DISCOURSE VII. 151 and sorrow shall be more overwhelming. Is it lawful for mein thii place to mention the description which Milton, our English poet, gives of their wretched habitation ? " A dungeon horrible on all sides round As one great furnace flam'd ; yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible Serv'donly to discover sights of woe; Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace And rest can never dwell ; hope never comes, That comes to all : But torture without end Still urges, and a fiery deluge fed With ever - burning sulphur unconsum'd. Such place eternal justice had prepar'd For rebel - angels? here their pris'n drdain'd In utter darkness, and their portion set As far remov'd from God and light of heaven,,. As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole. To this the Poet adds, O how unlike the place from whence they fell !'! How unlike to that heaven, which I have been describing, in which there is no night ; and all the evils of darkness, in every sense, are for ever secluded from that happy region, where knowledge, holiness and joy are all inseparable and immortal. II. " What light of every kind we are made partakers of here on earth, let us use it with holy thankfulness, with zeal and religious improvement." Hereby we may be assisted and ani- mated to travel on through the mingled stages and scenes of light and darkness in this.world, till we arrive at the inheritance of the saints in perfect light. It is a glorious blessing to this dark world, that the light of christianity is added to the light of Ju- daism and the light of nature; and that the law of Moses and the gospel of Christ, are set before us, in this nation, in their distinct views, on purpose to make our way to happiness more evident and easy. May the song of Moses, and the song of' the Lamb be sung in our land ! But let us never rest satisfied till the light that is let into our minds become a spring of divine life within us, a life of knowledge, holiness and comfort. Let us not be found amongst the number of those who when light is come into the world, love darkness rather than light, lest we fall under their condemnation ;. John iii. 19. Let us never rest till we see the evidences of the children of God wrought in us with power ; till the day spring that has visited us from on high has entered into our spirits, and refined and moulded them into the divine image ; till we who are by nature all darkness are made light in the Lord. O what a blessedchange does the converting grace of Christ make in the soul of a son or daughter of Adam ? It is like the beauty and pleasure which the rising morning diffuses over the face of the earth, after a night of storm and darkness : Is it so
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=