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    false , may be said to be admitted , because Unitarians have not thought it needful to give them a distinct denial—because , in short , no one has yet undertaken the labour of a reply , which must occupy at least three volumes , and when finished , might probably be neglected—by our friends , because they are already fully satisfied—by our opponents , because very few of them desire to know any thing of our side of the question .

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    Secq 8 f ov TifAu ^ Birai' eg-t yoco v \ TifAcapioc koly . s ccvTuir ( 3 > o < rt <; -Ko \ cCC > Ei fjLsvroi irpoq to XOVjaifAOY KCtl KQIVQ Kfl » ttiiqc T& $ K 0 XaC OfA . SV 8 q . In p . 66 of Bishop Butler ' s Analogy , T find the following words : " Some men seem to think the sole character of the Author of Nature to be that of simple , absolute benevolence . And supposing this to be the only character of God , veracity and justice in him would be nothing but benevolence conducted by wisdom . Now , surely this ought not to be asserted unless it

    can be proved , for we should speak with cautious reverence upon such a subject . " I quite agree with this able and excellent author that we ought to treat the question with cautious reverence . But upon the first view of the subject , it is manifest that not less temerity would be shewn by affirming that justice and veracity in God are independent of benevolence , than by affirming that they are included in it . And that they are included in it , several considerations may be brought forward to shew ; while , for the conseverai considerations may oe Drougnt lorwara to snew ; wnne , for tne

    contrary proposition , no probable argument can be advanced . I shall confine my remarks to the attribute of justice . If justice , then , in God be not a modification of benevolence , it is not analogous to that principle which we otherwise denominate justice , and it is in vain for us to reason concerning it . Justice in man , or that to which alone we give the name of justice , is evidently a branch of general benevolence , and even when it assumes its severest form , and is employed in awarding the punishment of guilt , it has a view to nothing but utility ; and , however it may miss of its object from a

    defect of wisdom , the object itself is always what benevolence approves , or rather what benevolence suggests . If punishment were inflicted with any other view than that of doing good either to the offender or to others , we should no longer consider justice as the principle which ordained such infliction , but should refer it without hesitation to the wantonness of cruelty or the malignity of revenge . To say , then , that justice in God may be altogether distinct from benevolence , is only to say that justice in God may not be justice ; and to affirm that it is distinct from benevolence , would be to affirm that there is no attribute in the Divine Nature to which the term justice can with propriety be applied .

    But it will be said that there is something in moral evil which calls for suffering as its consequence , without any regard to utility , and that Divine Justice is the principle by which this suffering is inflicted . On the concluding remark of this proposition , I need scarcely observe , that it is a mere abuse of language to call that justice which is supposed to do what justice never does . But the proposition that there is a demerit in vice which calk for suffering , even though the suffering should be in every sense use less pre-

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    18 On Divine Justice .

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    ON DIVINE JUSTICE .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1831, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2593/page/18/