O bleffed felf? who art filled with, and draweft in thefe full gales of the Spirit, that bloweth where it lifteth throughout eternity. O thefe wells of falvation! infinitely tranfcending the peels of Baca's vale! one drop is more delightfome and fatisfying, than the oceans of all earthly fweetness. What were the broken cifterns, that fools were drinking of? they were inflaming, not quenching; more fantastical than real. O fools! were you not imagining you were fwallowing down huge varieties of all manner of sweetness? But you awaked, and behold it was a dream. Are you not confounded, when your eyes are opened, to per ccive fo deep a delufion? Were you not imagi ning yourselves enjoying riches, and honours, and pleafures? But now the glorious day of eternity is broken up, and where are they? Here are rea lities: this land is filled with eternal fprings of li ving waters of all sweetness and fatisfaction. Strange! ever drinking, and never cloyed or furcharged; the deeper, and moe draughts, the greater delec tation! O my conceptions on earth! O my enjoy. ments now! I did not in the leaft conceive them. O my eternally prefent enjoyments and yet I have all I could conceive. Whatever pleasure, fatisfaction, and what can conduce to a life filled with all manner of excellencies, delights and fweetnefs, is here in the top and flower of all perfec tion. When I ftrained my conceptions to the highest pitch of mortality, and imagined glory, excellency and fweetnefs, augmented and perfected by myriads of myriads of ftages, above all the glo ry 'I could perceive or imagine; ftill I have fallen wonderfully below this: and yet my conceptions, in part, reprefented this; for all things are here. Here is an eternal confluence of all manner of good things:

things: who can imagine any thing, which might be here, and is not? What want we, O inhabitants of this wealthy city? Is not this the centre whither all glory and fweetnefs run, like a flowing stream? And what wonder? This is the city royal of the eternal King. Here, here he manifefleth, immediately and in open view, his unfearchable riches, tranfcendent glory, infinite power, boundlefs goodnefs, and the infinite varieties of his unconceivaexcellencies. Were they fools, who overlook

carth, and laid out their whole ftrength, ror acairing a right to the glorious poffeffion, and the unfearchable treafures of this ten thousand times bleffed land of Emmanuel? Poor earth, with thy glittering, nothing enjoyments, whither art thou gone? Orea folid and fubftantial enjoyments! all the glories, be uties and excellencies of time were mere faces, and refemblances of what I behold. What, the, was in appearance, is here indeed; the real fpring-tide is here: here are the true gardens and orchards of delights, here are the fubflantial roles, lilies and violets, here are the true pearls, rubies and diamonds; all the former were but counterfeit, and in appearance fuch. I fee the difference betwixt things here, and what were in time, is fuch, as is between the bare few, and the fubftance. I thought, I faw crowns and fceptres, honours and renown; but they were vapours, giftering after their fimilitudes, which are now evanished eternally to nothing; and behold the real diadems, fceptres and honours! I thought I found fone pleafure and delight; I thought, I beheld great varieties of all kinds; but the night is gone, and the day is broken up, that difpelleth gliftering fhews and vapours,in difcoveringthe real and fubftantial things: ail things are here in fubftance, which in time were

in

in appearance. Here are the real dwellings, cities, orchards, hills of frankincense, mountains of fpices. We were far mistaken, O inhabitants, to speak of any thing, as exiftent any where elfe than here; elfe all our speech and conceptions, within mortality's region, were merely figurative: for, to conceive of things properly, as they were on earth, there was neither fun, moon, nor ftars; neither lilies nor roles, nor beauties, nor excellencies they are here, and only here for evermore. Were they wife, who placed their delights on fhadows, and evanishing nothings? Were they fools, who overlooked all the vain fancies of time, and fixed their minds only on this enduring fubftance? I have found the fubftance for the fhadow: I, even I am poffeffor of the world of eternal joy and fa tisfaction.

64. A frowning tormenting time, the prelude of eternity.

All thame, and forrow, and vexation, you are eternally gone, as if you had not been : fometimes you poffeffed us; but the fair and white fide of providence is turned up for ever. I fee, it was the ordination of eternity, that the head and members fhould be every way conformed: all that are here, were of no beauty or defirablenefs fometime in the eyes of mortals; but were defpifed and rejected of men, perfons of forrow, acquainted with grief; being deftitute, and afflicted, and tormented : many moralifts, and formalifts, and lukewarm Chriftians went for faints, in the eyes of almost all: but one thing among a thousand, might have discovered what they were, even that they underwent not the lot of him whom they profeffed to be following; the world fmiled upon them, because they were of the world: other entertainment did they meet with, in their progrefs

progrefs through earth, than the Chief of ten thoufand in the days of his flefh: though my Lord could have brought his chofen to this unfpeakable glory, through the abundance of earthly ease, peace, glory, joy and delight; yet this hath been the way of his infinite wisdom. O ye angels, could you have found out fuch a noble draught? could you have invented fuch an admirable way of bringing poor, feeble, finful mortals to glory? O fweet, fweet difpenfation! base earth, that is now for e ver evanished, was not my country, but the place of my exile; not my abode, but my pilgrimage; and therefore it was well it frowned upon me, and appeared like the thing that indeed it was, a vain, empty, gliftering nothing. My Lord hath been tender of his darlings, and could not fuffer nightdreams and fancies to beguile them, which they might, they being in their childish and mortal condition, if they bad appeared with a finiling pleasant countenance. O my God, the greatest snares that ever thou rainedst upon thine enemies, were when thou gave them the defires of their heart: earth they defired, and earth thou madeft to look kindly upon them; and therefore they are ruined for evermore. I fee the difpenfation, that most croffed my own natural difpofition, hath contributed most for my advantage: my Lord hath with-held no good thing from me: it was beft I should have had a life of forrow, torment, and vexation: it was well I was cut short of earthly enjoyments. My only defire was to finish my courfe for this unfpeakable happiness, and that it fhould be fwift and vigorous; and how excellently haft thou fulfilled the defire of my heart?

65. Glory caufeth a total change in all the powers, Faculties and virtues.

O my heart, thou art changed indeed! how tormenting a burden haft thou been unto me, in the days of my abfence! even when I keeped moft obfervant and ftrictest watch over thy frame, thou plaid me a flip, and bended oft from the original of all bleffedness, unto vanity. How waft thou drawn hither and thither, by all difpenfations? When I imagined I had got thee wrought up to a fublime heavenly frame, how foon didft thou become carnal and earthly again? When thou feemed all in a flame of divine love and zeal, how didft thou become cold and indifferent, ere ever I was aware? When I rejoiced in finding thee in a lively, tender, gofpel-frame, how quickly didft thou become dead and fenfelefs like a stone! When I could not but cry out, O my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed; I will fing; yea, I will for ever be altogether for praifes: how foon waft thou unfettled, and toffed up and down with the winds of vanity! When I could fay, I will truft in him, and not be afraid; I will not fear, though the earth be removed, though the mountains be caft into the midst of the fea; the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my fong, and he alfo is become my falvation: how foon didft thou become defpondent and fearful, afraid of worms and nothings, and forgetting the Lord thy Maker, that stretched out thefe heavens! When thou wast in so fweet a frame, as I could not but wish, When shall I be in the Wellbeloved's immediate embraces; I value not that fmall brook that lies betwixt me and him; though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, 1 will fear no evil; for he is ever with me: yet how foon waft thou overclouded and darkened with doubtings and confufion; fo that thou wouldeft have given ten thoufand worlds, if at thy dif

pofing,