be consumed it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." Now let us for a moment compare this with Rev. xxii, 2. "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielding her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." In these two chapters of Rev., and in the above named chapter of Ezekiel, we have a very comprehensive description of the heavenly Canaan. But that which does incalculable injury in regard to a correct understanding of these things, is, our blind spiritual guides will have every thing understood in a figurative sense. Such a future state as they would have us hope for, even if we were sure of being saved, is little, if any, better than none. For instance, when we come across a passage like this-"And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them;" we are gravely asked if we believe we shall eat and drink in the immortal state? Certainly we read that our Saviour eat and drank with his disciples after his resurrection from the dead. And before his crucifixion, he said to his disciples, "Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God." And again-"Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow." would be difficult to make some pious people believe, that such passages as these are to have their fulfillment in heaven; yet if I understand the scriptures, it is even so. "And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing." "Praise him with the timbrel and

It

dance; praise him with stringed instruments and organs." Such devotion as this would not very well accord with the notions which religious people have of piety at the present day. When Joshua led the twelve tribes of Israel into the land of Canaan, the land was divided among them for an inheritance. So according to Ezekiel's vision, when Jesus, at his second coming to gather his people together, and lead them into the heavenly Canaan, the land was to be divided among them in like manner Certainly if they had spiritual bodies, according to the testimony of the apostle Paul, they must have an inheritance somewhere. As my views upon these things differ altogether from that of any body else, I deem it proper to speak of some considerations which first appeared to me as difficulties in the way, as it is generally understood. About the year 1824, some books from Universalist authors, fell in my way, which I read with much pleasure; and by comparing the sentiments therein contained, with the Bible, I was rejoiced to find that the sentiments of that sect appeared much more scriptural, as well as reasonable, than the sentiments of limitarians. This led me to study the Bible more, and with better care than formerly, and I soon became a confirmed Universalist. Thus I went on for several years, reading the Bidle much, as well as every thing else that came in my way; until I was tolerably well acquainted with most of the books from Universalist authors in the land.

For more than sixteen years, I have had not a single doubt of the salvation of the whole human family. Yet there were some things which it appeared to me the Universalists had got wrong. Things, too, which are very important to a correct understanding of the word of God. Where we read of the wicked being destroyed, as in Malachi iv, 1,-Matthew xiii, 38, &c., they are understood to mean that wickedness shall be destroyed. Now altho'

there are many passages that speak of the end of sin, I believe that the above named, and others like them, have not that meaning, and ought not to be so understood.When we read passages like the following-"There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." Isaiah xlviii, 22. "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God,to the wicked." Isaiah Ivii, 20, 21; we cannot suppose that nothing but wickedness is meant. But what is to be understood by the end, or destruction of the wicked generally is, that the Jews as a nation should be destroyed root and branch, for their wickedness. And I think that the sufferings which they were to endure in the latter days, as well as the blessings which the righteous were to enjoy, is constantly kept in view throughout the Bible. Again, in regard to the new covenant-according as it is understood by divines of all denominations. If that means the gospel dispensation in this world, it appeared to me that the prophecy had failed. It says, "all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest." This certainly has never been the case, and I believe never will be, in its full sense, in this world. But admiting that it refers to the time when satan is to be bound a thousand years, still there is a difficulty, for it appears that it was to be fulfilled when the old covenant was to vanish away. And all admit that that was at the destruction of Jerusalem. Another thing is, that the apostle Paul, speaking of the resurrection of the dead, speaks of it as an event which was soon to take place. I was talking with a very intelligent Universalist minister, in the year 1837, upon this subject. I told him I was satisfied that Paul did not expect it would be long before he should experience a resurrection. He replied, that he was of the same opinion. But the greatest difficulty at that time with me, and I suppose with him, was, the erroneous no

tion that all who should be alive on the earth at the resurrection, should be changed to immortality in a moment,

Christ is said to be the first

in the twinkling of an eye. fruits of them that slept. And it appeared to me, that the gathering of the harvest ought to be in a seasonable time after the first fruits. Many other difficulties appeared in the way, according as these things were understood by the Universalists, as well as by others. In the fall of 1839, my mind was considerably awakened to a sense of these things; and on reading the old testament, it appeared to me as a new book. I enjoyed greater satisfaction in reading the scriptures than I ever did before; and it was my whole study by day and by night. I became at last satisfied, that in the passages which speak of Christ's kingdom, especially in the Psalms, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, that it must refer to the immortal state, and that it did not, as is generally supposed, refer to the gospel day in this world. In understanding it in this way, I could see but one difficulty, and that was the one noticed before, in regard to the living being changed at the resurrection. It is no where said in scripture that all the dead in every age should be raised at once, and therefore I did not consider the opinions of the moltitude any obstacle in the way on that head. Thus I went on for sometime, until it occurred to my mind that the apostle, when he says, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, may not mean all mankind, but only such as were in Christ at his coming. And on reading over the epistles, I was satisfied that he seldom if ever used the word in any other sense, but always applies it to the elect-to believers who were not of the world, but such as Christ had chosen out of the world. From that time every difficulty vanished; and a great many passages which before were very dark and difficult to be understood, are now among the most plain and easy. The more I read the scriptures, the

more I became satisfied that they never had been, nor never could be, rightly understood according to the views of the Universalists, any more than that of the Orthodox. The doctrine of endless misery, although undoubtedly the worst, is not the only error which keeps the religious world chained in unchristian darkness. I have before stated what is well known to every one, that the limitarians of every sect, have always held that the coming of Christ to raise the dead, and to reward every man according to his works, as taught in the gospels, and in the epistles, is yet future. It is well known, also, that, connected with this event, is the sentiment that there will be a final separation of the righteous and wicked, that all who shall not have been born of the spirit, shall be banished from every hope of happiness, and doomed to suffer eternal pains. Until within about sixty years, very few have been bold enough to dissent from this awful doctrine. And when the Universalists came to dissent from it, they did not, as I think, take the right course. In regard to the coming of Christ, they could not believe that the Saviour meant all that he said, in an unqualified sense, and so went on to disconnect his coming with the resurrection of the dead. And so they have gone on to interpret a part of it in a figurative sense, until their blunders have grown into a system, which they are as loth to give up, as the Orthodox are to relinquish their errors. Knowing this, I foresaw there would be a difficulty, if I should attempt to make my views understood by the community. I tried to lead some of my friends into my views, but they all either took no notice of it, or treated it with a kind of levity, which greatly disheartened me, and convinced me that it would be in vain for me to say any more to them about it, thinking to get any assistance from them. But this only increased my anxiety to do something for what I believed to be the cause of truth.