earth. When, therefore, we recur to former observations,* pondering the general analogy which so conspicuously pervades almighty operations throughout these nether heavens; that all its worlds, suns, systems, generations, were formed from out one chaos, composed of like materials as our terraqueous residence; that all the globes we can investigate are like to ours opaque, leaving no room for doubt but that all the worlds revolving round the countless suns which night unfolds to view are also opaque bodies, consequently much more adapted for the reception of an animal rather than a more refined nature, bearing in mind that by the same commandment which created them together, they will be alike adjudged to be destroyed together ;t-by duly weighing these con

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The remarks contained in Orton's exposition of the eighth Psalm, deserve recording here. The Lord hath set his glory above the heavens," above the visible heavens, and fills the upper world with rapture and praise. How wonderful that thou, O God, who hast so many worlds under thy care, filled with so many inhabitants, how wonderful that man should so partake of thy goodness!" St. Peter is very explicit in the last chapter of his Second Epistle, that all these worlds will be destroyed at one and the same juncture. The heavens and the earth which are now, by the word of God are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements. shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burnt up, and all these things shall be dissolved. "And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, as a falling fig from the fig-tree." (Isaiah xxxiv. 4.)

siderations, we cannot but conceive it most probable that all the worlds revolving in our heavens are peopled after the law of a carnal commandment.

In answer to the second inquiry, namely, Is it most reasonable to imagine that the probationaries inhabiting these numberless mansions are destined to a long abode in them, or that a speedy termination is put to their trials, and they like us removed to accommodate successors? we reply, that as a quick succession of inhabitants in these starry heavens, and as quick a transition from hence into the intermediate one, would greatly enhance the number of those happy myriads who will be ultimately harvested within the high emporium; that as their removal from these seminaries into the holy place is only a transition from a state of trial to a state of improvement, and to one in which they will attain unto perfection, it seems to us most in consonance with the economy and goodness of the wise. and great Creator, to put a speedy termination to their trials, and it appears improbable that they should have been ordained to maintain their conflicts for five thousand eight hundred and twentyeight of our years; but that theirs like ours should be speedily decided, every conquering probationary be admitted into the intermediate sanctuary, and every failing one be reserved in chains unto the judgment of the great day. In God's own house, we are told, there still remaineth room; but from the copious harvest of these countless worlds it will be amply filled.

An answer to the third inquiry, Is it most reasona

ble to infer that the fleeting generations which for a moment occupy our temporary district, spring from progenitors, or is each succession the offspring of a new distinct creation? is easily deduced from the foregoing answers; for if our lower heavens are solely devoted to the accommodation of corporeal nature, it is most probably peopled by a parental descent in the same way as is ours, its inhabitants made liable to the same penalty on transgression, translated in their pristine state to the same paradise on obedience, and transformed in their original conjoined natures into cherubic nature.

An answer to the fourth and last question, namely, By what means, and from what quarter, are those trials which serve to constitute their probationary states most probably administered? is again in part suggested by the foregoing answers for if the probationaries inhabiting our region are all composed of twofold natures, their trials are most probably produced, as were those of our first progenitor, by the conflicting inclinations of their discordant natures, exasperated by the malign interference of the same foul fiend who caused our degradation. For when we reflect upon the impressive exhortation given unto us-Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; because ye wrestle not against flesh. and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places

-further considering what a busy adversary, what a shrewd and piercing serpent is their infernal leader-how skilled in artifice, how indefatigable in accomplishing his wicked schemes, walking about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and when contemplating the vast infinitude of worlds revolving in our heavens;-we cannot conceive it probable that all this power, all this sagacity, all this deceit, all this activity, all this malice, should be solely aimed at us-that our small globe, amidst the countless multitude, should be the only target at which he levels his envenomed darts; but that he is the permitted agent, who disseminates those evils which constitute probationary states in these our lower heavens. And the following considerations appear to us powerfully supportive of the justness of the foregoing answer to our fourth and last question. At the decisive day, we are expressly, emphatically, and repeatedly told, the hosts which occupy our starry heavens are all to be dissolved—that the stars will fall from heaven as a fig-tree casteth her untimely leaves; consequently, all that countless host of suns which night unfolds to view, and the worlds round them revolving, are all to be destroyed.

This awful day is termed the great and notable day of the great almighty God; and the terrific Judge who on that day presides is the second person in the glorious Trinity, one with the Father, blessed for evermore: for the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son. We apprehend that truth will never be elicited by an endeavour to reduce the palpable meaning of in

spired communication to the level of our immediate conceptions-to the level of minds too often wholly immersed in the concerns of the body; we apprehend that it never will be elicited, till we humbly endeavour to expand our faculties into conceptions more correspondent to the wonderful information revealed in the gospel: for how incompatible is it with the before-stated prophetic declaration, which denominates the last and terrible day, the great and notable day of the almighty Son of God, to suppose that all the awful signs that will precede that day-suns darkened, moons ceasing to give their light, the stars falling from heaven, and the powers of heaven all shaken, merely concern our world— that amidst the universal wreck of a creation which was all formed together by Him who sits as judge, that we alone of all the unnumbered myriads of intelligents inhabiting these starry heavens will then be called to judgment, and that the fate of one single world, (belonging to a system which, as before observed, were it totally annihilated, its sun, with all the planets, moons, and comets thereto appertaining, would be no more missed by an eye that could take in the whole creation, than a grain of sand from the seashore,) should then occupy the sole attention of Omnipotence; could such (comparatively speaking) very trifling transaction as the dissolution of one world, considering the infinitude of Him who will destroy it, be deemed any way commensurate with that prophecy which styles the last great day the notable day of the infinite God? * Page 183.