shore as a new creation, rather than as a being that had a previous life and history, and that had just entered upon another stage of being. If this world is the soul's probation, and the future world its reward, then the soul must see the reason of that reward, and this it can only see by a review and recollection of its probationary state. There is no meaning to me in a crown, when I know of no victory won; no meaning in a recompense when memory tells me of no services; no meaning in gratitude when I remember no grace.

"Some suppose," says Stilling, "a certain kind of continuance of their thinking faculties after death, but do not believe that with these faculties they will remember their earthly existence. They dream of an existence that is entirely new, which is better than the present, but upon which this life has no influence, and with which it has no connexion. This whole idea amounts to just the same as entire annihilation at death; for if I cannot recollect this life-its fortunes and misfortunes, my wife and children, my friends, my weaknesses and my good deeds,-in short, nothing at all, then I am no more the same I, no more the same person, but I will be a being entirely new! The Lord in mercy preserve us from such a future state! But thanks to his name for ever, that the Bible, and the common sense and feeling of men in all ages and in all places, teach directly the contrary."

We have a strong presumptive proof that saints in heaven remember the earth, from the fact that the rich man in hell did. When he called out of torment

In

upon father Abraham for mercy, he was requested to "remember" that he in his life-time had received his good things, and likewise Lazarus, evil things. Besides, we are told that the rich man remembered his five brethren, who were then still upon the earth. He remembered also, that they were in danger, and hence his concern for them. He must, therefore, have remembered their characters, their conduct, their wickedness, and consequently, their exposedness to God's displeasure. This involved particulars. deed, there is reason to believe that memory in the future world becomes keener and more faithful than ever it is here. We sometimes see that wicked men, in their dying moments, when the soul has almost asserted its independence of the body, have their memory exercised with great vividness. The mind seems to acquire a fearful capacity at that hour; memory, like a sun-glass which gathers the sun's rays into one point, gathers the deeds of a long life into one moment, and throws them with burning fury upon the guilty spirit. This may be but a horrid prophecy of what the spirit will be capable of, when once it is in the midst of those scenes of black and eternal despair which it now only dreads at a distance.

That the saints departed remember the earth is evident from scripture. Let the reader refer to Matt. xxv. 34, et seq. There the Judge, after having pronounced them blessed, reminds the righteous on his right hand, of the deeds of love which they had performed towards him on the earth. "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me

in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me I was in prison, and ye came unto me." The righteous, not recollecting that they had ever done these things to him on the earth, inquire when this was done. Some, perhaps, had not been on the earth when he was, and could not, therefore, have ministered unto him. Then, when they are inquiring with holy wonder, he points them to those saints standing by, and says, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." These deeds of charity had been done upon the earth, and how could they be reminded of deeds done on the earth, if all memory of the earth were blotted out at death? Not only must they have remembered the earth, but the intercourse which they there had had with these fellow saints; else there would be no propriety in this reference.

In the very nature of the judgment transactions, a reference to this state and abode of probation is necessary. The judgment is always represented as a transaction in which the reason of the reward of the righteous, and the reason of the condemnation of the wicked, shall be made known to the consciousness of the persons to be judged. Their lives of probation, their privileges, and their abuse of them, must all pass in such graphic review before the wicked in that day, as to constrain them to acquiesce fully in the final decision of their state 66 that every mouth may be stopped, and that all the world may stand guilty before God;" and that the condemned sinner himself may stand "speechless," making mute acknowledgment that the sentence is righteous. In the case of

the righteous, for some reason, no doubt to increase their happiness, a similar review is necessary, as is clearly to be seen from the above passage.

It seems not only that the earth is remembered in a general way, but that this review and recollection will extend to particulars. The remembrance of the earth and this life must be as particular as the judgment itself-descending, in the case of the lost, to every idle word which was spoken, and in the case of the righteous, to the giving of a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple. How could we give an account of our stewardship, if we did not remember the particular connexions and relations in which we stood upon the earth? How could the pastor give account of his ministry; and how could he bring his sheaves with him, if all memory of the reaping field were lost? True, the righteous might be rewarded, and the wicked punished, without any reason but that which existed in the mind of God; but how then could they feel it to be either to the praise of his glorious grace, or to the glory of his justice? Paul, as a faithful minister, expected to rejoice in heaven, in the sheaves of his ministry, "in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ." How could he do this without remembering the toils of his ministry among these converts at Thessalonica, whom he would meet in heaven, to present them before his Father's throne with exceeding joy. John, in his vision on Patmos, saw in heaven, "under the altar, the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." These remembered the earth, for "they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true,

dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them which dwell on the earth?" (Rev. vi. 9, 10.)

The song of redemption which the glorified saints sing, shows that the departed remember the earth: "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." Rev. v. 9. Here they remembered that he was slain; they remembered also, the kindred, tongue, people, and nation, out of which they had been redeemed. In like manner, also, must they remember the horrible pit and the miry clay out of which they had been taken, as well as the blood shed, by which they were washed. Yes, as long as they see before them in heaven the Lamb which had been slain, their adorable Jesus, so long will they remember the earth which was the scene of his sufferings and of his triumphs. Bethlehem, Gethsemane, Olivet, and Calvary, will rise in grateful remembrance before the saints for ever. While memory, in the hours of heavenly quiet, retires to these sacred retreats upon the earth, their hearts will swell in deeper gratitude, and their tongues will speak a louder praise.

III. THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN KNOW MORE OF US THAN WE DO OF THEM. That we know nothing directly of them, is no evidence that they know nothing directly of us. They, having been raised higher, possess capacities which we do not. The intelligent naturalist looks down upon the lower orders of living beings, sees their movements, and understands their habits, though they know nothing of him.