twenty-four hours;--and that all this complicated systent of mechanism, and hundreds of other functions of which we are ignorant, must be in constant action, in order to preserve us in existence, and secure our enjoyment.

This subject frequently engaged the attention of the pious Psalmist. With an eye of intelligence and devotion, he surveyed the curious organization of the human frame, from the rude embryo in the womb to the full developement of all its functions;—and, struck with the wisdom and goodness displayed in its formation, he raised his thoughts to God in grateful adoration. "I will praise thee,” he exclaims, "for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works! How precious are thy wonderful contrivances in relation to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand." This body, however, wonderful as its structure is, is liable to decay, and must soon be dissolved in the grave. But we are assured that a period is approaching, when "all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth;" when this mortal frame "shall put on immortality," and when that which was sown in corruption "shall be raised in glory." If the human body, even in its present state of degradation, excited the pious admiration of the Psalmist, much more will it appear worthy of our highest admiration, when it emerges from darkness and corruption to participate in the glories of an immortal life. Its faculties will then be invigorated, its tendency to dissolution destroyed, every principle of disease annihilated, and every thing that is loathsome and deformed for ever prevented. Being "fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body," its beauty will be exquisite, its symmetry perfect, its aspect bright and refulgent, and its motions vigorous and nimble. sensitive organs will be refined and improved, and the sphere of their operation extended. Its auditory organs will be tuned to receive the most delightful sensations from the harmonies of celestial music, and its visual powers rendered capable of perceiving the minutest objects, and penetrating into the most distant regions. New senses and faculties of perception, and new powers of motion, fitted to transport it with rapidity from one portion of space to

Its

another, will, in all probability, be superadded to the powers with which it is now invested. And, surely, the contrivances and adaptations which must enter into the structure of such an organical frame, cannot be less curious and exquisite, nor display less wisdom and intelligence than those which we now perceive in our mortal bodies. On the contrary, we must necessarily suppose thousands of the most delicate contrivances and compensations, different from every thing we can now conceive, to be essentially requisite in the construction of an organized body intended for perpetual activity, and destined to an IMMORTAL duration.--To investigate and to contemplate the contrivances of Divine wisdom, by which the elements of disease and death are for ever prevented from entering into this renovated frame, and by which it will be preserved in undecaying youth and vigour throughout the lapse of innumerable ages, we must necessarily conclude, will form a part of the studies of renovated man in the future world ;-nor can we help thinking, that the knowledge of the wonders of the human frame we now acquire, may be a preparatory qualification, for enabling us to form an enlightened and comprehensive conception of the powers, qualities, and pecu. liar organization, of the bodies of the saints after the period of the resurrection.

HISTORY.

Another branch of study in which the saints in heaven will engage, is History. History contains a record of past facts and events; and makes us acquainted with transactions which happened hundreds or thousands of years before we were brought into existence. When viewed in its proper light, it may be considered as nothing else than a detail of the operations of Divine Providence in relation to the moral intelligences of this world. It illustrates the character of the human race, and the deep and universal depravity in which they are involved; and displays the rectitude of the character of God, and the equity of his moral administration.

History, therefore, will form a prominent object of study

among the celestial inhabitants, as furnishing those mate rials which will illustrate the ways of Providence and display the wisdom and righteousness of Jehovah in his go. vernment of the world. At present we can contemplate only a few scattered fragments of the history of mankind. Of the history of some nations we are altogether ignorant; and of the history of others we have only a few unconnected details, blended with fabulous narrations and extravagant fictions. Of no nation whatever have we an entire history composed of authentic materials; and consequently, we perceive only some broken and detached links in the chain of the Divine dispensations, and are unable to survey the whole of God's procedure towards our race, in one unbroken series, from the creation to the present time. We know nothing decisively respecting the period during which man remained in a state of innocence, nor of the particular transactions and events that happened previous to his fall. And how little do we know of the state of mankind, of the events which befell them, and of the civil and religious arrangements which existed, during the period of sixteen hundred years which intervened between the crea tion and the deluge, though the world was then more fertile and populous than it has ever since been? How little do we know of the state of mankind immediately previous to the flood, of the scenes of consternation and terror which must have been displayed over all the earth, when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the cataracts of heaven opened, and of the dreadful concussion of the elements of nature, when the solid strata of the earth were rent asunder, when the foundations of the mountains were overturned, and the whole surface of the globe transformed into one boundless ocean? How little do we know of the circumstances which attended the gradual rise of idolatry, and of the origin of the great empires into which the world has been divided? How little do we know even of the history of the Jewish nation, posterior to the period of the Babylonish captivity? Whither were the ten tribes of Israel scattered among the nations, what events have befallen them, and in what countries are they now to be found? Of the history of all the nations in the world (the Jews only excepted) from the time of the deluge to the

days of Hezekiah, a period of nearly two thousand years, we remain in profound ignorance. And yet, during that long period, God had not forsaken the earth; his dispensations towards his rational offspring were still going forward, empires were rising and declining, one generation passing away, and another generation coming, and thousands of millions of mankind ushered into the eternal world.Those chasms in the history of mankind, which hide from our view the greater portion of God's moral dispensations, will, doubtless, be filled up in the eternal state, so that we shall be enabled to take a full and comprehensive view of the whole of the Divine procedure, in all its connections and bearings towards every nation upon earth.

But the history of man is not the only topic in this depart. ment of knowledge, that will occupy the attention of the inhabitants of heaven. The history of angels-of their faculties, intercourses, and employments-of their modes of communication with each other-of their different embassies to distant worlds-of the transactions which have taken place in their society-and of the revolutions through which they may have passed-the history of apostate angels -the cause of their fall and the circumstances with which it was attended-the plans they have been pursuing since that period, and the means by which they have endeavoured to accomplish their infernal devices-will doubtless form a portion of the history of Divine dispensations, which "the saints in light" will be permitted to contemplate. Over this part of the Divine economy a veil of darkness is spread, which, we have reason to believe, will be with. drawn, when that which is perfect is come, and "when we shall know even as also we are known."—It is also proba. ble, that the leading facts in relation to the history of other worlds will be disclosed to their view. The history of the different planets in the solar system, and of those which are connected with other systems in the universe-the periods of their creation, the character of their inhabitants, the changes through which they have passed, the peculiar dispensations of providence towards them, and many other particulars, may be gradually laid open to the "redeemed from among men," for enlarging their views of the Divine government. By means of such communications they will

acquire a clearer and more distinct conception of the mo ral character and attributes of God, of the rectitude of his administrations, and of "his manifold wisdom" in the various modes by which he governs the different provinces of his vast empire. Under the impressions which such views will produce, they will rejoice in the Divine government, and join with rapture in the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints!"

Thus I have briefly stated, in the preceding pages, some of those branches of science which will be recognised by the righteous in a future state. Several other departments of scientific knowledge might have been specified; but my intention simply was, to present to the view of the reader, a few specimens as illustrations of my general position, "that science must be considered as having a relation to a future world." If it be admitted that any one science will be cultivated in heaven, it will follow, that the greater part if not the whole, of those sciences which bring to light the treasures of useful knowledge, will likewise be prosecuted by superior intelligences. For all the useful sciences have an intimate connection with each other; so that an acquaintance with one department of knowledge is essentially requisite to a clear and comprehensive view of another. Astronomy supposes a knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, conic sections, and other parts of mathematics; experimental philosophy supposes a previous acquaintance with natural history and physiology, and is intimately connected with chemistry, mineralogy and botany; and anatomy and physiology suppose a knowledge of the leading principles of hydrostatics, pneumatics, and optics. The principles of one science run into another, and reflect a mutual lustre on each other, so that all the sciences, when properly conducted, and viewed in their true light, have but one object in view, namely, to ascer tain the facts existing in the universe, their connections and relations, the laws by which they are governed, and