must be the memory of all past virtue and happiness; and the soul will lose its conscious identity, will cease to be the being it was, and so can have no consciousness of salvation from sin, no gratitude for deliverance from evil; but its existence, (if it exist at all,) will be entirely unconnected with its former being. This does not look like the scheme of salvation revealed to us in the Scriptures; for that evidently supposes an enlargement, an increase, of the knowledge and powers of the soul in every respect. Can we suppose that St. Paul, in his immortal and glorious state, is utterly unconscious of what he was and what he did while in this state; that he has no remembrance of the bitter and cruel persecutions he waged against Christ and his gospel, of the remarkable event of his conversion and deliverance from the power and dominion of sin? Can we believe the Jews who crucified the Redeemer, will, in another state, have no remembrance of that cruel act and the great results flowing therefrom? that the sons of Jacob can have no consciousness of their relations to Joseph, of their having wickedly sold him into Egypt, and of the important events which followed that act? Nay, we cannot thus believe. "But," asks the inquirer, "if they remember those heinous sins, will not that memory forever afflict them hereafter?" We think not. It is true, the first consciousness of guilt, the first overwhelming conviction of its enormity, fills the soul with remorse; and this anguish may continue for an indefinite time, for a longer or shorter period, as the circumstances of the case may require, to effect a perfect reformation by that godly sorrow, which needeth not to be repented of. Paul was at once prostrated in the deepest humility when Jesus appeared to him; and he inquired, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" During the whole of his subsequent life, that humility and deep consciousness of his unworthiness attended him. But this did not prevent him afterward from being "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,' and enjoying "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." The Jews, when convicted in their own consciences of having crucified their own Messiah, cried out, in the anguish of their hearts, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" When Joseph made himself known to his brethren, "they were troubled at his presence." And doubtless deep penitence attended them during all the rest of their earthly pilgrimage. And although it is true that no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." As certainly as this passage of inspiration is true, and as certainly as godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of," so certain it is, in our mind, that memory and consciousness of past sins will not eternally mar, if it does not ultimately enhance, the blessedness of the redeemed. When godly sorrow and chastening have fully done their work, and the redeemed shall look back through the long vista of the past, and see distinctly each link in that vast chain of infinite wisdom and beneficence by which God is drawing the world to himself:-see that the wrath of man has been made to praise God and the remainder of that wrath has been restrained; see that their evil intention and wicked deeds have been overruled for good; that where sin abounded grace did much more abound; they will then cease to feel remorse or regret, and in view of God's superabounding wisdom, power, and goodness, they will exclaim, in the deep humility of their souls, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be all the glory and praise forever." Such is the necessary conclusion to which we must come in regard to this question, unless we deny the identity of the soul hereafter, and suppose that man in the next world will not be the same being he was here, but that God will create a new and entirely different race of creatures from those who now exist; or, what is equally absurd, that the devout and faithful martyr, St. Paul, and the once sinful Corinthians named by him,3 who were afterwards "washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," will suffer eternal regret and endless sorrow. Again, with regard to departed souls being cognizant hereafter of the condition of those friends they have left behind, and knowing all their temptations, trials, sins, 3 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11. sufferings and agonies, many will ask, If this be the case, will not this knowledge mar their happiness, even in the heavenly paradise? If this knowledge were partial and imperfect, and confined alone to a view of their present sins and suffering, it is very true it might, to some extent, have this effect. But when we consider the wider scope of their vision, the extent of their knowledge, embracing, as it will, not only their present sins and sufferings, but the grand and glorious issues which infinite wisdom and goodness will bring out of them, we think it will be far from producing such an effect. We believe, that if the departed spirits of "just men made perfect are there permitted to see and know all the temptations, sins and sufferings of the friends they have left behind, they will also be permitted to understand the high and holy purposes of God in relation to them all; to see, through all the intervening darkness a glorious light ahead; through all sorrow and suffering, a happy and blissful termination: "All discord, harmony not understood; and thus seeing and knowing all, they will be happy, even as Christ is. For he must see and know it all; and they will be like him. The The soul and its faculties, powers and enjoyments in the immortal state, O, who can here understand and fully appreciate them? And who shall set limits to either, while Inspiration declares, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” soul aspires after higher knowledge and higher enjoyments than this world affords. And these aspirations are evidently implanted in us by the Father. Shall they not then be satisfied? Shall he who gave them, and who has furnished such ample means of satisfying all our physical wants and natural desires, and even those of the brutes, neglect to satisfy these higher and holier aspirations of the soul, which he himself has inspired? No; he will not refuse to fulfil these desires. The language of Inspiration, first referred to, clearly indicates this: "For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now we know in part; but then shall we know even as we are known. When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." We shall not then be locally confined, fixed to a mere speck of the creation, and our knowledge partial and imperfect, as now. We believe that the soul, emancipated from its prison-house of earth, and clothed with its spiritual and celestial body, shall soar to higher worlds, and expatiate over immeasurable space; and that no boundaries shall be set to the space it may traverse, and no limits to its knowledge or its joy. Although all enlightened theists admit that God is ubiquitous, yet we see nothing incompatible with this, in the supposition that there is a particular place where he is more especially present; where the Divine glories are more clearly displayed; and where the blessed millions that surround his throne, partake of fulness of joy, and drink more extatic bliss from the presence of the Infinite. And may we not suppose that redeemed spirits of the human race, are not only permitted to be in his presence, and behold and enjoy his glory, but also to go at his or their pleasure, on errands of love and mercy, to other and distant worlds and beings, and be cognizant of all that is going on with them? Of the angels in the Divine presence, (and do not men become angels?) the inspired apostle says, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"4 We can see nothing unreasonable or unscriptural in the idea that the spirits of those who have departed from earth are permitted to see and know all that transpires here with the living. 4 Heb. i. 14. D. S. ART. XII. Tyre, Commerce, and Prophecy. "What city is like Tyrus! situate at the entry of the sea-the dispenser of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? Thy rowers have brought thee into the great waters, and made thee very glorious in the midst of the seas! But thy riches and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy caulkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war that are in thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin."-ISAIAH. ÉZEKIEL. On the eastern shores of the Mediterranean there is a small strip of territory, about 120 miles in length, and seldom more than 18 or 20 in breadth, anciently known by the name of Phoenicia. It is one of the most memorable places of the earth, and, three thousand years ago, one of the most important and powerful. The whole line of coast is, or was at the period referred to, girded and protected by a chain of small islands at various distances from the mainland, which was indented through its entire distance with bays, sounds and harbors, secure from the rage of storms, and convenient as places of trade. The interior was covered with lofty mountains, which often ran out into the sea, forming high and rocky promontories, and giving a bold and defiant aspect to the coast. These heights were mostly clothed with heavy forest timber, furnishing abundant material for the construction of dwellings and the building of fleets. In the flourishing period of Phoenicia the coast of the mainland, and the adjacent islands, were mostly, from the northern to the southern limit, covered with cities and colonies of equal extent and magnificence in many cases; and, in all, widely celebrated for arts and manufactures, and as the abode of industry and the seat of vast com. mercial enterprize. Two of these cities, and standing in the front rank, were Sidon and Tyre, best known of them all to the readers of the Bible. Šidon was the parent city, and the founder of power and commerce and wealth of this great confederacy of cities and kings. Tyre was founded at a very early the |