Evident indeed it is, that God has frequently changed his dispensations towards his rebellious creatures; but amidst all his various dealings with them, HE hath experieuced no change, not even so far as to cease desiring and seeking the happiness of the most hardened and rebellious, either living or dead. Be not startled at the expression-I say, either living or dead. I think there are passages of Scripture which will substantiate the idea; but shall, at present bring forward only two instances, first, his dealings with the antediluvians; secondly, with the rebellious nation of the Jews.

The antideluvians had filled the earth with violence, had become completely corrupted; God seeing them acting in continual opposition to rectitude and eternal order, and knowing, while they were permitted to go on in this course, the end for which he had made them could not be answered, determined, in order to stop the progress of iniquity and violence, and lessen the quantum of evil, to cut them all off, except righteous Noah and his family. It has been generally thought that, after this, God took no further thought about them; that, from the moment he destroyed them from the earth, he ceased to seek their happiness by any means whatever; that he either sentenced them to eternal misery, or reduced them to a state of non-existence; but such suppositions are quite unauthorised by Scripture. Annihilated they could not be, as that would have rendered them incapable of deriving any benefit from the second Adam, of participating in the resurrection from the dead. To suppose them consigned over to endless misery would be contrary to both reason and Scripture. Every rational man must acknowledge that the system of punishment which should have for its abject the good of the punished, as well as the general good, would be the most perfect, and most worthy of an absolutely perfect being to inflict; and it would be unreasonable to suppose that God adopted an imperfect system of punitive justice, seeing he is perfect in all his works and ways.

The Scriptures expressly inform us of means being used for the recovery of those unhappy spirits, who had for ages quitted the mortal stage. 1 refer to 1 Pet. iii. 18-20. I beg you will carefully examine the passage. The apostle first mentions the death of Christ; “being put to death in the flesh;" then his resurrection; "quickened by the spirit;" and then adds, that " he went and preached to the spirits in prison." Mark the explicitness of the language, « Spirits in prison." Who those spirits were we are not left to conjecture; Peter, by his positive assertion, hath put the matter beyond all doubt, if we can receive his words as they stand before us: he affirms they were those." who were sometime disobedient in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing." Conjecture as to whom those persons were who were sometime disobedient în the days of Noah must be entirely out of the question, as we have their history; but many, not willing to give up their old ideas, would have the passage to mean, that Christ, by his spirit in Noah, preached to the old world; but Christ, in the days of Noah, was neither put to death in the flesh, nor quickened by the spirit? events which Peter states as having taken place prior to

his preaching to the spirits in prison. To me the words seem clearly to convey that Christ, after his death and resurrection, went personally down into Hades to preach the gospel to departed wicked spirits, and afford them a real proof of his death and resurrection, of which they never, till then, could have had any consistent idea. For what purpose did the saviour afford them such a manifestation of his grace and love, but that those prisoners who sat in darkness, might receive the gracious message, and be brought out of the prison-house? Moreover, it is plain to me, that the gospel was preached to the dead, or persons who had died; for the same apostle affirms it, as well as the end for which it was preached, 1 Pet. iv. 6. Whatever different construction may have been put upon this passage, to me the language appears plain, and the conclusion evident. I see not how it can be denied the word quick intends those who are alive in the body-the word dead, those whose natural lives have terminated, who are no longer in the body: the gospel is said to be preached to the dead, as such, in as express terins as it is said to be preached to the living, as such: besides, the declared design for which the gospel was preached to the dead, plainly shews that they were not in the flesh at the time it was preached to them. How could it be said that the gospel was preached to them that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, if they were actually in the flesh when it was preached to them? There could have been no room for such a form of expression in that case. The apostle adds,

but live according to God in the spirit," which implies that they did not live according to God in the flesh, or body, at the time when it was preached to them; yet, that the design was, that they might be enabled to live to God in their disembodied state. I think the apostle has given us an intimation of the success of Christ's preaching to the spirits in prison, Mark his mode of expression; he does not say "which are now disobedient," as if they continued so at the time he wrote, but" which sometime (or formerly) were disobedient;" which seems to imply that they bad ceased from their disobedience: as when he speaks to saints, and reminds, them that they were sometime far off, sometimes darkness, sometimes alienated, the words are admitted on all hands to imply, that they were no longer afar off, in darkness, or alienated. I think the success of the gospel, when preached to the dead, is expressed in many passages of Scripture, which I have not time to remark upon at present, but recommend, to your particular notice what the apostle affirms, that Christ both died. rose, and revived, that he might be, Lord, both of the dead and living. The keys of hell and death being committed to his hands, he hath power to open the prison, take the prey from the mighty, and deliver the lawful captives.

lw TO BE CONTINUED.

OBSERVATIONS

ON PROPHECIES NOW FULFILLING.

SIR,

S the fulfilment of prophecy is a solid, standing, and growing evidence of the truth of Scripture, so every attempt to point out any event now taking place on earth as corrresponding with Scripture prophecy, must be interesting to every real Christian, especially having our Lord's exhortation in constant mind, Luke, xxi. 28., As the last days are come upon us, and every year is big with some important event, and the deist and sceptic may mock and deride the Christian's blessed hope, (Titus, ii. 13.) yet, I am persuaded,, the providence of God, in the fulfilment of his word, will confound them, and they will be lost in wonder and astonishment, while the true believer and reflecting Christian will have the promised blessing (Rev. iii. 10.) in the diligent use of the means of instruction given, Rev. i. 3.

If the foilowing thoughts are worth a place in your Miscellany, they are at your service.

-20.

The passage I shall now particularly notice is Rev. xiv. 17"And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."

In reading this portion of Scripture, it struck me as being applicable to this very present time, particularly from the clause in the 20th verse, "and the winepress was trodden without the city.".

In the 7th verse the angel of the gospel of the age is represented as speaking with a loud voice, saying, "Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come;" possibly the hour of temptation which is come upon all the world, Rev. iii. 10.; and I think has also reference to, what is prophesied in the immediate preceding verses, namely, the 14th, 15th, and 16th of this chapter, in which is represented one like the Son of man, who with a sharp sickle reaps the earth; i. e the earth at large, first in the order of words, but perhaps last in the order of time. In the 8th verse there followed another angel, saying,

Observe the distinction here between the earth, and the vine of the earth; both are reaped; the former including the latter; the latter being, as I suppose, first in its accomplishment.

Babylon is fallen, is fallen! that great city! The destruction of Rom, mystical Babylon, seems to be the winding up of the prophecies, as far as the present age; but previous to this it seems the vineyard of the earth, or the clusters of the vine of the earth, will be reaped.

We then enquire, I. What or where is the vineyard or vine of the earth? and what are we to understand by her grapes being fully ripe? II. God's judgments upon the vine of the earth.

III. Where are they executed?

Now as the Jewish church was God's vineyard of old, (Isa. 'v. 'r———8.) BoT apprehend those nations and countries that were formerly, and are How blessed with the knowledge of God's will by the gospel, may be justly considered as the vineyard of God. Paul calls on us to behold the goodness and severity of God in changing his vineyard from Jews to gentiles Europe and part of Asia inay at least, I think, with great propriety, be considered as a great part of the vine of the earth.

By the grapes being fully ripe, we are not to understand the fruits of holiness, righteousness, and peace; these most certainly ought to have been the fruits thereof, but violence, injustice, and transgression.

II. God's judgments on his vineyard. These are represented by an angel's "coming from out of the temple which is in heaven, with ä sharp sickle in his hand, and another angel coming out from under the altar, which had power over fire, crying with a loud cry, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth :" he did so; ** and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God, and blood came out of the winepress, even to the horse bridles, by the space of one thousand and six hundred furlongs." This shews the greatness of the judgment, and perhaps the extent of it.

Some difficulty may arise in ascertaining who those angels, or rather messengers are. May we not suppose the prophecy to mean one power of the political heavens calling to another power, as a messenger of Providence, to perform this dreadful work in the Christian world, (so called) God's vineyard? Especially when we consider hat wicked men are said to be God's sword and hand to the righteous, Ps. xvii. 13, 14. with how much propriety may they be considered as his sword to his polluted vineyard?

I think we may not be considered as doing violence to the text to imagine these messengers of God's displeasure to be the powers of the political heavens waging war with each other, and thereby gathering the clusters of the vine of the earth, and casting them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Will not this somewhat apply to the present state of the French and Italian emigrant clergy?

That the judgments of God on his vineyard are just, and that no real Christian will impeach God's dealing with it in this awful manner, will appear, when he but considers how Christianity has been corrupted in its doctrines, ordinances, precepts; and temper: it is almost totally defaced by the traditionis, fancies, and ordinances of inen, enforced with a tyrannical disposition; add to which that the dissolute - lives

of its professors in general have rendered it odious in the eyes of God and men.

III. The next question is, Where is the winepress to be trodden? the answer is ready" without the city." When Rome was about to fall into the hands of the French Republic, almost every protestant, expected great judgments on the city; but behold it was given up, without any great contest, and very little blood spilt, and the city remained entire. Again, when the French were, pressed hard, last, campaign, behold it was given up again by capimulation, without bloodshed. The winepress was trodden, not IN but WITHOUT the, city. What a late terrible conflict this campaign in Italy and elsewhere!, and what dreadful preparations are still making! Surely the grapes of, the vine of the earth are fully ripe, and the messenger of Providence is thrusting in his sharp sickle, and gathering the clusters thereof, and, the winepress is beginning to be trodden without the city. The city itself will fall, like a millstone in the great deep, when he who will ride on a white horse shall appear.

These are the outlines. of my thoughts on this portion of the Revelation of John, generally supposed an obscure passage, and which, with all due difference, I submit to the consideration of your leaders, well knowing we ought to be very careful what we bring in as the subject matter of such a prophecy, and especially as to the time of its, accomplishment. I will thank any of your readers to point out wherein I may have erred in my conjectures on this subject. I know that Providence best (and perhaps Providence ONLY) will unfold such portions of the word of a faithful God. If these views are in any wise, good, I would make this improvement of the subject; namely, that it becomes the duty of every nation professing Christianity, yea, and, every church and people in those nations, nay, every individual, to, enquire wherein they have perverted the gospel of Christ; in its, doctrines, institutions, temper, and precepts wherein they have denied. his name and the authority of Christ, as intimately connected with his name. God has commanded all men every where to repent mit is double duty in the present case.

BATTLE.

Yours, &c.

W. A.

ANIMADVERSIONS

ON THE HOXTON STUDENT'S" REMARKS."

SIR

REA EADING in the Universalist's Miscellany for. March, an epistle, entitled "Remarks on the Spirit of Mr. Andrew Fuller's last Letter," I could not suppress, as I wantalong, the emotions of indignation and surprise, till I came to the last word, viz. “ a Student," when these: sensations gave way to pity and compassion.-What pity, said I. to.