existence," which he designates as "a sort of endless punishment without pain."
"Upon the whole," he says, "the opinion of the salvation of all children, as it has no countenance from the Bible, so it has no foundation in the reason of things."—"The Scripture brings down the infants of wicked parents to the grave, and leaves them there, and so do I. The Scripture has not provided any resurrection for them, neither can I do it."[1]
And the learned Theophilus Gale, the author of a work quite famous at one time, entitled the "Court of the Gentiles," says:
"So great is the Majestie of God, and so Absolute his Dominion, as that He is obnoxious to no Laws, Obligations, or Ties from his Creature: this absolute justice or Dominion regards not any qualities or condition of its object; but God can by virtue hereof inflict the highest torments on this innocent Creature, and exempt from punishment the most nocent. By this Absolute Justice and Dominion God can inflict the greatest torments even of Hell itself, on the most innocent Creature."[2]
TESTMONY OF THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION.
Leaving here the opinion of individuals on this subject prior to Swedenborg's time, we will proceed next to consider, what is more important to our present purpose, the opinion of religious bodies or sects. And let us first consult the famous Augsburg or Au-
