as if completely freed from the impediments of a gross materialism, it soars away to regions where it beholds scenes which no waking eyes ever beheld. These aerial flights, however wild and extravagant they may be, prove that it can think and act independent of the body. And to suppose that it sinks into a state of absolute insensibility when the body dies because it is sometimes affirmed of the dead that they are asleep, is as unreasonable as to suppose, that it is incapable of exercising its powers when the organs of sensation are sealed up in repose.

But it is asked-and the question is not an unimportant one-if they possess a conscious existence in the separate state and are capable of thought, and action, and enjoyment, is their destiny fixed immediately after death? Or shall they remain in a state of uncertainty respecting their future condition till the day of judgment? There can be no doubt that many passages of scripture seem to countenance the notion, that the decisions of the Judge respecting the human race will not be declared till the great day; but such is the nature of the case, that a public declaration of his decisions is not necessary to make transgressors feel the weight of his vengeance, or the righteous experience the blessedness arising from the possession of his favour and approbation. The principles which they carry with them into the other world determine the great question at once and for ever, because they are, in a great measure at least, the source of the misery of the wicked and of the happiness of the

righteous both here and hereafter. If, when every prejudice and delusion are completely removed from their minds, their conscience gives forth a decision respecting them in perfect harmony with that of the Judge, how can they, for a moment, be in a state of dubiety about what awaits them at his glorious appearing? or fail to reap the fruit of their doings immediately after they quit the body? Although the rewards of the one class shall not be fully enjoyed, nor the punishment of the other fully inflicted till the resurrection of the body, they enjoy and suffer, in the separate state, to the full extent of their capabilities.

It is not necessary in that case that the solemn and awful formalities of judgment should be proceed. ed with, nor the final decision of the Judge publicly announced to them when they enter the invisible world, to make them fully acquainted with their state, or to convey to them a notion of the nature and the measure of their rewards and punishments. The characters which they formed upon earth contain the elements of bliss and woe, and the results will be experienced as soon as the soul is called away from this probationary state. Now, if it be asked, what then is the use of the formalities of a general judgement? I answer, to justify and publicly pronounce, in the presence of an assembled world, the decisions which the Judge has already arrived at and begun to carry into execution; and to exhibit, in the most impressive manner, to beings connected with other

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worlds the blessedness connected with obedience and the awful effects of transgression.

But there is another opinion held by many wise and good men, which demands our serious attention, I mean the one respecting what is commonly termed an intermediate state. It cannot be useless to inquire whether, in reality, there is such a state, or to what extent the opinion seems to be supported by the scriptures. It cannot be a matter of indifference to us whether, during the long interval between death and the resurrection, the souls of the righteous are in a place of rest and security merely, where they are, it is allowed, entirely freed from suffering and all evil, or in the immediate presence of God enjoying the society of angels and the high felicities of heaven. The notion we form of this subject must, in some measure, affect our minds in the prospect of death.

It is well known to every intelligent reader of the scriptures that hades-which is almost invariably called hell in the new testament-is said to be the place or state into which the soul passes when it leaves the body. The Hebrew word sheol, which occurs frequently in the old testament, has precisely the same meaning; for the one is generally rendered by the other in the Greek version of the old testament. Both signify simply, the unseen world, or the invisible state of disembodied souls without any reference to locality, or to suffering or enjoyment. This is evident from the fact, that both terms are employed to indicate the state both of the righteous and the

wicked. Jacob, when he thought that Joseph was torn in pieces, said, "I will go down into sheol unto my son mourning;" and the apostle Peter quotes the passage in which the Saviour is represented as saying,

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Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." On the other hand it is said of the impious king of Babylon, "sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming ;" and of the rich man mentioned in the parable it is said, "in hades he lifted up his eyes being in torments.”

It will scarcely be questioned that the place to which Jacob expected to go, and in which the soul of the Saviour really was, must be different from the place where the soul of the king of Babylon and that of the rich man were. And the terms by which they are indicated, as these instances clearly show, are general terms and determine very little, if anything at all, respecting the question. The place to which they are applied is supposed by many to be a subterranean mansion consisting of two great apartments; the one of which is the residence of the souls of good men and is called paradise, the other being the place where the souls of the wicked are confined in chains of darkness till the judgment of the great day.

Assuming, therefore," says Bishop Horsley, in his sermon on the descent of Christ into hell— “Assuming, therefore, that every departed soul has its place of residence, it would be unreasonable to suppose, if revelation were silent the subject

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that a common mansion is provided for them all, their nature being similar; since we see throughout all nature creatures of the same sort placed together in the same element. But revelation is not silent. The sacred writers of the old testament speak of such a common mansion in the inner parts of the earth; and we find the same opinion so general among the heathen writers of antiquity, that it is more probable that it had its rise in the earliest patriarchal revelations than in the imaginations of man, or in poetical fiction. The notion is confirmed by the language of the writers of the new testament, with this additional circumstance, that they divide the central mansion of the dead into two distinct regions, for the separate lodging of the souls of the righteous and the reprobate." Concerning the nature of that place, he further says:

"The invisible mansion of departed spirits, though certainly not a place of penal confinement to the good, is nevertheless, in some respects, a prison. It is a place of seclusion from the external world—a place of unfinished happiness, consisting in rest, security, and hope, more than enjoyment." As there is not in the above representation a reference to any particular passage, it is of importance that we should endeavour to ascertain how it agrees with the general statements of scripture upon the subject. If it can be shown. that paradise is not a "central mansion in the inner parts of the earth"-a place, certainly, not very likely to be the residence of blessed souls-we may, perhaps, see that there is reason to form a conception of the