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earth at the day when the race of beings which have lived upon it shall be judged for their conduct during that life.

3d, That stars and planets appear to have been changed, both in their positions and matter, without affecting even any others in their neighbourhood, as far as we can observe, and that no allusion is made in the sacred writings to the annihilation of any worlds or starry orbs ;-change of place or alteration only being indicated when allusion is made to them, and even if the sun and planets of our system are to be held as included in the catastrophe which shall involve the earth and its atmosphere, there is not the most distant probability that any bodies beyond them, such as the fixed stars, shall share their fate.

4th, If the earth and heavenly bodies remain after we have entered upon our eternal state, or if any of them shall do so, it is highly probable that the accepted of God, promoted in the scale of creation to be the angels or messengers of His will throughout the immeasurable universe, shall become infinitely better acquainted with these bodies and the secret laws which direct them than at present; and there can be no good reason assigned against the idea of our inhabiting either one or several of them in our glorified state; or at least of then visiting them, and gradually learning more and more of their respective natures.

THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY.

IN Man's bright morn he feels as Life could stay
For aye, or deems Death's hand as far away;
But when most thoughtless of this fatal power,
Unseen it often strikes us in that hour:

Laughing unconscious of the danger near-
We sudden start as mortal signs appear.
To earthly joys we cling as loath to part,

When even life is ebbing from the heart.

But ought this world's light wreaths of flowers to bind

In willing thraldom those who hope to find

Immortal pleasures under heavenly ray,

And the next hour may close life's transient day?
O! life oft steals away when spring in green

First paints the buds whose leaves may ne'er be seen
By eyes which hope made sparkle brightest when
Warm breezes promis'd life to flowers and men.
May we be ever ready then to leave

This world to meet with those whom now we grieve,

And calmly trust the Voice which cannot lie,
That we may live beneath a happier sky,
And never sorrow know or tears again,
But dwell in bliss instead of grief and pain!

While, therefore, here, we often ought to spare
An hour to think on what we yet may share
In after times, beyond this earthly state,-
Then let us ponder on our future fate.

Do souls lie torpid here beneath the clod,
When the frail body yields its life to God?
No! Death o'er Spirits never yet could reign,
Nor can corruption touch them with its stain.

They need no breath, nor hearts, nor blood to flow

Through frames which sink beneath Death's slightest blow;

But, when dark fate fulfils our mortal doom,

The soul must then that instant burst the gloom

Which now o'erhangs the unseen state of death,

But soon shall vanish when we yield our breath.
Then change will flash more grand and more sublime
Than if, when wintry darkness chills our clime,
Night sudden fled, and glorious summer shone,
Bright as in days which warmed our Eden gone!
Souls then shall cease from cares on mortal stage,
But never weary as when time brought age;
Friends gone before will rush upon our sight,
And bid us welcome to their realms of light;

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While angels lead to our appointed place,
And loud hosannas from a holy race

Ascend to Highest Heaven, and we shall hear

The words which now our nature could not bear :
Yet Heaven it is not-but a place for rest,

Where conscience makes us mis'rable or blest,
'Till the last day, when wicked men shall quake,
And bodies, hid in earth and sea, shall wake;
For frames immortal from the ground shall spring,
To wail in darkness, or in light to sing.
Then once again all human souls shall find
Material dwellings for the conscious mind.

When o'er the body sleep holds potent sway,
The soul can look on brighter light than day;
It then in ancient times oft heard the call
Of an Almighty Being hid from all.

When earthly voices no impression make,
The soul can hear, and speak, though not awake
The body be; and so, when Death shall close
Our eyes upon the world and all its woes,
The soul, like shooting-star, is swiftly borne,
To dwell in Hades till the judgment morn,

Where, conscious of its state-of hope or fear

Its thoughts may soar to Heaven, or know perdition near.

Should we not think, then, of earth's dreadful day,

And how to gain our pardon while we may?

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