EVERY POSSIBLE ARGUMENT.

If Dr. Adam Clarke had only been imbued with such an idea, he would not
have required to labor so hard as he has done in trying to make out a
hopeful prospect for Judas. With a truly charitable intent he summons
every possible argument in support of the idea that Judas was truly
penitent, and that he was saved in his last hour. He may have been; I do
not say. But the idea of Restoration opens a far wider door of hope. In
that case, there is no need for far-fetched argument. He will be
restored, as the worst criminal of mankind will be. The theory of
Restoration settles all difficulty.

Closely allied with this case of Judas is the case of all suicides. If
we were now holding an inquest on Judas, I suppose our verdict would be
that he committed suicide in a fit of temporary insanity. And perhaps he
did. At all events it is the most charitable verdict at which we can
arrive. Many suicides in all fairness deserve this mantle of charity.
And there is more than charity in reserve for all such. We believe there
is an opportunity of development which many of them could not have in
this life.

And so we may well believe it will be with lunatics. The reasonable view
is, that they will begin just where they left off. As they are, they are
not fit for the better world; and it would be unjust to send them to a
world of woe. Some were idiots from their birth, and so have acquired no
evil propensities of which to be divested. In other cases the idiocy was
simply due to a clot on the brain. They have left their bodies behind
them now, and the clot too. They simply begin at the point where their
reason deserted them; and it will come back in due time.