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    have &wppQ 8 ^ d , ti » f $ 9 ^ U > fttttft the four-l > undi : ed nulli ^ ntix pan " of a gram of , paBiish ^ g | i ^ ^ o ! endure in any given i ^ Qng ^ fife ^^ hat duration : and still a million of million of years fa ^ e ars } e $ & proportion to absolute eternity than a single moment does to a million

    of ages . It is on this ground I assei t , after what yoii have admitted respecting the proportion be * tween crime and punish rpent , that by contending that it will be eucU less , you destroy its reality ; , the s&me as if you put a gl ^ ss" of the • •

    * strongest spirits into the sea , and let it mix in the vast ocean , you lose it ; nor can it be perceived in any part of the water ; so by extending a punishment , proportioned to temporary crimes , to an endless , duration , you lose it , and render it imperceptible by diffusing it throughout the boundless

    ocean of eternity . C . Your reasoning is ingenious and specious , but not just and solid . U . What ! do you object to the justice and solidity of it , after what you admitted in the outset ?

    C , Your reasoning supposes p ^ nishment wilj be a positive infliction ; but I conceive the , future sufferings of the wicked will arise from their state of mind , and ttiRtf ; , crimes which will be upon . thenu crimes which will be upcni . thsflOk .

    <• U , Be it so ; it wfll # <> £ -b £ fcbp , less'a punishment fromjhe x \ gh . tflr ) qus Governor of the , yiijy ^ rBg ppt that account ; fo ^ he . fratf ^ flQpalA'V tuted human nature ^ wha $ , j £ ji& fts ?

    such , and conjnectpd ) qp . u ^ tjoned tp ton ^ fyfy »» & # » # <¦'••' eree toyxU ^ mmW ^^^ J ^

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    fpo ^ &i < a 0 $ Ufi % e % r . En 4 l $ ) &Emi $£ mfatfL , ) >

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    that every one who has died iaapetii teat , tarn netted so great a iiQtnDer of crimes , as r ^ any ^ Aft » n ^ fi jiVe idfea verV ' y 6 un ; ' ^ U . According to the plan of reasoning you have allowed me to adopt , tf milfioiii of pounds of

    punishment is all such , a sinner as I mentioned has to endure , all that ju ^ tSbe ivill inliict on him , during tteWhole period of his suffering . 'G . We ' ll , what then ? how do yertif'hetace prove that his punish - ment Csmnot be both real and

    endleas' ? tJ > » First , suppose the million potmds of punishment are inflicted in-a million years , some part of it + nust be inflicted in each successive-moment bf that period of duration .

    <> . Undoubtedly ; for there will be ^ nb intermissidn of suffering . %$ Then what quantity of

    pu-Jiishtrierit will he have to endure in any ' gfvien moment ? Cj . 1 ktibw not ; you probably haV ^ tri 4 d ^ - the calculation . til If a' million of years elapse dutin ^ tUe infliction oi the punish . metetf ohly one pound of it , to

    jkec * j > Up the metaphor on which we li&ve hgH ? ed , can be inflicted in a singly year ; and if you find the number of seconds in a year , and * the niimber of grains iir a

    poiittdj ftfter dividing the former by ^ thiB latter , you will find there wilt' Hot be the four-hundredth par ! of u grain of punishment to I > e Inflicted in &hy given second .

    Bu ^^ hat is a million years when \ peaf& 1 &lkfh ^ ' 6 f absolute eternity ? We ^ lftay ^ tf ^ ose the puriisli inent to b ^ ttmHtllioii J of . ixiillibh' of years in in ^ fetingi . itt * Hich ca ^ * ' 1 ^^ cord ^ i ^ to !* ib # ihetaphdis we have " asre ^ i' ^ o iiski fcn < i t M c ^ Wfe

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1809, page 600, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1742/page/14/