human weakness. His mind is not limited, like that of man,
to be more affected by partial suffering than by that universal disorder
and ruin which must inevitably result from the unrequited violation of his
law. The mind of man is unduly affected by the present and the proximate;
but to God there is neither remote nor future. And when, in wisdom and in
goodness, he first established and ordained the law unto life, he saw the
end from the beginning; and he can never sacrifice the universal good by
setting aside that law in order to avoid partial evil. His mercy to the
whole creation makes the same demand as his justice. The execution of
divine justice is, indeed, but a manifestation of that mercy which is over
all his works; and which labours, with omnipotent energy, to secure the
good of all, by vindicating the majesty and glory of that law, upon the
preservation of which inviolate the good of all depends. The fire that is
not quenched is kindled by the boundless love of God no less than by his
justice; and the very fierceness of its burning is, that it is the "wrath
of the Lamb." Let us not be deceived by the vain fancies and the idle
dreams which our fond wishes and narrow-minded infirmities are so apt to
beget in us. Let us remember that the mercy of God is united with
omniscience; and that it is to be found only in the bosom of Him whose
empire extends to the utmost bounds of the universe, as well as throughout
the endless ages of eternity.

In the genuine spirit of Socinian theology, Dr. Channing, in his
illustration, has set before us the mercy of God alone; and that, too,
merely in relation to the sinner, and not in relation to his law and
government. He entirely overlooks the fact, that it is impossible to
exhibit either the justice or the mercy of God in the most affecting
manner, except in union with each other. It is frequently said, we are
aware, that if God had pardoned the sinner without enforcing the demands
of the law, he would have displayed his mercy alone, and not his justice;
but in fact this would have been a very equivocal display of mercy. It
would have shown only one of two things: either that God regarded the
sinner with an eye of compassion, or that he did not regard his sin:
either that he was merciful, or that he had no great abhorrence of sin:
either that he loved the transgressor, or that he did not hate the
transgression.

To illustrate this point, let us take the case of Zaleucus, the kin