so much of it as applies to my present object of endeavouring to strengthen the hands that hang down, and to confirm the feeble knees.

Of course it was observed, that the prediction, in its primary sense and application, referred to far greater events than to the happy closing scene of individual believers; even to that period of time, when the kingdoms of the world shall become the peaceable, holy, happy kingdoms of our God and of his Christ; when the tribes of Israel shall be called again into their own land, and go up to Zion with songs of praise and thanksgiving, worshipping God in the spirit, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and placing no confidence in the flesh: when the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, shall chase away the darkness which now rests on so many lands, and banish all those horrid superstitions and cruelties which have hitherto enveloped so many nations and people. On this theme it was my delight to expatiate that afternoon from the pulpit; and, so cheering and animating is the subject, that I can hardly -allude to it at present with the brevity which my limits require.

Let us stay, my Christian reader, a few moments here, and with an eye of faith look forward to that time when Israel shall be gathered into His fold, who once wept over their forefathers at the recollection of his repeated efforts to gather them under his wings, and when, alas! they ¿ would not accept of mercy. Let us endeavour to realize to the mind that happy period, when Jews and Gentiles shall, with one heart and

one voice, glorify him who is worthy of all: honour, and when all kindreds, and people, and tongues, shall do Him service who hath redeemed them to God by his blood. When all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. O what a world will this then be! and what blessedness will those inherit, even on earth, who enjoy that light! Then Ephraim shall no longer vex Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim. Then the trade and all the horrors of war shall cease. Then slavery and oppression shall terminate; for men will love as brethren, and dwell together in unity. Infidelity and blasphemy shall pass away from the earth, and only be heard in the regions of despair. The church of Christ in the wilderness will then be purged from all its errors, and delivered from all those contaminations which have in so many instances distressed and polluted it.

As there will be no storms to discompose the moral atmosphere of the world, and no unruly passions to irritate the minds of individual men ; so there will be no disquietude of spirit, no fretfulness of temper, no fears, or anxieties, or alarms to injure the human frame. In that happy state of things, it is more than probable, that the pains and diseases which now distress and destroy the bodies of mankind will be materially diminished. The earthly house of the saint's tabernacle will then be taken down, with all the composure and comfort of falling asleep. on the softest and quietest resting-pillow. Every scene will be lovely; every object of creation enjoyed; every sense. and faculty of the soul

exalted, purified, and devoted to the glory of God, and to the universal happiness of all around.

"Within the cot, within the tower,
Wherever man may roam;
In city, field, or summer bower,
How sweet will be his home!
Love and religion mingling there
Will make around him ali things fair."

We are not, indeed, informed what will be the particular features of civil society, the forms of government, or modes of worship; but of this we are certain, that Satan will be chained, that he will have no power or dominion on the earth. The spirit of God will then probably influence every heart, sanctify every institution, and bless every individual in all, his thoughts, words, and actions. The happy race, who live in the enjoyment of that period of light, will know, from history and various testimonies, something of our present evils. They will read and hear of the cruelties of slavery and of the slaughters of war; of the madness of ambition, and of the miseries of covetousness; of the unhallowed party spirit which once rent asunder the visible church, and of the superstition and cruelty that formerly persecuted the saints of God. They will read of Britons, who, while they assumed the name of Christian, were advocates in the senate and in the private walks of society for retaining their fellow-men in slavery, that they themselves might enjoy transient pleasures at the groaning sufferer's expense. They will learn these facts, and look back on

them with compassior, surprise, and gratitude: with compassion for those who had no pity for each other; with surprise, that rational and immortal beings could ever seek or expect peace, happiness, or enjoyment, in the bondage of Satan; and with gratitude, that these evils and miseries are known to them only by report. Yes, at the recollection of what the world once was to us and to our forefathers, and in the delightful experience of what it then is to them, their joyous souls will overflow with love to God and to all his creatures, while they will exclaim to each other,

"This is the time so long foreseen,
When ages roll'd their years between
Thy reign, O PRINCE OF PEACE!
Envy, and strife, and wrath have fled,
The powers of sin seem bound and dead,
And pain and sorrow cease!

This was the empire thou didst buy,
When on the cross ascending high,
Death yielded Thee the victory!
O may it be an endless reign,
Nor earth know other rule again."

Having briefly shown my flock how the text pointed to the foregoing blessed change in the moral state of the world in the even-time of its day, I told them that it had occasionally been, and I considered very legitimately, accommodated to the state and experience of multitudes of the Lord's people, as descriptive of many a long day of mental darkness and distress which they had been made to sustain, and of that bright and blessed close which finished their

eventful pilgrimage on earth; and that I intended so to accommodate it on the present occasion, bringing before them a few instances of those who had lived and died among them, and whose several departures were of so recent a date as to be fresh in their remembrance. I shall not now aim at any thing like an exact repetition of what I advanced from the pulpit, but only state so much of the several cases, and in such a way, as will carry to the reader's mind an enlarged conviction, that in the experience of many, after a long and dark day, it has been light in the evening.

The first individual I named was Ann who departed this life about eleven months after I took on me the ministerial charge of the parish. She was an aged woman, and had been in the way of seeking the Lord for many years. From every account I could collect, she had been a humble, sincere, devout character. She was remarkable for her steady attachment to, and constant attendance on, the means of grace, at her parish church; nor could all the calamities which had long broken up the congregation, and almost emptied the place, induce her to leave it. But poor Ann was another of those fearful souls, those sorrowful spirits, who can place unshaken confidence in all the promises of the Bible, if applied to any other person than themselves. As her ill-health often of late prevented her travelling the length of one of our large commons to the church, I saw her at her own dwelling as often as I could, and with much the same success that for a consi