of the happiness of heaven? Judge it from its busi

ness.

I cannot imagine any thing like happiness apart from some kind of business or employment. Idleness on earth is not only crime, but it is misery; and this is the reason why multitudes who, from a variety of circumstances, have the questionable privilege of being idle, plunge into vice and dissipation to escape the wretchedness of being entirely without employment. They have not the They have not the energy to do right, and to be useful to society, and therefore, following the bent of their dispositions, commit sin and become the pests of society, merely to have something to busy themselves about. Upon the general proposition, that employment is essential to happiness, I would judge that even in heaven there must be, for the immortal spirit, engagements of the most active description; and yet so different in the very nature of the case, must all these engagements be from those which occupy our attention here below, that we can form no adequate conception of them. The contrast must of necessity be beyond all measurement. Here we are ceaselessly engaged in low and grovelling occupations; some seeking to build their reputation and happiness upon the basis of some project of enlarged ambition; some toiling as if the very happiness of time and eternity combined depended upon it, seeking to heap up riches while they know not who shall gather or enjoy them; and some wasting their health, and strength, and time, on sensual, transitory, fading, unsatisfying gratifications. Of all man's earthly pursuits, self is the single end. But the employments of heaven are upon a more enlarged and a more enlarging plan, suited to the state and capacity of the immortal soul. I con

fess to you, my friends, that it is extremely difficult to treat a subject of this kind, where there is such an infinite disproportion between the littleness of man's mind, and the grandeur of the theme on which he would feebly venture to expatiate. God, for purposes unquestionably wise and benevolent, has never seen fit to let us into the grand secret of what it is which peculiarly constitutes the bliss of the eternal world of glory. There are some few scattered intimations, just enough to stimulate and excite the spiritual appetite. There is an intimation, by no means obscure, that the grand employment of the saints in glory is to do the will of God with a perfection of obedience springing from the perfection of love. This intimation is to be found in the prayer of our blessed Master, when he teaches us to petition that the will of God may be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. We know that this is the employment of his angels now; and that which is suitable to the nature of created intelligences who have never sinned, cannot be inappropriate to the nature of those who are raised to a participation of their glory. One thing with certainty we learn from the Scriptures, that much of the happiness of heaven will consist in the sacred employ of praise and thanksgiving. Prayer there will be none, because prayer is the soul's sincere desire; but there, there will be no desire, for every desire shall have been completely satisfied. The beloved Apostle of our Lord, from his prison of Patmos, was permitted to take one raptured glimpse of the employments which characterize and constitute the happiness of the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem; and it is the praise of God-" And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and

to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.”*

There is one idea connected with the employments of heaven, which, to my mind, is full of beauty and of consolation; and it is founded on the nature of man as a social being. I do not desire to enter into any unauthorized speculations, and would be very cautious in stepping where there is no path evidently pointed out in the Scriptures; and in this whole consideration, my effort has been to restrain myself, lest I should overstep the boundary which the subject itself ought to impose. So far as my own individual opinion is concerned, and that opinion is countenanced by some of the best and wisest of the servants of God, there are other employments in heaven besides those which are immediately to be resolved into praise and thanksgiving, employments which are strictly social in their nature; and

• Revelation v. 9-13.

under this impression, it appears to me, that connected with the worship of Almighty God, the blessed inhabitants of the celestial city will be engaged in the intercourse of that communion of saints which will fill up the interval, if any such there be, between the anthems of the solemn sanctuary. It ought not to be considered as a matter at all incredible, or in the least degree unreasonable, that the saints should there converse with one another on those great things which God had done for their souls. What more raptured employment, and what more ravishing delight, than that the hosts of the redeemed, as they had been rescued from the bitter pains of everlasting death, should testify to one another, each perfect in sympathy, how much they were indebted to that matchless Saviour who humbled himself and became obedient unto death for their sakes. What should hinder, that even in the mansions of neverceasing felicity, they should let the memory rest for a while on the grace they had long resisted, the dying love they had despised, the patience they had abused, the efforts they had scorned. All this retrospection, instead of producing unhappiness, would but magnify the grace of God. What should hinder, that, as they walk the golden streets, or recline under the shadow of the tree that bears twelve manner of fruits, or lave in the river that makes glad the city of God, they should tell to one another the marvellous loving kindness of the Saviour; how he himself subdued their unbelief, and by what processes, tender or severe, he let down into their souls the light of spiritual life? What hinders that they should animate each other and stimulate each other in their ceaseless progression in holiness and happiness, by a growing acquaintance with the riches of

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the love which redeemed them: how he protected them, and comforted and sanctified them; guarded them from dangerous snares; kept them from the power of temptation; reclaimed them when wandering; snatched them from many a peril, and led them in his hand to glory? Then kindling as the theme goes on, of what they were, and are, and still may be, they ever and anon shall cease these social communications, and render their pure and perfect praises to Him who is the author of all their happiness.

As I anticipated, I have mingled the enjoyments and the employments of heaven together. They cannot be sundered. The happiness of heaven consists in its employment; all, all centering upon God, the only object of a supreme and unceasing regard. There are other emblems used in the Scriptures to express the glory and happiness of the redeemed; but language is used so highly figurative, that the only idea which can be gathered is, that the glory is beyond description, the happiness beyond conception-"And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sap