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known climes abroad, though we meet with enemies, be overtaken with diseases, and must pant beneath a scorching sun. Why then, O my soul! afraid, at thy heavenly Sovereign's command, to pass the line of time into the wide ocean of eternity, and unknown worlds above, seeing thou hast his divine promise for thy protection in the hour of death, and the sure hope of a none-such friend before thee, who is Lord of all the unknown regions of glory!

The saint should even rejoice in the prospect of death, which turns out to his immense, his everlasting gain; for here he may have little or nothing, there is his inheritance; here he may be an exile, there he is at home; here a stranger, there among his friends; here often mourning without the sun, but there eternally with God.

One, from the large quantity of stores and provisions of all kinds which is brought aboard, might well conclude we were not designed for Channelservice, but for some distant part of the world : O! then, seeing I have such a long voyage before me, and must live in worlds to come, how is my soul provided? what have I in hand, what have I in hope? have I the promise, and Christ in the promise, in hand? and its full accomplishment in the full enjoyment of him in hope? Were I only to coast on the shores of time, die like the beasts, and be no more, to be unprovided would not be a crime. But to launch into eternity without the provision proper for an immortal soul, is more desperate madness than for ships to sail to the farthest Indies without bread, wood, and water.

It affects me a little to go abroad, and not know if ever I shall return to my native land, or see a friend I have in life; but faith's enlarged view

shall dissipate the gloom, for the sun shines as brightly on the other side of the line as this; the stars twinkle alike richly in all quarters; and heaven, surrounding the whole globe, is alike near to all places; yea, God being every where present, he that lives in him cannot be divided from him, or die out of him, by distance from his country and his friend, but at the hour of dissolution shall go to be for ever with the Lord, where he shall be allowed the nearest approaches, and most intimate communion with him that dwells in light inaccessible and full of glory.

MEDITATION CVII.

ON A POPISH PROCESSION TO PREVENT THE RETURN OF AN EARTHQUAKE.

Madeira, April 2. 1761.

Of all curses those that are spiritual are most terrible; and none more dismal than to be given up to strong delusions to believe a lie. Do these men think that the Deity is like children, pleased with pomp, and novelty, and show? When the power of religion decayed in the soul, it came more and more into bodily exercises which profit little, and into external forms and farces. Will a few boys, creeping on their hands and feet, before you through the streets, make the heart-searching God believe you are truly humbled? Do ye substitute the walking bare-footed along a stony causey, in the room of walking with God by faith? Imagine ye to avert divine wrath by gently whipping your naked bodies? or are such touches of the flesh equal to a real sorrow for, and turning from sin?

from the heart, but such a promise as this bids defiance to the monster; and while we expect its full accomplishment, (nor let the time seem long), the day dawns, which ends the dark night of our sin ning and suffering, and translates us to the realms of bliss, where-but eternity only can. declare what it is to be with Him, whose presence makes a heaven, and whose love is better than life; and what it is to enjoy all the fulness of the Godhead, as far as glorified creatures can.

MEDITATION CIII,

APPROACHING FRUITION.

Hamoaze, Dec. 28. 1760.

STILL, my soul, in spite of all thy fears, remember that the day-spring of eternity knows its place, and will appear at the appointed time. Sin's gloomy night is far spent, and the morning drawing near, when all the thick shades will dissolve in endless light. A few revolutions will bring the longed for day, when he shall appear without sin unto salvation. A general shout shall welcome his second coming, and united hallelujahs attend the triumphant Judge (when sin and sinners are no more) to the highest heaven, where the bliss of saints and angels is complete, without the least shadow of change. O how sweet the warblings of celestial song, how fair the beauties of eternal noon, and how divine the glories of the throne!

What must the promised land be in the eternal possession, when the account of the two faithful spies, faith and hope, backed by the divine record,

is so ravishing! Creation can scarcely furnish fine enough materials for comparison, much less for our bliss itself. There gold is but the dust of our feet, pearls the gates of our city, and gems the foundations of our walls. The sun is an extinguished taper in the diviner blaze of glory. The stream and tree of life at which we feed, continue us immortal. But all this is only the index of our happiness, for God reveals himself to every glorified saint in ways not known before, and then what transport fills the soul, what floods of pleasure rise, and deluge every power of mind! O how shall f lie dissolved in ecstasy through love's eternal day! But this abundance of joy shall not have the effect it has on earthen vessels here, to crack and crush them, but shall strengthen all my inward man, that I may praise like angels, and love like seraphim. What raptures shall arise from that intimate communion my soul shall then enjoy with God, though now my words cannot express it, and my thoughts cannot conceive of it! Then there shall not be the least remains of sin in my soul, not a wandering thought, which now at my best times troubles me, nor a frown in the countenance of God, and therefore no more grief or sorrow. Then I shall fear him out of the purest love; serve him, and not be afraid; approach and come close to his throne, and yet not be accused of presumption. I shall see him, and not die; and enjoy the nearest and sweetest fellowship with him for ever, without being in danger of a wound from spiritual pride. Then will God in very deed dwell with men, and in men; and then, O how full shall my soul be of God, and how satisfied with the society of the heavenly, inhabitants! God stamped on S

every soul, dwelling in every breast, possessing every thought, the subject of every song, and the object of all our love, renders the whole celestial multitude happy, extremely and eternally happy!

MEDITATION CIV.

INFINITE AND ETERNAL PROPERTIES OF THE BLISS

ABOVE.

Jan. 4. 1761.

HAD I but one moment's glance of the glorious, though created sun, which, while I began to gaze, were concealed, never to be seen again, such a view would only kindle an anxious curiosity, but not satisfy one longing desire; even so, a passing glimpse of the celestial glory would only set on edge, but never satisfy the holy appetite of the heaven-born soul. There is an immortality in my soul, and there is an eternity in my portion. Vast are the demands of the renewed mind, such as the whole creation cannot satisfy; but in God's sacred superabundance, in his infinite fulness, there is enough and to spare. What divine harmony in all respects takes place above! God, the enjoyment of whom is paradise and bliss, is infinite, and every faculty of the soul is capacitated, in the highest degree, to enjoy much of God; and our divine communion and fellowship also is eternal. What keeps the worldling in perpetual anguish, but because his portion here is neither complete nor permanent? Yea, what would the bliss above be, if either infi nity or eternity could be separated from it? for what would avail the possession of crowns and