e, and
seriously proposes to himself the question,--what is his condition as a
moral being; what have been his leading pursuits in this life which is
hastening to a close; what is his aspect in the view of that
incomprehensible One, who perceives at a single glance the whole details
of his moral history. Is he safe to meet the full splendour of that
eye;--has he no apprehension, that, when called to account in the
immediate presence of unerring purity, he may not be able to answer. The
man lives not, who can appeal to his own heart and say, after serious
inquiry, that he can thus meet the penetrating search of him, whose
knowledge is perfect, as his purity is infinite: The man lives not, who
can look back upon his whole life, without feeling, that, in the sight
of this unspotted One, he is polluted with guilt: And, if his heart
condemn him, with all its partiality for his own views and feelings, and
all its forgetfulness of many points in his moral history, he must feel
that God is greater than his heart, and knoweth all things. Under such
an impression, to what refuge shall he betake himself. Does he appeal to
an indefinite idea of the mercy of the Deity;--it must be evident that
this conveys no distinct principle, and will not bear the confidence
which is essential to hope and peace. For we cannot go to the extent of
supposing a mercy so indiscriminate, that the Deity will depart from all
the laws which he has made, and which he has impressed upon us as a part
of our moral constitution. This would be ascribing, to infinite wisdom,
an indecision and a change of purpose, unworthy of the weakest human
lawgiver. If, then, we do not boldly assume this position, how are we to
draw the line where such mercy is to terminate;--and where the Almighty
is to appear in his character of justice, as a righteous moral governor.
If we find that each individual fixes a different standard, and that
each extends it so as to favour his own condition, it is clear that the
system presents no character of truth, and that it is incapable of
ministering to the consolation of him who feels his own necessities, and
seriously contemplates the character of God. He must perceive that to
apply such reasoning to human enactments, would be to represent them as
a mockery of justice; and that it is impossible thus to argue,
respecting the laws of him who is infinite in holiness and boundless in
wisdom. He cannot but acknowledge that a universe governed in