reflection upon their wickedness, have had their minds so harrowed with keen remorse, as to impel them to a confession of the fact, although they knew they must suffer death." Ans. I would ask the objector, whether he thinks that death is the most suitable punishment for such sincere, remorseful, and broken-hearted penitents? Or does he imagine "that the lives of others would bé endangered by such?" Will nothing short of their extermination satisfy the hardness of the human heart? God will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. He is merciful to penitent sinners! But their fellow men, their co-equals, subject to like frailties and infirmities, abhor and detest the blemishes in their own likenesses. They cannot endure the company of their frail fellow-sinners. They will not suffer them to remain on God's earth, his appointed time, even in confinement, or banishment !!!

Obj. 12. In the black catalogue of human crimes, we find some that are of so deep a dye, and so horribly wicked, that we can hardly devise punishments adequate to the crimes. Great crimes, call for great punishments. A repeal of all the capital statutes in the penal code, might weakthe energies of government, and strengthen the bands of iniquity.

Answer. There are two systems of laws, namely, divine and human; and both of these, generally speaking,

have a bearing on criminal

causes.

It appears to me to be demonstrable from the reason and nature of things, that the civil judge in estimating the demerit of a civil crime, ought to consider it merely as a civil misdemeanor. In apportioning the reparation, or punishment of the crime, he ought to consider the sinfulness, of the act as not coming within his jurisdiction. By sinfulness I mean the violations of the divine law. I believe the truth of this position, and the importance of this distinction, will be acknowledged by our ablest civilians in theory, however little it may have been regarded in practice. The popular cry of a blood thirsty mob, in the trial of civil crimes, may have too much influence on a judge possessing a moderate share of candour, discernment, and impartiality. Witness the trial and condem. nation of our blessed Saviour before the civil tribunal of Pontius Pilate'

God says, "to me belongeth vengeance, and recompence: I will repay." Whenever men have usurped this sacred prerogative of the Deity, under the specious pretence of assisting the Almighty in punishing the violations of his law (or rather to make a pompous display of their own hatred of all iniquity) they have given deplorable and incontestible proofs of their own frailty, and incompetency! By usurping "the power of death for a time," and under the pretence of rooting out the tares

from among the wheat, they have, in numberless instances, rooted up the wheat also.

The prevention of crimes will conduce much more to the peace, security, and happiness of the community, than the punishment of them. The multitude of crimes de notes the corruptness of gov ernment: and, eventually, occasions impunity. In order to effect a cure, the remedy must be applied where the evil originated. The frequency of punishments, lessens their value. The cruelty and inhumanity of them, will multiply crimes: for cruelty and inhumanity, like most other things, will beget their own likenesses.

The civil ruler (as well as the head of a family) by governing himself, and by exercising his authority with moderation, will soon acquire the love and respect of all his subjects for a man in authority hath ample means of gaining an ascendency over all that are under him. By making them wise and happy, he will gain their affections; and these will increase and confirm his influence, and wi beget in them a sincere regard for the laws. The path of duty will then become pleasant and delightful. And their love and respect for him, a sense of duty, and a regard to their own happiness, will ensure a more valuable, and more lasting obedience, than terror, compulsion, or cruelty.

The greatness of punishments does not have so benecial an effect in preventing

crimes, as many persons are apt to imagine.

The threatening of death, would be wholly disregarded by a person in a paroxysm of rage, fortitude or despair. All our bloody statutes will not restrain thé duellist, the assassin, or the desperado; who in order to obtain the object of his pursuit, will risk his own life, and brave all dangers. Mankind have found by long and sad experience, that the threatening and infliction of death, will not lesson moral depravity; because more extra crimes are generallly committed during one capital trial, and public execution (exclusive of shedding his blood) than the culprit himself had been guilty of

If our legislators would publicly acknowledge the sacred inviolability of the human life; and would renounce their peculiar privilege of deliberately shedding human blood, I firmly believe, that the duellist, and the assassin would no longer consider his profession as being honourable, and would renounce the prac tice.

Severity and cruelty, are more excusable in a savage, than in 'a citizen. They are insufferable in a christian! In the New Testament (the christian's constitution) we read much about our forgiving the trespasses of others against us, and but little about our punishing them. The Latin maxim, Humanum est errare, Divinum parcere, (it is man-like to transgress; Godlike to forgive) is a noble spec,

cannot

doctrine, perhaps it may not be amiss, before we offer him the reasons why we comply with his request, to acquaint him with the grounds and principles of that religion which he would have us abandon.

"Our forefathers were under a strong persuasion, as we are, that those who act well in this life shall be rewarded in the next, according to the degree of their virtue; and on the other hand that those who behave wickedly here, will undergo such punishments hereafter as are proportionate to the crimes they are guilty of. This hath been constantly and invariably received and acknowledged for a truth, through every successive generation of our ancestors. It could not have taken its rise from fable; for human fiction, however artfully and plausibly contrived, can never gain credit long among any people, where free inquiry is allowed; which was never denied by our ancestors, who, on the contrary thought it the sacred, inviolable, natural right of every man, to examine and judge for himself. Therefore we think it evident that our notion, concerning future rewards and punishments, was either revealed immediately from heaven to some of our forefathers, and from them descended to us, or that it was implanted in each of us at our creation, by the Creator of all things. Whatever the methods might have been, whereby God hath been pleased to make known to us his will,

and give us a knowledge of our duty, it is still in our sense a divine revelation.

"Now we desire to propose to him (the Missionary) some few questions. Does he believe that our forefathers, men eminent for their piety, constant and warm in the pursuit of virtue, hoping thereby to merit everlasting happiness, were all damned? Does he think that we, who are their zealous imitators in good works, and influenced by the same motives as they were, earnestly endeavouring with the greatest circumspection to tread the path of integrity, are in a state of damnation? If these be his sentiments, they are as impious as they are bold and daring.

"In the next place we beg that he would explain himself more particularly concerning the revelation he talks of. If he admits no other than what is contained in his written book, the contrary is evident from what has been shown be fore; but if he says, God has revealed himself to us, but not sufficient for our salvation ; then we ask, to what purpose should he have revealed himself to us in any wise? It is clear, that a revelation, insufficient to save, cannot put us in a better condition, than we should be in without any revelation at all. conceive that God should point out to us the end we ought to aim at, without opening to us the way to arrive at that end. But supposing our understanding to be so far illumina ted, as to know it to be our

We cannot

duty to please God, who yet hath left us under an incapacity of doing it, will this Missionary therefore conclude that we' shall be eternally damned? Will he take upon him to pronounce damnation against us, for not doing those things which he himself acknowledges were impossible by us to be done? it is our opinion that every man is possessed of sufficient knowledge for his salvation. The Al mighty, for any thing we know, may have communicated the knowledge of himself to a different race of people in a different manner.

"Some say they have the will of God in writing; be it so, their revelation has no advantage above ours; since both must be equally sufficient to save otherwise the end of revelation would be frustrated. Besides, if they are both true, they must be in substance the same; and the difference can only lie in the mode of communication. He tells us there are many precepts in his written revelation, which we are cntirely ignorant of. But these written commands can only be designed for those who have the writings; they cannot possibly regard us. Had the Almighty thought so much necessary to our salvation, his goodness would not have deferred the communication of it to us; and to say, that in a matter so necessary, he could not at one and the same time equally reveal himself to all mankind, is nothing less than an absolute -denial of his omnipotence. Without doubt he can make

his will manifest, without the help of any book, or the assiatance of any bookish man whatever.

"We shall in the next place, consider the arguments which arise from a consideration of Providence. If we are the work of God, which I presume will not be denied, it follows from thence, that we are under the care and protection of God; for it cannot be suppos ed that the Deity should abandon his own creatures, and be utterly regardless of their welfare. Then, to say that thẹ Almighty hath permitted us to remain in a fatal error, through so many ages, is to represent him as a tyrant. How is it consistent with his justice to force life upon a race of mortals, without their consent, and then damn them eternally, without ever opening to them a door of salvation? Our conceptions of the gracious God are more noble; and we think that those who teach otherwise do little less than blaspheme.

"Again, it is through the goodness of the Almighty that from the beginning of time, through many generations to this day, our name has been preserved, unblotted out by enemies, unreduced to nothing. By the same care we now enjoy our lives, are furnished with the necessary means of preserving those lives. But all these are trifling, compared with our salvation.

"Therefore, since God hath been so careful of us in matters of little consequence, it would be absurd to affirm that