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affecting consideration, and one which ought to stimulate to the most fervent supplications and zealous exertions, forms then no part of the real difficulty.

The first question that seems to arise, is: Are the heathens accountable agents, knowing right from wrong? If so, to what extent does this knowledge and accountability reach; and what are their actual conduct and condition as measured by that knowledge? Upon these points, Scripture is not silent. It is explicitly declared, that they have such means of becoming acquainted with God and with duty, as leave them wholly "without excuse" for their idolatry and immorality; and two 'distinct penalties,' Mr. Burder remarks, are specified, as connected, in the just government of God, with the perpe'tration of such wickedness.'

The first of these is abandonment by God.

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This punishment, the most severe which the righteous Judge ever inflicts during man's state of probation, is the penalty affixed to the crime of aversion to God. "Because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an undiscerning mind," which fails to distinguish between truth and error, virtue and vice, in cases the most easy of discrimination. The representation here given of this punishment, throws much light both on the origin and character of idolatry, and on the cause of the extreme wickedness which prevails among idolaters. We learn that a fondness for idols is not to be traced up to the mere wandering of the intellect, as some would consider it, but that it has its root in dislike of God. The greatness of the offence may be judged of from the nature of the punishment; "Because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up." At the same time, we cannot fail to observe the justice of this procedure. It is not till men have said to God, "Depart from us!" that he thus abandons them; in doing which, he merely fulfils their own desires.

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The passage before us also assigns a cause for the extreme immorality of the Heathen they have been, to a considerable degree, abandoned by God. He does not bland the mind, or harden the heart; there is no need of his so doing; nor would such a supposition be consonant with those views of his justice, holiness, and goodness, which the Scriptures exhibit. He withholds his restraining influence; the result of which is, that man, thus left to himself, becomes a monster of iniquity, and consequently miserable. Such is the penalty which the Supreme Ruler inflicts, in the present world, on those who wilfully turn their backs upon him. He punishes them by not preventing their becoming most depraved; a punishment which, though indirect, is at the same time peculiarly awful. It will be well for us to associate this thought with our contemplation of the horrid vices of the Heathen. That God has, in a remarkable manner, abandoned the perpetrators of such deeds to themselves, is fully ap parent from matter of fact; but the text under consideration assigns

the cause of his so doing. It is intended to be a mark of his displeas pleasure against the primary vice of heathenism-aversion to God. I presume that we are fulfilling the design of the Almighty in this branch of his administration, when we so regard it.

Another punishment denounced against Heathen transgressors is

death.

In this stage of the argument, it will be well to remark that persons who live and die under the power of unholy habits, like these, are obviously unfit for the heaven which the Scriptures reveal. The destined inhabitants of that region are previously" made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." In the case of conversion taking place immediately before death, this preparedness for heaven is doubtless produced at once. "Without holiness," however, "no man shall see the Lord;" and unless a change from sin to holiness occur before death, we are not authorized to expect that it will take place afterwards. The case of deceased infants is different. Though they may have no actual holiness of character, and though they possess a nature which, if opportunity offers, will show itself to be prone to evil, they have as yet no habits of vice, and therefore no positive unfitness for heaven.

But a very important consideration relative to the future state of heathen sinners, remains to be noticed,-the measure of suffering, namely, which they shall be sentenced to undergo. Perhaps the variety in point of degree, of which both the happiness of heaven and the misery of hell are susceptible, especially the latter, is not sufficiently regarded.'

The declaration of our Lord (Matt. x. 15), is, on this point, explicit and decisive. It reveals enough to satisfy the mind, that the decisions of the final day will be in the strictest harmony with the requirements of justice and the dictates of conscience; and then drops the veil to repel an impious curiosity from prying further.

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The present condition of the Heathen, then, as not merely guilty before God,' but without God,' judicially abandoned by his Spirit, as the punishment of their transgressing the law inscribed on the conscience,-seems to leave them abso lutely without hope.' Their future punishment cannot be inconsistent either with the justice or with the benevolence of God, if their actual condition be not, since that must be viewed as the effect, in part, of his holy displeasure.

From the general benevolence of God,' remarks Mr. Burder, as manifested in the present condition of the human race, all that can be gathered, in reference to the question before us is, that God is disposed to communicate happiness; that this is the natural course of his procedure towards his creatures; and that he will make them happy, unless something occur which constitutes a special reason for his acting otherwise. But this inference, which is the utmost that can be drawn from the book of nature, does not meet the case; for it has

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already appeared, that something has occurred which may induce him to withhold from his creatures that happiness which otherwise he would have imparted. Mankind, in every country and in every age, are transgressors of God's righteous law; and therefore, if favour be shown to these persons, it must come in the way of mercy.' p. 24.

Mercy has interposed on behalf of the Heathen, and the Gospel wears a most benignant aspect on man us man.' We are glad to find the Writer of this Essay maintaining this Scriptural view of the Christian dispensation, as related to the human race at large. And when we speak of the benignant aspect of the Gospel in regard to the Heathen, let us not forget that our own ancestors and the progenitors of all the nations of Christendom, were involved in the guilt and condemnation of that awful apostacy. It is not a matter for inquiry, therefore, which leaves any room for question or hypothesis, what is the design or merciful intention of God with respect to the Heathen world. It cannot be a question, whether He wills that the Hindoos, the Chinese, and the other heathen nations should be saved, since the Gospel has brought salvation to Greeks and Celts, Franks and Saxons, who were sunk as low in impiety and crime. But as to any other way of being saved, than that of coming to the knowledge of the truth, Scripture is silent, and all analogy is against the supposition. Not that the Heathen will be punished for not believing the Gospel which they have never heard; but the truth concerning God is the only conceivable means and instrument of recovering mankind from the state of apostacy.

Towards the conclusion of the Essay, Mr. Burder proceeds to inquire, whether there may not be ground for hoping that ⚫ individuals among them may escape the general ruin; and after adverting to the subject of Infant Salvation, he judiciously remarks:

One of the circumstances which affect the duration of the period of non-accountability, is the measure of moral advantage which the child possesses. Is it not reasonable to conclude, that a Heathen child may remain, morally considered, in an infant state some years beyond the term at which that period of life ends in a Christian country? And may we not hence indulge the hope that millions of Heathen youth, as well as children, will be saved?

Again the line of demarcation between competent intellect and imbecillity, is not always easily to be traced; and the Writer suggests, that many have lived and died in the midst of the grossest Paganism, who, with regard to responsibility, may be in the same moral predicament as that in which the infant and the idiot stand. He adds:

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So far, indeed, as these persons may be considered in a state of perdition on account of their descent from the first man, their condi tion is unaffected by the scanty measure of their intellectual capacity; but I most entirely coincide with those writers who believe that the penalty of eternal death is not inflicted upon any persons irrespective of personal and actual transgression.'

Very cautiously and guardedly Mr. Burder proceeds to intimate his opinion respecting a third class of exceptions.

Doubtless many pious persons who lived under the Patriarchal and Judaic economies of religion, had only confused expectations of the promised Messiah; yet they were saved through him.

It is the disposition of the heart which God regards, more than mere accuracy of knowledge. The stress which is laid on correctness of sentiment and soundness of creed, is occasioned by the connection these have with love and holiness. Now, if you can suppose a man living among Heathens to be possessed of those emotions towards God and goodness, which are acceptable in his sight; if you can suppose such a person to be a true worshipper of God, in the habit of giving thanks for benefits received, and of praying with humble mind for the pardon of his sins, I would not venture to say that that man shall not have a part in the mediation of Christ, even though he were ignorant of the medium through which mercy comes to the guilty. A character like this cannot be formed without supernatural aid; and the gift of the Spirit is attendant on the truth of God as published in the gospel; yet I presume that we are not warranted to affirm, that God never chooses to communicate spiritual knowledge without employing the ordinary instruments of instruction. I would rather content myself with believing that this is not the usual method of his procedure.'

Too much caution cannot, indeed, be exercised in both forming and wording our sentiments on such a topic as this. The eighteenth of the Thirty-nine Articles very strongly condemns as an accursed heresy, the doctrine that every man 'shall be saved by the law or sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law and the ⚫ light of nature.' And that doctrine, as generally held by its advocates, is a pestilent one. Yet, no truth is more certain than this; that he who loves God, must be the object of his love. Now, something very much like the fear of God is exhibited in the lives of some distinguished heathen; and whether any of them did actually receive such Divine communications as made them the possessors of true piety, must be left, as Mr. Burder justly observes, to the Great Searcher of hearts. To maintain the negative, would be alike rash and presump tuous. To doubt of their salvation in the supposed case, would be impious. That they would be saved on the ground of mere justice, or be justified by their works, is, indeed, not suppo

sable, because all have sinned; but, that the righteousness of God may hereafter be made glorious in the remission of the sins of many who never heard of the Saviour's name, nothing forbids us to believe; and, if so, surely those individuals will hereafter be found among the most fervent and humble adorers of the Lamb that was slain.

The possibility of such exceptions, however, though a soothing reflection, leaves the general fact as it stood; and the inevitable conclusion is, that the Gospel is the only known and appointed remedy for that complication of guilt and misery consequent on apostacy from the true God, that awful state of depravation and abandonment, in which the heathen are involved. With whom, then, does it rest, to make that remedy known to every creature?'

Art. X. Christian Devotedness, or the Consideration of our Saviour's Precept" Lay not up for Yourselves Treasures upon Earth." 8vo. pp. 56. London, 1826.

WHEN our Lord was exposing the hypocrisy of the Phari

sees, he charged them, among other things, with making void the Divine commandments by their glosses and traditions; adducing as a flagrant instance of this, the manner in which they taught persons to evade the obligation of the fifth commandment. "But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or mother, It is korban, consecrated, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honour not his father or his mother (he shall be free)." Their tradition was,' says Matthew Henry, that a man could not in any case bestow his worldly estate ⚫ better than to give it to the priests, and devote it to the ser'vice of the temple; and that when any thing was so devoted, it was not only unlawful to alienate it, but all other obligations, ⚫ though never so just and sacred, were thereby superseded, and a man was thereby discharged from them.' On this passage in St. Matthew's Gospel, D. A. Clarke has the following note. This conduct was similar to the custom of certain persons who bequeathed the inheritance of their children to religious uses; either through terror of conscience, thus striving to purchase the kingdom of glory, or through the persuasions of in⚫terested hireling priests. It was in this way that, in the days of popish influence, the principal lands in the nation had fallen into the hands of the priests. It is sacrilege to dedicate that to God, which is taken away from the necessities of our parents and children; and the good that this pretends to, will, doubtless, be found in the catalogue of that unnatural man's crimes in the judgment of the great day, who has thus VOL. XXVII. N. S. Р

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