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of character to the sad extremes of profligacy and vice ? Alas , shall they all perish for ever ? Or where and how must the line of demarcation be drawn ? On this subject , reason has
but little to depose , and the page of revelation is not explicit . Of this , Jiowever , we may rest assured , though it is not for us to know the times and the seasons , that the judge of all the earth will do right . But if
we have no data from which to reason accurately , and no explicit declaration from scripture , perhaps from analogy some little information may be derived on this perplexing subject ,
remembering , however , that in the region of conjecture , even when aided by this borrowed light , we ought always to proceed , if not with timid , vet with wary , cautious steps .
If then it is highly probable , as we have seen , that in the various orders of beings superior to man , the ascent above him should be regular and gradual , in like manner as we seethe descent below him , and especially if it be requisite that all must equally pass
through a state of probation before they are fitted for durable , complete happiness ; may it not be , that those who have not duly improved the opportunities of the present state , may be destined to occupy some of those
intermediate stages in a future life in which greater and more severe discipline may be employed to remove the deep stains of guilt ; contracted , not merely by ignorance and folly , but by pride , sensuality , ambition , cruelty awd revenge ?
111 corroboration of this suggestion it may be observed , that every thing we see or witness around us , whether in the material , the vegetable , the animal , or the intellectual creation , are parts of one great whole , evidently subservient to each other , and
working together ( as we continually more clearly perceive in proportion to our advancement in knowledge ) for the greater good of all . Jn this world nothing is of itself complete ; and from analogy may we not conclude that , as the whole universe is equally
dependent upon the great Creator a * id Sovereigu Lord-of all , the same general law extends to other systems and other worlds , and that all have a mutual relation to , and act and react upon each other ? In fact , we ' are certain , that in respect of the general
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laws of which we hare any ku ^ wi ^ g ^ this mutual subserviency does actuaTl ? take place- We know that the same sun which gives light and heat and animates the principle of vegetation in our little planet , dispenses in like
manner similar advantages and blessings to other planetary worlds , which like our own , move around him ; that the ebbing and flowing tides of the ever-changing ocean are regulated by the immediate influence of
the-friendly satellite , which monthly completes her revolution around its shores , and which may probably in her turn be curiously connected with and dependent upon our globe for multiplied phenomena essential to her welfare , of which we have no knowledge . We perceive likewise that even the fixed
stars which illuminate immeasurable space , and are probably so many suns that like our own dispense light and heat to systems of revolving worlds , do not refuse their friendly assistance , notwithstanding their inconceivable distance , to the bewildered mariner , who , without their aid , would infal libly perish .
What then is God ? How transcendantly glorious isthe small glimpse we thus transiently obtain of Him , " in whom , and through whom and to whom are all things I" Well might
the pious psalmist of antiquity exclaim , ' * Whither shall I go from thy spirit , or whither shaft I flee from thy presence > If I ascend up to heaven thou art there , if I make my bed in hades behold thou art there ! If I
take the wings of the morning and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea , even there shall thine hand lead me , and thy right hand shall hold me r Of what infinite importance it is that we should desire above all things to impress this great truth upon our minds , and should make it our
most ardent endeavour to live always as in his sight I If it be indeed true , that God is every where , at all times present , what a subject of alarm to the impenitently wicked ! What a source of trust and confidence and consolation
and triumph , to the godly and upright ! Surely , Mr . Editor , Unitarians beyond all others ,, they who profess a purer Christianity , should especially labour to cultivate this devotional spirit ; they , whose belief is so simple and sublime ; so perfectly
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32 Mrs . -Cappe on the ultimate Perfection * ftwt Happiness ofMankm
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1816, page 82, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2449/page/18/
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