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Admitting that the plural denotes the ages of the world, which it in fact does, or the ages of Meffiah's reign, which is bounded by time, this cuts off the common meaning given to for ever and ever, it being in the Greek the plural of av repeated. There is a material difference between the continuance of time, from one point of it to another, which is imported in the compofition of the word, and endless duration. In the fame lexicon, the adjective form of the word is rendered eternal, but χρονοι αιονιοι, the example given, inftead of being translated the ages of the world, should be rendered the eternal time, or ages, which shews that the adjective a lovias cannot bear often to be tranflated eternal. And indeed how can the ftream exceed its fountain, or a being confeffedly fiaite, be the pa rent of an infinite being? That the fame thing fhould denote two things so very different or oppofite, as the limited period of a man's life, a hundred years, a difpenfation of providence and the like, and proper eternity, which have nothing in common but the general idea of duration, appears to me as ftrange, as to fuppose that one and the fame being can be finite and infinite.

κόσμος,

Ariftotle, in his treatise De Mundo, as quoted by Parkhurft on the Greek word xoμs, world, defines it. A fyftem compofed of the heaven, and the earth, and of the beings contained in them; otherwife the order and beautiful arrangement of the univerfe is called kofmos. What the Greeks called xoμos, world, by a name denoting ornament, the Latins denominate mundus, from its perfect and complete elegance. Seeing our Lord came to fave or reftore the world, and is said to be the propitiation for the whole world, why should not his mediation be allowed to have in view the recovery of the universal fyftem, or the universe, to that per fection and complete order and elegance, which the term world in both these languages denotes? Thus he is the Author and finisher, the Creator and restorer of all his Father's works.

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A PRAYER.

GREAT Source of all that's either good or great,
Who haft in light thy bright imperial feat,
Whofe are perfections glorious and divine,
In all of which thy boundless glories fhine.
Father of all, to be by all ador'd,

Bleft Spring of Life, thou univerfal Lord,
Accept the homage we thy greatness owe,
Before whofe throne fhall every knee yet bow.
Thy greatness far tranfcends angelic praise,
To thee alone are known thy wond'rous ways.
In his dear name, in whom thy glories join,
Regard thy fervant, on his labours fhine,
Command thy bleffing from thy throne on high,
And view thy off-pring with propitious eye.
Purge off the film that makes us worse than
blind,

And fhed thy light to cheer the human mind. Send forth thy Spirit, whofe all quick'ning breath,

Renews the face of the decayed earth,
To fhew religion in her own attire,
And with her charms fet all our fouls on fire.
Thy long hid word to common use restore,
Set free from chains of falle perverted lore;
The schoolmens arts, who teach that word to say
Whate'er may ferve their wisdom to display;
That in this glafs thy glory may be seen,
Nor man have pow'r to draw a vail between
That love and mercy, Teen in thine own light,
May foon difpel the brooding fhades of night.
Father of lights, diffuse thy beams divine,
And on thy truth with bright effulgence shine,
That fraught with love thy works may all appear,
Whence thy kind hand fhall wipe off every

tear.

In giving life, to render bleft thy aim,
Jehovah merciful is ftill thy name;
Thy dear memorial while ages laft,
As it has been thro' all the ages past.

O give to fhew thou art the Love Supreme, Who from all ill thy creatures fhalt redeem, That thy whole word and works thee clearly prove,

A God moft juft, withal the God of love.
Since thy bleft word predicts that grace fhall
reign,

And mercy triumph over every pain,
Let not frail man prefume thy hand to bind,
And fhut the gates of mercy on mankind.
How vaft thy love, even feraphs cannot tell,
Thy love can reach the lowest depths of hell.
Thy thoughts are high, to thefe we cannot foar,
'Tis curs to learn, and humbly to adore.
Thy thoughts are deep-oft hid from human eyes.
And was in feas, or clouds that fkim the fkies;

For who is fit thy thoughts and ways to fcan?
Lord teach to juftify these ways to man;
To fpeak thy truth in each effay'd defence
Of thy all-wife paternal providence ;
That thence Meffiah glory may derive,
By whom alone the loft and dead shall live!

Haft thou decreed thy love fhould comprehend
Thy works each one, these in perfection end;
That fin and woe shall yield their baneful sway,
And grace at length diffufe eternal day?
Repel each flander that belies thy fame,
And vindicate the honour of thy name,
That ill with good may ftill be overcome,
And finners won to feek their Father's home;
That love fupreme, which glorious views affords,
May draw to duty with parental cords!
O let thy love, clad in mild beams, appear,
To glad the heart, and wipe off ev'ry tear;
Confume our drofs with its refining flame,
And more endear our God and Saviour's name!
Since love to men demands the second place,
Shed thine own love-the parent of that grace.

Lord, if my views accord not with thy word, To fee the error foon thy light afford, That chaff and stubble at thy breath may fly, Before thy fan fuch rubbish cannot lie. If in the right, O teach me to contend For what in blifs and praise complete shall end, That fo thy word may thee to all approve The God of truth, and yet the God of love. In thine own beams, O give to see the light, By thefe difpel the clouds of mental night, That light, reflected on thy ways, may shine, And fhew their Author potent and benign. Each plant root up not planted by thy hand, And Satan's works deftroy in every land, That the great end of Jefus' life and death May be effected upon all that breathe. Thou know'ft, (for nothing from thee lies con. ceal'd),

I truth defire-the truth by thee reveal'd;Truth-truth alone my chief regard shall claim,

I afk not wealth, nor court the voice of fame.
Lord, grant I may this facred treasure find,
T' enrich and bless whole myriads of mankind!
My thoughts infpire, illume the theme divine,
Which needs no verfe-no numbers dreft in
rhyme.

If 'tis thy will that all fhould fhare thy love,
And mercy fmile on wretches from above,
That jub'lee's clarion fall one day proclaim,
O'er all, the honour of thy faving name,
Release to captives, Paradise restor'd,
An univerfe renewed by the Lord;

Let none that fear thee at the grace repine,
Mercy to grant, the right is folely thine;
And who may say, Great Lord, why doft thou
fo?

For in thy breast divine compaffions flow.
A fpring fo pure, fo fraught with pureft love,
Muft yet relieve the wretched from above;
For love paternal and vindictive wrath
Cannot proceed from thy all-quickening breath;
A love to blefs the few with endless joy,
As endless wrath all others to destroy!
If thou be love, and with compaffion fraught,
Where is vindictive vengeance to be fought?
Sure thou are not the only Sire, to deal
Stripes to thy offspring that preclude their weal!
Paternal ftripes muft ftill have good in fight,
The rebel to reclaim from wrong to right.

Forgive, O Lord, that we a Father's name
Did by our perverfe tenets long blafpheme,
Afcribe to thee what men in men abhor,
A father's wrath that yields to peace no more,
Relentless torture all devoid of love.
While in thy breast shali no foft paffion move.
If to fuch endless vengeance doom'd to fall,
Wouidst thou not blush thy offspring them to
call?

If 'tis thy will chief prodigals to spare,
At length restore inferior blifs to fhare,
Thy will be done-my foul, do not repine,
In fuch a work fhali truth and mercy fhine.

This humble Effay deign, O Lord, to speed,
So far as it the cause of truth may plead.
May facred truth, and that alone, prefide,
Tho' fome fhould cavil, and still more deride,
And fome traduce, and pour their sp'een around,
Christ's fheep will hear, and venerate the found.
Let truth's bright lamp shine still with heavenly
light,

To teach us timely what is wrong and right.
An unction from the holy one impart,
T'illume the mind, and renovate the heart,
That glory thence may to thy name accrue,
This cloud refresh like foft celeftial dew;
From paths of error and of vice restore,
And lead their fons thy mercy to implore.
When man's each work fhall by the fire be try'd

may this work the trying fire abide, The caufe it pleads yet univerfal prove; God's caufe and man's is univerfal love.

To fhare falvation be my care fupreme, And let falvation be my dearest theme, My pleasant task the guilty to restore, That humbled finners may thy grace adore. My task be this, fo long as I have breath, To fhew the path that leads from fin and deathThat leads to climes where living waters flow, And fruits immortal in rich clusters grow, That thence falvacion may redound to men, To God high praise-rejoin thyself, Amen!

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N THE CREATION OF THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH, FOUNDED ON THE ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION OF THE OLD-GEN. I.

PART I.

JOHN, from his bleft celestial feat,

Heard Jefus' voice proclaim,
While fons of light the notes repeat,
And glory in his name;

New heavens appear, new earth arife,
To vital coafts of light;
His word renews the former fkies,
And earth immur'd in night.
Thick darkness had o'erfpread the deep,
Let there be light, he faid;
The gloom no more its reign can keep,
For light his word obey'd.

He bade rich clouds of faving grace
O'er earth expand their wing;
And all things now renew their face,

Like nature fresh in fpring.

The liquid world no more appears,
It leaves extensive land;
Henceforth no vale of ftrife and tears,
All drefs'd by Jesus' hand.
Fair Eden's trees, of rich attire,

The new form'd earth array,

All crown'd with fruits, fair to defire,
Which his great love difplay.

* Ezek. xlvii. 9.

On the abyss the mystic dove

Exerts his facred might,

Whence fowls and birds, new-fram'd by love,

Spring into fons of light.

These sprung from God, divinely fair
And grace fhall them restore;

Tho' long abandon'd to defpair,

That grace they'll yet adore.
Into the dread and burning lake
Shall living waters flow;
Its bane thefe cure, fweet waters make,
Which all their death forego. *

On thefe the fifhers caft their nets,

The finny tribes inclofe;
Each child of woe his pains forgets,
And none are longer foes.

Rich fprings of blifs now ope to these,
Along the flowery verge;

The wells of calves and goats fhall please,
Who late from woes emerge. t

In robes of white they grace adore,
Salvation is their theme;

No pains, or tears, or death fhall more
Becloud their rifing beam.

En eglaim, fountain of calves; En-gedi, well of the goats, alfo, fountain

of happiness, Ezek. xlvii. 10.

PART II.

The fun, tho' bright to rule the day, And moon to rule the night, Afham'd, fupprefs their fainter ray, Before fupernal light.

1

From Zion's walls a glory fhines
Of bleft celeftial light,
Where gladfone day no more declines,
Nor fear they fhades of night.

The fons of God in chorus join,
Attune their golden lyre,
High to extol, in praise divine,
The Great Eternal Sire.

The Jub'lee trump o'er all refounds,
The nations join acclaim;
And the whole earth's remotest bounds
Are fill'd with Jesus' fame.

Now run the times, long fince foretold,

Of his redeem'd the year; Then into new fhall pafs the old,

When he fhall crown'd appear. Then fhall his kingdom fully come,

His will on earth be done,

As now in heaven; for 'tis his home,

His temple is with men.

The priests of God, thefe dear first-born,
As kings and priests appear;
Their glory fhall this earth adorn,
The younger race them hear.

Immenfe thy power, great God of light!
That can thus all renew!
The earth, fo late immers'd in night,
A furnace vaft to view,

Now vies in charms with Eden fair,
One vaft rich Paradife,
Replenish'd with paternal care,
And knit to yonder fkies.

Once from the teeming earth did spring
The firfl-born heirs of light;*
Now from the lake the Almighty King
Reftores the fons of night.

Fair in his eye all creatures flood,
When firft he being gave;
And now himself declares them good,
When thus his hand fhall fave.
Thus death, in every form, fhall die;
His flaves, by Christ made free,
Shall owe falvation to the fky,

And fhout, God bleffed be!
When Chrift refigns his faving sway,
Prefents his charge to God,
Who can that glorious fete difplay?
Defcribe the bleft abode ?

If carth fuch glory fhall attain,

The loft fo long be bleft;
What our Jehovah's chief domain,
His laft and glorious rest!
The new creation of his might,
Before him fhall remain ;

Still bleft with day detach'd from night How glorious that domain!

PART III.

My foul be loft in love and praise,

In wonder too be loft;

'Mong his redeem'd thy voice ftill raise, And of Immanuel boast.

Afcribe to him, ye fons of men,

Of all his works the fame;
To this fubjoin your loud Amen,
Your theme be ftill his name.

These are thy works, bleft Power above,
Thy hand the whole fhall frame,
Infcrib'd with univerfal love,
Memorial to thy name.

To thee, the all-creating Sire,
Immortal praise be given,
Who thus wilt drefs, in rich attire,

The fairest works of heaven.
Thou art the laft who always waft,

We live, move, breathe in Thee; And why fhould not thy mercy last,

To fet thy captives free?

All fuch are thine, and first were made Thy pleasure to infure;

If left for ever loft and dead,

How wilt thou this fecure?
And yet thy folemn oath maintains
"Thou wilt no pleasure take,
In what gives forrow, grief, and pains,
Or creatures wretched make.

In all the works thy hands have made,
Wilt thou at length rejoice;
And these in thee their God be glad,
In praise lift up their voice?

Then fin and woe an end must find,

Thefe works be pure and bleft,
Each be reftor'd in his own kind,

The whole thy glorious reft.
Almighty God! how glorious thou!
What feeble worms are we!
Let the whole race of beings bow,

And homage pay to Thee.
Thou art our Father, we will cry,
Thou art our God alone;
Regard us with a parent's eye,

And fave us from thy throne!
Thy tender mercies still renew,

And all our fins remove;
The hearts of all thy foes fubdue
With thy all-conquering love.
PART IV.
Ye friends of truth, your ear incline,
Let truth and reafon fway;
Their dictates are each one divine,
Their facred voice obey.

If Jefus will have all men brought
To know and feel his word;
That he with love fo great fraught
Why not with joy record?

* At the refurrection.

Gan we regret our Lord should have
The loft fheep whom he fought?
Or once be forry he should fave

All that himself has bought?

Did he taste death for every man,

Who is of all the Lord? Why then not rescue all he can, And be by all ador'd?

Can it offend us to be told

That every knee shall bow,
And all in him become one fold,
And willing homage do?

Did he endure fuch grief and pain
His love to manifeft?

Can we not bear the whole of men
Should love to him atteft?
Should Jefus to himself subdue
All his rebellious foes,

How can this, Chriftians, injure you?
In him compaffion flows.
Should he reclaim them by his love,
They love him in return;

Why should our angry paffions move?
Have we juft caufe to mourn?

If but one finner turn by grace,
There's joy in climes above;

And why should we to fpleen give place?
The good of all feeks love.

If to our Lord great fame redound
From every foul he'll fave;

Should his rich grace to all abound,

Will he lefs glory have?

Whence then fuch clamour and fuch noife
Against a plan divine ?

When we should rather all rejoice;
For in grace does fhine.

May not the Lord do with his own
Whate'er to him seems right?
For he for ever fills a throne

Whence nought proceeds but light.
Be wife, and from this work forbear,
If 'tis of men, 'tis nought;
But if from God, his counsel hear,
And by his word be taught.

BRIEF SUMMARY

OF SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE FOR THE DOCTRINE OF UNIVERSAL

TH

RESTORATION.

HE doctrine of the Restoration, if admitted to be true, muft of appear univerfal concern. The dictates of humanity, and that universal benevolence and love, which the gospel inculcates, and its divine Author has exemplified, muft lead every one that feels their divine influence to wish it may be true. The perfon who does not, or fhews himself unreasonably tenacious of the oppofite doctrine, does little honour to his character, either as a man or a Chriftian. A doctrine fo congenial to God's paternal character, fo highly glorifying to the great Redeemer, so elucidating to many paffages of fcripture, and harmonizing to the whole volume of inspiration, bearing, at the fame time, fuch a friendly afpect to the human race, deferves the cooleft investigation. If found true, upon mature and candid inquiry, we are called to contend earneftly for it, as an important branch of that faith which was once delivered to the faints. Mo. fes would not give up one hoof of the Jewish cattle to Pharoah, and telligent being is far more valuable than many herds of cattle. Why then fhould we voluntarily confign, to all eternity, countless millions of God's noblet works to the greatest tyrant in the univerfe, if his word do not fhut us up to the neceffity of fo doing?

yet one in

The comparatively small number that are faved by the prefent difpenfation of the gospel, furnishes a very urgent argument in favour of the Reftoration. When we attend to the nature of genuine Chriftianity, as delineated in the ho ly fcriptures, and compare the fentiments and conduct of thofe who are called. Chriftians with that standard, we are conftrained to draw the mournful conclu

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