paltry quibble, has opened a new and disastrous era in the history of an immortal being! This result is often facilitated by the pride of reason, which is characteristic of the youthful mind. There is no man wiser in his own conceit, than is many a boy of fifteen years. And there is no soil more fit for Universalist cultivation, than that composed of ignorance and self-conceit. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of him. As soon as the suggestion that there is no judgment begins to work, the pride of reason begins to be flattered. The strippling sophister imagines himself elevated head and shoulders, above all around him, and freed by one noble leap from a thousand vulgar superstitions. He begins to swell with selfcomplacency, and to look down upon the littleness of a world, that is weak enough to believe the Bible. In the dizziness of his elevation he seems to be floating in a flood of wisdom. And then the strength of youthful passion goes to confirm the delusion. He finds that he has acquired a new and much desired liberty. That wonderful argument has cut him loose from a thousand grievous restraints. He stands relieved from the thought of a final judgment, and eternal retributions, and a thousand remonstrances of his conscience are silenced. A thousand impulses of his heart come up with their congratulations, and bless him for the change, and whisper-Rejoice, O young man in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the way of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes, and still be assured that for all this God will not bring you into judgment. And this freedom from restraint, once acquired, will not be easily surrendered. The mind will be slow to listen again to any reasons which go to replace the dominion of a religious belief over it. And all the force which corrupt passions acquire by indulgence, will be so much accumulated resistance to reason and the word of God. Ridicule is also an efficient means for making proselytes to Universalism. It is easier to frame a sneer than a solid argument, and it is easier for a weak mind to feel its force. The young and the unreflecting are peculiarly sensitive to the force of ridicule. And rarely have they such attachments to religious truth, unless under the influence of the special grace of God, that they cannot be laughed out of them. And when it is considered that Universalist writers have usually been more distinguished for talents at this kind of argumentation than for any other that their books and pamphlets and periodicals abound in efforts to take advantage of this weakness of human nature, that almost all the leaders of petty universalist clubs in villages and neighborhoods, are more accustomed to blackguard than sober thought, it will be regarded as a wonder, that the mischief is not more extensive than it is. In short were it possible to collect into one view all the causes that are operating, and all the advantages under which they operate, with all their details in full, to make the present and the rising generation a generation of Universalists-could we picture out the multi-form exposedness of the youthful mind to corrupting influences, from without and from within-the frequent and easy access which these influences have to the mass of mind-with what ominous abundance the press is pouring out the destructive lava, and in how many streams distributing it over the face of the country-as if a new volcano had been uncapped, belching out the very elements of the under world-it would be no matter of wonder, that so many are found to embrace Universalism. How great is the responsibility of him, who is the instrument of perverting on e mind from the right way, and inclining it to this error! If a new planet should be seen coming from nothing into a splendid existence before our eyes, destined to take its course with the rest till the end of time, we should be the spectators of a great and important event. But with how much more solicitude should we watch the opening character of a rational mind, while with tremulous vibrations, like the compass needle, it is shifting hither and thither to find the line of attraction! Because the being of this mind will have but just commenced, when the planets have ceased to resolve. But if this new born planet should be near us in its orbit, and we could see it to be the glad abode of life and intelligence could see the richness of its scenery and the bustle of its population-and were we to reflect that not only such a planet, but such a world, so furnished and peopled and destined to stand through so many ages, had leaped into existence before us, the thought would be unmeasurable. But there is the germ of more life, intelligence and capability of weal or woe, in that youth, that is sporting round the entrance to destructions slippery way, than could be crowded upon such a planet, for any limited time. Suppose further, that the destinies of this new born planet were capable of being touched by influences from earth-that human agencies, concentrated and sent out upon it, before it had found its permanent orbit could sway it hither and thither, and determine whether it were to fill its ernormous periods, amid summer influences, or in abodes of eternal frost-what responsibility untold would be connected with those human agencies! But he that should cause such a world to shoot off into the regions of frost and desolation, would not equal the mischiefs done by him, who is the means of giving a fatal direction to an immortal mind, and in fixing the orbit in which it is to perform its endless and disastrous revolutions. Then it must be remembered, that the mischievous consequences of error are cumulative. Human minds are so linked together in this world, that we can set no bounds to the transmission of sentiments, characters and dispositions, from one to another. And he who lodges corrupt sentiments in the mind of his neighbor, kindles a fire which will burn and spread, he knows not how far. This one person corrupted, communicates the poison to his connexions, and they to theirs, and thus it may go on to increase, from generation to generation. So this one mind corrupted, may become the center of a vortex, which shall draw into itself millions of immortal men. Such wide and wasting ruin may be the extended result of one conversion to the Universalist delusion. But if the value of one soul so surpasses that of a world, who can estimate the mischief done by those who put in motion such whirlpools of destrucAnd how will the authors of all this mischief stand aghast at the sight of their own work in the judgment day! And with what greetings must they meet the wretched victims of their delusion, to go with them to their abode in the under world! If there be a hell, and if Universalism be what I humbly conceive I have proved it to be, I am authorized, and I feel constrained, as I take my leave of this subject, and that with no unkindness, to address the hierophants of the system in the words of Paul to the sorcerer (whose profession by the way must have been harmless by the side of theirs) O FULL OF ALL SUBTILTY AND ALL MISCHIEF, THOU CHILD OF ERRATA. Page 18, beginning of 2 paragraph for third, read "second." P. |