CONFERENCE IV. 1511 what he hath, more shall be given : And I am persuaded, Gosh would never withhold his hand from communicating further hints of knowledge, till hesees the creature wilfully stop short of what he alight attain, and neglect or suppress some intimations of truth or duty, which one way or other were suggested to him. It is rebelling against some degree of light that provoked' God towithhold grace from man, and Wouldvindicate divine justice in its severest sentence. But in the Ninth place, as there is infinite variety of degrees of guilt inparticular persons, and their conduct in this world, there shall be the same variety of the degrees of punishment in the world to come. Everry man shall be jugdedaccording to the advan- tages he enjoyed. More is required from those whose advan- tages were greater, and their guilt is more heinous in abusing or neglecting them. God the all knowing and the righteous will weigh every circumstance, both of his favours and our use or abuse of them, in the nicest balance, and his sentence shall bear an exact proportion to the demerits of every sinner. He that knete' not his Master's will, shall be beatenbut withfew stripes, in comparison with those criminals whoknew it and fought against it. Suppose therefore that the punishment of these rudest and most stupid nations of the earth, in the future world, shall be exceeding small, in proportiòn to the very small degrees of light and knowledge which they have enjoyed, or which have lain fairly and practically within their reach ; will not this greatly relieve the difficulty ? And if even these lightest punishments which shall be assigned to the most ignorant part of the heathen world, should be thought something.. severe, yet none can be thought utterly unjust, if, as was before mentioned, none are punished, but for acting in some measure against the light of their own minds. Now, Sir, if we could put all these nine sup- positions together, and place them in such a happy situation, as that theymight, with their full force, project all their light upon this single spot of darkness in divine providence, about the state and circumstances of the heathen world, I persuade myself, they would illustrate this gloomy scene, they would clear up the diffi- culties, and relieve the charges which are cast upon the conduct of divinejustice and goodness in this affair. Let us suppose; that mankind at first were placed in happy circumstances, with a rich sufficiency of natural powers, to pro.. long and continue their own happiness through all their immor- tality; by knowing and doing their Maker's will : Suppose they had some proper notice given them, that if they sinned against God, they should not only expose themselves, but their offspring also, to a forfeiture of the blessings they enjoyed, and should introduce pains, and weaknesses, and death into their natures c Suppose it also evident, from observatioú and atperieuce, from ii tÍ
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=