yet dare to doubt of, or arraign the justice of his Creator?

Whence the origin, and existence of moral evil? Is a queftion that has puzzled, and exercised the imagination, and understanding of the learned and fpeculative in all ages. -We confefs we have hitherto met with no folution of this interefting enquiry, fo fatisfactory, conclufive, and rational as flows from the doctrine before us.- -Authors have been driven to very strange conclufions on this fubject, nay fome have thought it neceffary to form an apology in defence of their Creator, for the admiffion of moral evil into the world; and affert, "That God was neceffitated to admit moral evil in created beings, from the nature of the materials he had to work with; that God would have made all things perfect, but that there was in matter an evil bias, repugnant to his benevolence, which drew another way; whence arose all manner of evils:" and that, therefore, "To endue created beings with perfection; that is to produce good exclufive of evil, is one of those impoffibilities, which even infinite power cannot accomplish." And confequently that from this apologetical caufe only, "The wickedness and miferies of God's creatures

D 4

can

can be fairly reconciled, with his infinite power and goodness."

Interefting as this fubject is, and must be, to every thinking being, our beft conceptions of it, muft fall far fhort of certainty; it is however furely encumbent on us to adopt fuch fentiments (more efpecially when we refolve to broach them to the world) as will appear moft worthy infinite power and infinite goodness.How far this confideration has been regarded in the reveries cited in the preceding paragraph, we fubmit to our readers; in our own conceptions we cannot help faying thofe authors appear to us to have left the argument in a much worse state than they found it; and in place of a rational apology for their Creator, seem the rather tacitly to impeach his power, in the first and greatest of his attributes; his power of creation :-For God is not only the creator of angels and men; but creator of matter alfo; and could have made that perfect, had he fo willed. -Whether God could endue created beings with perfection, or produce good exclufive of evil, we conceive is not the question; (although a doubt of it is highly prefumptuous, if not impious) but the quære is whether God could create a race of beings, endued with the powers of

abfolute

abfolute free agency;-on the certainty of which pofition, the poffibility of fin in created beings abfolutely, and neceffarily depends.

;

How much more rational and fublime the text of Bramah, which fuppofes the Deity's voluntary creation, or permiffion of evil for the exaltation of a race of beings, whose goodness as free agents could not have exifted without being endued with the, contrafted, or oppofite powers of doing evil.

1

SECT.

"The Lapfe of Part of the Angelic Bands.

"From the creation of the Debtah

Logue, joy and harmony encompaffed "the throne of the eternal one, for "the space of Hazaar par Hazaar "Munnuntur *; and would have con"tinued to the end of time, had not envy "and jealousy took poffeffion of Moifa"foor, and other leaders of the angelic "bands; amongst whom was Rhaabon, "the next in dignity to Moifafoor ;

they, unmindful of the bleffing of "their creation, and the duties enjoined "them, reject the powers of perfection, "which the eternal ONE had graciously "bestowed upon them, exerted their

powers of imperfection, and did evil "in the fight of the eternal ONE.--They "withheld their obedience from him, "and denied fubmiffion to his vice

* A phrase often made ufe of in the Shaftah to exprefs infinite extenfion or duration of time; the word Munnuntur in it's abfolute and literal fenfe will be fubfequently explained; the word Hazaar, literally fignifies a thousand; Hazaar par Hazaar, thousands upon thousands.

" gerent,

Fe gerent, and his coadjutors, Biftnoo, and Sieb, and faid to themselves"We will rule! And fearless of the " omnipotence, and anger of their Crea"tor, they spread their evil imaginations amongst the angelic host, deceived them, and drew a large portion " of them from their allegiance.-And "there was a feparation from the throne of the eternal ONE.-Sorrow seized the faithful angelic fpirits, and anguish was now firft known in heaven."

SECT.