heavenly light of conscience is extinguished; its admonitions have ceased, and the pangs of remorse are felt no more. And although the spiritual faculty, which distinguishes between good and evil, still remains, yet there is no motive for bringing that faculty into exercise, in reference to himself; for the last desire for reformation has perished. Henceforth the man, or the spirit, is internally united to hell. He lives in hell, for hell lives in him. Such is conscience, and such is the way in which it is gradually weakened and finally destroyed, by an evil life. And who will imagine that there are any regenerating influences in the infernal world, by which conscience can ever be restored? What possibility can there be of restoring the man's conscience to a healthy action, or to any action, by permitting him eternally to associate with those who, like himself, are confirmed in the love of evil and falsity? You might as well hope to restore a dead body to life, by enclosing it in a coffin and burying it in a grave. But here is an awful consideration! A being formed for eternal life, having received from his Creator, powers and affections, which, if developed in an orderly manner, would have made him an angel of heaven—that same being voluntarily perverting and rejecting goodness and truth, till, at length, he becomes fully confirmed in those evil affections which constitute the life of hell; and does evil without regret, and without remorse.
The idea was once entertained, that the miseries of hell result from being perpetually and eternally consumed in a material fire. But this idea, if still entertained, must be confined to those minds which are too low and sensual to have any perception of the essential difference between natural and spiritual things, but suppose that the spiritual world is nothing more than a continuation of the natural. But, though such an idea is too absurd to be entertained, even for the purpose of refuting it, yet it is deeply interesting and instructive to reflect upon the mercy of the Lord, in
