of new systems of moral probation? We know what is better,-that God will "rest in his love" to all the redeemed. No event will ever occur to alienate his heart, or hide his face, or divert his attention from them. Whatever new creations may arise in the universe, they will not displace the church from her rank in his esteem. Whatever order of angels or worlds may outstrip the rest in the career of improvement, they will never eclipse her; yea, whatever possible modification of moral government may be introduced into any possible creation, the mediatorial, under which the church of Christ was formed and perfected, will remain eternally the glory of the divine administration. "We shall be for ever with the Lord," whatever other beings may be brought into existence; and for ever nearest to him, whatever new relations he may sustain to new worlds. He will die no more, he lives for ever, and, therefore, they must be for ever dearest to him, for whom he shed his blood.

There may be no events of this kind to diversify the ages and bliss of eternity. The supposition of them is not, however, rash nor improbable. And one thing is certain, if variety ever be wanted in order to perpetuate or promote the happiness of heaven, there is space

i

enough in infinity for all the worlds and systems which omnipotence can create, should every age of eternity be marked by a new creation as vast as the old.

But to close this series of questions, what if we cannot now realize either the precise kind or degree of our knowledge in heaven. We are sure that it will be satisfactory, both in kind and degree. It will impart and prolong "fullness of joy; "-and what more could we wish? We naturally advert, when we think of heavenly knowledge, to the mystery of the divine essence; and wonder whether we shall understand the unity of the Trinity. Few, perhaps, have felt more curiosity on this point than myself. I have so often dwelt upon this question, that I am actually ashamed of the degree in which it has occupied my attention. For, however desirable or pleasing it might be to understand this mystery, it is self-evident when we pause to reflect, that even the perfect knowledge of it could not add much to our enjoyment. It would rather gratify our curiosity than increase our happiness. Indeed, its moral bearings upon present or future bliss are any thing but obvious. Not that I am indifferent to such knowledge, nor underrate it; but when I ask myself, how it would profit me,

I must say that I cannot answer the question. I cannot but see, that even if I understood all mysteries, and this one most, I should still have to find my happiness in the character of God. The comprehension of his essence, however full and clear, could not answer the same moral purposes as the comprehension of his love, his wisdom, or his faithfulness. And as there is no doubt but these will be known and enjoyed in perfection, I must say to myself and to others, that we should sustain no spiritual loss were this mystery to be as eternal as it is now entire.

I do not, however, think that it will be so. The assurance that "we shall know, even as we are known," pledges, if not open vision on the subject, such a degree of light as shall render the union of Father, Son, and Spirit, in the one Godhead, as obvious as the union of soul, body, and spirit in our own one person. But as it will not be from knowing the points where the latter blend, nor the nexus of their unity, but from the intellectual and moral powers thus produced and perfected; so, whatever be the light thrown upon the unity of the Trinity, our chief confidence and de light in the Godhead must spring from its moral perfections, and not from its physical properties. In a word, we shall know all that finite intellect can enjoy or bear; and, surely, there is range enough in that wide and warm circle of light, to render the anticipation of the perfect day of eternity equally pleasing and profitable.

Thus there is really less difficulty in conceiving of invisible things, than appears at first sight. The current objections against trying to realize them are not so formidable as they are plausible. They are, in fact, rather the suggestions of sloth, than the convictions of reason; and far less derived from baffled effort to comprehend, than from reluctance to meditate.

I must now say distinctly, that I have a very mean opinion of all the ordinary excuses, put forward to palliate or explain the slight attention given to eternal things. I feel thus, especially, in reference to the wrath to come. When that is dwindled into a question about the materiality of everlasting burnings, both the head and the heart do themselves little credit. For, whatever unquenchable fire, or the deathless worm, may literally mean, they can mean nothing good, nothing easy,-nothing temporary. Besides, to a mind rightly exercised and disposed, there is surely more than enough to awe it, and to fix its awe, in the single fact, that hell is "the wrath of God and the Lamb." There can be no great soundness of judgment nor justness of feeling, where the impression of this solemn fact is defeated or weakened by curiosity. It does, therefore, appear to me one of the deceits of the human heart, if not one of the wiles of Satan, when our thoughts entangle themselves with the minute details of future misery, and thus escape from the awful and obvious truth, that it is "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Yes; hell is this, whatever else it is, and whatever else it is not. Of what consequence then is the question, what else is hell, seeing it is this? O, did we estimate things according to their real or their relative importance, there is in this one view of the wrath to come, such definite and appalling terrors, that even a momentary glance at them, if given daily, could not fail to keep us fleeing from that wrath, and clinging with a death-grasp to the cross, as the only refuge from it.