to the neglect of those that are above. We know, if we have any knowledge whatever, that, in this respect at least, mankind have borne and still bear a very close and intimate resemblance to each other. The fact is most true and indisputable. It is, therefore, of little importance to ask ourselves why it is so; though, without doubt, the correct reason may be assigned to the corrupt state in which we are by nature born. Being begotten in sin, our ideas and our conceptions are by far too sensual to admit of an acquaintance with things which are above sense, and which the spirit, guided and enlightened by faith, can alone comprehend. The only alternative that remains to us, is to be acquainted with and accustomed to those things whose nature is adapted to our own, and which are every day presented to our view. We naturally become attached to those objects which long habit has rendered familiar to us; and this we do in such a manner, as to make it appear that we believe them to be imperishable, or, at least, that we close our eyes to the fact of which each successive day presents us with additional evidence the fact of the susceptibility of every thing to decay, and that, in a short time-aye, and a very short time when compared with eternity, the objects of the world shall be destroyed, and the things of time merged in the abyss of an awful eternity.

What, then, it will be naturally exclaimed, is it possible that we, who are so different from the beasts that perish without being even aware of their

existence; we, whose nature is evidently allied, remotely though it be, to that of the Divinity himself; -is it possible that we, who by the Divine Spirit within us, for it can be by no other, are enabled to look back upon the past, and to look forward to the future;-we, who are enabled to scan even the infinity of space of which the universe is composed;— is it possible, is it credible, that we, possessing such means, and such powers, and such faculties, are to be reduced to nothing to become again what we were before the glorious work of the creation was completed-we indeed to be reduced to nothing, and to primitive insignificance and inactivity, who have the power, and the ability, and the inclination to perform such wonders, which none others can do than those who were originally created after the likeness of the Omnipotent Himself? Brethren, the heavens may, indeed, vanish away like smoke, and the earth may wax old as doth a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: and, therefore, we do wrong to form such an attachment to them as would be only excusable on the supposition that they were imperishable and incorruptible; yet does it in no way follow from this, that the existence with which we have been graciously gifted is to cease, and that we shall no longer possess the energies and the attributes of life when our bodies shall be deposited in the tomb, or when this world shall be no more. In this respect the assurance of the prophet surpasses, indeed, any conception which reason and experience would sug

gest to us, yet does it fully confirm and harmonize with those ideas which most men form to themselves respecting the immortality of the soul. In unison with these the man of God thus expresses himself in the concluding words of our text: "My salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished."

The text, therefore, as you perceive, makes a wide distinction between material and immaterial objects; between things bodily and substantial, and those which are spiritual and mental. And this distinction alone, if it be grounded upon fact, is abundantly sufficient to prove that, the moment we are born into the world, we enter on an existence which can never cease, though it may, indeed, be susceptible of the greatest pain and unhappiness, as well as of happiness and joy.

Let it then, brethren, be our present object to consider, whether this distinction suggested by the Prophet, be a distinction which is really and actually founded upon fact; I mean, let us consider, not whether it is asserted in the Scriptures, and that, therefore, on this account, it must be true, because this is a fact which no sincere Christian will for a moment permit himself to doubt; let us rather consider the point according to the sound and incontrovertible suggestions of human reason; because by so doing we shall procure additional evidence on a subject which so intimately concerns our happiness and comfort, at the same time that we shall strengthen and confirm that faith which we

already possess in the Scriptures-the true and undoubted word of God.

The question to be considered, brethren, is, whether, in respect of their durability, there is any difference between those objects which we can see and feel, and those which we can only conceive and imagine. In other words, is spirit different from matter; is the soul different from the body? The answer to this question will be the more easily given when we have ascertained the peculiar properties and capabilities of each in reference to time and eternity. Let us begin, then, with that which seems to present itself to us the first in order as more easy of solution. Is every thing which we now see, or which is seen by others, subject to dissolution and decay? A reply in the affirmative can alone be given to this question, for we know full well that the grass which to-day is, to-morrow may be cast into the oven and consumed: nay, not only are the frail and diminutive blades of grass subject to this destruction, but the greatest and most substantial bodies, which seem almost imperishable, are, in the process of time, either much or little, completely annihilated and rendered imperceptible either to the sight or touch. The mighty and majestic oak, the monarch of the forest, which at the expiration even of a thousand years after it has ceased to receive nourishment from its parent earth, has been more solid and compact than when in the height of its bloom and vigour, even this, by the application of sufficient heat, by the

action of fire, an element so useful and to which we are all so much accustomed, is soon reduced into such diminutive particles as mix themselves with and are indistinguishable from the atmosphere which we breathe! Nay, more than this, the hardest metals, by the application of the same powerful agent, evaporate into the same diminutive and imperceptible particles, such as can be neither seen, nor felt, nor in any way distinguished by any form or shape which they present. And precisely the same result, which may be thus speedily produced, will other causes, from which nothing whatever can escape, bring about in the lapse of time. In many instances, indeed, the efforts of human ingenuity may prevent for hundreds or even thousands of years the entire dissolution of the deceased body, still sooner or later will time prevail, and, at length, no vestiges are to be seen of the miserable relics of human vanity and presumption!

It is by no means, however, necessary to prove that such an object is become invisible to an eye of flesh in order to convince ourselves that this effect must ultimately happen. The pallid and breathless corpse, the very instant after the spirit has forsaken it, presents to us an aspect on which entire dissolution into invisible particles of nothing is written in no less legible characters than those which described the fate of the licentious monarch on the wall of his palace in Babylon. And even were this not so, still the difference between life and death, that is, between a living and a dead body, how beautiful