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in case of any vacancy, by the President of the standing committee.

yea in every prayer you offer up to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Remember that according to the terms of this covenant every action of your life is "The duty of preparing for the erection of the college marked, good or bad, and that as they shall be written was imperious. It was agreed that the money raised in the book of God, so will you be judged in the last in England should be laid out in land, in the endowday. Remember that as Christ hath died for you, even ment of a Professorship of Divinity, in founding the so doth He require through His grace you shall die Theological College, upon which my hopes of an effiunto sin-i. e. be more and more conformed to His cient ministry were founded, and in necessary addiblessed image, and less and less conformed to this tional buildings. I felt that the present season must world. Remember that the day of trial is short, and not be allowed to pass without improvement, and that the night of the grave soon cometh, wherein no man whilst we endeavoured to act upon the precept can work! Work then, not the works of stupid infi-Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy delity, thinking you can purchase that which cost the might,' we might hope that Providence would smile blood of the Son of God, but work the works of faith upon our efforts. and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Do this, and may God Almighty bless you,

my son.

PHILANDER CHASE.

"Peel, Lancashire, 13th July, 1824."

Bishop Chase to the Hon. Miss Kenyon. "VERY DEAR LADY,-A strong attachment to the character and writings of the late Rev. Wm. Jones of Nayland, entertained respectively by your noble father and myself, has led to an acquaintance between us so signally beneficial to the infant diocese of which God has made me overseer in Ohio, that I wish to leave some testimonial both of my veneration of the saint of Nayland, of my respect and gratitude to your father, and above all of my deep sense of the over-ruling hand of Divine Providence. Under God it is to Jones I owe those sentiments of the primitive church of Christ, which, being blessed from above, have led to whatever little usefulness has been visible in my life. By his holding up the light of divine truth, I saw Jesus Christ the chief corner stone, and the prophets and apostles next erected in this spiritual temple of the living God; and it was to be the humble instrument of founding such a temple in the West, that I left the comforts of the East, my dear country; to obtain means to complete this temple I have come to this favoured land, and here, oh, how visible has been the directing and supporting hand of God!

"For your noble father's signal exertions in my behalf, may he be placed as a favoured corner-stone in the edifice of Christ's universal Church, and may his lovely daughters be as the polished corners thereof, and all of us remain there cemented by charity, the bond of peace, till we be translated into that temple eternal in the heavens, whose walls are salvation, and whose gates are praise.

"That God may bless you, my dear young lady, and ever have you in his holy keeping, is the prayer of your faithful friend

"And very humble servant,

"P. CHASE." "On the 17th of July I embarked at Liverpool, and arrived at New York, on the 29th of August, and at the convention which I assembled at Chillico on the 3rd of November, I had the gratification of reporting that no less a sum than £5,600 had been contributed to the Ohio cause in England.

"I found the destitution of ministers to be still so great, that I was obliged to divide my own attention as a missionary amongst four parishes, to attend to the students, and to overlook the general concerns of the diocese.

"A beautiful site presented itself, and though some objection occurred as we proceeded to clear, which we had not observed at first, and we afterwards found another spot still more eligible, upon which the college now stands; I speak of our first effort in order to describe the Chopping Bee, peculiar to our country, and to express the first feelings of my heart, at the commencement of the work for God's glory.

"The lands were expanded on each side of a stream of pure water, to the distance of a mile and a quarter, and up and down the stream for more than that distance. Sometimes the banks rose absolutely into eminences of from 50 to 60 feet, by a gentle acclivity, and presented situations of 12 or 15 acres of the finest site for building, from which you might see, if the trees were cleared away, beautiful streams and fertile meadows for many miles around. We agreed to appoint a time and place of meeting to commence our operations, and I issued a hand-bill stating that, the place being an entire wilderness, every person accustomed to labour was requested to bring his axe with him, and his provisions or the day; that, as the meeting was expected to be very numerous, proper officers would be appointed to keep order and prevent accidents in felling the trees; that we should begin our day's work with prayer, and that all spirituous liquors would be prohibited.'

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"The hardy sons of the wood, though living at the distance of from three to fifteen miles, assembled at the appointed spot in the bosom of an entire forest of lofty trees; the face of nature all around untouched by man from the creation of the world. What feelings then took possession of my frame as the assembly pressed round me for the expected address and to join in the fervent prayer, I cannot now describe. The speech is flown from me-it was the inspiration of the moment. The prayer was a selection from our incomparable Liturgy; it began with the confession in the communion service, and ended with the Lord's prayer, in which nearly all, though of every different denomination, seemed heartily to join. The men were then distributed to their several stations, and the work began. At this most interesting crisis, what would I not have given for the presence of my friends in England. How sublime the spectacle! Behold some hundreds of men assembled at so short a notice for such a work, and as they proceed the forest falling before them, as if nature herself were personified, and without a fiction bowing low in obedience to the will of God for the civilization of the earth, and for the fulfilment of His holy prophecy, that religion and learning shall prevail, that the wilderness and solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall bud and blossom as the rose. The rain came on before the day's work was finished, and the company dispersed to their places of abode mercifully preserved from the slightest accident. This partial disappointment occasioned an unanimous resolution to assemble again the Wednesday following to finish our work.

"Reading Clerks, or lay Readers, were in this state of things recognized by the Church, and permitted in the absence of ordained ministers to read the prayers, lessons of the Holy Scriptures, and approved sermons, in strict conformity to the rubrics and canons of the church. They were required to be exemplary and godly persons, well known and approved by the ecclesiasti- "Many difficulties occurred in deciding upon the site cal authority. No person elected or nominated by of the institution, but after much deliberation, a large any congregation or vestry was considered as anthoris- tract of land in the centre of the diocese was fixed ed to perform the above-named duties, unless ap-upon, it was at a distance from any town or village, proved and appointed by the Bishop of the diocese, or and it was agreed that it never should be alienated by

lease or will, that there might be no difficulty in removing any thing detrimental to the morals, or injurious to the studies of youth. The situation was in Knox county, healthy beyond a doubt, abounding with the best soil, timber, and the purest water. Here the college, chapel, and village were to be placed on a commanding and beautiful eminence in the centre of the tract, looking down upon the farms and an encircling stream, on which the mills, so important to the institution, were speedily erected.

"The funds collected by me in England were in the hands of trustees in that country, and the medium of transmission necessarily requiring much time, because of a public character, a considerable period intervened after the legal incorporation of our board of trustees, in which they had no money to speak of at their command, and no one would credit the undertaking but on my security; every article that I bought on credit was placed to my personal account, as well as the freight on books, an organ, printing types, communion plate, and other generous donations from England.

"The expences of forming a large establishment in the woods required daily outlays; but who that had proceeded thus far, supported by a merciful Providence, would hesitate to make all the advances in his power? My effects, therefore, were of necessity pledged and called into use as they were wanted, and the same were either used or sold for the benefit of the college. When this was effected, God gave me time to solicit funds from other quarters, and, blessed be his name, caused me to find favour in the eyes of my countrymen to obtain means to go on, and £6,000 was added in America to the £5,600 obtained in England.

"The first principle of the plan published by me in England, and recognized as the condition of all donations was, that the college should be under the direction of trustees chosen trienially by the convention of the diocese; that the bishops individually and collectively should be visitors of the institution; that no constitutional article should be altered without their consent, and should any thing go wrong of a serious nature, they should have the power to apply to a court of law for a writ of injunction to stop proceedings. When I returned to America this was mentioned and inserted in our constitution of the seminary, and by the legislative establishment of that constitution became the law of the land.

"In the management of a great concern in a country so newly settled, by persons of all descriptions, both of character, disposition, and grade of civilized life, it were morally impossible but that many disaffected persons should be found. Ignorance of the very grounds and principles of the college prevailed in its commencement to such an extent, as to turn the fate of candidates in the election of representatives to civil government. It was currently believed that Kenyon College was to be a British fort that would overawe the liberties of the country. He that was a friend to its interests must be, they thought, an enemy to the American people. The conduct of the clergy, the assiduity of the students in teaching the children, and the work which was furnished to the industrious, soon made the benefit of the undertaking evident to all classes, and conciliated their affections.

When the work of preparation commenced, a Sunday School was scarcely heard of for many miles around; the first little gathering of children in the woods for this purpose was under the trees just in front of where the college now stands. It was here we held divine service during the whole of 1826, and taught the children both before and between morning and evening prayer.

"Surrounding the hill to which I had attached the name of Gambier, and on which we cleared the college site, the inhabitants were chiefly squatters, who had guarded their crops by their own personal vigilance. Our immediate business, therefore, was to fence the

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farms, for which purpose we prepared 76,325 rails for 700 acres. This was an indispensable work, for we could not keep a number of idle children to run miles with dogs to drive away intruding animals, as those from whom we had bought the farms had done before us. By this means, though considered but half a crop, we secured 2,000 bushels of Indian corn upon 125 acres, and other produce in proportion. Gradually we hoped to clear, and spread to the genial rays of the sun, 2,000 acres of our rich bottom lands, to furnish grass for 1,000 cattle, and milk and meat for 500 students, on cheaper terms than the world ever saw. After the encouragement we had received to trust in Providence, it would not have been right to lay out the plan upon a smaller scale, and though our funds were not equal to completing the work, I looked with sanguine hope to the future, and fully believed that the whole sketch would be filled up.

"The necessity of my undertaking the work was so great, that I would not shrink from the task; though I little thought when I began, that the whole planning and management of the building, from the first platform to the minutest detail, would fall upon one so unworthy, whose talents were so small, and whose judgment was so weak as my own.

"Our college hill is high, and open to the influence of violent winds from every quarter. There is evidence of numerous large trees on its surface having been torn up by the roots.

"In planning, therefore, for a permanent building, I made use of all the means that God has given us to guard against the dreadful effects of hurricanes, and therefore ordered the walls of Kenyon College to be thick, and built of stone of the same kind as that of which the Capitol at Washington is constructed. In 1827 the foundation was laid in the form of the letter H. The connecting part 110 feet long, and the wings each 174 feet, making in all 458 feet. The height four stories reckoning the basement, and intended to accommodate 6 or 700 students.

"In forming the plan for Rosse Chapel, I saw that a building was necessary that would contain 1,500 persons, and determined the dimensions accordingly, Before the buildings were erected, numbers of people attended in the open air to witness the commencement exercises, which convinced me of the necessity of providing abundant accommodations.

"The site of the chapel is on the west, and most elevated part of Bexley-square, 40 rods north of Kenyon College.

"The steeple or tower fronts the square, and the chancel is to the rear or west end. I regret this, because it reverses the significant arrangement observed generally by our church, an allusion being had in the placing of the chancel in the east, to the Oriens ex alto mentioned in Scripture; but at the same time I cannot think it of so great consequence as not to be departed from, when the inconvenience in observing it would be considerable. In the present instance to place the chancel at the east, would be putting it at the entrance of the church, and throwing the tower to the west end, much to the disadvantage of the building.

"Not to enter into every minute particular, we will only specify the following buildings which were successively erected. A saw mill, grist mill, dam, and race, with a house for the miller and his family, adjacent to a beautiful field of clover, with a good garden. This was essentially necessary to carry on the college works and provisions.

"An hotel, at which the stage coach stops, with a large stable, for the accommodation of travellers on public days.

"A carpenter's and shoemaker's shop; houses for students, buildings of hewed logs, and cabins for mechanics, and a dairyman's house, with a cow stable, which has the following peculiarity:-The mangers

are built on each side of a long passage, eight feet wide; the provender is placed in a story overhead, and thrown down from it to the cows tied side by side, facing each other, and the passage. This is a great convenience to the dairy-woman who tends them, and gathers and secures the milk in comparatively much greater quantities.

"For reasons religious, moral, and economical, I hired labourers, boarded, and paid them by the month, instead of doing the work by contract.

"I had religiously promised to my Maker when I first set foot on the college ground, to suppress vice in all under my care, to the utmost of my power, especially that of intemperance; and I saw no way of fulfilling this vow, but by keeping the control over the persons employed in the works in my own hands, and seeing that the rule of not drinking spirits was adhered to, or dismissing those who infringed it.

"The morals of the pupils might in other respects have been injured; contractors might have introduced vicious characters if it suited their purpose. The persons at work were numerous, (sometimes they amounted to seventy) and they might have a great influence upon the morality of a place just rising in the woods. "On the score of economy, I considered this plan the best. Each department had its head man, and each head man collected the men under him every night but Saturday, and took a regular account of the work done, and, all the head men acting in concert, and referring to one general director, all the means within our reach were brought to bear upon any part where immediate help or materials were demanded. In this way we succeeded in our wish beyond all expectation.

"The contracting system would have thrown the profits of the work into the hands of a few, while the actual workmen would be little benefitted; whereas the fair equivalent of labour, distributed among the labouring class, enabled them to clothe their families comfortably, and to make them happy. God forbid that a work founded in His name, and dedicated to His glory, should be accomplished by getting great bargains out of workmen and oppressing the poor."

"Will not then an institution, thus in alliance with our most excellent characters, and with the best interests of our Church and country; an institution possessing, by reason of its peculiar nature and situation, more means of doing good on a great scale in this western country than all others put within your reach; an institution now struggling with difficulties arising solely from its own magnitude, and the peculiar crisis of its affairs--will it not thus situated command your sympathies?

"Kenyon College is the offspring of a public Providence-a child of the age of beneficence in which God hath cast our lot, and adopted into the family of the episcopal church in particular.

"All Christians in our country are at this time fighting a battle with the enemies of God and all goodness. These enemies join their forces, or separate, as seems best for their common purpose. If one is attacked, the rest think it for their common interest to come to his support; and this happens to a much greater extent than Christians have been till of late aware of. It is astonishing to see how all kinds of evil unite in withstanding the benevolent institutions of the present day. The secretary for foreign missions expressed this well at the late annual meeting. He there said-While the power of united effort has been proved by numerous and successful labours for the accomplishment of good, a most marvellous tendency has been observed in all sorts of evil to coalesce for the purpose of resisting truth in all its benign and holy influences. The most heterogeneous materials have been used by the god of this world in the erection of fortifications for the defence of his empire. The opposition to the Gospel is lively, strenuous, and malignant, and shews itself against every attempt to enlarge the limits of the Church, and to bring new motives and new hopes to the minds of the Pagans. Among all the remarkable sights which the men of this generation have beheld, there is nothing more wonderful than the ease and rapidity with which those forms of wickedness, which have been usually found discordant, have lately been associated together, and on terms of the greatest intimacy.

"Thus popery and infidelity, the most abject superstition and the most undisguised blasphemy, stand ready to aid each other, and to engage openly and violently in the contest with true religion. All the ingredients of malevolence and impiety range themselves against God and his Church, with a precision at least "No sooner does an enemy of the truth hoist his equal to that which is observed in chemical affinities. colours, than all other enemies of the truth, though

As the work proceeded, the means for carrying it on were still found inadequate to the object, and before he withdrew from the scene of labour, another earnest appeal was made to the public by this venerable man. I subjoin an extract from that document, and from the form of his resignation of the fiscal charge, and the reply of the trustees, passing over the painful circumstances in which it originated, from the persuasion that could he guide the pen that has taken delight in bringing his scattered materials into a whole, he would say, "Let all that has been personally pain-fighting under different banners, cheer him, as if by a ful fall into oblivion, and speak only of what concerns the work of God, in the building up of his church."* Extract from an Appeal, Published 1830.

"I feel a constraining sense of duty to plead once more, even at the hazard of being censured for importunity. The busy scenes on Gambier Hill, the work of faith, love, and piety, for the benefit of Kenyon College is in danger of being cut short, the little army of students, their country's hope, and the Church's joy, may sink for want of support. To whom, then, shall I speak? To them surely whom it concerns more than all others to hear-the Bishops of our Church.

"You are by constitution, confirmed by civil charter, the visitors of our college; when it errs, you are to bring it back to the path of duty, and, when it prospers, to you it looks for commendation; its honour is your honour, and its destiny is interwoven like web and woof with the venerable names of those whom I am now addressing.

We cannot but wish that our correspondent had furnished us with some account of the reasons which induced the bishop to resign his post. What they were we are ignorant. We doubt not that they were sufficient reasons; but justice is not done to the bishop's character if they are concealed.-ED.

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sympathy, not less quick and unerring, than a natural instinct. So prompt and discriminating a union of discordant elements, marks a new era in the moral administration of the world.'

"Effectually to resist this combined evil a strong effort on the part of all who wish well to the cause of truth is requisite, to carry religious instruction to every quarter of the land.

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"Our friends in England have done much for us our friends at home have done more; but the ColIts lege building is not one fourth completed. centre or connecting part to the letter H., which the original draft exhibits, is the only part erected; this is 110 feet by 44, and four stories high; the wings are yet to be built, and we have failed in our application to Congress. To this trial there will not, I trust, be added that of the disappointment of my hopes of support from the Christian family, for whose honour, and for the good of millions of souls, we hope that, wherever the peculiarities of the case shall be known, every man will find himself inclined to do something-and that soon-to keep us from sinking. Be the sum ever so trifling, what a blessing will be the aggregate! "I am too old, and by reason of my labours and re

cent bodily accidents, too infirm to make many more excursions from my own diocese to solicit funds in person; I therefore earnestly entreat every person who reads these lines, whether in America or Europe, or any other part of Christendom, to send me some token, however small, as a hearty God speed to our cause, some means whereby, before I die, I may be enabled to finish the work which God hath given me to begin."

These pleadings, no doubt, had great weight, and paved the way for the fresh appeals of the worthy successor, whom it pleased Providence to raise up, to carry on the work, after the resignation of its first father and most indefatigable founder, and who duly appreciated the uncommon exertions and devotedness of his predecessor.

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"GENTLEMEN,-I do hereby resign my agency and the management of the fiscal concerns of the institution, of which you have the controul, and beg leave to state:

"That the collections for the seminary under your direction were made under the repeated assurance, and on the express condition, that the institution to be founded thereby should be always conducted so as to promote morality and religion. This was done in

the case of all the contributions of which I was the humble instrument in England.

"Be it remembered, also, that when the plan was more matured, and donations began in this country, it was specified that the ground on which the college is built, to the extent of all the south section of 4,000 acres, should for ever remain in fee the property of the college, i. e., should never be sold or leased, so as to deprive the college authorities of the controul of every inch of ground within the above specified dimensions, so as to prevent a tenant from being turned away from the premises the moment his conduct becomes obnoxious to their censure. I have always considered, and do now desire the trustees expressly to understand, that the thousand dollars I gave last convention in a settlement with the trustees were given by me on the above conditions.

"My other donations were made upon these conditions, and also upon condition that the monopoly of trade and merchandize be maintained as a part of the college subsistence, and that morality and pure religion be the chief object in view."

The Reply of the Trustees. "The feelings, with which the board have received the resignation by the president of his agency, and the management of the fiscal concerns of this institution, they will not attempt to express. Fully persuaded that it is, under God, to his almost unaided exertions that the Theological Seminary and Kenyon College owes its existence; that amidst the most discouraging embarrassments and appalling difficulties, it has been brought to its present state of forwardness and utility under his exclusive superintendence, and by means obtained almost entirely by himself alone; that he has, at one and the same time, acted in the capacity

of bishop of the diocese, president of a Religions and Literary Institution, architect, mechanic, and farmer, as well as discharged the complex and multifarious duties of general agent, treasurer, and superintendent of a great and extensive establishment; that, in the performance of his various functions, he has uniformly acted with a single eye to the glory of God, the advancement of religion, and the prosperity of the institution committed to his charge; notice of his intended resignation cannot have been received without occasioning sensations of regret too powerful for utterance. This Board are sensible that the labours of

their revered president, for several years past, have been of such a nature, that if he had not been sustained by the favour of a gracious Providence, and influenced by the most philanthropic zeal for the welfare of the rising generation, exhausted nature must have sunk under them. They believe, however, that the situation is now such, that a part of the very arduous duties which have heretofore devolved upon him alone, may be safely entrusted to other hands, and when it is no longer necessary that his valuable life should be endangered, or his health impaired, through the multiplicity of his cares. But they deem it their duty expressly to state, that, reposing the utmost confidence in the untiring zeal and unimpeachable integrity of the president, and deeming it impossible to supply his place at the present moment without endangering the best interests of the institution, they trust that he will consent to retain the general superintendence of its concerns, until after election of a new board of trustees." the next annual convention of this diocese and the

The bishop, upon receiving this reply, added 2,000 dollars to his former donations, upon the same conditions that the first 2,000 were given, and consented to continue in office for one year. On the 10th of September, 1831, he resigned both the management of the Institution and the Episcopate, in which he was succeeded by the Right Rev. C. P. M'Ilvaine, whose serious, peaceful, affectionate, and devout spirit peculiarly adapted him for carrying on a work, begun with such a single eye to the glory of God, and having such important results in view. An overruling and wonderful Providence had other work in store for Bishop Chase, hidden from his own view at the time, but now brought to light, and exciting an increased interest in the extension of the Western Church.

(To be continued.)

THE ETERNITY OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. A Sermon,

BY THE REV. ROBERT GRANT, B. C. L. Vicar of Bradford Abbas, Dorset., and Fellow of Winchester College.

MARK ix. 48.

"Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

Although our blessed Lord was, generally speaking, meek and mild in all that he said, as well as in all that he did, yet were there times and occasions when his words were, if I may so say, withering words, enough to make the ears of his hearers to tingle. We have an instance of this in the concluding part of the chapter from which my text is taken. Our Lord was enforcing on his first and all his future disciples, the necssity of their being thoroughly sanctified in every part; that "the whole body of sin might be destroyed," and so become "a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared for every good work." To this end he makes use of the following language: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having

two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out; it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (43– 48). As if he had said, If any part of our bodies be maimed or diseased, the hand, or the foot, or the eye, it is better to part with the member that is injured, which is not only of no further use, but which would probably injure the others. The best way, however painful for the time, is to have it cut off, and so get well rid of it. In like manner, in a spiritual sense, whatever is offensive to God, and injurious to the soul, though it be as dear to us as a right hand, or foot, or eye, must be parted with, if we would enter into heaven. No half-measures will do, because no halfcharacters will be admitted there. Just as prudent tillers and gardeners of the ground, do with their fields and gardens, viz., pluck up by the roots the weeds and other things that offend; so in the culture of the soul, every root of bitterness is to be destroyed, every sinful habit and rebellious passion is to be cut off. "It is better," our Lord says, "for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." This dreadful description of the portion that awaits the lost soul, you will observe, is repeated three times. And surely the words of themselves, if they had not been so solemnly repeated, are enough to make our ears tingle, lest they may be fulfilled in us! They contain this two-fold lesson, 1st, The extremity, or severity of the punishment which the condemned sinner will have to endure; 2nd, The eternity of such punish

ment.

To these two points I purpose, in dependence upon the divine blessing, to direct your

attention.

I. First, as to the extremity or severity of the punishment which will be the portion of the lost soul in hell. This is set forth under two images, viz., of a worm, and of fire.

It requires no common discernment to distinguish those passages in the bible which are, or are not, to be understood in a literal or figurative sense. It is a safe rule laid down by one, whose opinion is entitled to the highest respect both for his piety and learning, "where a literal interpretation will stand, the farthest from the letter is always the worst." For instance, with regard to the punishment of the wicked, the description of * Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity, book v. chap. 9.

it given by our Lord in the passage under consideration, is, I apprehend, to be understood both figuratively and literally. So much is written in the bible about the "lake of fire," and the "bottomless pit," and the "smoke of their torment," that we dare not explain these passages away, but gather from them that hell is a place as well as a state of the most inconceivable torment. At the same time, we are not to conceive that the punishment of a lost soul will consist only, or entirely, in mere bodily suffering. The soul, or spiritual and immaterial part of us can never cease to exist, for it is not composed of perishable matter; it will therefore, in its own way, and according to its capacity of suffering, suffer far more severely than the fleshly part of us; and the suffering will, it may be conceived, consist principally in unavailing and unceasing self-reproach. This is set forth in our text under the first image, viz., that of a worm, "where their worm dieth not." It is a peculiar property of this class of reptile, to gnaw, and wear away by slow corrosion, any perishable substance, especially a dead body. And no doubt our Lord had in his recollection that passage in Isaiah (lxvi. 24), where the very same words are used, in connection too with that object, viz, a dead body, on which this peculiar property in a worm is exercised. "And they shall go forth and look carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched." Under this image then is clearly represented the unquiet and ever-tormenting conscience of the lost soul in hell.

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There is a foretaste, slight indeed, but still sufficient to give us some idea of this kind of suffering, even in this life, and in reference to matters connected solely with this life. We must all have felt it more or less, and at one time or another. Even where there are no real grounds for accusing and reproaching oneself, the suffering at times is very great; but where there are real grounds for it, the gnawings of an accusing conscience are most painful. Take the case of a person who has brought himself or his family into any trouble by any misconduct on his part. He may not suffer the slightest pain in his body; but his very thoughts are agony. It may not be that his soul is disquieted within him from a sense of his sin, from having offended his God; that is another matter: that may not perhaps give him a moment's thought, much less concern. He merely regards and cares for the present consequences of his misconduct. And how bitterly does he accuse and upbraid himself! "Fool that I was," may we not suppose him to say, "Fool that I was, for doing

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