his administration in the universe, be enlarged and expanded. In the disclosures which, in the course of ages, may be made on this subject, displays of the eternal righteousness of Jehovah, of his retributive justice, of his "tender mercy," and of his boundless benevolence, may be exhibited, which will astonish and enrapture the mind more highly than even the magnificence and grandeur of his physical operations, and fill it with admiration of the amiable and adorable excellencies of the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. If we account it a pleasant study to investigate the habits and economy of some of the insect-tribes ;-if we should reckon it highly gratifying to learn the history of all the events which have befallen every nation and tribe of mankind since the world began, particularly those which relate to our first parents in paradise, and after their expulsion from it,-to the antediluvians, to the ten tribes of Israel, to the Christians in the first centuries, to the Waldenses, to the Assyrians, Babylonians and American In dians, how delightful and gratifying must it be, to learn the history of angels, principalities and powers, and to become acquainted with the leading transactions which have occurred among beings of a higher order and of different species, dispersed among ten thousands of worlds! Great and marvellous as the history of our world, and of human redemption appears, it may be far surpassed by the events which eternity will unfold. "The day is coming," (to use the words of a celebrated modern writer*) when the whole of this wondrous history shall be looked back upon by the eye of remembrance, and be regarded as one incident in the extended annals of creation, and with all the illustration, and all the glory it has thrown on the character of the Deity, will it be seen as a single step in the evolution of his designs; and as long as the time may appear, from the first act of our redemption to its final accomplishment, and close and exclusive as we may think the attentions of God upon it, it will be found that it has left him room enough for all his concerns, and that on the high scale of eternity,

* Dr. Chalmers.

it is but one of those passing and ephemeral transactions, which crowd the history of a never-ending administration."

Under the department of Philosophy may be included all those magnificent displays which will be exhibited of the extent, the magnitude, the motions, the mechanism, the scenery, the inhabitants, and the general constitution of other systems, and the general arrangement and order of the universal system comprehended under the government of the Almighty. On these topics, with all their subordinate and infinitely diversified ramifications, the minds of redeemed intelligences from this world will find ample scope for the exercise of all their powers, and will derive from their investigations of them perpetual and uninterrupted enjoyment, throughout an endless existence.

That the subjects of contemplation now stated, will, in reality, form the chief employments of renovated men and other intellectual beings, in a future state, may also be proved from the representations given in the word of God of the present exercises of these intelligences. In the book of Revelation, the angels, under the figure of "living creatures full of eyes," and the " elders," or representatives of the church of the redeemed, are represented as falling down before the throne of the Eternal, saying, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honour, and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Here, the material works of God are represented as the foundation or reason of the thanksgiving and adorations of the heavenly host; and the language evidently implies, that these works are the subject of their contemplation-that they have beheld a bright display of Divine perfection in their structure and arrangement-that they are enraptured with the enlarged views of the Divine glory which these works exhibit-and that their hearts, full of gratitude and admiration, are ever ready to burst forth in ascriptions of "glory, honour, and power" to him who called the vast assemblage of created beings into existence. -In another scene, exhibited in the same book, the saints who had come out of great tribulation, and had gotten the victory over all enemies, are represented with the harps of God in their hands, celebrating the Divine praises in this triumphant song, "Great and marvellous are thy works,

Lord God Almighty-just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints."-The first part of this song may be considered as the result of their contemplations of the magnificent fabric of the universe, and the Omnipotent energies which its movements display; and the last part of it as the result of their study and investigation of the moral government of God in his providential arrangements towards men and angels, and towards all the worlds whose moral economy may be opened to their view. For the words of the song plainly imply, that they have acquired such an expansive view of the works of God as constrains them to declare, that they are great and marvellous ;" and that they have attained such an intimate knowledge of the Divine dispensations towards the intelligent universe, as enables them to perceive that all the ways of the King of heaven are 'righteous and true.”

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From the preceding details we may also learn, what will form one constituent part of the misery of the wicked in the future world. As one part of the happiness of the righteous will consist in "seeing God as he is," that is, in beholding the Divine glory as displayed in the physical and moral economy of the universe, so, it will, in all proba. bility, form one bitter ingredient in the future lot of the unrighteous, that they shall be deprived of the transporting view of the Creator's glory, as displayed in the magnificent arrangements he has made in the system of nature. fined to one dreary corner of the universe, surrounded by a dense atmosphere, or a congeries of sable clouds, they will be cut off from all intercourse with the regions of moral perfection, and prevented from contemplating the sublime scenery of the Creator's empire. This idea is corroborated by the declarations of Scripture, where they are represented "as banished from the new Jerusalem, "thrust out into outer darkness," and reserved for "the blackness of darkness for ages of ages. And, nothing can be more tormenting to minds endowed with capacious powers, than the thought of being for ever deprived of the opportunity of exercising them on the glorious objects which

they know to exist, but which they can never contemplate, and about which they never expect to hear any transporting information.

If it be one end of future punishment to make wicked men sensible of their folly and ingratitude, and of the mercy and favours they have abused, it is probable, that, in that future world or region to which they shall be confined, every thing will be so arranged, as to bring to their recollection, the comforts they had abused, and the Divine goodness they had despised, and to make them feel sensations opposite to those which were produced by the benevolent arrangements which exist in the present state.-For example, in the present economy of nature, every one of our senses, every part of our bodily structure, every movement of which our animal frame is susceptible, and the influence which the sun, the atmosphere, and other parts of nature, produce on our structure and feelings, have a direct tendency to communicate pleasing sensations. But, in that world, every agency of this kind may be reversed, as to the effect it may produce upon percipient beings. Our sense of touch is at present accompanied with a thousand modifications of feelings which are accompanied with pleasure; but there, every thing that comes in contact with the organs of feeling may produce the most painful sensations. Here, the variety of colours which adorn the face of nature, delights the eye and the imagination,—there, the most gloomy and haggard objects may at all times produce a dismal and alarming aspect over every part of the surrounding scene. Here, the most enchanting music frequently cheers, and enraptures the human heart, there, nothing is heard but the dismal sounds "of weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." Ungrateful for the manifold blessings they received in this world from the bountiful Giver of all good, the inhabitants of that dreary region will behold their sin in their punishment, in being deprived of every thing which can administer to their sensitive enjoyment.

With regard to their moral state, similar effects will be produced. Here, they hated the society of the righteous, and loved to mingle with evil doers in their follies and their crimes; there they will be for ever banished from the company of the wise and the benevolent, and will feel the

bitter effects of being perpetually chained to the society of those malignant associates who will be their everlasting tormentors. Here they delighted to give full scope to their depraved appetites and passions, there, they will feel the bitter and horrible effects of the full operation of such lusts and passions, when unrestrained by the dictates of reason, and the authority of the Divine law. If, to these sources of sorrow and bitter deprivations, be added the consideration, that, in such minds, the principles of malice, envy, hatred, revenge, and every other element of evil, which pervaded their souls while in this life, will rage without control, we may form such a conception of future misery as will warrant all the metaphorical descriptions of it which are given in Divine Revelation, without supposing any farther interposition of the Deity, in the direct infliction of punishment. While he leaves them simply to "eat of the fruit of their own ways, and to be filled with their own devices," their punishment must be dreadful, and far surpassing every species of misery connected with the present state of the moral world.

On the other hand, a consideration of the infinitely diversified sources of bliss to which our attention has been directed, has a powerful tendency to impress the minds of the saints with a lively perception of the unbounded nature of Divine benignity, and of "the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is chiefly in connection with such expansive views of the attributes and the government of the Deity, that the love of God towards the Redeemed appears "boundless," and "passing comprehension;" for it introduces them into a scene which is not only commensurate with infinite duration, but is boundless in its prospects of knowledge, of felicity, and of glory. And, there. fore, amidst all the other employments of the heavenly state, they will never forget their obligation to that unmerited grace and mercy which rescued their souls from destruction, but will mingle with all their sublime investigations,ascriptions of "blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, to Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever."

The substance of what has been detailed in this depart.