A Brief Memoir with Portions of the Diary, Letters, and Other Remains, - of Eliza Southall, Late of Birmingham, England by Eliza Southall
page 87 of 177 (49%)
page 87 of 177 (49%)
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weight in his arguments to the manifest relations
and actings of the unknown upon the known. He was Calvinistic; this, joined to a strong view of the moral perfection and benevolence of God, led him to the natural result of denying _eternal_ punishments. Could he have seen more of the essence of a human spirit, as he doubtless now sees it, I venture to think that that mysterious personality, by virtue of which man may be said to choose his destiny, _i.e._ to embrace destruction, or to submit to be saved by the Saviour in his own way, that the perception of this personal image of God in man might vindicate the Divine perfection and benevolence, and make it evident that our "salvation is of God, and our destruction is of ourselves." _10th Mo. 2d_. Oh to be permitted any taste of that grace which is free--ever free; which brings a serene reliance on eternal love; which imprints its own reflection on the soul! Oh, be that reflection unbroken by restless disquiets of mind; be that image watchfully prized, and waited for, and waited in. _10th Mo. 5th_. Some sweetness in thinking how much akin is "having nothing" to "possessing all things." _10th Mo. 14th_. Talk with James Teare on the immorality of drinking. Query:--Is it _per se_ a _sin_ to drink a little? He does not affirm it in pure |
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