of the wicked in an intermediate state. The text, and indeed the only text he could adduce as an example of this, is the passage under consideration. Concerning the word Tartarus in this text, he says "the word is not Gehenna, for that comes after judgment, but Tartarus, which is, as it were, the prison of Hades, wherein criminals are kept till the general judgment." That a punishment in Hades is a pagan notion, which the Jews derived from the heathen, we have the authority of Dr. Campbell in the above quotation. That Tartarus was the prison of Hades, is derived from the same origin, for it is no where so represented in scripture. If punishment in Hades be a pagan notion, Tartarus, the prison of Hades, is only a part of the same pagan notion. It is only the prison of Hades, says Dr. Campbell, in which criminals are kept till the general judgment; but after this, Gehenna is to be the place of eternal punishment for all the wicked. And why make Gehenna the place of their punishment after this period? Dr. Campbell, we have seen from the preceding sections, had shown that Hades, and no doubt its prison also, were to be destroyed, and be no more. What then is to be done with the criminals which had been confined in this prison? They are not then to be released, and made happy, therefore some other place of punishment must be provided for their reception. He provides for them an everlasting asylum in Gehenna, after the day of judgment. They must be sent somewhere after this period, and no place so suitable could be devised as Gehenna. But whether it be a very happy device, in establishing the doctrine of eternal misery, we hope will appear from the next chapter. All that we wish noticed here, is, that at the day of judgment we shall have done with Hades, and Tartarus, the prison of Hades, and all punishment in them,

for they are to be no more. If this be true, and we think it will not be disputed, Gehenna is the only place of eternal punishment for the finally impenitent. This is not only the opinion of the authors we have quoted, but we believe is the general opinion of all the learned.

But though many contend for Hades being a place of intermediate punishment, and in the above quotation Tartarus is made the prison of this place, where criminals are kept till the day of judgment, yet in the passage before us, no other beings but the angels that sinned are said to be sent to it. Not a word is said about the rich man in the parable as being there; no; nor of any other beings in the universe of God. Moreover, it is not even said, that those angels who sinned are punished there; they are only reserved for judgment in chains of darkness. Now what does all this amount to, in proving the doctrine of eternal misery? Tartarus is part of Hades, or the prison of this place, according to the above account of Dr. Campbell. He tells us that the place is to be destroyed; and he tells us further, that the idea of punishment in Hades, the Jews learned from their intercourse. with the heathen.

I should consider it trifling with the reader's understanding to pursue this subject further, in adducing proof that neither Sheol, Hades, nor Tartarus, was used by the inspired writers to express a place of eternal punishment. Gehenna is the place contended for by Dr. Campbell and others, who believe in this doctrine; and whatever way the place of supposed temporary punishment may be understood, it is with Gehenna I am principally concerned.

Though enough has been said, showing that punishment in Hades was a heathen notion, and not sanctioned by divine revelation, it may be of some use to see what were the views entertained by the ancient heathen

about Hades and Tartarus. M. Le Clerc, in his Religion of the Ancient Greeks, p. 147-154. thus writes :-" In general, the doctrine of a future life has been adopted by all nations, at least by all those that deserve to be cited as examples. Legislators considered it as the most effectual curb for restraining the passions of men, and they have employed every argument to establish this salutary doctrine, as we may be convinced by attending to the descriptions which the ancients have left us of hell.

"This word signified among them the residence of souls. Thither, after death, they repaired in crowds to receive remuneration for their deeds. Minos sat as judge, and as the names were drawn out of the fatal urn, he distributed to each his merited punishment or reward. Pluto, seated on a throne of ebony, presided over the infernal regions; because, as we have already observed, in the symbolical religion of the ancients, part of which was dedicated to the worship of the stars, winter was the night of nature, and because the sun at that time took the name of King of the Shades. For this reason Pluto, who represented the sun, makes so important a figure in mysteries destined to describe the empire of the dead. That gloomy region was situated at an immense distance, far beyond the limits of this universe. According to the author of the Theogony,* as far as the heaven is distant from the earth, so far is the earth removed from the dark abyss. A mass of iron, falling from the top of the starry heavens, would take nine days and nine nights before it reached the surface of the earth; and it would require the same time in falling from thence to Tartarus,' the place destined for the punishment of the wicked.

"This frightful abode was said to be twice as deep as it is distant from the brilliant summit of Olympus. It was "Hesiod, Theog. v. 720.

surrounded by a triple wall, it was bathed by the flaming waters of Cocytus and of Phlegethon, and towers of iron guarded the entrance. The cruel Tysiphone watched night and day at the gate, armed with serpents, which she shook over the heads of the guilty. Their groans, their doleful cries, mixed with the sound of their stripes, cause the wide abyss to resound. There are forever shut up the impious Titans, and those no less audacious mortals who dared to resist the divinity; Tityus, Ixion, Pirithous, and the impious Salmoneous. Perjury, adultery, incest, and parricide, are likewise punished; and those whose life has been sullied with odious crimes; those who have not respected the ties of blood, who have waged unjust wars, who have sold their country; those who have dared to commit enormous wickedness, and enjoyed the fruit of their crimes, are all consigned to the most cruel torments.

"A less rigorous fate was reserved for him who had been guilty of smaller offences, or who, having committed crimes, had given signs of repentance. It was necessary that he should be punished till he had expiated them; but when he had been in some sort regenerated and cleansed from the impurities contracted by guilt, he was admitted into the abodes of the blessed.

"That place of delights was admirably contrasted with the dismal regions of Tartarus. The ground sparkled with gold and precious stones; its fertile plains were watered with a multitude of never-failing streams, which maintained a perpetual verdure. The flowers of spring were mixed with the rich fruits of autumn. A sky forever serene and unclouded, a sun and stars from which incessantly flowed streams of living light; and, in fine, all the objects which the most brilliant imagination could conceive, were collected to embellish those happy plains. They were inhabited by virtuous men, the friends of

justice, who had served their country, and cultivated the useful arts; they tasted a pleasure which nothing could embitter; and the remembrance of the virtues they had practised on earth was for them a continual source of felicity. In the midst of the unmingled pleasures they enjoyed, they exercised themselves in the occupations which during life had obtained them the gratitude of their countrymen. The legislator contemplated the principles of that august and eternal law of which he had before but a glimpse; and the assembly of the just that surrounded him, were attentive to his instructions. The sight of arms, even in the bosom of peace and tranquillity, recalled to the remembrance of the hero those battles which he had fought in defence of his country; while the poet, who had consecrated his harp to the worship of the gods, celebrated anew, in celestial strains, the power and benignity of the immortals.

"We may conceive what impression these images would make on the mind, when unceasingly presented to the eyes from earliest infancy. It is not to be doubted, that if the hope of felicity unbounded leads to virtue, the idea of endless punishment must have a still stronger influence on the conduct. The religion of the ancients, which to us appears of so light a nature that we are apt to believe its only end was to flatter the senses, yet employed the most proper means for restraining the outrageous multitude. It alarmed them on all sides with the most frightful representations. A poet of antiquity* paints, in the strongest colors, that continual terror which takes possession of the human heart, which disturbs and poisons the pleasures of life, and which in every part of the earth has erected temples for the purpose of conciliating the gods. Plato, in the beginning of the first book of his Re

* Lucretius, lib. 5.