in some condition of being. There is something within us that tells us we shall still exist, after all material things shall have passed away. This sentiment is uppermost in the mind. All else is subservient to it; nothing can destroy or essentially weaken it. We are saved by hope.'

"Secondly; man desires not only life, but a happy life. While enduring pains and griefs, he is continually looking forward to brighter skies. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' While surrounded with clouds and darkness, man hopes some time to dwell in fairer climes. This hope is innate and universal in man. You cannot tear it out of his heart. It attends him in joy and sorrow, yea, amid all the circumstances of his existence. He is prompted by it to look forward continually to happiness as 'his being's end and aim.' Look the world over, and you cannot find a man who really expects to be miserable forever. Some may fear that they may be miserable in the future world, for a season; but, while in the possession of their senses, they never entertain the thought that this will last forever. Hope predominates even here, and in plain terms tells them that all will finally be well with them.

"And we have hope not only for ourselves, but our friends. They are not to be cast off forever. We love them too much, God loves them too much, for this. A kind father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter, the intimate friend, the sympathizing companion of our joys and sorrows in life, — what! they to be cast off from God, heaven, our society and converse with kindred spirits in the future world! Never! It cannot be! And as all have friends who are to be saved, the final ingathering of all is to be the result. Thus, doubtless all, or nearly all,

secretly cherish the hope that God in some way will con tinue to have compassion on the whole human race, however polluted by sin they may be. This is confirmed by the fact that many in their old age, after they have had ample time to reflect upon the subject, and view it in the light of reason and experience, confess that they, although professing the orthodox faith, cherish the pleasing hope of the final salvation of all men. Go into almost any of the other churches, and you will find persons who indulge this hope. It is natural for man thus to hope, and it is impossible to eradicate it entirely from the human heart. may, however, be stifled for a season. But it cannot lie forever dormant." (51)

It

HOW IT REPRESENTS HUMAN NATURE!

"Man, then, is, as Universalism says, by nature possessed of powers which render him capable of understanding the truth, of loving and serving God. To these powers the Gospel speaks. He has judgment, and it demands that he should weigh well the truths which God has spoken; he has a heart, and it demands that he should love what is divine; he has a conscience, and it demands that he should acknowledge his obligations to God. Thus Universalism makes man feel that he has the ability to do all that God requires; he has a mind to reason, and a heart to love, and a conscience to bind him to what his judgment approves. And it teaches that if he will but use the means God has furnished for the improvement of his better nature, his soul will be enlarged and perfected; he will walk in the highway of holiness, and rejoice always in the Lord. It teaches him, also, that if he will not use the means of

spiritual culture, - if he will not read the Bible, will not attend church, will not apply the Gospel to his heart, his appetites and passions shall grow and gain strength till they have acquired supreme power, and his mind is reduced to entire slavery.

"In this way Universalism makes man feel his responsibilities, feel that he has powers, and is responsible for their right use, - and that it is for him to say whether he will be the Lord's freeman, or a miserable slave. It does not extend his responsibilities, however, so far as to make man the arbiter of his eternal destiny; for a righteous God would never suspend infinite interests upon that which is finite. Neither would he subject us to a discipline which he knew it was possible should prove a curse." (49)

It should be remembered, that, if man is responsible to God, and he must render obedience to him, the Governor of all worlds will see that his laws are made to answer the end for which they were framed; and since they were made for man's good, he will be blessed by them, though he suffers the penalty attached to them. Love is the fulfilling of the law,' and love is of God; and man, to be born again, must love, not only God whom he has disobeyed, but the law itself, which was made for his good. Think, then, if you can, of a system of faith that represents man in a better and truer light than that form which we cherish, as a denomination. We speak of human nature as it came from the hand of God, and, though made subject to vanity, we are, nevertheless, the children of God, and are destined to enter into the glorious liberty' that awaits us in that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (c)

UNIVERSALISM AN EVER-ENDURING RELIGION.

"How is it with Universalism? My hope that this shall not share the fate of other religions is based on its rationality. I see that, unless some great calamity shall befall the world, unless God shall visit mankind with wars, pestilence, and famine or destroy the enlightened part of the world by some dread convulsion of nature, universal education will sooner or later prevail. The light of science must shine in the humblest dwelling in the world, and in the path of science rational religion must follow in due time; for it will be seen that reason and revelation must harmonize. Then every doctrine, though it be venerable with the age of a hundred centuries, must endure the questionings of reason, and stand or fall at this tribunal. Have we one that will stand? Faith in God—will this be cast away? This cannot be. For God has set before our eyes, and stamped upon our hearts, too many evidences of his existence, for the world to ever deny it. Will mankind deny God's goodness, and his love for the world? Not while the sun, day by day, the moon, and the glowing stars, night by night, rise and hold their course through the heavens to proclaim this great truth. Not while seedtime and harvest continue. Not while spring sings hope, and autumn answers plenty. Not while the woods and fields echo the music of happy birds and insects. Not while science reads in every law of nature God's determination to bless. No! there is no danger that when the world shall become enlightened, this great doctrine will become discarded. Will the doctrine of immortality be laid aside as one of the fictions that have cheated the

world? It cannot be. Education does not destroy our dread of annihilation, our longings after immortality.' Nor does its keen eye discover that our hopes are vain. Mankind will always feel that

"There is a world we have not seen,

That wasting time can ne'er destroy;

Where mortal footstep hath not been,

Nor ear hath caught the sound of joy!'" (6)

INSTINCTIVE UNIVERSALISM.

"It is one of the remarkable and peculiar facts furnished in the study of Universalism, that, while the name and dogmatic form are so generally rejected, and sometimes so fiercely denounced, by the church, many of its essential ideas and principles are to be found pervading the opinions, moral effects, and richest experiences of all sectsthe vital and most effective elements of all Christian faith, philanthropy, and life. Destroy Universalism, by demonstrating some falsity of its fundamental, and — so far as their definite and harmonious doctrinal statement is concerned peculiar ideas and principles, and we should see a commotion and hear lamentations such as were never before witnessed in the church. The disciples of the severest and of the most liberal creed would alike mourn the loss of what is most precious in their faith, and, pining especially for that which had been their best helper in weakness and sorrow, they would cry, with Mary, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.' The reforms and charities which are striving to make the world better and happier would be robbed of their basis and their central force. Endeavors after holiness would be