views sound very much like an echo of those put forth by the noted Doctor Joseph Priestley, a hundred years ago, for whom one of the wits of the time composed, in advance of his death. the following epitaph, the patness of which made the Doctor himself "laugh right heartily:"

"Here lie at rest,

In oaken chest,

Together packed most nicely,

The bones and brains,

Flesh, blood and veins,

And soul of Doctor Priestley."

From this extreme, the shadings of belief become lighter and lighter, until we find advocates of the doctrine of extinction, who claim to be more truly evangelical even than those who stand upon the old platform. The writers of this class, while they combat the old doctrine of endless punishment as being false to reason and to scripture, and as having in large measure failed as an evangelizing element in the hands of the church, commend to us their new construction of the gospel by the encouraging assurance, that, if faithfully preached, it would win to Christianity vast multitudes whose "innate sense of justice and pity" has been outraged by the caricatures of the truth which have been held up before them by the teachers who have occupied and who now occupy the pulpits of the land.

The Rev. William R. Huntington, D.D., whose book is named at the head of this Article, is in good standing doubtless, as a presbyter of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His work is made up of nine sermons, "originally prepared for parochial use," and preached in his own pulpit during the Lenten season. In order that a bird's-eye view of the purport of the book and the drift of the argument may be taken, we subjoin the titles of the discourses. I. The Eternal Purpose. II. The Argument for Retribution. III. Possible Forms of Penalty. IV. The Hypothesis of Everlasting Torment. V. The Hypothesis of Final Restoration. VI. The Hypothesis of Conditional Immortality. VII. The Likeliest Belief. VIII. Christ's Law of Survival. IX. The Heaven for Man. Numbers I., VIII., and IX., though germane to the subject, are not essential to the integrity of the argument.

The style of this author, though not possessing great force, is clear as crystal, a remark that applies both to the statement of his propositions, and to his reasonings. He does not divert or befog the reader with metaphysical disquisitions on abstruse or impertinent points, but he goes straight to his mark, as if its elucidation and establishment were the one only business on hand. The marvelous thing about his book is the spirit of candor that prevails in it. His bearing is, for the most part, that of a Christian gentleman. He makes but few flings, and seldom applies opprobrious epithets to those whose views he opposes, and is ready to give them the credit of an honest love of the truth. Persons who are at all familiar with the literature upon this subject will understand us when we draw the contrast between the spirit of this book and the vituperative bitterness and unfairness manifested by very many of those who have undertaken the work of writing down the commonly accepted views of future retribution. This characteristic makes it exceedingly difficult for any one who is not a sympathizing partizan, to read their productions. A person who is listening to the argument of another finds it hard to possess himself in perfect patience, if his opponent every now and then shakes his fist in his face, or flings at him some reproachful charge or insinuation.

With regard to the malter of this book, it can by no means be regarded as presenting a thorough treatment of the subject in hand. The author touches the salient points in his own. way, but does not hesitate to draw freely, as he acknowledges, from the writings of Edward White and Charles Hudson, whom he names as "the classical authorities on the subject." We have selected the work as the text for this Article mainly for two reasons. In the first place, it is a recent and seemingly candid effort to balance the claims of the doctrine of the Extinction of the Wicked against the two opposing views of Endless Punishment and of Restoration, and to show the superiority of these claims; and in the second place, it offers to our examination an example of the way in which this doctrine is commended to the belief of an intelligent and nominally evangelical congregation, the greater portion of which is not supposed to be familiar with the more elaborate treatises on the ques tions involved.

It deserves to be especially noted at the outset, that the author expresses very little respect for a Gospel that proclaims immunity from suffering as the punishment for sin. He says, (p. 137), "Christ and his Apostles do not seem bent upon impressing men with the belief that it will be well with the ungodly and the sinner in the end." And again (p. 113): "If Christ is not to be believed when He speaks to us about the terrors of retribution, why, then let his whole religion go; for if here He is untrustworthy, He must be untrustworthy throughout. To discredit what He says of hell is in the same breath to discredit what He says of heaven; and if into those regions of the future we refuse to follow him, why should we think Him other than a blind guide when He speaks to us of God and the soul? It is plain then, that the integrity of the Christian religion is bound up with the truth of what Christ teaches about penalty." It follows from these premises that nothing is needed to determine the nature of the penalty which will be inflicted on the finally impenitent, but a true interpretation of the language of our Lord respecting the "death,"-the "everlasting punishment,"-the "weeping. wailing, and gnashing of teeth," the "abiding wrath of God,"-the "worm that never dies, and the fire that never shall be quenched," denounced against them. On two other points likewise, Dr. Huntington professes to be at one with the holders of the doctrine of endless punishment, viz: that alveo "must doubtless mean endless when spoken of God's being, and endless therefore, it may mean as applied to the doom of the wicked and the life of the good (p. 70);" and also, "that the public opinion of the church has in the main inclined this way" (p. 71), and that there was a "general prevalence, or at least a general profession of this belief" during many of the early centuries (p. 96).

The force of Doctor Huntington's reasoning, as it strikes us, is very greatly weakened by the air of uncertainty which he throws over his conclusions. Whether this is due to a conservative policy which kept him on his guard against saying anything which should provoke dissent and opposition from members of his flock, or whether, having abandoned the old paths, he had not yet found the assurance of mental repose in his newly received creed, or whatever may have been the

cause, a mind disquieted with doubts on the subject discussed can hardly draw comfort from his hesitating words. All he proposes to do, and all he professes to have done is to weigh "the comparative probability" of the truth of the three doctrines of endless punishment, of restoration, and of extinction. And the result reached is, that the first is pronounced to be "the least likely," the second "the less likely," and the last, "the likeliest" of the three. It is true that he tries to guard against any discomfort that might follow from his hesitation to put forth a positive and conclusive opinion by saying, that an "absolute demonstration" is not to be looked for on such a theme. And he says further in justification, that "there are some to whom even the whisperings of truth are grateful, and who rejoice in the opening of any door of hope, be the hinge moved ever so little, and the light let through ever so faint" (p. 124). But suppose the listener is not in good degree made certain that "the whisperings" are really "of truth" rather than of error, and that "the light" which falls upon his vision is from the sun and not from some will-of-the-wisp, how far off is he from that repose which the gospel offers to bring to a troubled mind? If it be true, as the writer affirms, "that mental distress and perplexity with reference to the doctrine of future punishment are to-day keeping many souls from listening to the message brought by the Son from the Father to the children,” we fear that he has done very little to help them out of their troubles.

The name by which this book almost uniformly designates the commonly accepted doctrine of future punishment next deserves notice. It is as the doctrine of "Endless Torment." This expression was coined, we suppose, in the Universalist mint, and has passed into currency among all the opposers of the doctrine as a slang phrase, designed doubtless to set it forth in an odious light. Our author has freely made use of it, in striking contrast with the generally kind and candid spirit of his book. We are quite positive that no example can be found, where, in recent years, an educated Christian minister in this country, of evangelical sentiments, has taught the doctrine under that name, and its opposers know that fact, or could know it if they were disposed to inquire. If we are right, then 14

VOL. II.

how far is it from bearing false witness against one's neighbor to label his views with a name whose meaning he does not own, and which he shows by his teachings to be a misrepresentation? It may pass as a palliative for the injustice herein done to the great body of evangelical believers, that the preacher of these sermons found the phrase in common use in the circle within which he moved, and in the "authorities' which he consulted. If, however, a man is going to speak to the great public, it is worth his while to learn how each side in the argument presents its own case. That he did not examine both sides as thoroughly as a fair statement required, is legitimately inferred from the surprising assertions made in respect to the designed suppression of the doctrine among its professed believers. These are his words (p. 132): "During the last fifty years, what has been the practical result of the clinging on the part of the Christian Church to this tenet-I will not call it dogma, for, thank God! it never found a place in the universal creed-this tenet of endless torment? The result has been, certainly among Protestants, a perilous and most questionable silence." And again, speaking of the Scriptural expressions, "the wrath to come," "the damnation of hell," "the unquenchable fire," etc., he says (p. 133): "Why is it that for at least half a century, there has been such general avoidance, in our best instructed pulpits and choicest devotional books, of language like this ?"

That there has been, in many quarters, less of bold preaching on this subject of late years than at some former periods is readily admitted. In respect to the change, two things may be said. In the first place, the spirit of the age has much to do with it. It is a time when sentimentalism has largely taken the place of strength,-when an easy-going conformity of religious opinions and life to wordly types has been substituted for earnestness of conviction and moral bravery. Men shrink from the firm-handed surgery that aims at the immediate and thorough removal of morally diseased limbs, and satisfy themselves with soft bandages of lint, and the administration of sedatives for pain. The cultivation of the humanities has by exaggeration handed us down to a point where multitudes are clamoring for the utter abolition of all responsible government