finitely sweeter then to gaze on His glory without an intervening medium. We see now, at best, but through a glass darkly; then we shall see face to face. And while the vision of God, and communion with Him, will thus constitute the chief source of heavenly happiness, every thing else will contribute to swell its overflowing stream. There my soul shall be filled with all perfections, and grace shall be complete. My mind shall expand into angelic dimensions. My will shall be wholly conformed to the Divine will. My affections shall be fixed on the Lord my God, with unbroken constancy, and with fullness of delight. My body shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, being fashioned like the glorious body of the Redeemer, "according to the working whereby He is able to subdue even all things unto Himself.” And thus shall my whole nature be perfectly fitted for the employments of heaven, and the enjoyment of God. There, too, shall I be surrounded by pure and glorified ones. There shall I converse with angels and archangels. There shall I associate with patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, and martyrs. There shall I see the Christian friends whom I have known and loved on earth. O what a blessed reunion! There we shall meet to part no more, agree and fall out no more, rejoice together and be sad no more. O happy day! 0

delightful close of all grief, and consummation of all joy! Let the hope of its near approach cheer thee, my faint and struggling soul, amidst the labors and sorrows of thy pilgrimage below.

Once more, my soul, fix thy thoughts upon eternity. How canst thou forget it? What is this narrow point of time in comparison with the endless ages of the life to come? Alas, poor mortals act a part for a while on this little stage, and then depart into another world, where they must dwell forever. And yet the life that now is, though brief and insignificant in itself, is the seedplot of eternity; the preparatory season, on the improvement or misimprovement of which depends an everlasting state of weal or woe. O what wretched folly is it to lose eternal happiness for the transient pleasures of earth! What should not one endure for a short moment here, to escape never ending torments! Methinks nothing is of any importance, but as it relates to eternity. It is eternity alone that gives emphasis to joy or sorrow. It is this which imparts to heaven the perfection of its triumph, and to hell the intensity of its despair. How fearful is the thought, that when the lost spirit has suffered the pangs of "the second death" for millions and millions of years, its misery is no nearer an end than when it first began! O with what utter hopelessness will it ex

claim, as it looks around the walls of its gloomy dungeon-Here I must abide for ever! O that I might be consumed so as not to be!

can I not, be at last annihilated, and

May I not, become as if

I had never been? Is there no termination to these tortures-no escape from these direful realms?

None, none. The " great gulf," once crossed, admits no return. So, on the other hand, eternity increases and secures the bliss of the redeemed. Here I am the happy soul may say—and here I shall be, through ceaseless duration, without the slightest fear that my raptures will ever die, or be diminished. My state is better than that of Adam in the earthly, or that of the fallen angels when in the heavenly Paradise. These joys I shall never lose. O what a permanent reward have I for the brief sacrifices and conflicts of time! My sorrow is gone-my joy remains. How comes it to pass, that those light afflictions, which were but for a moment, have wrought out for me this exceeding and eternal weight of glory? I have not earned it-I have not deserved it. No, no; it was my Father's good pleasure to give me the kingdom. Eternal life is the gift of His sovereign grace alone, through the blood and righteousness of his only begotten Son. O who would not do and endure all things for this eternity of blessedness!

Thus meditate, solemnly, earnestly, prayerfully,

on these stupendous thoughts, until they become the cherished companions of your daily walks, and of your nightly musings; until they breathe their own power over your spirit, grow into your very heart, and are ever with you, at home and abroad, in public and in solitude, in labor and in rest, as your shield against temptation, your incentive to holiness, your comfort in affliction, your triumph. in death.

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CHAPTER XVI.

OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS.

IN connection with the great and solemn truths, presented in the last chapter, as general subjects of meditation, I will now briefly refer to some of those incidental occasions of pious thought, from which, if you possess a right frame of mind, you may derive much spiritual profit. It is alike the duty and the interest of a Christian, to improve all the events and circumstances of his earthly course, for the increase of his heavenly treasure. Every condition through whicna passes—every scene in which he mingles-his occupations, his associates, his successes, and his disappointments—all have a moulding influence upon him, and are shaping his character for good or for evil. Each vicissitude of his temporal being conveys to him some lesson, and impresses on him some mark. And it should be his constant endeavor so to regard and to use these common things, as to give them a sanctifying tendency, and draw from them assistance in his religious progress. Let such be your own practico Take God with you into all your affairs.