evil, to which it stands related. Those spiritual laws are constant and unchangeable, for their basis is eternal truth, the form of the divine goodness. It is impossible, therefore, for that divine power, by which all spiritual, as well as natural laws are executed, ever to manifest itself in any way, that shall disregard the just and necessary connection, between goodness and happiness, or between evil and misery. To the man who has become confirmed in the love of goodness and truth, and whose delight is in leading a useful and orderly life, there is secured a store of endless happiness and delight, of eternal enjoyment in heaven, of which no power in the universe can ever deprive him; a happiness to be given, not as the reward of any merit of his own, nor yet by any special mercy or favor, which is shown towards him in distinction from others, but as a necessary consequence of having voluntarily received that goodness and truth, which the divine mercy provides for all. Let each man for himself, faithfully and habitually observe the laws of heavenly order; and then, though he has no power to create or originate any one emotion of true happiness, yet he stands in that channel through which the divine goodness flows, with its consequent happiness; and he need have no fears for the result. Those spiritual laws, in accordance with which, the delights of heaven are received, are as unchangeable, as those by which the planets roll on in their courses, or the flowers come forth at the return of spring.
If the views just presented are seen to be true, it will be justly inferred that the angel of heaven is happy, simply because happiness necessarily results from the harmonious and orderly exercise of all his affections and powers. His happiness, at each moment, is the delight that is experienced, in the performance of the good actions, in which he is then engaged. It is true such happiness has an inseparable connection with all the good actions of his previous life, but only on the ground that his present spiritual state is the resultant of all his previous states; just as the health that a
