in all." We call it Universalism, because it rests upon, and teaches the universal benevolence of God; because it inculcates the great truth that the Mission of the Savior was designed by the Father for a universal purpose, viz., that he might be the Savior of the world; and, finally, because it proclaims, as the result of the divine government and grace, the universal holiness and happiness of the family of man.

We differ, and we would by no means conceal the fact, we differ widely from most of the Christian sects by which we are surrounded, and on grounds, too, which we cannot but regard as fundamental in the system of revealed truth. I allude to our views of the moral character of God. We hold it to be one of the highest-perhaps it is also one of the most difficult-duties of the Christian, to sanctify the Lord God in his heart; that is, to think worthily of that great and good Being, in whom we live and move, and from whom we receive our every blessing. We should strive to form just and noble conceptions of him; to entertain lofty and comprehensive views of his perfections and character; and to ascribe to him no purpose or mode of working which casts dishonor upon his holy name.

The world seems to fear thinking too well of God. We believe the danger is far greater of thinking meanly of him. We see in all ages how prone men are to bring down the Deity to a level with their own moral character, and not unfrequently to degrade him even below themselves. It is the spirit of Christianity to reverse this unhallowing process, by lifting man up, and conforming him to the moral excellence of the Godhead. It was observed with too much truth, by Dr. Adam Clarke, that "the system of humanizing God, and making him, by our unjust conceptions of him, to act as ourselves would in certain

circumstances, has been the bane both of religion and piety; and on this ground," says he, "infidels have laughed us to scorn."

Now we regard it as one of the chief excellences, nay, as the ground of all the excellences, of our faith, that it represents God as worthy at once of our highest love, and our profoundest reverence. We believe him to be possessed of all moral perfection. We believe him to be infinitely holy, just, and good; that in the depths and essence of his very being he is love, from whose inexhaustible fountains come forth all the divine purposes in reference to his whole intelligent and moral creation. We believe that he regards every human soul with an affection so pure and true, that no transgressions can destroy it, no waywardness or perversity can alienate it, no ingratitude or forgetfulness can cool it. We believe that while his infinite holiness forbids that he should ever look upon sin with the least approbation or allowance, he still loves the sinner: and that while his perfect justice requires him to "bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil," and to "render to every man according to his deeds," it is still the glory of his character to remember mercy; and though he visits man's transgressions with the rod and his iniquities with stripes, nevertheless his loving-kindness he does not utterly take from him, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail.

In short, we believe what our Savior so clearly and frequently taught, that God is a Father, and that his government is parental in its principles, its spirit, and its end. Amid all the multiplied evils of this world, we believe none is so great as to bid defiance to the wonder-working power and love of God; and perhaps we should not go too far to say there is

none which the divine wisdom and grace will not make the occasion for their own manifestation and glory. Where sin abounded grace did much more abound. We believe, therefore, that with God there is no unconditional toleration of evil in the universe, and that in the economy of his grace will be found the most ample and efficient means for its counteraction and ultimate destruction.

We confess that these rational and cheering views of God and his government are to us unspeakably dear. They seem to us essential to an enlightened and cordial piety. They constitute, in our opinion, the only ground of an elevated, pure, and truly Christian morality. We cannot, therefore, but cling to them as to the glory of the gospel; at least as one of its most amiable features, and replete with divine consolation. And we feel bound by every consideration of love, of gratitude, of veneration, to proclaim and defend them. We see traces of the divine goodness everywhere around us. It seems to us to sparkle in the stars of heaven, to bloom in the flowers of earth, to spread beauty like a garment over the whole face of creation, and to scatter the manifold blessings which bestrew the pathway of all life. It shines in the sun that rises alike upon the evil and the good; it falls in the shower that equally descends upon the just and the unjust. But most clearly and fully do we behold it in the face of Jesus Christ. We see its mild and gentle reflections in his pure and benevolent life; we hear its voice in the words of truth and love that came forth from his lips; but most of all does it speak to our hearts in moving accents from Calvary, where it triumphed over all the agonies of the cross and all the malice of men. It is written out in letters of light in the volume of inspiration, and we feel that we cannot, dare not,

doubt that God is indeed good unto all, that he loves his enemies, and is kind even to the unthankful and the evil.

In promulgating these views, it is needless for me to say how much opposition and obloquy we have been and are still doomed to encounter. For although all professed Christians acknowledge in words that the goodness of God is infinite, it requires no great discrimination to perceive that most of them deny it in fact. We need only glance at the popular systems of faith in order to see that they limit this divine attribute, circumscribe its sphere of operation, subject it to the conditions of time and place, and thus narrow it down and suit it to their own prejudices and passions.

Some of these creeds boldly maintain, for instance, that God created a large part of the human race on purpose to make them the subjects of his endless wrath and curse! And they all involve the fearful idea that he brought millions and millions of our fellow-beings, perhaps ourselves, into existence with the infallible foreknowledge that that existence will be one of measureless and unmitigated wo! Need I ask what notions of divine goodness can consist with such representations as these? Clothe malignity itself with the attribute of omnipotence, and what worse could it do?

But this is not all. It is a common doctrine of those who claim the honor of orthodoxy, that all men are born with moral powers so corrupted as to be opposed to all good and inclined to all evil, and that continually, and that they are therefore morally incapable of thinking a good thought, or doing a good action. And yet while man is lying in this deplorably helpless condition, they teach that God requires of him a pure, spiritual, and perfect obedience to

his holy law, under the penalty of endless damnation! According to the same systems, the little innocent babe that looks up in its guileless joy, and throws back upon its mother's face the smile that its quiet beauty first kindled there, is, in the sight of God, a sinner, little better than a demon, and deserves, for the heinous crime of being born of mortal parents, to be outcast from the favor of God, and to suffer "all the miseries of this life, death itself, and the pains of hell for ever!" In like manner the whole heathen world is represented as sinking by thousands and millions into the quenchless flames of a lake of fire and brimstone, because they do not believe in a Savior, of whom they never heard!

But enough. If it be true that names do not alter things, then it can avail little to call a being good while we ascribe to him such conduct and dispositions as these. Such a goodness belongs to a Moloch, or a Juggernaut, rather than to the God of Nature and Revelation. We shrink with horror from such a being. We cannot bow in devotion before his altars of blood. We would not attempt to imitate him for the world.

But I must not dwell on this point. My auditors can see at a glance the radical difference existing between our views and those of the popular religionists around us. A God who can deliberately meditate the never-ceasing miseries of any creature of his power, little deserves to be celebrated for his goodness and love. A God who could kindle the flames of hell in which to torment his own offspring for ever, merits not the hallowed name of Father. How truly was it said by Dr. Clarke, that "most religious systems and creeds are incapable of rational explanation because founded on some misconception of the divine nature." And what misconception, let me