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gr ^ es ipental moral excellence , and eventually of being fitted far a very e&alpe / d place , when this life shall be pvcr , in those celestial abodes , where tlwelleth everlasting uprightness . Now it is clear , that in addition to
the faculty of reason , he who forms this link in the immeasurable chain , must possess the power of deliberating and choosing between two contrary modes of action , ( call it freewill , or being influenced by motives , or by whatever other name you please ) for otherwise he could not be deemed
an accountable creature , or gain those permanent habits by a long series of conscientious self-government and virtuous exertion , which are requisite for the formation of a finished character , and essential to his being fitted for heavenly happiness *
If it should be inquired , why man was nof originally endowed with such superior faculties as should have effectually preserved him from every sinful deviation ;—with views so just and extended of his duty to God and
his own happiness , as should have ledi him unerringly forward in the plain tranquil paths of piety and virtue ? it is obvious to reply , that this in fact would be to inquire why such a creature as man should ever have been
formed . Besides , had he been created impeccable , without the possibility of transgressing , or even had he been placed in a situation where the temptations to transgress were less frequent and less powerful , he might indeed have remained innocent , but could
hardly have been called virtuous ; and although his existence might still have been a blessing , yet surely not a blessing compared with bis , who " by patient continuance in well doing , " has at length formed a character which may in some measure be
deemed his own j and who has thereby become fitted , through the infinite mercy of God , for " honour , glory « nd immortality . " How do we fciiow that the previous discipline arising from great imperfection withr in , and multiplied temptations from
without , may not have been indispensable to the attainment of that firmness and stability of virtue , which the future exalted stations to which * uch happy persons willbe promoted , < aay absolutely require ? We know * v&Q it was that was made perfect
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through suffering . And it may be true , for any thing we know to the contrary , that every order of created being from feeble man to the glorious Archangel that stands before the the throne of the Most High ; may
all of them have previously passed through a scene of probation ; or , in other words , may from very small beginnings have made continual advances from one degree of perfection to another .
But be this as it may , in respect to > ourselves at least , that this is actually the fact , is suggested by reason , and amply confirmed by revelation . If the amiable , diligent child will eventually become the intelligent , virtuous man , is it probable , is it at all
analogous to what we certainly do or may know of the power , the wisdom , and the goodness of God , that when the man tfrus disciplined and prepared , shall have fully attained to all the wisdom and all the knowledge of which in this mortal state he is
capable ; when the great object of his life , it may be for a series of succeeding" years , shall have been to devote himself faithfully to the service of God and the good of his fellow-crea ^ tures ; that , at the very moment when these rare endowments * obtained with
so much labour , and fostered with so much care , appear to have formed a complete habit , that they should then in an instant be for ever extinguished ; lost and eternally buried in the silence of the tomb ?—Most happily , however , for the sincere believer in the
gospel of Christ , what reason intimates and piety most fervently desires , revelation demonstratively confirms . There we are fully apprized that the present life is but the seed-€ t
time of human being , that whatever a man sows , that shall he also reap , ' * and jthat those who ^ overcome the temptations to sin , shall finally attain " the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus our Lord . ' *
But the interesting , important question will be asked , If those only who are Christians in deed , as well as in name , shall attain to this blessedness , what must be the portion , not alone of the incorrigibly wicked , but of the
myriads on myriads in eyery age and in every country who unhappily fall far below this Christian standard ; and this , through all the various stages of imperfection from mere harmlesgness ,
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YO& .. SI . M
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< U $ f * 4 $ Bfg@e on the ultimate Perfection and Happiness of Mankind . 81
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1816, page 81, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2449/page/17/
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