and the people have always been such as the great men were; and that whatever changes have taken place in the morals of the great, the same will also follow in the people.”

It must, however, be observed, that, although Providence has made great differences between different individuals and people in this respect,

-as He has done in many other respects, as in those of happiness, wealth, health, and power, -yet in the midst of the deepest ignorance, as among the pagans, whose advantages are so much less than those of Christians, there may be still left enough of the natural light of conscience to warn and to direct. We are responsible only for what we have, and not for what we have not; but small is the number of criminals who do not confess that, however it has happened, they have had great cause for self-accusation. It appears that they are condemned in their own consciences, which testify that God "had given them space (and ability) to repent, but that they repented not."* it is certain that nothing will ever overthrow the righteousness of punishment, as acknowleged by the confessions of men who are themselves suffering punishment; they speak much * Rev. ii. 21.

And

more truly than our theoretical suppositions, and vindicate, with a strength which cannot be resisted, the government of the Divine Being, whether viewed in the course of nature, or in the book of Scripture.

SECTION XXV.

EZEK. xviii. 31.-" Cast away from you all your transgressions; for why will ye die, O house of Israel ?”

How much more worthy the Divine Being, it is said, if, instead of expostulating with sinners, He had at once turned their hearts, and made them avoid death?

This might be a natural thought, had it been entertained by one who had just risen, as Cicero represents a case, from a dark and deep abyss, where he had always lived, and had known nothing of what was passing above. But that it should be entertained by any who had seen the administration of the world, and had mixed among human affairs, is indeed surprising. Theory is ill arrayed against experience, when it can indulge in such visionary speculations, and suppose that its puny thoughts can compete with the sovereign wisdom of God. It may seem to itself wise; but its pantings after

wisdom, its aspirations after the discovery of truth, must end in disappointment.

There is a voice which speaks to us in the heart, whose sounds are acknowledged by all, for they are obeyed by the good, and feared by the bad. Its importunities may be soothed and lulled by artifice; they may be drowned or quenched for a time by violence or audacity; yet it rises the higher by depression, and throws its alarms and accusations with the greater force into the heart, the more it has been unheeded and despised. This voice is the voice of conscience, which Cicero* calls a heavy weight, Lucant and Juvenal,‡ a witness in the breast, Menander, a God to mortals.§ A bad conscience, or consciousness of guilt, is compared by Plutarch || to an ulcer in the body; and Pythagoras¶ declared that there was no bad man so bold as not to be reduced to the utmost timidity by it: that his mind has no rest, but is alarmed even at every wind. Seneca** observes, that bad deeds are punished by the whips of conscience, whose power of torment is great and perpetual. And Cicero + Lucan, lib. 7. § Menand. Frag. Stobæus, Serm. 24.

Cic. iii. de Nat. D.
Juv. Sat. xiii.

|| Plut. de Anim. Tranquill.

** Sen. Ep. 97, ad Lucill.

remarks,* Every man's own wicked fraud and consequent terror are his chief tormentors; every man's own iniquity harasses and drives him to madness: his own wicked thoughts and remorse of conscience terrify him." But perhaps no writer has more vividly described the power of this inward monitor than Juvenal, whom I cannot forbear to adduce at large in attestation of the sentiments of uninstructed reason.t

"But does the wretch, whom human laws release, 'Scape heaven's high wrath, and pass his days in peace? No-conscience, fell avenger, ever wakes; With horror fills th' astonished soul, and shakes

A scorpion whip unseen by human eyes,

Tortures the villain, and all rest denies."

And a few verses after:

"The wretch that but conceives a crime in thought,
Contracts the guilt e'en of an actual fault.
Then what shall he expect who still proceeds
To perfect sin, and work up thoughts to deeds?
Why, ceaseless anguish preys upon his heart;
His very food no pleasure can impart.

Such are the men who start with wild surprise,
When heaven's dread lightning flashes in their eyes:
They think each glance is levelled at their head:
Heaven's first low murmurs shake their soul with
dread.

* Cic. pro Rosc. Amer. 24. Juv. xiii. 192. Owen.