of every age, with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with the blessed company of the Apostles, and the noble army of martyrs. He will there anticipate with them the full fruition of bliss, which shall succeed the second coming of our Lord, with all his holy angels with him, to judge the world in righteousness. And is not this far better, than a state of dreamless repose and unconscious oblivion? Is it not far better, to live in paradise surrounded with congenial spirits, than to endure, for an indefinite period, a total suspension of all the active powers of the mind, and all the philanthropick affections of the heart?

Surely, Brethren, it was with the design of encouraging us to run with patience the race set before us, that our Saviour said, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." And yet, forasmuch as the rewards of heaven can only be obtained after the resurrection of those, who die in the Lord, if there be no intermediate mansion of departed and rejoicing spirits, the soul is as effectually destroyed by death as the body, and will only revive with it, only live, when it shall forever relinquish the bondage of the grave. The whole of which is manifestly opposed to the consolation offered by Him, who knew all things, to his persecuted followers; and is moreover directly subversive of the expectations entertained by the holy Apostle, when he looked forward with rapture to the day of his death; when he ardently longed to depart and be with Christ, to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Well then may the believer in these remoter ages rely upon a like glorious change; well may he refuse to despond under the dismal apprehension, that his soul shall sleep with the body the oblivious sleep of death, however temporary. It is rather released from this state of sin and sorrow, for other and nobler purposes. It is released from its mortal companion, in order to be carried by angels into Abraham's bosom, where it will exist in the transporting hope of future glory, and under the all pervading consciousness, that "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

There is besides, another aspect, in which the subject presents itself in a most persuasive and practical manner. For the moment we accede to the continued existence of departed spirits, we necessarily invest them with all the mental powers, which they exhibited in the course of their earthly probation. They can reason

and reflect. They can call up to remembrance past events, and communicate their thoughts each to the other, with perhaps more than their wonted facility while here below. And what must be the consequence? Every thing that transpires on earth is known to them; not by immediate inspection; not that I confide in the rhetorical flourish, through which the souls of the dead are represented to be continually hovering over the places which once knew them. But death is ever removing his victims here and there from this transient life. Spirit after spirit is perpetually hastening to the world of spirits, and when arrived within its confines, possessed of memory, and reason, and the capacity of imparting knowledge; Is it credible, that they should remain perversely silent and incommunicative of the transactions of this world? As well might we deny, that the human soul of Christ preached to the spirits in prison; as well contend, that the whole parable is spurious, which minutely details the conversation occurring between the rich man, and the father of the faithful. Since both are in strict accordance with the principle I have suggested, and both are evidently supposititious, unless spirit can communicate to spirit every particle of intelligence it has previously acquired. On the contrary by admitting their genuineness, we are forced to concede, that as Christ announced his triumphs upon the cross to the inmates of paradise, and as the rich man is represented, relating to Abraham the precise situation of his five brethren remaining within the precincts of time; so every recently departed soul is empowered to impart to the souls, with whom it is destined to associate, an accurate account of whatever passed within its personal cognizance in the land of the dying.

How easy then to develop the practical benefits which may result from this imposing and scriptural view of the subject. Too many of our race; too many perchance of this very audience, are far more disposed to fear man than the Maker of man. They can readily indulge the corrupt propensities of our nature, notwithstanding the Omniscient eye is continually upon them, spying out all their ways, and still entirely refrain in the presence of friends and relatives, whose religious feelings they respect, and whose good opinions they are anxious to retain.

But in process of time, those friends, those relatives, whose piety operated as a salutary restraint upon their conduct in life, are sum

moned to that bourn from which no traveller returns, and then the impatient sinner too often rushes with avidity into the broad road, which leadeth to destruction. The fear of God, and the certainty of his overruling providence are scarcely ever permitted to cross his morbid mind, and as for man, unless possessed of some colour of right in virtue of the ties of affinity, he alike braves his censure, and disdains his applause.

But only allow the doctrine, which I am anxious to inculcate, only allow this to become the settled persuasion of his mind, and what inestimable benefits might not directly follow in its train. Imagine that he has been deprived of an affectionate and pious parent. Of one, whom he both loved and feared, and whose loss he could not but sincerely lament. Instead of absolutely burying all parental authority in the dust before him, this doctrine awakens new and peradventure more lively impressions, than he ever before experienced. He represents to himself his beloved relative in the preparatory abode of blessedness, and not only so, not only enjoying its incipient state of triumph and glory; but as regularly apprized, by those of his acquaintance, who successively yield to the summons of death, of the identical manner in which he employs the few moments allotted him to prepare for eternity.

If therefore he sincerely venerates the memory of the pious dead, will he not exult in pursuing a course of conduct, which being communicated, would cause the living spirit to rejoice, as the angels are said to rejoice over one sinner that repenteth? Or, if he reverenced his parent with a truly filial fear, while a resident in time, would he not earnestly endeavour to avoid all such offences, as would grieve his sainted spirit, as the spirit of God is described to be grieved, in witnessing the contradiction of sinners? I appeal, Brethren, to your individual consciences, and am bold to assert, that under the circumstances, which have been recited, that man would be vile amongst the vile, who could continue utterly regardless of the light in which his actions would be viewed in paradise, by the once dearest object of his affections: The once fond, indulgent parent, who longs even in that blissful region to hear of those personal attainments in religion, which shall at length produce a happy reunion, where there are neither tears to shed, nor parting benedictions to pronounce.

There is also another feature in this survey, which nothing but the sense of duty could ever induce me to bring up to your reflections. We have most of us experienced the melancholy bereavement of the friends and relatives we loved, and fondly do we cherish the hope that they are now rejoicing in the intermediate state of happiness. It is possible however, that we may hereafter find ourselves mistaken. I may be mistaken with regard to one, who was most dear to my heart, and so may either of your number in relation to your equally beloved kindred. They may be on the fatal side of the impassable gulf, and yet being fully certified of our present character in the sight of heaven, through the same medium to which I have called your attention: What are their feelings towards us? What the line of conduct, they would have us pursue?

Believe me, Brethren, they would only hear of our acceptance of the overtures of the gospel. They would only hear, that we had become the humble followers of the cross of Christ. Believe me, and not me alone, since the scriptures are as full and convincing upon the matter, as it is possible to conceive of. I once more allude to the case of the rich man, and am indifferent whether you consider the narrative an allegory or not; inasmuch as it cannot be less than a representation of what does take place, and therefore it settles in either event the only principle, that is worth debating.

Listen then to the words, which he is described as uttering, being in torment. They are addressed to Abraham, and are couched in the once despised language of prayer; "I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him" that is Lazarus, "to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." Memory then was his; affection, his; the power to communicate, his; and when I have remarked to you, that he seems to have utterly renounced the now proverbial fact, that misery loves company; the lucid and momentous character of the incidents unfolded renders all other comment superfluous. They completely establish the knowledge, which the spirits of the dead have of the affairs of the living. They plainly evince, that however happy our own departed and beloved relatives may be in the society of Abraham, the wretched Dives is not the only being, who would gladly sent a messenger to prevail with imBut alas, "If they penitent sinners to flee from the wrath to come.

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hear not Moses and the prophets," Christ and the Apostles, "neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead."

Such therefore, Brethren, is the practical use, to which I would subject the principal argument of this discourse. Some of us may have little regard for the exalted Being, most worthy of continual love, and reverence, and fear; little regard, for the very reason, that he never was, and never can be corporeally present to our senses. But we have stood in awe of those, whose spirits are now, as we trust, rejoicing in hope, or dreadful to think, trembling in agony; and let us govern our future lives by the conviction, that they are perfectly acquainted with the respective parts we are acting in this fleeting show, and, whatever may have been their previous solicitudes, that they are now universally desirous of learning our actual transition from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. Let us govern ourselves by this conviction, for it may bring us to our senses in relation to the great Jehovah himself. It may teach us to fear Him, who can destroy and make alive. And then the great object of our existence will be accomplished. ed in the spirit of our minds, and although our bodies must necessarily see corruption, our better souls will go where Christ has gone before us.

We shall be renew

In drawing to a conclusion, I must not however fail to remind you, that the prevailing errour, of departed souls being forthwith consigned to an ultimate heaven or hell, is not only at variance with those scriptures, which inculcate the existence of an intermediate state; but with many others, utterly incapable of being tortured into harmony with it. If for example, there were any spirits of just men already entered into their everlasting rest, we might be certain of the present heavenly felicity of the man after God's own heart. But what says the Apostle, in relation to his body, about which there is no controversy? "Men and Brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." What in relation to his soul? "David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord saith unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool."

If it were not a mere illusion; it would also seem that the spirits of the righteous dead must enjoy the felicity of beholding the glorified body of their ascended Redeemer face to face. But the Apos