which extended through space ere created worlds were formed, and ere the music of those earthly spheres proclaimed the inherent goodness and beneficence of their Maker,-that he selected one portion of matter, and proclaimed it evil, and another portion, and proclaimed it good, (though it was all the workmanship of his own hands, and controlled by power which could not err,)—that he breathed into this, in after times, the breath of life, and peopled the earth with inhabitants; and though their bodies were framed of the same materials, and their souls formed of the same substance, yet He must set his affection on one part more than the other, and evince a degree of weakness which is totally inconsistent with His character, and which the nature of man is hardly capable of possessing; namely, that one object should be loved because of the substances from which it is produced, and another be hated because of the materials from which it is formed; and yet, that the nature of them both, being alike, can only, in a sane mind, produce the same feeling. If the mind of God is perfect, and views every thing according to its nature of being, so that he cannot approve one thing more than another, where the quality is the same, and could not have done so in the case of man; and if there appears a difference in the situation or happiness of his creatures, we must judge it is owing to the peculiar nature of the state wherein they are placed; and our error in attributing the variation of the mind of the Deity, arises from the narrowness of our faculties. We may judge also, as I have already intimated, that all irregularities, on a coming day, will be removed,-that all men will stand on one level, as it regards the simple love of God towards them, but higher than each other, according to the "deeds done in the body." And that all persons much enlightened, in a moral sense, will be strictly judged, and all in ignorance will be leniently judged; in fact, that all will be rewarded according to their works, and according to the circumstance under which these works have been performed.

To gain a correct notion of the nature of the Most High, and of the nature of man, we must certainly come to this supposition,-that the love of the Almighty is equally divided to

each of his creatures, that all differences existing now, and all that shall exist in future, will either be requited in a future state, or else they are or will be differences caused merely by, the actions of the creatures themselves. And though we cannot readily account for the capability of man's acting, and his just responsibility for his actions, and the freedom which he has to follow good or evil, to benefit or injure himself, yet we are surely taught this doctrine in the Scriptures, and reason teaches us the same, unless we willingly introduce fatalism and blind necessity as the directors of all human actions, and thus exclude the justice of retribution, and attribute the miseries of mankind to the unbeneficence and sovereignty of the Supreme Governor. In this case we resemble him to an earthly governor, and make him a partaker of human weakness and passions, purposing cruel things, and, in the plenitude of his dominion over all, hear him exclaiming, "I have a right to do what I will, I care nothing for the happiness of my creatures, my inclinations are evil towards them, and I will not deny myself." We may venture to affirm, that an Archangel has not so contemplated the Divine character; his superior intellect teaches him, that the Almighty is invariably just, that He is equal in all his ways, and that He is holy in all his works.

Junius. I have been listening with some attention to your sentiments, and I do not disagree with you in many respects. As it regards the situation of man on earth, and the various discrepancies which appear on the score of happiness, I believe with you, that the Almighty will completely regulate them on some future day, so that all advantage or disadvantage of this kind shall die away. But this refers chiefly to temporal things, and to the regulation of the Almighty as the governor of the universe. Now, I wish to inquire something respecting the management of the moral world; and a thought arises in my mind, respecting the various states of the nations on the face of the earth, as it regards spiritual light; and having some conviction in my mind, that earth is the stepping-stone to heaven; and as man must be fitted here for the celestial regions, I wish to inquire how those, who are now living in darkness, can be admitted there;

and how, for instance, a heathen, according to the present system of things, can be saved?

Philo. You have now narrowed the subject a little; since, however, you wish to remove from the universal beneficence of God towards universal nature, I am willing to accompany you to a consideration of the beneficence of the Almighty, in reference merely to our moral relations. But I think you must feel, as well as myself, a consciousness, that all the actions of the Almighty are just, and that His conduct towards man can be ruled only by pure benevolence.

Junius. I do believe this, and the remarks you have made have not at all lessened my opinion in this respect. But I bring forward this question merely on the foundation of certain opinions which exist, and on the interpretations of Scripture, which those who hold these opinions have given. And now, again, I ask, can a heathen, according to your interpretation of Scripture, be saved?

Philo. What do you mean by a heathen, one who knows not God according to our notions of the Deity?

Junius. I mean one who does not enjoy the light of revelation, which would enable him to live and die as a Christian.

Philo. A man, surely, who possesses not the light of revelation, can neither live nor die as a Christian, but he can be no more responsible for the omission of this light, than he can be responsible for the absence of a sixth sense, and can be no more punished for not using the light of Christianity, and for not forming his conduct by it, than a man can be justly punished because he does not use his sixth sense, and regulate his life by it.

Junius. But does not the Scripture say, those who die without law, shall also perish without law? And if this happen, a man may be a heathen, and know not God, and yet be punished for his conduct.

Philo. Every passage of Scripture will not bear a literal interpretation. General consent proves this. An Arminian may find in the Bible, "He that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it," &c. But the Arminian believes, that a good work may commence, and yet that the Almighty, may not in all cases, be bound to carry the man over every barrier, and place him 81.-VOL. VII.

at last in heaven. He thinks it depends much upon the conduct and inclination of a person, and that no necessary connexion exists between beginning and completing, as the text implies. A Calvinist, on the other hand, may read in the Scripture, "it is better for a man not to have known the way of righteousness, than that, after he has known it, to turn aside from the holy commandment I delivered unto him." And again, "the latter end" (of such a man) "is worse than the beginning." But the Calvinist believes, that a man who has once "known the way of righteousness," is in no danger of a bad end. He does not imagine, that "the latter end" will be "worse than the beginning," but that the latter end will be, if there is any difference, better than the beginning, for then the soul will be purified, and admitted into the joys of heaven; and that grace, where it has once controlled, will inevitably rule and save the soul:

"As sure as the earnest is given,

More happy, but not more secure, The glorified spirits in heaven." If sects, therefore, agree to differ on various passages, and class them together as doubtful, why not agree to put this which you have quoted, among the same class, as doubtful also?

Junius. The passages which you have quoted, refer to a point of doctrine, namely, Predestination, and a doctrine which is not essential, so that various persons may disagree on this point, and yet be right in others. But as it regards the heathen, there is not that difference of opinion among Christians, but all, or nearly all, agree as they do upon essential points.

Philo. On many occasions, sects agree, because their various systems allow it. But you may discover, that the Creed rules the signification of Scripture, and not vice versa. Where the system of faith allows all Christians to agree, they do, and all give a corresponding signification to a passage; but when it does not, the one gives one meaning, and the other an other. So it proves nothing, that most Christians give the same sense to this passage. And if persons may disagree as to the meaning of a text, because it is a point of doctrine, or because it is not essential to their salvation; so, persons may vary on this passage respecting the heathen, be cause the belief one way or the other, 3 G

with respect to them, is not essential to our salvation; and as it regards the welfare of the heathen, their safety cannot depend on a mere contingency, or the mere notion which other human beings, at a thousand miles' | distance, may have of a few words. But of this, I shall say more hereafter. Again, if all parts of Scripture must be taken literally, I may require you to believe, that "where there is no law, there is no transgression." Now, if the heathen know not God, if they have no law from Him, there is "no transgression." And, of course, where there is no transgression, there can be no punishment.

Junius. But may not a man be punished on account of the crime which Adam committed? And if so, the heathen may be punished, though they have had no knowledge of God, and no law.

Philo. As to the sin of Adam, I will not say much, as it will cause a digression into another subject. But I may suggest, that the effect produced on man by Adam's sin, is rather negative than positive. It is rather the absence of real good, than the committal of real evil. The former is not punishable, as in the case of infants; the latter cannot exist, on the Scripture doctrine, that where there is no law, there is no sin, and consequently no cause of punishment.

Junius. But this is relying too much on human reasoning.

Philo. What method should we adopt? Junius. I think it better to take the testimony of revelation.

Philo. That testimony we have already taken. But we must judge of revelation by the meaning of the words which it contains. If you wish for a contrary method, you must judge of revelation contrary to the signification of its words; and who would fancy this new method were consistent with the design of the Almighty? Upon this principle, a way would be open for the wildest visionary that the earth could produce. Therefore, when you object to reason, you should remember, that reason is essential to accompany revelation, and that the former without the latter is the only kind to which the Christian objects. In too many cases, those persons declaim most violently against reason, who are got into the unreasonable side of the subject.

(To be concluded in our next. )

ON THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY EDUCATION IN THE FORMATION OF THE MENTAL CHARACTER.

COMPARATIVELY, little is known, and therefore many erroneous ideas are entertained, relative to the subject of intellectual discipline: notwithstanding its importance, and the almost universal diffusion of knowledge, the mass of mankind are yet unacquainted with the whole extent of that power which it exerts upon the mental constitution. The possession of knowledge has been estimated so highly, and its advantages placed so vividly before us, that the mind has been more occupied with the object itself, than with the means of obtaining it. This I do not condemn. But whilst our admiration is excited by the former, it is the part of wisdom to investigate the latter. The artist not only bears in his "mind's eye" the beauties to be created on his canvass, or the breathing form which the marble block is hereafter to exhibit, he looks at his brushes or his chisels, with which his design is to be accomplished. This inattention to the instrument by which knowledge is acquired, has doubtless been the cause of that ignorance, so universally prevalent, and over which we cannot but lament. Much improvement, we trust, has taken place during the last few years, in the more extensive diffusion of information relative to the powers of the human mind, an extensive acquaintance with which, is the only foundation on which we can rear any correct system of intellectual discipline.

It has been customary, except in some honourable instances, to refer the cultivation of the mind, in its infantine state, to a period when it makes more decided development of those predilections with which the God of the spirits of all flesh has endowed it. This, it is conceived, is exceedingly erroneous, because it affords time for the acquisition of habits, which soon attain the appearance, and possess all the force, of natural propensities. We say, with Mr. Foster, that " we are not entertaining the extravagant fancy of the possibility, except in some rare instances of premature thoughtfulness, of turning inward into deep habitual reflection, the spirit that naturally goes outward in these viva

cious, active, careless beings, when we assert, that it is possible to teach many of them with a degree of success in very juvenile years." But we do not mean to say, with him, that every "human being should, as early as possible, have infixed within him, a notion of what he is in existence for," that "it ought to be among the chief of the things which he early becomes aware of, that the course of activity he is beginning should have a leading principle of direction, some predominant aim, a general and comprehensive purpose, paramount to the divers particular objects he may pursue."

It should be as much in his settled apprehension as the necessity of his having an employment in order to live, that there is something it imports him to be, which he will not become merely by passing from one day into another, by eating, growing taller and stronger, seizing what share he can of noisy sport; and that not to be that which it so 66 imports him to be, will, of necessity be, to be worthless and miserable."

That the mind is capable of almost infinite improvement, is a truth so universally admitted, that it almost possesses the force of an axiom; and why that improvement should not be allowed to commence its progressive advancement at a much earlier period than that to which it is usually assigned, seems difficult to account for, except on the principle already laid down, and that indifference sometimes displayed by parents, with regard to the mental character of their offspring.

notions of those objects which present themselves to its senses; with respect to the objects of sight, for instance, the distance and size is determined by reiterated experiment. If then the operations of this power were more closely watched by the attentive instructor, would he not be able to direct it, and bring it at an earlier period to that degree of perfection which the mind's original capabilities will enable it to attain?

The attention, on which abstraction and memory so much depend, powerfully demands the closest superintendence, for it is in this that the greatest difference exists. According to its state, will be the excellency or the defects of the mental character; and there is no power more easily influenced, and over which we may exercise a more absolute control. It is peculiarly the subject of mental discipline, since mathematical inquiries and mataphysical speculations are resorted to, in order to strengthen it. The power of attention, when occupied upon the subjects of consciousness, is designated reflection; when engaged with external appearances, observation. Now, the former of these (although it may be cultivated much earlier than is usually supposed) will not develop itself so soon as the latter. Observation, then, is the first thing which a careful instructor should aim at improving. Children are usually curious, and are willing to occupy themselves for a considerable period with an object before them, and perhaps there is no desire more predominant than that of knowing the cause of things which take place around them. The musical toy has often been destroyed, in order to discover the producing cause of the notes which pleased them. The province of an instructor is to direct the operations of this

are aware, cannot be so well done in large schools, although they may be conducted on philosophical principles, because mind, in the abstract, is legislated upon, and not individual instances. It seems essential to the proper development and beneficial employment of intellectual energy, that the peculiarities of every individual should be consulted in that system of discipline which we pursue towards them. It appears to the writer, that formal measures and regu