O happy are they, the dead, that died in the Lord, and who live in heaven; to whom the ways of God are no longer mysterious; who, in the light of his presence, see the end from the beginning;' unobstructed by the intervening clouds that darken our lower path. Could their songs of unmingled delight burst upon our mortal ears, they might jar our heavy hearts. In the depressions and bewilderments, the anxieties and despondings of our earthly life, that clear strain of joy would be uncongenial and incongruous. But we hear it not till death, and then increasing knowledge of the works and ways of God will soon win for it the full accordance of our immortal sympathies. Then we too shall sing the song of Moses and the Lamb,saying, great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.' And from all that exists, shall we hear the glad response to our own hearts' eternal song of praise and thanksgiving.

SERMON XIV.

ELEVATION OF SENTIMENT.

COLOSSIANS iii. 1.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

With a mixture, which is not uncommon in the most celebrated writers, of the literal and the figurative, the apostle here enforces on Christians that they should cultivate an habitual elevation of sentiment, as a consequence of that moral resurrection from the death of trespasses and sins, which had been wrought in them by knowledge of the fact of Christ's resurrection from the grave. The allusive or figurative, and the literal expression, are equally appropriate and intelligible, and there is a harmony in this intermingling and seeming confusion, which not unaptly applies to the subject. The material and the mental, the natural and the supernatural, do admirably mingle in the plans of God, and the influences of religion, and the manifold operations by which man is trained into a meetness for the inheritance of

the saints in light. another, or acts by together for good.'

One continually grows out of another; and they all 'work They have a common ultimate object, the happiness of man in the full developinent and infinite progressiveness of his nature. For this, his bodily frame has its peculiar construction. The physical powers of other animals cannot build up intelligence in them, as do the eye, ear, hand, nerves, and brain in man. These have the same purpose and tendency as the wisdom of philosophers and the oracles of inspiration, the miracles of Moses and of Christ. A miracle is a stimulus to reason, and a suggestion of natural truth. The ascertaining a principle in metaphysical science is sometimes, as in the theory of causation, the clearing up of a doctrine of revelation. The regions of knowledge, like the kingdoms of the earth, however distant may seem their territories, have a continual interchange going on of their productions, and in various modes, are inade subservient to a common object. Each seems to become, in its results, universal and infinite, and the character of each is that of all, and of their countless combinations. The revival of Christ is a bare physical fact. A certain portion of organized matter passed out of one state into another state. Yet when should we come to an end of enumerating the influences of that fact? It is the keystone of Jewish history. It binds together into a whole the extraordinary narrative which begins with the call of Abraham or the mission of Moses, and ends with the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews. To both events, and all that intervene, it gives meaning and unity. That bare physical fact illustrates the character and designs of the pure and infinite Spirit. It reveals God as the Almighty and the all-loving. Look at it in its effect on the speculations of philosophers; it solved the most difficult question in which they had entangled themselves, and the most deeply interesting.

It superseded their conflicting arguments on the destiny of man, and made historical fact banish metaphysical doubt. See its political bearing; how large a portion it has colored of the broad surface of the stream of time. On theory and practice, mind and manners, private life and public history, the past and the future, how illimitable are its influences! And then again each single point on which it bears has itself also a like infinity. If the poet aims to make his verse an echo to the sense, whether he describe natural objects, or human actions, well may the language of the religious teacher unintentionally ⚫ assume a mingled character, in discoursing of these vast interchanges of physical, intellectual, social, moral and spiritual influences, and even an apostle blend • the mention of a material and a moral resurrection; of noble principles, and elevated space; of the right hand of majesty, and the influence of truth and love, by which Christ reigns in the power of God; and so mingling them exhort, 'If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.'

The spirit of this exhortation I take to be, that it becomes the Christian to cultivate a moral elevation of sentiment, feeling, desire, or character. And I shall endeavor to show in what such elevation consists, and how it is promoted by Christianity generally, and in particular by the fact of the resurrection of Christ. The very terms elevation of sentiment, &c., are apt

to excite in some minds notions of affectation, cant, and hypocrisy, of turgid language, exaggerated emotion, and extravagant assumption. But this is a gross perversion or mistake; the ridicule perhaps which might be due to the counterfeit, fixing itself on the reality, and bringing the very name into disgrace. All real elevation is characterized by simplicity. There is no true dignity but with simplicity and sincerity. All scientific knowledge leads up to principles characterized not less by their simplicity than by their comprehensiveness. All greatness of intellect tends to express itself in a style characterized by simplicity. The refinement of taste is a progress towards simplicity. The power of art is in the combination of simple elements on simple principles. The greatest operations and the noblest forms of nature are distinguished by simplicity. And such must be the characteristic of the loftiest moral character. is 'the double-minded man' that is 'unstable in all his ways:' energy is the attribute, and success the frequent reward, of singleness of heart and of aim, of feeling and of purpose. With whatever qualities he may be gifted, a crooked politician can never be a great statesman. Chicanery and double dealing are mean and little, from the tricks of imperial diplomacy to those of the pettiest trade. All great philanthropists are simple characters; Howard was. All great philosophers are simple; Locke and Newton were. All great deliverers of nations are simple characters; Washington was. The affinities of evil are with complexity, and those of good with simplicity. Of the Apostles, Judas was the most complex character,

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