Infidel. My dear Mr. Valdo, (for he knew my name,) I rejoice to see you, for since our last conversation my mind has been exceedingly perplexed; my old companions have been trying to fill me with perplexing doubts and difficulties, and I can see that they are not right, but as yet I cannot see what is right. And now I shall take the liberty to open my mind freely, and express all my difficulties, and if you can give me any relief, I shall receive it gratefully.

Peter. Relief must come from a higher source; but if I can be the means of solving any of your doubts, believe me, I shall do it joyfully; so please to state them.

Infidel. In the first place, my old comrades tell me, that the soul cannot suffer any thing, because it is immaterial; that all pain and punishment is connected with substance; that we can have no conception of suffering, separate from the flesh; that our mind being in the body, is subject to the control of our senses, viz. sight, hearing, feeling, &c. but, that the moment animal life is extinct, the mind will be free to rove through all the regions of infinite space, unshackled and unrestrained; that the soul, consisting of intelligence only, has only to desire, and it will immediately possess; and that all ideas of " corporal sufferance" beyond the grave, are the offspring of bigotry and superstition.

Peter. These men believe the soul to be immortal, I suppose
Infidel. Yes, certainly.

?

Peter. Did they tell you on what grounds they rested such a belief, or exhibit any proofs of the truth of it?

Infidel. Yes, but I cannot now recollect them all. The most prominent, however, was, that the soul possessed such enlarged desires, as could be consistent with no other than an immortal nature; that nothing could satisfy the mind; that when it had mastered one subject, it was then better capacitated to grasp another still more difficult. Sometimes it seems to spurn its earthly tabernacle, and rise, and traverse immensity of space, disdainful of restraint; and that the instinctive dread with which the soul recoils from the thought of annihilation, shews a secret consciousness of its high origin and superior destiny. This was the substance of the arguments, used by those who denied the truth of the scriptures, and declared that the immortality of the soul could be proved without them.

Peter. The first part of their argument, viz. that the soul cannot suffer, only by its connection with the body,' may perhaps be hard to disprove by any mathematical process: but still there are facts, in almost every man's experience, which would go far to convince us, that the mind might suffer, independently of disease, pain or bodily infirmity of any kind.

To illustrate the fact, take the case of a man in a hideous dream. For myself, I must confess, that I have suffered as much in my sleep as I ever suffered, in the same time, when awake, and I think more; and I have seen others, apparently in an agony of distress, trembling, so that the bed shook beneath them, and covered with sweat, merely from the fearful apprehensions of the mind in a dream, when their bodies were in perfect health.

I have, in repeated instances, wakened people from their sleep, and received as grateful acknowledgments for relieving them from their imaginary terrors, as I ever did for any favour which I had the power to bestow in my life. Now it seems to me, that an allpowerful God, could, if he saw fit, speak that body into an everlasting sleep, and make the dream eternal. Can we, in our short-sightedness, conceive of a more horrible condition, than

"To be imprisoned in the viewless winds,

And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world? Or to be worse than worst
Of those, that lawless and uncertain thoughts
Imagine howling? 'Tis too horrible.

The weariest and most loathed worldly life,
-Is a paradise

To what we fear."

And as infinity allows of no limitation, so an infinite being can puuish to an infinite extent, by an infinite variety of means; therefore, allowing the premises, (which are, that God is Almighty,) the conclusion is certain, (which is, that he can inflict misery on the soul separate from the body.) But we will reverse the subject; we have heard, yes, we have seen, men exulting, while their bodies were racked with the most excruciating pain: one man in particular, that I visited when on his death-bed, had his limbs literally drawn out of joint, by a muscular complaint; yet so strong was his faith and hope in the God of his salvation, that with his expiring breath he sung,

"Jesus can make a dying bed,

Feel soft as downy pillows are."

And we have many instances of the old martyrs, over whose minds the pangs of death, inflicted in the most cruel manner, had no power. Thus I think it will appear plain, to any candid man, that there are kinds of suffering peculiar to the soul; and also that the body may suffer very severely, and the soul have no participation in it. But let us come to the second part of their proposition, which is, that "the immortality of the soul can be proved without the Scriptures." I acknowledge it may be guessed at, but I think it cannot be proved. They say that the soul has great desires, and grasps at nothing less than immortality; therefore it must be immortal. On the same principle, as Alexander the great desired more worlds than this to conquer, and grasped at nothing less than universal dominion over this and all other worlds, of course he must now be supreme Lord of the universe. One man's desire, is for all the riches in the world, and he would, if he had the power, traverse the regions of boundless space, in search of more gold; consequently all the riches of creation must be his. Another man desires all knowledge; he would know the beginning, the progress, and the end of all things; he would search into cause and effect, through all the kingdom of nature; he would number and measure the stars; yes, he would" by searching find out GOD;" consequently

he must be supreme in knowledge. Such reasoning, you will see, by proving too much, destroys itself. Carnal men's desires all centre in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life;" or in other words, covetousness, curiosity, and ambition. Now can it be supposed for a moment, that a God of infinite power and holiness, would create beings, and endue them with eternal existence, or immortality, subject to no control but their own desires, and those desires altogether evil? Certainly not; for they would prevail against his throne, if desiring would effect it. No, my friend, you may rest assured, there is no more immortality in the soul, than in the body, in itself considered; that is, it is wholly dependent on the upholding power of an omnipotent God, for existence; and the promise of God, revealed to us through Jesus Christ our Lord, is the only ground of our hope of eternal life; and we have no knowledge of immortality, but what is made known to us by the Scriptures. Can you tell me of any other?

Infidel. I cannot. I once thought I could; but when I come candidly to examine the subject, my knowledge I find to be nothing; and I am left upon an ocean of uncertainty, which is bottomless, and boundless, for aught that I can see at present. Wretch that I am! what shall I do ?-Yet why should I be alarmed? I have never wronged any one intentionally; I have endeavoured, as far as I could, to live an upright, moral life; I never sent the poor man empty away; in fact, I believe I have done much more, according to my means, than many of my neighbors, who profess to be christians; and I am certain that I do not allow myself, nor my family, in half the extravagance that some who pretend to be our greatest christians do. One in particular, was at work at a poor man the other day, who lives near me, trying to persuade him to leave off using sugar in his family, and to substitute coarse homespun cloth for imported, and apply the difference to the education of heathen youth, of whose forlorn condition he drew a very moving, and no doubt true picture. His advice was good; but at this very time he himself was employing a person to give his daughters private lessons in music, on a piano, which cost perhaps three hundred dollars, setting aside the price of tuition; and one of them, when walking past my house the other day, had gewgaws and superfluities enough on her dress to have paid for the education of a heathen child three years; yet this man is going to heaven and I to hell. I declare, I know not what to think of such things.

you,

Peter. It will be well to set out on right premises, at all events, let the conclusion be what it may: and, to begin, let me tell that you have wholly mistaken the matter. In the first place, you have recounted your own good deeds, as you style them; but let us examine them by the standard of truth. You acknowledge there is a God of perfect holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Such being the case, it is our duty to love, serve, and obey him with a perfect heart; our only aim, in all our actions, should be to glorify his holy name. Now, you say you have never wronged any one; but let me ask you candidly, have you always, in all your dealings with men, had a single eye to the glory of God? Have you, in no instance,

thought of yourself? If you have not, you have done just what your duty requires, and have no claim on God. But if you have failed in one single instance, if your eye has ever dazzled, and your thoughts ever wavered for a moment, your fabric of good works crumbles to dust, and you are buried in the ruins; your bark has foundered and you must sink; for our God is a jealous God, and he has declared that "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the Book of the Law to do them"-and let all the people say Amen. Your conscience, my friend, tells you whether you are ready to be tried by the law, whether you are ready to go into the presence of a holy God, and plead your own good deeds, and challenge the scrutiny of omniscience on every thought of your heart and every action of your life, from childhood to the present moment. Surely the task is hopeless indeed. Then what shall I do? (say you,) my works are as good as my neighbours, "and yet, he is to be saved and I am not." The truth is, that neither you nor your neighbour will ever be saved by your good works, but by faith in Jesus Christ; and it must be that kind of faith, of which good works are the fruit. Good works are not the cause, but the effect of faith. The stream does not supply the fountain, but the fountain the stream. Christians are no more justified by their works than sinners; but the case is something as follows: All men are by nature sinners, and wholly averse to God and goodness; and all their doings are evil, because destitute of that "one thing needful," a supreme desire to glorify God; but still, under these circumstances, men de not in a direct manner wish to go to hell, neither do they labour for that purpose; but "the evil man, out of the evil treasure or fountain, bringeth forth evil things;" and lying, swearing, cheating, &c. are the spontaneous fruits of an evil soil. On the contrary, when the Spirit of God operates on the heart, and the heart of stone is transformed to a heart of flesh, then the fruit is changed, and prayer and praise are the spontaneous effusions of a heart filled with admiration of the divine character; he abhors what once he loved; he sees himself a lost undone creature, and wholly dependent on the mercy of God. He sees the holy nature of the Law, and that God would be perfectly just should he cast him off forever. He discovers, that salvation is freely offered to all " through Jesus Christ," who is "exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins.”—“ Whosoever will, let him come." He sees such a beauty and excellency in the way of life and salvation, and such glory in the character of Christ, that he cannot withhold his love; selfish considerations are swallowed up, and Jesus is over all God blessed forever. His old good deeds, as he once styled them, appear loathsome, they are filthy rags, because they were destitute of that holy principle of love to God which ought to crown every action; and he now renders obedience to the divine requirement, not from any idea that he shall earn heaven by his good deeds, but because it is his meat and drink to do the will of his heavenly Father. Prayer, praise, and christian communion, are the very life and breath of his soul. I think you will now understand me when I say, men are not justified before God by their good works, but they

must be in a state of justification before they can do any thing acceptable in His sight.

Infidel. If men's works do not avail any thing, why do christians meet together so often, why sing and pray so much, why give away their property in alms and charitable donations? Why do they not eat and drink, enjoy themselves, and take pleasure as the rest of the world do? They must be saved, it seems, whether or no. Therefore why should they deny themselves innocent gratifications, and live in a state of seclusion from society? And why should they take so much pains to preach, and send preaching to others, seeing they are to be saved, and the matter is unalterably fixed, without regard to their conduct?

Peter. I will endeavour to answer you in a few words. In the first place you ask, what makes them meet so often? In answer I tell you, it is because they love one another. The soul that is born of God receives the impress of the Holy Spirit, and the image of Jesus is discoverable in him; therefore, when two meet, they immediately discover that in each other which they love; for if they love him that begat, they will love them that are begotten. No matter how distant their station in life may have been; the beggar and the prince are equal here, for both are beggars. No matter how far distant the climes in which they were born and educated; the moment they meet, they find the same God is rich unto all that call upon him; each finds the other has been a lost sinner, like himself, and that he is hoping in the grace of God alone for salvation; he finds he is subject to the same temptations and dangers on the way, that he is troubled with the same doubts and fears, and that the enemies of each are common to both. No matter how great has been their enmity in time past; when the enmity which existed in their hearts toward God is slain, that toward each other dies also, and they find the Spirit of Jesus speaks "peace on earth and good will to men." Each thinks himself to have been the vilest and the worst, and they are ready to get at one another's feet and at the feet of Jesus, and to confess to God and to each other, and forgive all ; they hope God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven them. Such men as we have now spoken of, love each other's company because they perceive the image of Jesus there; they love each other's conversation, because it is about heavenly things; they love to share each other's dangers and trials, for

"Their hopes, their fears, their aims are one,
Their comforts and their cares."

And when they meet together, in the spirit of Christ, they have his invisible presence with them, and are made partakers of joys which are unspeakable and full of glory. It is in vain for me to undertake to describe them to you, for I cannot make you understand it. The joys of christians are such as christians only know: they arise from faith, and hope, and love; and though it may sometimes be marred, yet it never can be destroyed; for God is on the throne, and has opened a communication through Jesus Christ, with the heaven-born soul, which all the powers of earth and hell cannot break off. I