As I began to recover, I turned my thoughts more closely than before, to those places of Scripture which describe hell, the place of torment. I examined what the Scripture has said of its awful nature; that it is "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God;"--for "who knoweth the power of his anger?" and "our God is a consuming fire." I found, also, that the Scripture evidence of its being endless in its duration, was as conclusive as that of the endless duration of the happiness of heaven. He who said that the one was eternal, said the same of the other. But, when contemplating this awful subject, I was at times tempted to think, "It may be, that although God has said so, he may not intend to execute his dreadful threatening to the full extent: there may be a future period, in which he will extend mercy to his creatures, but which he has kept hid from them, for wise purposes, that they might not presume on his mercy, and spend their present lives in sin, and not repent in this world, because there would be an opportunity to repent in the next."--But this reasoning did not long deceive me; for I continued to ponder the subject, and I saw that such a notion did not consist with the veracity of God. He could not say one thing, while he intended another; if I admitted that he said one thing and intended another, with respect to the duration of punishment in hell, it would, with equal consistency, apply to what he said of the endless happiness of heaven, and so render uncertain any hope that might be built upon the promise of it; and if the principle were in one case admitted, it would throw loose all his promises and threatenings, respecting both this world and the next; for we should still have room to think, God has said so, but he does not mean so.--I also reflected, if God has said, that the punishment of hell shall be eternal, and has a secret purpose of mercy at some distant period, if this is a secret of his own, how can any one know it? If he has not told it, how is it possible for any one to find out that which God intends should be secret? Reflection upon this idea, put an end to the speculation, as being a gross absurdity. I also reflected on the nature of sin;--I said to myself, "Supposing I were cast into hell for the sins of my present life, would I cease to commit sin when there? and if I did what was in itself sinful in hell, would the torments of the place excuse it? would the justice of God take no cognisance of what I did there?" This was a piercing exercise to my mind: but it was salutary; and I believe I was indebted to what I had read in Boston's Fourfold State for it, although I was not aware of it at the time. I answered the above queries in this way: If, when I am in a state of partial sufferings here, I am not able to suffer without being at least impatient and fretful, if I do not actually complain and murmur--how can I expect to behave any better in hell? My present