was there, and not left there, which is a stronger argument for redemption from hell, and deserves more credit, than your declaration-" there the Bible leaves them." True, it may be said, this is using the term figuratively. It is so.-Grant this and I am contented, or, take it literally, and I am equally well satisfied. When used in a figurative sense, it signifies