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attribute the striking feet , that a comparatively small portion of mankind are conaucted in the path of virtue through this life * to the possession of eternal happiness in that which is to follow , while the ^ reat mas s of human beings are ordained ( for it wjll not be
denied that external circumstances are the true efficient causes of moral character ) to pass through those scenes of vice and misery by which they are inevitably corrupted in the present world , to the endurance of the bitterest pains and torments reserved for
them in the next ? The only answer that can be given to this question , I should imagine , must be , the final restitution of the iniquitous to virtue and happiness . But even on this supposition , how widely different will have been the treatment of these two disproportionate divisions of mankind ,
which in the Caivinistic system are emphatically termed the elect and the reprobate ¦? To the one is granted the substantial enjoyments of both states of existence , with no other alloy than the transitory evils " that flesh is heir to $ " while the countless myriads who constitute the other class ,
are doomed to experience , not only the horrors of sin and wretchedness in the first stage of their being , but all the unspeakable and protracted miseries of the next , though , we will believe , they are finally to be restored to participate in the felicity of their more fortunate brethren . It will
probably be said , in mitigation of this strong statement , that the eternal duration of that happiness will infinitely more than compensate for the experience of former pain , and that the very recollection of suffering will become gradually evanescent ; but still it is impossible not to observe a manifest and marked difference in the
conduct of the Creator , whom we must believe to be all-just , benevolent , wise and powerful , towards these two distinct classes of his moral creatures . This question may probably be as difficult of solution as that of the
origin of evil ; and any attempts to dissipate the clouds which encircle the one , may be followed with as little success as the hypotheses which have been framed for elucidating the other .
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Indeed , I am decidedly averse to the practice of introducing theological points of an abstruse nature to , the notice of persons of little leisure , and of as little requisite information . With the great bulk of Christian believers ,
the tendency of these discussions Is rather to unsettle the principles than to euligatenthe mind , and to engender a love of disputation rather than ¦ & genuine desire of discovering the tnUh . But among the thinking few , amoeg men of learned education and of en *
larged views , I conceive that tfre&fe objections do not exist to the same extent ; and if our inquiries are at length baffled , and our strenuous efforts totally fail , we desist from the pursuit with a deeper conviction of lhe follies resulting * from human pride , and of the contracted powers of tke human intellect .
Stould the subject of this communication call forth the remarks of any of your correspondents , more Conversant with these topics than myself , I have only to observe , that I shall read them with pleasure , aud consider them with attention . CANTABRIGIENSIS ( U . )*
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Sir , Jtily 13 18 ? 2 , 1 HAVE to apolog RW ize [ to your correspondent . ., p . 284 , 3 ^ 9 not having replied earlier to his letter , calling upon me ( or some Qne mpre qualified ) to forward to your Mi&cellany , a translation of Professor Eichhorn ' s opinions respecting the book of Genesis .
If none other of your vafjous correspondents ( one or two of whom I recognize by their signatures as being * fully competent to the task ) anticipate me , I shall feel most happy to acee p * Et . W . ' s invitation , and furnish tfie
materials after which he inquires * ui the course of a month or two , leaving it to your superior judgment to insert them or not , as may be found in oat suitable to your views , and the design of your Magazine . , II
• This signature being fire- > Occupml , we have subjoined the numeral for tlw sake of di&tinction . & *> .
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On (* Translation of Eiokhorn * * Opinions respecting the Book of Genesis * 4 SS
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1822, page 427, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2514/page/35/
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