they shall be invested, and which they will use as the instrument of perception, they will be able to discover proofs and illustrations of some of the attributes of his character, which are, at present, altogether imperceptible by them. It will hardly be doubted, I presume, that if we could now perceive all the qualities-for it is not improbable that there are many latent ones-of the various substances of which our globe is composed; and could discern the innumerable and endlessly diversified forms of insect life, with which the air and the earth and the waters abound; and could distinctly see all the chemical and mechanical processes, which are perpetually going on in the different tribes of vegetable and animal existences by which we are surrounded, we should have more elevated conceptions of the wisdom of the Creator; and possess means, which are at present beyond our reach, of gratifying the higher and holier desires of our nature. Such capabilities would enable us to acquire a knowledge of the divine character vastly greater than we can now obtain; and we could not move about with such scenes of wonder everywhere in our view, without recognizing the hand and the presiding agency of the Infinite Intelligence, and experiencing emotions of the most pleasing kind. In these circumstances, every department, indeed every indivi dual object in nature, would be a kind of transparency in which his character would be distinctly seen; and if the affections of men were properly disposed towards him, this earth would be felt to be a sphere of

existence more desirable, and to be possessed of greater capabilities of making them happy than it was in its pristine state. Such a state of existence would correspond, in many important particulars, with the descriptions which are contained in the scriptures, of the state upon which redeemed men shall enter after the resurrection; and the supposition I have made respecting it may serve to show how large a portion of the enjoyment of the heavenly state will spring from the contemplation of the works of the Creator. Such a pursuit will not be uncongenial to their nature in its perfected state, nor inconsistent with any other exercises in which they shall engage; nor will the happiness to which it gives rise be less satisfying, or less suited to their tastes and habits, in the circumstances in which they shall be placed, than that which shall be drawn from any other source.

But though such a state as the one I have been describing may resemble, in many particulars, the state which awaits the righteous, it must fall vastly short of what it will be. In that state their field of contemplation will be inconceivably enlarged; and such may be the nature of the bodies which they shall possess, that they may be able to range over the universe, and contemplate the manifestations of creative wisdom and power, and of divine benevolence, which are exhibited, in the numberless and stupendous worlds which have started into being at the fiat of the Almighty. Many of the physical obstructions which, in this imperfect state, limit the range of their vision and obscure their

view, and which impede the exercise of the higher powers of their nature, will be removed; and with a corporeal frame which will eminently assist them in their investigations, they will perceive brighter visions of the divine glory than they had ever beheld in these abodes of darkness and death.

The incorrectness of the notion which, it is to be regretted, is cherished by many persons whose piety cannot be questioned, that, besides the habitation of the Most High, where angels and principalities and powers dwell, the earth is the only sphere of animated and intelligent existence which has been created; and that the stupendous globes which garnish the heavens are mere luminous bodies, placed there solely for the convenience of man, will be discovered; and the diminutiveness, nay, the almost utter insignificance of the earth, when compared with other parts of the universe, will be seen. Such contracted notions will be for ever dissipated, and will give place to conceptions more rational and elevated. And these conceptions, I apprehend, will not so much depend upon the results of abstract reasoning, as upon the more convincing evidence of sense. For it is not beyond the limits of possibility, on the other hand, it is highly probable, especially when we consider the language which is employed by the sacred writers. to describe the capabilities of the righteous in the future state, that they may be able to estimate, by the assistance of their visual organs alone, the respective magnitudes and distances and motions of the different

bodies in the system to which the earth belongs; and also perceive in them the effects of the great general laws which are in operation in our world.

But what would such a scene be, great and magni. ficent as it unquestionably is, to the scenes which will be exhibited in the vast regions of space which lie beyond the limits of the solar system! Supposing that the fixed stars are so many central suns around which are incessantly revolving vast assemblages of planetary bodies, what sublime objects of contemplation would they be in such circumstances! Situated as we at present are, and with the assistance of the most powerful instruments which have yet been contrived, these luminaries appear to be stationary points, whose perceptible bulk is exceedingly small, and amongst which there seems to be nothing like order or arrangement; but with powers of vision as great as those which, there is reason to think, will be pos sessed by redeemed men in the higher stage of their existence, we might be able, from the point of observation on which we now stand, to perceive many of them to be bodies superior in magnitude and splendour to the one by whose radiance our earth is illuminated; and even to descry the complicated movements of entire systems at one view.

It ought not to be supposed, however, that the scenery of the heavens is spread out by the Creator merely to afford subjects on which redeemed men may exercise their intellectual powers; or that the investigation of such subjects will be a source of enjoy

ment to them any farther than it tends to illustrate the character of the God of salvation, and to give them loftier conceptions of the great Being who rescued them from misery and destruction. To separate these subjects of investigation from the higher and more interesting themes connected with the scheme of human redemption; and to represent them as engaging their attention, and as being the means of affording them enjoyment after the work of redemption is investigated and understood, in as far, at least, as it is possible for created beings to understand it for it seems to be supposed by some, that it is a subject not sufficiently great and interesting to afford materials for contemplation to the redeemed throughout eternity--they are invested with an importance which does not essentially belong to them; and to speak of them in such a way has an obvious tendency to generate feelings in the mind respecting the work of Christ, of a different nature from those which are produced by the language of the persons who "spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." There is something in the minds even of the most enlightened Christians which makes them shrink away from the thought of heaven bearing a resemblance to a school of philosophy, where the sciences are cultivated; they feel a higher satisfaction in thinking of it as a temple in which devotional exercises form the chief employment. It is when viewed in this light that it is possessed of the strongest attractions to them; because such exercises will tend to keep pro