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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
Justice /* says Dr . Hartley , * ' is that which gives to every oi * e according to his deserts ; at least as much as his good deserts require , and not more than is suitable to his evil ones . " This ,
though ail accurate definition of human justice , may be thought not strictly applicable to thfe Divine ; for since the IJfcity gives to all , and receives from none , how can he be considered as
obliged to the performance of any particular action ? But we must beware lest here , as well as in other respects , from erroneous principles , we misrepresent the Divine character and conduct , and tarnish , as far as in us lies , one of the brightest jewels in the celestial diadem : nor need we entertain
any doubt or hesitation in this matter . For though , as Creator , the Deity places his creatures in different circumstances , both of mind and of body , and in his providential dealings respecting nations and individuals , acts upon principles of which we cannot always discern the reasons ; yet , as a moral
Governor and a final Judge , he proceeds according to known and established rules , and continually appeals , in his holy word , to the minds of his rational offspring as to the equity of his dispensations . " Are not my ways equal ? " " He shall judge the world in righteousness , and the people with equity /*
There is a variety of important considerations in religion arising from reflections on the Divine justice , which , if the reader ' s patience be not quite exhausted , may admit of further amplification : and a leading one on the score of natural theology , in proof of
a future state , depends upon this great principle ; ahd the argument amounts to this—that if there be one virtuous , miserable and oppressed person in the world ; or one prosperous , habitual transgressor , there must be a future state : * because , without this , we
cannot cherish satisfactory and adequate ideas of this glorious perfection . For , though wfc can infer the being and bounty of the Deity from the things that are , and his holiness and justice in themselves , from the natural
tendenotes of things , Whkfo in their correspondent effects may Ite considered as < incipient punishments and rewards ; yet , his absolute strict , reiilikfterative , * WWfeston'a Reltofoti bfWaftire .
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perfect , 'and impartial justice , remains veiled behind a dark cloudy hottb bfe withdtf&W till the . great day of - ' rdtiabiitldn ; when , 6 y means unknown to the disciple 6 f nature , but more explicitly revealed in the gospel ^ the Master of the house shall retiirn and demand an
account of his Retraints , when " the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him , and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him . " For if we begin with inanimate mattery though the term justice may not here be strictly proper , yet it is plain that , when created and modified , there
are certain uses , fitnesses and relations to which it is applicable , and to which other uses and applications would be utterly unfit . Thus we cannot suppose such a glorious body as the ^ ww , formed merely to shine in empty space as in a trackless desert , where neither his light nor heat could be of any use and
advantage . Accordingly , we find that it is placed in the centre of numerous revolving globes , filled , as we justly believe , with proper inhabitants , where scarcely one ray of his splendour is lost , enlightening , fructifying and animating the whole . Nor can we imagine that a world of inanimate matter would
be created , furnished only with herbs and trees and flowers ; or , at best , with insects and birds and beasts and fishes ; since all these , from the defect of reason , are confined to a narrow sphere ; could never regulate the subordinate parts of nature , nor offer any oblation on the divine altar , in returns
of veneration , gratitude and praise : accordingly we read , that when all these were prepared , " there wanted yet a man to till the ground / ' Nor was man himself , though constituted lord of all below , ^ nd favoured ^ with frequent divine communications , sufficient to his own happiness . Paradise itself
required the superintendence of a rational agent , and paradise itself would have been a desert , without the blessings of correspondent sodiety . Now , what is fitness 01 * rectitude as to inanimate matted or inferior beings , acquires the name of justice when
applied to rational agents ; for . thougn the - Deity cannot , property : speaking , be indebted to his creatures , yet he wHl be just to his onrtt tAif ^ on ? , and ultimately trt&t t ^ b - $ c 6 # ifci # to their mottKl iM&ratcm ^ » : W ttietfMtf , though it WsfflWW- tt * fe to S , i . . f
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462 JljfodQrn < 4 > OrthwU > w " N <> t ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1820, page 462, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2491/page/18/
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