"If, then, facts compel us to admit that this law of restriction is in full operation _now_, while we are on earth, surely we must admit the possibility of its continuance in a future state of existence, without impugning the wisdom or justice of the Deity?" "I never enter on a discussion on the questions at issue between us, without feeling compelled to do one of two things; and yet I cannot bring my mind to do either. I must admit the truth of revelation and its explanations, and this I cannot do; or I must abandon myself to _universal_ scepticism, and this I feel unwilling to do. But I do confess that I feel it more easy to disbelieve than to believe. However, waiving further reference to this difficulty, allow me to call your attention to another point, which, if not more difficult than the one we have just been discussing, assumes, at least in my estimation, an aspect of great perplexity. Assuming then, for the sake of the argument, that the Deity does restrict the bestowal of future happiness to those who do believe and trust in Christ, could he not have devised some other scheme for this purpose, and one equally perfect and effective--one, in fact, less open to objections?" "I will reply to your question by asking another. Could not God have made a world different to the one in which we live--one more congenial to our taste, and less exposed to those privations and hardships to which we are often subjected, and which we sometimes so much dread?--A world, for example, in which every convenience and necessary should be placed within reach; the earth producing spontaneously the supplies of corn and fruits necessary for our subsistence--a sufficient supply of dew as a substitute for rain with its discomforts--the purification of the air effected by gentle breezes instead of by tempests and hurricanes--no diseases to rack the body nor cares to harass the mind; a world, in fine, in which universal happiness should prevail, and sorrow and toil be unknown?" "Yes, there is no denying that the Deity could have done this."