exceeding great glory. The holy apostles saw but two prophets; but you shall see all the prophets, all the patriarchs, apostles, confessors, martyrs, the holy and blessed Virgin, and in general all the saints that reign and triumph in heaven. The apostles had a sight of this glory of our Saviour, as of a flash of lightning; it continued with them but a moment; for soon after they came down from that holy mountain, and were again exposed to the same temptations as before, and besieged by the same calamities. It will be otherwise with thee, O christian soul; thou art flying up to heaven, from whence thou shalt never descend, till the great day of the glorious resurrection of our bodies. Thou shalt not be assaulted any more by any temptations. Thou shalt have no more enemies to overcome, nor bitterness to digest. Thou art going to reap and enjoy the blessed fruits of thy Saviour's victories, and to be eternally satisfied with the celestial pleasures, that are at the right hand of the God of mercies.

We esteem St. John highly privileged, because the Lord gave him a sight of his glory, of the riches and divine excellencies of the New Jerusalem. But how much greater is thy privilege! For that which this holy apostle beheld in a vision and a dream, God will discover to thee in truth and reality. Let thine heart listen, and thou shalt hear the voice of thy Saviour, calling already to thee out of heaven, as unto his beloved disciple, Come and see; come, my good and faithful servant; come my son [or my daughter] and I will shew thee my glorious and magnificent city; I will shew thee the paláce of my glory, and all the splendour and state of my kingdom. Come, and I will expose before thine eyes all my riches, treasures, and my most precious crowns. Come, and I will cause the river of living water, which issues from my throne, to run before thee, and the eternal delights that proceed from my face. I will shew thee all these heavenly treasures and glory, all the angelical satisfactions, not in the

visions

visions of the night, in an extasy, in a holy ravishment of the mind, or in a prophetical elevation of the soul; but I will discover them to thee in reality and truth, by the assistance of a purer and more glorious light than that of the sun. I shall not only cause thee to behold this glory, these treasures and delights, but I will cause thee to be a partaker of them for ever. For as thou hast pledged me in the cup of my bitterness and sorrows, as thou hast continued with me in my afflictions, and hast been faithful unto death; I will give thee the kingdom, as the Father hath given it to me. I will give thee the crown of life, and will cause thee to swim in the vast ocean of the eternal pleasures. Thou shalt not only see all my treasures, all my pomp and glory; thou shalt not only behold the rivers and the seas of my most wonderful delights, and shalt be a partaker of them; but thou shalt see me as I am in my kingdom. I will pull off the veil that covers me, and scatter the clouds and mists that hide me, so that thou shalt look upon me without impediment, and behold me face to face. Thou shalt be transformed into my likeness, and be satisfied with my resemblance. You see therefore, Christians, that though Death appears to us dreadful and ill-favoured, we may apply to it what David said of Ahimaaz, that 'tis the messenger of good news; notwithstanding its hideous veil and cloak of darkness, wejhave just cause to liken it to the chariot of fire, that carried up the prophet Elijah into heaven.

From what we have said, you may easily conclude with the wisest of kings, "That the day of our death is better than the day of our birth." For our birth makes us inhabitants of a miserable earth; but death carries us into a paradise of -heavenly delight. Our birth exposeth us to severe encounters, but death lifts us up upon a chariot of triumph. Our birth forceth from us crying and tears; but death makes us sing for joy. Our birth brings us into the light; but death

causeth

causeth us to shine as the sun. Our birth makes us live a sensual and animal life, of a short continuance; but death introduces us into a spiritual and angelical life, that shall continue for ever. In short, our birth casts us into the arms of death; but death leads us to the well-spring of life. Therefore the apostle St. Paul confesseth, that "Christ is gain to him both in life and death," Phil. i. 21. And for the same reason the primitive Christians could not endure to see any person afflicting himself for the decease of believers, because. 'twas the day of their deliverance, rest, glory, and happiness. They commonly forbad all manner of mourning; for they judged, that 'tis not proper that we should clothe ourselves in black and sadness, for their sakes who are clothed in white and shining garments of light and immortality. They looked upon this life as upon a continual death; and upon, death, as upon the beginning of a real life. Therefore they styled the anniversary day of the martyrs' death," the day of their nativity." From hence proceed the usual songs of praise, which they commonly sang to perpetuate their blessed memories.

I need not cause you to take notice, devout souls! of the notable difference between the death of God's children, and the death of the wicked. "Tis as great as between heaven and earth, between paradise and hell. Balaam had good cause to desire the one, and fear the consequence of the other, We have as much reason to cry out as he did, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his."

You have heard how Adrian, an heathen prince, made his address to his soul, "My little soul, my little darling, hostess and companion of my body; thou art going to wander up and down in cold, obscure, and fearful places; thou shalt never delight thyself in jesting, as thou hast been wont; thou shalt never give me any more pastime." But when the christian

soul

soul goeth out of this mortal tabernacle, he may talk to it in another manner: O my soul! pleasant hostess, and heavenly companion of this weak body, thou canst not wander out of thy way; for thou hast a faithful and a knowing guide. Thou art already in the blessed company of angels that shall bear thee upon their wings; thou art going to a noble palace, enriched with light and glory, and blessed with the sincerest and most heavenly delights. Thou shalt meet with no more sorrows, grief, nor displeasure, which so often disturb thy quiet here upon earth; thou shalt rejoice for ever with all the glorified saints, and sing songs of praise and thanksgiving with all the celestial spirits. O my soul ! how great is that glory and happiness which thou mayest justly expect from thy God, who hath both an infinite power, and an infinite mercy and goodness, since he hath endeared thee unto himself, by giving his own life to free thee from death, and eternal damnation! If your friends, or rather your enemies on this occasion, weep and are grieved at your departure; if they labour, by their tears and sighs, to move your heart, and to persuade you to remain yet here below; speak to them as St. Paul did to those that wept about his neck, "What mean ye to weep, and to break my heart!" Acts xxi. St. Paul was then in his journey to Jerusalem, where he was to be bound, imprisoned, and to be carried to the city of Rome, where he was to die upon a scaffold, by the separation of his head from his body; notwithstanding, St.Paul's friends comforted themselves with this expression, "The will of the Lord be done." And what mean ye, my friends! will ye stop me from going up to a heavenly Jerusalem, at the gates whereof I must cast off all these chains and fetters of mortality? I must leave all my sins, my sufferings, and grief. I shall enter into a new glory, into the ever-blessed company of saints and angels. If your love be sincere and real, prefer my felicity and rest to the small satisfaction that you find in my company here below. Consider that in the house of my God, and in

the

the vision of his glorious face, I shall find every moment more joy and pleasure, than I should have met with upon earth in thousands of ages; all the pomp and splendour of the world, all the glory and state, its riches and treasures, its pleasures and delights, are mean and contemptible to those I am going to enjoy in heaven, as a few drops of water to a boundless sea, or as a flash of lightning to the noon-day sun. Must the blind passion which you have to enjoy me, hinder me from seeing the face of my God, and heavenly Father? Suppose I were now shut up with you in some dark dungeon, and bound with the same chain, would you rather see me your companion, to continue in your misery and sufferings, or to behold me at a distance at liberty, in the fruition of a perfect satisfaction? Pretend not that we shall never see one another any more. For can you be so great an unbeliever, as to doubt of God's mercy, that intends to bring us together again in heaven? Death separates us for a moment; but the Prince of Life will unite us together for ever in his Father's house, whither he is gone to prepare a place for us. O devout and religious soul ! by such language as this thou shalt be able to mollify the hardest hearts, and prepare them to behold thy translation into heaven, as Elisha, when he saw his master's rapture. If they feel any displeasure and grief for thy separation from them, they will have more joy and. comfort to consider, with the eye of faith, that extraordinary glory and happiness into which God intends to receive thee, through his infinite goodness and mercy.

If it happens otherwise, and that thou art to deal with weak minds, whose love is blind, and whose passions are so unreasonable as to resist God's appointment, and hinder thy,, promotion to happiness; thou must overcome by the strength of God's grace, and the assistance of his holy Spirit, all the furious reluctances of nature. Thou must imitate St. Peter, when he saw our Saviour Christ in his transfiguration upon

Mount