and if, of all association of mind with mind, the pleasure is proportioned to the confidence with which it is indulged, and the wisdom and virtue which it exercises and improvés, how imperfect, in this view, must be the brightest and best society of earth! Suspicion and reserve seldom fail to mingle with, and to impair, the happiness of all human intercourse. No man can be certain that the temper of those with whom he holds his most affectionate communion, shall be always undisturbed; and the social blessings which flow from the brotherhood of our nature, and which are delightful and numerous, are yet perpetually diminished and dimmed by some fear and some doubt generated by experience, or justified by the uncertainty of mortal friendships. But the disembodied spirit, communicating with beings of another world, shall have no occasion for apprehension and distrust. Where all shall be good, there can be no diffidence; where all shall love, there can be no deceit and no malignity. A universal amity shall produce but universal concord; and the communication of the just with the just, and of the righteous with the righteous, instead of being restricted by the caution of distrust, shall have nothing to check the freedom, and corrupt the purity, of its current. For the dissonances of earth, shall be, accordingly, substituted the harmonious intercourse of unsuspecting good will. The soul shall experience in its associates the attachment of celestial benignity, discover in them the graces of celestial virtue, and receive from them the communications of a celestial wisdom. There shall exist no vices to impair an intercourse so intellectual and refined; and no jea

lousies to counteract the holy affections which that intercourse is to exercise and perfect. The communion of the Saints, on the contrary, shall exist for ever, connecting spirit with spirit in the golden bonds of fraternal association, and drawing perpetually closer the links of that chain which binds together, in holy and imperturbable fellowship, the inhabitants of heaven.

III. The happiness of hereafter shall be farther augmented by progressive knowledge. Even in his present state man is formed to advance in moral and intellectual acquirements. He possesses intelligence to investigate, and is impelled by fancy and curiosity to inquire. Every truth which he discovers adds something to the dignity and happiness of his nature, and becomes a means of further and, perhaps, higher acquisitions. Yet, at best," he sees but in part. An insect, a blossom, a hair, a clod, exceeds the analysis of his brightest powers; and the intelligence, to which he is so much indebted for improvement and delight, is yet slow in its discussions, frail in its inferences, imperfect in its discoveries, and at every moment, subject to doubts which it cannot resolve, and to darkness which it is unable to dissipate. But not so shall it be in the regions of the future. "There," we are told, "that "which is in part shall be done away." The spirit, no longer darkened by the veil of flesh, or disturbed and distracted by busy and corrupt passions, shall then enjoy, and exercise, and exult in, a more sublime and penetrating vision. The veil of shadows which had been so long hung before our eyes shall be lifted up, and the cloud which had so long rested upon us shall be touched and brightened into everlasting glory. Nothing shall remain to obstruct the path

and retard the pursuit of wisdom. That which had been unattainable shall be acquired; that which had been seen but in part shall be clearly and fully revealed; and the soul, endowed with powers as much superior to those which distinguished it on earth, as the abodes of earth are inferior to the habitations of heaven, shall be replenished, as we may humbly hope, with high and holy knowledge, shall constantly approach towards that perfection which it is, at once, to imitate and adore, and shall be perpetually enriched by new influxes of grace, of wisdom, and of glory.

In this world, as we are farther informed, "“ we walk by faith and not by vision." From the type and figure we may here ascend to Him whom they feebly represent, and we may learn to contemplate, with trust, the saving mercies which descended from heaven for the edification and salvation of man. But doubts and difficulties here also disturb and darken our view; and faith recognises, in its noblest contemplations, the shadow only of that eternal Being whom it adores. Whereas, hereafter, the contemplation of the spirit shall not be limited to the feeble and inadequate type. Faith, holy and inspiring as it is, shall be then abolished, and vision, yet more inspiring, shall be then perfected. The august mystery shall be brightened into the intelligible and satisfying certainty. We shall no longer trust, but behold; no longer feebly aspire in imperfect hope, but repose and exult in perfect conviction. While the mansions of heaven shall surround us, while the angels of heaven shall be seen in our dwelling, we shall look up from the graces and mercies which we had contemplated in the pages of inspiration, to Him from whom those graces descend,

and by whom those mercies have been accomplished; and the Creator, whom we here but dimly discover in his works, and the Saviour, whom we here recognise but as the sufferer of the cross, and the holy Spirit, who reveals himself here but by his sacred influences, we shall then contemplate, the first, in all the perfection of omnipotence, the second, in all the majesty of renovated glory, the third, in all the benignity of unbounded love. What shall be the emotions inspired by such a vision! How shall the spirit be rapt in admiration, in gratitude, and in devotion, when it shall be thus permitted to drink at the fountain head of all truth, and to replenish its fervors and its holiness by familiarizing itself, if it may be so said, with objects of such transcendent purity, majesty and power!

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As if these magnificent declarations were insufficient, it has been explicitly revealed to us that we shall know as we are known." Well may such a promise astonish us; and imperfectly, at best, in our present state, can we comprehend the fulness of its meaning. How are we known, and by whom? Is it by a frail and finite being, or is it with a feeble and imperfect vision? No!-but by an Omniscient Power, by an inspection which nothing can evade, and with a knowledge to which are laid open all the recesses of all hearts, and all the most secret thoughts engendered by the passions and the will. If, therefore, we shall know as we are known, we must be prepared for such knowledge by an extraordinary accession of faculties and of powers. The image of God, we may presume, which is here clouded in us and debased by ignorance and by sin, shall be reno

* 1 Corinth. xiii.

vated and brightened, in the world of spirits, and perfected by perpetual influx of wisdom and of glory. Then, perhaps, shall the mysteries of creation and of providence be laid open to our view; then we shall dwell in light, not the beam of a material and perishable sun, but the all-vivifying efflux of the Eternal Godhead; and the evidences shall encompass us, and be understood, of that effusive goodness and mercy which are among the attributes of the Almighty, and which, if we beheld them, through the veil of flesh or of faith, with reverence and with awe, how much more, when we contemplate the perfection of their unclouded glory, shall they kindle our gratitude, our veneration, and our love!

We are also told that the just shall become, hereafter," like the angels of Heaven," and enjoy that liberty which is as a spirit of life." The promise opens an additional view of the future attainments of the Elect. If the soul, even in this world, amid so many obstructions and impediments, and involved in so much darkness, be permitted to add grace to grace, and excellence to excellence, how shall it advance towards perfection, when it shall be thus gifted with angelic qualities, and thus endowed with "the spirit of life!" May we not presume that every glance which it shall then send forth amid the wonders of heaven, shall bring back some lofty and sublime conviction, some satisfying certainty which had been concealed before, some sacred and noble truth which shall augment the stores of knowledge, and quicken, with additional motives, the ardor of piety, and the obedience of holiness? Or are we to suppose that the unchecked spirit, with all its celestial endowments, shall stand

Epist. Rom. viii. 2, 3; 2 Corinth. iii. 17; Jude, ver. 25.