the bond which links us together in the Communion of Saints. GOD forgive us if ever those thus kneeling at the same altar should mar their love and unity by bitterness and party spirit! We must be fully persuaded in our own minds, and I, for one, would never plead for the rounding off of the square corners of truth lest anybody should be hurt by them; but that is no reason why truth should be defaced by the uncomely accretions of uncharitableness and exaggeration. There is such a thing as "speaking the truth in love"; and, depend upon it, no other way of speaking it is half so forcible. But whether it be with those of our own communion, or whether it be with those separated from us in doctrine, discipline, or worship, still it is surely by valuing most, and contemplating most, the points on which we agree, which are sure to be the most important ones, that we shall best strengthen our sense of the bond of secret and spiritual unity by which we are held fast to CHRIST and to one another. I think it sometimes helps one to realise this blessed truth of the Communion of Saints to remember that there are many ducts and channels of Divine life and grace, and that in the great Vine there may be branches in which the bark may be wounded or torn off, but in which the inner pores of faith, or love, or devotion, may still be healthy and open, so that the life of the branch, though marred by the broken unity of the bark, may still be capable of bringing forth much fruit to the glory of God.

Well, there are dangers before us. There is a coarse exultant infidelity rearing its head here and there. There are more subtle, and therefore more dangerous, forms of unbelief winding themselves

into all grades of society. There is the solid mass of impenetrable indifference, which is hardest of all to deal with. And we, who believe in a GOD of love and unity-we, who believe that GOD'S dear Son came and lived and died that He might gather together in one all things both in heaven and in earth-we often do not even long and pray to be one. Yet JESUS prayed that we might be one, as He and the FATHER are one. Oh! may the HOLY SPIRIT draw us nearer together in love and unity. May He "take away all hatred and prejudice and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord"; and may we so live and so love that the world may know that our religion is true, and that the day may once more come when men shall say, See how these Christians love one another!"

XIX.

66

DEATH.

DEATH is a mystery very full of awe, and yet very full of blessedness. We shall soon know it better; but meanwhile let us calmly gaze upon it; for assuredly the more we do so, the less of awe and the more of blessedness shall we see in it.

Even to the holiest, Death cannot lose all its awfulness. It must always be a very solemn thing to go forth alone into the unseen world. And if some little fear mingles with the thought, who will say God's saints can never fear? deep repentance, a bright faith, a glowing love, may be in the soul, and yet it may tremble at the great mystery of Death. So we will not

A

think that some fear is of necessity a sign of unfitness. Men of hardened hearts sometimes die without fear. Very true saints and penitents

sometimes tremble to the last.

We

But it is true that the more we know of Death the less we shall tremble. Nay, the fear is only a part of our poor human weakness; for why should we fear and tremble? Human weakness has always been afraid whensoever an Angel has appeared to man. "Fear not" is the Angel's salutation. So with the Angel of Death. tremble because it is the visit of a strange unearthly messenger. Yet, if we be CHRIST'S, we need not fear. The visit is to bring us "good tidings of great joy"; for it is to call us away from pain and weakness and sin and sorrow to perfect rest and cloudless peace. The messenger comes from our dear and loving LORD. He sends He bids us come home. He says, by His messenger, "To-day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."

for us.

O blessed Death! Is this thy terror, that thou callest the weary to rest, the troubled to peace, the wanderer to his home?

Does it seem lonely to die, because the unseen world seems to our ignorance so dim, and vast, and far, and strange? Nay; we are forgetting who will be there. The spirit will not sail forth in loneliness to search in the spirit-world for some familiar thing. True, it cannot take with it any companion from this world; but are there none whom it will meet in the world unseen? Nay; Paradise has more inhabitants than earth has. And there is a blessed company waiting to welcome the passing spirit on the other side of the veil. In a moment it will be with all that blessed

company. Oh, what sights and sounds will then burst upon us? For we cannot doubt that there is in the spirit-world something answering to sight and sound in this world. But whom shall we

meet there?

First of all, GOD, who has loved us, and adopted us as His children, and redeemed us, and forgiven us, and sanctified us-GoD will be there. He is everywhere, but there we shall have new revelations of His Presence and His Love. If this were all, we should not be alone on the eternal shore.

"Alone! No! GOD hath been there long beforeEternally hath waited on that shore

For us who were to come

To our eternal home;

And He hath taught His Angels to prepare

In what way we are to be welcomed there."

Then, too, JESUS, our dear LORD, will be there. He too will in some special and very blessed manner make His Presence known to the saints in the world of spirits; for He said to the dying thief, "To-day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." And His faithful Apostle speaks of his "desire to depart, and to be with CHRIST." Will not that be "far better" than to stay here, labouring and sinning and suffering?

"O Paradise! O Paradise!

'Tis weary waiting here;
I long to be where JESUS is,
To feel, to see Him near."

But are there none others to meet behind the veil? Oh! who has not at the least some one loved and loving spirit waiting there-waiting for a blissful reunion-waiting to welcome the

newly set free spirit to the joys of Paradise? Most of us have surely more than one such gone before us whom we hope to meet. Perhaps a godly father, who has died in faith; or a holy mother, who has taught us to pray, and won grace for us by her prayers; or a dear

This may be

brother or sister, who has sought varied as occasion may require. GOD early and found Him; or one even closer and dearer than brother or sister,—the sharer for a little space of all our griefs and joys; or a precious child, transplanted, still bright with morning dew, from this bleak earth to the sunny garden of the LORD; or the friend with whom we once took sweet counsel;—some of these are surely there waiting for us, ready to welcome us, ready to make us feel as though we had come home, instead of gone into a strange land.

And then there will be the good and holy men and women, of whom we have so often heard and read,-Abel, and Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Samuel, and David, and Elijah, and all the saints of old; and St. John the Baptist, and the blessed Mother of our LORD, and all the holy Apostles, and all the glorious Martyrs, and all the pious women, and all the mighty company of those who have lived and died in faith.

Yes; it will not be lonely to die; it will be to pass into a great and happy company,-to part from a little band of mourners, and to enter into the glorious ranks of the saints in Paradise.

Thou

Then welcome, Death! Welcome, solemn messenger of our dear and loving LORD! comest to call us away to joy and peace untold. Thou art but as the narrow stream which parts us from our promised land. Thou art but as the little golden gate which opens into Paradise.