sun? And there what joys would have awaited him! what joys, we may say did await him—for we may hope and trust that long ere this he has entered upon "his reward," notwithstanding his apprehensions. There would he meet with all the great and good, with whom he had communed in spirit through their works. There would he see, "face to face," those noble spirits whom, before, he had but, as it were, "seen through a glass darkly;" there, those whom he had "known but in part," he would now "know, even as also he would be known." How happy such a consociation of the wise and good! how far beyond the joys of earth, must be the blessedness of such a union in heaven!
Here, then, we may perceive what an immense increase of happiness must take place in the other life from this source alone. But there are numerous other sources of such increase. And first among these is the great exaltation of all our powers, faculties, and feelings, on rising out of this material world and body into the purely spiritual sphere. Let us consider this.
The spirit of man, while dwelling in this material sphere of existence, is burthened with the weight of its clay covering,—is oppressed, as it were, under this coat of armour, which it is obliged to wear, while struggling with the perils and fighting the battles of this earthly life. How often is the mind drawn from its high contemplations by the sufferings of the body! How often is the spirit weighed down by the cares and troubles incident to this earthly pilgrimage—by the pressure of circumstances, derived solely from our relation to material things! How often is "the spirit willing," when "the flesh is weak!" But, at death, we throw off these incumbrances, we drop our heavy armour, we leave
