and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" That is to die.

But, in order to that, there needs be "an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast,' a most earnest "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." It was not in the hour of martyrdom that Stephen first beheld the Lamb of God. The religion that is good for nothing in life, is good for nothing in death. The time will come, when we shall need a strong arm near, and a firm faith to grasp it. The sentimentalities of fading flowers, and falling leaves, and of moonlight musing, all the prettinesses of poetry, all natural amiabilities, and mere natura. charities, however cultivated, will avail nothing in the day when God shall require the soul-in the day when we stand at his bar. Faith alone will suffice, - an appropriating, justifying faith; an operative, vitalizing faith; a hearty, adoring faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who stands as Redeemer and Advocate at the right hand of God.

CHAPTER VI.

RECOGNITION OF FRIENDS.

I count the hope no day-dream of the mind,
No vision fair of transitory hue,

The souls of those, whom once on earth we knew,
And loved, and walked with in communion kind,
Departed hence, again in heaven to find.

Such hope to nature's sympathies is true;
And such, we deem, the holy word to view
Unfolds; an antidote for grief designed,
One drop from comfort's well. 'Tis true we read
The Book of life; but if we read amiss,
By God prepared, fresh treasures shall succeed
To kinsmen, fellows, friends, a vast abyss
Of joy; nor aught the longing spirit need
To fill its measure of enormous bliss.

BISHOP MANT

MANY seem to conceive of heaven mainly as a rendezvous for friends; that, immediately upon entering its mansions, the soul is engrossed in recognizing and being recognized by earthy associates; that future bliss consists almost entirely in the renewal of domestic attachments, and in the mere luxuries of amiable intercourse. Not a few, entertain more scriptural views, still betray an ex

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cessive curiosity on this point; impatient to know what can be fully known only in another world. Revelation was not given, nor did Christ come to gratify inquisitiveness, but to withdraw men from sin, and make them monuments of his grace in glory. Yet, a proper discussion of the subject, if it remove needless doubts, and render anticipation more definite, will not be in vain: it will leave the mind free from vain inquiries, and prepared to relish more important themes.

Here we must look for guidance to the lively oracles. But, in doing so, it will not be amiss first to glance at the working of certain minds on this subject, when not enlightened by the word of God. The philosopher at Athens, with the fatal hemlock in his hand, discourses thus: "If the common expression be true, that death conveys us to those regions which are inhabited by the spirits of departed men, will it not be unspeakably happy to escape from the hands of mere nominal judges, and appear before those who truly deserve the name, such as Minos and Rhadamanthus, and to associate with all who have maintained the cause of truth and rectitude? Is it possible for Is it possible for you to look upon this as an unimportant journey? Is it nothing to converse with Orpheus, and Homer, and Hesiod?

Believe me, I would cheerfully suffer many a death on condition of realizing such a privilege. With what pleasure could I leave the world, to hold communion with Palamedes, Ajax, and others, who like me have had an unjust sentence pronounced against them! Then would I explore the wisdom of Ulysses, Lysippus, and that illustrious chief who led out the vast army of the Greeks against the city of Troy. Nor should I be condemned to death for indulging, as I have done here, in free inquiry."

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Cicero puts language like this into the mouth of Cato: For my own part, I feel myself transported with the most ardent impatience to join the society of my two departed friends, your illustrious fathers, whose characters I greatly respected, and whose persons I sincerely loved. Nor is this, my earnest desire, confined to those excellent persons alone, with whom I was formerly connected: I ardently wish to visit also those celebrated worthies, of whose honorable conduct I have heard and read much, or whose virtues I have myself commemorated in some of my writings. To this glorious assembly I am speedily advancing; and I would not be turned back in my journey, even on the assured condition that my youth, like that of Pelias, should be again restored.

O, glorious day! when I shall retire from this low and sordid scene, to assemble with the divine congregation of departed spirits; and not with those only whom I have just now mentioned, but with my dear Cato, that best of sons and most valuable of men! It was my sad fate to lay his body on the funeral pile, when by the course of nature I had reason to hope he would have performed the same last office to mine. His soul, however, did not desert me, but still looked back on me in its flight to those happy mansions, to which he was assured I should one day follow him. If I seemed to bear his death with fortitude, it was by no means that I did not most sensibly feel the loss I had sustained it was because I supported myself with the consoling reflection that we could not long be separated."

Thus was it that anciently minds of a high order and finished culture-reflecting and philosophic minds indulged in delightful anticipations. We open classic poets, and find similar ideas frequently recurring. It moves us well-nigh to tears, as we contemplate their delineation of shadowy scenes in the future, where recognition takes place indeed, but the dim, vanishing forms thwart all attempts at satisfactory intercourse.

Turning to ruder nations, and less cultivated