their dispossessing this woman of her familiar spirit, and that in the most incontestible manner. Every circumstance of this case proves it to have been a real demoniac possession. St. Luke, in recording the account-as it was him who wrote the book of Acts-speaks both of the spirit and of the damsel as distinct beings. The damsel had a spirit of divination. Paul turned to the spirit, not to the girl solely, but to the spirit, and said, I command thee to come out of her, and he came out the same hour. Had not St. Luke considered this a real case of Satanic possession, he has made use of the most improper language that could be thought of; language and forms of speech calculated to deceive all his readers, and cause them to believe a lie. But this is impossible, as the holy Apostle could not do so; because he was a good man; it was impossible, because he was a wise man; it was impossible, because he was an inspired man, and could not be imposed upon, by either the cunning of men or devils."

We know not that it is needful to pursue this subject farther, as we have proved the fact of Satanic existence from the Scriptures; and by so doing, have overturned the whole baseless fabric of Universalism, in showing that there is a being known to God as Satan, and evil spirits known as devils, or fallen angels. And in showing this, we show that in the spiritual world there are sinners, for the Scriptures say the devil sinneth from the beginning; and showing there are sinners in that state, we show, even on the Universalist's own admissions, that there is at least a mental hell, as sinners are miserable wherever they are; and therefore proves a local hell, as all spirits are local, except God, and are always somewhere, and that somewhere is their location, and the place of their hell, even though it is nothing more than mental. In proving the existence of Satan, we corroborate the belief that Satan was that being who is called the serpent by the Revelator, xii. 9, the devil and Satan also ; and was he who tempted and misled Eve in paradise; and in proving this we show that Eve was not self tempted, self deluded, self destroyed; and that man is fallen, and does not stand in the same moral relation to God that he did when first created, as all deists believe he does, and so far as we are able to discern, all Universalists likewise, who are thorough in their faith. And in proving the fall of man, we show that an atonement is admissible; on which ground, offers of reconciliation can be made to the world, conviction for sin, and repentance for the same, with. pardon and sanctification of the mind, and final salvation be obtained, on that and no other account; which includes all the conditions of gospel economy, or of Christian theology, which are denied by all Universalists as well as by all deists, who must stand or fall to their own masters, in the great day of final reckoning.

Strictures and Miscellaneous Remarks on the Subject of Universalist Doctrines and Opinions.

It is announced in the Scriptures, that the Son of God was manifest, that he might destroy the works of the devil. But if there is no other devil but that of human nature, it follows then that human nature, which includes its passions, was the particular object of his displeasure, and marked victim of ruin. But this is extremely singular, if a certain opinion which is held by some Universalists is true, namely, that our race is not truly and radically fallen from their first and original condition; or, in other words, are as they ought to be, with respect to disposition, passions, &c. On which account, it is extremely difficult to conceive why Christ should have come into the world to destroy this human nature devil, seeing it is the work of his own hands. In support of this opinion, namely, that the passions are all right, it is frequently alleged by Universalists, that all the passions of the soul, and powers of the mind, as now found in exercise in human society, are necessary on the whole for the ascertainment of social happiness, by way of contrast, as once before stated in this work, but now again mentioned, for further examination. By hatred, love is the better known; by pride, humility is discovered: memory is the opposite of forgetfulness. By cruelty, the beneficence of kindness and tenderness of heart are known; by dishonesty, the glory of uprightness and truth; by obscenity and lasciviousness, the excellence of chastity is appreciated the more readily; by envy, lying, and malice, meekness, good will, and love, are seen; by war, anger, and fierceness, the blessings of peace, contentment, and quietness come to light; by superstition and bigotry,-liberal mindedness and reason, shine the more brilliantly; by all kinds of wickedness, all kinds of righteousness make their appearance. Thus by way of contrast, all the virtues are the more easily ascertained in human society. And to enforce this doctrine, it is said that all the pleasures of sense are ascertained in the same way, and by the same rule. Sight is known by blindness; feeling, tasting, and smelling, by the opposite of these, insensibility and death. Hunger announces the joys of food; thirst, the pleasures of the cooling fountain rest is known by labor, and the exhaustion of the muscular powers; alertness and activity, by drowsiness languor, and sleep.

But if this principle, or rule of contrasting one thing with another, is correct, and by it good is thereby found out, we suppose it impossible to carry the idea too far, as truth never runs ashore, or entangles itself by being extended; if not, then we have the following remarkable result: If there is a heaven of ineffable glory, and eternal duration, there is a hell of unutterable woe, and

of equal continuance, as its contrast. If there are happy angels, who never sinned in heaven, there may be unhappy angels in hell, who have sinned. If there are happy souls of men who have departed this life in the triumphs of the Christian faith, in heaven, there may be unhappy souls of men who have departed this life in unbelief, and are now in hell, or in confinement for that end. If there is a holy archangel of heaven, who occupies a condition of intellectual height above all other holy angels-as the Scriptures seem to justify--called Michael, there may be an archangel of hell, who is higher in intellectual abilities-possessing all the opposites of the holy character of Michael-who reigns over the fallen angels of the bottomless pit, and is called Lucifer, or the devil.

Thus we perceive that on the very premises Universalists lay down to justify the existence of evil in this world, there is made out from it, the existence of evil in eternity, or in another world, with equal feasibility; for if God has a use for sin here, as Universalists say he has, who is he that can show, it will not exist in eternity?

But if we are mistaken and the Universalists are right, about this contrast doctrine, and it remains a truth, then are all the powers and passions of our race, as they should be, and as they were created; then indeed, men, nor angels, are not fallen, as commonly supposed; and there is no hell, nor devil, sure enough; and more than this, there is no Redeemer-there was no broken law-no offence on the part of man, against God, as understood in the book of Genesis. There is no need of a daysman, or Mediator between God and man, as taught In the Scriptures; whence Deism is true, and the only truth men need believe; and even this is of no mortal use, as all is just as well without it.

Universalists say it makes the people much happier to learn that there is nothing to fear on the account of sin, beyond this life, and that there is no hell, &c. To this it is replied, that no doubt all the vagabonds and criminals of the globe, would be exceeding happy to learn that all law and punishment for crimes were abolished; yet we are far from supposing that such a change in their favor would make their hearts or natures any better, even if they were seemingly happier for a short time; as it is certain that the abolishment of the sanctions of human laws, would not be for the happiness of either the good or the bad, in no age or country. We may say the same respecting a man who is wicked even to extremities, yet always believed, even from infancy, that there is a hell beyond this life, into which he may finally fall. Now let this man be informed that his belief and his apprehensions are entirely unfounded, and cause him to rely upon it, what would be the effect? Why, in a moment he would be relieved of a grievous burden, the fear of damnation

after death would be taken away; but not because his heart could be made better thereby, or because he would view God as any more amiable than before this change of opinion; but for no other reason than that his fears would be removed; the same, precisely the same, as in the case of the abolishment of the punishment for criminals, as we have shown before; the evil propensities remaining, nay more, those propensities are increased in exact proportion as they are pampered and fears subside in the actor.

To talk about the goodness of God manifested in such a way, would be preposterous, and open a door for the most abandoned to enquire, what goodness, and how does it appear? The answer to this would be, according to Universalists, that it appears in this, that he has made no hell for the wicked in another life, though men leave the world as wicked as can be conceived of But, enquires the sinner, would it be just for God to have done this? If it be answered yes, it would have been just, then his reply is, because he has not done it, he is therefore unjust; and a God unjust is a wicked God. But if the sinner is told that the creation of a hell for sinners would be an unjust, wrong, and foolish thing, and that therefore he has not done it, then the sinner still continues his enquiry, wishing to know from whence the goodness of God appears on that account, as it was impossible for him to have done if it were an unjust and foolish thing. The result of this enquiry is, that God's goodness does not appear at all, on this particular subject, that of the non-creation of a hell in another world; as on that account there is nothing brought to light, except his great indifference to sin and sinners, as there is no penalty of more importance than is merely temporal; and even that is not absolutely certain, as appears from the prosperity and temporal happiness of many of the great and the rich in this life.

By Universalists it is contended that it is contrary to the goodness of God, as a father and a creator, to permit, allow, or cause to be, a state of endless punishment in another world, on account of anything which the human soul can do in this life, in the way of sin and transgression against the law of God. As well, however, might it be maintained that he who should sover a limb from his own hody in his youth, by a wanton act of heedlessness or desperation, which God in his goodness had furnished him with, that this same goodness is bound as a father and a creator, to prevent, or immediately to restore. For it may be enquired, why should the act of a moment subject a man to the mortification and want of a limb, twenty, fifty, or eighty years? But as we see such privations are consistent with the goodness and fatherly government of the Most High, though done in the greatest wantonness, and in a moment of time, how is it to be shown, that if a man incapacitate himself, in a moral point of light, for

the holy enjoyment of a holy God, in a holy heaven, among holy angels, and the souls of the just made perfect, and goes out of this life thus incapacitated, that he may not suffer for it to all eternity, on the same ground that he did the loss of a limb during the whole of his natural life. If we can deprive ourselves of important comforts in this life, and yet the goodness and power of God be not accountable, how is it to be shown that we cannot do so in relation to another?

It is of no importance for the opponent to urge the vast disparity there is between eighty years and eternity, for the thing is to be determined on principle, and not on the difference there is between time and eternity; and that principle is God's justice, which if it is consistent with goodness in one case, in the light of a principle, it follows of necessity, that so it is in the other. The Divine Being acts upon principle, and in no other way, whether it concerns the greatest possible subject or the very least which his omniscience can apprehend. It follows, therefore, that the goodness of God is not bound to prevent in an arbitrary and absolute manner, the eternal damnation of a morally incapacitated human soul, if that incapacity be not removed before the soul goes hence.

The writer of this work has heard the famous Hosea Ballou, say in the city of Albany, from the desk, in 1834, that he thanked God and was happy, that the burden of the fear of hell, was entirely removed from his mind, which had been imbibed from carly education. But how infinitely short must his happiness be, with all those who hold with him, to the happiness of a soul which has repented of its sins, been pardoned, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost; whose happiness consists not in the idea that there is no hell, but because the evil nature is taken away by regeneration and the renewing of the mind after the image of its Creator, in virtue and true holiness; by which a hope of heaven is obtained, beyond this life, and on no other ground, to the praise of the atonement and him who effected it, in his pas sion in the garden, and on the cross.

The doctrine of unconditional and universal salvation, is most certainly calculated to make men indifferent to their behaviour in this life, and to lessen in a wonderful degree, the salutary fear of God; while, ou the other hand, a belief that God will punish the sinner, who shall die in his sins, in another life, has a powerful tendency to increase men's concern about sin and sinful conduct in this life, and to induce them to be reconciled to God through the Mediator, by grounding the weapons of their rebellion against his law and government. We have narrowly considered this matter, and have not been able to perceive why Universalists should be deterred from sinful conduct, except barely from the pride of emulation, and a good name as a people, which at the least is but an uneasy bridle; for except a man be