in these, it certainly cannot in any other. Besides, instances in which the conduct of men is said to be decreed, are numerous in the scriptures. They are found in every part of the sacred volume. The conduct of the righteous as well as the wicked, the conduct of private as well as public characters, the conduct of individuals as well as bodies of men, are repeatedly mentioned in the scriptures as objects of a divine purpose or determination. Your attention has been called to one or two instances only, merely because there is not time to name them all. Instances in which the sinful conduct of individuals is said to have been predetermined, have been selected, not because such instances are more numerous than others, but merely because people in general are more disposed to deny the purpose of God in these than in others. It is well known that the good conduct of the disciples in receiving Christ, in obeying him, and in attempting to promote the interests of his kingdom in the world, was decreed. Of this our Saviour informed them in the following words: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit." The conduct of Paul in embracing that Saviour whom he once persecuted, and his faithful and successful efforts to spread the knowledge of his name among the nations of the earth, is expressly mentioned as an object of a divine determination. When Ananias objected to going and laying his hands on him, according to the command of the Lord received in a vision, on account of the evil which he had before done to the church, the Lord said, "Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." Paul speaks of his own reception of Christ, and that of the Ephesian Christians, with their subsequent holiness and happiness, as something which God in the exercise of his own sovereign pleasure had decreed. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." If the reader is not convinced by these express declarations of scripture, that the actions of men, both good and bad, are decreed, let him consider, that it is an undoubted fact, that God foreknew them. If he is perfect in knowledge, he must certainly know what is to take place, as well as what has taken place. Besides, that he does know what the conduct of his creatures will be, is demonstrable from the fact that he has in so many instances foretold it. The following passage, among many others that might be quoted, shows beyond a doubt, that the conduct of the Jews in putting Christ to death was foretold, and consequently foreknown. "But ye denied the Holy One, and the Just," says Peter," and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.-And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled." Now we have before us the fact, that God did foreknow that the Jews would crucify Christ. This fact, I say, proves that he had determined it. A little reflection will make this point plain to any one. It is a clear case, that nothing can be foreknown, until it is certain. It could not possibly have been foreknown that the Jews would crucify Christ, until it was certain that they would do this. When, therefore, God foretold this fact by the mouth of his prophets, he did it on the ground of its certainty. But what was there ages before these Jews were born that rendered it certain that when they should come into existence, they would crucify the Lord of glory? It could not be any thing in them, for as yet they had no existence. It could not be any information which God had received from any other being respecting their future characters, for no one in the universe was capable of giving him information. As "he is before all things, and by him all things consist," there is not, and there never was, any information upon any subject, which did not primarily come from him. But still there was something ages before these Jews existed-yea, ages before the world existed, or any creature, that rendered it certain that they would, when they should have a being and be favored with an opportunity, crucify the Son of God What was this? What could it be? To this I answer, it was the purpose of God. It could be nothing else. There was nothing else that could render the event certain. If we only suppose, that God from eternity designed to bring the Jews into existence, and that they should, when an opportunity presented, crucify the Messiah, we can see that there was, even from eternity, a ground of the certainty of this event. If God had purposed it, The pre- knowing himself, or his own purposes, he would know of course that they would do it, and could, on this ground, predict it. The fact, therefore, that God has foretold that the Jews would crucify Christ, proves incontestibly, that he had determined it. The same may be said with respect to every event which he has foretold. diction of it proves his foreknowledge of it. knowledge of it proves its previous certainty. And its previous certainty proves it an object of his purpose or determination. On this ground we know that God determined the conduct of the Egyptians in oppressing the Israelites, the conduct of Pharaoh in refusing to let Israel go, the conduct of Sihon in coming out to fight against Israel, the conduct of Eli's sons in refusing to listen to their father's reproof, the conduct of Absalom in raising a rebellion against his father, the conduct of the king of Assyria in distressing Hezekiah and Jerusalem, the conduct of Nebuchadnezzar in destroying so many nations to gratify his ambition; for all these things were foretold by the prophets. On the same ground we know that God determined the conduct of Solomon in building the temple, the conduct of John in preparing the way for the Messiah, the conduct of the Gentiles in receiving the testimony which the Jews rejected, the future conduct of the Jews when they shall embrace Christianity, the conduct of all nations in becoming righteous in the days of the millennium, and the conduct of the church in her attempts to bring about this glorious state of the world; for the Bible is full of predictions on all these subjects, many of which are not yet fulfilled. But enough has been said to show that God has decreed the conduct of men. This doctrine is now to be reconciled with their free moral agency. It was observed, as the reader will re collect, that if each of these doctrines could be shown to be true, this would prove that they are consistent with each other, on the principle that truth is always consistent with itself. It has been shown that the doctrine of decrees is true. A few considerations, it is believed, will make it as clearly appear that mankind are free moral agents. By a free moral agent, I mean a person who is capable of discerning between moral good and evil, who is voluntary in the right or wrong course he pursues, and who is praise or blameworthy, according as he obeys or disobeys the law of God. In this sense mankind are free moral agents. The following considerations will place this subject beyond all doubt in the mind of every one who is not bewildered by his own sophistry. 1. Every man feels that he is a moral agent. There is no one who is not conscious of perceiving the difference between right and wrong, who does not know that he is voluntary in what he does, whether it be in obedience or disobedience to the commands of God; and who does not feel remorse in the commission of what he knows to be sin, and an inward approbation when his conduct is such as appears to be right. There is no man that can divest himself of these feelings. Every one carries about in his own breast a monitor, which is secretly saying in accents which he may strive to silence, but cannot wholly disregard, "This is the way, walk ye in it." Although by continued transgression, the conscience may become seared as with a hot iron, and the sinner feel less pain in view of his transgressions than when first he entered upon his devious course, yet he can never be wholly unmindful of his sins, nor for any length of time be insensible to his danger. He may plead the decrees of God as an excuse for his crimes. He may deny his own moral agency. But after all, there is something within him that tells him he is free; that makes him feel that he is accountable; that points to the punishment which is due to sin, and makes him feel that he deserves to suffer it. Although the conduct of Judas in betraying Christ was decreed, although this had been told him before he was guilty of it, yet he was so conscious of his own moral agency in what he had done, that in an agony of remorse he exclaimed, "I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood;" and in a paroxysm of despair, he went and hanged himself. Never was a man's conduct more clearly foretold than that of Pharaoh; and never was the purpose of God in any event more clearly revealed, than in his refusing to let the Israelites go; yet all this time he felt himself a moral agent, was conscious of choosing the wrong while he knew the right, and obliged to admit the justice of his own punishment. "God is righteous," said he, while groaning under the heavy judgments of his hand, "I and my people are wicked." Similar to this is the confession of Joseph's brethren, respecting their conduct in selling him as a slave in Egypt. Though according to the declaration of Joseph, he was sold and carried there agreeably to the agency and purpose of God, ("God did send me before you to preserve life,") yet when they were led solemnly to review this transaction, they were wholly unable to support their convictions of guilt, or to avoid the appre hension of deserved punishment. "And they said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us and we would not hear: therefore is this distress come upon us." I say, then, mankind all feel that they are moral agents. A consciousness of this is inseparable from their natures. They might as well deny that they exist, or that they feel pain or pleasure, as to deny that they are free moral agents. 2. Every man treats his fellow creatures as free moral agents. In all his intercourse with them, he proceeds upon the principle that they are able to perceive the difference between right and wrong, and are voluntary in the actions which they perform. He always takes it for granted too, that they are praiseworthy when they do right, and censurable when they do wrong. Whether a man believes in the doctrine of divine decrees or not, he always treats his fellow creatures as free moral agents. You never knew an individual excuse another for insulting or abusing him, on the ground that his actions were decreed, and that he was not a free agent. The most strenuous advocate for the decrees of God that has ever appeared, even the most consistent of those who have held that these were inconsistent with human liberty, has |