rience; and, as you live on hope, direct those hopes to things which are unseen and eternal. Will you learn and believe that beyond the grave are not only the only realities, but the most glorious ones? Behold the glory of that world, that your eyes be not deceitfully dazzled by the sheen of this world, which must soon be merged into eternal night. Not only must the beauty and fire of youth die, but the heavens and the earth themselves, which are now, God has reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Amid the consternation and confusion of dissolving nature, when earth shall utter her final groan, where will you find a home, if not in heaven? If you are friendless, houseless, and homeless then, it will not be because you have not known of a heaven where the weary are at rest.

Aged pilgrim! you expect soon to go over! You are already going down the wintry hill-side of life towards the valley of the shadow of death. Lift up your eyes before you descend into the dark Jordan, and fix in your mind, as much as you can, the outlines of Canaan. Your eyes are dim to the loveliness of earth, your ears are dead to its music, and your feet are weary and heavy on its thorny road; lift up your eyes, and look for a better land, for behold it lies before you. To read of heaven is better than pastime for you while the chariots of Israel tarry. It will inspire an earnest longing to depart and be with Christ, and thus make your departure easy and your passage smooth.

Heaven, oh! heaven! who does not desire to know all that may be known of it? Heaven, it is our Fa

ther's house, the home of angels, and of all the departed saints who have fallen asleep in Jesus!

"Apostles, prophets, martyrs there

Around the Saviour stand.”

Heaven, it is the home of all our hopes; the end of life's weary pilgrimage, where we all at last expect to dismiss our burdens, to forget our sorrows, and to wipe our tears. If this be heaven, then let us know what the Spirit saith concerning it to the churches!

O, Spirit, that dost prefer

Before all temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for thou know'st.

What in me is dark,

Illumine! what is low, raise and support!

CHAPTER I.

Is Beauen a Place?

Oh, talk to me of heaven! I love
To hear about my home above;
For there doth many a loved one dwell
In light and joy ineffable.

O! tell me how they shine and sing,
While every harp rings echoing,
And every glad and tearless eye
Beams like the bright sun gloriously.
Tell me of that victorious palm,
Each hand in glory beareth;
Tell me of that celestial calm,
Each face in glory weareth.

"BEHOLD we have left all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" What shall we have therefore? This is a question that frequently arises in the Christian's mind, as he endeavours to cheer his ofttimes drooping spirits with a look towards the recompense of reward. What shall we have? We have left all for thee, and by following thee we have confessed that we are pilgrims and strangers upon the earth. In this world we shall have tribulation, but thou didst overcome the world; what shall those have who overcome with thee?

These are the saint's ardent inquiries, when in the spirit of self-denial he stands above the earth and despises all its offers, and when, in the spirit of entire self-consecration to Christ, he has no desire but to follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes. The ardour of hope outstrips the patience of faith, and hovering around the battlements of the celestial city, seeks a prelibation of promised joys. Although the opening gates let out no glory; though the anthems of their worship are not heard without; and though saints and angels,

"On heavenly pastimes bent,"

do not stop to give particulars to curious inquirers who linger in their way, yet modest inquiries are not improper, and may frequently be answered to the comfort and joy of believers.

The Saviour answered the above inquiry when made by Peter. He told him, "When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Here then there is curiosity which the Saviour himself approved, because he satisfied it. The same pious curiosity still manifests itself in the minds of God's people in their holiest hours, and shall there be nothing revealed to satisfy them? Yes, God will approve of such inquiries, and will grant the influence of that Spirit who leads into all truth, to all those who search the scriptures for an answer.

I propose in this book to consider some questions which often arise in the minds of Christians concerning heaven. In this inquiry we shall endeavour to

adhere closely to the sure word of prophecy. What the Spirit has revealed, through holy men of old, is profitable, what He does not reveal we cannot know. It was a comfort for Moses to view from Pisgah the promised land, though at a distance, where he could only get the coarsest outlines of its beauty; so it is sweet to us to see, from the mount of revelation, something of the heavenly Canaan, though it be only its veiled glory through a glass darkly.

In a world so full of change as this, and in the midst of a life which must so certainly and so soon come to a close, to be succeeded by an eternal state, there are few who do not, at times, think earnestly about a home beyond this life. This is a subject which especially occupies the minds of the truly pious in the twilight of life's loveliest and loneliest hours. It is the land of their hopes, and of their treasures! To it they are bound, not only by the power of a deathless faith, but by that holiest and sweetest of all human ties,-affection for their beloved dead who have died in the Lord.

IS HEAVEN A PLACE?

And as a bird each fond endearment tries
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.

Is heaven a place, or is it a state of existence merely? Has it locality, and is it material? Shall we exist in the heavenly world, related to time and space? Will that world be visible to the eye and