VIEWS OF WHATELY.

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according to this supposition, the moment of his closing his eyes in death will be instantly succeeded by the sound of the last trumpet, which shall summon the dead, even though ages shall have intervened. And in this sense the faithful Christian may be practically in Paradise the day he dies. The promise made to the penitent thief, and the apostle's wish to depart, and to be with Christ,' which, he said, was far better' than to remain any longer in this troublesome world, would each be fulfilled to all practical purposes, provided each shall have found himself in a state of happiness in the presence of his Lord, the very instant (according to his own perception) after having breathed his last in this world."

There is yet another thing advanced by some who argue to this same end, that the soul can never exist separately from the body, and be active, since the latter is a necessary vehicle that on which it depends for the exercise of its powers. The mind receives its impressions through the organs of sense, which are parts of the body; "and if, as seems highly probable, the brain is the organ of thought, it follows that the soul, so far from acting with more freedom and energy when parted from the body, will not be able to act at all, but will remain, if it continues to exist, in a state of utter insensibility, just as a man is in a state of insensibility to objects of sight while his eyes are closed, though his spiritual part is not at all impaired." Do such fully apprehend the spiritual? Who with the natural understanding can look into all the possibilities of futurity in respect to this or any other question? Can any "by searching find out God, find out the Almighty unto perfection"? If so, they may tell us what shall happen unto the spirit when the Lord leadeth it out unto himself, — tell the "Lord's secrets; " but till then care should be exercised lest the attempt be made to tell

"more than He has taught,

Tell more than he revealed;
Preach tidings which he never brought,
And read what he left sealed."

260

LESSONS FROM THE DOCTRINE.

Conjectures, indeed, may not be disallowed, if pursued humbly and reverentially; but where the Scriptures are silent, we can say nothing positively. All that is necessary for us to know certainly we do know. We know that we must die; we know that after death is the judgment, that from the trial and the sentence there is no escape, and that from the character of it we shall know our endless doom. We know that we may avert a miserable destiny by a cordial reception of Christ-by a practical and grateful recognition of the infinite sacrifice; we know that heaven is open "to him that overcometh ;" and we know how we may overcome, so that it becometh us to act according to the knowledge we possess, and thereby be fitted for an eternally happy state, commence when it may. Trusting in Jesus, we cannot be unhappy; yielding our spirits to his care, we need not be troubled by fears that he will leave them unheeded and alone in any part of their history. The divine care and love are constant; and because we, in our short-sightedness, with our limited capacity, cannot comprehend how the soul can exist without the body, or precisely how it will fare, shall we pronounce our own decisions, and by so doing limit the Infinite? We never shall know fully of these things until we have an experimental acquaintance with the laws which govern the spirit-realm.

God is a living, active, all-pervading spirit; and is he not able to create a sphere for the activity of all those who lay aside their bodies and go out of sight?

Does he not tell us of "ministering spirits sent forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation"? thus reminding us that somewhere holy beings reside who are swift on errands of love, whose sympathies are in fullest exercise, and whose activity is constant and untiring, far surpassing anything conceived in mortal regions among those "clothed upon," even among the holiest and best. We have known holy men and women, whose love, sympathy, and benevolence were after a divine pattern; but these always regarded their bodies as a

fettering thing, and each looked forward with delight to the time when the soul should receive its blessed emancipation, and fly to its congenial work in a purer sphere. Said a Christian mother to her weeping children, "I am almost home. Tomorrow you will be sorrowing, but I shall be happy-rejoicing in heaven. Think of me there, and let it dry your tears and soothe your grief." Multitudes, with the same consolation, have left the loved and mourning circle on earth, expecting the speedy realization of their hopes. Who taught them this? We say neither one thing nor the other. We cannot.

God doeth all things well. He has a right to do as it pleaseth him. "His ways are not as our ways," but they are infinitely better. If he see fit to take the soul to himself immediately after death, it is well: if he choose some other way, it is also well. It is true it is more grateful to our feelings to think of entering at once into the joy of the Lord, and to us the evidence may be sufficient to warrant the certainty of expectation; but in this let all be united "to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," and the assurance is ready that all good things will be added, not only in this life, but in that which is to come.

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UNIVERSALITY OF HOME INFIUENCE.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE FUTURE THE SOUL'S ETERNAL HOME.

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Universality of Home Influence.-Providential Designs. The eternal Home.- Views of Reason and Imagination. — Character given to a future Home by these. - The only true Picture found in the Gospel.— A little While and the Christian will reach the blessed Mansions.

"If there be ever a charm, a joy, without satiety or alloy;
If there be a hope that lives, on the pure happiness it gives;
If there be a refuge fair, a safe retreat from toil and care,
Where the heart may a dwelling find, with many joys combined,
Where every feeling, every tone, best harmonizes with its own,
Whence its vain wishes ne'er can rove, -

O, it is home! - a home of love!"- Anon.

AMONG the sweet sounds that vibrate through the earth, none is sweeter than home; none hath greater power to stir the fount of feeling and awake pure and holy thought, true and worthy affections, which are as angel-guides to the naturally wayward, straying heart. All the choicest blessings of life cluster here, and there are none so hardened or perverse as not to have a chord somewhere which can be touched by the tender remembrances of home. It may be deeply imbedded in a rough nature well nigh destroyed by crime; but traces of it remain longer than anything else; and the heart of the culprit melts, the tears of the prisoner flow, as a loving hand applies the pressure. The proud and the guilty may be dead to almost every consideration rather than to the associations of the sacred spot where they were shaded and shielded in their earliest and happiest days. They may wander abroad, forsake the temples of God and the altars of religion; but the

THE CHARMS OF HOME.

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smoke of that incense which went up from the fireside altar around which they were wont to gather is never out of mind. The sanctuary of home will always be sacred; so that, in thinking of this, the involuntary language of the wanderer will be,"My heart untravelled fondly turns to thee."

Wherever he may roam, and whatever he may be, or under whatever circumstances, and with whatever prospects, his heart and his home are synonymous things; where one is the other will be. There are few indeed who have not some cherished spot around which fond memories linger—a spot loved above all others, the love of which may be pressed to the heart as a talisman for safety in a path thickly set with evil.

'The mountain heights are dear to some,

To some the valley's deep recess;

To some the desert is a home,

With thoughts to cheer and thoughts to bless.

And why? Because of the blessed associations connected with them; because in each there are heart resting-places- arbors where living tendrils creep and twine, forming unions and alliances of most beautiful growth, so that to assail them is to touch life in its tenderest and most sacred form.

It makes no difference whether it be in a burning or a frigid zone: if loving hearts intertwine, there is a spot where sweetness and fertility shed their grateful influences to cheer human souls. It cannot be otherwise, for the home is a God-ordained institution. He has made it the deepest and most central want