period, of the progress of his existence, or what utility or
consequence he may be to society; but without the faculty of
prescience, it is still more impracticable for him to divine what
purposes he may be intended to serve in the many mysterious
revolations of futurity. How far his mortal may be connected with
his immortal life, must rest with him who has the sole disposal of
it. But who told him that his load of misery was too much to bear,
that he was not able to sustain {49} it? or that his merciful father
would not proportionate his sufferings to his abilities? How does he
know how short-lived the pressure of incumbent sorrow may prove? It
becomes not him to prescribe to his maker, or because his evils are
enormous, to conclude they must be permanent. Rash man! thy heart is
in the hand of heaven, and he who tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb, may either lighten the burthen that oppresses thee, or blunt
the edge of that sensibility, from which it derives the greatest
poignancy. What medicine is to the wounds of the body, that
resignation is to those of the soul. Be not deficient in this
virtue, and life will never prescribe a duty you cannot perform, or
inflict a pang which you cannot bear. Resignation changes the
grizzly aspect of affliction, turns sickness into health, and
converts the gloomy forebodings of despair into the grateful
presentiments of hope. Besides, the most insignificant instruments
are sometimes, in the hands of eternal providence, employed in
bringing about the most general and beneficent revolutions. It is by
making weakness thus subservient to power, evil to good, and pain to
pleasure, that he who governs the world illustrates his sovereinty
and omnipotence. Till, then, thou art {50} able to comprehend the
whole mysterious system of every possible existence, till thou art
certain that thy life is totally insignificant, till thou art
convinced it is not in the might of infinite power to render thee
serviceable either to thyself or others, counteract not the
benignity of providence by suicide, or, in this manner, by the
blackest of all treasons, betray thy trust, and wage, at fearful
odds, hostility against the very means and author of thy being.

     ONE very obvious consequence arising from suicide, which none
of its advocates appear to have foreseen, and which places it in a
light exceedingly gross and shocking, is, that it supposes every man
capable, not only of destroying himself, but of delegating the power
of committing murder to another. That which he may do himself, he
may commission any one to do for him. On this supposition, no law,
human or divine, could impeach the shedding of innocent blood. And
on what principle, of right or expediency, admit that which produces
such a train of the most horrid and detestable consequences?

     (5) THE preceding note is, perhaps, the most audacious part
in the whole of this very extraordinary performance. In our holy
religion it is expressly declared that no murderer hath eternal life
abiding in him; that murderers shall in no wise inherit the kingdom
of God, and that it is the prerogative of heaven alone to kill and
make alive. It is a fundamental {51} doctrine in the gospel, that,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. And how are they to
perform their duty, who, in the instant of dying, contract a guilt,
which renders it indispensible. But this horrid supposition is
repugnant to the whole genius of revelation, which inculcates every
virtue that can possibly administer to our present and future
welfare. It inforces obedience and resignation to the righteous
government of God. It inspires and produces those very dispositions
which it recommends. All its doctrines, exhortations, and duties,
are formed to elevate the mind, to raise the affections, to regulate
the passions, and to purge the heart of whatever is hostile to
happiness in this or another life. This impious slander on the
christian faith is the obvious consequence of the grossest
inattention to its nature and tendency. It is calculated chiefly to
make us happy. And what happy man was ever yet chargeable with
suicide? In short, we may as well say, that, because the physician
does not expressly prohibit certain diseases in his prescriptions,
the very diseases are authenticated by the remedies devised, on
purpose to counteract them. {52}

                      IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

                                  

                                  

     (1) The ingenuity of Scepticism has been long admired, but here
the author boldly outdoes all his former out-doings. Much has been
said against the authenticity of religion, on the supposition that
the evidence to which she appeals, is not either sufficiently
general or intelligible to the bulk of mankind. But surely an
argument is not conclusive in one case, and inconclusive in another.
Admit this reasoning against revelation to be valid, and you must
also admit it against our author's hypothesis. There never at least
was an objection started, that could, in the remotest degree, affect
the truths of the gospel, more intricate, metaphysical, and
abstracted, than that by which our essayest would destroy the
popular doctrine of the soul's immortality. How many live and die
in this salutary conviction, to whom these refined speculations must
forever remain as unintelligible as if they had {53} never been
formed! It is a sentiment so congenial to the heart of man, that few
of the species would chuse to exist without it. Unable, as they are,
to account for its origin, they cordially and universally indulge
it, as one of their tenderest, best, and last feelings. It inhabits
alike the rudest and most polished minds, and never leaves any human
breast, which is not either wholly engrossed by criminal pleasure,
deadened by selfish pursuits, or perverted by false reasoning. It
governs with all the ardor and influence of inspiration, and never
meets with any opposition but from the weak, the worthless, or the
wise above what is written. All the world have uniformly