dread sequel of a life of sin and impenitency is an exhi'bition of God's holy wrath, which nothing but sin can provoke; but the final doom of every sinner conforms to his own deliberate, persistent choosing; and judg ment is not executed till God has displayed his mercy by "enduring with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath." And, moreover, by thus exhibiting, in its inevitable consequences, the damnable nature of sin, and securing the redeemed forever against its contagion, and glorifying them with his Son, he will "make known his power and the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy." (Rom. 9 : 22, 23.)

In the second place, if this argument is valid against endless punishment, it is equally so against punishment in any degree, or for any length of time. It is just as much in derogation of the divine mercy that punishment be inflicted, or permitted, for one thousand or one hun dred years, or any limited time, or at all, as for eternal ages. If punishment is inconsistent with mercy, a merciful sovereign cannot permit it to be inflicted in any degree nor for any period. Many Universalists accept this inevitable conclusion, and deny all future punishment. Logical consistency demands this of them all. But how must this principle effect human government?-to which it is just as applicable as to the divine government. How can it be reconciled with God's providential government of this world, in which we often see men suffering the natural penalties of their wickedLet it be remembered, as a principle applicable * Since this was written, a valuable paper, "On the Annihilation of the Wicked," from the pen of Dr. J. R. Boise, has been published in the Standard of Chicago, which contains the follow

ness?

*

to government universally, divine as well as human, that mercy in the form of impunity to the lawless is cruelty to the faithful and obedient. It encourages rapacity and wrong, and is subversive of all order and security. Consider, moreover, that there is no system of universal salvation which stops with simply exempting or delivering the obdurate sinner from punishment: it goes farther, and bestows on him the reward of righteousness. It dictates to God's mercy not only to deliver impenitent sinners from hell (if it admit there be any) but to raise them to heaven, and give them an inheritance with the saints in light. Thus sin and holiness, transgression and obedience, are placed upon a common level !!

Again, in the third place, this argument from the mercy of God applies to the fallen angels as well as to fallen men. So far as relates to the goodness and mercy of God, there is the same inconsistency in the eternal punishment of Satan and his host of demons as in that of wicked men. And following out the argument, as in the case of men so in the case of demons punishment cannot be inflicted for any period! The doctrine of universal restoration is involved in these conclusions. While punishment continues, be it a longer or a shorter period, ing language forcibly apposite to this point: "A rejection of the doctrine of endless punishment might seem more rational if we had not lived in this world and witnessed both sin and penalty, and if we did not know that sin, and untold suffering as a consequence, have existed here thousands of years. To me it is a far profounder mystery that sin should be allowed at all in God's universe, than that it should be punished forever. 'Sin is a disturbing force,' says Sidney Smith, of whose energy we have no sufficient measure, and to whose effects we can set no limit.""

it contravenes the divine mercy. And to be consistent, the restoration must embrace sinning angels as well as sinning men. The honor of God's mercy is as deeply involved in the deliverance and restoration of the fallen of the one race as of the other. Origen and his followers perceived and accepted this logical deduction, and held to the final restoration of Satan and his angels! And so have some more modern restorationists. Let it be noted that all the honor which accrues to God's mercy from such an exercise of it is at the expense of his justice, his righteousness, his truth, and every other attribute of his holy nature!

All such difficulties and absurdities are avoided by simply and reverentially accepting the plain declarations of God's Holy Word. Nothing is more clearly taught than the eternal punishment of those who die in impenitency. Such passages only have been quoted as teach this doctrine directly. To refer to those portions of the Sacred Volume which-by allusion to the holy character of God, to the malignant nature and inevitable conse quences of sin, to the hardened depravity of the impenitent heart, to the sufferings of Christ to atone for sin and make our salvation possible, to the design and changeless results of our probation, to the purity of heaven and the perfection of the heavenly state, etc.-teach it incidentally and often more impressively, would be to cite a large part of the Bible.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

It is a fearful, a painful subject to contemplate. Very naturally we could wish to avoid it, pass it by. But that would not erase it from the pages of revelation, nor

change the terrible reality. Hell would remain the same, and the exposure of unpardoned sinners to its immitigable woes would remain undiminished, though no voice were raised to tell the fearful truth or utter a word of warning Nay, silence, or any evasion, increases the peril of fellow-beings, and is therefore, on such a subject, irreconcilable with the most sacred obligations of humanity.

The Holy Scriptures are full of warnings to sinners to "flee from the wrath to come." And they select no soft words. They speak in strong terms. They employ bold language. They do not merely warn of some indefinite indeterminable coming evil: they tell of the nature of the danger to which the ungodly are exposed, calling things by their right names. They reveal a dreadful place of punishment, a hell of eternal "fire prepared for the devil and his angels" to which the finally impenitent will be doomed "into the ages of ages." Jesus said to the proud, self-righteous, hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, "How can ye escape the damnation of hell?" He warned sinners of their exposure 66 to the hell of the fire. He said even to his disciples, as an incentive to faithfulness to their solemn trust in the face of opposition and persecution, "Fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." To the captious unbelieving Jews he said, "Ye shall die in your sin. Whither I go ye cannot come." Hardened as they were in sin, and set in their way, they could never come to the place whither he was going. Whither they would go, and where they would find their place, he forewarned them in the same discourse when he said, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye will do." Doing

Satan's work, they would of course share his doom. And this reveals the dreadful doom of all who die in their sins for God, "without respect of persons, judges according to each one's work." (1 Peter 1 : 17.)

How then dare any one, and especially a professed minister of Christ, directly, or by smooth words, or ambiguous expressions, or by forbearing to speak, attempt to conceal what God has thought proper to reveal? What can be gained by suppressing this part of divine revelation, even if it were possible? Shall the popular cry, "Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits,' be heeded, and the truth be kept back, in a matter which involves such momentous interests? Who that values the eternal life of souls would be willing to conceal from his fellow-creatures the peril upon which they are rushing while in the course of sin? Who would be so recreant to the sacred claims of humanity, and the solemn trusts of the Gospel, as not only to utter no word of alarm in the ears of the careless, but to endeavor to quell their fears? It is not enough to tell sinners of their sins, and proclaim to them the glad tidings of a Saviour, and exhort them to accept the offer of salvation. Every motive must be brought to bear to turn them from the ways of death and induce them to lay hold on eternal life. We must tell them plainly of the terrible conse quences of sin, the fearful, inevitable ruin that will fall upon them if they continue in sin, the place and state of woe to which the finally impenitent will be eternally consigned. God has given these awful warnings in his Word, and we must repeat and enforce them. It is very easy, and may be quite satisfactory to some minds, to turn off the whole subject by saying with Chrysostom