of spiritual element, that is meagre, and imperceptible, and wholly
uninviting to the eye of mortals here below; where every vestige of
materialism is done away with, and nothing left but certain unearthly
scenes that have no power of allurement, and certain unearthly
ecstasies with which it is impossible to sympathise," The
sensitiveness with which many thus shrink from almost alluding to the
physical element of enjoyment in heaven, because it is unworthy to be
compared with the spiritual glory that is to be revealed, arises, no
doubt, from the half suspicion that there is some necessary connexion
between materialism and sin; thus forgetting that the body, and the
outward world which ministers to it, are God's handiworks as well as
the soul; and that it is He himself who has adjusted their relative
workings. And surely it is quite unnecessary to remind you at any
length how exquisitely God has fashioned our physical frame, as the
medium of communication with the outer material world. The nostrils
inhale the sweet perfumes which scent the breezy air, and rise as
incense from the flowers that cover the earth. By the eye the soul
perceives the glories of the summer sky, and searches for its midnight
stars; recognises splendour of colour, and beauty of form; gazes
on the outspread landscape of fertile field and hoary mountain, of
stream, forest, ocean, and island; and contemplates that world of
profounder interest still, the human countenance, of beloved parent,
child, or friend, strong with the power of elevated thought, sublime
with the grandeur of moral character, or bright with all the sunshine
of winning emotion. The ear, too, is the magic instrument which
conveys to the soul all the varied harmonies of sound, from the choirs
of spring, and the other innumerable minstrelsies of nature, as well
as from the higher art of man, that soothe, elevate, and solemnise. It
is true, indeed, that there are grosser appetites of the body which
many pervert so as to enslave the spirit; thus abusing by gluttony,