justice for sin remitted as to its guilt and the eternal punishment it deserved. If we keep before our minds the thought of what purgatory is, the intensity of its pains, and their long duration, we should be more upon our guard to avoid not only venial sin, but even the very appearance of sin, as the Apostle advises us. We should shudder at the very thought of an evil, which would earn for us such a severe punishment in the next world. And, as to the temporal debt due to the Divine justice, we should be more desirous to pay it beforehand, as so well we can, by indulgences, and our own penitential endeavours.

CONCLUSION.

Conclude by laying down, that to help the poor suffering souls in purgatory is a greater charity than any we can do our fellow-creatures in this world. Refer to John the Baptist, who, when asked, who he was, replied: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord," &c. (John, i. 23) ; and say, that your appeal in the present instance, is the voice of one crying in the desert of this world, echoing the shrieks of the poor sufferers of purgatory, as they cry to us from the midst of their torments, "Have pity on me," &c.

Consult Theology; "Butler's Lives of the Saints," the 2nd November; and Guillet, "Projets d'Instructions," vol. 4, inst. cxi.

The inspired Psalmist, addressing Almighty God, said to Him, "If I ascend into heaven Thou art there, if I descend into hell Thou art there." (Ps. cxxxviii. 8.) We have had experience of the truth of these words. in our three last discourses. With the prophet Isaias, "we went down into hell in the midst of our days," and there beheld an avenging God punishing the wicked in that abyss of woe. We also attempted on the wings of faith and hope to ascend into heaven, where we beheld the same Almighty God rewarding the good with a happiness that "eye hath not seen," &c., (1 Cor. ii. 9); and we visited the poor suffering souls of purgatory, to take account of their sufferings in this temporary place of woe, that we might have pity on them and help them, as also instruct ourselves to lead pure and holy lives here on earth, that our detention in purgatory be as short as possible, if we do not absolutely escape it. But these subjects should be incomplete unless we added that this unutterable

misery, the misery of hell, and this unspeakable happiness, the happiness of heaven, are both eternal, i.e., they are to last for ever and ever. O what a subject to dwell upon! Eternity! The eternity of heaven's joys, and of hell's torments!

Need I ask you to give me your best attention, whilst I endeavour to treat of this most thrilling subject? Does it not of itself command our most earnest attention, when we are convinced as Christians, that one or other of these eternities awaits us after having closed our career here below? Let us therefore raise our hearts on high, and beg, &c.

BODY OF THE SUBJECT.

1. Eternity! O Eternity! What a terrific word! And how much more terrific does it become when we add, eternity in hell, or eternity in heaven! How shall we approach such a subject? How frame our ideas respecting it? The rules of language allow, that in several cases we can exceed the limits of literal truth, and the excess, or exaggeration, is understood to be only a strong mode of conveying our thoughts or sentiments. But this principle has no application to the subject of eternity. Eternity in hell, or eternity in heaven! This is a subject, on which there can be no over-statement of language, no exaggeration of phrase. On the contrary, after having said all we can say, after having exhausted all the resources of rhetoric, we must conclude in avowing, that our words fall infinitely short of our ideas, and our ideas infinitely shorter still of the reality of the subject we attempt speaking on. Why this impotence of language? Why this inadequacy of idea or conception?

Eternity we know is a species of infinity, and, therefore, we see at once, that with limited faculties, such as we possess, we cannot comprehend by any positive idea that which is infinite. Eternity is a kind of study, and the more we apply ourselves to it, the less we understand it; or, perhaps, to speak more correctly, the more we become convinced of our utter incapability of understanding it. It is said of St. Augustine, that walking once along the sea-shore, he applied his very powerful mind to the task of understanding, if he could, the mystery of the Adorable Trinity. As he went along, he came up to a child, whom he saw engaged in making a hole in the sand with a little sea-shell. The Saint giving up for a moment the subject, in which his thoughts were buried, asked the child what he was doing: "I am," replied the child, “making a hole here in the sand." "But for what purpose?" asked St. Augustine. The child replied, " to drain the sea into it." "O," resumed Augustine, " don't be silly." Silly," said the child, "I am not so silly as you, who are trying to make room for the Blessed Trinity within your little understanding." And so saying the child disappeared! leaving St. Augustine to reflect on the absurdity of a limited mind trying to grasp an infinite object. So we must say of eternity. It is impossible for us to comprehend it. As well might we attempt to get the sea into the hollow of our hand, as to get an adequate conception of eternity into our minds. O eternity, eternity! What a thought! But eternity in hell, or in heaven, one or other of which is to be our lot, who can think on it without trembling from head to foot!

2. We are further to reflect, that whilst eternity is to last for ever and ever, it is to be without a moment's pause or interruption either in the misery of the damned in hell, or the happiness of the blessed in heaven. What a consideration this! And let us apply it first to the damned in hell. In every kind of pain we are acquainted with in this world, there is a relief in thinking, that having attained a certain point of intensity it will begin to abate. The poor sufferer, writhing under the most excruciating torture in the morning, hopes to be better before evening, or, in the evening, he hopes there will be a change before morning; and though his hopes be deferred, he still clings to the consolation of hoping, that sooner or later relief will come, and that at all events his sufferings will not last always. Alas! there is no such door of consolation opened to the damned in hell. Alas! no. Could a damned soul assure herself, that at any assignable period of time, however distant, she should be relieved, even for a short time, were it to be after millions and millions of years, hell would be no longer hell to her. What a thought for the unhappy soul! No respite, no pause, ages and ages are to pass on, thy torments are to be the same, without a moment's intermission, without the relief of a single instant. How dreadful! how horrible! &c.

But from the depths of hell let us transport ourselves to the heights of heaven with the same thought, that there is to be no intermission, no pause, even for a moment, in the happiness of the blessed. Here on earth, why is it there is no real happiness? There are several reasons, but a special reason is, that all happiness we are acquainted with, has in it the

S