men indiscriminately, is astonished that the very God who shows so much indulgence to the wicked, in the present state, should be represented as pouring out the vials of eternal wrath upon them in a future world, under a dispensation which is emphatically termed a covenant of grace! He turns from such glad tidings of great joy with horrour and indignation; and being ignorant of the true design of christianity, he becomes a determined unbeliever. These are historical facts. They are known to exist in every country in Europe. They will increase in proportion as the minds of men become emancipated from implicit faith in their spiritual instructers, and they will continue until the Gospel shall appear to them, 'to be more worthy of all acceptation.'

"Finally, we must remark that the doctrine of the eternal misery of the wicked is very inimical to those devout affections, which it is our duty and our happiness to cultivate towards the God of transcendent excellence. We are commanded to 'love the Lord our God, with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strength, and with all our minds.' These are glowing expressions, uttered by him who was in the bosom of his Father, and who hath revealed him unto us; expressions which manifest how supremely he deserves our love, because he alone is supremely good. It is the attribute of essential Goodness on which the duty is founded; it is this which renders it a most rational and a most pleasant duty. But is it

possible for those to perform the duty aright, and to the due extent of the grateful feelings, who are habituated by their creed to consider the author of their being as an object of terrour? We cannot love whom we please, and to the degree that we please, merely because we are commanded. Nor can the affection be called forth to a due extent, by a general indefinite acknowledgment that he is good. We cannot feel a warm affection for any human being, or an admiration of his character, until we are made acquainted with some extraordinary instances of his superiority; and as these abound, will our love and admiration increase.

"Thus the simple proposition, that God is good, may inspire a degree of respect, but it will not arise to the ardour of love. This affection must be called forth, and habitually cherished, by incessant manifestations of operative goodness. The more numerous, extensive, and extraordinary these, the more liberal his gifts, the more condescending his compassion, the more conspicuous his exertions for the diffusion of extensive happiness, the more shall we feel the propriety of the duty to love him with all our hearts, and with the greater facility will the duty be practised. But where munificence is limited by hypothesis to a comparative few, and infinite severity is exercised upon the multitude, without the intervention of wisdom, or power, to prevent miseries which exceed the most vigorous imagination, men may attempt to love,

and they may resolve to check feelings of an opposite character as impious, but they will not always succeed. Their religious tenets leave a deficiency somewhere, not to be expected in the character and conduct of a perfect Being, which must diminish that exalted admiration they are solicitous to entertain.

"Moreover, should they arrive at that perfect love which casteth out fear, it is upon a contracted, selfish principle. They can be grateful alone for personal favours, and admire the goodness of God in nothing so much as in his partiality to themselves. They are justly astonished that they should be selected from the myriads who are consigned over to eternal misery; and there is nothing to admire in this, but a sovereign act, which confounds the understanding; and in which, as there are no traces of wisdom, there can be no marks of respectability. In a word, it is inconsistent with the nature of things, and with the very constitution of the human mind, to love such a Being with that profound veneration and ardour of devotion, which are due to the wise and good Parent of the universe.

"We are also commanded to love our neighbour as ourselves. But does this love harmonize with the gratitude which is so strongly excited, by a perception that others will be eternally excluded from the transcendent blessings we are to enjoy? Will not a generous heart feel an anxious wish that others, not less deserving, might also become participants? If it

feels these emotions, it must also feel an astonishment that God should implant them in the heart of man, and not act upon so worthy a principle himself! It must perceive, that its benevolent dispositions exceed those which we ascribe to our Maker! If such desires are not entertained, then is the heart hardened by the system; for it can contemplate the eternal reprobation of the millions with a phlegmatic indifference! But historical facts innumerable inform us, that it has been rendered still more obdurate. Multitudes have enlisted under the banner of persecution; have hated men, because they supposed them to be hated by God; and have aspired to the honour of wielding the exterminating sword, which was to send their fellow immortals into eternal misery! How different the sensations excited by such a creed, compared with the humble and benevolent hope of that Christian, who, while he laments that the wicked should turn away from their duty and their happiness, still rejoices that his God is their God, his Redeemer, will be their Redeemer; and though he reflects, with concern, upon the misery they will inevitably bring upon themselves, he enjoys the exquisite consolation, that their sufferings will ultimately prove corrective of their vices. What motives for composure and resignation do these expectations afford to the sympathizing friend, to the affectionate relative, to the tender and anxious parent, amidst the disorders and depravities of those whom they love! The mind of every

pious Christian will learn to acquiesce in the chastisements which shall prove salutary; for he knows that the severest judgments will be inflicted by wisdom and mercy for purposes of Good."*

The last publication of Dr Cogan's which we shall notice, though the first in the order of time, contains his Letters to Wilberforce on the Doctrine of Hereditary Depravity; printed at first without the author's name, but afterwards acknowledged by him, with the declared intention of enlarging and republishing it in a collection of his works, as a part of the series, and to complete his design. As it is, it is certainly marked with more of his excellences, and with fewer of his faults, than any other of his writings. It is a most successful application of the same general principles, which we have seen running through all his philosophical, ethical, and theological speculations, to the illustration of a particular doctrine of the Gospel; or rather to the detection and confutation of a long established and pernicious errour. The Treatise, to which, so far as this errour is concerned, these letters are a most triumphant reply, certainly possesses high merits; but theological learning, conclusiveness of reasoning, and precision of language, are not among the number. Dr Cogan, while he pays a due respect to the virtues and piety of his distinguished opponent, proceeds with great seriousness, earnestness, and at times with great eloquence to prove, that the positions

* Ibid. Part III. On the Probability of Universal Salvation.