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nature, in order to establish the doctrine of a future state of eternal felicity. How magnificent are the preparations which nature makes! What glory do they promise after death! The author of our being has endowed the human soul with an unbounded capacity of advancing from knowledge to knowledge, from sensation to sensation. I make free here to borrow the thought of an illustrious modern author:* "A perpetual circulation," says he, " of the same objects, were they subject to no other incon"venience, would be sufficient to give us a disgust "of the world. When a man has beheld frequently re-iterated vicissitudes of day and night, of summer and winter, of spring and autumn; in a word, "of the different appearances of nature, what is "there here below capable of satisfying the mind? "I am well aware," adds he, "how brilliant, how "magnificent this spectacle is, I know how possible "it is to indulge in it with a steady and increasing delight: but I likewise know that, at length, the "continual recurrence of the same images cloys the imagination, which is eagerly looking forward to "the removal of the curtain, that it may contemplate new scenes, of which it can catch only a con"fused glimpse in the dark perspective of futurity.

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Death, in this point of view, is a transition merely "from one scene of enjoyment to another. If pre"sent objects fatigue and excite disgust, it is only in "order to prepare the soul for enjoying, more exquisitely, pleasures of a different nature, ever new, "and ever satisfying."

The conclusion deducible from the preparations of nature, may likewise be derived from the preparations of grace. Let us not lose sight of our leading object. How magnificent had the preparations of grace appeared in the eyes of Simeon! This we have already hinted: the whole of the Levitical dispensation consisted of preparations for the appearance of the Messiah; if we form a judgment of the blessings which he was to bestow upon the human race, from the representations given us of him, it is impossible to refrain from drawing this conclusion, that the Messiah was to give unbounded scope to the desires of the heart of inan, was to communicate to him that unspeakable felicity, for the enjoyment of which nature had already prepared him, but which nature had not the power to bestow. There, I mean in the Levitical dispensation, you found the shadows which retraced the Messiah; there you found types which represented him; there oracles which predicted him; there an exhibition in which were displayed his riches, his pomp, his magnificence; there you heard the prophets crying aloud: "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation; and let righteousness spring up together," Isa. xlv. 8. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace," Isa. ix. 6. "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall

vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old Jike a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." Isa. li. 6.

Now, what state of felicity could possibly correspond to conceptions raised so high, by preparations of such mighty import? What! amount to no more than that which the Messiah bestows in this world? What! no more than to frequent these temples? What! no more than to raise these sacred songs of praise to celebrate our solemn feasts: to eat a lit tle bread, and to drink a little wine at the commun、 ion table? And then to die? And then to exist no more? And can this be all that salvation which the earth was to bring forth! And can this be all that righteousness which the skies were to pour down? And can this be the dew which the heavens were to drop down from above? And can this be the whole amount of the achievements of that Counsellor, of that Wonderful one, of that Prince of Peace, of that Father of Eternity?"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Good Simeon, what meaning do you intend to convey by these words? Into what peace art thou wishing henceforth to depart, if these eyes, which behold the Messiah, are going to be doomed to the darkness of an eternal night? If these hands, which are privileged to hold, and to embrace him, are going to become a prey to worms? And if that life which thou wert enjoying before thy

Redeemer appeared, is going to be rent from thee, because he is already come?

Ah! my brethren, how widely different are the ideas which this holy man of God entertained! Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. Wherefore now? Because now I know, from the accomplishment of thy promise, what was before a matter of presumption only, namely, that my soul is not a mere modification of matter, and a result of the arrangement, and of the harmony of my organs: because I am now convinced, that this soul of mine, on being separated from the body, shall not become a forlorn wanderer in a strange and solitary land because now I no longer entertain any doubt respecting my own immortality, and because I hold in my arms him who has purchased it, and who bestows it upon me because to see Jesus Christ, and to die, is the highest blessedness that can be conferred on a mortal creature.

Permit me, my beloved brethren, to repeat my words, and with them to finish this discourse: To see Jesus Christ, and to die, is the highest blessedness that can be conferred on a mortal creature. Enjoy, my friends, enjoy the felicity which the Saviour bestows upon you, during the course of a transitory life: gratify, as you this day turn a wondering eye to the manger in which this divine Saviour lies, and as you celebrate the memory of his incarnation, gratify the taste which you have for the great and the marvellous: and cry out with an enraptured apostle, Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim. iii.

16. Gratify, as in the retirement of the closet you devote yourselves to the study of the doctrine of this Jesus, gratify the desire you feel to learn and to know draw constant supplies of light and truth from those treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Col. ii. 3. which he opens to you in his gospel. Gratify, as you receive, next Lord's day, the effusions of his love, gratify the propensity which naturally disposes you to love him. Let every power of the soul expand on hearing the tender expressions which he addresses to you in the sacrament of the supper: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Matt. xi. 28. "Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me," Rev. iii. 20.

But after all, it is not during the course of a transitory life, at least it is not while you consider death as still remote, that you are capable of knowing the pleasure there is in being a Christian. No, it is neither in the retirement of the closet, nor seated at the table of the Lord: it is not in your solemn feasts, that you are capable of relishing the sweetness which is to be found in beholding Jesus Christ, in embracing him, in believing on him: it is in the last moments of life; it is when stretched on a deathbed. Till then, your passions will sometimes call it in question, whether the man of the world do not actually enjoy more happiness than the Christian ; whether the commerce of society, whether spectacles, play, the splendour of a court, do not confer