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that religion must consist, wherein there shall in nowise enter any thing that defileth; neither whatsoever worketh abomination. The apostle tells us, That without holiness, no man shall see God; -by which, no doubt, he means, that a virtuous life is the only medium of happiness and terms of salvation, which can only give us admission into Heaven. But some of our divines carry the assertion further, That without holiness, without some previous similitude wrought in the faculties of the mind, corresponding with the nature of the purest of beings, who is to be the object of our fruition hereafter; that it is not morally only, but physically impossible for it to be happy; and that an impure and polluted soul is not only unworthy of so pure a presence as the Spirit of God, but even incapable of enjoying it, could it be admitted.

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And here, not to feign a long hypothesis, as some have done, of a sinner's being admitted into Heaven, with a particular description of his condition and behaviour there,-we need only consider, that the supreme good, like any other good, is of a relative nature, and, consequently, the enjoyment of it must require some qualification in the faculty, as well as the enjoyment of any other good does;-there must be something antecedent in the disposition and temper, which will render that good a good to that individual; otherwise, though (it is true) it may be possessed, yet it never can be enjoyed.

Preach to a voluptuous epicure, who knows of no other happiness in this world but what arises from good eating and drinking;-such a one, in the apostle's language, whose God is his belly; preach to him of the abstractions of the soul, tell of its flights and brisker motion in the pure regions of immensity; represent to him that saints and angels eat not, but that the spirit of a man lives

for ever upon wisdom and holiness, and heavenly contemplations: why, the only effect would be, that the fat glutton would stare a-while upon the preacher, and in a few minutes fall fast asleep. No; if you would catch his attention, and make him take in your discourse greedily, you must preach to him out of the Alcoran, talk of the raptures of sensual enjoyments, and of the pleasures of the perpetual feasting which Mahomet has described; there touch you upon a note which awakens and sinks into the inmost recesses of his soul;-without which, discourse as wisely and abstractedly as you will of Heaven, your representations of it, however glorious and exalted, will pass like the songs of melody over an ear incapable of discerning the distinction of sounds.

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We see, even in the common intercourses of society, how tedious it is to be in the company a person whose humour is disagreeable to our own, though, perhaps, in all other respects of the greatest worth and excellency! How then can we imagine that an ill-disposed soul, whose conversation never reached to Heaven, but whose appetites and desires, to the last hour, have grovell'd upon this unclean spot of earth, how can we imagine it should hereafter take pleasure in God, or be able to taste joy or satisfaction from his presence, who is so infinitely pure that he even putteth no trust in his saints!. nor are the Heavens themselves (as Job says) clean in his sight! - The consideration of this has led some writers so far as to say, with some degree of irreverence in the expression, - That it was not in the power of God to make a wicked man happy, if the soul was separated from the body, with all its vicious habits and inclinations unreformed; - which thought a very able divine in our church has pursued so far as to declare his belief, That could the happiest man

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sion in Heaven be supposed to be allotted to a gross and polluted spirit, it would be so far from being happy in it, that it would do penance there to all eternity:-by which he meant, it would carry such appetites along with it, for which there could be found no suitable objects: a sufficient cause for constant torment; - for those that it found there, would be so disproportioned, that they would rather vex and upbraid it, than satisfy its wants. This, it is true, is mere speculation, and what concerns us not to know; it being enough for our purpose, that such an experiment is never likely to be tried; that we stand upon different terms with God; - that a virtuous life is the foundation of all our happiness; that as God has no pleasure in wickedness, neither shall any evil dwell with him ;-and that, if we expect our happiness to be in Heaven, we must have our conversation in Heaven whilst upon earth,-make it the frequent subject of our thoughts and meditations, let every step we take tend that way,-every action of our lives be conducted by that great mark of the prize of our high calling, forgetting those things which are behind; -forgetting this world,-disengaging our thoughts and affections from it, and thereby transforming them to the likeness of what we hope to be hereafter. How can we expect the inheritance of the saints in light, upon other terms than what they themselves obtained it!

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Can that body expect to rise and shine in glory that is a slave to lust, or dies in the fiery pursuit of an impure desire? Can that heart ever become the lightsome seat of peace and joy, that burns hot as an oven with anger, rage, envy, lust, and strife? full of wicked imaginations, set only to devise and entertain evil?

Can that flesh appear in the last day and inherit the kingdom of Heaven in the glorified strength of