QassJ<NSZJS. 
 
 Book 
 
 S2_3l 
 
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 3, Compmb of JTuneral CXbbxtsste. 
 
 AN AID FOR PASTORS. 
 
 A BOOK OF COMFORT FOR THE BEREAVED. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 J.^ SANDERSON, D.D., 
 
 author of 
 'Jesus on the Holy Mount,' 1 and Editor of "The Pulpit Treasury. 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 JOHN HALL, D.D., 
 
 Pastor Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 E. B. TREAT, 771 BROADWAY. 
 
 1839. 
 [Copyright. Price $1.75.] 
 
& 
 
 4^ 
 
 By Transfer 
 
 P.O. Dept. 
 Mar 23 06 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 P 
 
 <* 
 
 John Hall, D.D. 
 
 Pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York. 
 
 HPHERE are few more delicate tasks falling to the lot 
 of a minister than the conducting of what are 
 known as funeral services, It does not meet the diffi- 
 culty to have provided for him a form employed over 
 all, without exception — the best proof of which is that 
 where such a form is in fixed use, occasions are con- 
 stantly arising in which the clergyman is constrained, by 
 his own sense of the fitness of things, to add words of 
 his own. He thus runs the risk of making invidious 
 distinctions, while the uniform employment of the same 
 language, if it be fit in the case of a decided Christian, is 
 stronger than the Christian consciousness recognizes as 
 fit where no profession of faith has been made. 
 
 Among the ways* in which the minister can prepare 
 himself to discharge this duty is by the prayerful use of 
 such helps as are within reach. Foremost among these 
 is the word of God, next in place will be the suggestive 
 examples set by men, in whom, notwithstanding the 
 
 [vj 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 imperfections of our common nature, good sense and 
 knowledge of human nature have been elevated and con- 
 secrated by grace. 
 
 There are many ministers, who, like the present 
 writer, have been censured for statements made over the 
 dead when they carefully guarded their testimony and 
 avowedly confined it to the record of their own inter- 
 course with the deceased ; and some, who have had 
 " hearers'' take their departure because enough was not 
 said in eulogy of their buried kindred. Such things 
 must probably be expected in the complications of a 
 society, partly Christianized, and largely influenced by 
 conventional usage. A true minister can only try to 
 maintain in himself a conscience void of offence, and 
 at the same time avoid the giving of just offence to 
 others. 
 
 The Kev. Dr. Sanderson, in undertaking to aid young 
 ministers, has two elements of encouragement in the at- 
 tempt. The first is that he has been himself an active 
 pastor, and understands the work to be done. The 
 second is, that not wholly relying on his own judgment, 
 he avails himself of the labors of others, who have 
 secured the confidence of the Christian community. 
 
 In commending his undertaking I may be permitted 
 to reproduce w 7 ords long ago intended to warn against 
 excessive and indiscriminate praise, and which the 
 observation of later years has not tended to weaken, but 
 rather confirmed. 
 
 Suppose Herod Antipas had died six months before 
 John the Baptist was beheaded. Imagine a court- 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 preacher of the day making the funeral address. There 
 is no evidence that the Jews had at that time any eervice- 
 book or anything to read in the synagogue except the Old 
 Testament. So he must make his funeral service accord- 
 ing to the circumstances. He would, of course, glance 
 lightly at that infelicity of the royal departed which com- 
 plicated his domestic life by making him the husband of 
 his niece, who was also his living brother's wife, and in 
 the room of his living wife. " There are, however, hap- 
 pily other and brighter spots on which the memory 
 would love to linger. He had shown the deepest interest 
 in that great revival preacher who had, as all knew, 
 stirred the hearts of thousands. He had heard him of- 
 ten, and been deeply impressed. He had even opened 
 his house to him. He gave the influence of his great 
 name and authority to him, so that the courtiers, as 
 they all knew, had been also attracted and interested. 
 Not only that, but the distinguished dead had proved the 
 depth and sincerity of his convictions by doing many 
 things recommended by the eloquent preacher. How 
 can we, in view of all these evidences of pleasure and 
 profit from such ministrations, doubt that this child of 
 an Idumean family has gone to be with Abraham, Isaac 
 and Jacob ? " Unfortunately, however, Herod lived too 
 long, and his having v a place in history is mainly due to 
 the circumstance that he ordered the beheading of this 
 "interesting" and eloquent preacher without the 
 formality of a trial, and from being a patronizing and 
 interested hearer becomes the Baptist's murderer. 
 
 It is one thing to like a stirring sermon now 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and then, the reality of which is a pleasant variety 
 among the shallow and painted frauds of the theatre, 
 and opera, and even fashionable social life, and it is 
 quite another to believe with the heart what is said. It 
 is one thing to be on good terms with the prominent men 
 in the church, and so conciliate their followers, now and 
 then to give a subscription, perhaps even forego a din- 
 ner-party to preside at a benevolent meeting; and it is 
 quite another to submit one's self to God in faith and 
 obedience. It is one thing to respect devoted men, and 
 even publicly compliment them as sincere and so forth, 
 and quite another to put lusts and passions under the 
 control of the truth they teach, and to deny ungodliness 
 and worldly lusts. But to rich and poor, high and 
 low, this is the divine requirement; and we must be 
 sparing of our eulogies over men, as Christians, however 
 prominent or public-spirited as citizens, if they have 
 never given evidence of subjection to the Father of 
 spirits. Happily we are not the judge of men's standing 
 before God; but we may make ourselves such, and rest 
 favorable judgments on very slender evidences. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 [See Appendix for Index of Authors and Texts.] 
 
 CHILDHOOD : 
 
 PAGE 
 
 God's Love of Little Children Rev. T. Gasquoine 13 
 
 A Mother's Sorrow, Rev. A. 8. Robertson 14 
 
 Some Reasons for Removal . Rev. Varnum Lincoln 15 
 
 The Child Glorified J. Sanderson, D.D 17 
 
 The Missing One Rev. G. Orme 18 
 
 An Infant's Death no Real 
 
 Loss J. Sanderson, D.D 20 
 
 Early Piety Rev. J. W. McCree 21 
 
 The Lessons of God's Rod. . .Rev. G. D. Macgregor 23 
 
 The Funeral Train at Nain. .Rev. Gebler 24 
 
 Unfulfilled Hopes Wm. Graham, D.D 26 
 
 The Child in Glory Rev. Thornley Smith , . 28 
 
 Death on a Summer day Rev. W. Forsyth 31 
 
 The Shunamite and Her Son John Bruce, D.D 33 
 
 The Child and the Father's 
 
 Cup Then. L. Cuyler, D.D 35 
 
 Early Death J. R. Macduff, D.D 37 
 
 The Teaching of a Child's 
 
 Death Wm. M. Taylor, D.D., LL.D... 40 
 
 A Child's True Estimate Anonymous 43 
 
 Home Bereavements Henry Ward Beecher 47 
 
 Infant Salvation Rev. Chas. A. Evans 50 
 
 Piety in Childhood } Rev. Robert Wye Betts 57 
 
 YOUTH : 
 
 Sunset at Noon Rev. W. Rodwett. 72 
 
 The Sleeping Damsel Rev. F. Wagstaff. 74 
 
 One Note in a Burial Hymn. Rev. Chas. Jerdan 76 
 
 Life for the Dead James Hamilton, D.D 78 
 
 [9] 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Amusive Waste of Life, Wm. M. Paxton, D.D 80 
 
 Divine Consolation J. Oswald Dykes, D.D 82 
 
 The Mourner's Best News. . .Rev. Wm. Morley Punshon 85 
 
 The Believer in Life, Death 
 
 aud Eternity Rev. Joseph Haslegrave 89 
 
 Dying in the Lord Rev. W, D. Horwood £7 
 
 The Faded Flower Rev. James Hughes 101 
 
 Immortal Life Rev. James Smith 115 
 
 The Christian's Desire Rev. Francis Ellaby, B.A 125 
 
 Piety in Humble Life Rev. A. E. Lord 130 
 
 The Dying Christian Rev. R. Gibson 142 
 
 The Funeral at the Gate of 
 
 Nain Rev. W. D. Horwood 154 
 
 The Death of the Believer in 
 
 Jesus Rev. James Henry Gwither 160 
 
 What Will Ye Do in the End? Thomas Binney, D.D 168 
 
 MIDDLE AGE: 
 
 The Comforting Announce- 
 ment William Ormiston, D.D., LL.D. 188 
 
 Awaiting Coronation William Sprague, D.D 190 
 
 Passing Through the Valley, J. R. Macduff, D.D 191 
 
 Faithfulness and its Reward, Charles Hodge. D.D 193 
 
 Crossing tbe River T. De Witt Talmage, D.D 195 
 
 The Solemnity of Death C F. Deems, D.D 196 
 
 The Compensations of Life 
 
 and Death Dean A. P. Stanley, D.D 198 
 
 The Rendezvous of Humani- 
 ty John Cumming, D.D 200 
 
 Gratitude for Triumph Rev. Wm. Jay 202 
 
 Deliverance from the Grave, Canon F. W. Farrar 204 
 
 The Match of the Great De- 
 stroyer Rev. Archibald G. Brown 206 
 
 No Victory without a Battle. Morgan Dix, D.D 208 
 
 The Place of Sacred Deposit . Rev. Canon H. Melvill 210 
 
 Christ's Desire to have His 
 
 People with Him J. McElroy, D.D 212 
 
 A Precious Death J. H Howard, D.D 215 
 
 Christian Consolations Rev. Daniel Moore 217 
 
 Jacob's Dying Words Andrew R. Bonar, D.D 220 
 
 The Final Battle W. R. Williams, D.D., LL.D. . 222 
 
 Deliverance from the Fear of 
 
 Death Rev. Daniel Moore 225 
 
 The Believer's Farewell 
 
 Words John Hall, D.D 227 
 
 The Death Day Better than 
 
 the Birthday Rev. C. H Spurgeon 230 
 
 A Royal Alarmist Rev. B. W. Williams 233 
 
 The Happy Mourners Alexander Dickson, D.D 238 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Humanity's Emblem William Landels, D.D 236 
 
 Consummate Happiness Andrew R. Bonar, D.D 241 
 
 Preparation for the Passage, Alexander Dickson, D.D 245 
 
 The Pilgrim's Faith and End Rev. Daniel Moore .. . . 249 
 
 OLD AGE : 
 
 Faithfulness Crowned Roswell D. Hitchcock, D.D 253 
 
 The Heavenly Hope Rev. James Parsons 254 
 
 The Glad Announcement. . . Gardiner Spring, D.D 256 
 
 The Mortal and the Immor- 
 tal Companion Rev. H. F. Burder 257 
 
 The Pivotal Fact Thomas Armitage, D.D 258 
 
 The Death of a Great Man. .Rev. Thomas J. Cole 260 
 
 The Grave's Conqueror Thomas Guthrie, D.D 262 
 
 Thoughts on the last Battle, Rev. C. H. Spurgeon 263 
 
 The Ripe Christian Dying. . . Rev. C. H. Spurgeon 265 
 
 The Inevitable Battle Rev. U. R. Thomas 266 
 
 The Vital Question John Todd, D.D 268 
 
 Resurrection Hope Rev. Canon H. Melvill. 270 
 
 The Future Life Henry 31. Scudder, D.D 271 
 
 The Unavoidable Journey. . .Rev. John H Macdonna 274 
 
 The Aged Believer in Death, David Thomas, D.D 276 
 
 Death and the Resurrection, Rev. Canon Hugh Stowell 278 
 
 The Warfare and Victory. . . Rev. George Clayton 280 
 
 Hope for the Sleeping Dead, William Landels, D.D 283 
 
 The Death of the Old Rev. Thomas Binney 286 
 
 The Perishing and the En- 
 during Rev. Canon H. P. Liddon, D.D. 290 
 
 Asleep in Jesus Tlieodore L. Cuyler, D.D 294 
 
 The Gates of Death David Thomas, D.D 298 
 
 Job's Testimony about Him- 
 self as a Believer Thomas Guthrie, D.D 302 
 
 The Day of the Christian's 
 
 Death Rev. Gewge S. Ingram 307 
 
 Heaven Warning Earth T Raffles, D.D 313 
 
 The Believer's Confidence. . .Rev. Edward Parsons 318 
 
 Prayer for Wisdom in View 
 
 of Death Rev. T. Raffles, D.D 323 
 
 Holy Ardor after a Heavenly 
 
 State \ . . .Rev. Charles Hyatt 331 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS : 
 
 A Philanthropist. . . W. J. R. Taylor, D.D 341 
 
 A Theological Professor Rev. George P. Fisher 349 
 
 A Lawyer, Editor and College 
 
 Professor Francis Wayland, D.D 356 
 
 A Physician (Death by Heart 
 
 Disease) Rev. Wesley D. Davis 365 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 Our Trials John Newton P 373 
 
 A College President, Wilbur 
 
 Fisk. D.D.. Nathan Bangs, B B 374 
 
 A Bishop, Rev. E. S. Janes, 
 
 D.D., LL.D Bev. C. H. Fowler, B.B. , LL.B. . . 381 
 
 A Yt ise and Faithful Ruler 
 
 (Assassinated) President 
 
 Lincoln John McClintock, B.B., LL. B. 386 
 
 A Wife, Mary C. Foss, wife 
 
 of Bishop Foss Albert 8. Bunt, B.B 393 
 
 A Fireman (killed at a fire), 
 
 B. W. Braidwood John Cumming, B.B 400 
 
 A Fisherman (drowned at sesi)Bev. Albert Bibby 406 
 
 A Mere Professor Bev. Wm. 8. Plumer,B.B. , LL. B, 410 
 
 The Sceptic Bev. Jas. Murray, 419 
 
 The Blasphemer Bev. Hugh Hughes, B.B 424 
 
 The Wicked Man's Life Bev. C. H. Spurgeon 430 
 
 A Good Minister, W. T. 
 
 Brantly Bev. Geo. E. Bees 437 
 
 A Statesman, Sir Robert 
 
 Peel Bev. Alexander Fletcher, B.B... 442 
 
 A Calamity (ship burned at 
 
 sea) Bev. Cattley, M.A 448 
 
 The Mysteries of Providence 
 
 (Coal mine disaster) Bev. T. Binney 453 
 
 Sudden Death, Mr. and Mrs. 
 P. P. Bliss (Railway acci- 
 dent) B. L. Moody 461 
 
 President of the United States 
 
 (assassinated), J.A.Garfield, Wm. M. Taylor, B.B 472 
 
 MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 1 On the death of two members of the Evangelical Alliance. 481 
 
 2 On the death of a Bishop and College President 482 
 
 3 On the death of a College Professor 483 
 
 4 On the death of a Pastor 484 
 
 5 On the death of a Member of the School Board 485 
 
 6 On the death of an Editor 485 
 
 7 On the death of a Publisher 486 
 
 8 On the death of a Phvsician 487 
 
 9 On the death of a President of a Board of Trustees 488 
 
 10 On the death of a Knight Templar 488 
 
 11 On the death of a Past-Master of a Lodge 489 
 
 12 On the death of a Freemason 489 
 
 13 On the death of a Military Officer 490 
 
 14 On the death of a Director of an Insurance Company 491 
 
 15 On the death of a Fireman 492 
 
 16 On the death of a Director of an Athenaeum 492 
 
 17 On the death of a Member of a Literary Society 493 
 
 18 On the death of a Student 493 
 
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 CHILDHOOD 
 
 GOD'S LOVE OF LITTLE CHILDREN. 
 
 REV. T. GASQUOINE. 
 
 It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these 
 little ones should perish. — Matt, xviii: 14. 
 
 f~^\ OD loves little children with tenderest, deepest, 
 ^^ sweetest love. 
 
 I. It is a love of utter unselfishness. It springs out 
 of the eternal fountains of loving-kindness. They can- 
 nob know him, trust him or love him in return. 
 
 II. God's love of little children is the love of delight 
 in them. His delights are with the very youngest of 
 them. He rejoices in the life of little children. 
 
 III. His love is a love of compassion towards them. 
 If all the promises show his care for the weak and the 
 helpless and those exposed to danger, that care must be 
 as sensitively towards little children. When Christ was 
 upon the earth, his ways with children were full of 
 
 [13] 
 
14 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 tenderness. When his disciples were disputing who 
 should be greatest, he took a child and set him in the 
 midst. When his disciples would drive away mothers 
 with their children, he took them in His arms and 
 blessed them. The very providences of God which be- 
 gird the lives of children show his tender compassion 
 toward them. 
 
 IV. God's love is the love of trust in the almost infi- 
 nite capacities of children. That slightly knowing, 
 fully trusting, fitfully loving little child is to become 
 the intelligent companion of angels and adoring sprits 
 before the throne of God. 
 
 Surely it is "not the will of your father, &c." 
 
 A MOTHER'S SORROW. 
 
 REV. A. S. ROBERTSON. 
 Rachel weeping for her children. — Matt, ii: 18. 
 HPHIS mother had been dead for centuries ; but 
 such a dreadful slaughter had been made of the 
 children around her grave that she is represented as 
 moved to tears in her tomb and is comfortless in her sor- 
 row. Sin always causes tears, but the consideration of 
 what Christ has done should always bring comfort. 
 "They died for Adam sinned. They live for Jesus 
 died." Consiper : 
 
 I. The immediate cause of their being cut off— Christ's 
 Incarnation — Matt, ii : 1-16. 
 
 II. The only cause of their salvation — Redemption by 
 Christ. Rev. xiv : 4. 
 
 III. They were first fruits to God and the lamb— not 
 John Baptist, nor Stephen— but the babes of Bethle- 
 hem. Rev. xiv : 4. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 15 
 
 IV. These are now lambs of the upper fold. In their 
 
 mouth was no guilt. They were only babes two years and 
 under — God's celestial family is increased by Herod's 
 self-defeating massacre. If they were counted worthy to 
 suffer shame for Jesus' name, they surely inherit the 
 first fruit of the promised blessedness. 
 
 V. We should keep these babes in remembrance. If 
 the woman who poured ointment on Jesus' head has 
 her memorial, surely babes whose lives were first sac- 
 rificed for Christ should not be forgotten. 
 
 VI. How encouraging the thought, that none shall 
 be forgotten, or be unrewarded by God who suffer for 
 Christ, and how anxious should we be, to become as little 
 children. 
 
 VII. How comforting to the bereaved are these truths. 
 Weeping parents should rejoice that their children are 
 without fault before the throne. In the innermost 
 ranks. "'Now, are they holy." 
 
 VIII. Regard them as " first fruits" of a glorious 
 harvest. He who took children in his arms on earth, 
 takes them still into his heavenly keeping for eternal 
 blessing — now jewels on his bosom. This is the comfort. 
 
 IX. He is willing to take every penitent and present 
 him * * faultless, " where all shall be one family in Him. 
 There shall be no sorrow there. 
 
 SOME REASONS FOR REMOVAL. 
 
 REV. VAR^UM LI^COHN - . 
 
 1 shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. — 2 Sam. xii: 23. 
 
 TT/'HY take away the little one in the freshness of 
 
 * early dawn, leaving the home desolate, the heart 
 
 sad, and the sweetest hopes forever withered ? We may 
 
 not be able fully to answer \ but there are considerations 
 
16 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 which mitigate in some measure the overshadowing 
 gloom. 
 
 I. The length of a human life is not always the 
 measure of its usefulness. A long life is not necessarily 
 a useful one. It may be like some long rivers whose 
 waters are slow and sluggish, whose banks are low and 
 marshy, where the crocodile and the serpent find a home. 
 Other lives are short and diminutive like some mountain 
 streams, and yet what a work they accomplish — what de- 
 light a child brings to a home, what source of pleasure 
 to parents and others. It gladdens, refines, elevates. 
 
 II. A child's work on earth is not finished when it 
 dies. Its buried body draws the thoughts often to the 
 grave. Its soul gone to eternity attracts thoughts and 
 affections thitherward. 
 
 It opens the fountains of sympathy in the heart to- 
 wards other bereaved ones. Its death becomes a teacher 
 of spiritual things and a magnet towards a saving power. 
 
 III. It is removed from the many troubles and temp- 
 tations incident to this mortal life. Disease, accident, 
 misfortune, poverty, neglect, what sources too of 
 moral evil, threatening to deluge the young mind and 
 heart. These evils are more fearful than death. It is 
 now safe from all moral harm. 
 
 IV. God has called it to a higher and nobler mission 
 than any on earth. Who can tell what the spirit of a 
 beloved child may be given by God to do in heaven ? 
 Something better, at any rate, than he could have per- 
 formed here. 
 
 V. The assurance that godly parents shall be reunited 
 to their children. " 1 shall go," etc. This is clearly taught. 
 God is able thus to comfort us in all tribulations. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 
 
 17 
 
 THE CHILD GLORIFIED. 
 
 J. SANDERSON", D.D. 
 And her child was caught up to God and unto Ms throne. — He v. 
 
 xii: 5. 
 
 TXTHATEVER the primary meaning of these words 
 * ' may be, they are especially true when spoken of 
 one who has died in infancy. All such are not lost but 
 gone before. They are the "lambs of the upper fold," 
 whom the good Shepherd has gathered from the hills 
 and vales of a land smitten by sin and swept by wintry 
 blasts. 
 
 I. The departure of each of these is arranged and 
 superintended by God. He has a favor towards them, 
 and therefore watches over them, provides for their 
 welfare, removes them when he will and sends the angel 
 of death to call the spirit home. 
 
 II. They are " caught up " in mercy to them. — Their 
 natures are sinful and might develope into awful iniqui- 
 ty. Their temptations might be many and strong, and 
 to these they might yield. Their disappointments 
 might crush their hopes and shade all their prospects. 
 Their sorrows might come like "the clouds returning 
 after the rain." But God has mercifully spared them 
 all these. 
 
 III. Children are " caught up " in mercy and love to 
 parents. Beautiful and cherub-like as infants are, 
 who can say to what a child may grow ? Cain and 
 Absalom and Judas were not less attractive and lovable 
 than other children are, but what a grief they must have 
 been in after years to their parents. The possibilities of 
 an evil nature are fearful to contemplate. 
 
 IV. Children are "caught up" to have God's place 
 vacated in the parent's heart. This place is often filled 
 by a child or some earthly object. Children are often 
 
18 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 idolized. It is right to love,but not to idolize — God will 
 not permit it. He is a jealous God and must have his 
 own place in the heart. 
 
 V. Children are " caught up" to be forever at home 
 with God. Here they are away from the Home of the 
 Soul — from their Father's house. God wants them with 
 Himself — to render them unspeakably happy and have a 
 seat with His only-begotten Son on the throne. — " To 
 God and to Ms throne." 
 
 Lessons. 
 
 Think not of your child as dead, but living — not as a 
 withered bud but as a blooming flower in Paradise. 
 
 Be submissive to the Divine will. God gave. He 
 took. He will restore. " He doeth all things well." 
 
 Anticipate reunion in heaven. 
 
 God has a dwelling-place for all his children. 
 
 Look to him for comfort. His promise is "I will be 
 with thee in trouble." 
 
 THE MISSING ONE. 
 
 KEV. G. ORME. 
 And one is not. — Gen. xlii : 13. 
 r PHESE words occur in the story of a family life as it 
 is told by some member of the family to another 
 who has long been an absentee. It might be repeated in 
 many a home, and is true of many a family. " One is 
 not." It may be the father or mother, brother or sister, 
 or the dear little one. Death has divided them. The 
 face will be seen no more. This renders the absence so 
 saddening. 
 
 I. How frail and short-lived are all our social pos- 
 sessions and delights. The families who may meet at 
 any time in the fullest numbers and in the greatest 
 gladness may do so no more. One, probably the least 
 
CHILDHOOD. 19 
 
 likely, may be missing. How dearly we should prize 
 our domestic relations, devoutly and gratefully cultivate 
 them, and yet not rest in them, nor let them keep us 
 back from God. How affectionate should be our de- 
 meanor, how pure and sweet and beautiful and happy 
 our lives. 
 
 II. The member who " is not," may have his present 
 state far in advance of his former one. It was so with 
 Joseph, to whom allusion is here made as the missing 
 one. And although our missing one may not be per- 
 mitted to hold intercourse with us or minister to us, yet 
 in his exalted position we may not doubt that he still 
 remembers, is in sympathy with us, and may hear 
 through our elder Brother of us, or through those blessed 
 ones who minister to those who are heirs of salvation. 
 
 III. The prospect of a full and an abiding reunion. 
 Joseph had only been taken from them for a time, to 
 minister to them in their time of necessity, to prepare 
 the way for reunion, and to receive them to himself in 
 happier circumstances. So our departed one may not 
 be " lost, but gone before," may be the means of drawing 
 the affections of those left behind heavenward and thus 
 preparing them, through Christ, to leave this the famine 
 stricken world, for the land of eternal plenty, and to 
 welcome them there to everlasting habitations. As new 
 arrivals take place, how the joy of each and of all in- 
 creases. How complete the joy when a whole family is 
 found there. 
 
 But if any be absent, and as we count up the num- 
 ber we have to say, " And one is not," what a drawback 
 to the joy of all. 
 
 Let us seek so to live, that we shall appear " a whole 
 family in heaven." 
 
20 MEMORIAL JR1BUTE8. 
 
 AN INFANT'S DEATH NO KEAL LOSS. 
 
 J. SANDERSON, D.D. 
 To what purpose is this waste ? — Matt, xxvi : 8. 
 n^HE unfeeling question of those who had no sym- 
 pathy with Christ or her who had poured her 
 precious ointment on His head and feet. A similar 
 question may often start to the lip of those who see their 
 child laid in the coffin on whom they have lavished the 
 wealth of their affection and care. Jesus answers the 
 question of both parties, by assuring, there is no waste, 
 if their poured-out ointment is expressive of their de- 
 votion and affection for him. Although we cannot see 
 all the designs of God in any of his dispensations we can 
 see enough to satisfy us that " God does all things well." 
 There is no waste in a child's death, so far as God's pur- 
 pose is concerned, for : 
 
 I. The child has lived to be a demonstration of God's 
 fashioning life giving and saving power. No waste, 
 though one-third of the human race die in infancy. 
 
 II. No waste, so far as the child's interests are 
 concerned. It has lived to be one in the "Kingdom," 
 and to be blessed by Christ, to have angels watching it 
 as an "heir of salvation," to have the pleasure of exist- 
 ence in time, to have the glorious possibilities of eternity, 
 to have a body made like Christ's, and a seat with Christ 
 on his throne. No waste. 
 
 III. The child has lived for its parents' sake ; to call 
 forth their love, to exercise their graces, bind them 
 closer in affection to each other, draw out their affec- 
 tions more fully to the Giver, make them more devout 
 and earnest at the mercy seat, as they feel their increased 
 responsibility, and to make them feel more intensely 
 their stewardship. No waste. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 21 
 
 IV. The child's death will be no waste, if hearts be 
 softened by the afflictiok, reminded of G-od's cove- 
 nant, of the sin that has caused death, and of the uncer- 
 tainty of life. If taught not to make any earthly thing a 
 portion or an idol, if affection is directed to the other 
 world where the soul is, Christ is, and where God is 
 gathering his own one by one. If parents are more im- 
 pressed that repentance and faith are required of thorn 
 if they would join their child again, and hear her speak 
 to them in the other world. Sin makes the impassable 
 gulf. 
 
 Exercise unfaltering trust in God. Thank him for 
 the loan of the child, and that through Christ you can 
 rejoin it in that land where parting shall be no more. 
 
 EARLY PIETY. 
 
 REV. J. W. McCREE. 
 Thou art my trust from my youth. — Ps. lxxi : 5. 
 A RECKLESS child is never a happy child. He 
 should be' pleasant, docile, open-hearted, courteous, 
 humble, willing to do the least things patiently, wait- 
 ing for the time when he shall, by Divine grace, do 
 the greatest things. That the young may be brought 
 to trust in Christ, they should be treated by the aged 
 with great kindness and love. It may be fitting on this 
 solemn occasion to say : 
 
 I. They should patiently answer their inquiries. 
 Think what a world of wonders this is to the juvenile 
 mind. How full the Bible is — teeming with things 
 unknown to the youthful soul. Try to satisfy its eager, 
 palpitating questions. Every one who will do this in a 
 wise, genial spirit will have a rich reward. 
 
 II. They should not frown upon the laughter of the 
 
22 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 young. Why should not the young laugh, not too 
 much, nor too long, nor out of place, but when it is 
 timely and innocent, then should the old bear with it 
 and share in it. 
 
 III. They should sympathize with the struggles of 
 the young. Some young people have a hard life. God- 
 less parents, homes without flowers, music, beauty or 
 love. Fathers never kiss them, mothers never pray for 
 them. Cold walks to work, low wages, tedious hours, 
 blustering nights. Who would not pity, help and love 
 them and show them all possible kindness ? 
 
 IV. They should rejoice when they rejoice, If they 
 are merry, singing for joy, garlanding themselves with 
 roses on birthdays, they should not throw "wet blan- 
 kets " over their glossy heads and smiling faces. While 
 they love and wed and laugh, the aged should not begin 
 to prophesy evil concerning them, but turn the water 
 into wine at the marriage, bless the feast and be merry, 
 and show that God's people are the gentlest, the sweetest 
 and the best. 
 
 V. The aged should seek the salvation of the young. 
 No parent should rest until all his family are converted 
 and in the church of Christ — until even the very lambs 
 of the flock are "safe in the arms of Jesus" — His for- 
 evermore. 
 
 Some of the young never grow old. Their voices 
 ring no more out of cots. Their feet patter no more 
 to the door. Their little graves rise amid green grass 
 and the heavens shelter their spirits. Wherefore, 
 comfort yourselves. There is comfort for us this day, 
 when the departed could say, "Thou art my trust from 
 my youth." Then death is the gate of life, earth leads 
 to heaven, where the young are crowned with knowl- 
 edge and joy, where all are immortal and glorious and 
 have pleasures forevermore. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 
 
 THE LESSONS OF GOD'S ROD. 
 
 BY EEV. G. D. MAGKEGOR. 
 Hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it. — Micah vi: 9. 
 f^\ OD employs many instruments for the instruction 
 ^* of His children. Scripture, daily blessings, Provi- 
 dence, a remarkable Providence as that of the sudden 
 death of a young man. 
 
 I. This solemnly speaks to us of the brevity and uncer- 
 tainty of human life. This lesson is often sounded in 
 our ears and addressed to our hearts. But this 
 neglected truth is now loudly proclaimed, not to rob 
 the young of the sunshine and joy natural to young 
 hearts, but to urge them so to live that to them death 
 shall have no terror and no sting. 
 
 II. This speaks to us of the disappointment of the 
 brightest hopes. This has often been the theme of the 
 moralist, the poet and the preacher. Now it has had an 
 impressive illustration. Hopes are all quenched in 
 death and buried in an early grave. Have you a hope 
 which entereth into that within the veil ? If death 
 comes then you will have a prize of infinite worth sub- 
 stituted for one only of finite value. No merely earthly 
 hope can defy death or bloom beyond the grave. Let 
 Christ be the trust and stay and He will endow with a 
 hope full of immortality. 
 
 III. This event speaks to us of the mystery of Prov- 
 idence. A mystery hi such a death at such a time. 
 What power for good possessed ! What service might 
 not such a mind have rendered to God and man ! A 
 promising life abruptly ended, while thousands of the 
 weak and worthless are permitted to live in uselessness 
 and in vice. But the Judge of all the earth will do 
 right, even though the rightness of this procedure does 
 
24 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 not reveal itself at once to our feeble reason. We see 
 but a small portion of God's complicated plan — the mer- 
 est outlines of His picture. In heaven the hopes of 
 the believer will find a richer fruition and his powers a 
 nobler service than earth could aif ord. 
 
 IV. This event speaks to us of the worth of a Chris- 
 tian faith. "We sorrow not as those who have no 
 hope." The foundation of this hope is the knowledge 
 that the departed lived and died trusting in Him who 
 is the "Resurrection and the Life." Merely to remem- 
 ber that he had many amiable qualities, etc., would not 
 be enough, but the confidence that he was an humble 
 disciple of Christ cheers and sustains and casts a bright- 
 ness over the grave. Learn the transcendent worth of a 
 Christian faith. It supports the dying, comforts the 
 bereaved and gives a certainty of a blessed reunion. 
 Delay not to exercise faith, but be ye also ready. 
 
 THE FUNERAL TRALST AT NAHST. 
 
 KEY. GEBLEK. 
 
 Luke vii : 11-17. 
 
 HHHE spring season of the year, full of renewal of life, 
 
 beautifully accords with this incident in to-day's 
 
 Gospel. Two processions of human beings meet each 
 
 other at the gates of Nain ; out of the village comes the 
 
 train of death, a corpse in the van ; the procession of 
 
 life approaches toward it ; in the van is the Prince of 
 
 Life, Jesus Christ; the latter does not give way, but 
 
 conquers the former. The funeral procession is changed 
 
 into a mass of happy persons, and with the cheerful 
 
 followers of the Lord from a group of blessed worshippers. 
 
 I. The funeral train which is met by Christ. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 25 
 
 II. The manner in which the Lord approaches this 
 train. 
 
 III. The result. 
 
 I. The procession comes from Nain, which means 
 "pleasantness." This entire beautiful earth is only a 
 world of death. The corpse is that of a young man — no 
 human energy can defy death. The mother is a widow — 
 Death is a cruel prince. The accompanying people can 
 do nothing but sympathize. This funeral train is a pic- 
 ture of devastation and sorrow, and the impotence of man 
 in opposition to this power of destruction — where Christ 
 has not yet come, e. g., heathen nations. And even now, 
 what deep immorality and fear of death where Jesus is 
 not known and trusted ! Man without Christ is spirit- 
 ually dead. 
 
 II. The Lord beheld and pitied the widowed mother. 
 Thus He looks yet on every one whom the stroke of 
 death casts into deep sorrow. He speaks to her. Thus 
 He comforts us likewise in His word. He touches the 
 bier, He does something. And thus, in our day, we 
 become acquainted with circumstances which take place 
 against all human expectation, and which are proofs of 
 the continuous power of the living Christ. 
 
 III. " He that was dead sat up and began to speak." 
 Although He does not show His power in this wise any 
 more, yet He shows it in different ways. 
 
 (a) Christ stops deaths — this is shown in the history 
 of nations which accept Christ (e. g., cannibalism in 
 Sandwich Islands). N 
 
 (b) He awakens us from spiritual death. 
 
 (c) He helps us to overcome the terrors and agony of 
 death. • 
 
 (d) He will raise up all the dead at the last day. 
 "And he delivered him to his mother." Many a 
 
 spiritually dead lost son has Christ restored to his parents 
 
26 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 (e. g., Augustine and Monica). He will re-unite those 
 separated by bodily death. 
 
 Verse 16. Mourners and despairing souls are 
 snatched out from depths of grief and despondency, and 
 caused to praise God. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 If we have Christ in us, we can bring consolation to 
 them whom death has deprived of loved ones, and meet 
 our own death with composure. May the life of Christ 
 become daily stronger in us. 
 
 UNFULFILLED HOPES. 
 
 WILLIAM GEAHAM, D.D. 
 
 1 pray thee let me go over and see the good land that is beyond 
 
 Jordan Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. — Deut. 
 
 iii : 25, 27. 
 
 nPHERE are many things in a man's life which he 
 desires, but usually there is some one thing which 
 is the supreme good after which he longs. It was 
 so with Moses. And yet this is the one thing which 
 Cod will not grant. Let us inquire : 
 
 I. What God refuses to grant. Coing over Jordan 
 was, it would seem, the only request Cod refused to 
 Moses. This refusal was the last trial of his meek soul, 
 and he came out of it meeker than he had been before. 
 Some one's heart is set upon ambition. But his Water- 
 loo comes, he is dethroned forever, and another takes his 
 place. Some one has a dear home, idols are there, we do 
 not know how much we loved until there is the vision of 
 a face darkened under the coffin-lid — Oh ! The cry that 
 went forth ere that face paled in death. " Let the dear 
 one live." There are many Jordans we pray Cod to 
 cross, but we are kept back — hidden hopes blighted, 
 secret struggles ending in defeat. Thus also in spirit- 
 
CHILDHOOD. 27 
 
 ual attainment — some lofty eminence has been aimed 
 at, but some sin has clogged our feet. Some tempta- 
 tion yielded to has dipt the wings of prayer and faith, 
 and we have failed. But we are sometimes never greater 
 than in the hour of our defeat — great in humility, in 
 acquiescence with God's will — in faith. Stephen, Paul, 
 John, Luther, Christ, examples. 
 
 II. Why did God refuse to grant the prayer ? 
 
 1. Because of sin in the case of Moses. And because 
 of sin in the death of infants — that sin not their own, 
 but of those to whom they are related. There are 
 other mysteries connected with such a death which God's 
 hand only can unravel. 
 
 2. Because designed to benefit Moses thereby. Moses 
 needed this last stroke of God's chisel to clear away his 
 last infirmity. He had to die completely to self, and 
 this refusal accomplished this. A similar lesson may 
 be taught by this death. 
 
 3. Because this refusal lifted him to a nobler eleva- 
 tion of character, more unselfish, more divine. Abra- 
 ham was thus elevated when he did not withhold his 
 son. David, when after Absalom's death, he cried, " Let 
 my soul live and I shall praise thee." Paul, when his 
 prayer was refused and grace given him to bear the 
 thorn. Christ's last act in obedience was when He cried: 
 "Not my will but thine be done." 
 
 4. Because it had given Moses an opportunity such 
 as he had not before, of honoring God, in the midst of 
 disappointment before^ all. He showed that it was easy 
 — it was gladness to obey the last command of all — 
 to go up to the Mount and die. 
 
 III. Because of refusal, God grants the more. The 
 things granted were far better than all he withheld. 
 
 1. There was a larger outpouring of grace into the 
 heart of Moses. Grace of forgiveness, of restored joy, 
 
28 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 of salvation, of broken bones rejoicing, of fresh com- 
 munion. God kept his best wine for Moses until now. 
 
 2. There was the speedier crossing of the Jordan of 
 death into the life everlasting. The goodly land of 
 Lebanon was as nothing to the heavenly, and to the glory 
 of God which he would now see. 
 
 3. He did cross the Jordan and stood w r ith Christ 
 on the mount of transfiguration 1600 years after. He 
 stood there in glory then, and talked with God's own 
 Son. God thus gave him an answer exceeding abun- 
 dantly above all he asked or thought. 
 
 Let us be patient in affliction. 
 
 * ' He is not dead — the child of your affection — 
 But gone unto that school, 
 
 Where he no longer needs your poor protection, 
 And Christ himself shall rule." 
 
 Godly sorrow worketh repentance. The time comes 
 when we must all cross this Jordan. Let us live upon 
 the Mount and grow familiar with the land toward 
 which we are going. Christ is on both sides of Jordan. 
 Get Him in you, with you, and you are safe. 
 
 THE CHILD IN GLOKY. 
 
 KEV. THOKNLEY SMITH. 
 
 Neither can tliey die any more ; for they are equal unto the 
 angels ; and are the children of God, being the children of the resur- 
 rection. — Luke xx: 36. 
 
 HPHESE are remarkable words. The present condition 
 -*- of every human being is a very humiliating one, 
 but it is only for a little while that any of the children 
 of men can dwell in these tabernacles of flesh and this 
 vale of tears. This condition shall soon be exchanged 
 
CHILDHOOD. 29 
 
 by the saved for a better. A little lower than the angels 
 now, each of the children of God shall then be equal 
 with the angels and the angel's heaven shall be theirs for 
 ever. And while this is true of all the good it is equally 
 true of the little ones whom God calls to the better 
 world. They too " shall be equal unto the angels." 
 
 I. Equal unto them in holiness. Look at the angels 
 as they stand before the throne, as they minister to the 
 saints, as they bear the spirits of the redeemed into the 
 presence of their Lord ! How radiant they are ! How 
 fair ! How beautiful ! Their robes are robes of dazzling 
 light and upon them is neither stain nor speck. And 
 yet the redeemed, even the little ones of the flock of 
 Jesus, are equal to them — yea, they shall shine in brighter 
 lustre and be conspicuous among the cherubs, who shall 
 rejoice in the companionship of these young immortals 
 and recognize them as friends. 
 
 II. Equal unto them in intelligence. However wise 
 angels of God may be, and however deep and profound 
 their knowledge of God and of his works and ways may 
 be, yet even infants of humanity shall become equal un- 
 to them. What discoveries they shall make, what mys- 
 teries they shall solve and what glories will burst upon 
 their sight when they enter the spirit- world. They may 
 not indeed immediately and at once be equal to the an- 
 gels, but they shall soar into their domain, stand on their 
 platform, take a place by their side, eventually out-soar 
 the flight of the first-born seraph and stand nearer to the 
 throne than Gabriel hirnself. They will know, as angels 
 cannot know, practically and experimentally the mys- 
 teries of redeeming love. 
 
 III. Equal unto them in happiness and joy. Angels 
 are happy because they are holy and therefore enjoy the 
 felicity of immediate fellowship with God. But every 
 child "caught up to God and to his throne," will be holy 
 
30 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and will join in the songs of the harpers before the 
 throne, only in the chorus of which angels can unite. 
 No seraph can be more joyous than the ransomed spirit 
 of a child. 
 
 IV. Equal unto them in immortality. "Neither can 
 they die any more." Angels never die. Their nature is 
 incorruptible, and they are as vigorous and strong to-day 
 as when first they came from the Creator's hands. And 
 paralleled with angels will be glorified children. 
 Immortality is stamped upon their soul — and the body 
 resurrected and made like Christ's, will equal the exis- 
 tence of angels. Conscious personal existence for ever 
 with the Lord is the privilege of every infant caught up 
 to glory. 
 
 What lessons these thoughts suggest. They speak to 
 us : 
 
 1. Of our dignity. However sinful, weak, dying 
 man now is, even the babes of the household shall one 
 day be equal unto angels — the nobility of heaven. 
 
 2. Of our hopes. Our privilege is ever to be looking 
 upward — however sorrowful now, anticipate the blessed- 
 ness awaiting those, even babes, who enter the city of the 
 skies. 
 
 3. Of our business — to become like little children, to 
 be saved like them through grace, for only then can any 
 of us become equal unto the angels that stand in the 
 presence of the King. 
 
 Those laughing eyes of thine fair child 
 
 God never wished to weep; 
 Ere smiles had lied, the shadows fell 
 
 Of death's long, silent sleep. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 31 
 
 DEATH ON A SUMMER DAY. 
 
 BEV. W. FOKSYTH. 
 
 He sat on her knees till noon and tlien died. — 2 Kings iv: 26. 
 
 T^HERE are times when many days of sunshine and 
 joy succeed each other, and others when in a single 
 day there seems concentrated the joy or sorrow of a year. 
 This occurred to the family at Shunem. A child had 
 been given when they were hopeless of offspring. He 
 was the mother's joy and pride, had taken away her 
 reproach. His fellowship was her delight and his future 
 the dearest hope of her life. He grew in beauty by her 
 side and filled her house with glee, and on a summer 
 day when all was life and gladness in the harvest field 
 he visited his father among the reapers. How happy 
 that father as he walked hand in hand with his boy 
 amid the yellow corn, the innermost thought of his heart 
 being, "May the God of Jacob bless the lad." There 
 and then death met him, when the sun was high and 
 hot, the lad suddenly cried, My head." Learn : 
 
 I. Sorrow may come at the most unlikely time. There 
 may be darkness at noon. Thunder out of a clear sky. 
 The happiest home darkened suddenly by sorrow and the 
 shadow of death. 
 
 II. Sorrow may spring from the most unlikely source. 
 From a fountain of joy and a well of delight. The sudden 
 cry of agony is from' a child, buoyant, playful, full of 
 life. How strange the association at such a time — child- 
 hood and pain. Here are the ravages of sin. Rom. v: 14. 
 How in the presence of such sufferings are we humbled 
 and awed before God. 
 
 III. Sorrow may come in the midst of innocent labor. 
 Work is going on according to God's ordinance in the 
 
32 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 harvest field. Old and young cheerfully engage in the 
 reaping work. No work more wholesome or pure. The 
 simplicity and purity of the olden time characterize the 
 reapers. Yet death invades this busy, joyous scene. What 
 place is safe ? What people or work have an immunity 
 from trouble ? The trail of the serpent is over them all. 
 
 IV. The effect of this sudden sorrow. The father's 
 heart is pierced as with a sword by that cry of pain. He 
 feels stunned, is helpless, but he knows where love and 
 help and comfort abide for a child when weary of learn- 
 ing, or faulty, or pained, or stricken by sickness. " Carry 
 him to his mother." Everything with her must give place 
 to the little invalid. "His mother" — true refuge for 
 the weary — safe resting-place for the sick and dying 
 child. Mark: 
 
 What a change from the morning. Left home full of 
 life and frolic, returns helpless, unconscious, dying. How 
 startling to the mother was that pale countenance of 
 her boy as she received him on her knees ! How often 
 had she dandled him and kissed him while there before. 
 How she now hoped against hope ! What suspense was 
 hers during the closing minutes of that forenoon. "He 
 sat on her knees till noon and then died." 
 
 None but a mother's heart knows the terrible distress 
 of such a moment in such a scene. Her sun had gone 
 down at noon. How tumultuous the thoughts that 
 crowded her soul ! How great the trial to her faith ! 
 God seemed to have forsaken her that moment. 
 
 V. Mark the resuscitation of her faith and hope. God 
 lives and all is not lost, is her recovering thought. She 
 strengthens her heart in God. Hurries to her prophet — 
 makes her passionate appeal to him. Hope springs up 
 again in her heart. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. 
 
 How strange and solemn the scenes in that chamber 
 of death when the prophet of the Lord stretches himself 
 
CHILDHOOD. 33 
 
 on that child. How wonderful the revival. What 
 joyous scenes in that Hebrew home that evening, 
 
 What lessons for us. The uncertainty of earthly 
 things — the power of faith. The willingness of G-od to 
 help — the certainty of a resurrection, the joy and glad 
 ness at the reunion on the morning of the last day. 
 
 THE SHUNAMITE AND HER SON. 
 
 JOHN BRUCE, D.D. 
 
 Is it well with the child? And slie answered, It is well. — 2 Kings 
 iv : 26. 
 
 r PHIS story has soothed the spirit of many a parent, 
 and is still fraught with consolation. The story sug- 
 gests : 
 
 I. The Shunamite though a godly person was not ex- 
 empt from family bereavement. She had one on whom 
 her affections centred, and who was dear to her, even as 
 her own soul. To him she clung as one of the chief 
 sources of her enjoyment, and as one whose life seemed 
 indispensable to her own. Yet in accordance with the 
 sovereign purpose of God, she was called to part with 
 this child. In the morning he is with her and she de- 
 lights to look upon his opening charms and to indulge 
 in fond anticipations of the future. At noon he is 
 struck down by the hand of death, and is no longer hers. 
 "When the child wasxgrown, etc." 
 
 A visitation like that of the Shunamite, is not un- 
 common with the people of God. The grim messenger 
 enters their dwelling and commits his ravages on those 
 whom they love. Darkness forthwith covers their taberna- 
 cle and the cheerful household hum is hushed. This is the 
 
 law of nature acting according to the appointment of 
 2* 
 
34 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 God — " By one man, etc." When parents see their ten- 
 der flowers blighted and cut down, it well becomes them 
 to think of sin, as that which brought death into the 
 world and all our woe. But when they think of death 
 through the first man, they may think of life through the 
 second man Christ Jesus. 
 
 II. The Shunamite, though a pious woman, was deep- 
 ly grieved by the loss of her child. When Elisha saw her, 
 he saw grief depicted on her countenance ; and when he 
 saw Gehazi annoyed her with his importunity, his lan- 
 guage was, " Let her alone, for her soul is vexed within 
 her." And why should not Christians grieve for the loss 
 of their dear children ? It is only when grief becomes 
 immoderate, or when mourning is accompanied by mur- 
 muring, that it is offensive to God. It is chiefly because 
 bereavements awaken sorrow, that they lead us to see 
 our need of God and to seek for satisfaction from higher 
 sources than the world with all its transient joys. 
 
 III. The Shunamite amidst her affliction, betook her- 
 self to God. Elisha was not only a man of God but a 
 prophet signally attested by Jehovah. In a certain sense 
 he was the the medium of intercourse between God and 
 man. To him the Shunamite came in this her hour of 
 need — unbosomed all her sorrow and looked for the con- 
 solation she required. The restoration of the child 
 seemed needful to the realization of the promise that had 
 been made to her. The Christian parent should go to 
 God in the season of bereavement. "He knows our 
 frame," sympathizes, pours the balm of consolation into 
 the wounded spirit. He does not afflict willingly, has 
 gracious designs, assures that afflictions " yield the 
 peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are 
 exercised thereby." He leads forth by the right way. 
 
 IV. The Shunamite acquiesced in the bereaving dis- 
 pensation, painful though it was. When Gehazi met her 
 
CHILDHOOD. 35 
 
 and accosted her in those courteous terms . . . "Is 
 it well with the child ? She answered, It is well." True, 
 her beloved child had been removed from her ; after a 
 short, but severe conflict with trouble he had closed 
 his eyes in death. And as a consequence of this her 
 tender heart was wrung with anguish and her soul was 
 vexed within her. But still she could say "it is well." 
 She saw the hand of her God and Father in the trying 
 dispensation, and, like Job, she bowed with holy sub- 
 mission knowing that all was truth and mercy sure. It 
 should not require many words to persuade bereaved par- 
 ents, that with them also it is well. 
 
 Fond parent, look to thy child in its glorified state, 
 for "of such is the kingdom of heaven." Think of him 
 as raised above all sorrow, and suffering, and imper- 
 fection, and mingling with the innumerable company of 
 the redeemed. 
 
 " Forgive, blest shade, the tributary tear, 
 That mourns thine exit from a world like this : 
 
 Forgive the wish that would have kept thee here, 
 And stayed thy progress to the realms of bliss." 
 
 THE CHILD AND THE FATHER'S CUP. 
 
 THEO. L. CUTLER, D.D. 
 
 Jesus took a little child and set him in the midst of them. — Matt. 
 \xviii : 2. 
 
 '"PHIS was done to rebuke the selfish ambition of His 
 disciples. Children are still placed in houses to be 
 teachers as well as to be taught themselves. No house 
 is " furnished " until God in his loving kindness sets a 
 little child in the midst of it. They teach lessons. 
 
 I. Patience. A virtue that some are slow in acquir- 
 
36 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ing. None can teach it better than a helpless, depend- 
 ent and often wayward and exacting child. "Bear with 
 me," is the meaning of its long wakeful nights and 
 peevish cry, and of its dullness in getting its lessons. 
 If telling the same thing unsuccessfully for eleven times 
 remember the twelfth time you may succeed. God is 
 patient with us, He would have us patient with our 
 children. 
 
 II. They teach us our faults. They are household 
 mirrors to reflect our faults. Their ebullitions of temper 
 show how ridiculous ours are. We are photographed on 
 them. This family likeness is sometimes frightful. 
 Think that in every fault of theirs you see yourself as in 
 a looking-glass. 
 
 III. They show us our graces. By seeking Jesus 
 they follow the example set by father or mother, or 
 both — so also when they consecrate themselves to God 
 and confess Christ, they are only reflecting in their own 
 lives, our lives. In like manner is their after career of 
 usefulness and honor. If we are properly taught by our 
 children on earth, and we teach them the way of life, 
 our reward will be that Jesus will set our child in the 
 midst of us in heaven. 
 
 God often calls these children home. This is the 
 bitter cup he gives us to drink. He knows our soul's 
 disease. He is the wisest and best of physicians, never 
 selects the " wrong bottle," and never gives one drop too 
 much of the corrective medicine. He does all things 
 well. His children must trust their Father. He 
 chastens for our profit that we may be partakers of his 
 holiness. 
 
 God sees that some one in the family has need of his 
 spiritual skill — from indulged sin, from weakening of 
 the graces, and He gives a cup of bitter disappointment 
 — the gourd that was so grateful and refreshing withers. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 
 
 37 
 
 Patient submission, humble acquiescence, and unfalter- 
 ing trust and hope are the lessons God would teach and 
 what the soul's disease requires. If the cup had not 
 been drank the blessings would have been lost ; if the 
 child had not died, the idol would have been en- 
 throned. 
 
 God's cups may be bitter, and you may be long in 
 draining them, at the bottom lies a precious blessing. 
 Eich graces lie there. For this reason the "trial "of 
 faith is precious. So Abraham and Job and all God's 
 children have found it. 
 
 Be not surprised when God mixes such a bitter cup 
 for you as the death of a child. You need that 
 medicine. The best tonic medicines are bitter. They 
 have a merciful purpose. It is your Father's cup. 
 Drink it, unhesitatingly, uncomplainingly, and with 
 the spirit of that Beloved Son, who said, " Not my will 
 but thine be done." 
 
 EARLY DEATH. 
 
 BY J. K. MACDUFF, D.D. 
 The righteous is taken away from the evil to come, etc. — Isa. 57: 1, 2. 
 npHE young king Josiah, who ascended the throne of 
 Judah at the tender age of eight, is considered to be 
 the righteous one here specially referred to. He proved 
 himself the most godly of his royal race. 2 Kings 23 : 
 25. At the age of sixteen he was brought by means of 
 perusal of the Divine Law under the fervid power of per- 
 sonal piety and from that day onwards, during a memor- 
 able decade, he became priest and king in one. He swept 
 away every vestige of idolatry and restored the purity of 
 the Temple- Worship. 
 
 But, strange, mysterious dispensation ! Just when in 
 
38 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 the flower of his youth and when his people were prosper- 
 ing in peace and piety he is brought bleeding and wounded 
 from the battle-field and dies in his chariot, ere he can 
 reach his palace in Jerusalem. The national grief was 
 deep and intense, and a national dirge composed by Jere- 
 miah was for many years sung on the spot where he re- 
 ceived the fatal wound, the best choristers of Israel 
 tendering their services on the occasion. 
 
 Josiah's case is not singular. The book of memory 
 will reveal many whose young and cherished names are 
 written upon grave-stones. Such early removal forms a 
 problem insoluble by our poor reason. We can under- 
 stand the removal of the hoary-headed sinner and of the 
 aged Christian, but the Josiahs of early and brilliant 
 promise and the Lazaruses, the young life and light 
 of the Bethany homes — where is the wisdom or the love 
 in stripping the temple of its pillars, " Beauty and 
 Strength"? 
 
 The words of Isaiah give a twofold answer to these 
 questions and mysteries. The 
 
 1st. Negative. " The righteous is taken away from 
 the evil to come." It was so in the case of Josiah. Why 
 is the " staff broken and the beautiful rod" might have 
 been the sorrowful inquiry of both the Israelites and 
 of Josiah. But they were all in ignorance of the future. 
 He and they had mercifully not revealed to them the 
 impending invasion of the armies of Babylon and the 
 miseries which were entailed on his unhappy city and 
 country. Jeremiah refers to this in his 22 chap. G-od 
 does not disguise from the young king the reason of his 
 early departure. 2 Kings 22 : 18-20. What was true of 
 Josiah's early death is applicable to all. Often, when we 
 can see no love or kindness or wisdom in these early 
 graves, it is because the morrow to us is mercifully 
 veiled. Who can tell if the loved and early lost had 
 
CHILDHOOD. 39 
 
 been spared, what trials might have been in reserve for 
 them, or what sins and temptations might have over- 
 taken them ? Better the brief loan with its hallowed 
 and undarkened memories than the prolonged life with 
 its possible evils — " taken away from the evil to 
 come." 
 
 II. The words of the prophet give a positive expla- 
 nation. "He shall enter into peace, etc." This Josiah 
 did. This is one of the beautiful Old Testament evi- 
 dences of the immediate blessedness of the departed 
 righteous. The body rested as in a bed, the spirit that 
 walked uprightly on earth continues, in a loftier state of 
 existence, this elevated walk. The work cut short in 
 this world is not arrested, it is only transferred. The 
 merciful are "gathered," as a better translation has it; 
 not wrenched away, but gathered to unite in the wor- 
 ship of the great congregation in the upper sanctuary. 
 Let us listen to the whispering of angels around the 
 pillows of the early departing ones. "He shall enter 
 into peace." "He shall walk in his uprightness." 
 
 Besides, the "righteous" survive dissolution even in 
 this world, in their deathless memories of goodness and 
 worth, they continue to " walk." The uprightness is 
 not laid by with their funeral shroud, or merely carved 
 in the epitaph on their grave-stones. No! it lives. The 
 sun has vanished, but the glow still reddens the moun- 
 tains and glorifies the evening clouds. It was so with 
 Josiah. 2 Ohron. 35, 26. His deeds were also written deep 
 on the nation's heart, and in imperishable memorial in the 
 chronicles of the great and good of all time. " Early," 
 when applied to death, is a term only relative to the 
 body ; the spirit, the character, the man, still lives, and 
 the old promise becomes literally true regarding those 
 prematurely taken away — " with long life will I satisfy 
 him and show him my salvation." "He asked life of 
 
40 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 thee and thou gavest it to him, even length of days for 
 ever and ever. Ps. 21 : 4. 
 
 THE TEACHING OF A CHILD'S DEATH. 
 
 WM. M. TAYLOK, D.D. 
 
 Can 1 bring Mm back again ? 1 shall go to him, but lie shall not 
 return to me. 2 Sam. xii : 23. 
 
 QICKNESS had come into the Palace. "The Lord 
 ^ struck the child." David was greatly distressed by 
 this event. Not only was he saddened by the sufferings 
 of the child, but because Nathan had specially connected 
 all the pangs of the child with David's sin. Hence 
 every quiver of pain the infant gave was a new needle- 
 point thrust into his own conscience. David betook 
 himself to God in prayer, while the sickness lasted. 
 This shows that David was God's child, though he had 
 sinned. He besought God both for himself (Ps. vi: 1-4) 
 and for the child. Though he had been told that the 
 child would die, he yet besought God for its life. 
 There is always " who can tell," what God may do. 
 
 The child died, and when David knew it he came to 
 his house, asked for bread and ate it. His servants 
 required an explanation, and here it is, showing the 
 strength of his character and the firmness of his faith 
 in a future life. " While the child, &c." 
 
 David's resignation was the result of his persuasion 
 of the happiness* of his departed child and of his humble 
 hope of joining him therein. Practical teachings. 
 
 I. The illness and death of little children may be in- 
 timately connected with the conduct and spiritual history 
 of the parents. They belong indeed to a tainted race, 
 and their death shows their connection with Adam ; 
 
CHILDHOOD. 41 
 
 but it may also be caused or connected with the 
 character of their immediate parents. Their death may 
 be the penal consequences of their sins, or it may occur 
 to lead them to thoughtfulness and to quicken their 
 spiritual life. They may have been permitting the world 
 to have too large a share of their attention, or permitting 
 themselves to become enslaved by some degrading habit, 
 or they may be unconverted. The death of infants may 
 have a corrective, restrictive or preventive power on 
 the parents or other members of the family. 
 
 II. The surest solace under the affliction and death 
 of infants is in God. David has recourse to prayer, and 
 what he sought for was not granted, but he got strength to 
 bear the stroke. It would not have been good either for 
 himself or his people to have had his prayer literally 
 granted. But his tears of weakness had brought down 
 God's strength. Let us, in all trials, repair to the 
 "mercy seat." 
 
 III. We may cherish the most unwavering assurance 
 of the salvation of those who die in infancy. David's 
 words teach this. He, under the Jewish dispensation, 
 had the fullest persuasion of the eternal welfare of his 
 baby boy. There, are several things recorded which 
 tend to make the doctrine of infant salvation perfectly 
 indubitable. 
 
 Over and above the fact that they have not com- 
 mitted actual transgression and do not personally 
 deserve condemnation, and may be presumably regarded 
 as included in the prdvisions of the covenant of grace ; 
 there are certain things which place this doctrine beyond 
 all question. There seems : 
 
 1. A moral impossibility involved in the very thought 
 of infants being consigned to perdition. They have 
 neither memory nor conscience, the elements in the 
 punishment of the lost. 
 
42 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 2. There are positive indications that infants are in- 
 cluded in the work of Christ. There is no passage in 
 which it is stated in so many words, but many passages 
 which very clearly imply it. Thus Jesus said of infants, 
 "of such is the kingdom of heaven," meaning "of 
 these is the kingdom of heaven," and for this reason 
 He took up little children in his arms. 
 
 3. The tone and spirit of the gospel favors the idea of 
 infant salvation. The Saviour was peculiarly tender to 
 the little ones. It was foretold that He should carry 
 the lambs in his bosom, and his infinite atonement would 
 be shorn of half its glory if it were not available for little 
 children. 
 
 Let us consider to whom they have gone. They have 
 been taken to the arms of Jesus and to the bright glory 
 of the heavenly state. Let us consider from what they 
 have oeen taken. They have been removed from earth 
 with its pains and privations, its sufferings and sorrows, 
 and from the spiritual dangers with which the world is 
 environed. Perhaps they would have fallen. A living 
 cross is heavier than a dead one. 
 
 Let us consider for what our little ones have leen 
 taken away. Perhaps we have been wandering away 
 from Christ, or we may have never known Him, or this 
 may have been the case with some member of the family. 
 G-od has taken the child away to bring us back, or to 
 bring us to Himself. Why then shall we repine ? 
 
 Let us consider how this bereavement will appear to 
 us when we come to die ourselves. The great concern 
 then will be about those we are leaving behind us. 
 There will be no anxiety about those who have gone 
 before. 
 
 The appropriation of these consolations implies that 
 we ourselves are journeying heavenwards, "I shall go to 
 him." The departed child is in heaven. Are you 
 
CHILDHOOD. 
 
 43 
 
 advancing towards heaven ? If not, these comforts are 
 not yours, and a great gulf will be eternally fixed between 
 you and your child. Let then the memory of your 
 departed little ones stir you up into religious earnestness. 
 Do not resist the appeal. 
 
 A CHILD'S TRUE ESTIMATE. 
 
 ANONYMOUS. 
 A little child shall lead them. — Isa. vi: 6. 
 HHHESE words were written to illustrate the great 
 -*- quiet that shall fall upon this troubled earth when 
 the Redeemer's Kingdom is fully prevalent on the earth. 
 So docile will even wild beasts be that a little child shall 
 lead them without fright or danger. Little children it 
 will be seen, by revelation, have a large place in the 
 revelation and purpose of God. They are included in 
 the Covenants, are made the subjects of circumcision, 
 are given by promise and granted in answer to prayer, 
 are accepted as objects of consecration, raised from the 
 dead, nurtured by angels. The cry of little Ishmael — 
 outside of the Special Covenant as he was — touched the 
 heart of God as well as the heart of Hagar his mother. 
 In the New Testament their privileges are unrevoked. 
 The promise is unto us and to our children. We find 
 that touching act of Jesus taking little children in his 
 arms and blessing them and leaving to his church the 
 sufferance that little children should come unto him 
 without hindrance. We find them declared to be capa- 
 ble of receiving blessing, even though but infants, 
 children without speech. He who gives them knows the 
 avenues by which their souls are reached, and how as 
 their great High Priest to apply to them the blood of 
 
44 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 everlasting cleansing. It is to the Bible we owe our 
 estimate of their worth, and the lesson that, however 
 young they may be called away, they have not lived in 
 vain. Then are two thoughts in our text. 
 
 1st. The child-measure. There have been two nota- 
 ble ways of estimating the value of a human soul. 
 
 1. What the soul is able to accomplish. This was 
 the old Roman conception. Power to do was the ex- 
 ponent of the Roman mind. Scripture has recognized 
 this characteristic of Roman civilization and presented 
 the Messiah in Mark's gospel as the man of power. He 
 is the great hero who conquers diseases, demons and 
 death and whose earthly mission was that of Conqueror 
 of a lost and ruined world. A Roman mother, rather 
 than see her child grow up a coward, would gladly see 
 him impale himself upon his own sword. 
 
 2d. God's standard of measurement is, not what the 
 soul does, but what the soul is. It is no thought of the 
 Bible that those who die in cradles are less to be noticed 
 than those who go up from gory fields, etc. God measures 
 the soul not by what it has been able to accomplish, not by 
 the figure it has been able to cut in the drama of existence. 
 It is like gold, precious for its sake. God has tempered the 
 soul to the economy of its earthly existence. Few souls 
 ever live to magnify themselves by deeds. Many fall 
 still-born into the grave. Many before they find utterance 
 for their thoughts. Many before they answer the roll-call 
 of public duty. Others are born to that weakness of 
 mind which makes necessary our hospitals for the 
 idiotic and insane. Well has God said, " Not by works, 
 lest any man should boast." He looks not to deeds, but 
 to the soul. Hope may be written over the grave in 
 which lies the late occupant of a crib, as well as the recent 
 occupant of a throne. Herod who slew the Judean 
 children was more merciful than he who teaches that 
 
CHILDHOOD. 
 
 45 
 
 God saves on account of what we do. For if this be 
 true, where are the children ? They are without gospel 
 — left as lambs for the slaughter — left without any 
 fellowship with the holy child Jesus. But if we take the 
 soul itself as the standard by which human existence is to 
 be valued, we thereby get a standard by which the value of 
 every human existence may be computed. Then one 
 touch of the finger of grace removes the stains which 
 have dimmed the divine image and superscription upon 
 an infant's soul. In it was the breath of God, before 
 it lies the blood of Christ and beyond this blood lie the 
 boundless steeps which lead up to the lofty perfections 
 of Jehovah. It has responded to the purpose of him 
 who called it into being. It tarried a second or two on 
 the threshold, God's angels lifted the everlasting doors 
 of grace and glory, and it entered the last penetralia of 
 the future. Thus the precious word of God has given 
 us a scheme of grace which reaches to the youngest 
 child. 
 
 II. Children have a mission, not of deeds but of in- 
 fluence. It is difficult to define influence. It is an in- 
 visible power which by subtle methods moves us to action 
 or serves as a restraint. The world owes a great debt to 
 children for their unconscious and largely unintentional 
 influence. By it they radiate and bless the world. 
 
 The great lesson of self-sacrifice is learned from their 
 presence, a lesson which is seldom learned in any house- 
 hold where the cry of a child is not frequently heard. 
 No other animal comes into time-relations with so much 
 peril. No man can compute the sacrifices, weigh the sighs 
 or bottle the tears which parents give to their offspring. 
 
 Many a spring of tenderness too has been opened by 
 a child which every other influence has seemed power- 
 less to open. Many a falling house has thus been kept 
 together. Society would be honey-combed into absolute 
 
46 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 pleasure-seeking or money-making or self-seeking if the 
 influence of children were removed. Even their depart- 
 ure makes the world assume something of that true 
 aspect which God has given it in his word, and heaven 
 is anchored to many a heart more peacefully and hope- 
 fully because of the children that are there. Many a 
 time has the Great Shepherd led his children nearer the 
 eternal world by carrying a lamb or two ahead as fresh 
 challenges to the parents to follow after. " A little child 
 shall lead them." We should take the language of the 
 Shunamite woman to express our allegiance to the Divine 
 government in the day of our bereavement. "It is well" 
 with child, father, mother — not because joarental instinct 
 had perished, or because the child was less loved than 
 before. But it is well, because God's ways are always 
 right — because another has been delivered from the evil 
 that is in the world — because it is no small thing that 
 God puts everlasting honor upon our children, because 
 it is not a thing for comfortless grief that Jesus suffers 
 little children to come to him. 
 
 The keeper of the vineyard takes away the twig for 
 the deeper rooting and fruitfulness of the vine, and we 
 know his wisdom and answer not a word. 
 
 Is it not time that the family should be gathering on 
 the hill-tops of glory ? That your house on high be 
 furnished — that your mansion should be decorated with 
 those blossoms which have been your delight on earth ? 
 May their going be the means of deeper meditation on 
 the excellence of eternal things. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 47 
 
 HOME BEREAVEMENTS. 
 
 HENRY WAED BEECHER. 
 
 Remarks made at the funeral of a child in Plymouth Church, 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 YTTID are joined together, many of us, by a common 
 experience. Many of us have met in each 
 others' houses and in each others' company on just such 
 errands of grief and sympathy and Christian triumph as 
 this. How many of us have sent children forward ; and 
 how many of us feel to-day that all things are for our 
 sakes ; and that those things which for the present are 
 not joyous but grievous, nevertheless work in us the 
 peaceable fruit of righteousness ! So we stand in what 
 may be called a relationship of grief. We are knit to- 
 gether and brought into each others' company by the 
 ministration of grief, made Christian and blessed. 
 
 To be sure, if we were to ask this life what would be 
 best, there is no father, there is no mother, who would 
 not plead with all the strength which lies in natural 
 affection, " Spare me, and spare mine." For the out- 
 ward man this is reasonable and unrebukable ; and yet, 
 if it be overruled by Him who loves us even better than 
 He loves his own life, then there comes the revelation of 
 another truth : namely, that the things which are seen 
 are the unreal things, and that the real things are the 
 things which are invisible. 
 
 When our children that are so dear to us are plucked 
 out of our arms, and carried away, we feel, for the time 
 being, that we have lost them, because our body does 
 not triumph ; but are they taken from our inward man ? 
 Are they taken from that which is to be saved — the spirit- 
 ual man ? Are they taken from memory ? Are they taken 
 from love ? Are they taken from the scope and reach of 
 
48 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 the imagination, which in its sanctified form, is only 
 another name for faith ? Do we not sometimes dwell 
 with them more intimately than we did when they were 
 with us on earth ? The care of them is no longer ours, 
 that love-burden we bear no longer, since they are with 
 the angels of God and with God ; and we shed tears over 
 what seems to be our loss ; but do they not hover in the 
 air over our heads ? And to-day could the room hold 
 them ail ? 
 
 As you recollect, the background of the Sistine 
 Madonna, at Dresden (in some respects the most wonder- 
 ful picture of maternal love- which exists in the world), 
 for a long time was merely dark ; and an artist, in 
 making some repairs, discovered a cherub's face in the 
 grime of that dark background ; and being led to sus- 
 pect that the picture had been overlaid by time and neg- 
 lect, commenced cleansing it ; and as he went on, cherub 
 after cherub appeared, until it was found that the Ma- 
 donna was on a background made up wholly of little 
 heavenly cherubs. 
 
 Now, by nature motherhood stands against a dark 
 background ; but that background being cleaned by the 
 touch of God, and by the cleansing hand of faith, we 
 see that the whole heaven is full of little cherub faces. 
 And to-day it is not this little child alone that we look 
 at, which we see only in the outward guise ; we look 
 upon a background of children innumerable, each one as 
 sweet to its mother's heart as this child has been to its 
 mother's heart, each one as dear to the clasping arms of 
 its father as this child has been to the clasping arms of 
 its father ; and it is in good company. It is in a spring- 
 land. It is in a summer-world. It is with God. You 
 have given it back to Him who lent it to you. 
 
 Now, the giving back is very hard, but you cannot 
 give back to God all that you received with your child. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 49 
 
 You cannot give back to God those springs of new and 
 deeper affection which were awakened by the coming of 
 this little one. You cannot give back to God the experi- 
 ences which you have had in dwelling with your darling. 
 You cannot give back to God the hours which, when you 
 look upon them now, seem like one golden chain of 
 linked happiness. 
 
 You are better, you are riper, you are richer, even in 
 this hour of bereavement, than you were. God gave ; 
 and he has not taken away except in outward form. He 
 holds, he keeps, he reserves, he watches, he loves. You 
 shall have again that which you have given back to him 
 only outwardly. 
 
 Meanwhile, the key is in your hand ; and it is not a 
 black iron key ; it is a golden key of faith and love. 
 This little child has taught you to follow it. There will 
 not be a sunrise or a sunset when you will not in imagina- 
 tion go through the gate of heaven after it. There is 
 no door so fast that a mother's love and a father's love 
 will not open it and follow a beloved child. And so, by 
 its ministration, this child will guide you a thousand 
 times into a realization of the great spirit-land, and into 
 a faith of the invisible, which will make you as much 
 larger as it makes you less dependent on the body, and 
 more rich in the fruitage of the spirit. 
 
 To-day, then, we have an errand of thanksgiving. 
 We thank God for sending this little gift into this 
 household. We thank God for the light which he kin- 
 dled here, and which burned with so pure a flame, and 
 taught so sweet a lesson. And we thank God, that, 
 when this child was to go to a better place, it walked so 
 few steps, for so few hours, through pain. Men who 
 look on the dark side shake the head, and say, " Oh, 
 how sudden !" but I say, Since it was to go, God be 
 thanked that it was permitted to pass through so brief a 
 3 
 
50 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 period of suffering ; that there were no long weeks or 
 months of gradual decay and then a final extinction ; 
 that out of the fullness of health it dropped into the full- 
 ness of heaven, leaving its body as it lies before you to- 
 day a thing of beauty. Blessed be G-od for such mercy 
 in the ministration of sickness and of departure. 
 
 I appreciate your sorrow, having myself often gone 
 through this experience ; and I can say that there is no 
 other experience which throws such a light upon the 
 storm-cloud. We are never ripe till we have been made 
 so by suffering. We belong to those fruits which must 
 be touched by frost before they lose their sourness and 
 come to their sweetness. I see the goodness of God in 
 this dispensation as pointing us toward heaven and im- 
 mortality. In this bereavement there is cause for re- 
 joicing ; for sure it is that you and your child shall meet 
 again never to be separated. 
 
 INFANT SALVATION. 
 
 REV. CHARLES A. EVANS. 
 
 Whosoever shall not receive the Tcindgom of God as a, little child, shall 
 in no wise enter tlierein. Luke xviii : 17. 
 
 /"^TJR text, on the authority of our Lord, teaches one 
 ^^^ of the most consoling, supporting, heart-cheering 
 doctrines to the bereaved parent, that is contained in 
 the holy scriptures — that is, that little children are 
 redeemed and glorified. That this is the doctrine of the 
 text is indisputably clear, both from the connection in 
 which it stands, and also from the meaning of the 
 phrase " Kingdom of God." In the preceding context, 
 the Saviour made use of a parable, in order to convince 
 the Jews of the impossibility of being justified by works, 
 
CHILDHOOD. 51 
 
 or self-righteousness ; and having thus presented to the 
 Pharisees this truth, immediately infant children were 
 brought that he might bless them. This no doubt was 
 a custom among believing Jews then, and based on 
 that prophetical promise in Isaiah, 44th chapter, 3rd 
 verse, and was to be fulfilled in gospel days — "I will 
 pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon 
 thine offspring." Having taken them in his arms and 
 blessed them, saying, "for of such is the Kingdom of 
 God," he subjoins in application to the Pharisees, 
 "Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a 
 little child, shall in no wise enter therein." The 
 Pharisee boasted of his own righteonsness, as the ground 
 on which he should be justified, and admitted to the 
 Kingdom of Glory ; and Christ immediately applies the 
 case of the infant as regards the grounds of its salvation, 
 to show the proud Pharisee that his theory of salvation 
 is false, and that in order to be saved he must renounce 
 all self, humble himself, and if he will be saved, receive 
 Heaven as the infant child receives it. Now the ques- 
 tion arises, how does the infant receive the glories of 
 Heaven ? The word receive clearly implies that it is a 
 gift of its Heavenly Pather ; and indeed this is the in- 
 variable teaching of God, both in regard to infants and 
 adults. " By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be 
 justified in the sight of God," "by grace are you 
 saved," or, as the word grace means, unmerited favor. 
 To sum up the matter, it is as if Christ had said, Boast- 
 ing Pharisee, whoever you are, unless you renounce 
 merit on your part, and receive Heaven as an unmerited 
 gift of God, through Jesus Christ, to the lost sinner, 
 you can never enter therein. Just as these little 
 children who have never done good or evil personally, 
 (though federally sinners,) will be admitted to Heaven ; 
 for, having no merit to plead, they receive glory as a 
 
52 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 gift of mercy. That this is the true interpretation, both 
 of the text and context, we think is very clear, as the 
 term or phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" here cannot 
 mean any other than the Kingdom of Glory, and har- 
 monize with the context, and the design of the Saviour. 
 
 Besides, the language is not this little child, but a 
 little child; meaning any or every little child indefinitely. 
 " Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a 
 little child," etc. This is a doctrine not of modern date, 
 nor of man's invention. It has been advocated in all 
 periods of the Christian dispensation, as appears from 
 the history of the church, and no doubt it never was 
 disputed until the church was corrupted with heresy. 
 
 The probability is, that the opposite opinion orig- 
 inated with Papacy, and was afterwards abetted by all of 
 like sentiment ; holding either to baptismal regenera- 
 tion, or good works in order to salvation, or perhaps to 
 both. 
 
 My object is, first, to give you a brief history of this 
 doctrine with argumental proof of its truth ; secondly, 
 the probable reasons that infants are translated to 
 heaven in infancy. And in the last place, make an 
 application. 
 
 First then as to the history of this doctrine. 
 
 That infants at death are glorified has always been 
 the faith of those denominations of Christians, known 
 by the appellations, Presbyterians, Dissenters, or 
 Calvinists, in every age, from Apostolic days down to 
 the present, although the contrary has been often 
 asserted by the ignorant and the false. 
 
 Thus, for example, we find Vincentius and Victor, 
 in the fourth century opposing the horrid doctrines of 
 infant damnation, introduced by Prelatists, who advo- 
 cated baptismal regeneration, asserting that in order to 
 salvation, all infants must be baptized. So also John 
 
CHILDHOOD. 
 
 53 
 
 Wickliff, of England, and John Huss of Bohemia, both 
 in the fourteenth century : also the Lollards, their fol- 
 lowers, who separated themselves from the Papacy, and 
 suffered death for the doctrine afterwards called Calvin- 
 istic. I say all these of whom the world was not 
 worthy, advocated the salvation of infants who died in 
 infancy, whether baptized or not. 
 
 So also we find Zuinglius declaring, that all children 
 whether those of Christian or Heathen parents, that 
 die before actual or known transgression, are saved. 
 See his epistles. And, as Maresius says on the words of 
 the text, " For of such is the Kingdom of God," "If all 
 children are not saved who die in infancy, why are the 
 words of the text so general and indefinite ?" And 
 Calvin himself, (though branded by the ignorant, as the 
 inventor and abettor of infant destruction,) in his Insti- 
 tutes of the Christian Religion, book 4th, chapter 16, 
 while he firmly maintains that all infants are involved 
 in the penalty clue to Adam's first sin, being our cove- 
 nant representative, his first act being regarded as the act 
 of all his race, yet maintains that they are by Christ 
 redeemed from the evil consequent upon Adam's sin, 
 and that they are susceptible of regeneration, and con- 
 sequently of eternal life, all of which was implied in his 
 declaration "suffer little children to come unto me, for 
 of such is the Kingdom of God." And from Christ 
 blessing little children, it is obvious that he intended to 
 show that they are saved through Him. 
 
 In his commentary on the words of our Lord con- 
 cerning children, "for of such is the Kingdom of God," 
 without any limitation of meaning, or hesitation, he 
 declares that God adopts infants, and washes them in 
 the blood of his Son — that they are regarded of Christ, 
 as among His redeemed. (See Institutes, book fourth, 
 chap. 16, section 31.) 
 
54 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Such have been the views of all Calvinists, from the 
 days of Calvin, both on the eastern and western conti- 
 nent, the names of whom will always gild the page of 
 ecclesiastical history, a few of whose names it may not 
 be amiss to record. Calvin, Tyndale, Scot, Newton, 
 Gill, Pictet, Whitfield, Watts, Hale, Howe, all of the 
 old world ; and Mather and Junkin, eminent old- 
 fashioned Calvinists of the new. But here the caviler 
 may be ready to ask, does not the Westminster Confes- 
 sion of Faith, the standard ot the Presbyterian Church, 
 speak only of elect infants being regenerated, and saved 
 by Christ through the Spirit ? (chap. 10, sec. 3.) This 
 question I answer by asking another. Can any infant 
 be saved that is not elected ? If they have fallen in 
 Adam, (as undoubtedly "all in him have sinned,") 
 then, if saved, it must be on the ground that God has 
 elected them to salvation, for even if we admit that 
 the doctrine of meritorious good works was true as a 
 ground of salvation, (although the Bible condemns it,) 
 still they could not be saved on that ground, for the in- 
 fant, before a sense of right and wrong is incapable of 
 accountable moral action. (Rom. 5: 12.) From this 
 reasoning, then, is it not conclusive that infant salvation 
 can be supported only on the ground of their election ? 
 The doctrine of the Divine Sovereignty does not militate 
 against infant salvation, for while it attributes to Jeho- 
 vah, all power and right over his creatures to dispose of 
 them ; to impart or withhold His favors as seemeth to 
 him good ; may He not give His special favor to infants 
 dying in infancy, in the exercise of this sovereignty, as 
 well as to adults ? And is it not more reasonable that 
 his favor would be conferred on them rather than on 
 adults, seeing they have never knowingly and willfully 
 offended against Him as adults have ? And would not 
 the praise of his glorious grace, be as much exhibited in 
 
CHILDHOOD. 55 
 
 the salvation of infants, as in that of adults, if this be 
 the great object of redemption, as undoubtedly it is ? 
 (See Eph. 1st chap. 6th A r erse ; also 3d chapter 10th 
 verse.) And is not the infant as capable of regeneration 
 as the adult is ? Assuredly it is. For in these works of 
 grace, while under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they 
 are both equally passive. Besides this, we have cases on 
 record where this work has been effected by the spirit 
 before birth ; as, for instance, the prophet Jeremiah, 
 also John the Baptist. (See Jer. 1st chap. 5th verse ; 
 also Luke, 1st chap. 15th verse.) Now with these in- 
 stances before us, of men sanctified from the womb for 
 a special work on earth, is it not reasonable to infer that 
 a good and merciful God does sanctify through the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, all infants who die before the period of 
 accountability ? and thus qualify them for the glorious 
 employ of the youthful cherubs above. 
 
 Thus, afflicted parents, God has from eternity ap- 
 pointed a bound to your little one's days that she could 
 not pass. Keflect, that sovereign, electing grace has, 
 from all eternity, encircled in the arms of unmerited 
 compassion, through Jesus Christ, the babe and suckling, 
 so as, out of their mouth to perfect praise ; — then your 
 fears are at once appeased — then your sorrows, bereaved 
 parents, are at once turned into joy. 
 
 But, in the second place, we will speak of some of 
 the probable reasons that God calls children home. 
 
 And first, it is in mercy to them. Earth at its best 
 estate is vanity ; so deceitful and disappointing is even 
 the friendship of bosom friends ; so alluring are the 
 temptations that earth and sense present, that here we 
 may be likened to the tempest-tossed mariner, for whom 
 there is no safety, no repose, till he reaches his destined 
 haven. The world is constantly promising in the pros- 
 pect, great happiness, many comforts ; but all at once 
 
56 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 they vanish or are blasted by an unseen hand. But the 
 infant dead never feels those pangs, never experiences 
 those spirit chilling, heart-crushing sorrows. It peace- 
 fully glides from the arms of its earthly to those of its 
 heavenly Father. Suppose the little one who is now gone, 
 had been allowed to reach mature age, become entangled 
 with the gayety and follies of this world, her hopes high- 
 ly exalted, but through the snares and deceitfulness of 
 sin and of sinners, been deceived, disappointed in her 
 expectations, placed in circumstances destructive of all 
 peace here, and well adapted to ensure her misery here- 
 after. How very different from her present condition ! 
 Oh ! what a contrast ! ! But she has escaped all this ! 
 
 Rest, on the bosom of thy God; young spirit, rest thee now — 
 None of the sorrows here portrayed, shall fall upon thy browl 
 The vital cup in part, your lips had quaffed, 
 But, with it sickened, you repelled the draught — 
 Opposed; then turning from the blaze of day, 
 You gently breathed your infant soul away. 
 Oh, mourn not for the dead, in youth who pass away, 
 Ere peace and joy and bliss have fled, and sin has brought decay. 
 Better in youth to die, life being fair and bright, 
 Than when the soul has lost its truth, in age and sorrow's night. 
 Then shed not the tear of grief upon the sable bier, 
 Her wearied spirit finds a rest, in a more blissful sphere. 
 
 But again, children are called away out of mercy and 
 love to parents. We have too many idols in this world. 
 If God loves us, he must take them out of our way, that 
 we may be led to worship God, and not idols. We are 
 too much disposed to love the creature more than the 
 Creator. Now, to wean us from earth, and set our af- 
 fections on things above, to have the world painted in 
 its true colors before our eyes, and be brought, like Job, 
 to loathe it, exclaiming, "I would not live always," is a 
 very important desideratum— a point highly desirable to 
 
CHILDHOOD. 
 
 57 
 
 gain, so as we may be turned from the ways of sin and 
 death, into those of holiness and life. 
 
 Think not of your child as dead, but think of it as 
 living ; — not as a flower withered, to bloom no more ; but 
 as one transplanted by Jehovah's hand to bloom in rich- 
 er colors, and sweeter shades than those of earth. Bear 
 in mind God has done this, who does all things best. 
 
 With patient mind thy course of duty run; 
 God nothing does nor suffers to be done 
 But thou would'st do thyself, if thou could'st see 
 The end of all He does, as well as He. 
 
 May the Lord, of his infinite mercy, make this dis- 
 pensation the means of a present and eternal blessing to 
 your souls, through Jesus Christ His Son. Ame:n". 
 
 PIETY IN CHILDHOOD. 
 
 EEV. ROBERT WYE BETTS. 
 
 ON THE UNTIMELY DEATH OP E. T. D., AGED 13 TEARS, SON OF THE RET. 
 
 S. A. DAYIES, 
 
 KILLED AT THE NEW CROSS RAILWAY STATION, ENGLAND. 
 
 "Because in him was found some good thing toward the Lord God of 
 
 Israel"—! Kings xiv : 13. 
 
 " First the blade"— Mark iv : 28. 
 
 A LTHOUGH the dealings of God with the children 
 of men, and the course and dispensations of 
 Divine Providence are, to a great extent, enveloped in 
 mystery and in gloom, occasional gleams of light break 
 through the darkness — gleams of celestial light whereby 
 the dark enshrouding shadow-casting clouds are dis- 
 persed — gleams of celestial light whereby we are able to 
 see that the whole is ordered in infinite wisdom and 
 3* 
 
58 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 love. That God " doeth all things well," and overrules 
 whatever occurs to us as individuals, families, or 
 nations, for the best, are truths which are frequently, 
 forcibly, and fully affirmed in His Holy Word. But 
 when events that are of a peculiarly distressing and 
 afflictive character take place, our faith is apt to waver. 
 We cling to the general idea ; but in relation to the 
 particular circumstance that presses so heavily, and 
 makes the individual heart bleed, we are at a loss to 
 perceive how that can be comprehended in any benefi- 
 cent arrangement, and are prone to think that that 
 might have been spared. The trial of faith is un- 
 doubtedly on this point, when the keenest sensibilities 
 of our nature are touched ; when the dearest objects of 
 our affection are smitten ; when the most treasured 
 blessings of our heart are violently wrested from us. 
 Yet, even in such circumstances, faith is not altogether 
 without its relief and its rescue ; for sometimes, in ad- 
 dition to the strong and general assurance of His word, 
 our Heavenly Father lifts a portion of the veil from the 
 dark dispensations of His Providence; gives us a 
 glimpse of the reason why He permitted the sorrow, the 
 woe, the bereavement to come ; enables us to hear His 
 voice above the roar of the surging waves and the rush 
 of the tempestuous wind, as the Disciples heard the voice 
 of Jesus when their hearts were failing them for fear 
 upon the storm-tossed lake of Galilee. "It is I. Be 
 not afraid." 
 
 Death. The death of children is one of the gloom- 
 iest, darkest, and, in the world's opinion, one of the 
 most mysterious and unnatural dispensations of Divine 
 Providence. Philosophy is startled at the idea of a little 
 one cut down just as the buds and blossoms of its life 
 are becoming developed. And infidelity, emboldened 
 by such an event, ventures on the assertion that there is 
 
CHILDHOOD. 59 
 
 no Providence but the chapter of accidents, and no 
 other God in the world but chance. 
 
 A little deeper attention to the matter, a closer and 
 more prayerful investigation of the Book of God, will, 
 perhaps, lead to the throwing of more light upon this 
 subject than it is generally supposed to have. Let what- 
 ever will betide, I have no hesitation in affirming, not 
 only on the ground of my Scriptural beliefs, but on the 
 ground also of the coincident testimony of experience 
 and observation, the stern logic of facts, and the world's 
 past history, that the "Judge of all the earth" must 
 do right. If " Light is sown for the righteous," it is 
 the condition of the sowing that the light be buried 
 beneath the soil, its elements, its germs, its seed-form, 
 be laid in darkness and in death. " That which thou 
 sowest is not quickened, except it die." 
 
 These are general principles — confessedly difficult at 
 times of individual application, and not always to be 
 perceived or understood in relation to the particular 
 event which is at this or that particular moment of our 
 history our particular trial. But, then the Bible does 
 not shut us up to general principles. It gives us a 
 number of instances of their particular application, in 
 the Biographies and Histories embalmed in its inspired 
 record. The Biographies of the Bible are not mere 
 biographies written with no higher aim than that of 
 making us acquainted with the men of the past. The 
 Histories of the Bible are not mere histories narrated for 
 no other purpose than that of describing the onward 
 progress of events, until the arrival of the "fulness of 
 time," and the advent of the promised Messiah. They 
 are biographies and histories rich with illustrations of 
 the principles by which God's procedure is governed ; 
 fruitful with lessons of heavenly wisdom, in relation to 
 the reasons of many of his dealings with the children of 
 
60 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 men. They are a mine of spiritual wealth, from which 
 the earnest and devout workman may procure gems of 
 inestimable worth — a firmament of spiritual stars, from 
 which illuminating beams stream down on many things 
 which we deem dark, mysterious, inexplicable. Inter- 
 preted by the histories and biographies of the Bible, the 
 woes, the sorrows, the bereavements of life, are not so 
 dark, mysterious, inexplicable, as we had supposed them 
 to be. 
 
 Very sad, mournful, distressing, is the Providence 
 which has furnished me with a special topic of discourse 
 this evening. The youngest son of our dear friend, the 
 Eev. S. A. Davies, a beautiful child of thirteen years of 
 age — beautiful not only for the bright intelligence of his 
 countenance, but beautiful for his spirit — beautiful for 
 his early piety, some ten days ago fell from the platform 
 of the New Cross Railway Station, and was instantly 
 crushed to death beneath the wheels of the train for 
 which he was waiting, in company with his brother, to 
 go to the Crystal Palace. 
 
 We ask, why was one so young, so full of promise, so 
 gentle, and so good — such a treasure at home, and such 
 a pattern at school, so suddenly snatched away — so 
 early called ? Indeed, I cannot tell all the reasons for 
 his premature death, any more than I can tell all the 
 reasons why so many of the beautiful buds and blossoms 
 of the early spring time are permitted to be nipped by the 
 frost and perish, any more than I can tell all the reasons 
 why such men as Josiah, the pious King of Israel, 
 and Prince Albert, the noble husband of our 
 beloved Queen, should be cut down in* the very prime 
 and flower of life, just when, according to our poor 
 judgments, they could least be spared; and at the time 
 when their influence for good had reached its power and 
 its zenith. But I do not think it is totally inexplicable, 
 
CHILDHOOD. 61 
 
 or that we must leave it altogether shrouded in distress- 
 ing mystery. There is a narrative in Scripture which 
 sheds light upon it. We may interpret it by the death 
 of the youthful Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, and the 
 reason assigned for his premature decease. " Because 
 in him was found some good thing toward the Lord God 
 of Israel." 
 
 Abijah was taken from the evil to come. Woes and 
 judgments hung over the house of Jeroboam. But, be- 
 fore their thunderbolts fell, God put forth His hand and 
 took this pious youth to a place of safety. " Death came 
 to him as a reward, a blessing, and a deliverance." God 
 spared him the sorrow of witnessing his father's un- 
 happy end. Delivered him from the evils by which his 
 father's wicked conduct would have surrounded him, on 
 his ascension to the throne, by shortening his earthly 
 existence. God loved him, and therefore so early called 
 him home. 
 
 Of course the only parallel circumstance between the 
 early death of Abijah and the early death of that little 
 youth whose untimely end we now deplore is the fact of 
 their early piety. But the reason given for Abijah's 
 early death — "Because in him was found some good 
 thing towards the Lord God of Israel," sheds like a star 
 its bright and beautiful and peaceful light upon what 
 would else be in the case of Edward Thomas Davies a 
 Providence dark as midnight. God loved him, and 
 therefore so early called him home. 
 
 Alas ! How often w N e are mistaken in our interpreta- 
 tion of God's providential dealings. We are prone to think 
 He is acting harshly, when, in fact, He is acting most 
 tenderly, kindly, and wisely. We see only parts of His 
 ways. But were we in a position to understand the 
 whole — were the reason always disclosed to us as it is in 
 relation to Abijah's premature decease — there would not 
 
62 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 be a moment's hesitation about our cordial acquiescence 
 in all His movements, or of our acceptance of the most 
 afflictive depensations of His Providence as freighted 
 with mercy and laden with the highest good. The 
 heavenly husbandman gathers for the heavenly garner 
 the fruit that is earliest ripe. He takes his best beloved 
 away from the evil to come. Upon the tomb-stone of 
 this little one God has himself written the epitaph, 
 "Because in him was found some good thing toward the 
 Lord of Israel." 
 
 It will be seasonable to embrace the opportunity 
 given by the premature death of this dear boy — whom I 
 believe to have been, in the true, full sense of the phrase, 
 " a child of God and an inheriter of the kingdom of 
 heaven" — to make a few observations upon Piety in 
 Childhood. 
 
 What are the characteristics and features of piety in 
 childhood ? what is the form in which we are to look for 
 it ? what the symptoms, the features, by which we may 
 recognize its existence ? 
 
 6 < First the blade." 
 
 I. Can piety exist in Childhood? Most certainly it 
 can. There is nothing in the dispensation of mercy — 
 nothing in the general attributes of religion, that limits 
 piety to any particular age. 
 
 The Atonement is full and sufficient for the sins of 
 the whole world, without limitation of country, age, or 
 condition; so that, on the ground of the Atonement, is 
 the fact of Atonement, whosoever cometh to God, be he 
 young or old, child or adult, "shall in no wise be cast 
 out." 
 
 The Holy Spirit, who is the great agent in the effect- 
 ual working of the Christian Dispensation, is boundless 
 in compassion, infinite in grace, alive with tenderness, 
 so that the smoking flax can bear his breath and not be 
 
CHILDHOOD. 63 
 
 quenched — the bruised reed receive his influence and not 
 be broken — the child's heart receive his grace and not 
 be crushed with its "far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory." 
 
 The Seed of the Kingdom of Heaven is like the seed 
 of the mustard-tree — small, the smallest, of all seeds — 
 suitable, therefore, for implantation in the soul of the 
 youngest child. There is nothing in itself, nothing in 
 its own nature, to prevent its being sown with the very 
 earliest dawn of reason and receptivity. 
 
 The Gospel is the instrumentality by which souls are 
 saved. The Gospel possesses such an inherent power of 
 adaptation, that it is "strong meat for men " and "milk 
 for babes " — an ocean in which the leviathan can play, 
 and a softly- flowing brook at which the timid lamb may 
 drink — a river whose waters in some parts rise no higher 
 than the ankles, but in others so deep that no plum-line 
 can sound its awful depths and fathomless mysteries. 
 
 According to the arrangements of human law and 
 social life, there is a minority during which the child or 
 youth is incapable of performing certain functions, and 
 incapable of taking upon himself certain responsibilities. 
 Though he may be the heir, yet, until he has attained 
 his majority, he is " under tutors and governors" — can- 
 not administer his own affairs, manage his own estate, 
 or be legally liable for any debts he may contract. But 
 in religion the only minority is that which exists before 
 reason and conscience are at all developed. The spirit- 
 ual faculties of the child are equal in number to the 
 spiritual faculties of the adult; they only lack their manly 
 vigor. Instead of being the worse, they are, in some 
 respects, the better for this. For their manly vigor is 
 oftentimes associated with a guilty experience; and the 
 conscience, in early life, so tender and shrinking from 
 what is wrong, so wise to what is good, and so simple 
 
64 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 concerning evil, has often times, in later years, had a 
 grievous moral injury done it, by a course of willful and 
 persistent sin. 
 
 The yet incomplete development, therefore, of the 
 faculties, is no hindrance to personal religion; because 
 it is to the affections of the heart that piety makes its 
 appeal. And when favored with religious advantages, 
 when nurtured in the admonition and fear of the Lord, 
 the early childhood years of life are the most hopeful, 
 the most favorable years for the implantation of the 
 seeds of grace, and for the direction of mind, ere it is 
 immersed in the thousand cares of the world, to the 
 pursuit and the possession of the "one thing needful." 
 
 Children piously taught and trained in the fear of 
 the Lord have, I believe, religious impressions much 
 earlier than parents and teachers in general seem to look 
 for them, or think they can exist. I have no hesitation 
 in saying, that the work of grace has often commenced, 
 and made considerable progress, when, to our poor im- 
 perfect sight and blindness of spiritual perception, there 
 does not appear to be anything more than the outwork- 
 ings of the natural temperament. 
 
 There is, indeed, amongst children, that great imped- 
 iment to religion — constitutional depravity — the natural 
 corruption of the human heart. But this belongs to 
 human nature in every stage of its being, and is not, 
 cannot be, so strong in early life as it is subsequently, 
 when years of sinfulness have added to its force, and 
 actual transgression has piled it up a higher mountain 
 of separation. 
 
 In childhood, the soil of the heart is not so pre- 
 occupied, so extensively pre-occupied, as it is in maturer 
 years. The ill weeds of evil, instead of being full-grown, 
 exist only in their incipient and germ forms. 
 
 To childhood, the gate of heaven is not so strait as it 
 
CHILDHOOD. 65 
 
 becomes in after years. A child can easier pass through 
 it than a man. 
 
 If you want to have plain and positive proof that 
 piety can exist in childhood, you have only to search 
 the annals of the Church, in order to discover, from the 
 beginning until now, a continuous line of the brightest 
 examples of early piety. God, by His Holy Spirit, fre- 
 quently begins to work very early in the mind — children 
 of very tender years are frequently the subjects of His 
 saving grace. Boys and girls are not too young to serve 
 the Lord, or love the Saviour. To many young im- 
 mortals, like Samuel, Josiah, and Timothy, God has re- 
 vealed the things of His kingdom, while He has hidden 
 them from the wise and prudent. There are lambs in 
 the Saviour's fold ; and though the Church often hesi- 
 tates and fears to receive them into its fellowship, the 
 Redeemer receives them, folds them in His arms, and 
 carries them in His bosom. Nearly three years ago 
 there was a little child, the infant daughter of one of 
 the members of this church, who died ; she was not 
 quite five years old. A little while before her spirit left 
 its little suffering mortal frame-work, it seemed as 
 though the Holy Spirit imparted to her the fact that 
 she was about to die. Calling her father to her side she 
 said, "Father, I'm going to be dead ;" and as he, with 
 tearful eyes and heart full of grief, looked on, her little 
 voice was again heard, " Father, open the door, and let 
 Jesus in." Then after giving directions respecting the 
 disposal of her books and toys, the vision of glory ap- 
 peared to break upon her sight, even as heaven opened 
 before the eyes of the martyred Stephen, she said, 
 " Father, I can see Jesus." A few moments afterwards 
 she closed her eyes and died, her spirit taking its place 
 before the throne of God in heaven, around which 
 "thousands of children stand — children whose sins are 
 
66 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 all forgiven — a holy, happy band — singing Glory, glory, 
 glory !" Piety can exist in Childhood. And, surely, 
 this little one who said, "Father, I'm going to be dead;" 
 "Open the door and let Jesus in;" "I can see Jesus," 
 was one of the lambs of the Saviour's fold. These are 
 His blessed encouraging words, " I love them that love 
 Me, and they that seek Me early shall find Me." 
 
 The "blade" is as much His production, as "the 
 full corn in the ear." In fact, His compassionate regard 
 is as much, perhaps more, shown to the former than to 
 the latter ; for while He sends His sun to ripen the ear, 
 He protects the tender blade from the nipping, biting, 
 killing frost, by covering it with a carpet of snow. 
 
 Piety can exist in Childhood. " Suffer," said the 
 Saviour, when His disciples were endeavoring to send 
 the little ones away, and, with rude rebuffs, bidding 
 the mothers not trouble the Master, "the little children 
 to come unto Me and forbid them not, for of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven." 
 
 And when the disciples were disputing about who 
 should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, He took a 
 little child and set him in the midst, and, after telling 
 them that he would be greatest who nearest approxi- 
 mated to the guileless spirit, meekness, and docility of 
 that little child, He warned them, " Take heed that ye 
 despise not one of these little ones who believe in Me, 
 for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always 
 behold the face of my Father, who is in heaven." It is 
 "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings " that God 
 "perfects praise." One of his blessed promises, re- 
 lating to Gospel times, is, "I will pour My spirit 
 upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring ;" 
 a promise which is necessarily vague, which is stript of 
 the beauty and grandeur of its meaning, if piety cannot 
 exist in childhood. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 61 
 
 II. What are the characteristics of Piety in Childhood? 
 
 What is the form in which we are to look for it ? What 
 the symptoms, the features, by which we may recognize 
 its existence ? 
 
 " First, the blade." 
 
 Now, in looking for the features and characteristics 
 of piety in childhood, you must, of course, have an eye 
 to the moral fitness and order of things. You would 
 never think of looking for the "full corn in the ear," 
 in the early spring time ; for the fruit of the apple tree, 
 while the apple tree is clothed with its beautiful blos- 
 soms ; for the sagacity and ability of manhood, in a boy 
 at school. So, in your search for the lineaments of 
 youthful piety, you must not expect to find theological 
 knowledge, mature experience, keen doctrinal precep- 
 tions, a full systematic creed, or anything of that sort. 
 These things are the aftergrowth. It would be most 
 unnatural were they to exist. As unnatural as it would 
 be to find the "ear" of corn, formed and developed, 
 when the "blade" is just shooting its tiny spire through 
 the earth's crust. Eeligion is a life. Piety is a growth ; 
 its beginning is small. In its early stages, in theyouth- 
 ful mind, it is mainly a thing of feeling, affection. The 
 heart is touched by the sweet and tragic story of the 
 Cross. The mind is moved by the impulse of devotion ; 
 simple, confiding trust in God is awakened, and the re- 
 ligion comes out not in the form and phraseology of theo- 
 logic schools ; not in the lines and furrows of old age, 
 but in the spirit of a little loving life, which loves Jesus 
 because He left His throne in glory to die for sinners, 
 and to re-open the closed gate of the kingdom of heaven ; 
 in the spirit of a little loving life, which shrinks from 
 evil, falsehood, deceit, and cruelty, for reasons which it 
 cannot fully define, or decipher to itself ; in the spirit 
 of a little loving life, which bends the knee in such 
 
68 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 beautiful simplicity and earnestness of prayer, that 
 angels stop to listen to its confiding uttterances. 
 
 What are the natural characteristics of Childhood ? 
 I mean the characteristics which distinguish a child in 
 relation to his parents. Are they not such as these ? 
 Dependence, Faith, Obedience, Docility, Love. Now, 
 transfer these characteristics from their earthly to their 
 heavenly sphere ; transfer them in heightened form and 
 power, from the human to the Heavenly Father, and 
 you have at once, in their incipient form, the true fea- 
 tures of youthful piety. Piety in childhood manifests 
 itself in an unbounded confidence in the Heavenly 
 Father's love and power. In the main, in a positive 
 remembrance of, and obedience to, the Heavenly Father's 
 precepts, but occasionally a wayward and strange forget- 
 fain ess of them. In the simple receptivity (unclouded 
 by any dark doubts or difficulties) with which it hears 
 and receives the Heavenly Father's words. In the frank 
 and artless way in which its affections flew out and up- 
 ward to the great God who made heaven and earth, and 
 to the Saviour who died that we might be washed and 
 forgiven. There is perfect naturalness, perfect simpli- 
 city, in the form of childhood's piety ; unsuspicious, 
 devout, anxious to please, vivid in its recognitions and 
 beliefs ; not yet realizing the strange and sorrowful 
 vicissitudes of the Christian life, "Full of spiritual 
 simplicity, and artless love, and frank confidence, and 
 enthusiastic hope, and fervent gratitude, and uncalculat- 
 ing self-denial," it unfolds itself just as you might expect 
 a life infused by the Holy Spirit to unfold ; not in the 
 technicology of doctrinal distinctions ; not in the prim- 
 ness of Pharisaic form ; not in agonies of spiritual dis- 
 tress, such as the wild olive tree suffers, when it is cut 
 for the purpose of having a graft from the tree of life 
 inserted into it ; but in the gentle, beautiful manner of 
 
CSILDEOOD. 69 
 
 the " blade," which rises imperceptibly from the earth's 
 dark soil, and then as beautifully, and as gradually, 
 progresses toward maturity, producing, in natural order, 
 "first, the blade, then the ear, and afterward the full 
 corn in the ear." 
 
 It has been my privilege during my ministerial life 
 to receive into the fellowship of the Church a large 
 number of young Christians. I am sure I am correct in 
 saying that by far the larger number of those who have 
 been thus admitted into communion in early life have 
 been the children of pious parents of many prayers — 
 who have received a godly and pious training. Their 
 almost invariable testimony has been that their religion 
 has been a growth — not resulting from any sudden im- 
 pulse, but coming out as a life which the Holy Spirit 
 has imparted, shooting up like the "blade" of wheat, 
 almost invisibly in its beginnings, but showing itself to 
 be a genuine plant of grace by its structure and by its 
 growth ; while in relation to very many of whom I 
 speak I have no sort of doubt but that for many years 
 before they came to me, though perhaps parents and 
 friends knew it not, they were safely enfolded within the 
 precincts of the Saviour's kingdom. "Of such is the 
 kingdom of Heaven." " First the blade." 
 
 Of Piety in Childhood, in its " blade " form, the 
 dear boy (who has so suddenly, and under such painfully 
 distressing circumstances, been taken from us) was a 
 striking illustration. 
 
 Beyond the "blade" form the piety of little E. T. D. 
 was not suffered to have any development in this 
 world. Its development — full maturity — however, has 
 been reached earlier than it could possibly have been in 
 this world. By a process which nature knows nothing 
 of, but which is common in the realms of grace, that 
 little child, bearing on earth the incipient " image of 
 
?o Memorial tributes. 
 
 the heavenly," has now taken on its perfect likeness. 
 "The blade," brought to perfection in the instant of its 
 death transition, is now safely deposited in the heavenly 
 garner. 
 
 Parents and Teachers, — Watch for the springing of 
 the "blade" of piety in the hearts of the children com- 
 mitted to your charge. Do not overlook it. Take care 
 lest you trample upon it. At its first appearance it will 
 be very tender and very small. And when you discover 
 it, foster it, nurture it with kindly influences. Water it 
 with the tears of prayer and thankful joy. Pray for the 
 Sun of Righteousness to shine upon it with his fruit 
 producing beams. Don't talk to your children about 
 religion as a thing to be possessed in the future, and say- 
 that you hope that some day they will love the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. It may be that the good seed of the 
 kingdom has already taken root — that the love of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ is already begotten. By such remarks 
 about a future piety you may stop the growth of the 
 piety that already exists. God sometimes begins His 
 work very early. Then recognize piety in its first 
 development, and the love of God in its most incipient 
 forms. 
 
 Children and Young People! Is the "blade" of 
 piety springing up in your hearts ? Think what a bar- 
 ren and desolate heart yours must be if it has not the 
 "blade" of piety growing in it, and what a wretched, 
 awful thing it would be for you to have your life pre- 
 maturely cut short as that dear little fellow's was of 
 whom I have been speaking. Instead of being gathered 
 into the heavenly garner, you would have been cast out. 
 Instead of there being "hope in your death," your 
 friends and relatives would have been deprived of the 
 strong and sweet consolation which the friends of 
 Edward Thomas Davies have, notwithstanding his un- 
 
CHILDHOOD. 71 
 
 timely end. It is a sad thing to be without piety toward 
 God, for piety toward God is the first and foremost duty 
 of life. All the ways of the world, though they seem so 
 sunny and pleasant, are "vanity and vexation of spirit." 
 They lead down to the chambers of death. Only the 
 paths of religion are pleasantness and peace. If there is 
 not "first the blade," there can never be "the full corn 
 in the ear." There will never be a season again so favor- 
 able as the present for you to receive into your hearts 
 the good seed of the kingdom, for as you grow older 
 "the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and 
 the lust of other things, will choke the word, and 
 render it unfruitful." " Eemember now your Creator 
 in the days of your youth." Give your hearts to him at 
 once. From this time cry unto him, "My Father, thou 
 shalt be the guide of my youth." And then, whatever 
 evil days may come — whether an early tomb or pro- 
 tracted years be your lot — all will be well. For if, on 
 the one hand, you come to an early grave, you will the 
 sooner reach the mansions of everlasting joy ; or if, on 
 the other, you are permitted to attain a good old age in 
 this world, your life will be a walk with God under the 
 guidance and fear of His love ; and when Death, the 
 Great Eeaper, shall at length come, it will be to gather 
 you, as a shock of corn fully ripe, into the Heavenly 
 Garner. Come, and, kneeling before your Heavenly 
 Father's footstool, " join yourself to Him in a perpetual 
 covenant that shall never be forgotten." 
 
 The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall 
 feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of 
 waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes. 
 
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 YOUTH, 
 
 SUNSET AT NOON. 
 
 REV. W. RODWELL. 
 
 Her sun is gone down while it was yet day. — Jek. 15: 9. 
 
 TXTHATEVER may be the literal meaning of these 
 
 * words they suggest a departure in mid-life. 
 Wherever we go, over land or sea, death's ravages are 
 seen, and at whatever season of the year or hour of the 
 day we visit the abodes of men death has preceded us. 
 It has its types in fading flower, in withering grass, in 
 falling leaf and setting sun. 
 
 The sun going down at noon is very suggestive of 
 the unexpectedness of death in the meridian of life, and 
 yet 
 
 I. The sun goes down by the appointment of God. 
 " He maketh night and day," and ruleth the heavens. 
 Joshua and Hezekiah alone have interfered with the 
 sun's course during a period of nearly 6,000 years. 
 To God belong the issues of even death. He never visits 
 without the Divine appointment. 
 
 II. The sun goes down for the benefit of the human 
 
 [72] 
 
YOtTTH. n 
 
 race, that man may retire and rest and recruit his wasted 
 powers, that other portions of the human family may 
 obtain light and heat, and that man's fund of knowledge 
 may be increased. For darkness shows us worlds by night 
 we never saw by day. 
 
 So death works for the world's good, restrains wick- 
 edness, solemnises thoughtless ones, through tears and 
 bereavements shadows earth, attracts to heaven and re- 
 veals wondrous things to the dead. 
 
 III. The sun often goes down too soon for us. Work 
 unfinished, Joshua, Hezekiah, David, " Spare me," Vol- 
 taire, Elizabeth. In spite of life's trials and sorrow, we 
 cling to it ; even Moses desired to live longer that he 
 might enjoy more of the beauties, but his sun went 
 down on this side of Jordan. 
 
 IV. The sun has his natural time for setting. This 
 setting is expected and prepared for by man : to set be- 
 fore would be startling, perplexing, phenomenal. So 
 with human life. Every one expects the accustomed 
 length of days — three score or four score — to be cut off 
 before or in mid-life seems unnatural, abnormal and 
 mysterious. 
 
 V. The sun goes down to rise again. In a brief in- 
 terval he appears again, climbing the heavens in majesty 
 and strength. So with the departed dead. Those in 
 Christ will appear again in golden splendor. Those out 
 of Christ amid the lurid flames of the lost. A time will 
 come when this orb of day will go down, never more to 
 rise, but the godly shall live on, " unhurt," where the 
 "sun shall no more go down." 
 
 VI. Let us be cheered by this light of revelation. God 
 is the Father of Lights, does all things well, and whether 
 the sun of our loved ones depart in the morning, at 
 mid-day, or in the evening, it will have a glorious rising 
 in that perfect day, in which there shall be no night. 
 
 4 
 
74 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE SLEEPING DAMSEL. 
 
 KEV. F. WAGSTAFF. 
 The damsel is not dead but sleepeth. — Mark v: 39. 
 "JPVEATH never inquires about age or goodness before 
 ""■^ he touches with his icy finger. This girl was twelve 
 years of age. She was probably a good, dutiful girl, who 
 obeyed her parents, rejoiced in their company, and 
 basked in their smile ; she was doubtless also of an affec- 
 tionate, obliging disposition, for while we know that her 
 father loved and sought on her behalf the Saviour's saving 
 power, other hearts were attracted towards her and many 
 people came to weep over her at her death. Learn 
 
 I. That youth and amiability do not shield from sick- 
 ness and death. However few the years, amiable the dis- 
 position, attractive the person, engaging the manners, 
 the worm of sin is gnawing the vitals and death is ap- 
 proaching with his dart. 
 
 II. How valuable are godly parents to their chil- 
 dren. Parental affection should prompt at all times to 
 deep interest in the salvation of children, but when dan- 
 ger threatens, sickness pales, and weakness shows the 
 precursory dissolution, there should be no hesitancy or 
 delay in seeking the aid and presence of Jesus. This 
 child's father sought Jesus. He was his only hope. How 
 great his faith, even when she was dead. "• Only lay thy 
 hand upon her and she shall live." Matt, ix : 18. 
 
 III. The comforting word with which Jesus clothes 
 the idea of death. " Sleep." He ever sought to impress 
 the people that death is not the end, but only the sus- 
 pension of activity. Sleep is rest for future activity. 
 Death is rest, and that only of the body, as in sleep, that 
 in the resurrection, soul and body may enter upon re- 
 
YOUTH. 75 
 
 newed activities. It is in this higher blessed sense that 
 Jesus has used the word. "Asleep in Jesus! Blessed 
 sleep, etc." 
 
 IV. Observe Jesus the resurrection. His heart is 
 moved bj the father's and mother's grief — tender and 
 loving Himself — the elder brother saw with pity in his 
 eye the little sister in the embrace of death — and hav- 
 ing omnipotence at his command He used these sweet 
 winning, powerful words, "Damsel," or, as Dean Sanley 
 translates the original, "My lamb, my sweet little lamb, 
 I say unto thee, arise." How precious the friendship of 
 Jesus, how ready to aid in distress, how tender in his 
 sympathies, how omnipotent in his power. 
 
 V. Note how death quails before the touch and words 
 of Jesus. "He took her by the hand," and said. 
 
 How valuable that hand -help, and those words of life 
 and power. How often that maiden must have thought 
 of the time when she came to life again and found her 
 hand held by one so kind and strong. Would she not 
 afterward — knowing that she was raised to life — say, 
 " For me to live is Christ." 
 
 VI. Learn the fatality of sin. The importance of 
 faith, the value of pious relatives — the readiness, tender- 
 ness and power of Jesus — the sweet name he gives to 
 death. Give Him your hand now, and he will take you 
 by the hand at the resurrection and present you to all 
 blessed and loving ones. 
 
 There comes the thought of glory, 
 
 To which our friends are gone ; 
 The far surpassing glory, 
 
 Beyond what earth has known. 
 Estate of light and gladness, 
 
 Where tears are wiped away; 
 The joy in blessed fullness 
 
 Of everlasting day. 
 
?6 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ONE NOTE IN A BUKIAL HYMN. 
 
 KEY. CHARLES JERDAN. 
 We spend our years as a tale that is told. — Ps. 90: 9. 
 HPHIS is one of the oldest, noblest, richest of the 
 Psalms. Its grand theme is to contrast God and 
 man. Its tone is pensive, sad, like a funeral dirge. It is 
 in fact the burial hymn of the whole generation of un- 
 believers, who left their bones in the wilderness. Yet 
 it lays hold of the power and mercy of the G-od of Je- 
 shurun and represents Jehovah as the everlasting home 
 of men. It has a variety of similes expressive of the 
 frailty and brevity of human life, one of which is our 
 text. Consider then 
 
 I. Our Lives as a Tale : 
 
 1. Because of their romantic interest. This interest 
 attaches to our life, because of the greatness of our 
 nature. A human life is a divine thing, because man 
 was made in the image of God. The meanest person 
 has wonderful faculties and " the power of an endless 
 life." The history of the humblest human life is a 
 story of wonders. What a tragedy is the career of every 
 unconverted man, as his noble humanity sinks down, 
 down, ever down into the blackness of darkness. It is 
 " Vanity Fair " in real life. What a story of light and 
 love and glory unutterable is the biography of the 
 believer, the tale of the " Pilgrim's Progress," " The 
 path of the just, &c." 
 
 2. Because of its brevity. Every story, however 
 thrilling, soon comes to an end. So with human biogra- 
 phy. Moses in this Psalm, Jacob. The hours some- 
 times in a life may seem to pass slowly, but when all 
 gone, they only seem as the told tale ; delusive, disap- 
 
YOTJTH. 77 
 
 pointing, despicable. But Faith looks upon every man's 
 life story with far other eyes. It sees the thread of the 
 narrative which seems cut by the shears of death taken 
 up on the other side and projected through eternity. 
 It is a serial tale — "To be continued in our next/' run- 
 ning on in the eternal world upon the same lines and 
 evolving the same plot and plan as those which we have 
 already composed during the present life. 
 
 3. Because of the oblivion in store for them. How- 
 ever captivating the story, it is soon forgotten. So we 
 shall not only die, but die out, fade from the memory of 
 others. What does the big busy world care about the 
 life story of those who lie under the coverlet of green ? 
 " The living know that they must die, &c." We write 
 our names on water, but the Christian man rejoices that 
 his record is on high, and his name engraven on the 
 breast-plate of the Eedeemer. 
 
 II. The tellers of the tale. Every romance has an 
 author. God our maker may be truly said to be the 
 author and publisher of the story of our life. We draw 
 our being out of His. God has a definite life plan for 
 every human being, and we ought to co-operate with 
 Him in the unfolding of it from day to day. But we 
 must not forget that each one of us is in a special sense 
 the teller of his own life story. Every one of us knows 
 that he is freely and responsibly engaged in determining 
 his own destiny. If Ave are not co-operating with God, we 
 have a prospectus of our own. God's would lead "to 
 glory, honor, immortality," ours is "earthly, sensual, 
 devilish." What are the contents of the pages we have 
 been writing ? Is this their epitome ? " To me to live is 
 Christ." 
 
 III. The listeners to the tale. A tale "told" is for 
 the benefit of some attentive auditory. Who are 
 listening to the story of our lives ? 
 
78 MEMOBIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 1. We ourselves are listening to it. Our memory is 
 listening and "pigeon-holing," treasuring. This book 
 may be opened at the judgment. 
 
 2. Our relatives and neighbors are listening to it. 
 They are reading and carefully pondering. "None of 
 us liveth to himself." Wondrously influential is every 
 chapter and verse of this tale as it is told. " Do not sin 
 against the child." You are your "brother's keeper." 
 
 3. God is listening to it. He has an open eye and 
 an attentive ear. "He shall bring every work into 
 judgment," shall read out our life tale before the uni- 
 verse. It may run thus, "I was an hungered, &c, came 
 unto me," or it may run thus, "I was an hungered, &c, 
 visited me not." "Oh that we were wise, &c." 
 
 Let us so live that our tale, when it is " told," shall 
 be written in heaven and not in hell. 
 
 LIFE FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 JAMES HAMILTON, D.D. 
 Young man, 1 say unto thee, arise. — Luke 7: 14. 
 TT was a summer day in a lovely region. The Saviour 
 and his disciples were entering a little hamlet, when 
 cries fell on their ears, and a funeral possession met their 
 gaze. On the bier lay a young man, the only son of a 
 widow. It was a distressing scene, touched the heart of 
 Jesus, who touched the bier, and said, "young man, etc." 
 I. Death is the great destroyer of earthly happiness. 
 It throws a pall over every landscape, darkens every 
 window, dims every eye. It had done all this and 
 more for this widow. Her husband was gone, all her 
 plans frustrated, etc., and now her only son is on the bier. 
 There was no one to protect, support, comfort her. 
 
70UTH. 79 
 
 Death is the great damper to all. The desire of the 
 eyes taken away, and a pensiveness brooding over every- 
 thing left, a fearful foreboding in the heart continually 
 solicitous about some darling object and all a lifetime 
 "subject to bondage." 
 
 II. Jesus is the destroyer of death. The bier-bearers 
 stand still at his touch, the disembodied spirit heard the 
 yoice, and the re-animated widow's son arose. He who is 
 the " resurrection and. the life " had spoken ; at his 
 omnipotent behest, the spirit came again, and a trans- 
 ported mother and an awe-struck multitude announced 
 the miracle complete. 
 
 No spirit that has passed away is extinct. It will 
 in due time hear this same voice, and recognize its old 
 companion and re-enter its mortal shrine. 
 
 Jesus is effecting the resurrection of dead souls every 
 day. Souls blind to all beauty — deaf to all holy sounds, 
 wrapped in the grave-clothes of sins. He arrests these 
 sometimes by a startling providence on their way to the 
 gulf of souls. Or by wore? He does it : "arise." The 
 soul is quickened, etc. He who believes in Jesus will 
 never die. Faith in Him lightens the gloom of the 
 funeral day, and inspires with a hope of meeting in the 
 same Fathers house. 
 
 III. Jesus by a graceful generosity consummated the 
 deed of mercy. He might have said, "Follow me." " He 
 delivered, etc." Pity first prompted and now generosity 
 consummates. The young man's gratitude was to be 
 exhibited by dutiful obedience to his mother. Show 
 piety at home. Be a paragon of filial piety. "How can 
 I show my love to my Saviour ?" Love your parents. 
 Give them your confidence, society, your sympathy, and 
 G-od your heart. 
 
80 ME MO EI AL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE AMUSIVE WASTE OF LIFE. 
 
 WIT. AT. PAXTOX, D.D. 
 TT<e spend rwr years as a tale tJiat is told. — Ps. 90: 9. 
 'T^HE times and incidents of each year as it closes, fast 
 recede from view, as if borne upon an ebbing tide 
 never to return. And these years are ours. It is a sad 
 and solemn thing to part with anything that is ours. In 
 what sense are they " ours ?" We have no proprietorship 
 in them, nor authority over them. Yet they are linked 
 to us by a personal responsibility and indissoluble rela- 
 tion. 
 
 1. They are ours to enjoy. Enjoyment is the appro- 
 priation by which a thing becomes truly our own. With- 
 out this there can be no real possession, and God made the 
 years to be the measure of our joy. Each day and year 
 is a new gift of heaven to enjoy. Better lose a jewel 
 than a joy. 
 
 2. They are ours to employ. Ours for the best and 
 most valuable uses. They are our seed time to be em- 
 ployed. They are a mine in which there is a mass of 
 precious treasure. They are our working day, in which 
 God says. "Go work, my son, etc/'' 
 
 3. They are ours to account for. Time is a precious 
 treasure given us in trust, as stewards, and a year gone, is 
 a year gone to the judgment seat. So is every day, hour, 
 moment. How do we spend these years? The text tells 
 us. The words imply a censure. 
 
 II. The comparison. Dwell for a few moments on it. 
 
 1. " As a tale,' 3 as a false, unreal, fictitious thing, 
 and not a sober history. The allusion is to the tales, 
 etc., told by traveling minstrels from house to house. 
 
YOUTH. 81 
 
 Such to vast multitudes is life, a vain, unreal, fictitious 
 delusion, a succession of wanton hopes and bitter disap- 
 pointments. Even Solomon found it thus. He mistook 
 the proper use and design of the good things of life. 
 Life is deceitful only as we use it deceitfully. Properly 
 understood and virtuously fulfilled it is a scene of sub- 
 lime reality, a school for exercise and evolution of im- 
 mortal powers. "Life is earnest, etc." 
 
 2. We spend our years anmsively, as if listening to a 
 tale that is told. A tale is usually a momentary trifling 
 amusement. It is followed with no good or permanent 
 results. The story and the emotions excited soon pass 
 and are forgotten. Thus pass many of the years of a 
 large portion of the human race. They waste and con- 
 sume their years as one who listens to a tale that is told. 
 They are mere butterflies. Absorbed by mere trifles. 
 To such the successive stages of life bring no solemn re- 
 flections. 
 
 How different is this manner of employing the life 
 from that to which it was destined by our Creator ! By 
 Him it was intended to be to each one of us a day of 
 probation and of grace, a season in which we were to 
 renounce our sins, accept of the mercy offered us through 
 a Redeemer and secure a title to a happy immortality. 
 
 Have we spent our years thus ? 
 
 3. We spend our years swiftly, as a tale that is told. 
 This confronts us with a serious solemn fact. Hours 
 
 fly like words, weeks like sentences, months like chapters, 
 and life a tale quickly told. "We die daily," says the 
 Apostle, die as fast as time flies. 
 
 " Our birth is nothing but our death begun, 
 And cradles rock us nearer to the tomb." 
 
 4. How short our past life appears in review. " An 
 
 old man can live over all his life again at one sad sitting." 
 ' 4* 
 
82 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Jacob said, "Few and evil have been, etc." He could 
 only remember as it were the leading events, the other 
 parts were as - one great undotted blank. 
 
 III. Another comparison. Years past, like a tale that 
 is told, are useful only for their moral. The past yields 
 food only for solemn reflection. 
 
 1. Each year has heen a year of prolonged life. 
 
 2. Each year a year of great spiritual opportunity 
 and privilege. 
 
 3. Each year a year of domestic and social enjoyment. 
 
 The moral differs according to the position and cir- 
 cumstances of each individual. "As for me and my 
 house, we will serve the Lord," for one; "Son, give me 
 thy heart," for another. 
 
 DIVINE CONSOLATION. 
 
 J. OSWALD DYKES, D.D. 
 
 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion and He said unto her, 
 weep not. — Luke vii: 13. 
 
 r T^HESE words were uttered by the Saviour when he 
 met a funeral procession at the gate of the village 
 of Nain. A poor widow had lost her only son. It was 
 a picture of the deepest human grief. His eye read her 
 story, fathomed her anguished heart, had compassion on 
 her, and with a voice which must have trembled with a 
 strange tenderness, said unto her, "weep not." 
 
 These two words Avere all he said. They were pre- 
 sently interpreted to the widow of Nam, by the miracle 
 which gave her back her son. They have been since in- 
 terpreted for us by the resurrection of the Lord himself 
 and by all the light which has been cast on death, and 
 on the state beyond it, and on the day of general rising, 
 
YOUTH. 83 
 
 and on eternal life ; this leads us into the whole of that 
 large consolation, which Christ's Gospel brings to every 
 Christian who sits and mourns beside his dead. We 
 must not misunderstand this dissuasive from weeping, 
 nor misread these words of Jesus, nor repeat them in 
 another sense than his. 
 
 I. It is not Christ's way to comfort by making light of 
 grief and death. Death is not in his eyes a gentle or a 
 slight thing. He made us for life. He gave us love 
 that we might be happy in living. He meant us to live 
 and love and rejoice in love and life, and when death 
 comes to us through sin, to rend the companionships of 
 love, Christ, who made us and who is one of us, knows 
 what that means. It is in no cold tone of pitiful con- 
 tempt, with no touch of impatience or upbraiding, that 
 He says to any one, " weep not." 
 
 II. Christ does not think it an ungodly thing to weep. 
 It is not wrong to sorrow. Tears are no sin. " Jesus wept." 
 That is not piety which thinks it pays God a service of 
 dutiful submission when it chokes its sobs and veils the 
 bursting heart beneath a smooth, dry face. Jesus as- 
 suages the spring of grief within, but does not chide the 
 overflow of tears. 
 
 III. Jesus did not mean to fully assuage our grief here 
 and now. He gives us as much comfort on earth as will 
 make tolerable the losses of earth and keeps more com- 
 fort for the life to come. When Jesus bade that widow 
 dry her tears it was in anticipation of the deed he was 
 about to do. Words are very impotent without deeds. 
 Till the lost is given back, the heart cannot quite cease 
 to mourn. It is written of another place than earth, that 
 there "God shall wipe away all tears," and there only; 
 and the reason is, that only there God will restore to us 
 our lost and mourned . The chastened and purified sor- 
 row of a bereaved Christian is sorrow still, but it has 
 
84 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 more of heaven in it, than many things which men call 
 
 joys- 
 
 What then is the comfort which even now the Gospel 
 of our Saviour mingles with the mourning of his people? 
 
 IV. The Gospel has entirely changed the character of 
 death to the departed. The death of an unf orgiven one 
 is the knell of hope. If it is thus my friend has died, 
 how shall I be comforted ? But the Christian's is a sting- 
 less death. Death to such a one is an angel of peace. 
 He comes to loose the prison-bands of clay and set them 
 free to go home to their Father's house. Theirs is the 
 gain, ours is the loss, yet not all, for we must not forget 
 that Christ's gospel has a power of transmuting present 
 bereavement into gain. Bereavement is often turned for 
 those who live into a blessing. God did two kindnesses 
 at one stroke when He bereft you of your beloved : one 
 kindness to him ; another kindness to you. To him, the 
 perfecting of character and bestowal of bliss ; to you, 
 ripening of character and preparation for bliss. 
 
 By such sweet solaces of sorrow as these, Christ 
 leads us forward to the hope of a yet future and still 
 grander consolation, when we shall be reunited in a holy 
 place and forever. It was a prediction of this which 
 Jesus gave that day at Nain by the resurrection of the 
 dead son and his reunion to his mother. The resurrec- 
 tion of Christ Himself is that which guarantees the ulti- 
 mate unpeopling of every tomb, including that "vast and 
 wandering grave," the sea. His risen body presents the 
 type of every reconstructed Christian body. . His glori- 
 fied life is the source and pledge of their life in glory. 
 For this recall from death by the archangel's voice to 
 Christ's own deathless and transfigured immortality, as 
 for the deepest, grandest and last of our consolations, 
 Christ bids us hope. Now we are sad and weary for we 
 dwell apart ; but Jesus has compassion on us as he had 
 
YOUTH. 85 
 
 upon the widow, and lie tenderly encourages us to be 
 patient, and to wait, because with such hopes as these 
 He leads us, greatly longing, forward to a day, when He 
 shall give back our lost beloved to our eternal embrace, 
 and us also to theirs, the glorified to the glorified, to be 
 for ever one. Then He shall wipe all tears from our 
 eyes, and say, otherwise and more effectually than He did 
 at Nain, " Weep not." 
 
 THE MOURNER'S BEST NEWS. 
 
 KEV. WM. MORLEY PUKSHOK". 
 Jesus mid unto 7ier, 1 am the resurrection and the life. — John xi: 25. 
 ^HESE are grand words, though they have often 
 fallen upon hearts bruised and pained, and when the 
 thoughts are more occupied with the cypress than the 
 laurel. But the mystery of life which God has arranged 
 to come out of the mystery of death, is at once the 
 holiest revelation of his glory and the fullest evangel of 
 his love. The text is found in a narrative inimitable 
 for its tenderness. Eull of lessons of heavenly wisdom, 
 k.ndness, compassion, divine simplicity. There is very 
 much in it for interesting and beautiful contemplation, 
 but our text is its central announcement, and our Saviour 
 designed to have it impressed as a Gospel, not for that 
 family only, but for the mourners of all time. 
 
 I. Think of the authority with which these words are 
 spoken. "I am ;" not, "I will be." Surely no creature 
 could speak thus. He speaks as a king would speak, 
 whose 'royalty was doubted. The words assume a su- 
 preme and essential power over life and death. His 
 was the original gift of life — his the right to dissolve its 
 organization, and the right to confer it again, and 
 
86 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 therefore, He, and He only could be the opener of the 
 world of graves. Man's power is wondrous. But to 
 confer life is explicitly affirmed in the scriptures as the 
 exclusive prerogative of Godhead. The mystery and 
 the marvel cease when God is introduced — "that God 
 should raise the dead." The words of our text are the 
 Eedeemer's assumption of divinity. In that benignant 
 weeper over His friend's sepulcher we behold the omnip- 
 otent and eternal God. These words also affirm that 
 through Him — the Christ — resurrection came to man. 
 Christ to man is the resurrection — its source, spring, 
 author, finisher in a sense in which no other can be. 
 The stone has been rolled away from the door of His 
 sepulcher, " Christ is risen, and has become the first 
 fruits of them that slept." Christ then has a right to 
 speak with authority. 
 
 Nor must we exclude from our thoughts the idea 
 of a spiritual resurrection — the soul bursting from the 
 tomb of its corruption and blooming into newness of 
 life. Though till men inherit immortality, the future 
 of the wicked is never dignified by the name of life. 
 " Everlasting contempt," — " Everlasting destruction." 
 " They shall not see life, because the wrath of God 
 abideth upon them." This is a corpse world — dead in 
 trespasses and sins. The sinner breathes in visible life, 
 thinks in intellectual life, feels in emotional life, but 
 he is destitute of spiritual life. But the Christian's life 
 is in Christ. From the tomb of his corruption he rises 
 by Christ into a moral resurrection, and becomes, by faith 
 in Christ, " dead unto sin, but alive unto God." He is 
 quickened, He was formerly dead. He has passed from 
 death unto life. This is the deeper meaning which the 
 term in the text embodies. Oh, the glorious fullness of 
 a completed resurrection, which at once ransoms the body 
 from the grave and the soul from the foul sepulcher of 
 
YOUTH. 8? 
 
 sin ! Do you wonder that like Paul at Athens we should 
 preach to you " Jesus and the resurrection ?" 
 
 Dwell on this comforting thought, tempted, sorrowing 
 believer, for it speaks of encouragement and assurance. 
 Art thou mourning for friend, companion, child ? Oh, let 
 Jesus stand by thee, and as thou listenest to his inspiring 
 words, be comforted, and thy frame shall feel the pulses 
 of a glad hope as when nature stirs in the first blush of 
 spring. If they and thou are alike in Jesus, then hast 
 thou not looked the last upon thy friends. There shall 
 not be a vesture of death about either thee or them. Ye 
 shall rise in the faultlessness of thy new character — the 
 Lamb's unspotted bride. Let us realize the double con- 
 solation — comfort for the mourners who are crushed 
 beneath some pressing sorrow, comfort for mourners 
 who wrestle with some giant sin, and in our distress, 
 and in our feebleness, let us hear the voice again, as once, 
 by the charnel cave of Lazarus, it ran electric, like a line 
 of light, to make the blood flow freely in the veins of 
 the living and then leaped into the sepulcher to relax 
 even the very grip of death itself. "I am the resur- 
 rection and the life." 
 
 II. Dwell for a little upon the word "life" — that 
 word that is always music — that word, next to the word 
 " God in Christ " has in it the deepest meaning in the 
 world. We have anticipated this somewhat. But let 
 us cross the flood where that life specially is, whose path 
 the Saviour is to show, the mansions which He has goue 
 to prepare. Jesus is called, "The true God and eternal 
 life." "What is this eternal life, which is held before the 
 believer's eye, and chartered as his privilege ? 
 
 This life is conscious ; death cannot for one moment 
 paralyze the soul. Paul said it was il far better to de- 
 part." He knew the moment he was released from mor- 
 tality he should be with Christ. There is not a moment's 
 
88 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 interval of slumber for the soul — we do not cease to be. 
 We only change the conditions of our being. There is 
 no human soul, which from the day of Adam until now 
 has ever dwelt in clay, that is not alive to-day ! It is 
 a conscious world into which we are passing. 
 
 Again, Heaven is not a solitude. It is a peopled city 
 — where there are no strangers, no homeless, no poor, 
 where one does not pass another in the street without 
 greeting, where no one is envious of another's superior 
 minstrelsy or of another's more brilliant crown. They 
 are not only with the Saviour, but with the "General 
 Assembly," and with ' ' the spirits of the just made per- 
 fect ;" all affections are pure, all enjoy conscious recog- 
 nition, all abide in perpetual reunion, in a home with- 
 out a discord, without an illness, without a grave. 
 
 Take comfort, then; those from whom you have parted 
 or from whom you shall have soon to separate, shall be 
 your companions again, recognized as of old, and loved 
 with a purer love. 
 
 The resurrection and the life — what heart is not 
 thrilled with the preciousness of the promise — who does 
 not feel more grateful to the Bedeemer, who brings him 
 life ? Enjoyed recompense, recovered friends — there 
 for ever and Jesus with us there ! 
 
 Deak as thou wert, and justly dear, 
 
 We will not weep for thee; 
 One thought will check the starting teai 
 
 It is — tbat thou art free. 
 And thus shall Faith's consoling power 
 
 The tears of love restrain : 
 Oh! who tbat saw thy parting hour, 
 
 Could wish thee here again? 
 
YOUTH. 
 
 THE BELIEVER, IX LIFE, DEATH, AXD 
 
 ETEBXITY. 
 
 BEY. JOSEPH HASLEGEAYE, EXGLAXD. 
 
 Ox OCCASION OF TBS, DKATH OF TWO YOUXG LaDIF.S. TeaCHEF.S IX THE 
 
 Sdmday School. 
 
 ' He shall enter into peace; they shall hone 
 
 walking in 7iis uprightness.'' — Is at ah lvii : 2. 
 
 A TAX die tli and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up 
 
 the ghost, and where is he ? 
 
 Beneath the green sod, on which we lightly tread 
 and drop the tear, lies mingling with its kindred dust, 
 the form witn which Ave were once familiar, and whose 
 presence may have called forth many a deep and happy 
 emotion: but where is the invisible spirit that once 
 
 i _.'ized, animated, lived in it ? The soul, where is 
 it ? That it has not ceased existence, its own throb- 
 bings after immortality, its own hopes or fears of future 
 being, its own inherent consciousness that dissolution 
 has no power over it, may well be taken as proof, while 
 the revelation of God has left the matter beyond all 
 doubt, and has assured us, that when the body returns 
 to the dust as it was, the soul returns to God who gave 
 it, to be disposed of as most fitting, either to enjoy Him, 
 or to be banished from Him for ever. 
 
 What a thought, as we walk the cemeteries and think 
 of the dead and buried of past generations, and, musing 
 among the tombs, the inscription meets our eye, record- 
 ing the mortal remains sleeping beneath : yet in that 
 very word •'*' mortal ,; beckoning to man's immortal part 
 with the question, "Where is it P 3 The mother that 
 gave me birth, the father that protected and provided 
 
90 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 for my helpless youth, the brother, the sister, the hus- 
 baud, the wife, the friend, the companion — "where?" 
 " Your fathers, where are they ?" The grave answers, 
 " Their mortal remains are with me, but I have no more 
 in my keeping." The Bible answers, "Their immortal 
 spirits are living unto God." 
 
 And as the tear of hopeful sorrow drops upon the 
 precious dust, the prayer heaves within, " Let me die 
 the death of the righteous, and let my last end be 
 like his." Not a few such, thank God, we have known, 
 who have thus fallen " asleep in Jesus." And eminently 
 has it been thus with the two much loved and departed 
 ones, whose faith and conversation we would summon to 
 your remembrance on this mournful occasion ; mourn- 
 ful only to the Church below, because of its bereave- 
 ment, but joyful to the Church above, because of its 
 addition to its numbers ; for truly and emphatically may 
 it be said of both, as the narrative of their last hours 
 will prove — they have " entered into peace," or sweetly 
 glided away in peace; they are now "resting in their 
 beds, each one walking in her uprightness." 
 
 Whatever be the lasting impressions made on 
 survivors, the departed righteous have "entered into 
 peace." In respect to their bodies, they are resting in 
 their peaceful dormitories ; in respect to their souls, 
 each is walking before G-od in its uprightness. 
 
 Commentators have understood this latter, as de- 
 scriptive of their life or walk with God while on earth ; 
 determining alike the circumstances of their leaving it, 
 and the consequences. Theirs was a life before God of 
 uprightness ; at its close, therefore, as a happy conse- 
 quence, it is a departing in peace ; the soul at once en- 
 tering into the fullness thereof, in the land of everlast- 
 ing uprightness ; and the body slumbering in its bed, 
 
YOUTH. 91 
 
 after its day of toil, till the bright morning of the 
 resurrection. 
 
 But this will not shut out the interpretation we are 
 more inclined to give, but will rather so harmonize with 
 it as to add to it additional power. Taking them to- 
 gether, the words of the text will lead us to contemplate 
 the child of God — 
 
 I. In the strength and vigor of life. Nominal re- 
 ligion and vital religion are as different in their ways as 
 they will be in their end. Self is the idol of one ; God 
 is the object of the other. Morality is all, therefore, 
 which the one commends ; sanctification is the express 
 will of the other. A secret distaste to spiritual things 
 marks the one ; a growing relish and love to them dis- 
 tinguishes the other. And this is in keeping with their 
 true character. Self-satisfaction, a false peace, a ground- 
 less hope, is all which the better sort of the worldly ever 
 can attain to; a satisfaction in God, a "peace which 
 passeth all understanding," a hope which shall never 
 "make ashamed," is the portion of the other. For the 
 kingdom of God, into which they have found admission, 
 is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." 
 It is righteousness, whether imputed or inwrought; and 
 both there must be, to qualify for the high privilege of 
 a walk with God. The person must be justified ; and 
 this only can be through the righteousness of Christ by 
 faith ; and the character must be sanctified by faith, of 
 the operation of God. And thus it is, that every par- 
 doned sinner becomes a changed and holy character. 
 "Accepted in the Beloved," he walks before God in up- 
 rightness. And this has ever been the way the fathers 
 trod from the beginning. Thus Enoch walked with 
 God — Noah walked with God — Abraham walked before 
 God. They had their heaven on earth, till earth re- 
 
92 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ceived its own, and their happy spirits mounted up to 
 "walk with Christ in white, for they were worthy." 
 
 Such a walk as this, is not undertaken at the bidding 
 of conscience, to satisfy its scruples or to allay its fears. 
 It springs from a renewed heart ; from the deep and pure 
 gushings of love within ; from reconciliation and peace 
 with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And from 
 the moment that God's love visits the soul, calling forth 
 love to Him in return, this holy, heavenly, happy walk 
 commences. A thing of free choice, for the affections 
 are drawn to it ; of liberty of service, for the heart is en- 
 larged ; of pure delight, for it is heaven begun, and will 
 be heaven consummated. To defer it, would be to defer 
 the soul's happiness ; and therefore, in the bloom of 
 youth, in the vigor of health, in the prospects of life, 
 let others ask, "Who will show us any good ?" — the 
 heaven-born child replies, in the deep and fervent breath- 
 ings of his soul, "As for me, Lord, lift Thou up the 
 light of Thy countenance upon me : I will behold Thy 
 face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake 
 with Thy likeness." 
 
 It certainly was thus with both our departed friends, 
 removed at so early an age, the one but twenty-three, 
 and the other but twenty-five ; and yet for' years before, 
 both, through grace, had made their happy choice for 
 eternity, and in the service of that Lord, into whose joy 
 they have now fully entered, had spent their brief, but 
 happy life. Assuredly we have reason to mourn the loss 
 our Sabbath School has sustained, in the removal of both, 
 while from their very graves they seem to utter a voice 
 to many a young and pious disciple, and affectionately 
 to plead in behalf of their bereaved charge — "Work 
 while it is day ; the night cometh wherein no one can 
 work." 
 
 We have not alluded to these things, with any inten- 
 
YOUTH. 93 
 
 tion to eulogize the dead; could they speak, it would be 
 to bid us rather throw the mantle over the imperfection 
 of their best doings, or the thiugs they have left undone, 
 than to utter a word of praise; but we do it for the com- 
 fort and the instruction of the living. We do it for the 
 glory of the grace of God, which shone so beautifully in 
 them; we do it as an illustration of the principle of faith 
 leading its happy possessor to rise above the world, and 
 
 " Give to God each moment, as it flies;" 
 
 consecrating the energies of the soul and the faculties 
 of the body to His service, which is perfect, happy 
 freedom. 
 
 II. We hasten now to comtemplate the child of God at 
 the close of such a life as this. 
 
 A close there must come to the life of every man, 
 fixed and determined; every day and every hour is draw- 
 ing it nearer. Unpreparedness or unfitness for it cannot 
 put it off. It is certain to all, it may be at the very door 
 to some, and each is hastening unto it by filling up the 
 measure of his iniquities, or growing in meetness for 
 " the inheritance of the saints in light." Over the end 
 of the ungodly we pass in silence, and we bid you "mark 
 the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of 
 that man is peace." It may be sudden ; but to such, 
 sudden death is sudden glory. It may be marked by 
 much bodily suffering, which may lay prostrate the en- 
 tire faculties of the mind, and totally incapacitate for 
 any spiritual exercises ; but that affects not the condition 
 of the soul, over which it has no power, nor touches that 
 peace, which it never can take away. " He has walked 
 with God ;" we ask no more to assure us about his death. 
 His heart and his flesh fail ; weakness destroys the one, 
 and wanderings distract the other, but God is the 
 strength of his heart and will be his portion forever. 
 
94 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 There is no preparation work then to commence. In the 
 language of one of our friends, which she spake to me a 
 short time before her death, "All is finished." "I can- 
 not" — she said, alluding to the difficulty she had in 
 speaking; but added, " It matters not; I have nothing 
 to do ; my soul I have given to Jesus ; He has it, He will 
 keep it to that day." 
 
 We do not mean to assert, that in the sufferings 
 which precede dissolution, the children of God may not 
 be much tried and often severely harassed. Before the 
 crown of everlasting triumph is put upon their heads, 
 sharp and severe may be the last onset, through which, 
 doubtless, they will come off more than conquerors, and 
 remember it only to enhance the repose of victory. 
 
 Greater strength and richer glory may surround the 
 dying bed of some, we doubt not ; and that too, to mark 
 God's own approval of a diligent cultivation of grace. 
 For, as grace and glory differ not but in degree, it fol- 
 lows, that the more of grace, the more abundant will be 
 our entrance into the everlasting kingdom. And thus 
 it is that the righteous shall "go in peace." 
 
 Our departed friends have left an evidence of this, the 
 fullest we could desire. The one whose continuance at 
 home enabled me to visit her, said to me, in the certain 
 prospect of death.. " Never so happy as now. I have no 
 concern, except that I feel for my dear father ; and God 
 can be to him ' better than sons or daughters.' " And a 
 little before her death, in reply to the affectionate in- 
 quiry, " If Jesus should be preparing you for His king- 
 dom in glory, I hope you feel happy in the prospect, and 
 that you can leave all and go to Him," — " Oh ! yes," she 
 said, " that I can ; what a delightful thought, to be in 
 heaven ! to have done with all the transitory things of 
 time and sense, and to be in heaven ! " 
 
 III. We must sum up the immediate consequences 
 
YOUTH. 95 
 
 of death as it affects body and soul. The text in the 
 interpretation to which we have alluded, seems to ns to 
 refer to both. "They shall rest in their beds, each one 
 walking in his uprightness." 
 
 We have already said, that death is only the separa- 
 tion of body and soul, a view in which the Scriptures 
 constantly put it before us. Not that the consequences 
 are precisely the same to both. Death, in emancipating 
 the spirit, dissolves the earthly house of its tabernacle. 
 The body is overborne by its power and sinks to corrup- 
 tion ; but the soul is untouched, in its energies and in 
 its life. " To be absent from the body, is to be present 
 with the Lord." But yet, such is the wondrous purpose 
 of love towards the body itself, such the event that awaits 
 it, that although doomed to see corruption, in view of 
 its coming triumph, death is more properly termed a 
 sleep, and the grave, a bed. In darkness indeed it is 
 made, but that only contributes to its peaceful slumber. 
 Not more sweet the rest of night to the wearied traveler, 
 or the laborer who has borne the burden and heat of the 
 day, than the rest of the grave to the care-worn pilgrim 
 — to the body burdened with its infirmities and oppressed 
 with its sicknesses ; and what the disciples said to Christ, 
 mistaking his meaning, of the death of Lazarus, is true 
 of every saint who departs this life in the faith and fear 
 of Jesus, "Lord if he sleep he shall do well." No cares 
 shall press, and no sin shall grieve. The bustle and the 
 noise of the world may go on as heretofore, and he lie 
 quite forgotten, but they shall not reach to disturb his 
 rest, nor shall aught awake him till the last trumpet an- 
 nounces the approach of the great Conqueror, who will 
 once again leave the glories of the upper world, to ac- 
 complish the redemption of the body, and swell the song 
 of triumph and of praise, as He answers the prayer of 
 saints on earth and in heaven, " How long, Lord, how 
 
96 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 long ?" — ' It is finished, the number of Mine elect is ac- 
 complished ; I go that I may awake each out of sleep.' 
 Then will that which was " sown in corruption, be raised 
 in incorruption ; that which was sown in weakness, be 
 raised in power ; that which was sown in dishonor, be 
 raised in glory, that which was sown a natural body, be 
 raised a spiritual body." Thus it is, that the dying be- 
 liever, in commending his soul to God, can leave the 
 body with full assurance of a re-union : "My flesh shall 
 rest in hope." 
 
 This as to the body. The soul, at the very instant, 
 enters into its rest — a rest not of inactive quiescency, but 
 such as befits its powers. And long before the first gush- 
 ings of affection have subsided of weeping relatives, and 
 the door closes upon the forsaken and motionless form, the 
 happy spirit, borne upon angels' wings hath traveled its 
 celestial road, and finds itself with kindred spirits, "each 
 one walking in its uprightness." Think, then, what 
 death does to every believer. It emancipates the spirit ; 
 it transfers it with perfect powers to a perfect world. It 
 destroys every hindrance to its perfect service and its 
 perfect bliss. It completes its walk with God. If the 
 latter clause of the text be understood as descriptive of 
 the saint walking with God on earth in uprightness, it 
 follows not but that it is descriptive of the saint after 
 death walking before God in uprightness. Grace was 
 the region of the one, glory is the region of the other. 
 Oh ! to contemplate them now each one walking before 
 Him in her uprightness — each like the angels, in activ- 
 ity, in service, in glory; each enjoying a Sabbath which 
 will never end, associated with a congregation where 
 nothing defiles, in strains immortal joining in the music 
 of the spheres, seeing not through a glass darkly, but 
 face to face, bearing the weight of glory and yet not bur- 
 dened by it, and listening to the great Teacher himself 
 
YOUTH. 97 
 
 unfolding His own promise — "What I do thou knowest 
 not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." To awake to 
 thoughts like these, our surprise at their early removal 
 or our sorrow at their early death must alike be mod- 
 erated. They are not lost, but gone before. Their ser- 
 vice is not at an end, but infinitely exalted and perfected. 
 Their sun may have gone down while yet it is day ; set 
 prematurely, as we think, beneath our horizon ; but it 
 has been only to rise again in the hemisphere of celestial 
 brightness, where not a cloud will ever darken their glory, 
 where their happy spirits will have full scope in their 
 Redeemer's heaven, where the sun will no more go down 
 and the moon never withdraw its shining, but the Lord 
 will be their everlasting light, and their God their glory; 
 and the days of their mourning, imperfection and sin 
 ended. 
 
 DYING m THE LOKD. 
 
 REV. W. D. HORWOOD. 
 
 ABERGAVENNY, MONMOUTH, ENGLAND. 
 
 On the Death of Hiss H. 
 "Blessed are (he dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, 
 saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their 
 works do follow them." Revelation xiv : 13. 
 
 \ MONG all the dispensations of God to us there is 
 not one more striking, more impressive, and more 
 affecting than that of death. It comes to us all alike 
 without any distinction, whether we are rich or poor, 
 learned or unlearned, young or old. Such is the great 
 fact of our mortality. And the manner of this visita- 
 tion is oftentimes sudden and unexpected, coming, it 
 may be, like a flash of lightning, swift, yet silent ; or 
 like the darkening shadow of a thunder cloud, creeping 
 on darker and darker, and then suddenly bursting into 
 5 
 
98 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 sound, loud and terrific. It is well for us to bear this 
 truth in remembrance, for the decree goes forth to 
 destroy in the midst of man's revels and engagements, 
 whether of sensual pleasure, or of ambition, or of covet- 
 ousness, or of pride and self-esteem. The decree, too, 
 goes forth in secret to destroy, and this without warn- 
 ing. The earth was doomed to the flood one hundred 
 and twenty years before "the decree brought forth," or 
 men heard of it. The waters of Babylon had been 
 turned, and the conqueror was marching into the city 
 at the very time when Belshazzar was makiug ready for 
 his feast. " Pride infatuates man, and self-indulgence 
 and luxury work their way unseen, like some smoulder- 
 ing fire which for a while leaves the outward forms of 
 things unaltered. At length the decayed mass cannot 
 hold together, and breaks by its own weight, or on some 
 slight and accidental external violence." 
 
 I. Let us consider the benediction of the text. 
 "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
 henceforth :" 
 
 1. & particular dead is here named, such as "die in 
 the Lord." And the expression, "in the Lord," implies 
 it may be conceived a close union with Christ in the 
 glorious objects or purposes of His mission, in the 
 benignity and grandeur of His life, in the supreme ex- 
 cellency of His character, in the purity and beauty of 
 His example, in the infinite love which led Him to the 
 cross, and in the everlasting results of His mediation. 
 Such an intimate union with Him implies also a reflec- 
 tion of His Image in the soul. The blessedness, there- 
 fore, of those "who die in the Lord," consists in their 
 union with Him, in their being one with Him, in their 
 security and shelter in Him, and in " their partaking of 
 that glory and happiness which He has provided for 
 them. When their bodies die, when their outward 
 
YOUTH. 99 
 
 tabernacle is dissolved, they still being in Christ, have a 
 house not built with hands eternal in the heavens. 
 They pass away to the inheritance prepared for them. 
 
 2. Thus we can trace the blessedness of those who 
 "die in the Lord" onward to the resurrection, — "For 
 the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a 
 shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the 
 trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 
 They shall have the pre-eminence. They shall be the 
 first to realize the glorious consummation of Christian 
 faith and hope. In their blessedness, pronounced by 
 the voice from heaven, in the resurrection of the just, 
 they shall ascend from their earthly sepulchres into the 
 clouds above them, " to meet the Lord in the air : and 
 so shall ever be with the Lord." They who "die in the 
 Lord " are blessed by all the grand and eternal issues of 
 the resurrection, embracing all which throws a halo of 
 hopeful brightness over the sleeping dead, and all that 
 makes their resurrection an opened gateway to the Eden 
 where no secret enemy lurks in ambush, where no form 
 of death can enter, where no sigh or sound of grief is 
 heard, and wheie all tears of the eyes are wiped away 
 for evermore." 
 
 II. The Divine response. "Yea, saith the Spirit, 
 that they may rest from their labors ; and their works 
 do follow them." 
 
 1. In this response we have two reasons assigned for 
 the benediction. The. first is rest; "They rest from 
 their labors." The rest hereafter of the saints of God, 
 will not be inert, like that of the rock, but it will be the 
 rest of activity without fatigue or wearisomeness. We 
 speak of the calm rest of stars, but they are constantly 
 moving round their common centres, constantly work- 
 ing out the grand designs of the Creator. And so with 
 those who " rest from their labors " — from their earthly 
 
100 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 labors, from the toil of bodily exertion as well as of 
 mental, from the labor attendant on earthly sufferings, 
 on missions of Christian benevolence, on the struggles 
 of adversity, and on the trials of temptation — in their 
 heavenly rest they still are active, still carrying out the 
 grand purposes of their being, but in their rest there is 
 the quiet beauty of repose, the stillness of a lovely 
 image reflected on a mirror. 
 
 2. And the second reason is, "their works do follow 
 them." The rewards and consequences of their good 
 deeds and labors attend them in the eternal world. 
 Thus, by our conduct here, we can make the present 
 affect our future for good, and so lay the foundation for 
 happiness millions of ages to come. 
 
 It were presumptuous perhaps, in me to speak at 
 much length of the character of her who has just de- 
 parted from us, so well known among you, and through- 
 out this town, and the whole of the county. Yet I well 
 know of your high esteem for her, and it may be sooth- 
 ing to hear a beloved person spoken of, even tbough the 
 speaker fail of doing such a person justice. We are all 
 more or less witnesses of her character, of those excel- 
 lent qualities which have endeared her to her friends, 
 and made her name respected. And now while we offer 
 some humble tribute of affection to her memory, we are 
 reminded by the church, in which we offer it, and the 
 adjoining building, of that kindliness of heart, and of 
 that true benevolence which can never be forgotten. 
 But when the stone walls of these buildings shall 
 crumble away and mingle with the dust ; when the 
 proudest and noblest monuments of man's wealth and 
 genius and munificence shall be no more ; the brightest 
 memorial of our dear departed friend will still be found 
 in the hearts of those she has benefited, for her works 
 will follow her. 
 
TOUTB. 101 
 
 "We are all of us without exception hastening to the 
 last scene of all things earthly. Ere long the closing 
 shadows of our day of life will gather around us more 
 and more darkly, and then the night of death will close 
 in upon us. But in that night may we behold the glo- 
 rious light of the city, in which there is "no need of the 
 sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory 
 of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light there- 
 of :" — then may we realize in our souls the blessed mean- 
 ing of the words — "Blessed are the dead which die in the 
 Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
 may rest from their labors ; and their works do follow 
 them." 
 
 THE FADED FLOWEK. 
 
 KEV. JAMES HUGHES. 
 
 TROWBRIDGE, WILTS., ENGLAND. 
 ON THE DEATH OP THE LATE MR. W. H. E. 
 
 " The Jlower fadeth ; because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it." 
 Isaiah xl: 7. 
 
 nnHERE is something very affecting in the death of 
 young people. To see a young man like our be- 
 loved friend, in the morning of life, sicken, droop, and 
 die, is a scene which, regarded in itself, apart from the 
 hopes of the gospel is very saddening. But there is 
 nothing new in this. .The language of the Book of Job 
 is, " They die in youth." If this were indeed the first 
 death of a young man, it would affect us most deeply. 
 It would be like seeing the sun about eleven o'clock in 
 the forenoon, sinking down and burying itself beneath 
 the horizon, instead of running his usual course from 
 east to west. Or to keep to the figure of the text, as if 
 the flower when brusting forth, gradually unfolding its 
 
102 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 hidden beauties, and ere as yet it had reached its full 
 proportions, checked in its expansion, were suddenly to 
 droop and perish. But, alas ! the premature fading of 
 the flower is so often seen in the gardens of mortals, and 
 men, "in fulfilling their course," are so frequently ar- 
 rested by the hand of death, and plunged into the dark- 
 ness of the grave before the noon of life, that we fail to 
 feel the deep and sad impression which such events are 
 fitted to produce. It is once more brought home to us 
 in the removal of one whom many of us knew, and 
 whom to know, was also to respect and love. The word 
 of God has made everything around us vocal with in- 
 struction ; stamped its lessons of inspired wisdom on the 
 page of nature, and rendered the whole world around 
 and above us auxiliary to its purpose of sacred instruc- 
 tion. The flower of the field is oft the subject of beauti- 
 ful and affecting allusion in the word of God, as well 
 an example of God's care, as also a type of frail and 
 perishable humanity. The passages in which man is 
 compared to a flower are many and striking — "He 
 cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down." "As a 
 floiver of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth 
 over it, and it is gone ; and the place thereof shall know 
 it no more." The same interesting figure is involved in 
 the passage out of the midst of which we have selected 
 our text, as well as in its parallel in 1 Peter i. 24, "For 
 all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower 
 of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof 
 f alleth away. " These are a sample of those affecting 
 passages in which the Spirit of God has rendered the 
 perishing grass and the frail flower the emblems of our 
 perishable and mortal nature. How strongly must we 
 be reminded of such descriptions of humanity when 
 called to mourn the loss of a young man in the prime of 
 life. To see the frame, when it is usual for it to acquire 
 
YOUTH. 103 
 
 additional strength and hardihood, shrinking away un- 
 der the touch of disease, until the declining process 
 results in death. At once the thought of the fading 
 flower presents itself to our minds, and we seem to hear 
 a voice which says to us, Cry — "The flower fadeth ; 
 because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it," we 
 notice — 
 
 I. That the flower is beautiful. Flowers are made as 
 if to ornament the world. There is no man, however 
 blunt his senses, who does not at once perceive the 
 beauty of a flower. Some flowers are much more beauti- 
 ful than others. But every kind, especially of culti- 
 vated flowers is beautiful. And is there not in man, 
 regarded as the creature of God, something that is beau- 
 tiful ? " The human face Divine." There is something 
 in the bodily formation of man that renders him more 
 attractive than any other creature in the world. His 
 superiority among all other creatures of God below the 
 skies, entitles him to be called "the flower" of this lower 
 creation. Nor can we wonder at this, when we remem- 
 ber that man was made to be " the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost." How great must have been the beauty of " man 
 primeval" when God had just made him. His soul 
 and body pure and spotless. His external form corres- 
 ponding to the inward excellence. The earthen vessel 
 as yet unmarred, fit casket of a pure and holy spirit. 
 "The earthly house of this tabernacle," stamped with 
 such external beauty as befitted the spiritual opulence 
 of its immortal resident. His face radiant with the 
 image of God ; the God of light and love, in whose like- 
 ness he was made. Truly, he could have been only "a 
 little lower than the angels " when God set him over the 
 works of his hands. What majesty and grace there must 
 have been in the whole bearing and movements of the 
 new creature. The last and best made of the whole of 
 
104 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 this lower creation, God's chief workmanship, the perfec- 
 tion of his creatures here below. Surely the human 
 flower beamed with beauty when its Great Creator had 
 newly formed and planted it in Eden. But, alas, the 
 blight of sin has brought a dimness over the splendor, 
 and much of the original beauty is lost. Nevertheless, 
 there is something still in man to remind us of the 
 primeval dignity and loveliness. And it is evident that 
 man alone of all other creatures in the world is intended 
 to be "the shrine of Deity," "the habitation of God 
 through the Spirit." There is something in the struc- 
 ture of man which seems to say plainly, "You were in- 
 tended to be the temple of God!" Alas! Satan has usurped 
 the seat of God ; sin reigns in the dwelling place of 
 holiness, and as the fruit of this, much of the beauty is 
 gone. We see bad and vile passions oft depicted in the 
 "form and fashion" of the countenance. Anger and 
 hatred put in their lineaments, vile lust paints some of 
 the features, a sour selfishness reflects itself, and some- 
 times a dark despondency overshadows the face of man. 
 The dominion of unholy feeling, and the practice of 
 sensual habits embrute and demonize the human face, 
 so that " the show of their countenance doth witness 
 against them." But when the soul comes fully under 
 the dominion of God's sanctifying grace, much of the 
 original beauty is retrieved, and an habitual course of 
 devotion and piety is oft seen to give to " the outer 
 man" a heavenly stamp, the mark of the Lamb in the 
 forehead. Moses brought down with him from his long 
 communion with God on Sinai a face that shone with 
 glory. And the council as they looked stedfastly on 
 Stephen "saw his face as it had been the face of an 
 angel " — a face in which beamed forth angelic sweet- 
 ness and dignity, the result perhaps of a special baptism 
 of heavenly fire which at that moment came upon him. 
 
tOXJTB. 105 
 
 Nor can we think of the change through which Saul of 
 Tarsus passed during the three days of his spiritual birth, 
 without supposing that it left its record on the face of 
 the Cilieian Israelite. It is not too much to think that 
 the fiery gleam of his dark eye and the hauteur of the 
 young persecutor's countenance were among the " old 
 things/' all of which "passed away." And that when 
 he became numbered with the " elect of God, holy and 
 beloved, and put on bowels of mercies, kindness and 
 long-suffering," there came up also over his noble 
 countenance a softened expression. 
 
 None who will be able to recall the form of our be- 
 loved young friend, but will remember that there was 
 in him much that was lovely to the eye. There was a 
 "goodliness" in the flower, a "grace" in "the fashion 
 of it." That the love of Christ had much to do with 
 this I have no doubt. He was early converted to God, 
 and being in possession of deep and sincere piety, the 
 inward life of God gave beauty to the flower which has, 
 alas, now faded away before our eyes. If he had con- 
 tracted and pursued evil habits, like many other young 
 men, the beauty of the flower would have been marred. 
 We should not have seen that habitual cheerfulness which 
 reigned around and lighted up the features of our young- 
 friend, for it sprang from the peace of God. We should 
 have missed that well known openness and benevolence of 
 expression; for it was produced by the " truth and 
 grace" which were in him. We should have looked in 
 vain for that purity which beamed forth in him, for 
 that was the result of sanctifying love. The beauty of 
 this faded flower was the " beauty of holiness." But if 
 the flower was beautiful here, how much more so now ? 
 If our vision could follow him into that crowd of beau- 
 teous forms which encircle the throne of God, and dis- 
 tinguish him there, surely we should find, that his 
 5* 
 
106 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 change has greatly heightened his loveliness. It is im- 
 possible for us to understand the mighty effect produced 
 upon the spirit by the vision of God our Saviour in his 
 glorified form. The contenrplation of Jesus through a 
 glass darkly, is transforming ; how much more, when 
 with unveiled vision we gaze on " the king in his beauty!" 
 
 Our brother has passed away from us ; gone from the 
 holy into the holiest ; has " departed to be with Christ;" 
 and how much more like Christ is he now become ? 
 " We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is!" 
 Bat are the saints with Christ as soon as the breath 
 passes away from their nostrils ? 
 
 It is not necessary that we should be prepared to 
 solve all the mysteries of such a subject. It is far more 
 important and appropriate to us to inquire whether the 
 Scriptures teach the existence of the soul in the separate 
 state. 
 
 1. Look at the representation which our Lord gives of 
 the matter in the case of the rich man and Lazarus. ' ' The 
 beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abra- 
 ham's bosom. What was carried by the angels into 
 Abraham's bosom? The soul, undoubtedly, and not the 
 body. So again in the opposite case — " The rich man 
 also died, and was buried ; and in hell lifted up his eyes 
 being in torments." The body found a resting-place in 
 some ornamented sepulchre, but the soul was cast into 
 the abyss of woe, the deep grave of those who are sepa- 
 rated to endless death. Here it is evident that the soul 
 lived, and was conscious of joy in the one case, and of 
 torment in the other, immediately after death. We 
 draw this inference from this portion of our Lord's 
 teaching irrespective of any interpretation evidently 
 adopted for the sake of theory, 
 
 2. Again, our Lord's reply to the prayer of the penitent 
 thief on the cross agrees with the foregoing view. 
 
TOUTS. 107 
 
 "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy king- 
 dom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, 
 To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." " To day," 
 ere thy crucified body is taken down from the cross, 
 soon as the mortal struggle is over, "thou shalt be with 
 me, (whom in thy last hour thou hast confessed before 
 men,) in paradise," I shall be there, to receive thee. 
 " Paradise " is thought of by some under the notion of 
 heaven's ante-chamber. But if there be any accuracy in 
 this view, it is an ante-chamber not because the site or 
 locality is somewhere short of the Divine presence ; but 
 rather on the ground of the incomplete and expectant 
 condition of the saints between their departure and the 
 sound of the " trump of God." " Waiting ," (as in an 
 ante-chamber,) "for the adoption, to wit, the redemp- 
 tion of the body," until which event the glory and the 
 bliss of "the heirs of God" will not be full. 
 
 3. With this agrees Apostolic Teaching. ' ' Therefore, " 
 says St. Paul, "we are always confident, knowing that 
 whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from 
 the Lord — (for we walk by faith and not by sight) — we 
 are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from 
 the body and to be present with the Lord." If the apos- 
 tle's view is correct, the sanctified soul dwelling in the 
 body is absent from the Lord. But ceasing to dwell in 
 the body it is at once placed in the presence of our Lord ; 
 and hence elsewhere he expresses "A desire to depart 
 and to be with Christ, which is far better." To depart and 
 to be with Christ being inseparable, the one leading at 
 once and invariably to the other. 
 
 From the foregoing considerations we joyfully infer 
 that holy souls enter at once into a conscious and happy 
 existence upon the dissolution of the frame. And is it 
 not in accordance with this truth, we read of "the 
 spirits of just men made perfect," spirits as yet without 
 
108 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 the body. Whatever difficulty therefore may appear to 
 us in conceiving a spirit's existence apart from a mate- 
 rial vehicle ; it is clearly revealed to us that souls, 
 whether holy or unholy, cease not to exist between death 
 and the resurrection morn. Let us therefore feel assured 
 that our young brother, who has lately left us, is now in 
 the enjoyment of a conscious and blissful existence. 
 That which formed the seat of intelligence and holiness 
 in him still endures. It was not the wasted frame 
 which lie left behind him that thought and felt, adored 
 and worshipped, trusted and loved Christ, but some- 
 thing spiritual, and that something was the living and 
 loving soul which still lives, and shall live forever. 
 And if we divested of the fleshy veil could but "see him 
 as he is," we should find the spirit of this just young 
 man made perfect, beautiful, and radiant, reflecting the 
 image of the Son of God. And as it respects its old 
 frail companion which it has left behind, the "vile 
 body," it also shall rest in hope, and although it shall 
 " see corruption " yet " this corruptible shall put on in- 
 corruption." what a glorious change shall pass upon 
 the dissolved frame when glorious and beautiful, like 
 the present form of Him who loved us, it shall rise from 
 its quiet resting-place. For " the Lord himself shall de- 
 scend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the 
 archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in 
 Christ shall rise first." 
 
 "And every form, and every face, , 
 Be heavenly and divine." 
 
 And henceforth the flower shall have more even than 
 its primeval beauty and splendor. 
 
 II. But though beautiful "the flower" is frail. And 
 this is one of the chief reasons why it stands as the em- 
 blem of feeble man. The withering grass, the fragile 
 
YOUTH. 109 
 
 flower the frailest of all the vegetable productions of the 
 earth are the pictures of our perishable nature. It is not 
 the tree of expansive girt, which bears up under the re- 
 peated strokes of the ax, not the sturdy oak which 
 braves the rude storms of centuries, but the flower, slen- 
 der and easily injured, which trembles even in the 
 breeze, is prostrated by the storm, and may be crushed 
 by the foot of the heedless passenger. Various are the 
 means by which the life of the flower may be destroyed ; 
 sometimes it is cut down and withereth ; " at other 
 times it is nipped by the cold blast and perishes ; or it is 
 seen to decay, and to reach its destruction by a gradual 
 process, because a worm at the root is extracting its life. 
 The flower is easily injured, a very slight thing may 
 prove fatal to its existence ; such also is man ; what 
 trivial causes have often operated to the destruction of 
 health and life. What innumerable means may remove 
 man from the face of the earth. 
 
 While all are frail, some are peculiarly so ; it is their 
 lot to inherit a feeble and delicate frame, predisposed to 
 disease. This most likely was the case with our la- 
 mented friend. He was a lovely, but frail flower ; and 
 the dreaded consumption, by the permission of God, 
 fixed its fangs in the frail frame, and though assailed 
 by medical skill and effort, never relinquished its hold 
 until "the precious life" was destroyed, "Cease ye 
 from man, whose breath is in his nostrils. For where- 
 in is he to be accounted for." 
 
 III. The flower is short lived. All flowers are not 
 of equal duration ; some perish speedily, but none of 
 them last long ; they come forth, and for a season they 
 please us with their gay appearance ; but by and by we 
 see signs of decay. The flower is fading, and soon the 
 place thereof knows it no more. Thus it is with human 
 beings. Some perish in the very bud of their existence, 
 
110 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 they scarcely peep forth above the soil ere they are 
 swept away ; others live to develope their physical and 
 mental properties more fully, and like the full blown 
 flower are cut down in their prime ; and some (though 
 their number is comparatively small), live through the 
 usual stages of human life, until a gradual decay of 
 nature brings them to the dust of death. Yet man, at 
 best, like the flower of the field is short lived. 
 
 Jacob considered his days few whether in retrospect 
 or prospect as he stood a bending figure on the brink 
 of the unending days of eternity. The words of the 
 Psalmist are so humbling, that the lofty looks of man 
 are at once brought down in their presence, and the 
 pride of the heart perishes under their influence — 
 "Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine 
 age is as nothing before thee." Before thee, who "art 
 from everlasting to everlasting." It is in comparison 
 with eternity, with infinite duration, that our life on 
 earth shrinks away into an almost inappreciable point. 
 0, what is life, our brief life on earth, in comparison 
 with everlasting existence ? How short a period must 
 it appear when looked back upon from the eternal world. 
 How small must "the span of life" appear to our 
 brother now, compared with that unending eternity on 
 which he has entered. Well might the apostle regard it 
 as of momentary duration. For truly it is no more in 
 contrast with eternity ; it is the lightning flash, we are 
 born, we live, we die, and how quickly do these im- 
 portant facts follow each other in our history. And yet 
 how vastly important is this brief period ; inasmuch, as 
 during it alone can we acquire a meetness for eternal 
 glory. Our conduct in time determines our condition 
 for eternity. During our life's short day we acquire a 
 character which will cleave to us forever, and will form 
 to us a source of endless bliss or woe. 
 
YOUTH. Ill 
 
 IV. There is fragrance in flowers, and much more in 
 some than in others. The scent is also sweet in some, 
 in others it is sickly and offensive. Let this remind us 
 of that moral influence which all men exert more or less 
 upon others. "We carry with us in all our movements in 
 human society an influence which, like the fragrance of 
 the flower, always surrounds us. This is less in some 
 than in others. Station, talents, wealth, and force of 
 character may give to some greater influence than others 
 either for good or evil. Yet all alike have a measure of 
 influence ; every human flower scents to some extent the 
 social atmosphere. In some the influence is sweet, re- 
 viving, and hallowing ; in others it is poisonous and 
 soul-destroying ; some carry God with them, and they 
 diffuse a divine influence whithersoever they go ; others, 
 alas ! carry Satan with them and in them, and by their 
 foul and foolish talk, and " their pernicious ways," they 
 corrupt and destroy. Our influence while under the 
 power of " the carnal mind " is for evil, we live to 
 alienate men from God. Until possessed of decisive 
 piety, we gather not to Christ, but scatter abroad, keep 
 souls away from the refuge and the rest of guilty man. 
 But when the flower becomes well baptized and pene- 
 trated with the dews of the Spirit — when the breath of 
 the Lord passes through and purifies it, then its poison- 
 ous properties are destroyed, and it ceases to send forth 
 its deadly exhalations. Then " if we live we live unto 
 the Lord, and if we die, we die unto the Lord, living or 
 dying we are the Lord^s." 
 
 It was the happiness of our young friend to have 
 been ' ' born of God " at an early period of life, and this 
 blessed change prepared him to exert a good influence 
 upon those with whom he was associated. When 
 "Christ" became "formed in him," the flower sent 
 forth a gracious fragrance. It was felt by the young 
 
112 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 men with whom lie was associated in business, several of 
 whom he had a share in leading to salvation while he 
 lived in the establishment from which he retired to die. 
 The fragrance of a flower of ttimes increases in dying. 
 And so it is with the Christian ; as he approaches his end 
 while the hand of death is upon him, he exerts a more 
 powerful influence than through life — " Go into the 
 chamber where the good man meets his fate," and it 
 seems filled with heavenly fragrance. Very obtuse in- 
 deed must his sensibilities be who does not deeply feel 
 the influence which the dying Christian diffuses around 
 his death-bed. It is at once perceived and felt by those 
 who are spiritual. A solemn, unearthly influence which 
 awes and melts the heart. It was oft felt by those who 
 visited our young brother during his late affliction — 
 
 " His final hour brought glory to his God." 
 
 V. The fading of the flower is inevitable. Perish it 
 must. Place it in the most favorable position and yet 
 you cannot preserve it ; seek for it a nook where it shall 
 be sheltered from " the wind's unkindly blast," as well 
 as from "the sun's directer ray," and yet "the momen- 
 tary glories will waste, the short lived beauties will die 
 away ; " cover it with glass, train and shelter it in the 
 conservatory, and yet you cannot long conserve its frail 
 life. The flower after all your care will perish. How 
 strictly applicable to man whose death is no less certain 
 than the fading of the flower. Attend bo health with 
 the most scrupulous care, surround yourselves with all 
 the guards against disease and accident which human 
 device and ingenuity may call into existence. And yet, 
 after all, beyond the boundary which God has assigned 
 to us, we cannot pass — "For is there not an appointed 
 time for man upon the earth seeing his days are deter- 
 
YOUTH. 113 
 
 mined, and the number of bis months are with God! He 
 bath set him his bounds that he cannot pass." The 
 Great Author of our being has fixed at least the maxi- 
 mum of our stay on earth. Beyond this we cannot go ; 
 though, alas ! we may come short even of this. Hence 
 we read that "the wicked shall not live out half his 
 days." The death of the flower is so certain, that you 
 can name a period when you know it shall have occurred; 
 you cannot, it is true, name the precise moment when 
 the last particle of life shall have left the flower ; but it 
 would be an easy matter for you to name a time when 
 you know it must be dead, and when "the place thereof 
 shall know it no more." Even so, the period of our de- 
 parture is to us unknown, nothing can be more uncertain. 
 The time and the circumstances under which we shall 
 breathe our last are wisely concealed from us ; yet it 
 would be easy to name a time when not one of us shall 
 be left on earth. The days of our years, are three score 
 years and ten ; and if by reason of strength they be four 
 score years, yet is their strength then but labor and sor- 
 row, so soon passeth it away and we are gone. So that 
 each may say with Job in his affliction — "When a few 
 years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall 
 not return." 
 
 Lastly, "The flower fadeth; because the spirit of the 
 Lord bloweth upon it." The meaning is "the wind of 
 the Lord ; " the same word in Hebrew as in some other 
 languages, having the signification of wind and of spirit. 
 Bishop Lowth renders the words "the wind of Jehovah 
 bloweth upon it." The allusion is doubtless to the hot 
 winds which prevail in the east, blasting and consuming 
 every green thing over which they pass. The Psalmist 
 evidently alludes to this hot wind — (Psalm ciii. 15, 16.) 
 "As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind 
 
114 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 passeth over it, and it is gone ; and the place thereof 
 shall know it no more." 
 
 The flower fades and perishes when a wind under the 
 control and direction of God passeth over it. And thus 
 would we connect the providence of God with the re- 
 moval of our young brother, whose wasting some of us 
 have watched during the few last months. If "a spar- 
 row falleth not to the ground without our Father," how 
 much less can a Christian, a child of God, be smitten 
 down by the hand of death without his cognizance and 
 permission ? " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the 
 death of his saints," and the death which is thus "pre- 
 cious " in his sight can be no chance work. Hence Job — 
 " I know that tlwu wilt bring me to death, and to the 
 house appointed for all living ; " thou who hast the keys 
 of death and of Hades. It was the hand of a Friend, 
 his Almighty and Everlasting Friend, that led our 
 brother down to his quiet resting place in the dust. The 
 consuming disease by which the frame was wasted, was 
 only the wind of the Lord destroying the life of the 
 flower. "He shall blow upon them, and they shall 
 wither." 
 
 When we see a young man sicken and die, as the re- 
 sult of a cold, over-exertion, or hereditary tendency, we 
 are in danger of so interpreting the whole as to exclude 
 the immediate and special providence of God. But we 
 should remember that God veils himself behind second- 
 ary causes ; for "the trial of our faith," for the ex- 
 ercise of which there could be no room, if he worked 
 manifestly in the sight of our eyes. And if "we walk 
 by faith, and not by sight," we shall recognize the inter- 
 ference of an all wise God in the removal of this amiable 
 and useful young man, from whose ashes we are 
 endeavoring to extract lessons that shall fit us to pass 
 with a triumphant courage like his, "through the 
 
YOUTH. 115 
 
 valley of the shadow of death." no, lovely youth, it 
 was uot chance that removed thee, it was thy Master's 
 voice that said unto thee, " It is enough ; come up 
 hither !" 
 
 IMMORTAL LIFE. 
 
 KEV. JAMES SMITH. 
 
 SOUTHWARK, ENGLAND. 
 
 " Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality 
 to light through the Gospel." — 2 Timothy i : 10. 
 
 TMMORTALITY naturally and essentially belongs to 
 God alone, and that is said by the apostle, in his 
 first epistle to Timothy, referring to the Eternal One — 
 "who only hath immortality, &c." And in another 
 part of the same epistle, we find him celebrating 
 Jehovah as the immortal — "unto the King eternal, im- 
 mortal, invisible, the only wise God." God is naturally 
 and essentially immortal, but immortality does not 
 naturally and essentially belong to any creature. 
 
 By "Life and Immortality," in the language of the 
 text, we simply understand immortal life, or existence 
 incapable of decay. Adam was not, in the sense of our 
 text, possessed of immortal life — of existence incapable 
 of decay ; but the Gospel has brought to light this 
 glorious fact, that there is an existence in another state, 
 for creatures such as we are, incapable of decay. 
 
 It is an existence without sin ; for in sin is involved 
 and included all the elements of destruction, and no- 
 thing can remove the elements of destruction, but the 
 removal of sin. The state of existence, to which we are 
 destined as believers in Christ, is a state of existence 
 without sin ; when all that is intended by depravity, and 
 pollution, and corruption, and transgression, shall be 
 
116 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 completely done away, therefore is it that we rejoice in 
 singing— 
 
 "There shall we see His face, 
 And never, never sin ; 
 There from the rivers of His grace, 
 Diink endless pleasures in." 
 
 It is a state of existence without sickness. 
 
 And as a matter of course, there will be no pain. 
 
 And that fear, which is such a source of torment, 
 will be done away. Frequently a little matter agitates, 
 and prevents enjoyment for years together ! But in that 
 state of existence, which is " brought to light by the 
 Gospel," there will be no cause for fear ; there will be 
 nothing that will cause the spirit to tremble, or the 
 spirit to shrink. 
 
 It is a state of existence, in the possession of all that 
 can ennoble, gratify, and delight. Nothing can be de- 
 vised, which can be conferred upon the mind or body of 
 man, that will not be conferred upon the minds and 
 bodies of the Lord's people, in a brighter and better 
 state. 
 
 " Life with Holiness." Holiness is the principal per- 
 fection of God's nature, so holiness will be the principal 
 characteristic of the Lord's people, in a better state. 
 "We shall be then in the possession of a holy nature, sur- 
 rounded by a holy element, in company with holy 
 society, occupied in holy employments. 
 
 "Life," with knowledge; for immortal life stands 
 virtually in connection with spiritual knowledge. "This 
 is life eternal, that they migh,t know Thee, the only 
 true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." 
 Here we hear of Him, and think of Him, and speak of 
 Him, but there we shall know Him in another and a 
 
YOUTH. 117 
 
 superior manner to that in which we know Him at 
 present. 
 
 It will be life, with peace in perfection, and life in 
 the possession of joy ; and all the future will be the 
 anticipation of perfect satisfaction. 
 
 It is life with God — we shall be "for ever with the 
 Lord " — life in the presence, life in the possession, and 
 life in the enjoyment of God. It is said, that "our 
 lives are hid with Christ in God, and that when Christ, 
 who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear 
 with Him in glory." 
 
 It is life of the most perfect kind, in the highest 
 degree. The highest kind of life will, in all the ex- 
 perience of the Lord's holy ones, be wrought up to the 
 highest degree of perfection, and, in that state, it will 
 be spent to reflect His honor, to perpetuate the glory of 
 His grace, and for the honor of His glorious perfections, 
 for ever. 
 
 In other words, it is life in employment, and in en- 
 joyment. " They shall serve Him day and night in His 
 temple." God himself shall dwell among them, and 
 shall be their God, and "the Lamb which is in midst of 
 the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
 Jiving fountains of waters ; and God shall wipe away all 
 tears from their eyes." 
 
 II. We notice the revelation : "Life and immortality 
 are brought to light;" intimating that immortal life was 
 obscure before. 
 
 The heathen had some idea of a state of immortal 
 existence for the soul, but not for the body ; although 
 according to the Gospel, immortality is intended for the 
 body equally with the soul. Hence we have those sub- 
 lime passages in the fifteenth of the first epistle to the 
 Corinthians, where the apostle, speaking of the body, 
 says, in the forty-second verse — " It is sown in corrup- 
 
118 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 tion, &c." And again, in the fifty-second verse he says, 
 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
 trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall 
 be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, &c." 
 But even under the old economy, though the resurrec- 
 tion was known, immortal life was not clearly revealed, 
 as it is under the present dispensation, by the everlast- 
 ing Gospel. There were, as in the sixteenth Psalm, 
 several faint intimations of a glorious and happy state of 
 existence beyond the present ; but the subject was never 
 presented in so clear a light, as it was by Jesus Christ. 
 He " brought life and immortality to light." 
 
 He "brought to light," the purpose of God, which 
 was to be wrought out through all the opposition of sin 
 and Satan, and of man under their influence, that He 
 would have a people possess an immortal existence in- 
 capable of decay — a life of the highest kind, in the most 
 perfect degree and immortality to light." 
 
 He not only "brought to light" the purpose, but the 
 promise. John the sixth chapter and the fortieth verse 
 —"This is the will of Him that sent Me, &c." The 
 will of God is this ; that everlasting life should be the 
 possession and inheritance of every one that believed on 
 Jesus Christ, and placed implicit confidence on Him for 
 salvation ; and he is to be "raised up again at the last 
 day." 
 
 He not only "brought to light" the promise, but 
 He was himself the example. You know He yielded to 
 tbe death upon the cross. When He had finished the 
 work, He shouted— "It is finished;" "Father, into 
 Thy hands I commend My spirit." He then dropped 
 His sacred head upon His bosom, and "gave up the 
 ghost." He was taken down by Joseph of Arimathea, 
 wrapped in linen with spices, and laid in the sejmlchre. 
 There He lay for three days ; but on the third morning 
 
YOUTH. 119 
 
 He arose, and showed our feet the way. He came forth 
 in the possession of immortal life, with an immortal 
 body and an immortal soul. There was an immortal 
 Person — there was the head and representative of His 
 Church, the substitute and surety of His family, step- 
 ping from a prison-house, liberating from Divine justice, 
 presenting Himself to His witnesses, and showing them 
 what immortal life meant, and that it was to be attained 
 by passing through the dreary prison-house of death. 
 And that after He had been with them forty days, and 
 had instructed them in the things pertaining to His 
 kingdom, He led them to Olivet, and there pronounced 
 His parting benediction, and there ascended, in the 
 presence of them all, and was received with a welcome 
 to the right hand of the Father, where "He ever liveth 
 to make intercession for us." 
 
 He exhibited eternal life, as a blessing promised to 
 the Church. This is the promise which He hath 
 promised — eternal life, which includes eveiything else. 
 Therefore, if God has promised us heaven, He has 
 promised us all which is necessary to take us to heaven. 
 " This," says the apostle John, with emphasis — "this is 
 the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and 
 this life is in His Son." 
 
 He not only exhibited it to us as a blessing promised, 
 but as a prize to be gained; for there is nothing in the 
 Gospel to sanction indolence. Freely given, promised 
 of mere grace, yet it is to be obtained as a prize ; and 
 therefore we find the apostle thus exhort Timothy, in 
 the preceding epistle : " But thou, man of God, flee 
 these things," (alluding to certain evils,) "and follow 
 after righteousness, godliness, faith, &c." " And every 
 man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all 
 things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; 
 but we an incorruptible." 
 
120 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 The parallel. The apostle drawing the parallel 
 between the two heads, or public representatives, in the 
 fifth chapter of his epistle to the Romans, says at the 
 twentieth verse — " Moreover the law entered, that the 
 offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace 
 did much more abound : that, &c." Grace is upon a 
 throne, grace sways a sceptre, and the design of the 
 government of grace is, to put us in possession of eternal 
 life. 
 
 It was "brought to light," as the great object of 
 hope, upon which the eye of hope is to be fixed, from 
 time to time. And what made primitive Christians so 
 cheerful, and dauntless, and bold, and courageous, was 
 this: they "were living" (says St. Paul) "in hope of 
 eternal life, which God who cannot lie, promised before 
 the world began." Mercy is represented as crowning 
 with eternal life the beloved family ; and therefore the 
 apostle Jude says, — " But ye, behold, building up your- 
 selves on your most holy faith, praying in .the Holy 
 Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for 
 the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is 
 eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 To bring "life and immortality to light," and to put 
 us in possession of it, was the great end of His mission ; 
 and therefore, speaking figuratively, in the tenth chapter 
 of John and the tenth verse, He says — "The thief 
 cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: 
 I am come that they might have life, and that they 
 might have it more abundantly." 'lam come to put 
 them in possession of immortal life, in absolute perfec- 
 tion.' So we find him speaking of his authority and 
 power, in the seventeenth of John and the second verse 
 — "As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that 
 He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast giv- 
 
YOUTH. 121 
 
 en Him." He has, therefore, "brought life and im- 
 mortality," or immortal life, " to light." 
 
 III. The means, by which this blessing is M brought 
 to light," is "the Gospel." In one view of it, the Gospel 
 is a kind of telescope, without which it is impossible 
 to look so far into the distance, as to see immortal life. 
 There it is in the distance, but our faculties are so 
 weakened by sin, and the mists of ignorance have so 
 gathered between us and it, that it is necessary there 
 should be something to bring the mind's eye into contact 
 with it. The Gospel is that something. It brings the 
 subject near, just in the same way as a telescope seems 
 to bring the distant object near ; so that we can look at 
 it, gaze upon it, examine it, admire it, and enjoy it. 
 "The grace of God hath appeared." Bursting forth, 
 like the sun from behind a cloud, it shone upon the sub- 
 ject of immortal life ; and we can now perceive it, and 
 perceive it to be attainable by us, so that we may press 
 on towards it, and anticipate a complete enjoyment of 
 it. He "hath brought life and immortality to light, 
 by the Gospel." 
 
 The Gospel brings " life and immortality to light," 
 because it shows us how we may get rid of sin, the cause 
 of death. Man may get rid of the guilt of sin, by the pre- 
 cious, perfect, infinite atonement of Jesus Christ ; he 
 may get rid of the pollution of sin, by the application 
 of the truth, and the indwelling and work of the Holy 
 Spirit in the heart. _ It tells him how sin may be par- 
 doned, how pardoned sin may be subdued, how subdued 
 sin may be eradicated, and how the person, over whom 
 it once reigned, may be released from the dominion of 
 it for ever. 
 
 The Gospel not only tells how we may get rid of sin, 
 the cause of death, but how we may obtain justification, 
 the title to life. It presents Jesus to us, as the glori- 
 6 
 
122 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 fied Saviour, and says — ' ' Through this man is preached 
 unto you the forgiveness of sin: and hy Him, all that 
 believe are justified from all things, from which they 
 could not be justified by the law of Moses." 
 
 It informs us how we may surmount every obstacle 
 that w T ould keep us from the possession and enjoyment 
 of it. It brings to our help the power of God, the wis- 
 dom of God, and the Spirit of God ; in other words, it 
 presents to us the Saviour, in all His fulness, and tells 
 us how to every believer in Him He " is made wisdom, 
 and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 
 
 The Gospel informs us, that although at present death 
 looks on us, and is all around us, }^et we may be raised 
 into another atmosphere, the very opposite to the pre- 
 sent ; and therefore it is said, in Romans v. 17 — "For 
 if by one man's offense death reigned by one ; much 
 more &c." — "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will 
 give thee a crown of life." 
 
 So it is to be immortal life, and everything immortal 
 around us. The crown we wear, the robes with which 
 we are decked, the palms we wave, the tree on which we 
 feed, and the river from which we drink, are all im- 
 mortal. He "hath brought life and immortality to 
 light," for he hath brought immortal life to light, "by 
 the Gospel." 
 
 We have thus very hastily run over our subject, 
 having presented but a mere outline, for your meditation. 
 There is in it a depth, a grandeur, a glory, which we 
 confess we cannot reach, much less set before you in a 
 brief discourse, like the present. Our young friend 
 knows more of it than we do ; for though her body 
 slumbers in yonder grave-yard, where we recently placed 
 it, her immortal spirit shines before the eternal throne, 
 and knows something of what immortality pervading, 
 clothing, and filling the immortal mind of man is. 
 
YOUTH. 123 
 
 1 have a brief account of the departed to read to you 
 upon the present occasion, communicated partly by her- 
 self, and partly by those who knew her best. 
 
 ' ' Our young friend, whose death has brought us to 
 gether was the only child of godly parents. She was 
 from early childhood of a dutiful, and affectionate dis- 
 position." 
 
 " She was naturally very quiet and reserved in her 
 manners. She was the subject of serious impressions, 
 when quite young ; but it was chiefly by the school at 
 Amersham, through her teacher's affectionate addresses 
 to her, and fervent prayers with her, that she was led 
 to see her real condition, as a sinner, in the sight of 
 God, and to flee to the Lord Jesus Christ for refuge. 
 The things of G-od had engaged much of her attention 
 through the last few years, and as she fully expected tc 
 reside in London, she proposed herself to the church oi 
 Christ in this place, and was publicly united to Oliristj 
 in baptism, on the twenty-second of February last 
 Early in September, she was taken seriously ill, and felt 
 persuaded that it would be unto death ; but she felt no 
 fear, she experienced no alarm, for she knew Him who 
 is ' the resurrection and the life.' She had familiarized 
 herself with death by meditation upon it, and by the 
 frequent approach of it to her friends. While sensible 
 she was exceedingly happy in her mind, rejoicing that 
 she had fixed her hope on Jesus, and on Him alone. 
 Spiritual hymns had for some time engaged her atten- 
 tion, in an unusual manner ; and after returning from 
 the means of grace the last time, she felt extraordinarily 
 filled with joy and peace, which led her to talk very 
 seriously to the servant, to read the Word of God to her, 
 and then, (which she had never done before,) to pray 
 with her. She had never been known to pray with any 
 one, until that evening. In private she had constantly 
 
124 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 poured out her soul to God, but her youth, and her dif- 
 fidence had kept her back from praying with any one 
 else before. To her mother she said — ' I am not sorry 
 that I made an open profession when I did, but I feel 
 thankful that 1 showed to the world that I am on the 
 Lord's side.'" 
 
 My youDg friends, these things speak to you. It 
 was said of our departed friend, of whom I have been 
 speaking, that she ventured her soul on Christ ; and if 
 you do not, yon are eternally undone. There is no one 
 that can bear you up on a dying bed, when death lias 
 begun his work, but the Lord Jesus ; for "there is sal- 
 vation in none other ;" " there is no other name under 
 heaven, given among men, whereby you must be saved." 
 
 It was said again, that on her dying pillow, our 
 departed friend said — "I am glad I professed Christ 
 when I did — that I told the world on whose side I was." 
 Are there any of our young friends present, who are 
 believers, but have never confessed it ? Are there any, 
 who do love Christ, but have never professed Him ? 
 TVe have known those, who have regretted that they 
 have neglected it in health, when lying upon a bed of 
 sickness. Our young friend did not neglect it. TTe say, 
 therefore, to you, undecided ones, decide, and let your 
 decision be now; and we say to you all — "Be ye also 
 ready." Live for eternity, and not for time ; "for in 
 such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.*'" 
 Immortal life is ''brought to light." But will you 
 possess it ? will you enter into it ? are you seeking 
 "glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life?" 
 
 "I may sometimes tremble on the rock, but, blessed 
 be the Lord, the rock never trembles under me." 
 
YOUTH. 125 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN'S DESIRE. 
 
 KEY. FRANCIS ELLABY, B.A. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF MISS , AGED 22 SEVEN DIALS, LONDON. 
 
 11 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, 
 what it is; that 1 may know how frail 1 am." — Psalm xxxix : 4. 
 
 r jHHERE is an embarrassing uncertainty attending all 
 human affairs. It is as true in man's experience, 
 as it is in the record of Scripture, '* We know not what 
 a day may bring forth." To-day all may be joy ; to- 
 morroio some sad event occurs, and overwhelms the whole 
 with sorrow: — to-day all is gay and exhilarating as sum- 
 mer; to-morrow, all is dull and depressing as winter : a 
 man may have much treasure laid up in a store ; but by 
 a sudden reverse, he may be deprived of the whole, and 
 impoverished, and ruined : to-day, his children sur- 
 round his board, and he is happy with the partner of his 
 joys and sorrows, in the enjoyment of domestic bliss ; 
 to-morroiu, sad truth ! brings evil tidings, he is either 
 childless or widowed. That which a man has least rea- 
 son to expect, too often comes ; or with Job, he may 
 have to say, " The thing which I greatly feared is come 
 upon me> and that which I was afraid of, is come unto 
 me." Powerty in place of affluence — enmity for friend- 
 ship — sorrow for gladness — pain for ease — sickness for 
 health, or death for life ! Transitions these to which 
 all are liable ; circumstances with which many are but 
 too well acquainted, and one of which, at least, will, 
 sooner or later, be the portion of all. "It is appointed 
 unto all men, once to die." "Is there not an appointed 
 time to man upon earth are not his days also like the 
 days of an hireling ? 
 
 And if these things be true, shall we not do well if 
 we adopt the words of the text, for personal and con- 
 
126 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 stant meditation? "Lord, make me to know mine 
 end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I know 
 how frail I am." 
 
 I. The text, contains : 
 
 1. A desire to be instructed of the Lokd, in order 
 that he might obtain a sure knowledge of a peaceful end. 
 " Lord, make me to know mine end" 
 
 %. A desire to have impressed upon the mind an 
 abiding sense of the shortness of life. To keep the man 
 from folly, from the vain gratification of the senses, 
 from a wasteful expenditure, from the misimprovemeut 
 of time, and especially, from an untimely end. ' ' Lord, 
 make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, 
 what it is." This knowledge seems to have been granted, 
 so far as it could be profitably or safely possessed. Ver. 
 5. " Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadtb, 
 and my age is as nothing before thee ; verily, every man 
 in his best state, is altogether vanity." 
 
 3. A desire to know the worst of himself. "That 
 I may know hoio frail I am" My mortality, the frail 
 tenure of my existence: — my depravity, the depth of 
 iniquity concealed within, and working my ruin: — my 
 weakness, that I may be convinced of the folly of trust- 
 ing in an arm of flesh, and my deep need of a Saviour 
 in whom to trust, omnipotent and willing to save. 
 
 But Scripture is best interpreted by Scripture ; and 
 [would refer you to Psal. xc. 12. "So teach us to 
 number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto 
 wisdom !" — Wisdom, to guide us through the dreary 
 paths of life : — wisdom, the word of truth profitable to 
 direct : — wisdom, the Messiah, " the Lord our Righ- 
 teousness ;" our Immanuel, our loving friend "made 
 unto us wisdom" &c. For it is thus that in accordance 
 with, and not in opposition to rejoicing in hope of the 
 glory of God," every Christian may say, " Lord, make me 
 
YOUTH. 127 
 
 to know my end, and the measure of my days, what it 
 is ; that / may know how frail I am." 
 
 II. Let me exemplify the practical excellence of the 
 text, by noticing the experience and conduct of our de- 
 parted friend. The practical excellence of the principles 
 in the text was exemplified. 
 
 1. By her cherishing a conviction that her end tuas 
 near. She new the weakness of her frame ; she remem- 
 bered that she was but dust. She felt the power of that 
 word of God, and therefore believed in it — " Your life 
 is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then 
 vanisheth away." In the morning, we grow up as the 
 grass, and appear flourishing, but in the evening, nay, 
 before the mid-day of life, we are many of us cut down, 
 and, like it, dried up and withered. It is not remarkable, 
 therefore, that she should say on leaving town, with 
 feelings better to be imagined than described, "I shall 
 not again return ; I shall never see you more." She was 
 not one of the many who make this earth the place of 
 their joy, and desire no higher happiness ; but one of 
 the thoughtful and devout few, who are not averse to 
 the contemplation of death, nor unwilling to cherish the 
 conviction that their end is near. 
 
 2. By her anxiety to be prepared for a happy end. 
 With her, religion was not a mere form : it was not at- 
 tended to from the prevalence of custom, or as a means 
 of gaining reputation, nor was it, in her estimation, of 
 secondary import. She regarded it as the one thing 
 needful," — as the first and " principal thing ;" and she 
 entered into it with all her might, convinced that there 
 was no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in 
 the grave whither she was hastening. ' ' Private devotion 
 she never neglected. In family and social prayer she 
 readily and fervently joined. The House of God was 
 the place of her joy. The Lokd's day she hailed with 
 
128 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 sacred delight, and listened to his word with prayerful 
 attention." She desired to yield obedience to the 
 Savioue's command, "Do this in remembrance of 
 me ; " to approach his table in the spirit of a true dis- 
 ciple. And t ) her, it was a holy feast, an antepast of 
 heaven. 
 
 3. By her firm reliance on the merits of the Eedeemer. 
 She was convinced of her frailty, and felt deeply her need 
 of the divine aid to lead her to the Savioue ; and her 
 deep need also of the application of his merits — his blood 
 to cleanse — his righteousness to justify. Happy for her, 
 she "knew who she had believed, and was fully per- 
 suaded that he was able to keep that she had committed 
 to Him against the great day," and could wholly depend 
 upon him. When, therefore, her medical attendant in- 
 quired if she was building her hope of salvation on any 
 righteousness of her own, she answered, "None but 
 Cheist ! " 
 
 When she perceived the attentions which her friends 
 were so forward to pay her, the love of Cheist so sweetly 
 constrained her, and enabled her to appreciate such work, 
 that she said, "Even Job in all his affliction, had not 
 attention such as this ! " And when they lamented her 
 extreme sufferings, which they had no power to avert, 
 she said, " Nothing to what my sins deserve." This was 
 a striking 23i*oof of her humility. And then, forgetting 
 all for Cheist she added, " Cheist is precious ! Cheist 
 is precious ! " 
 
 There was nothing of indifference, but a cleaving to 
 Him by faith, who is mighty and able to save; an 
 earnest supplication in reliance on his merits, and a joy 
 in Him as superlatively precious ! Cheist was 
 
 " Her theme, her inspiration, and her crown ; 
 Her light in darkness, and -her life in death 1" 
 
YOUTH. 129 
 
 4. By her resignation, willingness, and desire to 
 depart. In making this statement, however, we do not 
 mean to disguise that she was the subject of many fears, 
 that the enemy of souls thrust sore at her, and that she 
 had hours of darkness and heaviness during her painful 
 affliction. On the contrary, we are happy to make 
 them known, because from them we gain confidence that 
 all is well. Had there been no conflicts, no exertion of 
 the powers of darkness, there might have been no work 
 of the Spirit ; but since there were the former, and she 
 triumphed over them, we doubt not that her triumph 
 was the effect of the latter, and we have reason to give 
 glory to Him, who by his Spirit made her more than 
 conqueror. As a proof of this, she said at one period, 
 " My fears are all gone ; I have built my ho]3e on 
 Christ, and can leave all to him." 
 
 Patience and resignation shone conspicuously in all 
 her words and in her whole deportment ; and these 
 wrought so effectually to her peace and comfort of mind, 
 that through a night of uncommon suffering, she had 
 such sweet composure, that she was able to be much in 
 prayer, and was often heard to say, "Heavenly Father, 
 take me home /" 
 
 Her pious medical friend said, "To depart and to be 
 with Christ is far better." She answered, "That is 
 what I want ; I long to be gone." 
 
 "And her last words were, "Come, Lord Jesus, 
 Lord Jesus !" 
 
 And now, desiring above all things that divine grace 
 may work effectually in all your hearts, and constrain you 
 to follow her as she followed Christ, we exhort you, 
 
 1. To adopt the sentiments of the text for practical 
 and holy purposes. As individuals say— "Lord, make 
 me to know mine end," &c. 
 6* 
 
130 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 2. Not to cause a gloomy apprehension of death, but 
 to inspire a cheerful hope that death will be gain. 
 
 And in this expectation, and in the hope that we 
 shall be for ever with the Lord, we exhort, we entreat, 
 we enjoin yon to "comfort one another with these 
 words." 
 
 And, finally, we exhort you all to meditate on the 
 work of Christ. This afforded comfort to our departed 
 friend. His work as a Kedeemer, Mediator, and Inter- 
 cessor — his power to deliver — his willingness to save, 
 afforded her comfort, and peace, and assurance in death. 
 
 Believe in him — trust in him — love him — serve him. 
 Then, living, you will live unto the Lord, and dying, 
 you shall be for ever his. 
 
 PIETY IN HUMBLE LIFE. 
 
 REV. A. E. LORD. 
 
 IN THE CONGREGATIONAL CHAPEL, HERSHAM, NEAR ESHER, ENGLAND. 
 ON THE DECEASE OP A YOUTHFUL MEMBER OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 "Saving a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far 
 better." — Phillippians i : 23. 
 
 HPHESE words meet our notice, in the vicinity of one 
 of the most beautiful passages in the apostolic 
 writings. The circumstances in which the apostle was 
 placed when he wrote them, were peculiar. He had 
 been arrested in his seraphic course of service, by the 
 strong arm of law, and had become in consequence an 
 inmate of the prison-house at Eome. 
 
 To many of the churches which he had planted, this 
 providence seemed distressing and mysterious. They 
 fainted at his tribulation. His faith, however, did not 
 fail him, for he knew that whether he was destined for 
 
YOUTH. 131 
 
 life or for death, "Christ would be magnified in him ;" 
 "for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." He 
 confesses that he felt himself under the pressure of two 
 opposite principles. There was a desire to live, and yet 
 a desire to depart, and which to choose he knew not : 
 "lamina strait betwixt two." Life, in his estimation, 
 was a valuable thing ; and, inasmuch as it presented 
 opportunities to promote the glory of the Saviour in the 
 redemption of man, it was to him exceedingly desir- 
 able ; yet still, he could not resist the conviction, that 
 "to depart was far better," because his departure would 
 give him immediate introduction to the society of Christ, 
 the supreme object of his heart's love. " I have a de- 
 sire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." 
 
 I. The apostle's view of death first claims our attention. 
 He calls it a "departure " In like manner he speaks of 
 it in his letter to Timothy. "The time of my depar- 
 ture is at hand." Thus also good old Simeon regarded 
 it, when he said, "Lord, now lettest Thou thy servant 
 depart in peace." 
 
 The original word contains a nautical figure, and 
 refers to a ship riding at anchor, the wind in the mean- 
 time threatening to loose it from its moorings, and to 
 drive it out to sea. The apostle desired to weigh 
 anchor, to be unbound, and to set sail for the haven of 
 eternal rest. 
 
 And first, we may regard the apostle as referring to 
 the departure of his spirit from the tody — " / have a 
 desire to depart." In the previous verse he says, "/ 
 live in the flesh." The distinction he makes, between 
 himself and his body, is very remarkable, and conveys 
 to our mind a sublime and beautiful truth. The "I" 
 in which the apostle recognizes his real self, he does not 
 confound with his flesh — " I live in the flesh." The 
 soul is the gem, the body is the casket ; and though 
 
132 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 both are essential to humanity, yet they are distinct. 
 Properly speaking, the mind is the man — the "I," the 
 real self. To a thoughtful mind it is pleasing to observe 
 how beautifully this great philosophical truth is 
 recognized by the sacred writers. 
 
 "In my flesh shall I see God." The patriarch does 
 not confound the mortal with the immortal — the 
 adjunct of humanity with its essence. " We" says the 
 apostle Paul, "are in this tabernacle." To confound 
 the body with our real self is much the same as if a man 
 should confound a tent with the occupant, "/am in 
 this tabernacle," says the apostle Peter. "My body is 
 not myself, it is my residence — a residence not built of 
 marble and founded on a rock, but a tent, which rock- 
 ing in every breeze, is destined to come down at the fiat 
 of Almighty God." 
 
 Viewing then the soul in this close connection with 
 the body, as " living in the flesh," the apostle regarded 
 death as a "departure" of the soul from its residence — 
 as a loosing of his spirit from the anchor in which mor- 
 tality had held it for so many years. And who can 
 wonder that a mind, ripened under the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit, should be " willing to be absent from the 
 body, that it may be present with the Lord ?" In these 
 frail tabernacles how many sins have been committed — 
 how man sorrows endured ! The "flesh" has contracted 
 much defilement, and "the spirit" has wailed under 
 many burdens. " We that are in this tabernacle do 
 groan being burdened." How many times has the body 
 been pressed under sickness ! How numerous have been 
 its exposures to death, and how agonizing have been its 
 pains ! What griefs have been experienced from burn- 
 ing fevers, paralyzed limbs, inward tumors, dyspepsia, 
 consumption, and a thousand other things ! What 
 showers of tears have fallen from the eyes even of re- 
 
touts. 133 
 
 deemed humanity ! The home of the body is far from a 
 happy one ; and therefore we cannot wonder that when 
 the soul has a prospect of "a mansion, eternal in the 
 heavens/' it should cherish " the desire to depart." 
 
 It is important, however to remark, that the aspira- 
 tion is that of renewed humanity only. The mind un- 
 changed has no desire to depart. Its requires His wis- 
 dem, His power, and His grace, to bring tlie soul to this 
 temper and to this frame. 
 
 Secondly. We regard the apostle as referring to his 
 departure from the present world. "I have a desire to 
 depart." 
 
 Viewed as the workmanship of God, this world un- 
 questionably presented many attractions to the apostle's 
 mind. His fine eye, and cultivated taste, would regard 
 creation as a sublime poem ; and many a passage which 
 portrayed the eternal power and Godhead, would be 
 read by him with exquisite delight. It is admitted too 
 that this world has many sublime reminiscences. It is 
 a wonderful world ! Here Christ lived, labored, and 
 died for the redemption of humanity. Here apostles 
 fought the great battle of life, and made their way to 
 the martyr's crown. Here too we received those impres- 
 sions of the world to come which first drew our affec- 
 tions from the things of earth. And, all these reminis- 
 cences give a charm to the present world which may 
 well make us willing to live. Yet still, a noble, 
 spiritual mind will give the preference to departure. 
 
 In this world the're are many drawbacks upon a 
 Christian's happiness. Even in the physical world, it is 
 not true, that "every prospect pleases." When nature 
 blooms in paradisaic beauty, the poet's conception enlists 
 our concurrence as to its accuracy. But there are times 
 when mist and blight assail the scenery of earth — times 
 when storms and tempests spread terrible devastation 
 
134 MEMORIAL TEIBtrTES. 
 
 upon the prospects which have pleased our eye — times 
 when darkness covers the earth and jeopardizes our 
 safety. But heaven will be a perfect paradise. Not a 
 vestige of the curse will remain. "And there shall be 
 no night there." In that world every prospect pleases, 
 and not even man is vile, for there humanity is trans- 
 formed into the image of the Son of God. "The 
 spirits of the just are made perfect." Comparing, then, 
 the physical attractions of this world with those of 
 heaven, we need not wonder that the Christian cherishes 
 "a desire to depart." 
 
 Our social circles too present many drawbacks to 
 perfect bliss. Sorrows present themselves in a thousand 
 forms. Afflictions crowd upon our path. Death enters 
 our windows. Loved ones are prostrated by the blow of 
 God's hand. Emaciated forms arouse our tenderest 
 sympathies, and their cries pierce our hearts. But in 
 heaven cries of agony will be unheard. Pain will have 
 noplace: sorrow will be unknown — "and there shall 
 be no more death." And who that has lost a friend in 
 this world after much solicitude and auxious watching, 
 does not anticipate that period when his heart will no 
 more be pierced by the wail of sorrow ? when his eyes 
 will no more witness the triumph of the "king of 
 terrors ?" and when his feet will no more tread the 
 graveyard, or stand beside the yawning tomb ? 
 
 No captain would wish to remain at anchor upon the 
 shores of a plague-smitten country, so the Christian 
 need not wish unduly to prolong his stay in the midst 
 of sorrow, affliction, and death. " Having a desire to 
 depart." 
 
 Our service, moreover, does not ensure unmingled 
 delight in this world. It is a great blessedness to serve 
 the Lord Christ in the battle of life. Our calling is a 
 noble calling — " God hath called us unto glory." We 
 
YOUTH. 135 
 
 become soldiers of Jesus Christ, that we may " fight the 
 good fight of faith ;" that on the side of the Son of 
 God we may war with the antagonistic forces of evil 
 which prevail in the world. It is a noble service ! We 
 love the Captain of our salvation. We love the cause we 
 have espoused. We are conscious of its justice, of its 
 excellence, and of its ultimate triumph: yet we are also 
 conscious of much imperfection. Sin mars our works — 
 weakens our hands, and retards our progress. Often do 
 we cry with the apostle — " wretched one that I am, 
 who shall deliver me !" " We cannot do the things 
 that we would." We cannot serve our Lord as we ought. 
 "Evil is present with us" even in doing good; and 
 therefore while we may be willing to "abide in the 
 flesh," if such be the will of God, we may, and ought to 
 cherish the " desire to depart," to leave the scene of con- 
 flict, and " enter into rest." 
 
 II. The apostle's estimate of future bliss claims our 
 attention. " To be with Christ." And here observe — 
 
 First, the apostle did not regard departure as the 
 annihilation of his humanity. The thought of annihi- 
 lation would have smitten him through with terror. 
 Philosophy and revelation alike forbid the wretched 
 idea. What man would covet the annihilation of his 
 existence except the guilty and depraved ? It is pos- 
 sible to conceive of a mind reduced to wish such an 
 ultimatum, but it must be a mind that has not a ray of 
 hope sweeping across its horizon, that does not reflect 
 upon eternity and its' realities — not a mind elevated to 
 true virtue by the Gospel of Christ. Such a mind would 
 shudder could it believe, ' When I depart I shall be no 
 more.' Annihilation is the dream of infidelity in its 
 lowest and basest form. 
 
 Secondly) you observe the apostle did not regard de- 
 parture as the extinguishing of his spirit till the morn 
 
186 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 of resurrection. Does not the language of the text 
 imply, with all the force of certainty, that when the 
 Christian departs he is at once with Christ ? Is not the 
 transition immediate ? And is not the desire ex- 
 pressed upon the assured conviction that departure 
 would usher him into the presence of Christ and 
 into personal communion with Him. Had the apostle 
 the least idea of a suspension of his mental faculties 
 while his body remained under the dominion of death ? 
 On what ground, if this were the case, could he say, 
 " To die is gain ?" Wherein would be the gain, to leave 
 the joy of labor for Christ and sink into utter uncon- 
 sciousness for centuries ? How could a departure under 
 such circumstances be "far better" than living for 
 Christ in the flesh ? Unless we admit the immediate 
 blessedness of departed spirits, Paul's departure would 
 have been not gain, but loss, gee at loss. The soul 
 sleepeth not ; it is an ever living, wakeful entity. It 
 needeth not sleep. It existeth even when absent from 
 the body. " Absent from the body, it is present with 
 the Lord." "Ye are come," says the apostle, "to the 
 spirits of the just made perfect." Observe the lan- 
 guage, "spirits" "made perfect;" but if spirits sleep, 
 and are not made perfect till the body rise from the dust 
 of death, with what propriety could the apostle say, We 
 are come to them ? 
 
 There will unquestionably be a perfection of humanity 
 as a whole at the resurrection, but in the mean time the 
 spirit is already perfect. 
 
 Paul's desire, then, for departure was that he might 
 "be with Christ." "The love of Christ constrained " 
 his desire for an interview. He was well pleased to 
 labor for Him on earth, but he preferred dwelling with 
 Him in heaven. The life of faith was pleasant, but a 
 sight of Christ would be " far better." 
 
YOUTB. 137 
 
 TJiirdly, it is relevant to inquire, in what place Paul 
 expected to meet the Saviour 9 
 
 Wheke is the Redeemee ? The Scriptures dis- 
 tinctly and repeatedly assure us that the "heavens have 
 received Him till the restitution of all things" — that 
 " He has entered heaven for us," and carries on His 
 intercourse in that world in the pbesence of God. And 
 if so, will it not follow that to be with Him is to he in 
 heaven f " Where I am," says the Saviour, " there shall 
 My servant he also ;" and when His Word tells me that 
 " He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of 
 God," the conclusion is inevitable that His departed 
 saints are there also. 
 
 The apostle's desire, was to reach the perfection of 
 his nature and the perfection of his bliss. And this he 
 could reach only in the glorious presence of his Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 Love is strong and impels its possessor to seek the 
 society of its object. There it reposes, for we "rest in 
 our love." 
 
 The apostle's hopes had for many years centered on 
 "Jesus Christ and Him crucified;" and now he wished 
 to be with Jesus Christ glorified — not as a spectator ol 
 His glory only, but as a partaker. The bliss of heaven 
 will fill both the eye and the heart. " Father, I will 
 that they whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where 
 I am, that they may behold My glory." We shall see 
 Him as He is ; not in the unsubdued splendors of Deity, 
 but with those splendors softened by a beautiful hu- 
 manity — with the majesty of Godhead blended with the 
 sympathy of a refined manhood. Thus the apostle 
 longed to see Him and to be with Him ; and to achieve 
 this he was desirous to depart, conscious that as soon as 
 his spirit was unloosed from the trammels of the body, 
 
138 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 it would find a place among the spirits made perfect, 
 and in that perfection enjoy Him for ever. 
 
 When we think of all the bliss consequent upon de- 
 parture, we can understand why the apostle should say, 
 "To die is gain," and to "depart is far better." It is 
 far better, because he who thus leaves this world be- 
 comes free from every sin, every perplexity and every 
 doubt ; free from every temptation and sorrow — from 
 every kind of evil, physicial and moral. And seeing it 
 is so, why should a Christian be afraid to depart ? Let 
 no Christian clothe death with needless terror, but let 
 him learn his privilege to regard it as a "sleep in Jesus," 
 as an exodus, as a weighing anchor, as a "departure to 
 be with Christ." 
 
 Death has its bright side as well as its dark one. It 
 may deface mortal beauty, wither human strength, 
 tarnish human glory, and terrify the guilty — but it is no 
 enemy to the Christian. It can deface no moral beauty, 
 wither no spiritual strength, despoil of no true wealth, 
 disturb no true repose. Why then should a Christian 
 be afraid to die ? Why should he fear to depart to his 
 home ? Why should he tremble to hear his Lord turn 
 the key which opens the door of a perfect and of an 
 endless life ? Why should he dread to walk down into 
 the valley ? Is there a shadow there ? and is there not 
 light ? Without light shadows cannot exist. Is there a 
 shadow there ? and is it not the shadow of the opposite 
 Mount — Mount Zion — up which the spirit will travel as 
 soon as it is emancipated ? Fear not, then, Christian, 
 to cherish the "desire to depart and to be with Christ." 
 It is far better than your present mode of existence, and 
 your present enjoyments. 
 
 Here you "groan being burdened!" Here you are 
 oppressed with imperfections in yourselves, in the world, 
 and in the church. "Far better!" There is no com- 
 
TOVTH. 130 
 
 parison between calm and rest, between conflict and 
 peace, between chains and freedom, between night and 
 day. 
 
 This sublime aspiration of the apostle — this temper 
 and posture of the soul, becomes every Christian. If 
 we have been "renewed in the spirit of our minds " — if 
 "Christ has been formed within us the hope of glory" 
 — then we shall covet the perfection to which we are 
 destined, and of which we are capable. The creature in 
 every department of creation tends to perfection. Every- 
 thing seeks to develope itself and struggles with every 
 difficulty that opposes its advancement ; and surely " the 
 new creature " cannot but aspire to glory, and honor, 
 and perfection, in the presence of Christ. 
 
 This subject, thus brought before us, teaches us that 
 the great design of the Gospel is to produce in all who 
 receive it a willingness and readiness to die. To un- 
 renewed humanity death is the king of terrors. Apart 
 from the cross of Christ, he must ever appear as an 
 enemy to the reflective mind. I am not unaware that 
 many who disbelieve the Gospel have counted death as 
 the friend of man, and some have invited his approach 
 before the time by the poisoned cup or by the polished 
 steel. But in every case of this kind the victims had 
 become weary of life. Calamities and crosses, pains and 
 sorrows had so pressed upon them, that life became irk- 
 some, and with cowardice they ran away from life's ills, 
 unable to bear the discipline of earthly care. 
 
 In the apostle's case nothing of this kind induced the 
 "desire to depart." He was not disgusted with life ; he 
 did not wish to be unclothed ; he did not wish to die to 
 get rid of trouble ; he did not wish to die because he 
 hated the world. He had a higher motive. It was that 
 he might "be with Christ." We do not say, that he 
 was insensible to the evils incident to the present state, 
 
140 Memorial tributes, 
 
 or that he was enamoured, of earth's sorrows. By no 
 means. But the grand motive of his aspirations was to 
 be with Christ. Love panted to reach its Parent, and to 
 look Him in the face for ever. And this is the true test 
 of Christian principle. If the desire to die arise from 
 disgust with earthly sorrows, earthly associates, or earth- 
 ly things, depend upon it the mind is not fit for the de- 
 parture. It is like an instrument in an untuned con- 
 dition, and would by no means add to the harmony of 
 the heavenly world. The true proof of meetness is love 
 to the person of Christ, and a desire to have His wel- 
 come, His society, and His smile. 
 
 What, then, are the desires of your minds ? Are you 
 of the same temper as the apostle ? — willing to live, if 
 you may live to Christ, but desirous "to depart, and to 
 be with Christ," when He shall intimate His will ? De- 
 spise not your life : it is a noble endowment, and is given 
 for a noble purpose. Squander it not away, but live to 
 Christ, to promote in every possible way the welfare of 
 humanity. If you live for Christ, you will live for man 
 — you cannot do otherwise. " The love of Christ con- 
 strains" to a sublime philanthropy. It aims to crush 
 selfishness : it finds the neighbor whom to love in uni- 
 versal man. This is true Christianity, and anything 
 short of it is a caricature, a counterfeit thing. In using 
 life thus nobly, let the balance of your desires ever be in 
 favor of departure ; so that, when the last hour of life 
 shall come, death may not be like tearing up a tree by 
 its roots, but like the loosing of a ship from its anchor, 
 to ride gallantly into the port of glory and into the 
 haven of eternal rest. 
 
 It gives me pleasure to say that the departed com- 
 mended herself to the esteem of all who knew her as a 
 modest and retiring Christian. As a servant she was 
 faithful and honest in every trust. For eight years she 
 
YOUTH. 141 
 
 was under our roof, and time only enhanced the esteem 
 in which she was held. We have sorrowed for her loss, 
 but not as those without hope. We are thankful that 
 we have not been obliged to leave her to the tender 
 mercies of an unsympathizing world. Her desire was 
 to be with Christ, and that desire we fondly hope is fully 
 and for ever realized. Her death speaks to every fellow- 
 member of this church, and it urges all to " work while 
 it is called to-day, for the night cometh when no man 
 can work." With us she will commune no more ; with 
 ns on earth she will worship no more. But let us anti- 
 cipate the time of re-union at the banquet of love in 
 heaven. Let our anxiety be to live to Christ, cherishing 
 at the same time a "desire to depart and to be with 
 Christ, which is far better." 
 
 Finally, her death speaks to the yopkg. 
 
 What an impressive lesson doss it read upon the 
 vanity of human life ! Here was a young woman called 
 to bear the yoke of affliction in her youth, and to die in 
 her twenty-fourth year. "Her sun went down while it 
 was yet noon." And how know you that your end is 
 not near ? Oh ! "set not your affections on things on 
 the earth ;" follow not the vanities, and fashions, and 
 pleasures of this world. Let your life be consecrated to 
 Christ from henceforth, and remember that the departed 
 has assured you that you will never regret it. Eegret 
 it ! No ! The soul that is joined to its Saviour, can 
 never regret its union, for by that union it rises to the 
 elevation of salvation ancl of heaven for ever. 
 
 Some of you knew and esteemed the departed. 
 come and join yourselves to the Lord and Saviour. For 
 this she prayed, and let none despise the prayer of a 
 humble disciple. I cannot but hope, that as her own 
 serious impressions were ripened into decision for Christ 
 under a funeral sermon, sq some of you may from this 
 
142 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 time be led to seek the Lord, and give yourselves to 
 Him. " Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God 
 for you all is, that you may be saved." 
 
 THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 
 
 KEV. R. GIBSON", ENGLAND. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF MR. J. C. H. , AGED 32. 
 
 "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is 
 at hand. 1 have fought a good fight, 1 have finished my course, I 
 have kept tlie faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
 righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 
 that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also that love Ris 
 appearing." — 2 Timothy iv: 6-8. 
 
 r PHE solemn event which we are assembled this even- 
 ing to improve, though truly mournful and pain- 
 fully distressing, and even overwhelming to the minds 
 of some, is in itself mingled with the blooming hope of 
 immortality and eternal life. We cannot, however, but 
 regard it amongst the dark, mysterious, impenetrable 
 dispensations of an infinitely wise and kind Providence. 
 When we see the aged sinner with his hoary head, ema- 
 ciated frame, and broken down constitution, whose life 
 has been one of distinguished transgression, spared year 
 after year in his rebellion, and on his right hand and on 
 his left the young, the healthful, the virtuous, the good, 
 are swept away by the relentless hand of mortalit} 7 , and 
 those hopes that have swelled the bosoms of pious par- 
 ents, that have promised to revive the church and to 
 bless the world, have been blighted and withered in the 
 bud ; when we see this, are w r e not disposed to exclaim, 
 "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways 
 past finding out !" Thus it has been in the present in- 
 stance ? and thus it has been in a thousand others ; but 
 
YOUTH. 143 
 
 be it ours to "stand still and know that He is God," 
 and that "He doeth all things well," "though His way- 
 is in the sea, His path in the great waters, and His foot- 
 steps are not known. Clouds and darkness are round 
 about Him, justice and judgment are the habitation of 
 His throne." In the midst of such perplexing scenes, 
 resignation to the will of God is most desirable, and per- 
 haps the highest and noblest attainment to which the 
 Christian can arrive, on this side the grave. It is said 
 of one, that while yet wave after wave brake with greater 
 violence on his devoted head, "in all this he sinned not, 
 nor charged God foolishly." " I was dumb," said the 
 psalmist, "because Thou didst it;" and another calmly 
 replied, "It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him 
 good." Oh ! for something of that meek submission, 
 which characterized the blessed Eedeemer, when ap- 
 proaching the bitterest agonies that could wring His sin- 
 less heart ; " Nevertheless not My will, but Thine be 
 done." 
 
 St. Paul was at this time a prisoner in Rome, for the 
 truth, he had so much loved, and so faithfully pro- 
 claimed. He was hourly anticipating a martyr's death, 
 for the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. While thus 
 standing on the verge of both worlds, in calmly review- 
 ing the past, he says, "I am now ready to be offered, 
 and the time of my departure is at hand ; I have fought 
 a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith." Then casting his reflections forward into 
 futurity, more sublime and enrapturing visions broke on 
 his triumphant spirit. 
 
 This too was something of the experience of our de- 
 parted friend. In reviewing the past, he could rejoice ; 
 and, in the anticipation of the future, he could triumph. 
 This is not the gloomy language of skepticism, but of a 
 martyr and a Christian, awaiting his dimissal from a 
 
144 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 world of sorrow, to the realms of endless bliss. This 
 dispels the gloom from the grave ; this cheers and il- 
 lumines the pathway to the tomb ; this wipes away the 
 bitter tear of the anxious mourner, that lingers behind ; 
 this bereaves the last enemy of his sting ; this sustains 
 the soul amid "the wreck of nature/' and opens to the 
 departing spirit a survey of the cloudless mansions of 
 joy, to which it is about to take its everlasting flight. 
 And no wonder if amid such scenes he should long for 
 "the wings of a dove, to fly away and be at rest." 
 
 We shall make some brief remarks on each sentiment 
 of this interesting passage. 
 
 May the Lord command His abundant blessings ; may 
 He fill this place with His glory ; and may he bind up 
 every wound, and comfort every sorrowful spirit, for His 
 name's sake ! 
 
 " I am now ready to be offered." This is the sweet 
 experience of the man of God. There are in his mind 
 no fearful forebodings, no anxious pangs, no tremulous 
 apprehensions, rising to wrap the soul in the mists of 
 obscurity, while thus treading the margin of the grave. 
 How many express an ardent desire for that world of 
 peace and rest awaiting the believer, but how seldom do 
 they properly consider the essential, the indispensable 
 preparation for such a state ! If there be one thing in 
 the universe of God more pleasing to the mind than all 
 others, it is to see the Christian completely prepared for 
 heaven. There he stands, when life wears to a close, and 
 the twilight shadows of the evening are flinging them- 
 selves around him, with his lamp trimmed, and being 
 brilliantly wrapped in a robe without a stain, waiting 
 only for the fiery chariot and the convoy of angels, to 
 conduct his happy spirit to Abraham's bosom. 
 
 "We cannot be surprised at the ancient Christians 
 <( not accepting deliverance." Like this noble champion 
 
YOUTH. 145 
 
 for the truth, their labors were ended, the wilderness 
 traversed, the journey of life at a close, upon the bor- 
 ders of the promised land, waiting to enter in. And 
 while the gates are thus opening and the soul rising to 
 God and to heaven, to mingle with its kindred spirits, 
 and as the discordant sounds of earth die away on the 
 ear, the meltiug strains of heavenly music break upon it; 
 and as the eye becomes dim to all earthly scenes, and as 
 they fade away, it opens upon the celestial visions of 
 eternal day. What can be more distressing, than at such 
 a crisis to be thrown back upon the bleak shores of an 
 unfriendly world ! 
 
 Our beloved friend, when once nearly gone, but re- 
 covering again from a most painful attack, said, "all 
 this is a disappointment." But it was only for a little ; 
 angels were preparing his crown, and hastening to meet 
 him ; yet a little, and he soared away to join in the song, 
 "Unto Him that hath loved us, and washed us from 
 our sins in His own blood, be glory for ever." 
 
 My brethren, are you ready to pass to that dying 
 chamber, or at once to that "rest that remaineth for the 
 people of God ?" Is you lamp trimmed and burning ? 
 Have you on "the wedding garment," or is it the tat- 
 tered robe of your own self -righteousness, you stand in 
 to-night ? 
 
 " The time of my departure is at hand." Few lessons 
 in the pages of Divine revelation are taught with greater 
 emphasis, or more solemnity, than the brevity of human 
 life. "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof 
 is like the flower of the field ; the grass withereth, the 
 flower fadeth ;" plucked by the ruthless hand, it fades 
 in an hour, dies in a day. If, then, his days are few and 
 full of trouble ; if only like a span, a vapor, or a rapid 
 stream, that passes ; if like that arrow, he be passing 
 over the narrow sea of life, into the fathomless depths of 
 7 
 
146 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 eternity ; if "in the midst of life we are in death ;" if 
 that eye that sparkles with life, may be closed in death 
 in one hour ; if that countenance, glowing with youth 
 healthf ulness, may be pale in death this night ; if the 
 throbbing of each breast may be the last, if the beating 
 of each pulse may terminate your short career, if the 
 next breath may be the last for ever — how it becomes 
 you to apply this sentiment to your conscience, "the 
 time of my departure is at hand !" This is not a thing 
 that may or may not be ; it is now ; even now, at hand ; 
 all the harbingers of mortality have entered your bosom, 
 and the work of destruction is already begun. Oh ! that 
 the Spirit of God might write this fact on all your 
 hearts, "the time of my departure is at hand !" 
 
 But blessed departure, and no matter how near, 
 when cheered by the sunshine of God's presence. Then 
 it will only be "the valley of the shadow of death:" 
 the shadow of the serpent will not sting, the shadow of 
 the sword will not injure ; the rod will defend, and the 
 staff of His promises will sustain, and no evil shall be 
 feared, because God is there. 
 
 But what a scene must this departure be, when un- 
 cheered by a ray of Gospel hope ! — a night, alas ! full of 
 darkness, despair, and horror — a night destined to ter- 
 minate in the "blackness of darkness" for ever. If 
 there be anything that should awaken in the heart the 
 most pungent grief, it is the thought of such an end as 
 this. 
 
 But the Christian's is not so. His is one of a very 
 different character : from a prison to a palace ; from the 
 dreary wilderness to a cloudless paradise, blooming with 
 all the fruits of immortal bliss Oh ! happy departure 
 from that bed of suffering and of anguish, to be 
 pillowed on the bosom of the Eedeemer; from those 
 heart-rending sighs, to mingle with the melodies of 
 
YOUTH. 147 
 
 heaven! Oh! "let me die the death of the righ- 
 teous, and let my last end belike his !" 
 
 " I have fought a good fight." Some have thought, 
 could they once but realize a changed heart, all the 
 work would then be finished ; but how vastly different 
 the lesson acquired since that period ! You know full 
 well now, that instead of being completed, it was only 
 commencing ; that, now, every untrodden step in the 
 Divine life is disputed by the adversary of your soul. 
 Indeed, they know but little of Christian experience, 
 who know not that it is one incessant, one continual 
 warfare. Till the close of life, enemies innumerable, 
 difficulties untold, beset his path, meet and assail him 
 at every turning. The world, with its menacing frowns, 
 or its alluring, deceptive fascination. How many its 
 illusive dreams of pleasure, riches, honors, or bliss ! 
 But, alas, its glories wither in an hour, and the paradise 
 becomes a wilderness — its promises betray, its hopes 
 deceive; and in pursuit of the phantom, the soul has 
 been perilled, if not lost. Nothing short of a "faith 
 that overcomes the world," will suffice. 
 
 And even when the world is vanquished, the conflict 
 has not subsided ; there is an ever wakeful, ever restless 
 adversary, "seeking whom he may devour/' There is 
 too, the uprising of a host of foes within ; nor are these 
 the weakest, or the least to be feared. How much re- 
 mains yet to be done ! how many the enemies to bo 
 ejected from the soul ! The surface that appeared 
 placid and clear, is troubled ; the waters are foule'd, and 
 the impurity of the fountain is evident ; and we have 
 to learn, that there must be much yet of the crucifying 
 of the flesh, and of the mortifying of the deeds of the 
 body. 
 
 And immediately combined with these, is the "last 
 enemy," even " death." But, thank God, that which 
 
148 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 would have stung to the bosom's core, with more than 
 scorpion's sting, is hailed as an angel of light, emptying 
 the cup of death of all its poisoned, malignant elements, 
 and filling it with the water of the fountain of life. 
 "0 death ! where is thy sting ? grave ! where is thy 
 victory ?" " Thanks be to God, who giveth us the 
 victory, through the Lord Jesus Christ." i ' death ! I 
 will be thy plagues ; grave ! I will be thy destruc- 
 tion." He will " swallow up death in victory;" He 
 will "wipe away tears from off all faces ;" for the mouth 
 of the Lord hath spoken it. 
 
 But the apostle has designated this "a good fight ;" 
 and this it is in effect. Here faith may be seen rising 
 and soaring away beyond the regions of doubtful un- 
 belief, mercy rejoicing over justice, holiness triumphing 
 over sin ; the darkness of error dispelled by the light of 
 truth. Unlike all other conflicts, no sound of the war- 
 whoop, no nourishing of trumpets, clashing of arms, or 
 din of war, no "garments dyed in blood ;" no dying 
 groans break upon the ear, no bleeding wounds open to 
 the eye ; no widow's wail is heard above the dead, the 
 tear-drop bedews no orphan's cheek. It is the peaceful 
 triumph of virtue over vice ; love over enmity ; benevo- 
 lence over avarice ; life over death ; heaven over hell. 
 It is the soul towering away above all that is earthly, 
 " fighting the good fight of faith, and laying hold on 
 eternal life." 
 
 " I have finished my course." This the apostle had 
 finished indeed with unutterable joy ; every period of it 
 had been lit up with a halo of unrivaled glory. His 
 had been a martyr's course, a martyr's work : ay, and 
 a martyr's crown glittered in the dim distance. What 
 is the course of the hero of unnumbered battles, when 
 put in contrast with the glorious achievements of the 
 Christian man ? The one comes to destroy men's lives, 
 
YOUTH. 149 
 
 the other to save them ; the one diffuses blessing all 
 around, the other deals out destruction ; the one goes 
 down to his grave amid the maledictions of the lonely 
 and the destitute, whilst yet his horizon is overcast with 
 infamy ; the other goes down without a cloud to dim the 
 glory, and his sun rises with yet more glowing splendor, 
 amid the assemblies of the just, to go down no more. 
 
 The course of imagined pleasure, how short, how un- 
 satisfactory, and how bitter ! This course will soon ter- 
 minate; but shall it end like an unhappy Altamont's ? 
 When the clock struck, he exclaimed with vehemence, 
 Ci O time, time ! it is fit thou shouldest thus strike thy 
 murderer to the heart. How art thou fled for ever ! 
 My principles have poisoned my friend, my extravagance 
 lias beggared my boy, my unkindness has murdered my 
 wife. iVnd is there another hell ? Thou blasphemed, 
 yet most indulgent Lord God, hell itself would be a re- 
 fuge, if it hide me from Thy frown." 
 
 Contrast for one moment the Christian's closing 
 hours with this. " I know that my Eedeemer liveth." 
 " Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none 
 on earth, that I desire besides Thee ; my heart and my 
 flesh faileth, but the Lord is the strength of my heart 
 and my portion for ever." " I have fought a good fight, 
 I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; hence- 
 forth there is laid up for me a crown of glory, which the 
 Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." 
 "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for 
 mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." Thus, amid the 
 joy of triumph and shouts of victory, he finishes his 
 course, whilst the angelic hosts welcome him to the 
 shores of immortality and eternal life, with the thrilling 
 music of heaven. 
 
 " I have kept the faith." This doubtless refers to 
 the glorious doctrines of the Gospel of Christ, the uni- 
 
150 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 versal character of man's fall, justification, sanctification, 
 holiness, the general resurrection, the final glory that 
 should be awarded for the righteous, and the fearful 
 destination awaiting the ungodly. But he dwelt em- 
 phatically on the atonement of Christ. All the pathos, 
 all the eloquence, all the zeal, all the fervor, of which 
 he was possessed, was reserved and expended alone upon 
 the glories of the cross ; of that he would never be 
 ashamed ; in nothing would he glory save the cross ; 
 living and dying, it was his choicest, his only theme. 
 
 But connected with this was the principle of " faith ; 
 which purifies the heart, and works by love." This is 
 the life of God in the soul ; and this is the life of the 
 soul. It is to the soul what the animal life is to the 
 bod} 7 . It is not merely a cold, heartless, tacit confes- 
 sion ; ic is a living principle, developing itself in " what- 
 soever things are lovely and of good report." It is the 
 keen eagle eye, that ever gazes on the Almighty, and 
 never loses sight of Him ; it is the pinion, that through 
 mountains of difficulties, wings its flight to the throne ; 
 and this the hand with which he lays hold on eternal 
 life. Keep it as you would your property, your friend, 
 your life ; keep it, and it will keep you ; tremble, lest 
 you should ever make shipwreck of it ; lest you should, 
 having begun in the spirit, end in the flesh ; contend for 
 it, maintain it, strive for it, till "faith is swallowed up 
 in sight," and prayer in endless praise. 
 
 Secondly. We notice briefly the pleasing prospect 
 of the future, that opened to the mind of the apostle. 
 
 " Crown of righteousness." This was no idle reverie, 
 no wild enthusiasm, no imaginary wandering of a 
 diseased mind. He could see the diadem of glory glit- 
 tering through the clouds; a crown purchased by a righte- 
 ous Redeemer given freely. The course was finished, 
 the battle was fought, the victory was won, and now the 
 
YOUTH. 151 
 
 wreath, the laurel, and the green palm of glory is his ; 
 now it is his to tread the streets of the New Jerusalem, 
 
 "And not a wave of trouble rolls 
 Across his peaceful breast." 
 
 This is not only " a crown of righteousness," but 
 a " a crown of life," — a life of the most exquisite feli- 
 city, a life of the most unutterable pleasure : a soul 
 drinking copiously of the fountain of life, sitting 
 beneath the shadow of the tree of life, plucking of its 
 immortal fruits, where " there is fullness of joy, and 
 pleasures for evermore." Life, where there is no death 
 — life, where the anxious pangshall never heave the breast, 
 where the briny tear shall never bedew the cheek, but 
 shall live for ever " before the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb, and serve Him day and night in His temple ; and 
 Ee that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them ; 
 and they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, 
 neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat ; for 
 the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
 them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of 
 waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes." 
 
 But, again, this crown shall be " a crown of glory" 
 — bright with glory, all glory, unmixed glory, without a 
 stain, without a tarnish. The stars of heaven shall fade 
 away before it, and the sun shall be enveloped in gloom, 
 when it appears. It is such glory as mortal eye has 
 never gazed on ; such glory as the human eye can never 
 conceive of_; such glory as the ear of man has never heard 
 of. It is an exceeding weight of glory. Then, my 
 brethren, 
 
 11 Press forward, press forward, the prize is in view ; 
 That crown of bright glory is waiting for you." 
 
 Unlike all human glory, and unlike all other crowns, 
 
152 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 this is " a crown that fadeth not away." Crowns and 
 captors and princes meet and mingle in the dust ; all 
 earthly glory is destined to pass, like a sunbeam in a 
 wintry day ; the worm is at the gourd, the moth is at 
 the garment, the canker is gathering on the diadem ; 
 the glory of every clime and country shall die away ; the 
 waves of oblivion shall roll over it, and it shall fade as 
 a leaf ; the earth, too, like an atom in the sunbeam, 
 shall glide away ; but the Christian's crown of glory 
 shall never fade ; nor shall the lapse of years, nor the 
 rolling ages of eternity, dim the brightness of its luster. 
 
 "The Lord the righteous Judge shall give it me." 
 Who can fail to admire the freeness of the gift, the un- 
 merited character of the gift — the gift of love, the gift 
 of mercy, the gift of God ? "At that day :" whether 
 he was looking through the vista of ages to the hour of 
 righteous retribution, or to the moment of his dismissal 
 from this vale of tears, is of no vital moment ; this we 
 do know, the crown was sure, and "to die was gain." 
 
 "And not to me only." Not for the few, but the 
 multitude, "a multitude which no man could number," 
 men of every nation, and country, and clime and color. 
 There is a crown for every overcoming Christian, that 
 loves, that longs, that waits for His appearing. And 
 what an appearing it will be ! Not as a Babe in 
 Bethlehem, not as "a Man of sorrows and acquainted 
 with griof," but amid the overwhelming and august 
 splendors of the judgment morning, attended with 
 unnumbered myriads of the angelic hosts, to crown His 
 people with glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life, 
 and "to take vengeance on them that know not God, 
 and that have not obeyed His Gospel." 
 
 It appears that our friend's first religious impressions 
 were awakened under the ministry of the Kev. T. 
 Binney, from that text, "Behold, how He loved him." 
 
YOUTH. 153 
 
 From that period, he continued to attend the preaching 
 of the Word ; became a decided character ; gave him- 
 self to God, and then to the church. His was a decision 
 of the right character ; never did he once swerve after- 
 wards from the path of rectitude ; his motto was " On- 
 ward to the goal." 
 
 Of his usefulness, his benevolence, devotedness, 
 activity, and zeal, I feel myself inadequate to speak. 
 Four months' painful affliction he endured with the 
 most devout and exemplary patience. When he found 
 the hand of death was evidently upon him, he called 
 each member of the family around his bed, and bid them 
 a most affectionate farewell. And that farewell echoes 
 in my ear yet ; for I too heard it. He then charged 
 them all to meet him in heaven. How that injunction 
 thrilled through each soul ! Solemn would it have been 
 at any time, but now it was raised to an overwhelming 
 climax. It falls on my ear, with an unspeakable dis- 
 tinctness, as I walk along the streets — "Meet me in 
 heaven." The dying pillow, from whence it came ; the 
 pathos with which it fell from his lips ; and the fact of 
 its being almost the last breath, brings it home to the 
 soul with deathless sensibility. Then he called for that 
 sweet hymn — 
 
 " When I tread the verge of Jordan, 
 Bid my anxious fears subside." 
 
 "'Yes," said he, "He is my shield, He is my deliverer. n 
 Being asked if he had any wish to be gratified, he 
 
 replied, "I die in peace with all men." 
 
 He dwelt much on that delightful hymn before he 
 
 quite finished his course— 
 
 li Jesus, Lover of my soul, 
 Let me to thy bosom fly ;" 
 7* 
 
154 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 He calmly fell asleep in Jesus, in the thirty-second 
 year of his age ; and while his friends were mourning 
 below, he was rejoicing before the throne. 
 
 It but remains for me to urge all here to follow in 
 his footsteps. That eye that has wept for you, will weep 
 no more ; that tongue that was eloquent in prayer, is 
 silent in the tomb ; that heart which glowed with such 
 holy emotion for your salvation, is cold in death ; it will 
 beat no more for you. What then, beloved ? — Arise, 
 and weep for yourselves ; arise, and pray for yourselves ; 
 arise, and address yourselves to the journey. It is not 
 long ; the sunbeams are waning, the day is all but gone ; 
 the night shades are falling thick and fast around you. 
 Arise, and "seek the Lord while He may be found, and 
 call upon Him while He is near." It may be the last 
 time the voice of mercy shall break upon your ear ; the 
 last time He shall woo you to the wounds of a bleeding 
 Jesus ; the last time the Spirit shall strive ; the last 
 moment God may wait your cry. Come, come now. 
 God help you all to come ! Amen. 
 
 THE FUNERAL AT THE GATE OF NAIN. 
 
 REV. W. D. HORWOOD. 
 
 st. james's chapel, pontypool. 
 
 "BeJwld, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, 
 
 and she was a widow." — Luke vii: 12. 
 
 ^HE city of Nam, whither our Lord was journeying, 
 and at the gate of which this great miracle was 
 wrought, is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. It 
 lay upon the southern border of Galilee, in the neighbor- 
 hood of Endor, about two miles south from Mount Tabor, 
 and at the foot of Mount Hermon. At present it is but 
 
YOUTH. 155 
 
 a poor and deserted village, consisting only of a few 
 houses, yet from the ruins scattered round, it must have 
 been formerly of considerable extent, though now no 
 monument of antiquity is to be found there. That oui 
 Lord should meet the funeral at the gate ef the city, may 
 be considered nothing more than a natural circumstance, 
 to be explained by the fact that the Jews did not suffei 
 the interring of the dead in towns, but had their burial 
 places without the walls. Probably there was very much 
 in the circumstances of the sad procession, to e.ioite a 
 feeling of sympathy and pity even among those who were 
 not generally touched with a lively feeling for human 
 sorrows ; and it was this, no doubt, which had brought 
 " much people" together to accompany the bier. Indeed, 
 it would be hard to make the picture of desolat, on more 
 complete, than that described by the evangelist- -" There 
 was a dead man carried out the only son of his mother, 
 and she was a ividoiv." And such was the bitterness of 
 the mourning for an only son, that it had passed into a 
 proverb: thus, in Jeremiah, 6: 26, "Make thee mourn- 
 ing as for an only son, most bitter lamentation ;" and in 
 Zachariah, 12: 10, "They shall mourn for him as one 
 mourneth for his only son ;" and again, Amos 8: 10, "I 
 will make it as the mourning of an only son." 
 
 I. In treating upon our subject, the first thing that 
 arrests our attention is a dead body, a corpse, being car- 
 ried in its shroud, not in, a closed-up coffin, upon the 
 shoulders of men to its grave. This now, as then, as 
 respects the corpse, is no unusual circumstance. As the 
 body is passing us we look, it may be, vacantly upon the 
 procession ; it is no strange sight to us. We turn aside 
 from it, as a matter of course, to our daily avocations. 
 And if we are led to think about the matter at all, our 
 thoughts pass from ourselves to the deceased. We 
 ascribe the death of such to natural causes. We say, so 
 
156 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and so died of an internal complaint, of old age, of a 
 fever, of consumption, or of some other disorder ; and 
 then Ave move along as though the destroyer was far 
 away from ourselves. It may be we go a little further 
 into the subject, especially when the loved and the dear 
 are taken away from our own hearts and homes, and 
 pause a moment in our career of pleasure and traffic, to 
 wonder at the stroke, to bend in sorrow beneath it, and 
 to ask the question, the individual question, 'What 
 would be my fate, my destiny hereafter, if I should soon 
 die too ?' But this is only a momentary pause ; a rapid- 
 ly passing wonder ; a slight and shallow impression. 
 Things, we say, must and will take their own natural 
 courses. We cannot alter them, why then should they 
 trouble us ? " Let us eat and drink," say some. ' Soul, 
 thou hast laid up much store for the future ; take thine 
 ease,' says another. And thus, amid our engagements 
 and procrastinations, worldly hopes and expectations, 
 passions and tendencies of heart, death tolls out its sum- 
 mons from the church-tower and the grave opens and 
 closes upon its victim. 
 
 1. Bat is there nothing more connected with the 
 death of the bod}', than its mere passing away into the 
 dust — than the blank it makes in our hearts and homes? 
 'Why was the young man, in the text, snatched from his 
 mother ? Why is this dark visitant of man allowed to 
 cast his shadow upon our hearths, to fill our souls witli 
 mourning, and to crowd our cemeteries with monuments 
 of woe ? Why ? To teach us the dreadful nature of sin ! 
 Sin, in its first entrance into our common parents — in its 
 transmission from generation to generation— in its ac- 
 tual commission. And, we ask you, must there not be 
 something very awful and dreadful in the nature of sin 
 itself, when its "wages is death" — death physical, death 
 spiritual ; death as it stops and freezes up the current of 
 
YOUTH. 157 
 
 our blood, and death as it hardens the heart and banishes 
 the soul from God, from Christ, from heaven ! Regard 
 it, not simply in its different aspects, neither only in its 
 miserable results, nor merely in its final destiny, but as 
 apri?iciple waging war against the majesty and holiness 
 of Deity, and against our best interests, our noblest and 
 highest faculties, our peace and happiness on earth, and 
 our hopes of glory in the world to come. It is God's 
 bitterest enemy. It is man's curse and destroyer. We 
 are too apt to pass it over with indifference. "We give to 
 sin a narrow and a temporal limitation, both as to its 
 character and its consequences. We have so many ex- 
 cuses for it, so many apologies. We say it does no harm, 
 if we deem it simple and natural. We think God is too 
 merciful to punish us for little negligences or trifling 
 acts of disobedience ; we think that a lie or an oath may 
 pass our lips unheeded, unheard, and be forgotten. We 
 think a violated Sabbath, or an unread Bible, or an un- 
 occupied pew in the time of Divine service, is of no con- 
 sequence — a matter easily to be overlooked and forgiven. 
 We draw our distinctions between omissions of good and 
 commissions of evil ; and we readily, most readily, come 
 to any plausible conclusions, which suit our own notions 
 about what is right and about what is wrong, irrespec- 
 tively of the Scriptures. But think of sin as it is in the 
 sight of God : a principle of disobedience, showing itself 
 in a firm habitual forgetfulness of God. And in order 
 that you may form a right conception of His anger 
 against it, look upon the corpse — the corpse of the young 
 — in its passage to corruption ; and as your eye rests up- 
 on the bleeding heart behind the bier, let your imagina- 
 tion carry you further into Hades, where God's anger 
 follows sin still in the bitter outcry of a Dives, and in 
 the fire which is never extinguished, and in the worm 
 which never dies. 
 
158 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 2. It is said, the "dead man was carried out." How 
 humiliating to our human nature ! What a mockery at 
 pride ! What a blow to the proud vauntings of ambi- 
 tion ! What a lesson on the folly of pampering that 
 which ere long will be the food of worms ! Carried out! 
 a mass of clay, yielding to the inroads of a loathsome 
 rottenness — helpless, without strength, without life ! A 
 young man too ; an only son. The vigor of his days are 
 cut off. His eye no longer looks upon the fond and 
 weeping mother dear, bending over him, — no longer up- 
 on the beautiful things of earth, nor upon the shining 
 stars, and sun, and moon. His ear also is deaf to the 
 voice of affection, to the sound of music or the roar of 
 thunder. All is still and dumb now upon that death- 
 couch of his. Carried out ! as you and I shall be when 
 our time comes. But the soul, was that carried out too? 
 We have no authority for saying it was in the body ; for 
 if that had been the case it would not have been dead. 
 When the body dies the soul quits its tabernacle ; it 
 passes into its eternity ; it lives on when the house that 
 sheltered it is crumbled into ashes. The soul, then, is 
 invaluable. What will a man give in exchange for it ? 
 How ought we to watch over it — to pray to God our 
 Saviour for its pardon, its deliverance, its sanctification, 
 and for its everlasting safety and glorification ! It must 
 be admitted, that no sacrifice is too dear, nor any effort is 
 too strong, for the reward to be carried by angels into 
 Abraham's bosom, and for the avoidance of the punish- 
 ment to be carried by fiends into the terrors of the lost. 
 
 II. This young man, we are told, had a mother, and 
 that mother was a ividow. She had followed one beloved 
 to his tomb, and she was now following another. The 
 bonds of her heart had loosened their hold upon one 
 dear object, but in their loosening they clung to her child. 
 While he lived, there was still a link between her and 
 
YOUTH. 159 
 
 her home ; but when this link was broken her home and 
 her spirit were made desolate. Who does not feel for 
 this widow and childless mother ? 
 
 But all this affliction was sent to her in mercy, to 
 teach her, and us also, the uncertain hold we all have of 
 earthly comforts. These comforts may fix themselves so 
 deeply, so fixedly, and so endearingly within our hearts, 
 as to become idols there. They may be ever imaged in 
 our memories, entwined about our brightest hopes, 
 centered in our warmest affections, swallowing up the 
 greatest portion of our thoughts, united to our most 
 anxious cares, and forming the mightiest motive of our 
 daily exertions. God is jealous of these idols ; and He 
 sweeps them down. He wrings from the soul of one, 
 " Absalom, my son, my son !" and from another, 
 
 "Let the day perish wherein I was born For the 
 
 thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that 
 which I was afraid of is come unto me" — (Job iii : 3, 
 25). He takes the infant from the mother's bosom, in 
 order that her spirit may travel after it to the realms of 
 angels ; He smites the gourd which has promised to 
 flourish and to shelter, that we may set our affections 
 upon things heavenly, and not upon things earthly. 
 
 Happy shall we be, my brethren, if the end of the 
 affliction is answered in our own salvation ; if the aching 
 and bleeding heart turns to its Kedeemer, and leans and 
 builds upon Him as the Kock of Ages, the unchangeable 
 and everlasting foundation of all those who trust in His 
 mercy, and who give the whole of their hearts to God, 
 and who fly to Him as the never-failing refuge of His 
 people. Even now, beloved, does He say to us, ' ' He that 
 loveth father or mother, sister or brother, husband or 
 wife, son or daughter, more than Me, is not worthy of 
 Me :" still does He say to us individually — " Give Me thy 
 heart/' And if our hearts be given to Him, He will so 
 
160 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 bless them, that we shall say with Asaph — " "Whom have 
 I in heaven but Thee ? and what is there upon earth I 
 desire beside Thee ?" 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 
 
 EEV. JAMES HENRY GWITHER, ENGLAND. 
 
 IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF YARDLEY, ENGLAND. 
 ON THE DEATH OF MISS ELIZABETH H. 
 
 " Them also which sleep in Jesus." — 1 Thess. iv: 14. 
 
 T1TE are indebted to Divine revelation for all the cer- 
 tain knowledge we possess of a future state. It 
 is true that a light of nature afforded strong indications 
 of this fact, which philosophy set down as evidences, and 
 the desire of a future existence implanted in the human 
 mind magnified into proofs ; but all was dark, confused, 
 and absurd speculation, until the Gospel-day dawned 
 upon the world, and the shadows of doubt and uncer- 
 tainty fled away. Hence "life and immortality are 
 brought to light by the Gospel :" and what philosophy 
 could not do, in that it was weak and imperfect, Chris- 
 tianity has done in so satisfactory and comprehensive 
 a manner, that we may say with the apostle, " Thanks 
 be to God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 
 Now a vista is opened through the dark valley of 
 death, and the eye of faith may descry the glory which 
 waits to be revealed. The place of the Great King rises 
 before our enlightened vision, and seems to extend its 
 gates spread wide for our reception. The gloom of death 
 is illuminated, its solitude cheered, its bitterness de- 
 stroyed, by the light, comforts, promises and hopes of 
 the Gospel ; and the dying Christian is encouraged to 
 descend with confidence into the cold streams of Jordan, 
 
YOUTH. 161 
 
 and to commit; himself to the waves, whilst the Star of 
 Promise, shining upon the dark waters, guides him 
 homewards. Death then, hath nothing formidable to 
 thee, Christian ! In the tomb of Jesus Christ are 
 dissipated all the terrors which the tomb of nature pre- 
 sents. In the tomb of nature, sinner ! thou beholdest 
 thy frailty, thy subjection to the curse and bondage of 
 corruption ; in the tomb of Jesus Christ thou beholdest 
 thy strength and deliverance. In the tomb of nature 
 the punishment of sin stares thee in the face ; in the 
 tomb of Jesus thou findest the expiation of it. Prom 
 the tomb of nature thou nearest the dreadful sentence 
 pronounced against every child of Adam — "Dust thou 
 art, and unto dust shalt thou return ;" but from the 
 tomb of Jesus Christ issue those accents of consolation — 
 "I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believe th in 
 Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live," John xi. 25. 
 In the tomb of nature thou hearest this universal, this 
 irrevocable doom written, "It is appointed unto man 
 once to die ;" but in the tomb of Jesus Christ thy tongue 
 is loosed into this triumphant song of praise, " death! 
 where is thy sting ? grave ! where is thy victory ? 
 thanks be to God who giveth us the victory, through 
 our Lord Jesus* Christ." 
 
 And, not only are these views of death and these pros- 
 pects of future glory to the sincere believer animating 
 and encouraging, when taken in connection with his own 
 dissolution, but they are especially so when he has to 
 mourn the loss of beloved Christian relatives and friends. 
 Taken from our arms ! Whither are they conveyed ? 
 They have arrived at home ; they are not lost — oh! no — 
 they have reached their Father's house — they are infinite- 
 ly better and happier than when with us. The separa- 
 tion we are called to endure, be assured, is only tem- 
 porary. A time of re-union will come ; we shall see their 
 
162 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 faces and hear their voices again in the flesh. Oh ! ho^ 
 cheering a consolation ! how suitable and how sure ! 
 
 "Brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant con- 
 cerning them which are asleep. 
 
 I. The description here given us of the death of true 
 believers. " Them that sleep in Jesus." 
 
 1. " TJiey sleep" Under the dispensation of the 
 G-ospel the term sleep is frequently made use of in the 
 Scriptures to signify death. In the case of the ruler's 
 daughter, our blessed Lord was applied to, to exert His 
 power in the restoration of the damsel from the dead. 
 "My daughter," said the distressed, broken-hearted 
 parent, "is even now dead, but come and lay Thine 
 hand upon her and she shall live." Accordingly, "as 
 soon as Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the 
 minstrels and people making a noise, He said unto them, 
 Give place, for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth" On 
 another occasion, when desirous to inform His disciples 
 of a message which had been sent unto Him by the 
 weeping and disconsolate sisters of Bethany, relative to 
 to their brother's death, Jesus mildly says, " Our friend 
 Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of 
 sleep." Concerning the dying martyr Stephen also, it is 
 recorded, amidst infuriated persecutors, blood-thirsty 
 enemies, and showers of stones, "he kneeled down and 
 prayed, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge ; and 
 when he had said this he fell asleep." David by the 
 apostle Paul, is also honorably mentioned as " after 
 having served his generation according to the will of 
 God, fallen on sleep;" and in a word, the term is 
 constantly by the apostles referred to those who die in 
 the Lord. 
 
 The term is peculiarly applicable in this point of 
 view. It is expressive of the ease and readiness with 
 which a Christian dies. " Mark the perfect man, and 
 
YOUTH. 163 
 
 » 
 
 behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." 
 He is "justified by faith, and has peace with God." 
 The sprinkling of the blood of Christ has purged his 
 conscience, and destroyed the sting of death, which is 
 sin. His hope is cast upon the Eock of Ages — his soul 
 is committed into the hands of One who is able to keep 
 it — his sins are all forgiven — his heart sanctified by the 
 indwelling of the Holy Spirit — his title clear to the 
 heavenly inheritance — and thus, as easily and readily as 
 a weary and way-worn traveler retires to rest, so does the 
 Christian enter into rest and sleep in Jesus. And this 
 rest is pure, undisturbed, and everlasting. " They shall 
 rest from their labors." Then their praying days will 
 be all over. Never more can it be said to them, "Be 
 patient in tribulation," or " Fight the good fight of 
 faith." " Without were fightings, and within ivere 
 fears." But they are for ever ended. Darkness no 
 longer struggles with light, or faith with unbelief. 
 " The flesh " no longer "lusteth against the spirit, nor 
 the spirit against the flesh." 
 
 Ye glorified saints, you can tell us what this 
 blessed rest, this sleeping in Jesus is. You have tra- 
 versed the wilderness, where you wandered in a solitary 
 way — where you found no continuing city — where hungry 
 and thirsty your f ' soul fainted within you ;" but you 
 have left the desert — you have passed the Jordan — you 
 are come to your rest — and your pilgrim feet have ter- 
 minated their earthly labors. Your week days, your 
 worldly days, are now over, and you have begun Sabbath. 
 Here you loved the Sabbath, but here the Sabbath was 
 soon gone. You sometimes passed silent Sabbaths, and 
 had to mourn the loss of sanctuary ordinances. You 
 always spent imperfect ones; you could not do the things 
 which you would ; and you grew weary in the service 
 of God, though not of it. But now your strength is 
 
164 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 renewed — you are " for ever with the Lord " — you 
 "serve Him day and night in His temple" — you have 
 the "keeping of Sabbath which remains for the people 
 of God." 
 
 But sleep, as applied to the death of a believer, does 
 not only intimate the peace witli which he departs hence 
 and the rest he is eternally to enjoy, but it may express 
 also the expectation and hope he has of a future resur- 
 rection. We lie down to rest in sleep, expecting (if the 
 Lord will) again to arise refreshed and strengthened for 
 the duties of another day. We commit ourselves to 
 slumber, relying on the guardian care of "Him who 
 never slumbereth or sleepeth " to protect and defend us, 
 and also enable us to wake with renewed vigor. And 
 such hope has every believer. "Now is Christ risen 
 from the dead, the first-fruits of them who slept." 
 Death and the grave have no longer power to retain one 
 single body in their dominion. So, then, the believer 
 only sleeps ; he lays his head upon the lap of earth ; 
 the tomb is the resting place, the couch on which the 
 weary body shall repose until the dawn of the resurrec- 
 tion morning. Then shall the slumbering dead arise, 
 "the trumpets shall sound, and the dead shall be 
 raised." How truly refreshing — with what immortal 
 bloom shall the glorified bodies of the saints appear 
 washed! "This corruptible will put on incorruption, 
 and this mortal put on immortality." Every form then 
 shall appear perfected in the image of Christ — not an 
 eye but shall sparkle with delight — not a brow on which 
 shall not be placed a wreath of victory — not a counte- 
 nance that shall not be radiant with the Kedeemer's 
 glory — not a soul or body that shall not be SAvallowed up 
 of bliss. 
 
 Believers only sleep ; let a few more years roll over 
 their tombs — let a few more revolutions shake the world 
 
TOUTS. 165 
 
 — and then shall be seen "the sign of the Son of man 
 in heaven," coming to gather together His saints, unite 
 their glorified souls to their spiritual and incorruptible 
 bodies, that so both may " ever be with the Lord." 
 "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 
 
 2. The second description afforded of the death of 
 believers is, they sleep ts In Jesus." To such who have 
 attentively examined the character and profession of a 
 true Christian, it must have been evident that with them 
 Jesus "is all and in all." To them He is every thing. 
 He is their life; and the "life they now live in the flesh 
 is by the faith of the Son of God, who loved them and 
 gave Himself for them." Nor is He less the preserver 
 and security, than "the Author and Giver" of their 
 spiritual life ; "because I live," saith He, "ye shall live 
 also." "Your life," saith Paul, "is hid with Christ in 
 God." He is their strength; "they can do all things 
 only through Christ who strengthened them," and are 
 alone " strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." In 
 a word, He " is of God made unto them wisdom and 
 righteousness, santification and redemption." Are they 
 justified from the guilt and condemnation of sin ? it is 
 by Jesus. "There is no condemnation to them who are 
 in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after 
 the Spirit." Are they sanctified, body, soul, and spirit ? 
 it is "by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus." Are they 
 accepted of God ? it is only through the Beloved. Are 
 they reconciled to God ? " He is their peace, who hath 
 made both one, and broken down the middle wall of 
 separation." Are they heirs of God, adopted into His 
 family, made partakers of the Divine nature, and ex- 
 pectants of the Divine glory ? they are only " children 
 of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Thus all they are, all 
 they hope to be is through Him ; all they have in pos- 
 session, all they anticipate in re-union, all of grace here, 
 
166 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 all of glory hereafter, is of Him, from Him, by Him. 
 And what effect has this sentiment upon their Christian 
 deportment and experience ? It weans them from earth ; 
 "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
 all the treasures" of the world. It is the spring of their 
 obedience; for they "are not their own, and live not 
 unto themselves, but to Him who died for them and 
 rose again." It is their support in weakness, their hope 
 in darkness, their joy in sorrow, their comfort in afflic- 
 tion, their triumph in death. So then, Christ is "the 
 Alpha and Omega," "the First and the Last," "their 
 Chief Corner Stone," "all their salvation, and all their 
 desire." And such being the case through life, it has 
 its influence in death. Jesus appears truly precious to 
 the bereaved and afflicted, to the tempted and persecuted 
 believer. His word is alivays a cordial — His grace 
 always sufficient — His smile alivays inspiring bliss un- 
 speakable — His consolations always abundant ; but never 
 so truly so as in the hour of death. Life is departing ; 
 but he clings with a more endearing grasp to Jesus. 
 Time is fading; but the clouds and mists which obscure 
 all temporal things are clearing away from the face of 
 Jesus, that he may see Him more perfectly. 
 
 Friends, kind and affectionate, are weeping around 
 his dying bed, and waiting for his departing blessing — 
 each lingering behind the other, to catch the dying gaze, 
 or hear the last sigh, and he feels desolate and alone, as 
 one after another vanishes from his vision. But Jesus 
 departs not — Jesus forsakes him not ; He is the strength 
 of his guilty flesh and heart, and lifts up his head when 
 bowed in death ; the presence of Jesus is all he requires, 
 and the promises of Jesus all he desires. But behold ! 
 the last struggle is come — he pants for breath — now 
 blesses his family — now he utters his last prayer — now 
 his fluttering heart is still — his eyes have for ever closed 
 
YOUTH. 16? 
 
 — his head plainly sinks upon the pillow. Hark ! he 
 breathes not — all is over, and he sleeps in Jesus. Dis- 
 turb not his slumbers ! he sleeps ! peace reigns in his 
 heart, and a smile beams upon the pallid cheek. He 
 sleeps ! composed to slumber, he awaits the sounding of 
 the archangel's trump, to awaken his body to life. 
 
 Thus you have been led to view the twofold descrip- 
 tion of the death of a Christian. I might easily enlarge, 
 but I forbear ; enough I trust has been said, to lead you 
 all to adopt the language of one of old, and say, "Let 
 me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end 
 be like his." 
 
 Beloved brethren, I have very faintly and imperfect- 
 ly sketched the picture of the Christian's death ; but I 
 would lead you to seek to become such yourselves, that 
 you may for yourselves experience what peace they have 
 who sleep in Jesus. But I must apply the remarks al- 
 ready made to the case of our dear departed friend and 
 sister in the Lord. Without hesitation would we say, it 
 is our hope, yea, our firm belief, that she sleeps in Jesus. 
 Early in life, her mind became the subject of serious 
 religious impressions, and she was always remarked for 
 being blessed with a peculiarly tender conscience. By 
 the reading of God's Word, and regular attendance upon 
 the means of grace, her religious feelings expanded, and 
 her convictions of sin became very strong, and the con- 
 sciousness of her depravity preyed much upon her mind, 
 and for some years greatly cast her down in spirit. She 
 was at last enabled to look to Jesus, and by simple faith 
 to commit the keeping of her soul into His hands, rely- 
 ing entirely upon His blood and righteousness for pardon 
 and acceptance with God. 
 
 Hers was not a dead, or an unproductive faith. No ; 
 she evinced the power of godliness, by attendance upon 
 its forms. Her diligent labors in the Sunday school 
 
168 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 connected with this church, her self-denial in acts of 
 piety and charity to the poor, her desire for, and labor 
 in, promoting the cause of her Lord and Master, in 
 collecting for the Church Missionary and other kindred 
 societies, her visits to the house of "the widow and 
 fatherless in their affliction/' and her constant, up- 
 right, consistent profession of piety in her family — all 
 these things, my dear hearers, speak louder than any 
 words of mine, in proof of the sincerity of our departed 
 sister's religion. 
 
 WHAT WILL YE DO IN THE END ? 
 
 REV. THOMAS BINNEY. 
 
 WEIGH-HOUSE CHAPEL, LONDON. 
 
 " What will ye do in the end?" — Jeremiah v : 31. 
 "TN consistency with the very general custom, I am 
 about to-night, as we are at the commencement of 
 the year, to address myself to young persons, making par- 
 ticular reference to the circumstances, history and death 
 of a young man, at the age of twenty-one. 
 
 His end was, peace. What will yours be ? My text 
 will be a question, which you will find in the fifth chapter 
 of Jeremiah, and the last clause of the last verse : — 
 
 1. In the first place, I observe, then there is an end, 
 to anticipate. 
 
 "All men," as Young says — 
 
 "All men think all men mortal but themselves." 
 
 They may not say it ; they might reject the thought, 
 if presenting itself very distinctly in their intellect ; but 
 they feel it, and act as if it were true. But we know 
 it to be a deception, and we know it to be dangerous. 
 

 YOUTH. 169 
 
 There is an end. An end to life : to every course of 
 life — every kind of it. Honors cannot be accumulated 
 for ever; nor profits made for ever; nor pleasures en- 
 joyed for ever. Every step is getting nearer to the ter- 
 mination. 
 
 And it may be soon : sudden. Where are the young 
 men, after a little while, that from every part of the 
 country, at all times throughout the year, are being drifted 
 hither as by a strong tide setting in from every point 
 round about, and bringing them to our doors, our streets, 
 our warehouses ? "What is this great metropolis to them 
 — many of them ? A great gulf, into which they are 
 drifted — and drifted — and drifted ; and many of them 
 appear for a little while and vanish for ever. 
 
 Now you know this. You know what changes you 
 young men are continually seeing in the place, in the 
 company, in the servants, the agents, of mercantile es- 
 tablishments : how you miss such and such an individual. 
 You saw him last perhaps at a place of amusement ; 
 you saw him last in the midst of pleasures—and perhaps 
 guilty ones. You wonder what is become of him. What 
 is become of him ! the young man has gone home to die. 
 And from our warehouses, our offices and our streets, our 
 places of business and places of pleasure, one after another 
 is retiring to die ! Thus the change is continually go- 
 ing on. 
 
 " What will ye do in the end ?" Then — this would 
 seem to be of great importance at the end. 
 
 2. What has been the character of the course ? 
 
 If " the end " were to be taken absolutely, with the 
 absoluteness of infidelity, the question would have no 
 meaning. " What will ye do in the end ?" ( Nothing; 
 for I shall be nothing.' ( What shall I do in the end ? I 
 shall do just what I did before I was born — when I had 
 not an existence — when I was not ; for I shall be that 
 8 
 
170 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 again/ If infidelity be true, that would be the 
 reply. 
 
 I know, that some teach what I suppose they may 
 think a very magnificent and beautiful thing — the im- 
 mortality of man in the sense of the immortality of the 
 species, and its indefinite, perpetual improvement. As 
 if it were any thing to me — to my heart with its innate 
 hunger after life, with my affections and capacities and 
 conscious individuality of being— to tell me about the in- 
 dividuals of some future generation that are to exist. To 
 tell me to rejoice in a thing like that ! — when I am to be 
 nothing, and there is only to be this sort of abstract im- 
 mortality of the species. 
 
 No. " What will ye do in the end ?" It is a matter 
 that is to come home to our own business, character and 
 course, in relation to ourselves. For our moral instincts, 
 general experience, consciousness, the representations of 
 Scripture tell us, that as we approach the end, and when 
 we get there, the character of the course will be (if I may 
 so express it) of more importance than it is now : of more 
 importance at the end than previously — previously where 
 there is merciful discipline, where there is a mixture of 
 circumstances, where there is the opportunity of change, 
 where there are all the appliances of providence and grace. 
 
 At " the end," when all these are about to be re- 
 moved for ever, it will be of the highest possible import- 
 ance, what has been the character of the course, on which 
 they have been impressed. So that looking upon the 
 dead man, it is not so much a question with God, how 
 the man died, as what the man was when he came to die 
 — how he gob there — what was the character of the 
 course that brought him to that point. 
 
 " 3. What will ye do in the end?" 
 
 It is the part of a thoughtful and wise man, often to 
 meditate on this. 
 
TOUTB. 171 
 
 I need not enlarge here. Every man admits it in 
 matters of worldly experience. The student, at his col- 
 lege and in his class, if month after month he neglects 
 his studies and abandons his books, if he gives neither 
 his days nor nights to the hearty and fearless pursuit of 
 those things which are to prepare him for the ultimate 
 examination, and if, when he goes up and presents him- 
 self there, he is rejected, it is what he had to anticipate, 
 and what might have been prevented if he had been 
 more in the habit of pressing this question to his heart, 
 and thinking with respect to his pursuits what would be 
 "the end" of the course which he was taking. And to 
 you, my friends, — I need not to many of you expatiate 
 on the absurdity of the tradesman, that should never 
 take stock : that should go on from year to year, without 
 understanding his position — without inquiring into it : 
 that should go on continually incurring expense, and 
 laying out money, and accepting bills, — doing this, that 
 and the other, and never investigate, and never know 
 precisely where he was. . If ruin came, ruin crushing 
 him and trampling him down, — if he were to awake 
 some morning, and find himself utterly ruined, you 
 would not be surprised. He should have asked himself 
 the question, and pressed it again and again upon his 
 heart. Going on thus, whither will it lead ? whither ? 
 
 4. In the last place, we think that this question 
 should be frequently and earnestly entertained by young 
 men. We think, that young men would do well to press 
 this question, in its moral and religious sense and aspect, 
 upon themselves. 
 
 It might be thought perhaps, that it is of more im- 
 portance for those who have gone further on in their 
 course, and nearer to the end. It is very important to 
 them ; but let me tell you this, — when men have gone on 
 and on, and got iron-bound in their habits of indifference, 
 
172 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 impenitence, sin, I for one have very little hope of them. 
 I do not expect much from preaching or praying, or al- 
 most any instrumentality that can be brought to bear 
 upon them. And from the men that have got on in life, 
 and have gone on without God, I turn almost in despair. 
 And I turn to you, the hope of the world and of the 
 Church, — you young men. I look to you; and I beg 
 you, because you have not thus got on, and got yet under 
 this mighty and dreadful influence of habit, to lay this 
 question to heart at the beginning of your course, that it 
 may have much to do in giving it a character and fixing 
 your ultimate destination. 
 
 Yes, my young men, it is important to you to lay this 
 question to heart, because it is so important how you 
 legin : as habit always will be either your greatest friend 
 or your greatest adversary. Important, because there are 
 so many circumstances of danger round about you. And 
 therefore I press it upon you, that it should be enter- 
 tained. 
 
 Many of you are living lives somewhat solitary, or 
 shut up continually with associates of your own sex in 
 your warehouses, and thus wanting that purifying public 
 opinion, which comes upon the young man, when he has 
 free intercourse in the homes, the virtuous homes of our 
 Christian country. You need to press this matter and 
 this question very much upon you. You need it, because 
 early in life especially you will find yourselves surrounded 
 by individuals, who will be leading you astray, — the 
 scorner, the hardened in vice, — temptations besetting 
 your path at every point ; and you will be almost shamed 
 sometimes into sin, from the want of moral courage for 
 its resistance. And therefore it is important, that you 
 should bring the moral suggestions embodied in this 
 thought to bear upon your understandings, your con- 
 science, and your habits. 
 
YOUTH. 173 
 
 You are in danger, because at your age you cannot 
 see habitually very far before you, unless really you do 
 make an effort at reflection. It is your temptation — it 
 is oue of the peculiar temptations that beset you, to feel 
 with respect to this and that and the other, which are 
 really morally questionable — Why, what harm can there 
 be in that ? It is one of your temptations — { I will do 
 this, I will go thus far, but there I stop.' It is one of 
 the circumstances by which you are beset, that you just 
 see a very little way before you, and what you see is at- 
 tractive or beautiful — or you make it so. Forgetting — 
 not knowing from your want of deeper experience and 
 further observation of life, that when once a young man 
 enters within the vicious circle, his first vicious actions 
 are generally "the beginning of the end." He goes on 
 at it ; he goes on as he has begun ; he goes onward — on- 
 ward — step by step, from bad to worse, until he finds 
 himself completely in the grasp and under the power of 
 the adversary. 
 
 We want to press the question upon you, because as 
 we have already hinted, "the end" may come to you. 
 It may come and surprise you, in the midst of your pur- 
 posings and procrastination. And with respect to what 
 we call vice, I should like you to remember, that they 
 that become thoroughly and flagrantly vicious, generally 
 begin soon, and die early too. They "do not live out 
 half their days." And they bring their "end ;" they (as 
 it were) stretch out their hands, and seize it, and em- 
 brace it, and bring it nearer and nearer to them ; and 
 " in the -midst of life " most emphatically " they are in 
 death ;" they depart, and they are gone, — " receiving the 
 end" of their deeds, "even the damnation of their 
 souls." 
 
 I wish to urge the question of the text on the undecid- 
 ed in religion : on all that are distinguished by irrelig- 
 
174 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 iousness, — some of whom may be the virtuous and the 
 amiable and the good, socially, as well as the bad and the 
 indifferent. And I should like all such to press the ques- 
 tion home upon their hearts to-night before God. 
 
 Now by being religious, I do not mean that you are 
 to be connected with that part or branch of the Church 
 of Christ that / prefer. 
 
 But we mean, when we say that you are not yet religious, 
 that there is the consciousness within you that you do not 
 like the Divine service ; that you have not given your- 
 selves thoroughly, in earnest and in heart, to the reception 
 of the Christian faith, to trust in the Christian atonement, 
 to devotedness to Christian habits, to habitual intercourse 
 and fellowship with God, to the cultivation of your re- 
 ligious nature, and to the manifestation of feelings and 
 affections and attributes of character, which distinguish 
 the spiritually devoted to the service of the Most High ; 
 that you are conscious that your heart is being kept back, 
 from some cause or other, and you are not wholly and 
 heartily and earnestly decided for God and for Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 I know why it is, that many of you are kept in this 
 state. Some of you I believe to be of pure habits, with 
 upright and honorable principle in you, addicted to 
 mental and intellectual qualification. You have your 
 pleasures of the intellect ; you understand something of 
 what results from coming under the influence of genius, 
 and bringing your taste and feeling into contact with 
 what is elevating in the results of mind. You are govern- 
 ed, in your habitual intercourse with mankind, by what 
 is right and honorable and pure, despising everything that 
 is mean, disingenuous, contemptible. And you are satis- 
 fied tvith that. And you feel perhaps something of re- 
 pugnance to what you hear, and to what you think too 
 Christianity really does teach, with respect to the way to 
 
YOUTH. 175 
 
 be saved. Some of you feel internal disgust and contempt 
 for the hypocrisy and the cant, which you sometimes see 
 associated with the profession of religion. You feel dis- 
 gust and contempt for the low tastes and the vulgarity, 
 and much that is offensive, in some personal specimens of 
 common Christianity. And others of you are conscious, 
 that without thoughts of this sort, there is constantly 
 operating upon you the love of some sin, the power of 
 some habit, some evil thing, in practice and in fact, which 
 is constantly at your side; and though you have your 
 deep stirrings of mind, and your searchings of heart, and 
 your impressions and convictions and resolutions and pur- 
 poses, there is always, just in connection with these, the 
 tempter at your side, in the form of the evil habit, that 
 keeps you bound to your savory and darling sin. And 
 a thousand other things I might mention, of different 
 forms of thought and feeling, which are operating on 
 young men, and keeping them where they are, — those who 
 are standing here in all their variety of character (morally 
 speaking), good, bad and indifferent, but, from some 
 reason or other, in their irreligiousness, not having in 
 them Divine faith, religious affection, devotedness to 
 Christ. 
 
 " What will ye do in the end ? " The question is to 
 you, my friends : " What will ye do in the end ? " You 
 know, the end will come. Now just in two or three 
 words let me refer to the application of the question to 
 
 We will take " the end " to be sickness and death : 
 "what will ye do in the end ? " — when, be sure of this, 
 some of you will find out the utter insufficiency of these 
 things as reasons of your neglect, and find them to have 
 been the most superficial of excuses. What ! cannot you 
 separate between religion and its adjuncts and its acci- 
 dents ? What ! you, with your discrimination and your 
 
176 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 intellect, — you, with your intellectual improvement and 
 taste and perspicacity, — could not you distinguish between 
 religion and the weakness or worthlessness of those that 
 might degrade or dishonor it ? and could you pretend to 
 be entangled by a sophistry like that ? Were difficulties 
 to deter you ? Might it not have turned out, that the 
 very existence of these difficulties might have even proved 
 to you an evidence on behalf of religion, and a necessary 
 process of moral discipline, through which you must pass ? 
 and might not the moral test implied in these things, 
 have had a most healthy operation upon your intellect and 
 faith and heart, and have given a strength and firmness 
 to the evidence of religion itself. 
 
 Others of you, however (in the language of Scripture) 
 will not "submit yourselves unto the righteousness of 
 God," but like the Jew of old, " being ignorant of God's 
 righteousness" or rejecting God's method of justifica- 
 tion, "and going about to establish your own," you 
 " will not submit unto the righteousness of God," then 
 perhaps, when you feel yourselves drawing very near to 
 the Divine presence and the Divine eye, you may get 
 such a view of your nature, of the emptiness of mere 
 secular virtue and of the insufficiency of what you have 
 for heaven, that you may see how the redemption of the 
 Gospel, and the mystery of the cross, and the "open 
 fountain," and "the words of life," as exhibited in 
 God's method of mercy, are just the thing which your 
 need and your nature require, and that all through life 
 you have been putting away from you and rejecting the 
 Divine wisdom, the wisdom of God in this evangelical 
 mystery of mercy. 
 
 Some of you may perhaps find then, that the course 
 of chosen thought and feeling, through which you had 
 been going, in which (so to speak) you had been educat- 
 ing your own nature, has produced a state of mind, 
 
YOUTH. 177 
 
 which., while it leads you to be alarmed and terrified, may 
 refuse to be softened, and the heart to become again like 
 that of a little child. My brethren, " what will ye do in 
 the end," when you find that then the Gospel and you can- 
 not meet as strangers, that then Jesus Christ and you 
 cannot meet as if you had never met before ? — He hav- 
 ing been knockiDg at your heart for years, and continu- 
 ally refused ; you opening that door, and admitting sin 
 and the world and the devil to come past Him, and 
 taking them to your fellowship and your bosom, and He 
 standing and knocking and asking entrance till He hath 
 departed ; the Spirit having been drawing and attract- 
 ing, until it hath departed ; the Gospel having been 
 presented to you again and again, until all its aspects, 
 and all the force of argument and persuasion come upon 
 you as familiar things ? " What will you do in the 
 end," when you find, that by going on in a continual 
 course of indecision and rejecting religious faith, you 
 have come only to have the eye of your intellect opened 
 to behold the beauty and the truth of these things, but 
 to have your heart and your conscience hardened and 
 withered within you ? I believe that is possible. 
 
 But mark, "the end is not yet ;" after you have got 
 to this, "the end is not 3 T et." You have to appear be- 
 fore God, standing in the full blaze of the light from 
 the eternal throne, with your whole history discovered 
 to you — inscribed upon your nature ; everything written 
 out in full legible characters, and you standing there 
 before the throne of. God reading it as in a moment. 
 And then, when there is urged and presented upon you, 
 what your nature was with its capacities, what your 
 position was with its responsibilities and obligations, 
 what your privileges were with your Sabbaths, and ser- 
 vices, and friends, and conscience, and all the apparatus 
 of eternal life, and all this enjoyed in vain, and rejected, 
 8* 
 
178 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and put away from you, — "what will ye do" in that 
 final "end?" Aye, "can thy heart endure, and thy 
 hand be strong, in the day that /shall deal with thee ?" 
 "Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched 
 out My hand and no man regarded, I also will laugh at 
 your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh." 
 "All they that hate Me," (and all hate Me, who will 
 not open their hearts affectionately and earnestly to the 
 reception of My truth and love,) — "all they that hate 
 Me, love death." 
 
 Ah ! my brethren, if you once fall under the con- 
 demnation of God, I have nothing to offer to you in the 
 form of hope ; nothing. I can find nothing in the 
 Scriptures to favor in the least the idea — not the 
 slightest atom of evidence or indication of it — that the 
 sufferings of the condemned, the sufferings in the next 
 state have anything in them of a nature that is dis- 
 ciplinary or purifying. I cannot find it ; and if the 
 Christian redemption be what it is, if Christianity be 
 what this Book most distinctly and definitely declares, 
 what it plainly and clearly articulates — the gift of God's 
 Son as the sacrifice for the guilt of the world, I do not 
 see how it can be possible to conceive, that there can be 
 in the punishment, that must follow the rejection of 
 that great and unspeakable gift, a virtue and a purity, 
 that should, after all, cleanse the soul and bring it to 
 heaven. God knows whether it be right to alleviate, by 
 the least consideration, the agony and the oppression, 
 that come upon the heart in the thought of eternal 
 punishment ; God knows whether it be right or proper, 
 to admit the remotest hope of relief from ultimate or 
 absolute destruction ; but sure I am of this, that what- 
 ever we may not know with respect to that possibility, 
 we do know that there is no possibility of the restoration 
 of the condemned. 
 
YOUTH. 179 
 
 But it is not necessary, dear friends, that any one of 
 you should come to this end, that I have been describ- 
 ing. 
 
 Nay, observe, that if Christianity be true, there is 
 the most amazing provision for securing the contrary. 
 The unspeakable gift, the infinite atonement, the open 
 purifying fountain, the preaching of the Gospel, the 
 great and precious promises of Divine influence, the 
 beseeching — the tender, beseeching entreaty of God, the 
 continued urgency of the Word and Spirit in the 
 providence of God for years, — really, brethren, when I 
 think of all these things, the wonder rather seems to 
 me that any should be lost, than that there should be a 
 few that are saved. There is no reluctancy in God in 
 relation to your salvation. "No, just the contrary; a 
 forwardness — desire — a paternal yearning that every one 
 of His children should come and repose upon His bosom, 
 and be surrounded and filled with the affluence of His 
 love. There is no necessity for the end I have described 
 being yours. 
 
 In the last place, we sometimes, in the providence of 
 God, have beautiful instances and examples of another 
 sort of end ; and it becometh us to let our eye rest on 
 them, — to let our ear be open to the Divine voices, that 
 may come to us from the pillow of a dying saint, — to 
 open our hearts to the reception of such lessons. And 
 I have one such now to bring before you to-night. 
 
 The young man to whom I refer, was born in the 
 north of Scotland. He was blest with pious parents, — 
 though I observe from some of his papers, that a Scottish 
 Sabbath and Scottish Catechetical Lectures had not left 
 upon his mind an amiable and attractive association with 
 religion ; but his heart is full, I observe in speaking of the 
 piety and religious anxiety and love of the parents, from 
 whom he sprang. Of course he commenced his educa- 
 
180 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 tion there. He had a remarkable deliverance from death, 
 when he was about eleven years of age ; he was bathing, 
 and was carried out into the sea, and lost his energy and 
 self-possession in swimming. A youth struck off after 
 him, and was caught by a wave ; and another boy sinking. 
 he of course turned to rescue the one nearest home. By 
 the time he had got to shore, the other was still further 
 gone : but some sailors in a boat took him up. He was 
 quite insensible, and continued in that state for about five 
 and twenty or thirty minutes, apparently dead ; but at 
 last means were successful for restoring animation, and 
 giving him back to life, that he might see the light of the 
 Sun of righteousness, and spiritually " walk before God 
 in the land of the living. 7 ' 
 
 His education was followed up at Edinburgh, and at 
 Glasgow, where he had a brother attending the University; 
 and in his sixr-enth year he came a lad to this great 
 metropolis, ro enter into a most respectable wholesale 
 house of busiuess. And now the trial of Jife, of course, 
 began with him in earnest. He had been under religi- 
 ous circumstances, and in contact with religious persons, 
 and the eye of maternal or fraternal affection had been 
 constantly on his side; and now he was brought here. 
 Here he was not altogether removed from the same sort 
 of restraint and influence, for it was his happinesf 
 have settled in the metropolis a sister and brother-in- 
 law, intelligent and pious, and he felt of course trans- 
 ferred to them something like the guardianship that had 
 been exercised before ; still, they could not have their 
 eye always upon him, and he could not be always with 
 them ; and a lad of his age and in his circumstances, one 
 might soon come to find, would not be always there 
 either. 
 
 He felt the influence (as he has told me, and as I have 
 seen in looking over his papers,) — he felt the influence 
 
YOUTK 181 
 
 of these new circumstances, of the associations into which 
 he was thrown, of the comparative freedom which he en- 
 joyed, and of the possibility of having his own way and 
 being to himself his own law. First a part of the Sab- 
 bath went, and then sometimes the whole of it ; and to 
 a young Scotch lad, with his Sabbath associations and 
 ideas of Sabbath obligation and Sabbath sanctity, to be- 
 gin to break into fragments the day of God, and to abuse 
 it, and to trample the fragments under foot, and to float 
 away first upon a piece, and then to give the whole to 
 some rural excursion, or to give some pleasure which could 
 not be innocent nor thought to be innocent, was the 
 beginning of the breaking down of some of those fences 
 that were about his virtue and about his heart. 
 
 He frequented too, in a little time, public places of 
 amusement. And though he was mercifully saved, and 
 by the grace of God drawn out, thus being kept and pre- 
 served from the consequences, to which that step might 
 lead, he was not drawn out without some scars upon the 
 inner man, through the effect that was left upon the 
 state of his imagination and his heart* 
 
 What a mysterious — magical, Divine thing, is a 
 mother's love ! How it nestles about the heart, and goes 
 with the man, and speaks to him pure words, and is like 
 a guardian angel ! This young man could never take 
 any money that came to him from his mother, and spend 
 that upon a Sunday excursion or a treat to a theatre. It 
 was a sacred thing to him ; it had the inrpression and 
 the inscription of his mother's image, his mother's purity 
 his mother's piety, and his mother's love. And these 
 things that he felt to be questionable, or sinful, were al- 
 ways to be provided for by money that came to him from 
 other hands. Oh ! there is the poetry of the heart, the 
 poetry of our home and domestic affections, the poetry of 
 the religion of the hearth and the altar, about that little 
 
182 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 incident ; and it strikes me as being perfectly beautiful. 
 You that are mothers, think of this ; and you young men, 
 that have mothers far away, with hearts full of anxiety, 
 think of their love, and let the recollection of their love 
 be as your guardian angel, to watch over you and keep 
 you in the way. 
 
 I find, in looking over his papers, that in attending 
 worship he very frequently had his own character dis- 
 tinctly placed before him ; that the preacher very often 
 arraigned, convicted, condemned, and he felt the exhibi- 
 tion to be himself ; that he took it to his heart, he went 
 home trembling under its impression, he began under it 
 to purpose and to pray — and to sin again, to sin again ! 
 
 The heart, you see, was not decidedly given up to 
 God, but liable to these impressions and agitations ; and 
 so he was finding excuses, and sometimes tried to satisfy 
 himself with a purpose and a prayer, — and then it was 
 forgotten. Sometimes the idea of destiny occurred to 
 him : God's perfect omniscience — purpose — sovereignty. 
 I dare say, you young men know something about this. 
 ' Well, God knows distinctly and accurately the end, He 
 knows what is to be and what is purposed, what can I do? 
 Whatever I do, that end must be reached ; if I am to be 
 saved, I am, — if I shall be, I shall be.' And so he kept 
 tampering with his moral nature, — tampering with every 
 pure, healthy moral instinct within him ; rising up un- 
 der the consciousness of responsibility and moral power, 
 and then dozing and stupefying the conscience by this 
 idea of destiny. 
 
 I am giving you the outlines of the history of a young 
 man's heart ; and " as face answereth to face, so does the 
 heart of man to man ; " and the history of this heart may, 
 by the blessing of God, have its influence on some of 
 yours. 
 
 About this time there was a new Chapel opened in 
 
YOUTH. 183 
 
 the York Road ; and his sister thinking of him, and 
 looking at him as amiable and virtuous, but without 
 decision in religion, put down his name as a teacher for 
 the Sunday School, and told him so. And his heart, he 
 says, revolted within him. For he was beginning to 
 love his sins and his pleasures and his amusements, and 
 those things on which he was thus beginning to enter ; 
 he did not want to be religious : and he did not cer- 
 tainly wish to appear more religious than he was. His 
 heart revolted at both these things ; and he went that 
 night with his relatives to that place of worship, with his 
 heart thus troubled and disturbed, this enmity rising up 
 against the work to which he was committed, for which 
 he had no taste, and which he did not wish to enter 
 upon, for he did not wish to teach that which he felt 
 that he did not love. 
 
 The preacher was a young man, of great seriousness 
 and of great promise. He preached from the text — 
 1 ' And they all began to make excuse f and I suppose, 
 he took up the different sorts of excuses that men might 
 feel for neglecting God's service. He says, no particular 
 part of the sermon, but the whole generally produced a 
 deep and indescribable impression upon his conscience 
 and heart. All the way home he kept conversing with 
 himself, and casting in his own heart, and asking him- 
 self why he should wish to be excused : why he should 
 wish to be excused from that service, to which his Father 
 invited him, and which they who had entered it, he 
 well knew, declared to be happiness and freedom. And 
 he prayed-for strength ; and his heart gave birth, under 
 God, to a resolute purpose, and he determined he would 
 no longer wish to be excused. He went home with that 
 determination, and he acted upon it instantly. He be- 
 gan immediately to read the Scriptures ; and taking up 
 the first book upon which he laid his hand (which he 
 
184 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 considered to be a guidance of God's providence), Mr. 
 James's Anxious Enquirer, and he read the introductory 
 observations, giving direction as to the way in which the 
 author wishes it to be read — with earnest prayer and per- 
 sonal application. He began that night, and read on ; 
 and that night he bowed his knee to God and the Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, pouring into His ear the utter- 
 ance of a broken heart and a returning and repenting 
 child. Day after day he went on reading this book, and 
 receiving light from it, and understanding his own heart, 
 until he felt that he really, completely, entirely, with 
 perfect sincerity and with perfect honesty of heart and 
 intention, " received the atonement," rested upon it, and 
 felt his heart filled full of love to God — filled full of the 
 thought of the Divine love to him and of his love to 
 God back again — and devoted himself to God's service. 
 And never from that moment, as he told me, did he feel 
 the least desire after any of his sinful amusements, or 
 reluctance to give them up ; never from that moment, 
 had he a single doubt or shadow upon his heart, of his 
 enjoyment of the Divine mercy, and his calm repose in 
 his Father's love. 
 
 I must pass briefly over other matters. His health 
 declined ; and he left business. As his health returned, 
 before entering on another situation, he spent some time 
 with his brother, a minister of a congregational Baptist 
 Church ; he spent some time there for his health, and 
 his health was restored. From the influences under 
 which he was thrown, and the feelings naturally spring- 
 ing up in his young heart, he desired to give himself to 
 the ministry. Under a slight change of sentiment, he 
 received baptism by immersion ; and he was admitted 
 into Stepney College, and entered upon his studies with 
 great interest and prospect of success. A foundation of 
 early classical attainments had been laid, previously to 
 
TOUTS. 185 
 
 his entering into business ; he had good talents ; and he 
 was devoted conscientiously to the improvement of the 
 advantages he possessed. A few times he was permitted 
 to preach. His person was prepossessing, his elocution 
 distinct and impressive, his manner grave. The subjects 
 on which his deep seriousness led him to dilate, were al- 
 ways important ; and his observations and appeals to the 
 heart and conscience,, very pungent. So that there was 
 about him, in his circumstances and his prospects, every 
 thing to make him the object of deep interest to his 
 friends — a flower of sweet fragrance rising up into mature 
 perfection ; and every thing to himself to make life 
 pleasant and desirable, with the prospect before him of 
 usefulness and honor — the thing for which he had 
 wished to live. 
 
 But all was to pass away. His illness returned. 
 After months, in which his recovery was but questionable, 
 though there was hope lying at the bottom of his super- 
 ficial appearances of disease, at last it was announced to 
 him that he must die. And he returned from Devon- 
 shire to die. 
 
 He wrote or dictated many letters to his companions, 
 to some that were still in the house of business where he 
 had been, and to others of his aquaintance over the 
 country, every one of them breathing the most perfect 
 approval of the Divine will. No reluctance to die ; the 
 fullness of hope ; Divine satisfaction in his heart, sus- 
 tained by the power of Divine truth. 
 
 But I will read you now (which will be better than 
 my speaking), an account of his last days and hours, which 
 was drawn up at my request and for my use by my friend, 
 his brother-in-law, that it might give a tinge and color 
 to my own thoughts and recollections and phraseology. 
 He often said, he did not understand Christians when 
 they spoke of 'submitting to the will of God;' the phrase 
 
186 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 seemed to him to indicate doubt or distrust — at best a 
 sort of yielding to hard necessity. The phrase ( myste- 
 rious providence? especially when applied to early re- 
 movals like his own, seemed to him equally objectionable; 
 it seemed to him by no means to express warm affectionate 
 confidence. 
 
 " His happy acquiescence in the Divine will evidently 
 sprung from the affectionate views, which he always took 
 of the character of God. He eminently loved God. 
 ' God is love ' — was ever on his lips. 
 
 " His joy was calm, deep and unruffled. It flowed 
 like a river. During an illness of ten months, it was 
 never disturbed ; an impatient word never escaped his 
 lips. His decay was gradual, and as serene as sunset. 
 
 " He knew of no morality or spirituality, intended 
 only for a sick bed. Disease found him precisely what 
 he had been in health. Had he been restored by 
 miracle, his habitual state of mind would have been as 
 appropriate to activity and health, as it was to solitude 
 and weakness. The freshness and buoyancy of his 
 spirit never forsook him ; his sound and vigorous com- 
 mon sense indicated a healthy mind to the very last. 
 
 "During the last two or three weeks, his weakness 
 was very great, and his sufferings were consequently 
 much increased ; but love for God and love for every 
 body about him drew the sting out of all. His affection 
 seemed exhaustless. The streams of love deepened and 
 widened as they flowed. He now longed to depart. 
 * Perfect love ' had { cast out fear :' ' patience ' seemed 
 to have had ' her perfect work ;' he waited anxiously for 
 the glad summons. 
 
 "About half -past eight upon Thursday evening, 
 December 30 (the last day but one of the last year), he be- 
 gan to die. His pain was very great ; at times, he said, 
 it was agony ; yet inward spiritual joy still triumphed. 
 
YOUTH. 187 
 
 Again and again was the earnest prayer heard — ' Come, 
 Lord Jesus, come quickly, come quickly? but as regu- 
 larly was it followed by the firm proviso — ' Yet not as I 
 will, but as Thou wilt.' 
 
 "About half -past ten he was evidently sinking; but 
 he was still able gently to wave his hand, bidding those 
 around him Farewell ; and he added with a smile — 
 ' Death ! where is thy sting ? grave ! where is thy 
 victory ?' After a little time he spoke once more, to beg 
 all about him would be perfectly still : ' Don't speak, 
 don't speak,' he feebly uttered, ' I am enjoying deep and 
 blessed communion with God.' For above half an hour 
 perfect silence was maintained, during which he seemed 
 wrapt in meditation, a smile frequently playing about 
 his face. About the end of that time, his head gradu- 
 ally fell back, his eye brightened, and as if his ear 
 caught the harmonies of the invisible world, he ex- 
 claimed, in a calm and loud voice, expressive of admira- 
 tion — ■ Beautiful! beautiful!' A few moments more, 
 and then as if the veil had been withdrawn, which hides 
 from mortal eye the radiancy of the upper world, he 
 added — ' Glory ! glory I' And with these words dying 
 on his lips, he fell back upon his pillow, and his purified 
 and happy spirit took its flight to heaven." 
 
 This is a description of tact. It is A fact, whether 
 Christianity be true or not. It was the Gospel, that 
 sustained and blessed him. And we ask for any system 
 to come forward — any system of belief or any system of 
 no belief — and let us see any thing like that in their 
 triumphs and in their results. 
 
 " Let me die the death of the righteous ; and let my 
 last end be like his !" 
 
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES, 
 
 MIDDLE AGE. 
 
 THE COMFOKTING ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 WILLIAM ORMISTOtf, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." — Rev. xiv : 13. 
 TT is a solemnizing thought that the number of the 
 A departed far exceeds that of the living ; — that, of the 
 children of men many more rest quietly beneath the sod, 
 than restlessly tread upon it. Many among us have more 
 dear ones in the other land than here, and we are hasten- 
 ing to join them. Death reigns, homes are curtained, 
 hearts are saddened and loved ones are missed every day. 
 Our only solace is to be found in the Gospel of the Resur- 
 rection. It alone illumines the grave — sustains the 
 dying — and comforts the bereaved. 
 
 The text is a significant epitaph ; breathing consola- 
 tion and inspiring hopes — a noble requiem, joyous, 
 triumphant, expectant ; — a light from the beyond whose 
 radiance rests on the dark valley, and gilds even the 
 coffin. 
 
 Notice 1st. The character defined who die in the 
 Lord — asleep in Jesus, not all the dead are blessed, and 
 some we must mourn in hopeless sorrow. 
 [188] 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 180 
 
 In the Lord. In Christ, a peculiar expression for a 
 unique relationship — a human soul may sustain three 
 different relations to Christ, of Christ, in Christ, and with 
 Christ, a state of nature — of grace — and of glory. The 
 three successively constitute the biography of all the 
 ransomed above. It implies that a man is a true Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 1. Faith in the person and work of Christ. 
 
 2. Sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. 
 
 3. Conformed to the image of Christ. 
 2d. The blessedness pronounced. 
 
 1. Blessed, for they still live unto God. They are 
 with Christ. 
 
 2. Blessed, for they rest from anxious care and cease- 
 less conflict — from temptation and sin — from the com- 
 panionship and assaults of evil. 
 
 3d. Blessed, for they enter into peace and repose ; into 
 perfect holiness and absolute security ; into the fellow- 
 ship of the spirits of the just made perfect. 
 
 4th. Blessed, for their works follow them — seed sown 
 in tears, will then prove sheaves in joy. 
 
 Lessons (a) Consolation for the bereaved. 
 (#) Comfort for the dying. 
 
 (c) Incentive for the living. 
 
 (d) Warning for the Christless. 
 
 Let every tolling bell, every nodding hearse, every 
 open grave, be a warning, an admonition, a message 
 from God to thee. If for us to live is Christ, then to die 
 is gain, and we will be blessed in our death. 
 
190 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES, 
 
 AWAITING COKONATION. 
 
 WILLIAM SPRAGUE, D.D. 
 
 "1 am now ready to be offered," etc. — 2 Tim. iv: 6, 7, 8. 
 TOOTHING- Icould be more in keeping with the char- 
 
 acter and circumstances of Paul than this tri- 
 umphant language. 
 
 I. Paul had nearly reached the connecting point be- 
 tween earth and heaven. He was " Paul the aged." 
 His martyrdom had been determined on — the time was 
 near. He speaks of his " course " as actually " finished. " 
 The next step will be upon the dark boundary. Not to 
 be pitied but congratulated. 
 
 II. Paul's retrospect and his reflections thereon. " A 
 good fight." It was a good cause — the cause of God — 
 of human happiness — for which the Kedeemer died — 
 the noblest cause to which the heart of man or angel ever 
 beat. To this cause he had brought a full measure of 
 zeal and fortitude. He strove with all the vigor and 
 earnestness he could command — enemies had been over- 
 come and all vigilance and courage had to be put in re- 
 quisition. 
 
 "Kept the faith," — had received the Gospel as a 
 sacred deposit, had guarded it, defended it, kept it faith- 
 fully. Amidst all the varying forms of doubt and un- 
 belief he had to encounter he stood firm as a rock in 
 defence of truth. He persevered till he had "finished 
 his course." Wore his armor and used it to the last. 
 Kept the faith to the last and is now girding himself for 
 immortality. 
 
 III. He is looking forward to his reward. In review 
 conscience bears witness to his fidelity. Now his eye is 
 on the future and its glories rise before him — " a crown," 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 191 
 
 awaiting him — emblem of riches, dignity, authority, — a 
 measure of glory inconceivable, "crown of righteous- 
 ness" — purchased by the righteousness of the Redeemer 
 — this illustrates its security and value. It is also a pub- 
 lic testimony, on the part of God, in honor of his saints. 
 It is bestowed also by a righteous Judge. The reward 
 is unimpeached and unimpeachable. 
 
 This crown is "laid up against the day of Christ's 
 appearing." This imports that it is secure to the Chris- 
 tian, as God's covenant faithfulness, and the Mediator's 
 grace and power can make. Other riches may pass away ; 
 this is always in safe-keeping, and will be bestowed on 
 "the day of Christ." The full measure of glory will 
 then be awarded. Blessed is the dying Christian who 
 looks behind him and sees the wilderness passed over ; 
 who looks before him and is entranced with visions of im- 
 mortality. 
 
 PASSING THROUGH THE VALLEY. 
 
 J. R. MACDUFF, D.D. 
 Tea, though 1 pass through the valley, &c. — Ps. xxiii : 4. 
 r T^HERE is no more familiar verse in scripture than 
 this. No Bible figure has made a more lasting and 
 indelible impression. We do not know what spot sug- 
 gested to David the world-wide emblem. How many 
 tears has this one verse dried. How many eyes have 
 gazed on this valley, radiant with His presence and com- 
 panionship. We must soon tread it. Who shall be our 
 guide ? Every hour 3000 pilgrims enter it. 
 
 I. The valley. Death is a gloomy experience, even 
 to the believer. Death, as the wages of sin, even to the 
 Christian, is an enemy. It is a solemn thing. But 
 while the believer, as a child of our common nature, in- 
 
192 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 stinctively recoils from death, as a child of God he can 
 say, "I will fear no evil." It is only to him the 
 " shadow " of death. The substance is taken away. 
 The king of terrors is a vanquished enemy. Christ by 
 dying took the sting from death. In prophecy he ex- 
 olaimed, "I will redeem thee, &c." He has flooded the 
 valley with light. "Abolished death" — the death of 
 the body is of little account. 
 
 II. The Presence. " Thou." Another element of 
 support in passing through the valley. The curse is 
 removed, and a real companionship enjoyed. Thousands 
 have testified as they entered, to the felt nearness of the 
 Saviour. It is a Peniel. Secure His presence in the 
 wilderness and He will be with you in Jordan. "Thou 
 art with me" now, and will be then. " Thou" "He that 
 goeth before" his sheep. He has trodden the valley 
 before them — He went "alone" — sanctified the valley 
 — left in it the print of his steps and now from the 
 throne says, "Fear not ! I am He that liveth and was 
 dead !" 
 
 III. The two-fold support. Eastern shepherds have 
 two staves, one for counting the sheep, the other, with a 
 crook for rescuing, &c, them. These denote the rod 
 of Faith, and the staff of Promises. Faith smites the 
 typical Jordan in this valley and the believer passes 
 over. The staff enables us to find sure footing and in 
 safety to reach the opposite bank. God's promises en- 
 sure safety. These two props comfort David in life 
 and will in death. " They comfort me." They did not 
 fail him. Hear his last words. "He hath made with 
 me, &c." God is still faithful, who has promised. 
 
 Ponder your personal interest in this subject. The 
 infant, child, youth, &c. 
 
 Connect the valley with heaven to which it leads. It 
 is "a door of hope." Death, and what is after death, 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 193 
 
 FAITHFULNESS AND ITS REWAED. 
 
 CHAKLES HODGE, D.D. 
 Well done good and faithful servant, &c. — Matt, xxv : 21. 
 T The person described. 
 
 1. The word good is used in manifold senses, but 
 they all fall under two heads — that is good which is 
 what God designed it to be, having the qualities and 
 attributes which fit it for its appointed sphere, but good, 
 means also suitable, agreeable, useful or beneficent — thus 
 we say a good tree, &c. That is good which does good. 
 In the absolute sense of the word, God only is good — 
 good in Himself, and the source of all good in others. 
 A man is good who is measurably in himself what he 
 ought to be and who does good to others. He has not 
 self for his object, but sacrifices self for the good of his 
 fellow men. Some are good, God ward rather than man- 
 ward. They are not centres whence good radiates. 
 Such men may be saved, but as by fire. 
 
 2. Faithful. This is a word of wide import. He is 
 faithful who exercises faith, is worthy of faith, who 
 manifests fidelity in the discharge of duty. Faithful to 
 the doctrines of God's word — sincerely believing them, 
 openly professing and proclaiming them — faithful to 
 principles, ready to declare them, never forsaking them 
 for any consideration of expediency. Faithful to obli- 
 gations — in the cultivation of talents, employment of 
 time, in the avoidance of all unnecessary expenses, and 
 in the dispensing of charities. 
 
 3. Servant. This was the favorite designation of the 
 apostles. Paul called himself habitually the servant of 
 Jesus Christ. He desired to be so regarded, and to live 
 in accordance with the relation indicated by the word in 
 
 9 
 
194 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 its strongest sense. He was the servant of Christ, be- 
 cause he was his property — the purchase of his blood. 
 The service of Christ comprehended everything — the 
 homage of the understanding, the subjection of the 
 conscience, the devotion of the heart, and the conduct 
 of the life. 
 
 II. The reward. The souls of believers at their 
 death enter into the joy of the Lord. Presence with 
 the Lord is the believer's heaven. 
 
 1. It is the joy which the Lord Himself possesses, 
 Christ and His people are one. This union is threefold, 
 a federal union, a vital union and a voluntary conscious 
 union by faith. Christ's death is their death, &c. They 
 reign with Him, are glorified together. 
 
 2. It is the joy of victory. Victory over death, hell, 
 the grave. It is a victory the glorious ' consequences of 
 which are to fill immensity and eternity. 
 
 3. It is the joy of perfection. This is the completion 
 of the work of redemption for his people. The restor- 
 ation of God's image in them is complete. The perfec- 
 tion of their whole nature — in perfect knowledge, in 
 perfect holiness, a perfection in reconciliation and com- 
 munion with God. The soul is filled with his fullness. 
 It is filled with God. "It doth not yet appear what we 
 shall be, &c." 
 
 II. It is a joy of dominion. Christ has been given 
 a name which is above every name. He is exalted above 
 all principalities, &c. Of His dominion there is neither 
 limit nor end. In this dominion His people share, and 
 in the joy of this sovereignty. What this means we do 
 not fully know. But it includes more than tongue can 
 tell or heart conceive, — glory, honor, immortality. It 
 implies the constant beneficent and beatifying exercise 
 of all our powers in the promotion of the highest glory 
 of our Eedeemer and the highest good of His Kingdom. 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 195 
 
 CROSSING THE EIVER. 
 
 T. DE WITT TALMAGE, D.D. 
 
 And the priests that hare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood 
 firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan. — Joshua iii: 17. 
 
 YYTASHINGTON crossed the Delaware by boat; 
 Xerxes, the Hellespont by an extemporized bridge : 
 and the Israelites the Eed Sea by its being divided, in 
 which division the Egyptians were drowned. This 
 crossing differs from all others, and was without the loss 
 of life. The waters piled themselves up in a heap at the 
 touch of the priest's feet. Learn : 
 
 I. Obstacles touched vanish. Obstacles that may be 
 tremendous in the distance, depart when we advance 
 upon and touch them with courage. As in life, so at its 
 close. Many are now afraid of the Jordan of death. 
 But when you come to it, when your time has come to 
 cross it, it will disappear. Christ your Priest with 
 bruised feet will go ahead of you. His feet touching the 
 waters will cause them to roll away, and you will go 
 through dry shod. 
 
 II. The completeness of everything that God does. 
 The Jordan when it stopped flowing did not flood its 
 banks. It did not leave mud and slime in its bed — it is 
 dry. God gives us everything complete, a complete uni- 
 verse, a complete Bible, a complete Saviour, a complete 
 Jordanic passage. 
 
 III. Between us and everything bright, beautiful and 
 useful, there is a river of difficulty that we must cross. 
 The grapes of Eschol and the goodly land were beyond 
 Jordan — these things are always on the other side. We 
 must cross to get them. That which costs nothing is 
 worth nothing. We must struggle for what is valuable. 
 Stewart, Vanderbilt, Eranklin, Walter Scott, Mansfield, 
 
196 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 all found it so. Every convert to Jesus finds it so, and 
 after every other difficulty has been surmounted, here is the 
 river of death. But the Great High Priest goes before, 
 the water parts, and as the Christian goes down into the 
 bed of the stream he sings, " Oh Death, where is thy 
 sting, &c." 
 
 The families of the Israelites passed over altogether. 
 What congratulations must have been theirs. But we 
 must pass over one by one. But while one foot is in the 
 river the other will be in Heaven. It is not a breaking 
 down, but a lifting up. 
 
 What comfort in this subject for all the her eft. They 
 departed are not submerged, or swamped, but crossed 
 over — all crossed over. Alive on the other shore — their 
 respiration easier — their sight keener, their aches all gone, 
 and an impassible barrier between them and all human and 
 Satanic pursuit — safe in Heaven. Would you call them 
 back ? Has their struggle not been long enough ? Has 
 their journey not been tedious enough ? Have they not 
 had sufferings enough ? Would you have them pass the 
 Jordan three times ? They will never sin, never grow 
 tired, never weep, never die again. 
 
 THE SOLEMNITY OF DEATH. 
 
 C. E. DEEMS, D.D. 
 No man dieth unto himself. — Rom. xiv: 7. 
 T?VERY man belongs to God. This fact does two 
 -^ things. It breaks up our selfishness. No man there- 
 fore should turn every stream into the reservoir of his 
 own personal interests, and wishes. All should be turned 
 towards God, It takes away our solicitudes. If we can- 
 not accomplish all we can for ourselves we are doing 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 197 
 
 something always for another. We are his. Our life is 
 safe, and death is secure. This gives a dignity to both 
 living and dying. Nothing seems so lonely as death 
 looked at from this side. Nothing so cheering looked at 
 from the other. No one can have a part in our dying : 
 that makes it lonely. "We die unto the Lord : that makes 
 it cheering. With this in view let us look at death in 
 several aspects. 
 
 I. We have no choice as to the time. We cannot en- 
 gage to serve so long and then cease. A Christian need 
 not be concerned about the time of his death. He can- 
 not make an appointment with death. He who is best 
 prepared to die is he who best prepared to live. The 
 responsibility of the time of our birth did not devolve 
 upon us, nor will the responsibility of the time of our 
 death. 
 
 II. We have no choice as to the place. We cannot 
 prepare a soft bed for our hour of dying, and say, I will 
 come back and lay me here and close my life amid the 
 scenes that have been dear to me. The place made may 
 be burnt while we are absent. The consideration is im- 
 material to the Christian. He is nowhere to which duty 
 has not called, and he is where duty has called. He is not 
 to consider how near his obedience to that call brings him 
 to the death hour. The Lord regulates that. Stand- 
 ing in his place at all times, he will be in his place when 
 the stroke of death shall come. It may be in Pisgah or 
 at the rich man's gate. It will be just where it ought to 
 be. WJiere we die, "we die unto the Lord." 
 
 III. We have no choice as to the manner. Accord- 
 ing to a man's temperament will be his preferences in 
 all things, even in the matter of dying, as to its place and 
 method. There seems to be a desire that death be not 
 instant. Is it a good desire ? To a Christian in full 
 play, instant death is the lightning flash that throws 
 
198 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 open the gates of immortality and frees from the pains 
 and aches of wearisome days and nights. It is not for 
 us to dwell on this. God may accomplish more by the 
 death-bed of Elisha than by the translation of Elijah. 
 
 But the choice, thank God, is not with us," whether we 
 live, 55 etc. The moment the life of the Christian closes, 
 giyes his earthly existence greatest capability of benefit- 
 ing the race and extending the knowledge of Jesus. He 
 has perpetual influence on earth and eyerlasting work 
 and happiness in heayen. 
 
 THE COMPENSATIONS OE LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 A. p. (deax) staxley, d.d. 
 
 To live is Christ, and to die is gain. — Phil. 1: 21. 
 
 TDATJL is writing to his best beloyed converts. He 
 opens his heart more fully to them than to any 
 others. He looks on death and life, and knows not 
 which to choose. He sees the good of both, giyes us his 
 reasons for desiring the one and then the other. These 
 give us the depth of his tenderness. They reyeal the 
 innermost heart. 
 
 I. To die is gain. We have often felt this, as we 
 look at the sufferings of this mortal life — its sickness, 
 miseries, disappointments, temptations. And we have 
 felt it for those that we love, whose lives are fraught with 
 so many chances of fatal shipwreck, that they may well 
 long for the day, when they shall have done with the 
 anxious trials and petty quarrels, baffled hopes and grind- 
 ing toil of this harassing world and gone to be with Jesus. 
 It is by reflecting on this clear gain, that the mind bows 
 itself to the Supreme will, the heart nerves itself to the 
 terrible thought of the last dread summons from all we 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 199 
 
 love and see ; and the soul is committed with such as- 
 sured confidence into the hands of its faithful Creator 
 and merciful Saviour. These is something greater than 
 the gain and rest of death; it is the straggle and victory 
 of life. 
 
 II. To live is Christ, Death in a sense is the gate of 
 life eternal, but it is in life, this life, that graces must 
 be wrought and fashioned that shall prepare the soul for 
 the enjoyment of eternal life. Paul preaches, with all his 
 heart and soul, the infinite preciousness of life. The 
 Christian has the consciousness that in this life is the 
 very work and presence of Christ. By leaving our work 
 here before the time, we leave His work undone. By 
 turning our backs in impatience on this mortal scene, 
 we turn them on Him who is in these very struggles and 
 sufferings. Every step forward in the cause of good is a 
 step nearer to the life of Christ. Life is the state in 
 which Christ makes Himself known to us and through 
 which we must make ourselves known to Him. He 
 sanctified and glorified every stage of it. And at every 
 place and in every company He was the same Divine 
 Master and Friend. Think then how much we have to 
 do for Christ, and like Christ in whatever is left to us 
 of life. To rise above ourselves, to lose ourselves in the 
 thought of this great work that God has placed before us. 
 For the sake of doing this, the apostle would consent to 
 li* e, would prefer life with all its sorrows to death with 
 all its gain. Death to us may be perfectly desirable, 
 but life to us should be perfectly beautiful. 
 
 Thou art my King — 
 
 My King henceforth alone: 
 
 And I, thy servant, Lord, am all thine own. 
 
 Give me thy strength; oh! let thy dwelling be 
 
 In this poor heart that pants, my Lord, for thee! 
 
 — Gerhard I'er&Uegen. 
 
SOO MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE KENDEZVOUS OF HUMANITY. 
 
 JOHN CUMMING, D.D. 
 
 1 know thou wilt bring ?ne to death, &c. — Job xxx : 23. 
 
 ■T^HIS was the clear conviction of the patriarch, and it 
 should be ours. All around may be uncertain, but 
 this is sure. We cannot evade it, however exalted, 
 beautiful, wealthy, or strong. 
 
 I. The grounds of his conviction. 
 
 1. What he saiv. The dissolutions of households. 
 The graves around him. The memorial tablets. The 
 four messengers coming in quick succession announcing 
 the destruction of his possessions and the death of his 
 children. Are not similar things seen by us ? 
 
 2. Job's oivn sufferings. He had been smitten with 
 sore boils — God had taken him by the neck, &c. So 
 with us, disease gives its signals — keepers trembling, 
 &c, grey hairs, wrinkles, head and heart ache, &c. 
 
 3. Creation around impressed on him the truth of the 
 text. Man cometh forth like a flower, shadow, grass, 
 autumn, trees, night, sleep, &c, all types of death ap- 
 proaching. 
 
 4. Divine teaching inculcated the same lesson. We 
 might suppose there would be no need of this. But im- 
 pressions made by death on us are often effaced as 
 marks on the sand by the sea. David, aware of this, 
 prayed, " make me to know mine end, &c." Moses, 
 " Teach us so to number, &c." This teaching should be 
 sought by us. It was doubtless by Job. 
 
 II. The immediate dispenser of death. " Thou wilt 
 bring me, &c." We are prone to attribute death to 
 many causes. Faith will raise its head above all and say, 
 "It is -the Lord." Job did not say, the Sabeans that 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 201 
 
 smote or the whirlwind that swept, &c., but "the Lord 
 hath taken away." God gives the commission to death. 
 He fixes the time when the stroke shall fall, &c., and 
 when the dust shall return, &c. Of this truth Job made 
 a personal application. " Thou wilt bring me to death." 
 It is thus that we should listen to the statements of 
 God's word. There must be a personal appropriation 
 of the truth. 
 
 III. The description of the change of which the 
 patriarchs was assured, "Death and the house." Death 
 is the child of sin, but grace has made it the servant of 
 Jesus. The separation of the soul and body, the latter 
 to rest in its bed of dust till the resurrection, the former 
 to go to its own place. 
 
 The body goes to the "house, &c," the narrow one 
 appointed for all living. Into it every other house 
 pours its inmates. In it, bitter foes sleep peacefully to- 
 gether. It is a dark house. No lamp suspended from 
 its ceiling. No light shines into its chamber. It is a 
 solitary house. No communion, intercourse — each alike 
 unknowing and unknown. It is a silent house. No 
 note either of weal or of woe ever escapes a lip. The 
 tongue of the eloquent is dumb — the knell of a dissolv- 
 ing world will first break the silence. It is an ancient 
 house. Its first stone was laid in paradise. Every gen- 
 eration since might have clasped hands and sung " what- 
 ever we do, wherever we go, we're travelling to the 
 grave. " 
 
 This house has its sunlit side. It is not an eternal 
 prison house, but a resting place, a sleeping place. 
 "Thou wilt call and I will answer thee, &c." If it is 
 true that man must die, it is also as true that man shall 
 live again. Nature and revelation alike proclaim it. 
 The leaves of autumn turn golden as they fall. " This 
 corruptible must put on incorruption." 
 9* 
 
202 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 It is not a strange house. Parents and friends have 
 occupied it before us. The Lord of life has lain in its 
 chambers, perfumed it with his presence, and gave it 
 His own consecration — "Come, see the place." The 
 loth chapter of 1 Corinthians is its epitaph, and es- 
 pecially the words, "Thanks be unto God, &c." Think 
 often of this house. See it rising amid the palaces and 
 halls and mansions of earth. Prepare for taking your 
 place within its walls, and for haying planted at its door 
 as your memorial of hope the laurel and the palm. 
 
 GRATITUDE FOR TRIUMPH. 
 
 REV. WM. JAY. 
 T7ianTcs be to God which giveth u% the, victory, &c. I Cor. xv : 57. 
 HHHERE is something very interesting and poetic in 
 this chapter, arising partly from association, and 
 partly from the subject. The resurrection is only con- 
 sidered here in reference to those who sleep in Jesus. 
 How sublime the words immediately preceding our text. 
 Let us consider : 
 
 I. The victory. Victory supposes warfare — war- 
 fare, enemies. These enemies are sin, the world, Satan, 
 death and the grave. We combine the two last, because 
 it is scarcely possible to treat them separately, and the 
 Apostle mentions them together. He conquers d eath who 
 is not and cannot be injured by it. This is the case with 
 every Christian. Death is stingless to them. Death 
 stung our Surety, and left its sting in Him, so there is 
 none for a believer. Sin is the sting of death, that He 
 bore in his own body on the tree, and put away sin by 
 the sacrifice of Himself. Death comes to the believer so 
 changed, so glorious, so beatific, that it is only a falling 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 203 
 
 asleep in Jesus. It only extends to the body at most — 
 and that body rises a better body than lay down — the re- 
 surrection body will be an advantage, not a clog to the 
 soul. It will be modelled after the body of the Son of 
 God. He who has conquered death through Jesus rises 
 above the apprehension of it, and realizes all this joy 
 and all this blessedness even now. Thanks for the 
 victory ! 
 
 II. The acquisition. It is given, "who give th." "We 
 gain it, but God gives it. He gives us the capacity, and 
 we fight and win through grace. 2. It is dispensed 
 through the mediation of the Lord Jesus. In the work 
 of our salvation, Jesus as a mediator is never left out. 
 There is not a blessing comes to us through any other 
 channel. He is all in all. 3. It is gradually exemplified 
 and accomplished. It is not said that he will, or has, 
 but he " givefli" because it is gradually confirmed and 
 experienced. It is carried on through the whole course 
 of the believer's life and perfected in death. 
 
 III. The gratitude. If men get gratitude for their 
 favors, surely God ought for his salvation. If He were to 
 discontinue his favors, in what a state of destitution and 
 wretchedness would Ave be found. Gratitude consists in 
 the return of a benefit received. Though we cannot 
 make an adequate return to God, we ought to make a 
 suitable return. Gratitude will appear in our ashing, 
 "What shall we render, &c.," in the sentiments of the 
 mind, in the disposition of the heart, in the language of 
 the lip, and in the language of the life. The best grati- 
 tude is shown in the degree and quality of the fruit we 
 bear. 
 
 As a stimulus to gratitude, dwell upon the blessings 
 themselves ; get an increasing sense of your own un- 
 worthiness. A man is thankful in proportion as he is 
 humble. Get an assurance of your interest in the blessed- 
 
204 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ness of the Lord. "I love the Lord because he hath 
 heard, etc." Walk before Him in newness of life. They 
 that dwell in the house of the Lord will be still praising 
 Him. 
 
 DELIVERANCE FROM THE GRAVE. 
 
 CANOK F. W. FARRAE. 
 Tlie creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corrup- 
 tion.— Htm. 8: 21. 
 
 nPHE announcement of the angels to the women at the 
 sepulcher was the most joyous ever made to human 
 ears. Our years, as they increase, remind us our Lord 
 died, as we soon must die, and that He put his foot 
 upon the skull of death, that he might still the groaning 
 of a travailing creation, and take from us all dread of 
 the conquered foe. 
 
 I. Death is naturally to be dreaded. Savage nations 
 live in constant horror of death. This cannot be won- 
 dered at. They know of no world beyond the grave, and 
 what would life be without faith in that ? 
 
 II. If there be no resurrection of the dead, infinitely 
 pathetic and unspeakably heartrending ivould be the 
 phenomena of death itself. " If Christ be not risen, &c." 
 Then they also that have fallen asleep in Christ are 
 perished. Perished ! what a world of desolate anguish, 
 what sighs of unutterable despair, lie hid in that strange 
 word ! All good and great have perished and so must we. 
 How frightful then to live as we are living in the 
 world ! 
 
 III. But, we believe in the resurrection of the dead. 
 For the body the same, though glorified, and re-united 
 to a soul, though the same yet infinitely enlarged and 
 made white in the blood of the Lamb. Yes: " Christ is 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 205 
 
 risen. " How these words change the whole aspect of 
 human life ! Nothing short of this could be our proof 
 and pledge that we also shall rise. We are not left to 
 dim intimations or vague hopes, or faint analogies, but 
 we have a permanent and a firm conviction, a sure and 
 certain hope. Look into the Saviour's empty tomb. 
 "He is not here : He is risen, as He said." They that 
 sleep in all those narrow graves shall wake again, shall 
 rise again. Weep not widowed wife, father, orphan boy, 
 Thy dead shall live. They shall come forth from the 
 power of death and Hades. What a mighty victory ! 
 What a giant sporting ! What a trampling of the last 
 enemy beneath the feet ! What a hope, what a change 
 in the thought of life ! Bravely and happily let us walk 
 through the dark valley, for out of it is a door of immor- 
 tality that opens on the gardens of heaven and the streams 
 of life, where the whole soul is flooded by the sense 
 of a newer and grander being, and our tears wiped away 
 by God's own hand. This is the Christian's hope truly, 
 and herein Christ makes us more than conquerors, more 
 than conquerors, for we not only triumph over the 
 enemy, but profit by him, wringing out of his curse a 
 blessing, out of his prison, a coronation and a home. 
 "It is sown in corruption, &c." Let us live in love, in 
 humility, in Christ and for Christ. This will make us 
 noble and happy in life, this will strengthen us to 
 smile at death, this will cause us to live all our days in 
 the continual light of these two most marvelous of all 
 Christian truths : the resurrection of the body, and 
 the immortality of the soul. 
 
206 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE MATCH OF THE GREAT DESTROYER. 
 
 REV. ARCHIBALD G. BROWN. 
 Love is strong as death. — Cant, viii: 6. 
 T^EATH, like a Goliath, walks up and down our world, 
 ^^^ challenging some one to enter the lists and compete 
 with him. Incarnate Love heard, accepted the challenge, 
 fought the battle on death's chosen territory, and won 
 the victory. 
 
 I. The power of love. The truth of our text was 
 shown: 
 
 1. By Christ- s life. All through it, in the healing of 
 diseases and in the raising of the dead, in his determina- 
 tion to go to Jerusalem, in his struggle in Gethsemane, 
 in his death upon Calvary, it was manifest that His love 
 was as strong as death. 
 
 2. His love was as strong as death, when death had 
 every advantage. Christ's love was as strong as a linger- 
 ing death, life slowly ebbing and fever fiercely burning. 
 As a lonely death, the disciples all had forsaken Him, 
 mockers only around him. Not one to pity. As a shame- 
 ful death — without robes and dying a felon's death. As 
 a God-deserted death. No child of God, no believer in 
 Jesus ever experienced that — but Jesus cried "My God, 
 My God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" Love is strong- 
 er than death in its conquering power. Death can do a 
 great deal, but he cannot touch the will nor lay hold of 
 the affection, nor destroy the believer's joy, nor stop his 
 song, but love can carry the whole man captive. Love 
 is stronger than death in its retaining power. Death 
 can only claim the sleeping dust for a time, but love 
 holds that dust still as its own, and on the resurrection 
 morning, death will have to yield its prey at the call of 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 207 
 
 all-powerful love. Love is stronger than death in its 
 purifying power. Death does not purify ; it has no 
 power to alter character — it reduces the body to cor- 
 ruption, but love kisses man's sin away, his hatred and 
 impurity and temper out of him, turns a hell into a 
 heaven, a vulture into a dove, a lion into a lamb. Love 
 is triumphant over death in all particulars. Love 
 changes the vile body and makes it like unto Christ's 
 glorious body. 
 
 II. The prayer of this love. " Set me as a seal." 
 
 Christ requests us to do for Him what He has done 
 for us. He bears the name of every believer on his heart 
 and on his arm. He covets a place in the heart. Queen 
 Mary said when she was dying, that Calais would be 
 found written upon her heart. Christ asks his name to 
 be written there, never to be erased. Prosperity would 
 erase it. Domestic love would erase it, troubles would 
 erase it. Let it remain there for ever. 
 
 Christ covets a place on your aeii, where everybody 
 can see it. Sailors sometimes tattoo the name of their 
 ship upon their arm. Let Christ's name be upon your 
 arm, where all can read it. So live, act, work that no- 
 body can come in contact with you without saying. 
 " There is the Master's spirit in this man. His name is 
 upon his very arm. His every-day work is consecrated 
 to the Saviour." 
 
 Christ offers this all-conquering love to every one 
 who will accept it as a free gift. 
 
 Death is strong enough to crush us, and we have to 
 meet that foe at last. Let us fly to that which is even 
 stronger than death. Love can conquer us. It is 
 stronger than the grave, for it will retain its hold of us 
 while there and through eternity besides. 
 
208 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 NO VICTORY WITHOUT A BATTLE. 
 
 MOKGAST DIX, D.D. 
 
 Lei me die the death oftlie righteous, &c. — Num. xxiii: 10. 
 
 'T^HE last best gift of God in this world is desired by 
 one of the worst and most corrupt of men. The 
 desire of the heart and the manner of life can thus be 
 at variance — an awful contrast between the wish and the 
 act. Men are foolish enough to think that they can 
 have what God promises without doing what God com- 
 mands — have the victory without the battle. There is 
 much of Balaam's wish still in the world — God in 
 Balaam's death set his seal on all such contradictions as 
 Balaam's life, and a righteous death following. 
 
 I. No man ought to expect to come to a good death 
 who will not lead a good life. The world is not govern- 
 ed by chance, fate or caprice, but by the just and equit- 
 able laws of a Righteous Ruler. There is a unity in 
 the various parts of God's world. "Men do not gather 
 grapes of thorns, &c." If they could, every thing would 
 be in confusion. We should not know what to expect. 
 But there is unity and harmony in the workings of 
 God's laws in nature, providence and grace. No new 
 law in this respect has come in under the Gospel. We 
 cannot speak of death-bed repentances with too great 
 reserve. These repentances occur when the power of 
 sinning forsakes the man, the man may not have for- 
 saken his desire to sin. The Gospel holds out no hope 
 to delay. God promises pardon to the penitent, but not 
 a to-morrow to the procrastinator. The dying thief's case 
 only adds weight to our argument. Common sense and 
 God's word unite in the establishment of our proposi- 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 209 
 
 tion and the familiar words of the poet sums it up. 
 Ps. xxxvii : "Mark the perfect man, &c." 
 
 II. No wishes, however earnest, do of necessity bring 
 with them the thing wished for. Balaam's end shows 
 this. It Avould be a reversal of all that God and con- 
 science show about causes and effects in the realm of our 
 spiritual life. See how things are going — what keeps 
 society healthy and sound — the ravages of "the famine 
 of the world." How unthinkingly men lie down and die 
 and survivors speak of them as safe. Go away without 
 any preparation and yet with an amazing confidence 
 that all shall hereafter be well. Listen to people talk 
 about sinners after death as if pain was over. They 
 ignore future punishment. Are there not tivo worlds 
 beyond ? It is not Christian doctrine to speak otherwise 
 — but a delusion — the wish elevated into a creed. 
 Universal salvation rests only on a wish, and this comes 
 from that other wish, to have all the world can give 
 now, and all that heaven can give us hereafter. On this 
 wish rests all modern scepticism. But if wishing what 
 we want is not effectual as to the things of this life 
 why should it be in the things of the life to come ? 
 Jude warns us not to fall into the error of Balaam. We 
 must perform what has to be done to get the things 
 craved. Do not forget what came of Balaam at last. 
 The wish led to no good result. He rebelled more and 
 more. Men cannot change the order of God's laws. 
 Who hath rebelled against them and prospered ? 
 
 It is a good then, to die the death of the righteous, 
 to rest like him in dignity and beauty. It is joy with 
 peace, a trust in God that rests on strong foundations, 
 a heart confiding in a covenant promise which it knows 
 to be certain and sure, perfect submission to the will of 
 Him who is love, resignation of self, and all in those 
 hands which come forth through the gathering darkness 
 
210 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 — an end like this here and we shall find beyond it a home 
 and a portion for ever. 
 
 THE PLACE OF SACKED DEPOSIT. 
 
 KEV. CANOK H. MELVILL. 
 Behold the place where they laid Him. Mark xvi : 6. 
 r T^HESE words were addressed to the Marys, who 
 visited the sepulcher on the Kesurrection morning. 
 Their devotedness put to shame the stronger sex. Their 
 love had its reward. Angels announced first to them 
 the best tidings ever proclaimed to mortal ears. The 
 resurrection of Jesus and the empty sepulcher. 
 
 I. The information given to the women. "Be not af- 
 frighted, &c." 
 
 1. The address is an acknowledgment of their 
 devotedness. "Jesus of Nazareth," that was the name 
 of contempt. They were seeking Him. They loved 
 Him while living, and they love Him when dead, though 
 He had been crucified between two thieves. We must 
 not turn away from Christ in his humility. The cross 
 is the source of all hope and must be clung to with 
 adoring piety — for there only can we be comforted with 
 the words, "Be not affrighted." 
 
 2. The address gives information as to the disap- 
 pearance of OhristVbody. The angels would have them 
 see the empty sepulcher, as if that sight were enough to 
 convince of the certainty of Christ's resurrection. So 
 it was. His disciples were too timid to attempt the re- 
 moval, and his enemies were determined to hold the 
 dead body in their grasp. The sight of the empty place 
 should therefore be sufficient evidence of Christ's resur- 
 rection. 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 211 
 
 Let us also "behold the place," gaze on the con- 
 secrated spot and gather in the wonders with which it 
 is haunted. It is the scene of the mightiest prodigy 
 ever known on earth. There the dead stirred itself, the 
 inanimate Being sprung by his own volition into life. 
 Behold, and acknowledge the Divinity of Christ. " Be- 
 hold the place;" in being emptied, earth and sea may be 
 said to have given up their dead — Christ was the 
 representative of the countless myriads of human 
 kind. Behold the change effected by the Eedeemer for 
 his followers — the grave, instead of being the home of 
 all that is hideous and revolting, has an angel for its 
 tenant, rich odors for its perfume. The grave has be- 
 come a bed and death a sleep to those who put faith in 
 His name. Behold it in your tears and sorrow, not as 
 those who have no hope — in your hopes, that you may 
 look for glorious things from your Forerunner. Behold 
 it, ye who care little for the soul and eternity, and 
 think if Christ can be neglected with impunity — flee to 
 Him as a Saviour before He appears as an Avenger. 
 Patiently inspect the empty sepulcher and learn all its 
 lessons. 
 
 IT. The commission with which they were charged. 
 These women were abundantly rewarded for their devo- 
 tion and love. They became apostles to the apostles 
 themselves. Preached first the resurrection to those who 
 were to preach it to the ends of the earth. Christ first 
 showed his love to those who forsook Him and fled, and 
 to Peter especially. These two words, " and Peter," are 
 a Gospel in themselves. 
 
 III. The promise. "-He goeth before you into 
 Galilee, there shall ye see Him, &c." Galilee was the 
 place where he was seen by 500 brethren at once. 
 Galilee was the place where he was likely to be generally 
 known, where He had been brought up, wrought his first 
 
212 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 miracle, labored most abundantly. " Galilee of the 
 Gentiles/' on the borders of Judea, adjoining heathen 
 territories. His meeting the disciples there might be in- 
 tended to mark that all men — Gentile as well as Jew — 
 had interest in the fact of the resurrection, or that the 
 blessings of the new dispensation were not to be restrict- 
 ed as were those of the old. 
 
 There is always some place of which it may be said 
 to his disciples, "There shall ye see Him," "He goeth 
 before you." 
 
 As the Forerunner of His people He has gone within 
 the veil, to prepare a place for them, where they shall see 
 Him face to face and know as they are known. It is to 
 those who love Christ, though yet invisible, that He shall 
 hereafter show Himself in his benignity and majesty. 
 They shall lie down to rest in a grave, hallowed by hav- 
 ing once held the body of Christ, they shall wake up 
 " to be like Him, for they shall see Him as He is." 
 
 CHRIST'S DESIRE TO HAVE HIS PEOPLE 
 WITH HIM. 
 
 J. M'ELEOY, d.d. 
 
 Father, 1 will that thou also whim thou hast given me, he with me, 
 
 &c. — John xvii: 24. 
 
 HPHESE words form part of a prayer the most wonder- 
 ful that ever ascended from this world to the 
 throne of God. 
 
 No subject pressed so heavily upon the heart of the 
 Saviour as the safety, stability, and comfort of his dis- 
 ciples. His anxiety for them seems to have increased as 
 he approached the termination of His suffering career. 
 In order to manifest the extent and perpetuity of His 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 213 
 
 love for them, He prays that they may be with Him 
 where He is, &c. Let us consider : 
 
 I. What the glory of Christ is. It includes : 1. The 
 glory of his person. The true glory of his person was 
 in a great measure veiled during his abode on earth. 
 There were indeed many traces of perfection in Him far 
 surpassing those which belong to mere human nature, 
 but it was reserved for the heavenly world to disclose 
 the glorious excellencies of His character. There, He is 
 revealed as ' ( over all, God blessed for ever." 2. The 
 glory of his exaltation. This consists in the dignity to 
 which He is raised, and the adoration which He receives 
 in the heavenly world. The former is referred to in that 
 passage in Ephesians beginning thus, " God hath set 
 Him at his own right hand, &c," and the latter in that 
 verse in Eevelation, beginning with, " I beheld and heard 
 the voice of many angels around the throne, &c." 3. His 
 glory is the communicative source of all the blessedness 
 which the heavenly inhabitants enjoy. What mind can 
 conceive, far less adequately describe, the joy of a soul 
 as it spends an eternity amid blessedness and glory like 
 this ? 4. The glory which redounds to Him from the 
 government of the universe. " All things are put under 
 His feet." " Lord of all." What must be their rapture 
 as they behold His glory. 
 
 II. The purport of his prayer in relation to it. It 
 intimates : 1. That Christ, having performed His cove- 
 nant engagements for his people, now claims heaven for 
 them. Heaven was due to the Saviour in virtue of 
 his obedience and sacrifice, and in this prayer He 
 unites his people's claim with his own, and requests 
 that they be with him. 2. His strong and unchangeable 
 love for his people. He was neither ashamed nor tired 
 of his connection with them. His heart was wrapt up 
 in the safety and glory of his people. He could no longer 
 
214 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 be with tliem, and He wanted them to be with Him. 
 His love was stronger than death, and will be lasting as 
 eternity. 3. To be with Christ in His glory is the con- 
 summation of salvation to his people. There are other 
 sources of delight to them, but this crowns all— death is 
 but an answer to the prayer of the text. 
 
 III. For whom was this prayer offered. They are 
 described as those whom the Father had given Him, 
 whom the Father had selected in eternity from the rest 
 of mankind, and given to Christ to redeem, and to bring- 
 to glory as the reward of His humiliation and sufferings. 
 All of these, no matter when or where they have lived, 
 or may yet live, as they are the reward of his sufferings, 
 the purchase of his blood, "the travail of his soul," 
 shall assuredly one day be collected around his throne, 
 and behold his glory or be made partakers of it. In 
 conclusion : 
 
 1. What an important and blessed event to the people 
 of God is death when contemplated in the light of this 
 subject. A departure from this wor]d of sin and sorrow, 
 of suffering and dying, to behold for ever the glory of 
 the Saviour in the light and blessedness of heaven — to 
 dwell for ever near the Saviour's glorified person — to 
 enjoy for ever the beatific vision of G-od, to become the 
 associate of angels, and one of the innumerable multi- 
 tude of "the spirits of just men made perfect." 
 
 2. What solid ground for resignation and comfort on 
 the death of pious relatives and friends does this subject 
 present. Nature will feel and Christianity does not for- 
 bid sorrow, but when we think on where and how our 
 loved ones now are, we cannot but bow in peaceful sub- 
 mission to the dispensation that has taken them away* 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 215 
 
 A PRECIOUS DEATH. 
 
 J. M. HOWARD, D.D. 
 
 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 
 Ps. cxvi : 15. 
 
 nnHE same event is differently regarded by different 
 people. The view we take of an occurrence de- 
 pends on our position, on the relations we sustain, on 
 our strength or weakness, and above all, on our know- 
 ledge or lack of knowledge. The child cannot grasp the 
 thoughts of his parents ; the private soldier cannot in- 
 terpret the incidents of a battle as the commander can. 
 In like manner " God's thoughts are not our thoughts, 
 nor his ways our ways." And in no matter is God's 
 view more different from ours, than in the matter of 
 death. Often when we feel that the bereavement is 
 overwhelming, the divine voice is, "It is expedient for 
 you." 
 
 The death of a saint, which often wears the aspect 
 of so terrible a calamity to us, is always precious in the 
 sight of the Lord. And, though we cannot enter into 
 God's thoughts, we can conceive of some reasons why 
 this is true : — 
 
 I. Death, is the final transformation ; it is the last 
 touch of the chisel of the Divine Sculptor. The dis- 
 cipline of burden bearing, of pain, of disappointment 
 and loss, are all the touches of the divine hand shaping 
 the trusting soul for its spiritual destiny. Death is the 
 final touch, weaning us from earth, opening our eyes to 
 heaven. It is precious, then, as the final transformer. 
 
 II. The death of a saint is precious as the climax of 
 usefulness. A good man's words and deeds never have 
 such power as when his features are composed and his 
 
216 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 hands folded in the sleep of death. What an added im- 
 portance do we attach to the acts and utterances of 
 President Garfield, since his name is enrolled in the list of 
 departed patriots. The dying testimony of the martyr 
 Stephen subdued and won Saul of Tarsus, whom no 
 argument could have won. So every triumphant death 
 crowning a faithful life is precious in the sight of God 
 because it gives irrestible emphasis to the good done or 
 or spoken. The departed's earnest utterances, and 
 faithful labors, never had such power to convince and 
 move us as they have to day, when we remember that he 
 was faithful unto death, when his words and example 
 speak to us from another world. 
 
 III. Death is precious in the sight of the Lord be- 
 cause it is the door of the saint's entrance into the 
 heavenly state. God sympathizes with us, "like as a 
 father pitieth his children," at every step in our career. 
 Death is the last earthly step, and it is precious because 
 it marks the end of toil, and temptation, and danger, 
 and the beginning of rest, and peace, and safety. If a 
 mother has a boy at sea, the safe arrival of the ship that 
 bears him is a precious event. And death is the hour of 
 safety after the stormy voyage of life. By it we are 
 introduced into the untried realm of blessedness, whose 
 joys are too great to enter into the imagination of man. 
 Christ desires to have us with him. We are needed, 
 and loved, and waited for in heaven. And that event 
 which is to mark our entrance into this blessed circle of 
 the redeemed, is precious in the sight of the Redeemer. 
 These thoughts should be a check on our evil forebodings, 
 on our unbelieving fretfulness. If death is precious in 
 our Father's sight He will so dispose and overrule this 
 dreaded occurrence that it will be for good. And if this 
 " King of Terrors " is precious and for good, all the 
 lesser train of evils may be met with confidence and joy, 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 217 
 
 and oar murmurings should be checked. God knoweth 
 best and doeth all things well. What is dark to us is 
 light to Him. Our faith should enter into God's view 
 of life and death as far as human minds can grasp the 
 thought of God ; and where we cannot understand, we 
 should trust the loving Father, with the joyful certainty 
 that "all things work together for good to them that 
 love God." 
 
 CHKISTIAN CONSOLATIONS. 
 
 REV. DANIEL MOORE. 
 Wherefore comfort one another with tliese words. — 1 Thess. iv : 18. 
 
 HPHESE are the concluding words of a paragraph 
 remarkable for its judicious counsels in sorrow and 
 pointing out the consolations which the Gospel of Christ 
 affords under bereavement. 
 
 I. The removal of the good is a divinely appointed 
 event. This world is Christ's world. " The Lord 
 reigneth," amidst clouds and darkness — desolation and 
 death, amidst complications of mischief and evil, amidst 
 solemn and mysterious orderings of His providence. 
 The dominion of Christ is over all — over death, and its 
 ten thousand gates. "I am He that liveth, &c." The 
 outward circumstances referred to in our text suppose 
 the removal of those whom earth could least afford to 
 part with. But thus, — in every age. Abel, Enoch, 
 Josiah, Stephen appeared to us to have been removed 
 in the wrong time. It may be a father, husband, patriot, 
 minister. We are stunned and silent under the stroke. 
 We have no reason to give for these providences. " Be 
 still and know that I am God." It may be that the 
 prayers offered at such a time because of the afflictions 
 10 
 
218 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 will bring upon us greater blessings that the living could 
 have been the means of bringing by a protracted life. 
 
 II. The death of the righteous is in itself a blessed 
 thing. It is compared to the taking of rest in sleep. 
 
 1. It is the sleep of the faithful in Christ Jesus. 
 They " sleep in Jesus." "In Christ," is frequently 
 employed to denote a spiritual union to Him, our accept- 
 ance of God's prepared method of reconciliation to Him- 
 self by a mediator and our actual dependence in Christ 
 in the exercise of a living faith, the result of a divine 
 influence on the heart, for pardon, justification and 
 eternal life. Death cannot suspend this relation. It 
 only gives it its grand realization. Death interrupts 
 nothing which we inherit by faith. 
 
 2. It is the sleep of assured and conscious existence in 
 the immediate presence of Christ. 
 
 Death is not an eternal sleep. Nor does the soul 
 sleep from the period of death, till the time of the resurrec- 
 tion. Paul said, after death he would be " with Christ." 
 And when Stephen exclaimed, "Lord Jesus, receive my 
 spirit," he plainly anticipated immediate happiness in 
 the presence of Christ. And the thief fell asleep on 
 the cross to open his eyes that day in paradise. 
 
 3. It is the sleep of repose from the toils of life, ac- 
 companied with the sweet assurance of the benefits that 
 shall follow. 
 
 " Blessed are the dead," &c. Labor is an ordained 
 penalty of our fallen condition. Not the labor of the 
 husbandman only, but in all the anxieties, strivings and 
 weariness connected with every calling. The labors 
 also of the Christian life — of keeping the heart right with 
 God, of striving against the evil of our corrupt nature, 
 of training the affections to be surely fixed where alone 
 true joys can be found. There will be no sloth to 
 arouse, nor reluctance to subdue, no faintness to fear, 
 
Middle age. 219 
 
 no declining feet to turn back. The soldier lias hung 
 up his arms. The pilgrim has laid aside his staff. 
 
 III. "Their works follow them." They are not unpro- 
 ductive or without their harvest. How much good they 
 are permitted to do they never know. In the very 
 humblest spheres of life there are eyes upon them — 
 silent observers taking from them their standard of right 
 and wrong and borrowing from them unconsciously the 
 entire complexion of their moral character. Who can 
 tell what good results from one godly life ? 
 
 IV. The certainty of the Resurrection to those who 
 sleep in Jesus. God will bring them with Him in the 
 day of Christ's appearing. Wherefore does the apostle 
 introduce the magnificent recital of the context ? Man- 
 ifestly as part of those heavenly consolations which the 
 Gospel has provided for bereaved hearts. You may sor- 
 row, but not as those who have no hope; for those asleep 
 in Jesus are in blessed keeping still. The grave has but 
 a sacred loan of their bodies. Truth or poetry can sug- 
 gest no more consoling thought than that offered by our 
 Lord to Martha : " Thy brother shall raise again." 
 
 Lastly — " So shall they ever he with the Lord." 
 Such is the apostle's last consolation. He fastens the 
 thoughts of the sorrowing friends on that which shall 
 constitute the life and bliss of heaven, viz., the visible 
 presence and companionship of the enthroned Eedeemer. 
 This will be enough to satisfy the aspirations of an im- 
 mortal mind. Christ is there the object of continual 
 contemplation, filling the hearts of all who worship at 
 his footstool with wonder, love and praise. " Wherefore 
 comfort, &c." 
 
220 MEMORIAL TPJBUTfiS. 
 
 JACOB'S DYING WOKDS. 
 
 ANDREW E. BONAR, D.D. 
 
 I have waited for thy salvation, Lord. — Gen. xlix : 18. 
 HPHIS is one of the sentences in God's word, well 
 
 adapted to arrest the unconcerned and careless. He 
 who uttered them had many trials, and had always been 
 upheld by an Almighty hand. Now the evening had 
 come when he must leave the world, and after he has 
 described the terror of this future experience to his 
 children, he makes the announcement of our text, which 
 may be considered as Jacob's dying testimony in favor 
 of religion, and as expressive of the triumph of his faith 
 amidst the infirmities that cleaved to him. 
 
 I. The believer can use the language of the text, be- 
 cause, lie will be put in possession, at death, of a glorious 
 inheritance, — a future good not yet attained. The term 
 salvation here, denotes that emancipation or freedom 
 from "the body of this death," after which the Christian 
 has learned to aspire. Long had Jacob reposed by faith 
 on one who should " redeem Israel from iniquity," a 
 result of which was that Jacob had been taught and 
 enabled to live as a " stranger and pilgrim on the earth," 
 and look forward to a place of perfect purity and rest. 
 Jacob could look forward to such a state with expecta- 
 tion and desire where he could rest like a wearied child 
 
 , sinking to slumber. He was now almost on the thresh- 
 old of the Father's house, and had a desire to depart. 
 
 II. The words imply Jacob's willingness to leave his 
 choicest earthly comforts. He was dying in the midst of 
 those to whom his soul was firmly attached. His sons 
 were near to hear his parting words and receive his clos- 
 ing admonitions. His wants were ministered toby care- 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 221 
 
 ful loving hands. His wishes were gratified. He had 
 learned to look beyond the dim and bounded present to 
 the regions of eternal day. His latter days had been 
 spent in a pleasant fruitful spot, but he remembered 
 that this was not his rest. He looked for a better 
 heritage where there was no vicissitude, no idolatry, and 
 where he would be provided for by G-od himself. 
 
 III. These words were spoken in the assured belief 
 that the trials and sorrow of life would soon be past. 
 
 The lot of man is one of toil and sorrow. But 
 there is nothiDg in affliction by itself, if unaccompanied 
 by piety, to make it a minister of G-od. It was otherwise 
 with Jacob. Trials had softened a heart naturally less 
 impressible. Over the divisions of his family and the 
 declining flame of piety Jacob had mourned — and now 
 that his warfare is accomplished and his work done, the 
 veteran saint who has deplored the' evils he has been 
 called to endure with true hopefulness of spirit says, " I 
 have waited for thy salvation, Lord." Jacob was will- 
 ing to exchange earth for heaven. In many of its aspects 
 this world may seem fascinating. It is, however, but the 
 ante-chamber or outer court of Jehovah's palace, where 
 the assaults of the evil one shall have ended, the immortal 
 spirit have burst the fetters that now restrain it, shall 
 mount on eagle's wings, rejoice in perpetual youth and 
 where the fullness of eternal day shall be obtained. 
 
 IV. The Christian may feel the force of Jacob's words 
 inasmuch as he expects to be favored with the nearer 
 vision of, and to hold congenial intercourse with the 
 Saviour. 
 
 To look, were that possible, upon one who had given 
 up his life for us, to be in the society of one venerable 
 because of his goodness, and illustrious because of his 
 wisdom, might be expected powerfully to effect and ele- 
 vate the soul, and be regarded as a lofty privilege. In 
 
222 MEM OBI AL TRIBUTES. 
 
 heaven Jesus will be no stranger to his people. He will 
 feed His people and lead them to living fountains of 
 water. They shall see the King in His beauty when 
 they awake — they shall be satisfied with His likeness. 
 They will be in His banqueting house, and His banner 
 over them will be love. 
 
 The subject teaches us the importance of true reli- 
 gion and the blessedness of a good hope through grace, 
 such as proceeds from cordial acceptance of the proposals 
 of the Gospel, and springs from seeking the friendship 
 of Him who has invited the children of men to seek the 
 shelter of His loving hand. Many reasons should make 
 us think much about, and seek diligently after this sal- 
 vation. 
 
 Friendly figures and hands seem to beckon us across 
 the Jordan to Canaan, and heaven and earth shall sooner 
 pass away than one of the Saviour's promises shall fail. 
 
 THE FINAL BATTLE. 
 
 TV. K. WILLIAMS, D.D. 
 
 There is no discharge in that war. — Ec. viii : 8. 
 
 HPHERE is a great fortress and line of siege com- 
 -■- manding every homestead and every individual. 
 The pointed musketry in this line each one must face, 
 and to which all are walking in one inevitable proces- 
 sion. You fall here, I fall there. The rattling 
 hail of death is every instant falling. You too must 
 die. " It is appointed unto all men once to die." 
 
 I. This battle is an appointment. It is made by an 
 All-knowing One of whom there is no cheating— an 
 Omnipotent One, whom there is no shunning — an 
 Almighty one, whom there is no resisting. No craft, 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 223 
 
 force, tears, outcries, or affection can baffle the stroke. 
 No gold or empire can purchase exemption. To-day the 
 capitalist wields his large fortune, to-morrow the grim 
 destroyer hands it over to greedy heirs. To-day the 
 king rules his myriads of subjects, to-morrow, to-mor- 
 row death has tossed the sceptre in another's hand. 
 None pillages like death. His victories "carry nothing 
 away." None haunts like death. He never loses his 
 scent or misses his game. None aims like death with a 
 shaft that always strikes. There is no flying, no bribing, 
 no pledging, no reasoning, no treating with the enemy. 
 "There is no discharge, &c." 
 
 II. The results of this battle are final. If death 
 takes away the soul without Christ it is lost. But will 
 God permit this ? Why not, if God has explicitly 
 warned that "the wicked is driven away in his wicked- 
 ness ?" Why not, if "wickedness cannot deliver those 
 who given to it ?" Why not, if unpreparedness is the 
 individual's own fault ? Why should not the results be 
 final, if you have been familiar with the Gospel — lived 
 in a land of Bibles and Sabbaths — had warnings of 
 Providence and strivings of the Spirit ? What show of 
 reason is there in your pleading a discharge from the 
 war, when every cemetery, tolling bell, passing hearse, 
 ache and ailment warned you that this battle was ap- 
 proaching and would be fatal ? Life was given you to 
 know God. He has revealed Himself that you might 
 know Him. Why have you forborne to know the 
 Saviour, to acknowledge his claim, to wear his blessed 
 livery, and to give the heart he asked ? Why cling to 
 sins and idols, reject the love, peace, and heaven, he 
 proffered freely, sincerely, often, now, but as yet, in 
 vain ? 
 
 It is a terrible lot, to go down from a land of light 
 and revivals, unprepared and unforgiven to eternal sor- 
 
224 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 row. But that fearful prospect will not induce the pale 
 King of Terrors to give a discharge. "If you are not 
 prepared/' he might exclaim, "after all this, when would 
 you be ? Come with me then as you are. Here is my 
 warrant both for body and soul." 
 
 III. This battle may end in victory. In the day of 
 opportunity and repentance there is proclaimed One 
 mightier than death or hell. He is the Prince of Life 
 and Lord of Glory. He came to destroy him that had 
 the power of death. He in bringing rescue tasted of 
 death, yea not only met the common lot, but bore on 
 himself the common and concentrated guilt of our race. 
 Doing this he tore the sting from death and to them 
 that believe, He is become the author of life, everlasting 
 life. 
 
 To them that receive Christ, the war though fierce 
 has lost its main terror and is stripped of its perils, 
 mortality loses its ghastliness and puts on hopefulness 
 and promise. The grave is like the wet, cold March 
 day, behind whose gloom lie the treasures of bursting 
 spring and the glories of refulgent summer. The light 
 afflictions are but for a moment, &c. Death to the saint 
 changes many of its offices. If pain walks at his side, 
 He is also the queller of strife and the calmer of care. 
 No more throbs or sighs, but rest. He is in one sense 
 the Destroyer, but in another the Kestorer. He brings 
 back, through Christ's victorious grave, the lost innocence 
 and peace of Eden. He divides the nearest ties, but also 
 re-unites to those who sleep in Jesus. He is the curse 
 of the law, but through the blessed one, who magnified 
 and satisfied the law, he becomes to the believer in Jesus, 
 the end of sin, the gate of Paradise, and the recompense 
 of a new, a better and an unending life. 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 225 
 
 DELIVERANCE FKOM THE FEAR OF DEATH. 
 
 KEY. DANIEL MOORE. 
 
 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime 
 subject to bondage. — Hkb. ii: 15. 
 
 /CHRISTIANITY teaches us how to withstand our 
 ^ spiritual adversaries in life and to triumph oyer 
 them in death. All its doctrines set forth the defeat of 
 the last enemy. All its moral discipline tends to pre- 
 pare us for its approach. All its promises have respect- 
 to the relief and deliverance of " them who through fear 
 of death/' etc. 
 
 I. The causes that make the prospect of death a source 
 of apprehension, 
 
 1. The instinctive dread we all have of the act of 
 dissolution itself. This feeling is universal — caused by 
 the natural recoil of flesh and blood from being resolved 
 into their primal elements, from the superstitions con- 
 nected with death — from the thoughts of the last fare- 
 well — of the sights that shall greet them and the hand 
 that shall lay hold of them first, after crossing the in- 
 visible borders. 
 
 2. The physical accompaniments of approaching 
 death. We are afraid of our supports failing us in that 
 moment of moments. Afraid of Satan making that his 
 chosen hour for attacking us. 
 
 3. We are afraid of the moral origin of death. Death 
 we know is a retribution or penal thing. Conscience is 
 affrighted at the penalties it feels to deserve. It is an 
 effect and punishment upon transgression. It is the im- 
 planted feeling of our nature, that death is the com- 
 missioned magistrate of heaven come to reckon with us 
 
 10* 
 
226 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 for our sins that makes his presence gloomy, his sting 
 formidable, and his night dark. 
 
 II. Considerations calculated to alleviate this great 
 fear of our nature. 
 
 1. The first alleviation is derived, according to the 
 apostle, from the incarnation and death of Christ. Heb. 
 2, 14, 16, 9. 
 
 The incarnation and death of Christ were, we see, in- 
 dispensable to Christ's mediation. Justice required that 
 the offending nature and the atoning nature " should be 
 all of one," if He would taste our cup, destroy our 
 foe, dissipate our fears and loose our bonds. He must 
 die — die as an atonement for sin which was death's sting, 
 and thus magnify the law which was his strength and 
 plea. Christ satisfied the law — obeyed its precepts, sat- 
 isfied its demand, and " now there is no condemnation," 
 etc. 
 
 2. Another alleviation is found in Christ's absolute 
 and boundless control over all the issues of life and death. 
 
 Christ orders the time of our departure ; disposes all 
 the circumstances of our death, and guides the spirit in 
 its flight. He holds the keys. The departure of our 
 immortal spirit from one world to another, is under his 
 own control. He determines the hour, opens the gate, 
 stands sentinel at the bridge, and says, as it were, 
 " Father, the hour is come." 
 
 3. Another alleviation is that Christ introduces us 
 into the immediate presence of Christ. He stands at the 
 opposite shore of the river of death to receive us, con- 
 ducts us through the realms of the unseen world and in- 
 troduces us to his Father's house. The dying spirit can- 
 not vanish into a world where Christ is not. It is with 
 Him. 
 
 III. To get the comfort of these considerations we 
 must exercise a lively faith in Christ. This is the life of 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 227 
 
 religion — we must interpose its ample shield before all 
 the assaults of the enemy. Faith should especially fix on 
 that spiritual alliance which exists between Christ and 
 his people. They are one. Xo condemnation in Him. 
 Fall asleep in Him. 
 
 2. We must diligently cultivate all those tempers and 
 dispositions that belong to a godly life. The fear of 
 death was meant to be a salutary fear. It was meant as 
 a motive to live godly — for only in that way can we ex- 
 pect to have death's fear taken away. 
 
 3. We must guard against spiritual declension and 
 decay. Eelapses into sin, grievingsof the spirit, coldness 
 of love, etc., these serve to intensify the natural fear of 
 death and hold us in bondage. 
 
 4. We must be much in preparation for our great 
 change. Live in habitual view and contemplation of an 
 unseen existence. We should get familiar with argu- 
 ments to be used on a sudden emergency. Paul's dying 
 fortitude rested on the strength of past successes. Satan 
 dreads trophies more than weapons. 
 
 5. Keep in full view the fulfillment of those immor- 
 tal hopes which lie beyond the grave. " Go thy way till 
 the end be, etc.," and they are permitted to hear " a 
 loud voice saying in heaven," etc. Eev. 12, 10. 
 
 THE BELIEVER'S FAREWELL WORDS. 
 
 JOHN HALL, D.D. NEW YORK. 
 
 1 die : and God will surely visit you. — Gen. 50: 24 
 
 TOSEPH closed his nearly blameless life with this 
 
 ** communication to the band of brothers. Joseph 
 
 shared the hope of his fathers ; counted confidently 
 
 upon Canaan being given to the race, and exacted a 
 
228 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 pledge from his brethren that his bones should accompany 
 those who went to take possession. 
 
 The last words of eminent men have a universal 
 interest, and pass from lip to lip among Christians. 
 Such words have a peculiar charm, and have a special 
 significance. Earth is less potent, many impressions are 
 rectified. The common interests of life seem trifling. 
 The most momentous interests of their cases are brought 
 out, and dying, say with Joseph, " 1" die, &c." Notice: 
 
 I. The two-fold effect of death. 
 
 1. It separates believers from their friends. The 
 body remains with them. But they go away, It is but 
 the envelo23e torn open, the letter is elsewhere. The body 
 did not constitute the person. Between us and the real 
 life a great gulf is fixed, impassable to us while we are in 
 the body. We cannot reach them with our endearments 
 or services, nor can we receive from them any more. 
 
 2. Death reunites believers to those who have gone be- 
 fore them. They have compensation for the painof parting. 
 This is soon swallowed up in the joy of re-union. The 
 mother will meet her babes. Joseph never more be 
 parted from his father, &c. This is not unworthy of 
 our notice. The grave has to many an aspect of awful 
 solitude. But our friends are not there, but gone to 
 join "the spirits of the just made, &c." They are parted 
 from us, but how dear, noble and numerous is the com- 
 pany into which they have entered ! 
 
 II. The two-fold assurance of a dying believer. 
 
 1. "I die," said Joseph. That is felt to be sure to every 
 believer. The word had all along reminded him of this, 
 life-long observation confirmed the intimation, every power 
 of body emphasized the notice. The sense of decaying 
 power, perchance the agony endured, the sensible decline 
 of all the powers, assure the believer that the end is 
 near. 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 220 
 
 2. The assurance respecting the believers who remain 
 behind. "The Lord will visit you." In Joseph's case 
 there was an explicit promise from the Lord. But is there 
 not a promise in the Bible somewhere, for all believers, 
 in all conditions ? "I die, but God will surely visit," 
 a departing husband may say to his wife, for "I 
 die, &c.;" a father may say to his children for, &c. ; 
 a minister may say to his congregation, for, &c, 
 "I am with you always," &c. And so in all the 
 varying conditions of saints. God is in them all a 
 " very present help." Faith enables one to give this 
 assurance. What is faith ? Joseph's case may instruct 
 us. He merely believed what God said — a definite word 
 of the Lord. Joseph had his eye on the promise of the 
 Lord. Believers have their promised land, the land of re- 
 union, of peace, the happy land, the land of uprightness. 
 
 III. Departing believers have a double claim on sur- 
 viving friends. 
 
 1. Tliey are entitled to continued affection. They do 
 not cease to be ours. They are now more worthy of love 
 than ever they were before. Their bodies will ' ' make a 
 group of bonnie dust," as Halyburton puts it — when 
 showing how Christ keeps even the bodies of his people. 
 
 2. They have a right to grateful remembrance. The 
 dear memorial, the unostentatious monument, the be- 
 fitting memoir in notable cases — are as they ought to be. 
 " The righteous shall be held in everlasting remem- 
 brance." 
 
 3. We owe them imitation. It is the sweetest tribute. 
 It is the most fitting homage we can bring them. We 
 should put on their armor and take their places among 
 the Lord's sacramental host. 
 
 4. Joseph exacted a pledge from his brethren, viz., 
 that they should bear away his bones to the sacred soil ! 
 It was to show his faith, and keep alive the hope 
 
230 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 among the Hebrew seed. And there are promises that 
 the dying may claim from us. Are there not some 
 among us who have pledged. Have you redeemed it ? 
 Are your eyes and steps heavenward ? 
 Only two things remain to be said. 
 
 1. All shall die. Your friends — beloved ones — your 
 idols shall die. To whom will you then look ? You 
 shall die. Have you comfort in Christ ? Can you give 
 comfort to others ? 
 
 2. Believer, there is "one" never dies. He liveth for 
 ever more, hath the keys, &c. He is a stay and support 
 to his people, &c. He is at the right of the throne, 
 "standing ;" because active in their behalf, &c. Waits 
 to receive and welcome them, and in Him and with Him 
 they live for evermore. 
 
 THE DEATHDAY BETTER THAN THE 
 BIRTHDAY. 
 
 KEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 A good name is better than precious ointment, and tlie day of death 
 than the day of one's birth. Eccles. vii: 1. 
 
 HPHE latter portion of this verse is true only of those 
 who have a good name — a name written on the 
 LamVs Book of Life — written on the very heart of Jesus 
 as the names of the tribes of Israel of old were inscribed 
 on the High Priest's breast-plate, written on the palms 
 of Jesus' hands ; those have a good character and are 
 known by the sweet savor of their lives. Of these our 
 text is true, for : 
 
 I. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning 
 thereof. " Welcome, little stranger," is the greeting at 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 231 
 
 birth — welcome to what ? It may be to poverty and an 
 unholy home, to a troop of infantile diseases, to pains 
 from within, and probably to neglect from without. 
 
 The believer's deathday — the time of triumph and 
 victory, is better than this. Birth is the beginning of a 
 journey ; death is the ending of the weary march to our 
 Father's house above. Again, about the birthday hangs 
 an uncertainty. Children are blessings, but we cannot 
 tell what will become of them when they grow up and 
 come under the influence of evil — they may be useful 
 and honorable, or dissolute and degraded. But every- 
 thing is certain about the saint's deathday. When a 
 child is born we know he is born to sorrow, but when a 
 saint dies, we know he is done with sorrow and pain. 
 Write, therefore, the death-date above the life-date on the 
 headstone. 
 
 II. The believer's deathday is better than all his 
 happy days. What are his happy days ? The day of his 
 coming of age — he is a man, and an estate may be com- 
 ing to him. This is a day of great festivity — all around 
 may be called to rejoice with him. But on the death- 
 day of a believer, he comes of age and enters upon his 
 heavenly estate. What a jubilee that will be. The day 
 of his marriage. Who does not rejoice, what cold heart 
 does not beat with joy on that day ? But on the death- 
 day we shall move fully into the joy of our Lord, into that 
 blessed marriage union which is established between Him 
 and us, into that guest chamber where the feast will be 
 spread, and we shall await the Marriage Supper of the 
 Lamb. Day of gain. When some sudden windfall en- 
 larges their capital, or multiplies the profit. But there 
 is no gain like that of departure to the Father from a 
 world of trouble to a land of triumph. A day of honor 
 — when promoted in office, or receiving the applause of 
 men. But what a day of honor to be carried by angels 
 
232 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 into Abraham's bosom — heirs of God, joint heirs with 
 Christ. Days of health are happy days. But what health 
 can equal the perfect wholeness of a spirit upon whom 
 the Physician has displayed his utmost skill — clean, re- 
 covered, and where the inhabitant shall no more say, " I 
 am sick." Happy days of social friendship, when hearts 
 warm with hallowed intercourse with a friend, or in the 
 midst of one's family. But no day of social enjoyment 
 can match the day of death. What troops of blessed 
 ones shall meet us ! What priceless friends over yonder ! 
 What family greetings there will be ! Oh, the bliss of 
 meeting with the Lord ! Those who are truly related 
 to us in the bonds of everlasting life shall be there. 
 Natural kinship has ended, spiritual relationship lasts 
 and survives. 
 
 III. Better than his holy days. The day of conver- 
 sion. Never to be forgotten when the heart began to 
 beat with spiritual life, and the hand grasped the Lord, 
 and the eyes saw his beauty. But what will it be to see 
 him face to face ? The Sabbath day. Precious and dear 
 are the Lord's days — sweet rests of love — blessed days. 
 But death gives us an eternal Sabbath, " where congre- 
 gation, &c." Communion days. How sweet to sit at 
 the Lord's table with his memorial in hand, and to think 
 of what He has done, is doing, and has promised. What 
 is that to communing with Him in Paradise. Bless the 
 Lord for every one of the happy days — but heaven's days 
 will be better. There we shall know each other better — 
 more delight, in magnifying the name of Jesus. Our 
 company shall be better — perfect company, and we shall 
 then be at home. 
 
 TV. Better than the whole of his days put together. 
 All his days here are dying days. Death is the end of 
 dying. Life is conflict — death is victory. Life is full of 
 sorrow, death ends that. Life is longing, death possessing. 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 233 
 
 It will be the day of our cure. We shall carry diseases till 
 the last Physician comes, but his touch cures all. Death 
 will be the cure of old age. Then renew youth like the 
 eagles. Death will be the loss of all losses. Death, the 
 last enemy, is the death of every enemy. It is the begin- 
 ning of our lest days. The dawning of heaven's days is 
 often delightful to the dying. Words of wondrous im- 
 port are often spoken by dying ones — it was the bliss of 
 dying. Beginning the day on earth, closing it with loved 
 ones, angels, and G-od in heaven. Oh ! the eventide of 
 that day ! and that day without end ! 
 
 Only mind you do not miss the way to get there. 
 Turn to the right, by the Cross, and keep straight on. 
 
 A EOYAL ALARMIST. 
 
 EEV. B. W. WILLIAMS. 
 The King of Terrors. — Job xviii : 14. 
 ^HIS is Bildad's description of death. This assertion 
 of the Shuhite is : 
 I. A fact. Death is a king. Death simply in itself 
 is no more than a cessation of life or a termination of 
 being in a certain mode of existence. But it has been 
 the universal custom of mankind to personify it ; and 
 the sacred writers, accommodating themselves to the lan- 
 guage and apprehension of mortals, represent principles 
 and feelings under sensible forms and as real characters. 
 Thus in apostolic phrase "Death reigns." And while 
 he reigns as a king, he enslaves as a tyrant. Where on 
 earth shall we find an empire so ancient, with subjects 
 so numerous, a vassalage so abject, and a territory so 
 large ? Why all this ? Though by the original sin- of 
 our first parents, death gained a being and usurped a 
 
234 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 throne, yet he became formidable or terrible only through 
 personal transgressions. All the paraphernalia of pun- 
 ishment are only terrible to delinquents. A serpent is 
 always an unsightly object, but it is the poison of its 
 sting that renders it alarming. The sting of death is 
 sin — sin, actual, personal, felt : and "all have sinned," 
 hence the universal application of the text. But the 
 terrors of the rod of this sceptered king, are but a 
 small part of "the terrors of the Almighty," who per- 
 mits him to act as the officer of His justice. 
 
 II. The qualification of this fact. 
 
 He need not be a "king of terrors." 
 
 1. There are those to whom death has, or ought to 
 have NO real terror. There is a great difference often 
 between the privilege and attainment of the Christian, 
 between what he might be and what he really is. To 
 believers in Jesus, death should have no terror, and 
 yet through fear of death they are all their lifetime sub- 
 ject to bondage. Those who have fled to Him, need 
 not trouble. Their souls cannot die when they have 
 committed them to Him, of whom it is said that, " He 
 ever liveth." Nor should they fear as to their bodies, 
 since these are united to Christ, even in the grave. Why 
 then should not the children of Zion be joyful in their 
 King? 
 
 2. There are those whom terrors should exceedingly 
 affright, though perhaps they do not heed them now. 
 
 There have been some who have jested in the 
 presence of this king of terrors, but this does not prove 
 that terror does not accompany and succeed this king to 
 such. Nor can we marvel at any feelings and forebodings 
 among those who sec death coming with " terrors as an 
 armed man," and have no weapon of resistance, nor 
 shelter for retreat, no shields against his fury, no refuge 
 from his frown. 
 
Middle age. 235 
 
 III. The illustration of this fact. 
 
 There are several things which justify the epithet of 
 the "king of terrors." 
 
 1. Those of anticipation. Obscurity and darkness, 
 uncertainty and error, speculation and surmise are 
 frequent sources of disturbance and distraction. Men's 
 hearts fail them for fear in looking for those things that 
 are coming upon them. They cannot know what death 
 is except by experience, and what it is in anticipation 
 and imagination gives much of terror to death. 
 
 2. Those of his approach. We cannot say to him 
 " Oomest thou peaceably ?" Death in itself comes only 
 as a waster, an enemy, a murderer ; one whose har- 
 bingers are to seize, whom himself will next destroy. 
 His terrors are increased when " We feel the sentence in 
 ourselves," when we feel the time has come for us to 
 know what he is — to be separated from all earthly things 
 and to find that all we have acquired of earth nought, to 
 have our very bodies become so loathsome that our dear- 
 est ones will say "let me bury my dead out of my sight." 
 
 3. His attendants too are terrible. Death is preceded 
 by a multitude of evils, — pains, sorrows, surprise — af- 
 flictions of various kinds, all revolting to our nature and 
 destructive to our hopes, and all rushing forth to ex- 
 ecute death's purpose. 
 
 4. Of death's actual result. The divorcement of soul 
 and body seems trying and severe. But of the struggle 
 itself we know but little, but the conflict often seems 
 fierce and sometimes long. 
 
 5. Its results and consequences. "After death the 
 judgment." It was not man's nature, but man's sin that 
 introduced death to him. "Death is the wages of sin." 
 Hence some of the chief priests of infidelity have, at the 
 approach of death, been, of all men, the most affected by 
 its " tenors." Nothing that they have can give the 
 
236 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 troubled conscience rest, resolve its gloomy doubts or 
 chase away its guilty fears. 
 
 We cannot express the danger of those who neglect 
 the great salvation, and we cannot exceed the description 
 which Scripture gives of the terror of death to such. 
 
 N 
 
 HUMANITY'S EMBLEM. 
 
 WILLIAM LAOTELS, D.D., EDINBURGH. 
 
 We all do fade as a leaf. — Isa. lxiv : 6. 
 
 ATURE is an emblem of life ; a pictorial illustration 
 of truth. Revelation has truths, nature does not 
 teach, but she does not disdain to notice those of nature, 
 points men to them and employs them for the purpose of 
 illustrating her own higher message. Thus the Bible 
 uses the seasons, as in our text. " We all do fade as a 
 leaf." 
 
 I. The text asserts the fact — we all must die. 
 It is the doom of man, like the leaf, to wither and 
 decay and mingle with the dust of earth. All the gen- 
 erations of men since Adam have died — only two were 
 translated to give an intimation of another life beyond 
 the grave. The grave has already received men of all 
 ranks, conditions and ages. The decree still remains. 
 The grave has not yet said, "It is enough." There is 
 room still for the living in that "narrow house" of the 
 dead. Room for each of us. Yet the great majority of 
 men practically forget it. This is sadder than the fact 
 that all must die. " Of men's miraculous mistakes this 
 bears the palm ; all men think all men mortal but them- 
 selves." Unlike the leaves, men drop away at all seasons, 
 one after another — this in part accounts for man's for- 
 getfulness of his mortality. It might be in some re- 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 237 
 
 spects different with him, if like the leaf, he witnessed 
 the inhabitants of a nation swept away in a few months. 
 But sin practices the deception, and tends to eradicate 
 impressions of the solemnity of death and the certainty 
 of dissolution as expressed in the text, "We all 
 fade, &c." 
 
 II. The truth of the text should influence the mind. 
 1. By leading to preparation for death. If the leaf 
 be an emblem of our brief life, if the sentence is irrevoc- 
 able and unavoidable, "Dust thou art, &c," if it is " ap- 
 pointed unto man, &c," we know it ; it is nothing less 
 than guilty infatuation, if we neglect to prepare for the 
 solemn event. Moreover, if the time of our duration is 
 still more uncertain than that of the leaf — if while the 
 leaves have their times to fall, "death has all seasons for 
 his own " — in doing the work which is necessary to our 
 dying peace not a moment should be lost. "Die the 
 death of the righteous." 
 
 2. The truth that " we all do fade as a leaf," should 
 lead us to moderate our ambition. 
 
 Men are generally anxious to acquire wealth, to attain 
 to eminence and to gain the esteem and applause of their 
 neighbors. And the feeling is not sinful except when 
 cherished in excess, so as to interfere with the influences 
 of higher motives and to prevent the pursuit of a higher 
 good. But the meanest work performed with a single 
 eye to G-od's glory, will be of far more value than all the 
 labors of a life, which has wealth or honor or rank for 
 its end. "What is Byron the better for having 
 
 " Drank every cup of joy, heard every trump 
 
 Of fame ; drank early, deeply drank, drank draughts 
 Which common millions have quenched, then died, 
 Of thirst, because there was no more to drink ?" 
 
238 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 3. This truth should lead us to set our affections on 
 heavenly things. 
 
 These things of earth must soon be left : friends, home, 
 property, then prepare for and welcome the intimation 
 that you can have an "inheritance incorruptible, &c." 
 Thank God there is a land where there is no seared leaf 
 or tottering frame, where age writes no wrinkles on the 
 brow, no grey hairs exist to tell that the summer of life 
 is past, where there are no violent separations, no death, 
 no sorrow, no pain. The bowers of paradise are always 
 green, its sky always bright, its season is always summer. 
 He who receives the crown of glory will never lay it 
 down, except in adoration at the feet of Him who sits 
 upon the throne. The employment of heaven will never 
 weary him ; its song will be always new. The triumphal 
 palm will never wither in his hand, the golden harp will 
 never be out of tune. Nothing will ever choke or nar- 
 row that fountain whence life leaps in fullness, or 
 stagnate that still expanse where the Good Shepherd 
 leads his flock at glory's noon. This inheritance may be 
 yours by faith in Christ and a life of holy obedience, and 
 there your " leaf shall not wither." 
 
 THE HAPPY MOUENEKS. 
 
 ALEXANDER DICKSON, D.D. 
 
 They departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, &c. 
 Matt, xxviii : 8. 
 
 THE grave is generally regarded as a gloomy place- 
 peculiarly consecrated to grief. We go there in 
 silence and slowly. The service at the grave is more 
 solemn than any other, and with sadness in our hearts 
 and on our countenances, we take the last long look at 
 
MIDDLE AGE, 239 
 
 the place where the loved one is laid, and turn away 
 weeping such tears as only the soul can shed. 
 
 The text tells us of one grave from which the 
 mourners went away with " great joy/'' It was the 
 Saviour's grave, and the happy mourners " Mary Hag- 
 delene and Mary the mother of James and Salome." 
 They had gone very early in the morning of the first 
 Christian Sabbath to the sepulcher to weep and with 
 spices to embalm the dead body of Jesus. But they 
 found the stone rolled away and angels there who as- 
 sured them that Jesus had risen, &c. The tomb was 
 empty, and that is the reason their sorrow was turned in- 
 to joy. Fear was mingled with their gladness as if they 
 almost doubted if the news was not too good to be true. 
 
 These happy mourners are not alone in their experi- 
 ence. Gather up those crumbs of comfort that the Gos- 
 pel scatters around the grave of those who sleep in Jesus 
 and they will fill your heart with joy. 
 
 I. The Saviour's empty sepulcher is an eloquent 
 preacher. Its language is " Thy dead men shall live, 
 &c." As the resurrection of Christ was predicted, it 
 should have been expected by his friends, but it does not 
 seem to have been in all their thoughts ; so that the 
 words of the women, announcing His resurrection seemed 
 to the apostle as " idle tales/' and Jesus was obliged to 
 appear to them again and again to establish his identity. 
 
 II. The resurrection of Christ is more than a pledge, 
 it is also a pattern of the resurrection of His people. 
 The same body that was born in Bethlehem and died on 
 Calvary, rose again. John xx : 27. So the same body 
 which we now have we shall have again in the resurrec- 
 tion, when Christ shall li change our vile body and make 
 it like," &c. 1 Thess. iv : 13, 14, 18. 
 
 III. Meanwhile the bodies of your beloved dead shall 
 rest in peace. The grave is not a gloomy prison house since 
 
240 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Jesus has lain there, but a quiet habitation, the only place 
 of perfect rest in this world. To the Saviour it was a 
 place of sweet repose, and so it is with the child of God. 
 When he conies to the grave his toils are all ended, tears 
 all shed and troubles all past. 
 
 IV. The spirits of our departed Christian friends are 
 given to God. Just as He was expiring on the cross Jesus 
 said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit, 
 &c.," and before his body was laid in Joseph's tomb His 
 soul was safe in His Father's house. The same is true of 
 every saint : before the body is buried the soul has reached 
 the realms of glory. Absent from the body it is present 
 with the Lord. The souls of believers at their death 
 pass immediately to glory. 
 
 V. We ought not to think so much of the grave in 
 which the body is laid, as of the glory into which the soul 
 has gone. 
 
 It is mainly because we are so slow of heart to believe 
 all that our Heavenly Father has told us concerning our 
 departed friends, that there is so little sweetness in our 
 cup of bereavement. We think only of our great loss, 
 of our desolate home, and the very crown of life is 
 eclipsed by the coffin and the glory excelling grows dim 
 in the shadow of death. We look too much into our own 
 broken hearts, when we ought to look up to heaven, at 
 the heart bounding there with joys that may not be ex- 
 pressed. If we would look at the heavenward side of the 
 sepulcher, when the dear dead dust is buried out of sight, 
 we would depart from "the sepulcher with fear and 
 great joy." 
 
 VI. When our friends are gone our communion is with 
 them still. All the while the Saviour's body was in the 
 grave, and His soul was in Heaven, He was doubtless 
 thinking about His dear disciples, and we know for cer- 
 tain that they were thinking about Him. He was in all 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 241 
 
 their thoughts and on all their tongues, for their com- 
 munications were concerning Jesus of Nazareth. And 
 some of them were preparing sweet spices for his embalm- 
 ment. And blessed be his glorious name, He was so 
 anxious to come and see them personally and comfort 
 them, that He shortened the three days of his appoint- 
 ed sojourn in the grave into six and thirty hours. And 
 we believe in the communion of saints in all its length, 
 breadth, height, and depth. " We are come unto Mount 
 Zion — and to the spirits of just men made perfect. " 
 
 VII. We shall join our blessed friends again in the 
 celestial country. When the Saviour was departing with 
 His disciples they were very sorrowful and He comforted 
 them with the sweet assurance that they should follow 
 Him in a little while, John xiii : 26, and with the sweet- 
 er assurance that He would come after them, John xiv : 
 2, 3. How many pleasant family gatherings there will 
 be some day in our Heavenly Father's house of " many 
 mansions," and when we arrive they shall come out to 
 meet us and greet us with kisses, and hail us to our eternal 
 home. " For so an entrance shall be ministered unto 
 you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus." If so, may we not depart from 
 the sepulcher of our blessed dead with great joy ? 
 
 CONSUMMATE HAPPINESS. 
 
 ANDREW E. BONAR, D.D. 
 " So shall we ever be with the Lord."—>l Thess. iv; 17. 
 r "PHE Scriptures not only give us certain information 
 regarding the principles by which the Divine gov- 
 ernment is regulated, the duties which man is called upon 
 to discharge, and the snares he must avoid, but they also 
 11 
 
242 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 open up a store of consolation, out of which Christians may 
 extract comfort in the midst of disquietude and sorrow. 
 The pencil of John sets before the believer glowing 
 pictures of the New Jerusalem, exhibitions of the glory 
 of the Son of Man, fascinating delineations of the "tree 
 whose fruits, &c," of the calm windings of the river of 
 life, &c, of the white-robed worshipers bending in 
 homage before Him whose love is enshrined in their 
 hearts. Our text brings before us : 
 
 I, The certainty and perpetuity of the happiness of 
 which the ransomed are to be made partakers. 
 
 Hence the felicity of heaven stands in vivid contrast 
 with the distresses and uncertainty of earth. The 
 schemes which we cherish are liable to disappointment — 
 the society with which we mingle is unstable and fluctuat- 
 ing, the ideas we entertain are often imperfect and erro- 
 neous — there are many subjects involved in almost com- 
 plete mystery ; many others with respect to w r hich we 
 arrive only at an approximation to the truth. But w T e are 
 encouraged to anticipate the arrival of a period when 
 disadvantages are to cease, and when we shall enter into 
 a nobler, purer, and more illustrious scene. 
 
 Were man destined to lie down for ever in darkness ; 
 did no light gleam beyond the sepulcher, and were no 
 prospects open of the land that is afar, God would not 
 have given such aspirations to his creatures as those 
 w r hich possess his soul. These longings — this capacity it 
 has for reflecting upon the Infinite and Eternal — the 
 sagacity that lay plans and make arrangements for com- 
 ing emergencies, the moral sensibility winch the spirit 
 is capable of acquiring, and tasting the goodness of the 
 Creator, accord with the voice of Scripture, and show 
 man to be far more than the short-lived child of earth, 
 destined to see corruption and to be hid beneath the 
 mould. 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 243 
 
 Nor can we suppose that existing apparent anomalies 
 in the Divine administration are to be left unsolved, that 
 seeming inequalities in the procedure of Providence are 
 to fail of being rectified, or that the struggles with sense 
 and sin, with deformity and vice, the resolute victories 
 achieved over "the prince of this world," by the right- 
 eous and holy in all ages, are to fail of the recompense 
 which Infinite goodness desires to bestow, and which 
 Christ has secured by his atonement. 
 
 On this subject many Scripture statements might be 
 quoted — but apart from these there is in the inner being 
 of man a testimony borne regarding his immortality, 
 and admonitions given whereby he is exhorted to rise to 
 the full height of his lofty destiny. If so, how egre- 
 gious is their folly who act for time alone and neglect 
 eternity ? If it is said of Christians that they shall be 
 for " ever with the Lord," it is time for all who have 
 not given earnest heed to the Gospel, to awake out of 
 spiritual apathy, and to make provision for the unseen 
 state ; coveting a "'Kingdom which cannot be moved," 
 desiring a crown of righteousness which shall never fade 
 away. 
 
 II. This happiness is closely connected with the pres- 
 ence and fellowship of Jesus Christ. "So shall we be 
 ever with the Lord." 
 
 1. This implies that believers after the resurrection 
 and the judgment, will be brought into a position near 
 to that which is occupied by the Saviour. We are war- 
 ranted by the language of Scripture, to suppose that some 
 region does exist, or will be formed, where the faithful 
 and pious of all ages and countries will be assembled, 
 where in the beautiful and expressive language of the- 
 Apocalypse, "the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne 
 shall feed his people, and shall lead them to living foun- 
 tains of waters/' When earthly trials close, unmingled, 
 
244 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 though, relatively incomplete, happiness commences. 
 So soon as " absent from the body," the saints are pres- 
 ent with the Lord. They are ushered into the realm of 
 spirits, wait in anticipation a farther change — when 
 being raised they shall be qualified to meet Him at his 
 coming. Then will be fulfilled the statement of our 
 text, and that of the Beloved Disciple. " To him that 
 overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my 
 throne." 
 
 2. Christ's presence with the saints in glory must 
 secure their exemption from all evil. 
 
 Here, though their lot is superior to that of others, 
 yet they are not exempted from the common afflictions 
 of humanity — these make him long to visit that world 
 where the wicked -cease from troubling, &c, where in- 
 firmity will cease, the body of sin and death be laid. 
 aside, where evil will be no longer present, where no dark 
 cloud will gather to hinder the full shining of the Son 
 of Righteousness — where they "who have washed their 
 robes and made them white, &c./' "shall hunger no 
 more, &c." 
 
 3. Christ's presence with his saints constitutes a 
 pledge that their powers will be adopted to their new con- 
 dition, and that the loftiest sources of enjoyment will be 
 opened for their participation. These bodily and mental 
 capacities with which man was originally endowed by 
 God, were grievously impaired through the entrance of 
 sin into the world. But in that blessed world, the 
 spirit will be made capable of wondrous discoveries as to 
 the works and ways of God, of enraptured contempla- 
 tion on the plan of Providence, and out of the riches of 
 His goodness, and the boundless treasures of his love, will 
 have every desire satisfied, and will have fresh sources of 
 delight continually abounding. How decided and full 
 must the happiness of the Saint be, when he has taken 
 
Middle age. 245 
 
 possession of the kingdom prepared for him from the 
 beginning of the world, when he " shall be for ever with 
 the Lord." 
 
 PREPARATION FOR THE PASSAGE. 
 
 ALEXANDER DICKSON, D.D. 
 
 Prepare your victuals ; for within three days ye shall pass over this 
 
 Jordan. — Joshua i : 11. 
 
 HPHIS was the order given to the children of Israel, 
 when they were encamped in their land of Beulah, 
 before starting on the last stage of their long journey. 
 It was about the middle of April. A magnificent scene 
 met the eye in every direction. To the North the great 
 plain of Esdraelon, to the South the hill country of 
 Judea, before them the walled city of Jericho, and be- 
 hind them Nebo and Hor. Here they were reposing 
 when the order came to prepare for the passage of the 
 river, which still rolled between them and the home of 
 their hearts. The Hebrews were a typical people — the 
 past is repeated in the present. As they had need of 
 special preparation to pass over the Jordan, so we have 
 need to make ready for crossing the darker, deeper and 
 more dangerous river of death. 
 
 I. How and why should we prepare for dying ? 
 
 Our temporal affairs should be arranged beforehand. 
 The victuals of the Israelites consisted of the manna 
 and also now probably of the corn and wine and 
 oil of the region around. Most of these provisions 
 had need of preparation. Even the bread from 
 heaven did not come down into their tents all ready for 
 the table. It had to be prepared. This suggests that 
 our worldly affairs should be properly adjusted against 
 the time to die. These are seldom as they ought to be 
 when the summons comes, and they often discompose and 
 
246 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 distress the departing spirit. But the lawyer is often 
 seen in the darkened room and the patient's trembling 
 hand signing important papers. Before such a time 
 arrives, the books should be balanced, the debts paid, 
 and the wills written. 
 
 II. There should be a personal interest in Christ, who 
 is the antidote of death. The manna was typical of Him 
 who said, " I am the bread of life." This bread is soul- 
 quickening, soul-strengthening, soul-sustaining, and 
 soul-satisfying food. It is by faith alone, that we re- 
 ceive and rest upon " Jesus only," as He is freely offered 
 to us in the Gospel. A personal interest in Christ is 
 therefore the most important thing in preparing to die, 
 if we would pass away peacefully and hopefully. He 
 that eateth of this bread shall live for ever, even though 
 his body turn to dust. 
 
 III. We should have a goodly number of the pro- 
 mises, stored away in our hearts and minds. The whole 
 Bible is like Him, who is its author and its subject. 
 Jesus is the burden of every book, the chief end of every 
 chapter, and the substance of all the shadows. But the 
 exceeding great and precious promises are the "finest 
 of the wheat." They are greater and more precious, than 
 we are aware till the set time comes for them to manifest 
 their unspeakable power and inestimable \ r alue. They 
 are the stone steps by which Christian can pass safely 
 through the Slough of Despond, the key which will 
 unlock the doors of Doubting Castle, and the lamp whose 
 light illuminates all dark valleys. Many of those pro- 
 mises were written, as it would seem, expressly for the 
 time to die. " When thou passeth through the water, 
 I will be with thee, &c." "Fear thou not, for I am with 
 thee, &c." These promises so sweet and precious 
 should be committed to memory that we may have them 
 ready against the great emergency. The eye may then 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 247 
 
 be too dim to read them and the ear too dull to hear them, 
 but if we have them laid up in our heart no tongue can 
 tell the greatness of their comforting and sustaining 
 power. 
 
 VI. Death should be made the subject of much medita- 
 tion. God kept the Israelites encamped in the valley of 
 Jordan for nearly a whole year, that their thoughts 
 might be often on the passage of that turbulent stream 
 and about the good land beyond to which they were go- 
 ing. We are halted often on the hither side of Jordan 
 for a long time, that we may have time for reflection, 
 and a fitting opportunity to make the crossing the theme 
 of much meditation. Thus we become so familiar with 
 the face of the last enemy that he seems more like a dear 
 friend. We are brought to entertain no fears that faith 
 will fail or any doubts concerning the promise " as thy 
 days, so shall thy strength be." Joseph of Arimathea 
 put his sepulcher in his garden, and the frequent sight 
 of it helped to make him the good and just and devoted 
 Christian that he was. 
 
 But why should we make these necessary pre- 
 parations ? 
 
 I. Because death is sure to come. " Ye shall pass over 
 this Jordan. " The Israelites might have evaded the pas- 
 sage of that stream there by passing North to its source ; 
 but it was God's plan, that they should cross the Jordan 
 at the time when, and at the place where it seemed to be 
 impassable. "He led them forth by the right way." 
 The universal appointment of death we cannot escape. 
 All paths terminate alike in the plain of Jordan. Death is 
 rather the debt of sin than of nature, and every man must 
 pay it. There is no exception, exemption or escape. 
 
 II. Because the time of death is uncertain. The 
 time for the ancient people to cross the Jordan was not 
 precisely stated. " Within three days ye shall pass over." 
 
248 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 They did not know exactly when the silver trumpet 
 would sound. It might be blown on the third, the sec- 
 ond, or the self -same day the order was issued. Nor can 
 we tell the exact time of our departure. " Thou hast all 
 seasons for thine own, death." 
 
 III. Because the last moment may come soon. 
 Though the time for the Israelites to cross the river was 
 uncertain, still it was not far distant. It was " within 
 three days." It might be the same day the command was 
 given to prepare, or the next day, but it could not be fur- 
 ther off than the day following. So the moment they 
 listened to the command to prepare, they commenced 
 their preparation. It would be well for us if we would 
 copy their example. " Be ye also ready, &c." " There 
 is a but a step between me and death," and the next 
 setting down of the foot may be in the chilling stream. 
 
 IV. Because dying will be work enough, without 
 having anything else to do. There will be the par ting- 
 also from dear friends. You cannot kindle your camp- 
 fires in the midst of Jordan, and prepare your food for 
 the passage. Prepare now by laying hold of the Saviour's 
 strength, and casting yourself entirely on Him, and He 
 will do wonders for you in the dying hour. See what 
 he did for his own people in Jordan. Josh, iii: 17. 
 
MIDDLE AGE, 249 
 
 THE PILGRIM'S FAITH AND END. 
 
 KEY. DANIEL MOOKE, M.A. 
 
 These all died in faith . . . and confessed that they were strangers 
 and pilgrims on the earth. — Heb. xi : 13. 
 
 A LL the historical facts of the Jewish people were 
 ~^^ typical, and all the children of faith under the 
 Old Testament had an insight into the spiritual purposes 
 of God. They were willing to wander for a season in a 
 strange land, beeause they were pilgrims hastening on- 
 ward to their eternal home. They learned to sit loosely 
 to their temporal privileges, because they were strangers 
 and pilgrims on the earth. Let us then view : 
 I. Life as a pilgrimage. 
 
 1. This idea of life would be suggested by the very 
 nature of the human constitution and the relation in 
 which we stand to the world around us. Everything 
 suggests that this is a passage world for us, and not a 
 resting world. There is nothing in it to satisfy the im- 
 mortal nature. It can give food, clothing and many 
 objects to gratify the desires of the body, but not those 
 of the soul. After all that earth can yield, man still feels 
 that he is a stranger and pilgrim here. 
 
 2. This idea would be also suggested by life's con- 
 stant changeableness and instability. This is no chance 
 arrangement. "We are to have so much of good in our 
 lot as to enable us to bear the evil, and so much of evil 
 commingled with it that our hearts may not be unduly 
 set upon the good. A travelller must expect to meet 
 here poor entertainment, there sumptuous fare — at one 
 time walking in a sunny path, at another under a dark- 
 ening sky. In these varied experiences of human life, 
 faith finds its exercise and hope is enabled to make its 
 
 11* 
 
250 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 own bright world — where there is a home for the tired 
 spirit, a place where God will make everything plain and 
 right to those who were but strangers, &c., here. 
 
 3. The text would suggest to us an infinite and ever- 
 lasting existence. He that is a stranger in a country 
 has another country which he calls his own — a pilgrim 
 has a place, a destination towards which he is hastening. 
 This is the leading topic of the apostle's argument here. 
 Abraham understood the temporal part of the promise to 
 be its inferior part, that with it there was a promise of 
 infinitely higher reach, viz. : the promise of eternal life. 
 This persuasion had a direct practical influence on his 
 conduct. He never made a home of Canaan, built no 
 city, &c, but he lived on, a mere dweller in tabernacles, 
 as one who might be required to change on the morrow. 
 He and the other patriarchs knew that God had prepared 
 for them a city, and therefore they lived in the midst of 
 the Canaanitish races, strangers and pilgrims on the 
 earth. 
 
 II. Let us consider a few practical lessons suggested 
 by this view of life. 
 
 1. The duty of contentment — of acquiescence in that 
 lot which God has appointed for us — whether it be fixed 
 here or there. " Time is short," and the nearer we get 
 to home, the less important will all former disappoint- 
 ments appear. But we often forget we are but pilgrims 
 here. 
 
 2. In such a view of life reference should be constant- 
 ly had to Divine guidance and direction. We are not 
 "pilgrims" only, but "strangers." A stranger in a 
 strange land does not know his way^ Misled by delusive 
 appearances, he may take a way that seemeth right unto 
 him, but " the end thereof are the ways of death." He 
 may take one path for its smoothness and find it beset 
 with perils and hidden snares — another for its shortness 
 
MIDDLE AGE. 251 
 
 and finds he has gone far out of his way. " The way of 
 man is not in himself, &c." This consideration had 
 much weight with Old Testament saints. Their choices 
 were constantly influenced by a regard to the spiritual 
 part of the promise. They went here or there, made or 
 refused this alliance according as they believed it brought 
 them nearer within the reach of the Divine promises. 
 We see in Abraham especially, a practical recognition of 
 his pilgrim state — an acknowledgment that he was but a 
 stranger, having God's hand and eye to direct him. And 
 for safety, peace and happiness this will be found to be 
 our safest course too. 
 
 3. The duty of exercising in all things a holy modera- 
 tion and sobriety. 
 
 The patriarchs might have lived in tents in Chaldea 
 or in palaces in Canaan, but they would do neither, for 
 the tents were designed by God to be a standing memo- 
 rial, and protest against a worldly spirit, even as Canaan 
 itself was to be an emblem of the spiritual and eternal 
 state. They kept their tents because they would testify 
 to the simplicity of patriarchal character, and witness 
 against the pride, covetousness and ostentation too often 
 found to accompany a season of prosperity. Thus we 
 are to " let our moderation be known unto all men," live 
 within such bounds as shall be consistent with a character 
 of Christian simplicity and a protest against the worldli- 
 ness of the times. We must be " sober/' sober in our 
 joys, griefs, gains, and in all the pursuits of life. Whether 
 we acknowledge it or not, we are but pilgrims and 
 strangers, dwelling as under a perishable gourd, which 
 may wither in a night and leave the head which had 
 foolishly rejoiced in its shadow uncovered before the 
 wrath of God. 
 
 4. Having no continuing city here ; we should seek 
 one to come. The patriarchs had no home in Canaan, 
 
252 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 yet they loved it, because an emblem of the heavenly 
 city. It was not because of the fertility of its valleys or 
 the beauty of its hills, but because it was typical of the 
 rest of the covenant, where G-od had promised to honor, 
 meet and bless his people, and associated with all their 
 most lofty anticipations of the life of the world to come. 
 
 In like manner, while we are in the world we are not 
 to be of it. Hallowed as this world is, as the sphere of 
 our probation, the battle-field of victorious saints and 
 the temporary home of God's Son, it is yet to be regard- 
 ed as our passage to another and a better country. 
 " Arise and depart, this is not your rest," for it is 
 marked by vicissitude, disappointment, uncertainty, pol- 
 luted by wickedness, injustice, impiety, because your 
 heart troubles you, makes this world a scene of constant 
 disquietude, and draws away from better thoughts and 
 hopes. Seek a better country. Let the spirit aspire after 
 a brighter, better home. These patriarchs were per- 
 suaded there was such a home. They looked for it, re- 
 joiced in it, lived in anticipation of it, and even had, while 
 here, a blessed foretaste of the country they were seeking. 
 
 They looked for a city — its builder was Christ. They 
 looked for a country — its Lord was Christ. They looked 
 for a cleansing from all their pilgrim stains and they 
 found it in Christ. They looked for rest from all their 
 pilgrim toils and they found it in Christ — the tired 
 pilgrim's home, the saint's everlasting rest. 
 
 Let me grow by sun and shower, 
 
 Every moment water me; 
 Make me really hour by hour 
 
 More and more conformed to Thee, 
 That Thy loving eye may trace, 
 Day by day, my growth in grace. 
 
 — F. R. Havergal. 
 
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 OLD AGE. 
 
 FAITHFULNESS CROWNED. 
 
 ROSWELL D. HITCHCOCK, D.D. 
 
 Be thou faithful unto death and 1 will give thee a crown of life. 
 —Rev. ii: 10. 
 
 'T^HE age of martyrdom has gone, but this call has a 
 ■^ voice for all ages and comes to us man by man. " Be 
 thou, etc." 
 
 I. The duty enjoined. 
 
 All men have not faith. Some have little, but no one 
 enough. Many things tempt our fidelity — comfort, ag- 
 grandizement, pleasure, position, property. The eye of 
 faith sees a higher world. Nothing should be so much 
 dreaded as wrong. 
 
 Faith recognizes the ministry of sorrow. The great 
 Psalm of life has deeper tones than those of joy. Our 
 path grows more solitary as we advance. In the ranks 
 are fewer and the line grows slenderer. Violent diseases 
 lie in ambush at every turn and disappointments meet us 
 at every step. In all we must be faithful. Faith re- 
 cognizes the solemnity and sturdiness of duty. That is 
 a great, a granite word. Life is charged with great 
 
 [253] 
 
254 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 duties. To be diligent in saving own's own self, and in 
 saving others is the great work of life. 
 
 Faith looks without alarm and continuously toward 
 death which terminates all. It is coming to all, we 
 know not how, we know not when. It will come surely. 
 The call is, be faithful to death. The duty is to be dis- 
 charged not by fits and starts, but continuously until the 
 call is heard. Steadiness is indispensable to success. 
 
 II. The reward. 
 
 The figure is taken from the laurel crown given at the 
 Grecian games. Paul prefered death to life, though he 
 was willing to remain. Even the Pagan said that the 
 day of death was the birthday into eternal life. The 
 Thracians gave tears to the birth couch, but triumph to 
 the grave. Cicero spake of the glorious day when he 
 should depart and join the multitude beyond. Christ 
 brought to light these truths, conquered death, and said, 
 " This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." 
 
 THE HEAVENLY HOPE. 
 
 REV. JAMES PAESONS. 
 Tfie hope which is laid up for you in heaven. — Col. i: 5. 
 A PRIME question is, whither is my being tending, 
 and what shall be its close ? 
 I. There is given to man the prospect of future good. 
 The apostle speaks about a hope — the expectation of 
 future good — of universal operation among men both as 
 regards this life and the life to come. God has opened 
 a beautiful vista before us, corresponding to our views 
 and wishes — mansions, a kingdom, an inheritance, &c. — 
 abodes of purity, knowledge, triumph, companionship, 
 life and immortality ! We can hope for all this ! 
 
OLD AGE. 255 
 
 II. Certain requisites are necessary for participating 
 in that prospect. Hope is founded on faith, and we 
 must believe before we can hope for the enjoyment of 
 heaven. 
 
 1. Faith in the declaration of God by which the na- 
 ture of these prospects is disclosed. Whatever God has 
 revealed must be believed, received and cherished. 
 
 2. Faith in the method of mercy revealed by God as 
 the only way by which a participation in these prospects 
 can be enjoyed. The apostle speaks of "your faith in 
 Christ," ver. 3. This is the way in which the prospects 
 of futurity can be brought home to our comfort. " He 
 that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life/'' 
 
 III. The prospect of future good, when trusted in, 
 rests on the most firm and inviolable security. It is 
 "laid up," same word in 27 ver. rendered " appointed." 
 It rests, 
 
 1. On the authority of the word of God. It is " the 
 hope of eternal life " which God who cannot lie has pro- 
 mised. Heb. vi : 18. 
 
 2. The word of God is ratified by the work of the Re- 
 deemer. "All the promises of God are yea and amen in 
 Christ Jesus." His death as a sacrifice, his resurrection 
 as a testimony, and his present residence where he is 
 preparing for us, each ratifies God's word. 
 
 IV. These prospects must produce powerful influence 
 on the heart, 
 
 1. The hope excites to holiness of life — "Everyone 
 that has this hope, &c." 
 
 2. Produces calmness and peace, amid the trials of 
 life. "I reckon, &c." 
 
 3. Gives confidence in the approaches of decay and 
 dissolution. Martyrs have rejoiced in the flames — this 
 light lightens the gloom. It is a good, a lovely, a sweet 
 —a hope that maketh not ashamed. Is it my property ? 
 
256 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE GLAD ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 GARDINER SPRING, D.D. 
 J am t7ie resurrection and the life. — John xi: 25. 
 T\^H^T an annunciation to a world of sinners ! What 
 tidings to dying men ! 
 
 I. Christ is the resurrection and the life to men as 
 sinners. This thought relates to their moral or spiritual 
 resurrection. Men are naturally "dead" in trespasses, 
 etc. In this sense the world is a vast sepulcher over 
 which the Son of man proclaims : i ' I am the resurrec- 
 tion," etc. His voice alone can reach these gloomy man- 
 sions. By the omnipotent energy of his own spirit he 
 asserts his prerogative, and what could not be effected by 
 sermon or by prayers, by mercies or by judgments, is as 
 readily accomplished as when he said, "Lazarus, come 
 forth." 
 
 II. Christ is the resurrection and the life to dying men. 
 This thought relates to the resurrection of the body. 
 Natural death is the consequence of spiritual. Death has 
 extended his empire everywhere on this earth. Will his 
 scepter ever be broken or these graves open ? Yes. 
 Christ's words are true. The wisdom and philosophy of 
 the world have not always credited this truth. But the 
 analogies of nature, the suggestions of unaided reason, 
 the traditions of men are not silent on this theme, yet it 
 is one of the distinguished peculiarities of the revealed 
 religion. The resurrection of Christ insures it, and the 
 testimonies of inspired writers corroborate it. The resur- 
 rection will be universal, "all that are in their graves/' 
 etc. The resurrection will be successive, " every man in 
 his own order," etc. Will take place at a given signal. 
 " Shall hear his voice," etc. Will take place at the last 
 great day, "In the resurrection at the last day." The 
 
OLD AGE. 257 
 
 resurrected body will be essentially the same body that 
 was deposited. In many respects, greatly changed — to 
 incorruption, glory, power, spirit. The bodies of the 
 righteous and the wicked rise to very different allotments 
 — "resurrection of life," " resurrection of damnation." 
 Let us think of the morning when over the tomb of this 
 world Jesus shall announce, " I am the resurrection and 
 the life." 
 
 THE MOBTAL AND THE IMMORTAL COM- 
 PANION. 
 
 REV. H. F. BURDER. 
 Behold 1 die, but God shall be with you. — Gen. xlviii : 21. 
 T\7"HAT composure and satisfaction are here ! 
 " I. Consider his words in reference to himself. 
 
 1. He was satisfied with the amount of enjoyment 
 which the God of his life had granted him. He had 
 been brought to regard human life as a pilgrimage and 
 journey, which were checquered with joy and sorrow, 
 prosperity and adversity. At its close he blessed the 
 Lord who had fed him, &c. 
 
 2. He was satisfied with the duration of life which 
 had been allowed him. His life was short compared 
 with his ancestors, but he had attained the two great 
 objects of life — a good hope for immortality and the 
 serving of God in his generation according to His will. 
 
 3. He was satisfied with the prospect of a better life 
 which was opening before him.- In the midst of his 
 dying benediction he paused and exclaimed, "I have 
 waited for thy salvation, Lord." Who can tell what 
 visions of glory were at that moment granted to his 
 spirit ? At his outset in life he beheld the ladder and 
 now he may have seen what Stephen saw. 
 
258 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 II. His words are suggestive of his repose in refer 
 ence to his surviving relatives. 
 
 1. The manifestations of the Divine mercy to him- 
 self encouraged his hopes as to his surviving relatives. 
 Bead the context. "And Israel said unto Joseph, &c." 
 What more could he wish for his sons or for his son's 
 sons than the guidance, protection and blessing of that 
 great Eedeeming angel ? 
 
 2. He was persuaded that the paternal benediction 
 he was authorized to pronounce had an aspect peculiarly 
 favorable to his descendants. "Let my name be named 
 upon them." " Behold I die, but God shall be with you 
 and bring you, &c." The covenant made to Abraham. 
 
 3. He felt assured that the covenant made with 
 Abraham, Isaac and himself secured the presence and 
 blessing of God to his survivors to the remotest age. " God 
 shall be with you." See the promise — a clearer develop- 
 ment made to Jacob. "The sceptre shall not, &c." — to 
 Moses, "my presence shall go, &c." God never abandons 
 his charge. What a comfort to Christian parents living 
 and dying ! 
 
 THE PIVOTAL FACT. 
 
 THOMAS ARMITAGE, D.D, 
 The Lord is risen indeed. — Luke, 24: 34. 
 "T/TILLIONS of Orientals utter these words every Easter 
 day. They are pivotal words — as Paul avows. 
 "If Christ be not risen, &c." Christ's resurrection is the 
 key-stone of the Christian religion. He allows of no 
 second question. If thus be not a fact, cut out from the 
 cherished tombstone of your tenderly loved ones, the 
 flaunting fraud, "I am the resurrection and the life." 
 Then they who have fallen asleep have perished. 
 
OLD AGE. 259 
 
 I. The resurrection was a miracle. This the Scrip- 
 tures set forth. There is no such power lodged in na- 
 ture. It was accomplished by God's immediate power. 
 Hear Peter: " This man, whom God raised up, &c." Hear 
 Paul: " Which He wrought in Christ, when he raised 
 him from the dead, &c." 
 
 II. What the resurrection body was. The same that 
 was crucified, &c. f * The Lord has risen,", not someone 
 else. I argue this: 
 
 1. From the fact that he prophesied his own per- 
 sonal resurrection, in his own personal idenity. Again 
 and again he told this to his disciples. It was the same 
 Jonah that went into the whale's belly that came out ; 
 so of Jesus. 
 
 2. From the fact that his disciples, his most intimate 
 friends, recognized that identity though reluctantly. 
 Joseph did not steal him, nor did any thieves. The 
 angels were careful to describe who had risen. The risen 
 Christ treated his disciples exactly as before his death. 
 The same old hearts beat together again. Every word, 
 and act and look whispers from heart to heart. "It is 
 the Lord. It is the Lord." 
 
 3. From the fact that He recognized his own iden- 
 tity. He explained the things concerning Himself. 
 Eebuked them as before for their unbelief, ate with them 
 as before, told them they should work signs as before, 
 and to tarry for the fulfillment of the promise made to 
 them before. These argue, " It is I myself." 
 
 But the difficulty is with some how could He appear 
 to his disciples, when the doors were closed ? The 
 words do not necessarily imply that they were holted. 
 He appears suddenly to his disciples before on the 
 sea — with the disciples. Some might imagine some 
 wonderful change had taken place in his body since 
 they had left him on the shore^ but no such 
 
260 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 change had taken place, but what he did was super- 
 human, as his entrance into the room may have been 
 superhuman. His body was like ours, but not neces- 
 sarily controlled at all times in all respects like ours. 
 He was man and more — God. He governs the laws, not 
 the laws Him. And his body was always glorious enough, 
 neither to be sin-stained, nor to see corruption, and that 
 is the kind of body his people shall hereafter possess. 
 
 THE DEATH OF A GKEAT MAN. 
 
 EEV. THOMAS J. COLE. 
 " A great man fallen this day in Israel." — 2 Sam. iii : 38. 
 
 i^OD'S procedure is often inscrutable, useful men re- 
 moved, worthless ones spared. 
 I. The constituents of true greatness. The world 
 idolizes greatness of a certain kind. Station, wealth, 
 talent, knowledge, military prowess, etc. True greatness 
 needs not these auxiliaries. It consists in: 
 
 1. Humility — feeling his own weakness, imperfections, 
 lying low before God and looking to Him for all strength 
 and grace — Moses at the bush. 
 
 2. Submission. Bowing with child-like acquiescence 
 in all God's dealings, resting securely in our Father's 
 bosom, as Jesus in Gethsemane. Aaron. 
 
 3. Faith. This enables man to see God as reconciled 
 in Jesus, fulfilling in Providence the promises of his word 
 and ever present as a source of strength. Three Hebrew 
 youths, Daniel, Peter and John. 
 
 4. Holiness. He is the greatest conqueror who has 
 conquered himself. No man can do this except in God's 
 strength. "Joseph in Potiphar's house. 
 
OLD AGfl. 261 
 
 5. Earnestness. A whole-heartedness, deterred by 
 no difficulties. Nehemiah, Paul. 
 
 6. Courage. Not brute or mere animal — but looking 
 up to God with a confiding heart and from a sense of 
 duty unflinchingly enters the struggle and presses on to 
 victory. David and Goliath. 
 
 7. Love. Love to God in Christ — ready to endure 
 any amount of suffering and of trial for the honor of the 
 Saviour. Paul, " I could wish," etc. " I do count," etc. 
 
 II. The right position for such a character, "in 
 Israel." Such a man should be one with the Lord's peo- 
 ple, united to them, separated from the world and walking 
 in all the ordinances, etc. All the truly great should be 
 in the church. 
 
 1. To proclaim their love to Christ. To show they 
 are with the people he has bought, the church he has 
 established and not living to themselves. 
 
 2. To manifest their sympathy with God's people, in 
 holy fellowship, strengthening each other's faith, sharing 
 each other's joy, etc. 
 
 3. To aid in the Master's triumphs. In united action 
 and in aggressive movements upon the world. Fighting 
 with Christ's soldiers. 
 
 III. The solemn fact recorded, a great man " fallen." 
 Death knows no rank, respects no service, vindicates his 
 supremacy over the smallest and greatest. 
 
 What is thy character ? Art thou truly great ? What 
 is thy position ? Art thou in Israel ? What is thy pros- 
 pect of death ? Art thou saved? 
 
 Jesus, my only hope Thou art! 
 Strength of my failing flesh and heart: 
 Oh, could I catch a smile from Thee, 
 And drop into eternity. 
 
262 Memorial tributes. 
 
 THE GKAVE'S CONQTTEKOK. 
 
 THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D. 
 Ihe first born from tlte dead. — Col. i: 18 
 TAEATH is an event we need not attempt to shut out 
 of view. When it occurs we invite friends to the 
 funeral. The spot where rest the remains is sacred, a 
 monument or willow expresses our grief, or a pine green 
 amid hoary frosts symbolizes the hopes of : the living and 
 the immortality of the dead. From the thought of 
 death, the heart of a heathen recoils. Without the hope 
 of a better world, death is an object of unutterable gloom, 
 needs all the consolations that religion can administer. 
 Christ has not left his people comfortless. By his life, 
 death and resurrection he has fulfilled the high expecta- 
 tions of prophets. He conquered the King of terrors, and 
 became the first born from the dead. In what respects ? 
 
 I. He is so in the dignity of his person. The great- 
 est who ever entered or shall ever leave the gates of 
 death. I can fancy all the dead astonished at his com- 
 ing — never before were any of the dead awakened at the 
 coming of another. " Art thou become like one of us ?" 
 The dead men who returned alive to Jerusalem at Christ's 
 death showed that the reign of death was drawing to a 
 close, and his own resurrection proclaimed Him the first 
 and greatest of the dead. 
 
 II. Because He rose by his own power. There is no 
 sensibility, no passion, no power in death. In all cases, 
 but Christ's, resurrection life was not resumed, but re- 
 stored. He wakes of his own accord, rises by his own 
 power, verifying his own saying, " I have power to lay, 
 &c." 
 
 III. He is the only one who rose never to die again. 
 
OLD AGE. 263 
 
 Others who were raised, had to return. They were only 
 out on bail. But Jesus lives not to be summoned, but 
 to summons. He dieth no more — He fills the throne. 
 
 IV. Because lie has taken precedence Qf his people who 
 are all to rise from their graves to glory. He has gone to 
 prepare a place for us. The King has gone before. It 
 was his right. The head rises first. He is the prelude 
 to our own resurrection. He is the harbinger and blessed 
 pledge to our own. The first fruits. 
 
 If we are reconciled to God through Christ Jesus, 
 what reconciling views of death does this open up to us ? 
 We shall rise like Him. Let Him have the pre-emin- 
 ence in our thoughts, lives and hearts. Who but He 
 shall have it ? Bend every sheaf to Joseph's. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE LAST BATTLE. 
 
 KEV. C. H. SPUKGEON". 
 
 The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law. But 
 tlianks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. — I Cor. xv : 56, 57. 
 
 nPHOUGH the Bible is one of the most poetical of 
 -*- books, and its language often unutterably sublime, 
 yet it is constantly true to nature. However dark may 
 be the subject and however brilliant may be the light 
 thrown upon it, it does not deny the gloom connected 
 with it. Such a subject is death. 
 
 I. The sting of death. Death is a terrible monster 
 which each one must fight. He cannot be avoided. 
 Each man separately and alone must encounter him. 
 He cannot be killed by any mortal, but his sting may be 
 extracted. 
 
 1. Sin is the sting. It brought death into the world. 
 
264 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 8. 
 
 Death is the punishment of sin — this makes it terrible 
 and dreaded. 
 
 2. Death more dreaded when sin is not forgiven. 
 Sins come trooping round the death-bed of every un- 
 prepared one. How fearful they look. How they whip 
 the conscience like scorpions. 
 
 3. Sin is the prospect most dreaded of all. What 
 shall it be in the next state ? unfolding its bitter fruit 
 for ever — no fountain to wash it away and no pardon 
 ever extended to it. 
 
 II. The strength of sin. This is the "law." That 
 law must be satisfied. This no man can do. 
 
 1. The law is spiritual, extends to the wish of the 
 heart, and therefore man cannot keep it. The very im- 
 agination of the thought is sin. 
 
 2. The law will not abate one title of its stern de- 
 mands. It says to every man who breaks it, " I will not 
 forgive you." It curses but never pardons. To keep it 
 we must be holy as angels, immaculate as Jesus. 
 
 3. The law will exact a punishment for every trans- 
 gression. The two are linked as with adamantine 
 chains. The law therefore gives such strength to sin 
 that no man can extract this sting of death. 
 
 III. The victory of faith. This is the Christian's 
 through Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. Christ has removed the law as a rewarding principle 
 to the believer. He is not rewarded by it. 
 
 2. Christ has completely satisfied it — given it a 
 perfect obedience and met all its demands, and the 
 Christian in death finds sin, its sting, gone, and can 
 challenge the monster thus, " Who shall lay anything to 
 the charge, &c. ?" Thanks be unto G-od for Jesus — the 
 law's satisfier — the extracter of death's sting and the 
 giver of the victory to every believer in Him. 
 
OLD AGE. 265 
 
 THE RIPE CHRISTIAN DYING. 
 
 EEV. C. H. SPURGEON". 
 
 "T7iou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn 
 comeUi in Ids season. — Job v: 26. 
 
 'T^HIS is a very beautiful comparison. The shock of 
 corn has passed through many changes, survived 
 many onsets of the worm, and tempests of wind and 
 rain, etc., and is now ripe for the sickle and the garner. 
 So with the aged Christian. How often did he in early 
 life seem likely to be smitten down by death — how often 
 has he been buffetted — accidents innumerable seemed 
 ready to smite — but he has survived and now is bending 
 with weakness and crowned with the glory of the aged 
 Christian. The text intimates: 
 
 I. That death is inevitable. " Thou shalt come." 
 This is a true saying, and yet how seldom impressed 
 
 upon the heart. There are many reminders of the fact, 
 but it is usually forgotten. Death is not absolutely 
 necessary to the Christian, for a time will come when " we 
 which are alive and remain shall be caught up," etc. 
 
 II. Death to the Christian is always acceptable. 
 
 " Thou shalt come to thy grave." There will be a 
 willingness and cheerfulness to die. He shall die quietly, 
 coming to the grave as to a quiet resting-place — this has 
 been the experience of many of God's children. 
 
 III. The Christian's death is always timely. " In a 
 full age." Die when God's children may, they die in 
 " full age." "A full age " is whenever God likes to take 
 his children home. Some fruits ripen early, others late 
 in the season. A Christian will never die too soon, and 
 never die too late — never before ripeness and not after 
 ripeness. 
 
 12 
 
266 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 IV. The Christian will die with honor. " Like a 
 shock of corn cometh in his season." There is such a thing 
 as an honorable funeral, where devout men assemble, 
 carry to the grave and make great lamentation. Such 
 funerals are like a " harvest home." There is such a 
 melancholy grandeur there. We ought to pay great re- 
 spect to the departed saints' bodies. " The memory of 
 the just is blessed." 
 
 There are two funerals for every Christian ; one the 
 funeral of the body and the other the soul — rather it is 
 the marriage of the soul ; for angels stand ready to car- 
 ry it to the Saviour. The angels, imitating husbandmen, 
 as they near the gates of heaven may shout "Harvest 
 Home." There is a holiday whenever a saint enters — 
 and there is praise to God, 
 
 "While life, or thought, or being lasts, 
 Or immortality endures." 
 
 THE INEVITABLE BATTLE. 
 
 EEV. U. R. THOMAS. 
 
 There is no discharge in that war. — Ecc. viii : 8. 
 r |TEE dark thought in these words is the inevitable- 
 ness of death. Death is an unavoidable war — a 
 war in which we are all pressed men. The richest can 
 obtain no substitute, and the greatest are not exempt. 
 Illustrious statesmen must enter the lists. Queens and 
 kings are like others here. Death comes up into their 
 windows and enters into their palaces. The Queen of 
 Song must sing her own battle-cry and take the place of 
 a dead minstrel. The sculptor, the geologist, the 
 architect, how renowned each may be, must resign the 
 chisel, hammer or pencil to other hands. The skillful 
 physician who devoted his life to conflict disease and 
 
OLD AGK 267 
 
 resist death, fails at last himself. The accomplished 
 historian drops in the ranks and leaves it to another to 
 write his history. The judge upon the bench drops his 
 pen and takes his place in the silent corps. Philanthro- 
 pists, who have given themselves to remove suffering 
 and confer happiness, are called by this giant Death to 
 cease their beneficent work and follow him, leaving be- 
 hind a place "in the Pantheon of the workers of love." 
 Preachers of the cross, upon whose lips thousands have 
 hung, and who have turned many to righteousness, can- 
 not evade death's reveille, who extinguishes their burn- 
 ing and shining light in the tomb. Two lessons at least 
 are taught. 
 
 I. That we too shall have our places among the dead, 
 even though we be obscure, and not illustrious, unknown 
 instead of honored. The edict has gone out, "It is ap- 
 pointed unto all, &c." "The small and great are 
 there/' Death is a war. We are all conscripts for that 
 war. There is no necessary disgrace in death. The 
 great may have dignity there, the good glory. " Not to 
 thy resting-place shalt thou retire alone, &c." But this 
 is not our consolation. The strong consolation, the 
 purest comfort is in this, " Christ died." The very 
 flower of our humanity faded, the Prince of the Kings 
 of the earth died, laid in the tomb, left there an im- 
 mortal fragrance. He took flesh and blood, "that 
 through death he might destroy, &c." 
 
 II. That our death will terminate the mission and fix 
 the influence of our life. 
 
 Various are the ways in which we may serve our gen- 
 eration and glorify God. There is no monotony in God's 
 service. There is a place for each and all, but the death 
 of those who have gone before us proclaims that our 
 work is hastening to its close. Therefore, " whatsoever 
 thy hand findeth to do, &c," or the nobler spirit of 
 
268 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Jesus. " I must work the works of Him that sent 
 me, &c." 
 
 Let our lives be good, if not great, useful, if not il- 
 lustrious, and tiien our names will be cherished on earth, 
 and we shall be had in everlasting remembrance. 
 
 THE VITAL QUESTION. 
 
 JOHtf TODD, D.D. 
 Shall, he live again ? — Job xvi : 14. 
 TT is not whether my property be restored, or this lep- 
 rosy leave me, or my children be decently buried, 
 or shall ever these friends now reproaching me alter their 
 opinions, but, " If a man die shall he live again ?" Ten 
 thousand other questions will not weigh a feather com- 
 pared with this of our text. 
 
 I. There are some things which make it seem im- 
 probable that he will. All men feel that death is the re- 
 sult of sin. Death would not have entered Eden if sin 
 had been kept out. Sin came bringing the flood, 
 digging every grave since, and keeps continually at his 
 work. The graveyard is full of little cells in which pris- 
 oners are shut up. They were stripped of everything 
 before they were confined there. No one ever returns. 
 Wise men have looked into the grave, tried to peep into 
 eternity, but no voice was heard, no movement seen. 
 They saw nothing beyond the grave, and resurrection 
 was almost too much to hope for. How improbable that 
 the lifeless man shall ever come out again. 
 
 II. The resurrection of the body seems probable for 
 two reasons. 
 
 1. There is an undefined impression in the minds of 
 all men that the dead shall live again. The heathen if 
 
OLD AGE. 269 
 
 possible buried their families side by side. Every family 
 had a great tomb. Abraham bought a burying-ground. 
 Jacob said, " I will lie with my fathers, &c." A savage 
 carries his wife's body a hundred miles to bury it with 
 other loved ones. What is that undefined hope, that 
 voice that whispers to the heart, probably all these shall 
 be reunited in life again ? Is it a ray shot from revela- 
 tion ? The very man who scorns the Bible wants a 
 family burying-place. 
 
 2. The changes we see take place around us, show 
 the resurrection to be highly probable. Look at that 
 sand changed into glass. Look at that little decaying 
 acorn out of which the oak springs. Look at that leaf- 
 less tree which the spring clothes anew with leaves, 
 flowers and fruit. Look at that worm in her cell, appar- 
 ently lifeless, break out into a beautiful insect brilliant as 
 the rainbow. The power of the resurrection is in each 
 of these. And shall man so curiously and wondrously 
 made, hare the spirit driven out of her home for ever ? 
 
 III. The Bible makes it certain, that if a man die, he 
 shall live again. Life and immortality are brought to 
 light by the Gospel. 
 
 Paul recites the facts of Christ's resurrection, and if 
 anything can be proved by witnesses then it is proved 
 that Christ did rise from the dead. G-od gave Him 
 power to rise. His rising was a pledge that he would 
 raise up all the dead. Job, who asks this question of our 
 text, saw this truth, and cries, "I know that my Re- 
 deemer, &c." Daniel, Paul, and John believed it. If 
 any doctrine is f ully revealed it is this : My whole being 
 has been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The 
 debt has all been paid. I shall come up again from the 
 grave with a body like Christ — no sin, suffering or decay. 
 " Blessed is he who hath part in the first resurrection." 
 
270 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Those who have done evil shall come forth to the resur- 
 rection of damnation. Avert the latter resurrection by 
 coming to Christ for life now. 
 
 RESTJBEECTION HOPE. 
 
 KEV. CAKON H. MELVILL. 
 How are the dead raised up, &c. f — 1 Cok. xv : 35, 36. 
 HPHE doctrine of the resurrection of the body is pe- 
 culiar to Christianity. The immortality of the 
 spirit had been spelled out by some of the heathen, but 
 when Paul spoke on Mar's Hill of the resurrection of the 
 body, some mocked and others said, "We will hear thee 
 again of this matter." The text suggests: 
 
 I. The real identity of the resurrection body. The 
 apostle uses the figure of a seed put into the ground, &c. 
 So the body as a shriveled seed is put into the ground, 
 but it shall rise different, and yet the same. Its iden- 
 tity shall be preserved. Ten thousand objections may be 
 raised. But if it were necessary omnipotence and omnis- 
 cience could trace and bring forth every atom. But to 
 preserve identity this is not needful. But remember 
 the same body in which you sinned, is the same body 
 that shall suffer if }^ou die in sin, or if you are a believer 
 the same body in which you will be glorified. 
 
 II. While the identity is real, the transformation is 
 glorious. The body is now full of seeds of decay. It 
 has sufferings, aches, pains, all premonitions .of coming 
 death. But the new body is incorruptible — upon it the 
 tooth of time can have no power and into it the dart of 
 death can never be thrust. Every part of the new body 
 shall have stamped upon it "immortality." It will be a 
 beautiful body. It is raised in glory. The chrysalis 
 
OLD AGE. 271 
 
 shall fall off, and man shall mount aloft a glorious crea- 
 ture like unto the Eedeemer. It will be a powerful body. 
 How weak here in infancy, even at our best state, and 
 how weak in death. But then, it will go from strength 
 to strength unwearied — flashing its way across shoreless 
 spaces, and serving God day and night in his temple. 
 
 III. There will be an undoubted personality of charac- 
 ter. God hath given to every seed his own body. The 
 body of Paul shall be different from that of Peter. Each 
 shall preserve his own peculiarity and individuality. 
 Each shall be known from his fellow, and each shall tell 
 with transporting joy of his former trials and triumphs 
 and of the glories that they are made alike to share. We 
 have borne the image of the earthly, but we shall bear the 
 image of the heavenly. The wicked too, must rise 
 again from the dead. Their bodies will became like 
 abestos stone, which lies in the flame and yet is never 
 consumed. It will have power — to imagine — suffer, die 
 and yet to live. Identity will be preserved — personality 
 will be undoubted. " Whosoever believeth shall be 
 saved." 
 
 THE FUTTTKE LIFE. 
 
 HENRY M. SCUDDER, D.D. 
 
 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall 
 
 return unto God who gave it. Ecclbsiastes xii : 7. 
 
 r pHE subject is not chosen to edify by its novelty, but 
 -*- rather to confirm faith in the fundamental 
 principle of Christianity. The belief in the survival of 
 the soul, however, was not confined to Christianity. 
 The old religions which flourished before the time of 
 authentic history began by affirming an existence after 
 this life. This idea in various forms entered into the 
 composition of every system of religion. The grand 
 
272 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 mythologies of the more immediate progenitors of our 
 later civilization assumed an hereafter in which a system 
 of rewards and punishments was to be meted out. Even 
 the barbaric races are not an exception. The grim Norse- 
 man had his Valhalla, the American Indian his happy 
 hunting-ground, and the more modern explorations into 
 the heart of the " dark continent " has failed to discover 
 a tribe or nomadic race that did not hold to this primal, 
 essential principle of immortality. 
 
 In another and perhaps more philosophical view of 
 the case, no adequate, logical reason could be given for 
 human existence, if this life ended all. Man stood at 
 the apex of a pyramid. Below him were the various 
 forms of life, animal and vegetable, and the inanimate 
 kingdom. Everything in the world had an object, an 
 end. There was a reason in its existence, and it sub- 
 served some end. The inanimate world — the dull, cold 
 rock and metal — served a purpose in furnishing the es- 
 sentials for animal and vegetable life. The vegetable 
 world supported thf; animal world, and each higher form 
 of life subsisted on a lower form, the end of whose ex- 
 istence was thus attained, until man was reached. But 
 what was the end of man's life if it ended here ? He 
 was a philosophical failure, a cosmic anti-climax. If this 
 life, however, was but a state of preparation for a future 
 existence, no violence was done to this grand law which 
 seemed to pervade all forms of matter, animate and in- 
 animate. 
 
 Moreover, there is no necessary connection be- 
 tween the soul and the body, and the death of the latter 
 is no evidence that the former ceased to exist. With 
 death the vital principle, the soul left the body, but who 
 should say that it did not continue its existence in a 
 different realm ? Man, too, has a conscience which told 
 him what was right and what was wrong. Right always, 
 
OLD AGE. 273 
 
 in the eternal fitness of things, must be rewarded, and 
 wrong must just as surely be visited with punishment. 
 In this world no one will say that the reward for right- 
 doing and the punishment for wrong-doing is meted out, 
 and a future existence is required to properly adjust 
 these important relations. The doctrine of the survival 
 of the soul was in favor of all good and opposed to all 
 bad. Men who do not believe in a future life are more 
 disposed to swear, drink, lie, and swindle than the 
 believers in a future existence. If these bad habits con- 
 sort with a denial of a hereafter, then the doctrine is 
 presumably false and meretricious. If, on the contrary, 
 the belief in immortality characterizes the good man, it 
 is prima facie evidence of the verity of that doctrine. 
 
 God in his writings has assured mankind that the 
 soul will live : "Then shall the dust return to the earth 
 as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave 
 it." Man lives under an inexorable law, which requires 
 the body to return to dust, and the spirit to return to 
 the Creator who gave it. There is no evasion or escape 
 from the operation of these laws. One of these laws 
 condemned man to an eternal, hopeless death, but the 
 other gave him eternal life. Here then was the answer 
 to the ancient query : " If a man die shall he live again? " 
 "The spirit shall return to God who gave it." 
 
 These laws are calculated to fill sinful men and 
 women with terror. They are afraid to die, and stand 
 at the Divine tribunal. They could not change the laws 
 or escape from their operation. But Christ was the 
 supreme law-giver. If they secured Him, He would 
 expiate their sins here and answer for them in Heaven, 
 and reclothe the disembodied spirit. 
 10* 
 
274 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE UNAVOIDABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 EEV. JOHK H. MACDONNA. 
 
 When a few years are come, then shall 1 go tlie way whence I shall not 
 return. — Job xvi: 22. 
 
 HPHIS is solemn truth to which every human being 
 must concede an unhesitating assent. And it is al- 
 so true that the sable stamp of death is engraven in in- 
 delible characters all over the world. This is a subject 
 which generally fills us with feelings of horror and 
 trembling, but there are some who look upon death as 
 Paul, and "desire to depart." Of these Job was one. He 
 had been made a partaker of affliction, suffered many a 
 bereavement, and he contemplated the time of his de- 
 parture with such satisfaction as none but a Christian 
 could feel, one who reposed all his confidence in his Re- 
 deemer. He rejoiced in the contemplation that his life 
 was so short — that its shortness would place a period to 
 his affliction, and reveal to him the glorious freedom 
 from sin and pain which he through Christ would gain 
 in the unseen world. Hence we hear him in holy joy, 
 exclaim, " When a few years are come," etc. 
 
 The words suggest two things for consideration. 
 
 I. The momentous journey here anticipated. 
 
 How momentous the journey to the tomb ! The soul 
 setting out from the perishing body to explore the mys- 
 teries of the unknown eternity ! This mysterious, this 
 momentous, awful journey has four characteristics : — 
 
 1. It is solemn in its nature. Death implies a sepa- 
 ration of soul and body ; the one to mingle with the clods 
 of the valley — the other to bound into eternity either as 
 a glorified saint to shine as a star for ever in the presence 
 of Christ or as a lost soul to dwell in the regions of dark- 
 
OLD AGE. 275 
 
 ness forever. It is separation too from all we loved on 
 earth and an entrance into the dark valley alone. 
 
 2. It is indisputable in its certainty. 
 
 " Your fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do 
 they live for ever ?" Where are those well remembered 
 faces and your dear ones that live in your memory ? All 
 gone. All have traveled the journey and gone through 
 the dark valley. 
 
 3. Death is unknown as to the time of its occurrence. 
 The moment is wisely hidden from our view. It may 
 
 be at any time or under any circumstances. When the 
 dimple of mirth is upon the cheek, when buying or sell- 
 ing occupies the attention or when old age has made the 
 grasshopper a burden. 
 
 4. Death is important in its consequences. 
 
 If we close the journey to the dark valley unsaved, we 
 are lost for ever. There is no more opportunity for 
 spiritual improvement. The door of mercy is shut for 
 ever. 
 
 II. The effect the anticipation of death ought to pro- 
 duce. 
 
 1. It should cause us seriously to examine ourselves to 
 see if we are prepared to undergo it. No one can enter 
 the country beyond the river without a passport furnish- 
 ed by Jesus. Now is the time to obtain it — this is the 
 day of salvation. With this, when the journey is over, 
 Jesus will welcome and embrace us and the cross will be 
 exchanged for the crown. 
 
 2. The consideration of this final journey ought to 
 stimulate the righteous to constant ivatchfulness. 
 "Watch," therefore says Jesus. Have your lamps well 
 trimmed — your armor all on and burnished and be as men 
 waiting for their Lord. 
 
276 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE AGED BELIEVES IN DEATH. 
 
 DAVID THOMAS, D.D. 
 
 By faith Jacob when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph ; 
 and worshipped, leaning on tlie top of his staff. — Heb. xi : 21. 
 
 A SPECIAL interest attaches to the last acts and 
 ~^^ words of one who has long been prominent in a 
 people's history, a professed believer in the Saviour, and 
 whose example has been, and will be influential. Such a 
 man was Jacob, With many imperfections he had noble 
 virtues, power with God, and the eye of a seer, but his 
 end has come. 
 
 Notice : I. His dying exercise. He blessed his grand- 
 children and worshipped. He was not regretting his 
 departure from the world, speaking scornfully about the 
 indifference of its inhabitants, lamenting the ingratitude 
 and neglect of his children and friends, and filled with 
 fearful forebodings of the future. He invokes God's 
 blessing on the two sons of Joseph. His heart warm 
 with love is yearning over them, and longing for their 
 spiritual welfare, and those who may succeed them. He 
 remembered his own God and the God of his fathers who 
 had been so kind to him, and, filled with the inspiration 
 of gratitude, reverence and devotion, he supplicates that 
 this same God may " bless the lads." 
 
 II. His dying attitude and action. He "leans upon 
 the top of his staff." This staff served to support his 
 tottering body. Age had made itself felt upon his once 
 hardy frame. His strength was departing. He was 
 shivering upon the dark borders of the grave, and the 
 staff was needed for his support. Thus does time bring 
 upon all the infirmities delineated by Solomon in Eccles. 
 xii. But while leaning thus, his staff would recall many 
 
OLD AGE. m 
 
 of the incidents in his varied and eventful history. It 
 may have come to him as an heirloom from his grand- 
 father Abraham. It may have been the same staff that 
 he took with him from his father's house when he 
 started a boy to Padan Aram. It may have been the 
 same staff that he handled as a shepherd when tending 
 the flock of Laban for over twenty years. It may have 
 Iain by his side when he slept at Bethel, and saw that 
 wondrous vision of augels on the ladder, and God above 
 it — promising to be his God, and Jacob when awaked 
 promising to be God's. It may have been with him 
 when he wrestled with the angel at the brook, and also 
 in his hand when he stood before the King in the palace 
 of Egypt. What wonderful memories would that old 
 staff evoke. What associations often cluster around a 
 tree, a stone, an old arm-chair, a picture, &c. Each is 
 like an archangel's trump to awake the buried thoughts. 
 How natural for the old man when dying to have this 
 memento of his life with him, and to lean upon it as 
 upon an old and trusty friend. 
 
 How delightful the exercise in which he engaged, 
 ind how unselfish the spirit he now manifested. He 
 seems now to go out of himself to others, and to God. 
 He seems wrapped up in the good of those dearest to 
 him on earth, and anxious that they should enjoy God's 
 favor, doing his will, and being prepared for an everlast- 
 ing companionship in Heaven. The God upon whom he 
 had depended all his life now seems dearer to him than 
 ever. He worships him as the ever adorable, everlasting 
 one into whose immediate presence he is about to pass. 
 
 The only way to die like Jacob — happy — blessing 
 others, and worshipping God is to live in friendship with 
 relatives now, trusting all to the Elder Brother, and 
 having God as the chief joy. 
 
278 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 REV. CANOK HUGH STOWELL. 
 
 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of 
 the dead. — 1 Cor. 15 : 21. 
 
 HPHIS is the Christian's spiritual pillar of cloud and 
 fire, on the one side so dark, on the other so bright, 
 and both caused by man. 
 
 I. The curse which cfame by man. " Death." 
 How terrible is death — how fearful his ravages ; how 
 unsparing his scythe ; how universal his dissolutions. 
 The blight of earth — the terror of man — the tyrant when 
 none can bribe, none elude, and none withstand. 
 Whence came it ? Did God originate it ? Was it in- 
 volved in his workmanship ? No. It came by man, by 
 his transgression — through this one root came the uni- 
 versal taint and this universal curse — death, spiritual, 
 legal, physical and eternal. 
 
 1. Spiritual death came by man. Man when created 
 was radiant with his Maker's image and instinct with 
 His spirit. His soul was in constant fellowship with 
 God. But sin separated him from God — the spirit of 
 God abandoned his breast leaving him dead in trespas- 
 ses and sins. 
 
 2. Legal death came by man. No sooner had man 
 disobeyed, than the sentence of death was pronounced 
 upon him. " By the offence of one, judgment came upon 
 all men to condemnation." The execution of the sen- 
 tence is suspended, but in the eye of the Divine law 
 man is dead, liable to eternal wrath, and there is but the 
 breath in his nostrils between him and the death that 
 never dies. 
 
 3. Physical death came by man. "Dust thou art 
 
OLD AGE. 279 
 
 and unto dust shalt thou return/' is written on each 
 brow. The seeds of decay are sown in each from the 
 first vital moment. All classes and ages alike are swept 
 into the dust, generation after generation like the leaves 
 of the forest in the Autumn time. 
 
 4. Eternal death came by man. An infinite God re- 
 quires a perpetual reparation to his justice, and since in 
 this world of woe, there is no remedial power or process, 
 sinning on the lost must suffer on, everlasting rebellion 
 must entail everlasting retribution. The thought over- 
 whelms us with horror and passes all comprehension. 
 
 II. The blessing which came by man. " Resurrec- 
 tion." 
 
 If infinite justice dealt with us through one federal 
 man in regard to our probation, it has no less dealt with 
 us in one federal man in regard to our redemption, so 
 that whosoever beliveth on that second man, the Lord 
 from heaven, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 In Him Emmanuel "God with us" condescended to in- 
 corporate himself with poor, dying, ruined humanity, 
 that he might lift us up out of the horrible pit into 
 which we had plunged and exalt us to everlasting life. 
 As man He suffered, and as God He saves. As man He 
 died, as God He rose victorious from the grave, and be- 
 came the Author of spiritual resurrection to every man 
 who receives him as the second Adam, the Lord from 
 heaven. In virtue of union with Him, the believer 
 "dies from sin and rises again unto righteousness." As 
 truly as we derive from the first Adam, death, temporal, 
 spiritual, eternal, so truly from Jesus, we derive our 
 spiritual, our legal, our eternal life. " Because I live, 
 saith He, ye shall live also." 
 
 What is death then when divested of its sting by the 
 blood of Jesus ? What is the dissolution of the body, 
 when it is in sure and certain hope it sleeps ? It is but 
 
280 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 a peaceful passage home. It is stript of its terrors. It 
 has no power to hurt them that are in Christ Jesus. 
 " Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 To crown all, by man came the resurrection to eternal 
 life. This is the perfection of the saint's resurrection — 
 raised not only from the grave, and from spiritual death, 
 but raised to die no more, and to have perfect consum- 
 mation, and bliss with Jesus for ever. Surely every 
 redeemed one may well peal forth the rapturous anthem, 
 " Worthy is the Lamb, &c." 
 
 The best evidence that we live by Him is, that we 
 live to Him. Let us not sorrow for our sainted sleeping 
 ones, as others that have no hope. Let our grief be ir- 
 radiated with hope — and when " Christ who is our life 
 shall appear we shall also appear with him in glory." 
 
 THE WARFARE AND VICTORY. 
 
 REV. GEORGE CLAYTON". 
 
 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto Tier tliat her warfare 
 is accomplished. — Isa. xl : 2. 
 
 r T , HIS message is full of Christ. It was intended in 
 the first place as a prediction of the liberation of 
 the Israelites from the yoke of Assyrian bondage, and to 
 the deliverance of the Jewish church from the bondage 
 of ceremonial rites and legal service by the advent of 
 Christ, and by the establishment of his glorious kingdom. 
 But the language of the text may be applied to the ter- 
 mination of any state of anxiety, hardship and grief, to 
 the conclusion of the believer's life in this sorrowful 
 world, which is a warfare, and death comes to him with 
 
OLD AGE. 281 
 
 the consolatory message, " Thy warfare is accomplished. " 
 Observe : 
 
 I. That the life of a believer in this world is a war- 
 fare. 
 
 It is often represented in scripture by this form of 
 military phraseology, "Fight the good fight of faith." 
 " War a good warfare," &c. 
 
 1. The great principle of the conflict is faith found- 
 ed and implanted in the mind by a supernatural agency. 
 No man will ever in a Christian sense conteud until he is 
 constituted a true believer, united by a living faith to 
 Jesus. Faith puts itself into an attitude of resistance 
 against all that is hostile to itself. It discovers to its 
 possessor many adversaries, both within and without, 
 everywhere, in all conditions. 
 
 2. This contention will be continued as long as life 
 lasts. This period constitutes the campaign, the war- 
 fare and the appointed time. The conflict must be sus- 
 tained without interruption, truce or armistice till we 
 come to the vestibule of the tomb. 
 
 II. The hour of death witnesses the accomplishment 
 of this warfare. 
 
 1. Death is the instrumental means of separating us 
 from our connection with the present evil world. When 
 death comes with its commission signed by the King of 
 Heaven in one hand, it comes with a label inscribed 
 with these words in the other, "Thy warfare is accom- 
 plished," a separation will now be made between you and 
 the elements of danger, the things that taint the eye, 
 pollute the ear and endanger the heart. 
 
 2. Death terminates the strife of sin ; puts an end to 
 the contention. What placidity reigns upon the counte- 
 nance of the departed, what exemption from all that 
 formerly kindled the passions, awakened the evil 
 principles of the heart, and produced a grevious conten- 
 
282 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 tion, which was conducted with many a groan and pang 
 in the secret chambers of the heart. But it is all over 
 when the stroke of death falls. 
 
 Death confesses the believer a conqueror over himself, 
 and yields the palm of victory at the moment when he 
 inflicts the blow. Death's triumph is only in appear- 
 ance, not in reality. 
 
 "For when pale death has lost his sting, 
 He wears an angel's face." 
 
 Nothing then remains to the believer but one unmix- 
 ed and everlasting triumph. 
 
 III. The consoling and exhilarating qualities of this 
 blessed consummation. " Speak ye comfortably, &c," 
 for the following reasons : 
 
 1. When the warfare ends, the rest begins. " There 
 remaineth a rest, &c." "They shall enter into rest, 
 &c." How delightful is that state of bliss which im- 
 mediately succeeds to the conflicts of time. What more 
 acceptable than rest to the weary and comfort to the 
 sorrowing ! 
 
 2. This state of rest is also a state of peculiar and 
 inexpressible delight. It is a joyful rest — in the Father's 
 house — where Christ is ; the city of the great King, 
 with all the ransomed spirits of the just made perfect, 
 and all the holy ones before the throne. Their employ- 
 ment as well as their society is joyful. They keep an 
 everlasting Sabbath. Contemplate the face of infinite 
 perfection and beauty, bask in the rays of an uncreated 
 sun, see Christ as He is, and are made perfectly like 
 Him. 
 
 3. This felicity is evermore increased. Even the 
 cup of full fruition will be continually enlarged. As the 
 circle of eternal ages shall roll on, the minds of the saved 
 
OLD AGE. 283 
 
 will be getting nearer and nearer to God and making 
 higher advances in knowledge, perfection and enjoyment. 
 
 4. This felicity will be for ever and without end. 
 "So shall we be ever with the Lord." "These shall 
 enter into life eternal." What that eternal life is, what 
 thought can conceive, or tongue can utter. A life with 
 God, a life like God's, a life continually tending to God, 
 a life eternal as the existence of God Himself. "Ever- 
 lasting joy shall be upon their heads." 
 
 The message implies nothing comfortable to a man 
 out of Christ. 
 
 HOPE FOE THE SLEEPING DEAD. 
 
 WILLIAM LANDELS, D.D. 
 
 1 would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which 
 are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who 
 no hope. — 1 Thess. iv: 13. 
 
 TTOW sweet and beautiful is sleep ! falling "like tired 
 eyelids upon tired eyes." How essential to nature ! 
 how delightfully refreshing and exhilarating in its in- 
 fluence ! Like other common blessings undervalued 
 because always enjoyed. The ancients believed it to be 
 the gift of the gods, and the Bible tells us, " so He giv- 
 eth His beloved sleep." Poets have taxed their powers 
 of language to utter its eulogy. Young's description of 
 it, is " tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." And 
 Mongomery beautifully says, " night is the time for rest," 
 etc. It is a striking illustration of the transforming 
 power of Christianity that it converts that which is most 
 repulsive to man into a thing so beautiful and grateful 
 as sleep. To the Christian man, death is but sleep. 
 This is the term most frequently employed in the 
 New Testament to describe the condition of the holy 
 
284 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 dead. Thus does Christianity strip death of its repul- 
 siveness, presenting under this pleasing image, mingling 
 pleasure with the thoughts of the departed, calming our 
 minds in the prospect of our dissolution and converting 
 our burial grounds into cemeteries, where after life's fit- 
 ful fever we calmly take our rest. 
 
 I. Death may be so called because of the peaceful 
 nature of the Christian's death. He lies down to die calm- 
 ly as the tired laborer to take his nightly rest, whereby 
 he knows he will gain sweet refreshment ; or like the 
 warrior after the hard-fought battle, lays aside his armor, 
 wraps his cloak around him and lays him down to well 
 earned repose. 
 
 II. The approach of death is often silent and soft as 
 the approach of sleep. As the weary man when he lays 
 his head on his pillow sinks imperceptibly into a state of 
 slumber, so the Christian oftentimes without a struggle, 
 gradually sinks until his eyes are closed to earthly things 
 and the spirit passes into God's presence. It is like the 
 melting of the morning star. It is like the fading away 
 of the summer cloud. 
 
 III. The Christian's death resembles a sleep because 
 of its attractiveness. The laborer toiling beneath a 
 burning sun sometimes longs for the shades of evening 
 when he may stretch his tired limbs and lose the sense 
 of weariness in the unconsciousness of sleep. So the 
 Christian many a time longs for death, because earth 
 is a place of incessant conflict, is daily losing its charms 
 — and heaven's attractions aie continually augmenting, 
 there he will rest, be with loved ones and with Jesus. 
 
 IV. The Christian's death may be compared to sleep, 
 because it is to be followed by an awakening. The 
 heathen might have no hope of a resurrection. The 
 Jew might but dimly see the shadow of the resurrec- 
 tion. But under the Christian dispensation the resur- 
 
OLD AGE. 285 
 
 rection is to the humblest believer an object of sure and 
 certain hope. Death to him is not a night with no 
 morning beyond, but a night which ushers in the morn- 
 ing of an everlasting day. It is impossible to mistake 
 the meaning of the Saviour's words. " Marvel not at 
 this, &c." And the Saviour's own resurrection has 
 broken the dominion of death and is the pledge that 
 those who sleep in the dust shall awake. 
 
 V. The Christian's death may be compared to sleep 
 because of the repose which he enjoys. He then enters 
 •' ; the rest which remains for the people of God." Life's 
 fitful fever over, he sleeps well. He enjoys the rest of 
 wearied humanity. He " rests from his labors/' no more 
 persecutions from sword or pen, or tongue, no more 
 sorrow or disappointment, no more warfare with sin 
 within or without, with Satan, The struggle is over, the 
 battle ended, and now he rests. 
 
 VI. The Christian's death may be compared to sleep, 
 because of its refreshing influences. When those who 
 sleep in Jesus shall wake up on the Resurrection morn- 
 ing they will appear refreshed and changed — but not so 
 changed as to prevent mutual recognition. The wearied 
 wasted body that sank into the grave, shall come forth 
 on the resurrection morning a renovated body, blooming 
 with immortal youth, exempt from infirmities, and en- 
 dowed with unknown strength. As the laborer awakes 
 in the morning recovered from the effects of the previous 
 day's labor, so on waking from the sleep of death, the 
 Christian shall be perfectly free from all the consequences 
 of this sinful earthly life. His soul shall be wedded to 
 a body worthy of itself, a body resembling in strength 
 and beauty the glorified body of Christ. 
 
 These considerations should lead us : 
 1. To moderate our grief over the loss of those friends 
 ivho sleep in Jesus. Christianity does not require us to 
 
286 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 be stoics. He who wept on the grave of Lazarus will 
 not frown on the sorrows of the bereaved. But we should 
 not " sorrow as those who have no hope." Since our 
 friends have gone to be with Jesus, and we shall meet 
 them there. 
 
 2. To contemplate death with less fear and aversion 
 than is generally felt towards it. There is something re- 
 pulsive in the article of death. But it is the way to our 
 Father's house, to the glorious realities that await us in 
 the better world. 
 
 3. To renewed animation in our present labors. Pre- 
 sent toil will sweeten future rest. Present work done 
 for God will increase the reward that God himself will 
 bestow upon us. " Be not weary," &c. — The resting 
 time will soon come. There are some to whom death 
 will not be such a sleep. Are you in Christ ? 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE OLD. 
 
 KEV. THOMAS BINNEY. 
 
 Your fathers where are they? and tlie prop7iets, do they live for ever? 
 Zech. i : 5. 
 
 r I^HESE words are appropriate to the occasion, and 
 •^ are in harmony with the feelings under which we 
 have assembled. They suggest : 
 
 I. The great law under which we receive and possess 
 existence — that we die : the law of mortality under which 
 we were born. 
 
 All men die and all things die. It could not well be 
 otherwise. Where there is vegetation there must be decay. 
 Where there is production and reproduction there must 
 be death. And had man continued innocent in a world 
 in which the species was to increase and multiply, there 
 
OLD AGE. 287 
 
 must of necessity have been some mode of removal ; for 
 a limited space never could have accommodated indefinite 
 numbers. And in the process of removal, man must 
 have been changed, translated, transfigured, and made 
 immortal. Nature and animals may have died before, 
 and therefore to man it was said, but "if thou eatest, 
 
 i also shalt die" 
 
 But it is better to look at death in its moral and 
 spiritual aspects, for thus it is commonly represented to us 
 in the Scriptures. " Death by sin." Death is the shadow 
 of sin. The great, dark, black substance, we call sin, 
 comes between man and the bright light of God's coun- 
 tenance, and casts its shadow over man. and that shadow 
 is death. In other words, it is the symptom of a deep- 
 seated disease. God applies his remedy to the cure of 
 the disease, and to this dark substance, and the symptom 
 is removed and the shadow disappears. They suggest : 
 
 II. The amazing power of the principle of life. 
 It is a wonderful thing, that a human body with its 
 nice and delicate organization should go on sleeping and 
 waking, toiling and working without intermission and 
 without rest for 90 or 100 years. Xo piece of mechanism 
 constructed by man could sustain that constant, per- 
 petual, uninterrupted action for all that time. But the 
 individual man previous to his being broken up and laid 
 aside has the amazing power of reproducing himself 
 many times, and thus though the individual departs, 
 they are left his representatives, new, fresh, vigorous, 
 to carry on the work and machinery of the world. The 
 power of man, then, even in this world is stronger than 
 death. In spite of all that death does and all that man 
 does to help him by drunkenness and vice and war, the 
 species increases more and more, so that if death begins 
 with a generation, and goes on cutting and mowing it 
 down, when he has thus gone round the world and comes 
 
288 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 back to where he started, there is a greater number alive 
 than when he began. 
 
 Such is the great and wonderful power in this prin- 
 ciple of life, and thus it is, that in a certain sense, 
 death is continually being conquered in his own world. 
 A prediction and a type of what awaits him when the 
 words of scripture shall be fulfilled, that "the last 
 enemy " shall be entirely destroyed and " mortality shall 
 be swallowed up of life." They suggest : 
 
 III. That though there be this wonderful power in 
 life, old age in general is not in itself desirable. Even 
 when comparative wealth can procure whatever is need- 
 ful, and make old age tolerable to the last, yet it often 
 happens, that old age is only an additional affliction to 
 the ordinary ills of life. Nature does a great deal in- 
 dependent of religion to bring men to be willing to die. 
 For where there is no religion, and no "good hope 
 through grace," and no trust in the Divine mercy the 
 language and feeling of the man often is, "I would not 
 live alway." The aged man stands alone, has outlived 
 his friends, his capacity of forming new attachments — 
 the world is behind him, a new generation has sprung 
 up that knows him not. He is dependent, surrounded, 
 and confined to a little circle of those immediately 
 about him, just as he was in childhood. The aged can- 
 not sympathize with new hearts and new persons, new 
 modes of thought and feeling. How different in this 
 aspect is man from God, who has fresh and young affec- 
 tion for every generation as it comes, and who can look 
 up to Him with the same cordiality and the same con- 
 fidence as the first. They suggest : 
 
 IV. That death of a very aged person is uncommon. 
 It is extraordinary. The general law is that men do not 
 all die at one particular age. There is no fixed date up 
 to which all men are to live and beyond which none can 
 
OLD AGE. 289 
 
 survive. This would have been intolerable, inconsistent 
 with the beneficent arrangements of a merciful God. He 
 would not thus poison life. But the price we have to 
 pay for this beneficent arrangement is, that we must be 
 prepared to see death occur at all ages, under all circum- 
 stances, the most affecting, the most tender, the most 
 tragical. There is nothing, therefore, in the time of a 
 person's death to indicate character, or the condition of 
 their future state. This uncertainty is therefore a be- 
 nevolent darkness and blessed thing. Few, however, live 
 over the allotted span of three or four score years. They 
 are the exceptions to the general law. The text suggests: 
 
 V. That there are limits to human probation and 
 Divine forbearance. Israel at this time had grown re- 
 miss, begun to pour contempt on God's word and temple, 
 and God had somewhat shown his displeasure by the earth 
 refusing her increase and the heavens their dew, and 
 Zechariah appeals to them, that there must be a limit to 
 disobedience of man and the exhortations of God ; that 
 the agents and the objects of the Divine mercy equally 
 die. This rebellion on your part, the prophet seems to 
 tell them, cannot go on forever. It is not God's way. 
 "The prophets, do they live for ever? And your fathers, 
 where are they ?" Dead. Now remember, says Zech- 
 ariah, you are living under the same law. Probation has 
 its limits. Forbearance has its limits. Time and oppor- 
 tunity of repentance have their limits. 
 
 We should lay this to heart. We are living under the 
 same law. We are now in the enjoyment of the means 
 of grace and the offer of salvation. God graciously 
 comes and speaks to us sending in the word and in the 
 ministry message after message, prophet after prophet. 
 But it must come to an end. It cannot go on for ever. 
 Our children will rise up and look back into the dark, 
 13 
 
290 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 dim past and say, they were " our fathers," "where are 
 they ?" We shall be gone. They suggest : 
 
 VI. The power and perpetuity of God's truth in con- 
 trast with the mortality of man. The prophets may die 
 and the fathers may go in like manner, but the utter- 
 ances of a true prophet survive. A true thought is a 
 Divine and immortal thing. What has come from the 
 mind and heart of God lives, has power in it. " The 
 prophets, do they live for ever ? But my words and my 
 statutes, &c," all will come to pass exactly as the Lord 
 had said. God's word has perpetual strength and youth 
 and power. It never grows old and never dies. 
 
 THE PERISHING AND THE ENDURING. 
 
 The grass withereth, the flower fadrth ; but the word of our God shall 
 stand for ever.— Isaiah xl : 8. 
 
 TSAIAH in these sublime chapters reaches the very 
 crown and flower of his prophetic work ; the splen- 
 did climax of a great whole. The text is uttered by the 
 second of two voices spoken to Isaiah as if out of the 
 world of spirits. 
 
 The immediate and historical purpose of these words 
 is, undoubtedly, to reassure the Jews of the captivity. 
 They were in Babylon as Isaiah saw them — saw them 
 across the centuries — far from their home, surrounded 
 by the imposing fabric of the great empire, crushed into 
 silent submission by its force, awed at times, or fascin- 
 ated b} 7 its splendor. It seemed so much more solid, so 
 much more lasting than the monarchy of David had 
 been, they could not think that it would perish. 
 
 It was to men whose eyes were resting on this scene 
 
OLD AGE. 291 
 
 of magnificence and power that Isaiah spoke out of an- 
 other land and out of an earlier age, the solemn words 
 " All flesh is grass and all the beauty thereof is as the 
 flower of the field." 
 
 Was it possible that such a metaphor could be truly 
 applied to the city and throne and people of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar ? Yes, it was passing. Isaiah already saw the 
 capture of the city by a Medo-Persian army. And after 
 the conquest of Persia by the Great Alexander, the city 
 ceased to be in any sense a seat of empire. It became, 
 in fact, for many centuries, a mere quarry, which sup- 
 plied the materials for building several cities. Every 
 modern traveller tells us, now, that "the beauty of the 
 Chaldees excellency/' has become heaps — that her walls 
 have fallen and been thrown down and broken utterly — 
 that her very site is a wilderness, that the wild beasts 
 of the desert lie there, that the natives regard the site 
 as haunted by evil spirits, so that neither will the Arab 
 pitch tent, nor the shepherd fold sheep there, that in a 
 word, prophecy has been literally fulfilled. The beauty 
 of human life is this : for many a century, its principal, 
 its representative centre, was after all but as a flower of 
 the field. " The grass withereth, &c." 
 
 And even had it been otherwise — had Babylon been 
 chartered with the promise of an eternal youth, 
 Babylonians would have died one after another. The 
 individual man is still as the grass which withereth, 
 even if the political society to which he belongs were 
 strictly imperishable. In this respect there was no dif- 
 ference between the courtiers and officers of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar and the silent captives, who, by the waters of 
 Babylon, sat down and wept when they remembered 
 Zion. Of bothft was true that " the grass withereth and 
 the flower fadeth." The simile has a two-fold force. 
 
 I. It justifies, to a certain extent, the sympathy with, 
 
292 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 the admiration of human life with its freshness, its 
 variety, its beauty, which would have been felt to a cer- 
 tain extent by captive -Israel. 
 
 What is more beautiful that a single blade of grass ? 
 There it is waving in the wind, inimitable in its form, 
 in the grace of its movement, in the subtilty and deli- 
 cacy of its texture. We cannot reproduce that blade of 
 grass, nor even really imitate it. It is just as much be- 
 yond us as the sun itself. How mysterious it is ! How 
 little really we know about it ! How did it come to be 
 there ? It grew from a seed. Why should it grow ? 
 What do we mean by that which we call "growth." 
 Growth is a profound unfathomable mystery moving be- 
 fore our eyes wherever we find it. It implies the active 
 energy of life. We share this power of growth and life 
 with the humblest blade of grass. We are far from 
 being dishonored when our life is compared in Scripture 
 to a thing so full of wonder and of beauty. 
 
 II. Isaiah refers to the grass as an emblem of the 
 perishable and the perishing. 
 
 The grass, has at best, a vanishing form, ready, al- 
 most before maturity, to be resolved into its elements — to 
 sink back into the earth from which it sprang. "The 
 breath of the Lord has blown upon it." Death does not 
 come to men, animals or herbs simply in consequence of 
 the chemical solvents which they contain, but because the 
 Being who gave them life, freely withdraws that which 
 he gave. Death is always the fiat of God, arresting the 
 course of life. This truth of revelation* is not at variance 
 with the chemistry of animal life. Whatever else human 
 life is, or may imply, it is soon over. It fades away sud- 
 denly like the grass. The world may have made great 
 progress during the centuries, but the frontiers of life do 
 not change with the generations of men. We are born 
 and die just as our rudest ancestors. Every one of us 
 
OLD AGE. 293 
 
 shall die. " The grass withereth, &c." It is not a bit 
 of sentiment, but a solid law, true at this moment and 
 always true. But : 
 
 III. " The word of the Lord endureth for ever." How 
 
 do we know that ? We know it to be true if we believe 
 two things — (1) that God the perfect Moral Being ex- 
 ists, (2) that He has spoken to man. 
 
 If God is eternal, then that which He proclaims as 
 his truth and will, will bear on it the mark of his 
 eternity. If it is true it will bear the impress of his 
 faithfulness. The great facts of Eeyelation, clustering 
 around Jesus Christ, as their centre and substance, do 
 not change, because they rest upon the authority of the 
 unchanging God. There is something that does not 
 change. It is still what it was when we were young, it 
 is what it will be when we are laid in our coffins. It is 
 liks God Himself. It lasts. Men's opinions about it 
 may change, but it remains what it was, hidden, it may 
 be, like a December sun — behind the clouds of specula- 
 tion or of controversy — but in itself unchanged, un- 
 changeable. " Thy word, Lord, endureth, &o." 
 
 Let us then remember these two truths, " The grass 
 withereth, &c." It is true of all other men, it must be 
 true of us. We may read the solemn truth in the world 
 around us. Every age, every rank, every profession 
 furnishes the proof. Life would be unendurable, but 
 for the second truth. "The word of the Lord shall 
 stand forever." What then is the object of my 
 thoughts, hopes, affections, conduct ? Is it this perish- 
 ing life, which must so soon have vanished like a dream, 
 which is so perpetually changing ? or, is it the unchang- 
 ing eternal word which liveth and abideth for ever ? 
 
 That great question, that question of questions, be- 
 tween the grass that withereth, on the one hand, and 
 the word that shall stand for ever on the other, must be 
 
294 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 answered. Let each answer for himself ere he takes 
 another step on the brief journey across the fields of 
 time towards the gate of the eternal world. 
 
 ASLEEP IN JESUS. 
 
 THEODORE L. CUYLER, D.D. 
 
 For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also 
 which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. — 2 Thess. 4 : 14. 
 
 IVTO Scriptural description of death is so suggestive and 
 so consoling as that which is conveyed by the fa- 
 miliar word sleep. It recurs often. Stephen the martyr 
 breathes his sublime prayer, and then " he fell asleep." 
 Our Lord said to His disciples : " Our friend Lazarus 
 sleepeth : but I go that I may awake him out of sleep" 
 Paul, in that transcendently sublime chapter on the resur- 
 rection, treats death as but the transient slumber of the 
 body, to be followed by the glorious awakening at the 
 sound of the last trumpet. And then he crowns it with 
 the voice of the Divine Spirit, that marvelous utterance 
 which has been said, and sobbed, and sung in so many a 
 house of bereavement : " I would not have you to be ig- 
 norant concerning them which are asleep ; for, if we be- 
 lieve that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
 which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." No 
 three words are inscribed on more tombs or on more 
 Hearts than these, "Asleep in Jesus." 
 
 These declarations of God's Word describe death as 
 simply the temporary suspension of bodily activities. 
 Not a hint is given of a total end, an extinction, or an 
 annihilation. The material body falls asleep, the im- 
 mortal spirit being, meanwhile, in full activity ; and 
 the time is predicted when the body, called up from the 
 
OLD AGE. 295 
 
 tomb, shall reunite with the deathless spirit, and the 
 man shall live on through eternity. What we call dying 
 is only a momentary process. It is a flitting of the im- 
 mortal tenant from the frail tent or tabernacle, which 
 is so often racked with pain and waxes old into decay. 
 Paul calls it a departure : "To depart and be with 
 CJirist." The spiritual tenant shuts up the window of 
 the earthly house ere he departs. We kiss the brow, and 
 it is marble. The beloved sleeper is sleeping a sleep 
 that thunders or earthquake cannot disturb. But 
 what is there in this slumber of the body that suggests 
 any fear that the ethereal essence of the spirit has be- 
 come extinct, or even suspended its activities ? When 
 the mother lays her darling in its crib, she knows that 
 sleep simply means rest, refreshment, and to-morrow 
 morning's brighter eye, nimbler foot, and the carol of 
 a lark in her nursery. 
 
 They who die in Jesus live a larger, fuller, nobler 
 life, by the very cessation of care, change, strife, and 
 struggle. Above all, they live a fuller, grander life, be- 
 cause they ' sleep in Jesus ' and are gathered into His 
 embrace, and wake with Him, clothed with white robes, 
 awaiting the adoption — to wit, the redemption of the 
 body." In God's good time, the slumbering body shall 
 be resuscitated and shall be "fashioned like to Christ's 
 glorious body " — i. e., it shall be transformed into a con- 
 dition which shall meet the wants of a beatific soul in its 
 celestial dwelling-place. Verily with this transcendent 
 blaze of revelation pouring into the believer's death- 
 chamber and his tomb, we ought not to sorrow as they 
 that have no hope. 
 
 In this view of death (which is G-od's own view) how 
 vivid becomes the Apostle's exclamation: " I am confi- 
 dent, and willing rather to be absent from the body and 
 to be present with the Lord" Paul was entirely willing 
 
296 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 that the old, scarred, and weary body might be put to 
 sleep, so that he might go home and be present with his 
 Lord. Then mortality would be swallowed up of life. 
 Go to sleep, poor, old, hard-worked body, the Apostle 
 seems to say, and Jesus will wake thee up in good time, 
 and thou shalt be " made like to the body of His glory, 
 according to the working whereby He subdues all things 
 unto Himself." 
 
 Let us not be charged with pushing this Scripture 
 simile too far, when we hint that it illustrates the different 
 feelings with which different persons regard the act of 
 dying. When we are sleepy, we covet the pillow and the 
 couch. Even so do we see aged servants of God, who 
 have finished up their life-work, and many a suffering 
 invalid, racked with incurable pains, who honestly long 
 to die. They are sleepy for the rest of the grave and the 
 home beyond it. For Christ here, with Christ j^onder, 
 is the highest instinct of the Christian heart. The noble 
 missionary, Judson, phrased it happily when he said : 
 "I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the 
 world ; yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with 
 the gladness of a boy bounding away from school." He 
 wanted to toil for souls until he proved sleepy, and then 
 he wanted to lay his body down to rest and to escape 
 into glory. 
 
 A dying-bed is only the spot where the material frame 
 falls asleep. Then we take up the slumbering form, and 
 gently bear it to its narrow bed in Mother Earth. Our 
 very word "cemetery" describes this thought. It is de- 
 rived from the Greek word Koi^r^piov (Tcoimeterion), which 
 signifies a sleeping-place. It is a mingled and promis- 
 cuous sleeping-place ; but the Master " knoiveth them 
 that are His." They who sleep in Him shall awake to 
 be for ever with the Lord. 
 
 On this tremendous question of the resurrection of 
 
OLD AGE. 297 
 
 our loved ones, and our reunion with them, our yearning 
 hearts are satisfied with nothing less than certainty 
 "We demand absolute certainty, and there are just two 
 truths that can give it. The first one is the actual fact 
 of Christ's own resurrection from the death-slumber ; 
 the second is His omnipotent assurance that all they who 
 sleep in Him shall be raised up and be where He is for 
 evermore. Those early Christians were wise in their 
 generation when they carved on the tomb of the martyrs 
 " In Jesu Christo oMormivit," — In Jesus Christ he fell 
 asleep. 
 
 The fragrance of this heavenly line perfumes the very 
 air around the believer's resting-place. Giving to the 
 Latin word its true pronunciation, there is sweet melody, 
 as well as Heaven-sent truth, in this song of the sleepers: 
 
 "Oh! precious tale of triumph this! 
 
 And martyr-blood shed to achieve it, 
 Of suffering past — of present bliss. 
 1 In Jesu Christo oodormivit. 1 
 
 " Of cherished dead be mine the trust, 
 Thrice-blessed solace to believe it, 
 That I can Utter o'er their dust, 
 4 In Jesu Christo obdormiviV 
 
 44 Now to my loved one's grave I bring 
 My immortelle and interweave it 
 With God's own golden lettering, 
 4 In Jesu Christo oodormiviV " 
 
 The brightest bow we only trace 
 Upon the darkest skies. 
 
 Frances Ridley Havergal. 
 13* 
 
298 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE GATES OF DEATH. 
 
 DAVID THOMAS, D.D. 
 
 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the 
 doors of the shadow of death ? — Job xxxviii : 14 
 
 nPHESE remarkable words are part of a wonderfully 
 sublime address, which God delivered to Job 
 amidst the rush and war of an eastern whirlwind. The 
 long, earnest and unsatisfactory debate which had been 
 carried on between the patriarch and his friends touch- 
 ing the government of God was thus terminated with 
 an awfully grand abruptness. In these communications of 
 the Almighty, He does not condescend to propound a 
 solution of the difficulty which had perplexed their 
 judgment and engrossed their discussion. 
 
 He gives no explanation of his doings, but the grand 
 aim of his appeal is to impress the importance and duty 
 of confidence in His character. Man, intellectually, is 
 too small to comprehend his doings. A firm unshaken 
 trustfulness, therefore, is at once his duty and interest. 
 
 Among the many things He appeals to in order to 
 impress Job with his insignificance, as compared with 
 his Maker, is the dark region of death expressed in our 
 text : — " Have the gates of death, &c" The allusion 
 here is to the state, which in the Hebrew is called S7ieol, 
 and in the Greek Hades ; which means the dark abode 
 of the dead — the deep, dark, vast realm to which all 
 past generations are gone — to which all the present gen- 
 eration is going and whither all coming men up to the 
 day of doom will proceed. The ancients supposed this 
 region to be underground, entered by the grave, and en- 
 closed by gates and bars. 
 
 This Divine appeal suggests four things : — 
 
OLD AG& 299 
 
 I. The mental darkness which enshrouds us. All the 
 
 phenomena of the heavens, the earth and the multiform 
 operations of the Creator referred to in this Divine ad- 
 dress, were designed and fitted to impress Job with the 
 necessary limitation of his knowledge, and the ignorance 
 which encircled him on all questions. The region of 
 death is but one of the many points to which he is 
 directed as an example of his ignorance. 
 
 How ignorant we are of the great world of departed 
 men ! What a thick veil of mystery enfolds the whole ! 
 What questions often start within us to which we can 
 give no satisfactory reply, either from philosophy or the 
 Bible ! We should be thankful that we are left in 
 ignorance : 
 
 1 . Of the exact condition of each individual in that 
 great and ever-growing realm. In general, the Bible 
 tells us that the good are happy and the wicked miser- 
 able. This is enough. We would have no more light. 
 We would not know all about those we have known and 
 loved ; we would not know the exact pursuits they are 
 following and the exact thoughts and emotions that cir- 
 culate in an incessant flow through their souls. If we 
 saw them as they are, should we be fit to enjoy the few 
 days of this brief life or to perform its duties ? We 
 should stand paralyzed at the vision. We are thankful 
 that we are left in ignorance : 
 
 2. Of our exact proximity to the great realm of the 
 departed. We would not have the day or the hour dis- 
 closed. The men to whom the day of death was made 
 known were confounded. Saul heard from Samuel, &c, 
 Peter told Sapphira, &c. Who if he knew it would 
 undertake any enterprise ? Would Moses have under- 
 taken the guidance of the Israelites, if he had known 
 that neither he nor they would cross the Jordan ? 
 
300 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Would Jonathan have ascended Gilboa ? David, &c. 
 Let us be grateful for this ignorance. 
 The Divine appeal suggests : — 
 
 II. The solemn change that awaits us. "The gates " 
 lave not been opened to us, but must. Speaking of 
 death according to the figure before us, we observe : 
 
 1. The gates are in constant motion. No sooner are 
 they closed to one than another enters. It is computed 
 that one enters every -moment. 
 
 2. TJie gates open to all classes. There are gates 
 which are to be entered only by persons of distinction ; 
 but here are kings and beggars, &c. 
 
 3. The gates open only one to ay — into eternity. We 
 have, it is true, an account of a few that have come back. 
 But only one Avho had not to go that way again. No 
 coming back. Job vi : 7-13. " They shall," says Job, 
 "return no more." Hezekiah. David said, "I shall go 
 to him, &c." We should rejoice in this. We would not 
 have the good back again, nor the bad. The Caesars, 
 the Alexanders, the Napoleons, back again ! No ! Thank 
 God for death. 
 
 4. The gates separate the probationary from the retri- 
 outionary. When we pass those gates what do we leave 
 behind ? on what do we enter. 
 
 5. The gates are under supreme authority. There is 
 one Being who can open them. Not accident, &c. The 
 Divine appeal suggests : 
 
 III. The wonderful mercy that preserves us. 
 
 1. We have always teen near those gates. We dwell 
 in houses of clay. 
 
 2. Tliousands have gone through since we began the 
 journey of life. Younger and better too. 
 
 3. We have often been made to feel ourselves near, (a) 
 In personal affliction. We have felt the cold breeze 
 coming up freezing the temple and chilling the blood. 
 
OLD AGE. 301 
 
 (b) In bereavements while we have stood by holy death- 
 beds we have felt the aroma wafted from the lovely scenes 
 on the other side. "The Lord is not slack concerning 
 his promise as some men connt slackness." The Divine 
 appeal suggests: 
 
 IV. The service Christianity renders us. 
 
 1. It assures us there is life on the other side the gates. 
 In stepping through them, we do not step into black 
 extinction. So much light as this, the old philosophers 
 never reached. 
 
 2. It assures us there is blessedness on the other side 
 the gates. It opens the door of the future and shows us 
 a world of men in heaven, "I saw a great multitude," 
 &c. 
 
 "They live, the beautiful, the dead, 
 Like stars of fire above our head." 
 
 3. It takes away the instinctive repugnance we feel in 
 stepping through those gates. 
 
 " It delivers those who through fear of death are all 
 their lifetime subject to bondage." It takes the sting of 
 death away, &c. 
 
 Friends, you must soon pass through these gates. 
 You are very near them now. " What is your life ? A 
 vapor," &c. — the flitting rays of a meteor. With the 
 first breath you drew you took a step towards those gates, 
 and thither you have been wending ever since. 
 
 " Your hearts, like muffled drums, 
 
 Are beating funeral marches to the grave." 
 
 I would not lessen the pleasures of young life. I 
 would not cool your blood, nor throw one shade over 
 those bright and glowing prospects which imagination 
 pictures ; but I would have you take life as it is and 
 
302 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 enjoy it for what it is worth. Enjoy it, as I have often 
 enjoyed, on my native mountains, the setting of a sum- 
 mer's sun. The streaks of glory which played upon the 
 western sky, as the great orb went down in blazing 
 splendor, kindled within me unutterable emotions of 
 delight, yet, I felt, as I admired, that the magnificent 
 scene would soon vanish, and all above and below would 
 be darkness. 
 
 " Time is a Prince whose resistless sway, 
 Everything earthly must needs obey, 
 The aim of war, and the tyrant's frown, 
 And the shepherd's crook and the conqueror's crown. 
 Palaces, pyramids, temples, towers, 
 With the falling leaves and the fading flowers, 
 And the sunset's flush and the rainbow's ray 
 At the touch of Time are passing away." 
 
 JOB'S TESTIMONY ABOUT HIMSELE AS A 
 BELIEVEE. 
 
 THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D. 
 " And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh 
 
 shall 1 see God; Whom 1 shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall 
 
 behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. 
 
 — JoBxix: 26, 27. 
 npHIS is the testimony which the patriarch has to give 
 concerning himself. 
 
 I. Job's faith was his own ; intensely personal and ap- 
 appropriating : "I know that my Redeemer liveth"— 
 not Adam's, Abel's or Noah's Redeemer, not merely "the 
 Redeemer of God's elect " — but " my Redeemer." Less 
 than this would have been less than the faith "that over- 
 cometh f and the bearer of a Gospel too stinted to war- 
 rant this would have been to him the most miserable of 
 
OLD AGE. 303 
 
 •all his ''miserable comforters." Such little words as 
 " my " are the life and nerve of faith's vocabulary. His 
 health and wealth, &c, were gone. His only hold was 
 then to cling to the Redeemer as his Own, his One. his 
 All ; and to Him he clung as with a deatlrs-grasp, with 
 the tenacity of true, appropriating personal faith, while 
 his nearest and dearest abandoned him, while his depend- 
 ents reviled him, and the wreck of his wonted grandeur 
 lay strewn all around him. 
 
 Thus did Job. Thus let us do. Our warrant is not 
 what we find in ourselves as better than others, or even 
 as better than our former selves, but in the precious Gos- 
 pel truth that God is to us " the God of peace " as the 
 God and Father and gracious Giver of that divine-human 
 Redeemer " who gave himself a ransom for all," and 
 therefore for us. In the pure effulgence of this "glorious 
 Gospel of the blessed God," in '-'words legible only by 
 the light they give," without any reflex or circuitous 
 regard to our own experiences, which would only stir 
 dust before our eyes, faith sees in Jesus all it wants, and 
 straightway exclaims with Job, "My Redeemer !" — with 
 Thomas, "My Lord and my God!" — with Paul, " He 
 loved me, and gave himself for me /" And with the sweet 
 singer of Israel, and the true and good of all times, who 
 never tire of harping on that same string. 
 
 II. Job's faith had a strength and consistency that 
 amounted to Jcnoirfedge. " I know that my Redeemer 
 liveth." not I trust, I hope, or even I believe, but " I 
 know." •'■' If we receive the witness of man, the witness 
 of God is greater." For this reason, and because that 
 witness, or Gospel testimony, is so self-luminous, and so 
 adapted to our case, the faith of it is called in the Scrip- 
 ture not only the belief but " the knowledge of the truth." 
 And the favorite language of truth has ever been "I 
 know." Thus Martha, "I know" &c. Thus Paul savs, 
 
304 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 " I know" &c., and in the same way Job here says, " I 
 know that my Eedeemer liveth." Of all knowledge that 
 is the deepest, the best, and the last. 
 
 Ah, how many, on this vital theme, have failed to rise 
 above the foggy horizon of vague and half-whispered hopes 
 to the spiritual empyrean where faith becomes knowledge. 
 These vague hopes may suffice while fair weather lasts, but 
 the storm, though far less violent than that which beat 
 on Job, will snap them like a spider's web. What will it 
 avail? " By faith we stand." "By faith we walk." 
 By faith we run, "looking unto Jesus." By faith we 
 triumph, for the conflict is a "fight of faith," and this is 
 the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 
 "We "overcome through the blood of the Lamb," or 
 through faith in the Redeemer and His ransom. Such 
 power lies in the watchword, " I know in whom I have 
 believed." 
 
 III. It is thus already manifest that Job's faith was 
 of a fibre that was proof against all earthly trial, even to 
 the last and worst. Never was man so tried as he, ex- 
 cept his Antitype, "the Man of Sorrows." This very 
 chapter contains an effecting recital of his woes, culmin- 
 ating in the most plantiff of cries (see verses 14-19, 21). 
 His barque was fast foundering ; but to him, as to the 
 disciples long after, the form of the Eedeemer appeared 
 walking on the crest of the billow. With the eye of 
 faith he saw him ; with the ear of faith he heard His as- 
 suring word, "It is I; be not afraid." And with the 
 grasp of faith he clung to Him; not like the sinking 
 Peter, with the distracted cry, "Lord save me, I perish !" 
 but in the collected repose of his own assured faith, " I 
 know that my Eedeemer liveth." He well knew that 
 the hand that smote must be the hand to heal. 
 
 IV. It was a faith that triumphed over the fear of 
 death ; for, in Job's belief, death was near. The breath 
 
OLD AGE. 305 
 
 of the grim king was already freezing his vitals. His 
 wasted frame seemed to him as ready for the grave as 
 the grave, he said, was ready for it. It was an out- 
 worn vesture of flesh which fell disease had rent. His 
 malady had overspread his body with an envelopment of 
 angry sores, whose corroding action, he here tells us, had 
 left him no skin except the enamel of his teeth. But 
 his faith remained. His consciousness of integrity — 
 "that column of true majesty in man" — was as erect 
 and stable as ever. He knew that his Eedeemer lived, 
 and would stand at the latter day upon the earth, 
 Hence he nobly adds : " Though after my skin, worms 
 destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." 
 
 What an animating example. In Job we have the lot 
 of man in its extremes — in its best estate, and in its 
 worst. " Look on this picture and on this :" on Job 
 the prosperous, and Job the abject. Once, kings might 
 have stood awed in his presence, or fallen at his feet, 
 and asked his patriarchal benediction ; now, none so poor 
 "to do him reverence." Compare chapter xxix : 7-11 
 with chapter xix : 13-22. Left alone, yet able to say 
 with his Eedeemer, "I am not alone, for my Father is 
 with me," he turns from earth to heaven, from man to 
 God. Such a time must one day come to us all. Happy 
 will it be if it then finds us triumphant with a faith like 
 Job's. "Death's terror is the mountain faith removes." 
 
 V. The patriarch's faith assured him of eternal 
 blessedness with God, beyond death and the grave. 
 
 First, it embraced the immortality of the soul, and 
 its separate and happy existence after death. Instead of 
 the expression, "in my flesh," in ver. 26, we prefer the 
 marginal rendering "out of my flesh." 
 
 I do not think it is the Eesurrection that is here 
 spoken of, but Christ's Incarnation — not His second 
 coming, but His first. The other sense is, that Job, no 
 
306 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 longer in his flesh, but out of it, in his disembodied state 
 (the body being now in the grave), should, in his free 
 emancipated spirit, see God in heaven. In other words, 
 when death came — and Job felt already as one standing 
 face to face with death — and when his body should go, as 
 his skin had gone before it, into decay and dissolution, 
 still there remained his nobler part, his deathless soul, 
 which, as spirit with spirit, should be blessed along with 
 the redeemed in the pure and celestial vision of God. 
 
 Secondly, Job anticipates with rapture that he would 
 then see God to be on his side. Many and grievous were 
 the charges his harsh friends had brought against him ; 
 he appealed from them all to his Divine Friend in 
 Heaven. As he says elsewhere, "My record is in 
 Heaven, my witness is on high." The God whom I am 
 about to see, when I escape from this wretched flesh, He 
 will " bring forth my judgment to the light, and my 
 righteousness as the noonday." Now where does Job 
 express this ? In verse 27, when rightly rendered, in the 
 triumphant words : " Whom I shall see to be for me, and 
 not against me." The expression then is, " Whom I shall 
 see to be for me, and not to be a stranger or enemy to 
 me n — that is, '*' Whom I shall find to be on my side, and 
 not like you, my harsh friends, to be against me." Ah, 
 what a precious hope, what a glorious alternative ! " If 
 God be for us, who can be against us ?" 
 
 It only remains to observe, finally, that Job's hopes of 
 bliss all pointed to the glorious vision of God, whom he 
 expected to see as his highest good, his reward, his ex- 
 ceeding joy, his God, his guide, his portion for ever. 
 This constitutes the heaven of heaven that God is there, 
 that Christ is there, that the Divine Spirit is there, that 
 the Three-One God of Salvation is specially and ever- 
 lastingly there. Happy place, and happy patriarch who 
 felt sure of it, and of soon being in it ! And happy the 
 
OLD A OB. 307 
 
 poorest and most toilworn and care-striken of men who, 
 while sharing with Job in his trials, shares also his faith ; 
 knows his Redeemer ; knows that He has died, and died 
 for him ; knows that He lives, and lives for him ; knows 
 that His sin-atoning blood has answered for him, being 
 shed for him as it was shed for all ; and knows that, 
 when death throws open to him the doors into the 
 Eternal Kingdom, his soul shall vault out of its prison 
 of clay, and be received by Jesus into the many mansions 
 of the blest, there to hunger no more, to thirst no more, 
 to weep no more, and, better than all, to sin no more, 
 but to be a fit subject and citizen, henceforth and for 
 ever, 
 
 " In the blest kingdoms meek of joy and love, 
 "Where entertain him all the saints above, 
 ♦ In solemn troops and sweet societies, 
 That sing, and singing in their glory move, 
 And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes." 
 
 TfeE DAY OF THE CHRISTIAN'S HEATH. 
 
 KEY. GEORGE S. INGRAM, 
 
 IN INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, TWICKENHAM, ENGLAND. 
 
 " The day of death is better than the day of one's birth. "— Eccles. 
 vii: 1. 
 
 HPHIS statement must be understood not absolutely, 
 but conditionally. There are thousands of whom 
 only its converse shall be found true. The day of their 
 birth was one of hope ; it was the entrance on a life 
 which might have been one of true goodness, being one 
 of faith on the Son of God, and hence a life of prepara- 
 tion for "glory, honor, and immortality/' But the pre- 
 cious opportunities of every passing day are being ne~ 
 
308 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 glected, and the day of death shall be the termination of 
 all mercy and hope, and consequently the ruin, beyond 
 remedy, of their deathless and priceless souls. Of such 
 persons the truth in our text will not hold good ; it is 
 applicable only to those who " die unto the Lord," and 
 none can do so but those who are simple and sincere be- 
 lievers in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and 
 the sinner's Saviour. Of none then, save the true Christ- 
 ian, can it be correctly affirmed that " The day of death 
 is better than the day of one's birth." 
 
 1. This affirmation is true, inasmuch as the day of 
 the Christian's death brings deliverance from all suffering 
 and grief. Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly up- 
 ward. None are exempted from pain and sorrow. The 
 day of birth ushers us into a world which has been truly 
 called a " vale of tears," but the day of a Christian's death 
 is the day that liberates him from all suffering,— and in 
 which all tears are forever wiped from his eyes. In 
 such a case then, " the day of death is better than the 
 day of one's birth." The end of a voyage is better than 
 the beginning, especially if it has been a stormy one. 
 The dangers of the deep are past, and the shore is now 
 reached in safety ; therefore, in this respect, the end of 
 a voyage is better than the beginning. And so it is with 
 the day of the Christian's birth, and the day of his death. 
 But we "look with very different feelings on thedejiarture 
 of a follower of Jesus. We feel sorrow, it is true, but it 
 is associated with no fears in connection with the de- 
 parted ; it is sorrow arising from the consciousness of 
 personal loss, — the loss of the society, the counsels, 
 and encouragement of the deceased. It is sorrow associ- 
 ated with hope, and therefore it gradually ripens into joy. 
 As the heart recovers itself from the stunning stroke in- 
 flicted by death, it thinks on the state of perfect security 
 and peace on which the departed has entered, — a state 
 
OLD AGE. 309 
 
 wherein scrij - us, ''there shall be no more 
 
 th, neithei yi og, neither shall there 
 
 be any more pain; for the former things are passed 
 away." 
 
 2. Our text holds true on another ground, namely, that 
 the day of death is the day of fi 
 The afflictions which the Christian has to endure, do not 
 
 Jten so much concern in his mind as sin does. Paul, 
 although he knew that in everv city, bonds and afflic- 
 tions awaited him. could say, " None of these things 
 move me. neither count I my life lear unto myself :" 
 "hen striving against sin, an 1 feeling f *a law in his 
 members warring against the law of his mind, and bring- 
 iug him into :• tivity to the law of sin which was in 
 his members/'* he was made to cry out, "0 wretched 
 man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of 
 this death ;" The believer's life is one long and arduous 
 ..:: t sin. From worldly losses >r bereavements, 
 
 and from bodily sufferings we may be for many years 
 
 1 ; but from our warfare with sin we are never for a 
 single moment exempted. It is the chief work which 
 . _: as to do, for unless we be bringing our 
 hearts into subjection to his will. — cherishing tows 
 him the " faith which worketh by love/' 7 and growing in 
 that "holiness, without which no man shall see the 
 Lord f unless there be this inward conformity to the 
 image of Christ, no external service can be acceptable to 
 God. The spell and power : sin in the heart must 
 
 en if the outward life is to be a living unto the 
 Lord. 
 
 The day of the Christian's death is the lay in which 
 he obtains a full and final triumph over sin. It is the 
 day in which the word of grace in fa a son] is brought 
 
 ion ; and is not that day better than the 
 of his birth? I~ n t the day in which the warrior 
 
310 MEMORIAL TRIBVTM. 
 
 sheaths his victorious sword, puts off his bruised and. 
 stained armor, a happier day than the one in which he 
 buckled it on ? So surely it is also with every "good 
 soldier of Jesus Christ/' 
 
 3. The words of our text are true in the case of Christ's 
 followers, because the day of their decease introduces 
 them into a state of endless reward. To be beyond the 
 reach of all sorrow and. pain, and to be such complete 
 victors over sin as to have every thought and feeling of 
 the soul in fullest sympathy with God, — this of itself 
 would be " joy unspeakable and full of glory.'" But 
 there is something even beyond this which the scriptures 
 tell us awaits the departed saint. David said to G-od, 
 " Oh ! how great is thy goodness which. thou hast laid 
 up for them that fear thee ; which thou hast wrought 
 for them that trust in thee before the sons of men." 
 Peter speaks of "an inheritance incorruptible, and un- 
 defiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven. - " 
 Isaiah and Paul say, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart T)f man, the things 
 which God hath prepared for them that love him." And 
 a Greater than them all has said ; " To him that over- 
 cometh, will I graDt to sit with me on my throne, as I 
 also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his 
 throne." All such passages, with many more which we 
 need not cite, plainly declare, that there shall be rewards 
 to Christians in heaven. These, we believe, shall be ac- 
 cording to the trust and love cherished towards Christ, 
 the service done, and the suffering endured, for his sake 
 on earth. 
 
 Think what a reward the companionship of heaven 
 shall be, " Ye are come," said Paul to the believing 
 Hebrews, when speaking by anticipation of the glory and 
 certainty of their prospects, — "Ye are come unto Mount 
 Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly 
 
OLD AGE. 311 
 
 Jerusalem, aud to an innumerable company of angels, to 
 the general assembly and church of the first-born which 
 are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and 
 to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the 
 Mediator of the new covenant." Think of associating 
 with angels, becoming the companions of patriarchs and 
 prophets, of apostles and martyrs. With what veneration 
 do we read now of those men, " of whom the world was 
 not worthy." What an honor and blessing must it be 
 then to become the associates of such ; to see them, and 
 speak with them face to face, as we converse with our 
 familiar friends here. Nor will it be the least delightful 
 element in the companionship above, that the godly 
 friends we loved on earth shall be all known by ns there. 
 What a blessed reward then does the day of death con- 
 fer on the believer in Jesus. It ushers him into the pres- 
 ence of those whose faces he had often seen on earth, 
 with the tones of whose voices he was fondly familiar, and 
 with whose intercourse are associated some of thetender- 
 est and holiest recollections which memory can retain. 
 The fondest and happiest circle of loving ones here is 
 never long unbroken, for, as the poet truthfully and 
 touchingly says, 
 
 44 There is no flock, however watch'd and tended, 
 But one dead lamb is there ! 
 There is no fireside, howso'er defended, 
 But has one vacant chair." 
 
 And this thought of death and separation creeps, like a 
 huge cold shadow, over the sunniest scenes of domestic 
 enjoyment. But no such thought can enter the bosom 
 of the departed saint when he joins the friends of his 
 affection above. And a richer reward than even that 
 awaits us, if we live and die unto the Lord. There is 
 
312 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 One in heaven who " is not ashamed to call us brethren/' 
 " a friend who sticketh closer than a brother/' whom we 
 have not seen, but around whom our holiest thoughts 
 and strongest affections cluster and cling. " We shall 
 see Him as he is." We shall gaze unvailed on that 
 blessed countenance on which, for us, the dark shadow 
 of death once rested, but which is now "as the sun 
 shining in his strength." To stand in his presence 
 where is "fullness of joy/' or to sit at his right hand, 
 where " are pleasures for evermore," is the consumma- 
 tion of every aspiration and hope which the regenerated 
 spirit can cherish. JSTo wish can soar higher than this ; 
 and surely the day that fulfills it is better than the day 
 of the most auspicious birth. 
 
 For all this information we are indebted to Jesus 
 Christ alone. He "hath brought life and immortality to 
 light in the gospel." His death is the only " propitiation 
 for our sins," by which he has obtained for us an en- 
 trance into heaven, and has thereby spoiled death of its 
 sting. Hence, it is said, that he "hath abolished death;" 
 and Himself declared, " Whosoever liveth and believeth 
 on me, shall never die." To the Christian "there is no 
 death ; what seems so is transition." The lifeless body 
 is laid in the grave, but it rests in the sure hope of a 
 blessed resurrection ; and the ransomed and liberated 
 spirit, the moment its " earthly house of this tabernacle 
 \s dissolved, has a building of God, an house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens." This is what we call 
 ieath to the believer. And oh, how fitted it is to com- 
 fort and heal our mourning and wounded hearts, when 
 bereft of those we loved, and who loved Christ too. 
 " They are not lost, but only gone before ; and are now 
 realizing to the full, the truth of our text, — "The day 
 of death is better than the day of one's birth." 
 
OLD AGE. 313 
 
 HEAVEN WARNING EARTH. 
 
 T. RAFFLES, D.D. 
 
 AT THE FUNERAL OP REV. WILLIAM ROBY, AN AGED MINISTER. 
 
 The voice said cry, and lie said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, 
 &c— Isa. 40: 6. 
 
 TDRETHREN : 
 
 There are seasons when the heart is too full for 
 utterance, and the lips inadequate to express what the 
 spirit feels. Such is the present moment. We must not 
 be so absorbed in grief for the dead, as entirely to forget 
 what we owe to the living. " The voice said, Cry, Cry, 
 and he said, what shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all 
 the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field ; the 
 grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of God 
 endureth for ever." 
 
 My Christian friends, you have often heard the voice 
 of our departed friend speaking to you from this place, 
 with all that affectionate earnestness by which his public 
 labors were so pre-eminently characterized, of the things 
 which belong to your everlasting peace ; and many of 
 you have, I fear, up to this time, remained unmoved and 
 unimpressed. Hear that voice once again — it is the last 
 time — it speaks to you from the bed of death, from the 
 open grave. Hear it ! " Prepare to meet thy God \" 
 You must meet him ! Every one in this vast assembly 
 must meet him in death and at judgment. You know that 
 He will bring you to death, and to the house appointed 
 for all living. Of all the millions that have lived, from 
 the first of men to the present moment, only two have 
 escaped the stroke of death ; and you cannot be so infat- 
 uated as to imagine that there are any circumstances 
 in your case so peculiar as that the third exception to 
 14 
 
314 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 the general rule should be in your favour. No, you 
 know that yon must die. To each and every one of you 
 there is ' ' a time to be born, and a time to die:" — the 
 first is past, the second is to come ; and the same certain- 
 ty rests on both. It may not be this year, or for many 
 years : it may be at some distant period ; but the time 
 will come when the prophetic announcement will be re- 
 alized in your case — "This year thou shalt die." If I 
 could read the names of all here who will yet be summoned 
 this year to the bar of God, what a sensation would be 
 excited ! How every eye would be fixed on the fatal 
 scroll, and every ear intent on the sad recital, anxious to 
 discover whether his name or that of his nearest friend 
 would be found included in the catalogue. What would 
 this prove but the consciousness of the deep interest you 
 individually possess in that solemn and momentous 
 event ? Why, then, deceive yourselves any longer ! Why 
 attempt to put off the consideration of an event that will 
 certainly happen to all, and by which all are lost if it 
 come upon them unawares and find them unprepared. 
 " What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world 
 and lose his own soul \" The soul once lost, is lost for 
 ever. The treasures of a thousand worlds cannot be 
 compared with the value of one immortal soul. Though 
 you should have the gold of Ophir, the mines of Peru, 
 the gems of India, the spices of Arabia, and the cedars 
 of Lebanon ; though you should call these, and the king- 
 doms and merchandise of this world, all your own, with 
 all their pomp, and majesty, and glory, what would they 
 avail if you lost your soul ? " What shall a man give in 
 exchange for his soul ?" Then, let me entreat your 
 attention to this solemn question. Are you prepared to 
 die ? I ask all and each in this vast assembly — are you 
 prepared to die ? 
 
 And what is it to die ? Men talk of death as the 
 
OLD AGE. 315 
 
 king of terrors ; and they are correct if they mean that 
 death is encompassed with terrors of the most tremen- 
 dous sort. Men talk of death as the debt of nature, as 
 though in the payment of this debt, all were settled, and 
 the balance between man and existence were closed for 
 ever. But this is a rash and nnscriptural way of speak- 
 ing of death ! What, then, is death ? It is the separa- 
 tion of the soul from the body, not final but temporary, 
 not eternal but for a season. As it regards the body, it 
 is the extinction of the vital principle ; it is disorgani- 
 zation, ruin, decay, corruption. " The dust returns to 
 the earth, from whence it came, but the spirit returns 
 to God who gaye it/' There is hope of a tree if it be 
 cut down," that other springs will behold its verdure, 
 other autumns its fruit. " But man dies and wasteth 
 away, and giveth up the ghost, and where is he ?" You 
 look on a cold and lifeless body ; you touch it, and per- 
 ceive that corruption soon begins its work ; all its sym- 
 metry and vigor soon disappears ; the countenance that 
 was wont to beam with intelligence and love, is dull and 
 inanimate. That is death : but that is not all death. If 
 you would know what death is, you must mark the disrup- 
 tion of every earthly tie ; you must mark the spirit and fol- 
 low it to an unseen world ; you must mark the character 
 and circumstances of its unalterable condition there; 
 and then, when you have heard its sentence, and listened 
 to its doom, you will know what death is. 
 
 But why must all men die ? Because " all have 
 sinned, and come short of the glory of God." "By one 
 man sin entered into 'the world, and death by sin." Men 
 talk of the dignity of human nature, and are offended 
 at us if we speak of sin ; and yet dare not charge the 
 Deity with caprice or injustice. But, is it not unjust to 
 inflict punishment on innocence ? If man were not a 
 sinner, would he die ? Would not his innocence be his 
 
316 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 security ? Would not man be saved from death if he 
 were innocent ? All have sinned, and, therefore, all must 
 die, and stand at His tribunal. It is sin that has ren- 
 dered this world a vast mausoleum, and converted Eden 
 into a gloomy Golgotha. But those that place their 
 trust and confidence in the Mediator, shall never die, for 
 he took upon himself our nature, paid the penalty which 
 we had incurred, entered the grave, ascended upon high, 
 and " led captivity captive," that he might be the resur- 
 rection of life. 
 
 Do you ask me what are the consequences of death ? 
 1 say to the man who tramples under foot the Son of 
 God, who will not flee for shelter to the cross, the conse- 
 quences must be tremendous, beyond the power of 
 language to describe, or imagination to conceive. But 
 the man who believes in the mediation of Christ, when 
 summoned before the dread tribunal, to him the conse- 
 quences of death are gloriously transporting ! For "eye 
 hath not seen, nor car heard, neither hath it entered 
 into the heart of man to conceive what God hath laid 
 up in store for them that love him." I would now press 
 my question again ; are you prepared to die ? Do you 
 lay hold on Christ as the only ground of your hope ? 
 "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the 
 end of that man is peace." 
 
 Xever was this declaration more strikingly illustrated 
 than in the death of our departed friend. Those who 
 watched round his pillow, could not tell the precise mo- 
 ment when he expired. His lips and eyes seemed closed 
 in peaceful slumber. There was no indication of ap- 
 proaching death ; no pang, no struggle, no sigh ; only 
 the respiration became less and less ; and whilst the 
 medical attendant watched his last moments, his pulsa- 
 tion ceased altogether ; and even then he could not be- 
 lieve that existence had closed, till he had laid his hand 
 
OLD AGE. 317 
 
 upon his heart, and found that it had ceased to beat. It 
 must be a delightful reflection for all who enjoyed his 
 pastoral labors, that he was able to preach once every 
 sabbath, except the last. On the morning of New Year's 
 day, he had attended the prayer-meeting, and keenly felt 
 the severity of the season. On the following sabbath, 
 he administered the sacrament of the Lord's supper, 
 though with difficulty, and preached his thirty-fifth an- 
 nual sermon to the young people, instructed in the Sun- 
 day-school attached to the church. He was urged not 
 to do so, but his heart was set on it. It was his last work, 
 and when it was done, he said, in the expiring words of 
 the Saviour, " it is finished !" He was carried home in 
 a sedan chair, never to come out again. He came down 
 stairs as usual through the week ; but on the sabbath 
 kept his bed, and next morning he rested from his labors. 
 " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord/' 
 
 Now, my dear friends, who have been permitted to 
 sit under the ministry of our departed brother, this dis- 
 pensation speaks volumes of admonition and instruction 
 to you. Not one of all the sermons he preached, shall 
 be lost; nor shall his faithful testimony fall to the 
 ground as respects any one of you. If not " the savor 
 of life unto life," it will be "the savor of death unto 
 death." Grod forbid, as it respects any one of us, that he 
 should feel the latter. I beseech you, ponder on the 
 things which belong to your everlasting peace, ere they 
 be for ever hid from your eyes. 
 
 Men, brethren, fathers ! I, as a dying man, speak to 
 to you who are dying around me, and I charge you this 
 day " before God, and before the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing," 
 that you "give all diligence to make your calling and 
 election sure," that so you may be found of him in 
 peace. 
 
318 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Now let us go to the place of sepulture, and bury our 
 dead out of our sight. Let us take his precious dust and 
 lay it in the grave, in the sure and certain hope of a joy- 
 ful resurrection. 
 
 J 
 
 THE BELIEVEK'S CONFIDENCE. 
 
 REV. EDWARD PARSONS, OF LEEDS, ENGLAND. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF REV. JOHN HYATT. 
 
 llcnow . . . that in my flesh I shall see God. — Job xix: 26. 
 
 OB uttered the words which I have just read. He 
 enjoyed the thought of dying ; he looked to his 
 death as connected with the highest and sublimest con- 
 solations. Job, indeed, appears to have had no resource 
 but in God — no hope but in the thought of that day 
 when he should see God, and see him in his then suffer- 
 ing body. 
 
 The subject on which I mean to dwell, with a view 
 to your instruction and comfort is, this : The believ- 
 er's CONFIDENCE IN THE DOMINION OF CHRIST OVER 
 THE LAST ENEMY DEATH. 
 
 I. The subjection of the body to the dominion of 
 death. 
 
 1. Man is essentially composed of a material body, of 
 an immaterial soul. The soul and the body are closely 
 and inseparably united for the life that now is. But 
 this union of body and soul must be dissolved. 
 
 The period when this dissolution of the union be- 
 tween the soul and the body may take place, is unknown, 
 is uncertain to us; but it is fixed, irrevocably fixed by 
 the decree of the supreme Arbiter of life and death. 
 
 In the dissolution of the union now subsisting be- 
 tween the soul and the body, death takes possession of 
 
OLD AGE. 319 
 
 the body as his own lawful prey ; and consigns it to his 
 own prison, the dark and loathsome grave ; and there 
 he holds it in captivity till the morning of the resurrec- 
 tion ; that morning in which the captive shall be 
 delivered — in which Jesus will triumph gloriously as the 
 Resurrection and the Life, over all the power of death. 
 The apostle, referring to the dominion of death over the 
 body, calls it a " vile body." It is vile in its origin — in its 
 subjection to loathsome disease, and tormenting pain — 
 in reference to the dust to which it must be consigned at 
 the last ; for it must be the prey of death and of worms. 
 In the 49th Psalm it is said, "Death shall feed on them, 
 and their beauty shall consume in the grave." 
 
 Die we must ; our bodies humanly speaking must be 
 divided into particles, and so scattered as to preclude the 
 possibility of a union of these particles. But though we 
 acknowledge this to be impossible with man, it is possi- 
 ble to God. It is no "incredible thing" that God 
 should raise the dead, though these particles were scat- 
 tered to the remotest parts of earth. 
 
 II. The subjection of death to the dominion of Christ. 
 
 " He must reign till he hath put all enemies under 
 his feet" — "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
 Death." Jesus Christ came into the world to "destroy 
 death, and him that had the power of death." Jesus 
 Christ now lives in the character of a Redeemer to ac- 
 complish this work. Jesus Christ will come at the ap- 
 pointed day to complete the work, and to destroy death, 
 and him that had the power of death, for ever. "Unto 
 them that look for him shall he appear the second time, 
 without sin, unto salvation." It is necessary that he 
 should thus appear ; it is certain that he will thus appear. 
 When he thus comes, then, every grave shall yield up its 
 deposit ; every body, wherever deposited, shall rise at 
 his word, and shall stand in his presence. 
 
320 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 This resurrection of the dead will be universal. 
 " All that are in the grave shall come forth :" come 
 forth to the resurrection of the life eternal, or the resur- 
 rection of damnation. Not an individual body can be 
 lost ; all, all must rise again \ all, all must appear before 
 him. 
 
 Then I add — this resurrection, this great and wonder- 
 ful change, is ascribed to the mighty power of Christ 
 the Eedeemer. (See Phil, iii : 21.) And there is some- 
 thing, I think, very interesting and affecting in the 
 order of the resurrection in the last day. In 1 Thess. 
 iv : 16, it is said, " the dead in Christ shall rise first ;" 
 that is, they shall rise, and be changed, before they are 
 changed who shall then be found living upon earth. 
 
 III. Observe the character in which the Lord Jesus 
 will assert his dominion over the last enemy. 
 
 1. Job says, " In my flesh I shall see God." He had 
 before said, " I know that my Redeemer liveth ;" the Re- 
 deemer and God then are the same. In 2 Cor. v. 10, it 
 is said, " We must all appear before the judgment-seat of 
 Christ;" and John says, "I saw the dead, small and 
 great, stand before God." Then Christ is God. Were 
 he not God, could he raise the dead ? Could he effect 
 this great and wonderful change on the body, which we 
 have described ? Could he sentence the guilty to hell ? 
 Could he exalt the justified to eternal life and glory in 
 his own presence ? Oh, no ! All this is the work of 
 God ; and Christ is God. 
 
 2. He w(ll assert his dominion over death as God the 
 Redeemer. As the Redeemer of men he was early re- 
 vealed ; and as the Redeemer of men he early commenced 
 his work of redemption. The revelation of his character, 
 and the commencement of his work, must be dated from 
 the fall of man. No sooner did man fall, than Christ 
 was revealed. From the first revelation of his redeeming 
 
OLD AGE. 321 
 
 love, he began to deliver from the curse of the law — 
 from the tyranny of Satan — from the thraldom of sin — 
 from the bondage of this present evil world — from the 
 fear of death, and from death itself, as " the Resurrec- 
 tion and the life.'" 
 
 This work of redemption displays all that is interest- 
 ing in his character, and all that is endearing in the dis- 
 pensations of his goverment. See these three things. 
 
 (i.) There was an infinite Love in the price of Re- 
 demption. For we are redeemed u with the precious 
 blood of Christ." 
 
 (ii.) There is Omnipotent power in the application of 
 this work. Your knowledge of Christ as a Redeemer — 
 your fellowship with Christ as a Redeemer — all you re- 
 ceive from him — all you hope with reference to his eter- 
 nal presence in the heavenly world ; all must be ascribed 
 to the power of his Spirit. That power made you what 
 you are, and by it you are kept through faith unto salva- 
 tion. 
 
 (iii. ) There ivill be Immutable Fidelity in the comple- 
 tion of this worh. For God the Redeemer, who began 
 the good work among you, will carry it on. His work in 
 the hearts of his people, and in the world, will termi- 
 nate in absolute and everlasting perfection and blessed- 
 ness. 
 
 Here let me make some application. Wliat a source 
 of consolation is this, in all the changes of the ivorld, in 
 all the losses we may sustain. Here, too, is a source of 
 consolation to all bereaved families. This day has exhib- 
 ited a very melancholy appearance ; it has been sacred as 
 a day of mourning. But let us compose and comfort 
 ourselves. Has God taken away the companion of our 
 lives, or chief earthly support and comfort, the desire of 
 our eyes, at a stroke ? Have we been bereaved of the 
 child of our hopes ? Are the objects of our tenderest 
 14* 
 
322 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 affections numbered with the dead ? in the midst of 
 death in your houses, and death in your religious con- 
 nections. look to Him that ever liveth ! Whoever 
 dies, God the Eedeemer lives ! Whatever earthly com- 
 forts are taken, He can still give you others. Whatever 
 friend may die, that friend never dies, never changes ! 
 He ever lives — lives for you, and lives in you. 
 
 IV. The final triumph of Christ over death will con- 
 stitute the final happiness of all the redeemed. The text 
 admits of two senses. 
 
 1. / shall see God my Eedeemer in this my lody. 
 The day of resurrection is a real and not a metaphorical 
 period. A real body will be raised ; the same body in 
 form and substance as that which was deposited in the 
 grave. Job, therefore, says, "In my flesh I shall see 
 God." In my suffering, dying, vile body, I shall see my 
 Eedeemer ; these eyes shall behold him, and be eternally 
 contemplating him in glory. 
 
 2. " I shall see God in my flesh. I shall see God my 
 Eedeeemer in that flesh which he assumed to become 
 my Eedeemer. That body in which he was subject to 
 hunger, thirst and weariness ; that body in which he was 
 so degraded upon earth ; in which he agonized in the 
 garden and on the cross ; in which he was so insulted, 
 tormented and crucified on Calvary. I shall see him 
 in that body in which he suffered to effect my redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 And observe another thing : I shall see him for my- 
 self. I shall see him as my own Eedeemer — I shall see 
 him in perfection. Now I see through a glass, darkly ; 
 but then, face to face, as he is, not through a medium, 
 I shall see him in all his unveiled, unclouded glory. 
 And this vision will be connected with infinite joy ; and 
 the joy of the vision will be consummated in a perfect 
 
 
OLD AGE. 323 
 
 conformity to him ; for I shall be changed into the same 
 image. 
 
 You know "what onr friend was in life ; and now you 
 have heard what he was in death. 
 
 You see what religion is ? You see what comforts 
 and supports it affords ! Here is a man who suffered as 
 much as mortality could well bear, with all the ardor 
 which characterized his ministry, breathing out his soul 
 in full submission to the will of God ! 
 
 I will only add, 
 
 " Let me die the death of such a righteous man ; and 
 let my last end be like his I" And may you all die such 
 a death, and come to such an end ! 
 
 PRAYER FOR WISDOM IN VIEW OF DEATH. 
 
 REV. T. RAFFLES, D.D. LL.D., LIVERPOOL, EiTGLAKD. 
 
 AT THE FUNERAL OP DR. M'ALL MANCHESTER, ENGLAND. 
 
 " Lord so teach us to number our days, that ice may apply our Tiearts 
 unto wisdom" — Ps. xc. : 12. 
 
 T3ERHAPS there is no portion of the Holy Writ more 
 instructive than the touching confession of 
 which the text forms a part. In considering these 
 words, we may confine ourselves to that bearing of them 
 which appears best adapted to produce those impressions, 
 which, at a moment like the present, we ought to be 
 most anxious to secure. To be able to apply our hearts 
 to wisdom, and rightly number our days, ought to be J 
 the great business of life ; for it is the chief end of man. 
 But if this be deserving of your chief attention — if this 
 consideration ought to work upon your conduct through 
 life — if death should surprise you destitute of this prep- 
 aration, imagine how deep — how bitter, yet unavailing, 
 
324 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 will be your regret that you did not attend to it, while 
 there was yet time. How then you will mourn with the 
 lost, and cry out in the anguish of your spirit — ' Foolish 
 that I was, how did I hate instruction, and turn from 
 the ways of wisdom when it might have been of avail/ — 
 
 There are two things which demand our attention, in 
 considering this text : — 
 
 I. The lesson to be learned. This psalm is entitled 
 " A Psalm of Moses," so that it was a composition of the 
 Jews, as early as the deliverance out of Egypt. It was 
 composed about the time when the faithless spies 
 brought the news of the children of Anak being in Ca- 
 naan, when the people murmured, and God's anger was 
 kindled at their unbelief and rebellion, and He resolved 
 that they should not enjoy the promised land, but fall in 
 the wilderness. At this time, it is presumed, the limit 
 of man's years was confined to about seventy : while 
 only Moses and Isaac, and Jacob lived to a greater age. 
 On this occasion it was, and under these circumstances, 
 that this beautiful psalm, settingforth the fleeting nature 
 of human life, was composed. It is unquestionably one 
 of the most impressive lessons on this momentous subject 
 in the sacred volume. 
 
 Mark both the matter and the manner of the lesson. 
 First, the matter. It is, " to number our days '" and it 
 is "so to number them " — in a way so judicious and use- 
 ful — "as to apply our hearts unto wisdom." How is 
 this, then, to be done ? How are we to number our 
 days ? Not by an arithmetical calculation of them — not 
 by counting them up so as to be able to say — "I have 
 lived so many days." Little skill would be required to 
 do this, and the labor, if applied to no other purpose, 
 would be little worth. Nor does it consist of an attempt 
 to calculate the years we have yet to live — a vain effort to 
 pry into the secrets of futurity. No sage has ever 
 
OLD AGE. 325 
 
 learned the art of calculating or ascertaining this ; and 
 every attempt to plunge into that futurity which God 
 has veiled from our sight is as futile as it is impious ; 
 nor would I give much concern, nor vainly endeavor to 
 estimate the days we have to live. This is not the lesson 
 inculcakd ; but by "numbering our days" in the text, 
 is meant the deep and due consideration of them — what 
 they are — whence they come — whither they are pending 
 — how they are employed — what will be their final issue, 
 and their grand result. " So teach us to number our 
 days," and thus we shall "learn to apply our hearts to 
 wisdom." 
 
 Consider their brevity. It seems but yesterday that 
 we began to live, and yet with the youngest of us a great 
 portion of life is gone — with many of us more than half 
 of our days are past, and with some of us nearly all ! 
 
 In " numbering your days " consider your vanities. 
 With what foolish and vain pursuits the days are for the 
 most part occupied ! What multitudes there are whose 
 days are spent in idleness, discord, and profligacy ! 
 They sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind. Who 
 could expect a different harvest from such seed ? Surely 
 evil man, at his best estate, is all vanity, and the works 
 of men are vanity. They undertake difficult enterprizes 
 in foreign countries and acquire fame ! but what is it ? 
 Vanity. The pursue abstruse studies, and they attain 
 to literary renown, and survive in their writings. What 
 is it all ? Vanity. They rise up early, and sit up late, 
 and eat the bread of anxiety and amass wealth. What 
 is it ? Vanity. They attain to fame, and obtain the ob- 
 jects of their ambition — they are loaded with honors, 
 their names become associated with heraldry, and their 
 deeds become the subjects of history. But what is it 
 all ? Vanity. In fact, all the objects and pursuits of 
 life will be in vain if we have not a regard for the salva- 
 
326 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 tion of the soul. Amongst the numberless objects of 
 life this constitutes the "one thing needful." To ac- 
 complish this ought to be the great business of life. 
 
 II. Consider the manner of this lesson we have to leam. 
 ( * Teach us to number our days ;" and all of us here are 
 left without excuse, if we neglect to obey the injunction. 
 In the sacred Word we are admonished on the shortness 
 of human life and the rapid approach of eternity. 
 " Few have the days of my life been (says Jacob), and I 
 have not attained unto the days of the years of my 
 fathers." The prophets teach us this too. " The voice 
 said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is 
 grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of 
 the field." The apostles teach us this. " For what is 
 your life ?" says James; "It is even a vapor that ap- 
 peareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." The 
 Redeemer teaches us, " Watch therefore, for ye know 
 neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man 
 cometh." "And what I have said unto you I say unto 
 all, Watch." But oh, how slow at heart are we, and un- 
 willing to profit by these admonitions. And yet we 
 might read lessons on mortality in every page of Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 God teaches it us by the promises of the Gospel, the 
 whole of which rest upm the fact of the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ. So that every saying you hear, if it be 
 constituted on evangelical principles, is addressed to us 
 as dying men, and exhibits Christ as the End of life, the 
 Conqueror of death, the Opener of the grave, in whom 
 " whosoever believe th, though he were dead yet shall he 
 live," " and he that liveth and believe th in Him shall 
 never die." 
 
 God teaches us this Jesson by the means of providence. 
 We are dying daily in the persons of our kindred and ac- 
 quaintance. Every day some tie that binds us to life is 
 
OLD AGE. 327 
 
 bursting as it brings us nearer to that which must wit- 
 ness our own dissolution ; and he that liyes the longest 
 only lives to witness the greater desolation — to wander 
 like a lonely being in the midst of society, to sigh and 
 grieve over all he loved and knew, now hid from his 
 sight. 
 
 He teaches us by night. The ebbing of the tide, the 
 setting of the sun, the waning of the moon, the revolv- 
 ing of the seasons, the interchange of day and night — 
 pleasant as they are — all admonish us that they are made 
 as fitting memorials to us that our time is brief: — 
 
 " For soon the spring of youth is past, 
 
 Our manhoocVs summer sheds its bloom ; 
 Then age, like autumn's chilling blast, 
 Brings on the winter of the tomb." 
 
 Nor can we pass through the streets without finding 
 admonitions such as these — the windows closed to inti- 
 mate that death has been an inmate there — the hatch- 
 ment placed over the door to intimate the honors of 
 some one to whom the pomp of heraldry is nothing now 
 — the passing bell to inform us that another soul has 
 entered the eternal world. All these speak the same 
 truth, and impress the same lesson — urge upon us the 
 same great duty ; and it is that to which we are directed 
 in our text : — " So teach us to number our days, that we 
 may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Everything is 
 admonitory. The rooms of our houses are adorned by 
 portraits of persons who have long since ceased to 
 breathe. Our libraries contain books which are the 
 writings of men, who being dead yet speak. And when 
 we repair in solitude to our cabinets, every letter — every 
 lock of hair — every token of remembrance, tells us of 
 the death of some one we loved, and warns us to prepare. 
 We are then without excuse if we fail to learn the lesson 
 
328 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 which teaches us " to number our days ;" and yet how 
 vain all these admonitions are, if religion has not 
 stamped her impress upon the heart ! 
 
 III. The end to which, when learned, this lesson is to 
 be applied. Alas ! my brethren, we may so number our 
 days as to apply our hearts to folly. We may so mis- 
 understand and pervert the lessons which are given us, 
 as to turn them into a curse ; and every day we make 
 them a swift witness against us. We may so number 
 our days as to say with the fool — "Let us eat, drink, 
 and be merry, for to-morrow we die." 
 
 Oh, suffer me to ask you this all-absorbing, this 
 momentous question — are you interested in Christ ? 
 Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? Have } r ou a new 
 heart, and as a necessary consequence a holy life ? Oh ! 
 do you walk with God in sweet communion here on 
 earth ? If not, be assured that your heart is not right 
 in the sight of God, and all your pretense to piety is as 
 " sounding brass and tinkling cymbals." Oh ! if my 
 departed brother could now hear me, he would say — 
 "Yes, thus I preached, thus you preach, and thus we 
 must all preach if we would render up our account with 
 
 joy." 
 
 It inculcates the wisdom of making the best use of 
 our time. To have labored for the good of others and 
 to the glory of God, this is the true wisdom. Time is 
 invaluable. It is more precious than rubies. It cannot 
 be purchased. Every moment should be fully occupied 
 in engagements worthy of our attention as rational 
 creatures and heirs of immortality. Every moment 
 should be employed in doing good, and it is wonderful 
 how much may be accomplished by the judicious ar- 
 rangement of time. What hours, days, months, and 
 years may be created out of the fragments of time which 
 many idle, thoughtless persons throw away in useless 
 
OLD AGE. 329 
 
 amusements — in sleep that rather injures than in- 
 vigorates. Qh ! that they understood these things — that 
 they would consider the value of their time. 
 
 It includes the wisdom of improving all the means of 
 grace and all the dispensations of providence, our sab- 
 baths and seasons of worship and prayer, our opportu- 
 nities of retirement, our books of instruction and advan- 
 tages. Our diseases, infirmities, calamities, bereave- 
 ments, are all means of grace — dispensations of provi- 
 dence, to be cultivated and improved, and are capable of 
 yielding beneficial results. 
 
 Lastly, it includes the employing faithfully the talents 
 committed to our trust. Of these every man has a por- 
 tion, however few or many. But though you have only 
 one, or only half a one — bear in mind that it must be 
 managed carefully ; that one, that half, must be em- 
 ployed so that He who gave it may receive it again with 
 usury. It is not enough that you do not use it. It is 
 required, that you employ it with as much care as though 
 He had given you a number ; and not as tli3 servant 
 "who wrapt it in a napkin and hid it in the earth." 
 Your talents then, whether consisting of property, ge- 
 nius, station or time, must not be wasted ; but diligently 
 and faithfully employed, while you look conscientiously 
 for that which is to render the keeping of those talents 
 subservient to His glory. And as you learn to ' i number 
 your days," learn also the wisdom of withdrawing as 
 much as possible your affections from earthly possessions, 
 whatever they may be. Oh,, how uncertain they are ! 
 We cannot ensure them a single hour. The man of 
 wealth says, as he surveys his splendid estate "There is 
 much goods laid up in store for the morrow ; eat, drink 
 and be merry/' Lo ! a voice is heard — " Thou fool, this 
 night thy soul shall be required of thee \" Oh, nothing 
 here is certain ! There is no tie so strong that death will 
 
330 MEMORIAL TMBUTES. 
 
 not dissolve it. It is true wisdom, then, to transfer our 
 affections from things temporal to the things of eternity. 
 
 And now let us turn from these reflections to dwell 
 for a few moments, on the memory of that honored and 
 illustrious individual, by whose removal in the meridian 
 of his days and the zenith of his power we have now been 
 called together. 
 
 Under any ordinary circumstances, it would be ex- 
 pected to give some estimate of the talents and endow- 
 ments of that departed saint, whose memory we have met 
 to improve. But I feel, in the present instance, no such 
 unreasonable expectation will be entertained ; nor would 
 you highly esteem the modesty of the individual who 
 should entertain such a favorable opinion of his own 
 competency for the task. Suffice it to say — such splen- 
 did talents and vast and varied acquirements have rarely, 
 if ever, been seen in common with such unaffected mod- 
 esty, genuine humility, piety, and ardent devotion of 
 every faculty to God. But, by the moral qualities of 
 his heart, and those amiable and Christian graces that 
 dignified his character, even the intellectual greatness of 
 his genius was transcended and surpassed. With what 
 meekness and child-like simplicity — with what satisfac- 
 tion would he sit at the feet of the humblest of his 
 brethren, to learn more of his Saviour and of the cross ! 
 To that cross he clung for support. On that cross he 
 took his stand. On that cross he fixed the firm, the 
 steady/ and exclusive grasp of his faith. Beside that 
 cross he determined to abide — a determination he never 
 ceased to realize. He determined to know nothing else 
 as the burden of his discourses. With that theme he be- 
 gan — with that theme he advanced— with that theme, 
 with the cross, he triumphed ; and, under its hallowed 
 influence, he lived and died, in the utmost height of a 
 well-earned celebrity, in the zenith of his usefulness, with 
 
OLD AGE. 331 
 
 a reputation unblemished, and a character without 
 spot ; and now that cross is the theme of his exultations 
 and the burden of his songs in heaven ! 
 
 And now, my beloved and honored and generous 
 friend — farewell. Be . it my aim to follow in thy career 
 of usefulness. My days like thine may be short ; but if 
 it may be mine to meet thee in the realms of glory, very 
 plenty have they been to me. Those that were dear 
 to thee shall be dear to me. Thy afflicted widow and or- 
 phan boy shall be dear to me, as they were to thee. To 
 them I tender all those feelings of sympathy and regard 
 for their happiness, which my heart would dictate, but 
 my faltering tongue may not express. Farewell! I feel 
 an oppressive sense of loneliness. But there is One who 
 watches over and will support us, and who has said, 
 " Lo ! I am with you always ; be thou faithful unto 
 death, and I will give thee a crown of life." 
 
 HOLY ARDOR AFTER A HEAVENLY STATE. 
 
 REV. CHARLES HYATT. 
 
 AT THE TABERNACLE, CITY ROAD, LONDON. 
 
 1 ' 1 pray thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond 
 Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon." — Deft, iii: 25. 
 
 VVTHAT an interesting sight to behold an old man, 
 whose grey heirs and tottering limbs tell you that 
 he once "bore the burden and heat of the day," but 
 that he is now past labor, and is hastening to " the house 
 appointed for all living." 
 
 When we contemplate such an aged man, under the 
 idea of "an old disciple," one who can say with Oba- 
 diah, " I, thy servant, fear the Lord from my youth f 
 then we look upon him with pleasure ; then we unite to 
 
332 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 say with Solomon, " the hoary head is a crown of glory," 
 seeing it is "found in the way of righteousness." Then we 
 reflect on the glorious orb of day, and remark, "the 
 path of the just is as the shining light, shining more and 
 more unto the pertect day." Then, we turn our atten- 
 tion to the harvest field, and think on the good old man 
 " coming to his grave in a full age, like as a shock 
 of corn cometh in his season." Then we mark the 
 stately vessel entering into port with its rich 
 lading all safe and its colors flying, after a long and 
 tempestuous voyage, and we hear the apostle saying, — 
 " so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly 
 into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 Well, such an old man is now set before you in the 
 character of Moses. Picture to yourselves this man of God. 
 He was "a hundred and twenty years old ; his eye was 
 not dim, nor his natural force abated." See him on 
 this side Jordan, reminding the people in the camp 
 that they were about to go over to take possession of the 
 promised land, and encouraging Joshua to lead them ! 
 See him, full of days, full of zeal, full of grace, and pray- 
 ing as in the text, "Let me go over and see the good 
 land that is beyond Jordan, that goodty mountain, and 
 Lebanon." 
 
 This prayer of Moses regarded the land of Canaan, 
 which Jehovah had promised to Abraham and his de- 
 scendants the Israelites. But that "goodly land " was 
 a type of heaven ; and viewing it as such, we can easily 
 conceive of an aged saint, as he stands on the verge of 
 another world, contemplating heaven as "the promised 
 inheritance," where "the wicked cease from troubling, 
 and the weary are at rest ;" and praying with Moses, " I 
 pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is 
 beyond Jordan, that goodly land, and Lebanon." View- 
 
OLD AGE. 333 
 
 ing it in this light, we may consider the passage used 
 under the New Testament dispensation, as expressive of 
 holy ardor after a heavenly state. And we will in- 
 quire, 
 
 I. From what principle does this desire after a heav- 
 enly state arise ? 
 
 I. The love of life is natural to man. It is a principle 
 which the God of nature has implanted in the breast of 
 all living beings, rational and irrational. The Christian 
 religion cherishes this natural love of life, and says to 
 every man, " Do thyself no harm !" At the same time 
 it unfolds to our view immortality and everlasting life , 
 removes from its genuine partakers the fear of death ; 
 and inspires the soul with a holy " desire to depart and 
 be with Christ, which is far better." Thus while nature 
 cherishes the love of life, Christianity enables us to rise 
 above it. 
 
 This desire after heaven arises : 
 
 9. From having formed a right estimate of the present 
 world. — He has passed through the world, and that not 
 as a cynic ; he has mixed in the world's society, he has 
 tasted some of its pleasures, he has acquired some of its 
 riches,hehas enjoyed some of its esteem; in all these things 
 "the lines may have fallen to him in pleasant places." 
 Yet, by the grace of God, he has been taught to see that 
 "vanity of vanities" is inscribed " on all the world calls 
 good or great." He leaves it to the worldly-minded, the 
 merely natural man, to say of this world, " thou art all 
 my desire, thou art my God!" His soul, born from above, 
 seeks heaven as its natural element, and heavenly things 
 as its only portion ; and he still prays with Moses, "I 
 beseech thee, let me go over and see the good land that 
 is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon." 
 This desire arises, 
 
 %, From having realized the blessing of true religion. 
 
334 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 There is such a thing as true enjoyment in religion. " 
 taste and see that the Lord is good," is an Old Testament 
 expression ; and the New Testament expression is equiva- 
 lent to it, "as new-born babes desire the sincere milk of 
 the word, that ye may grow thereby ; if so be ye have 
 tasted that the Lord is gracious." . This is what we call 
 real religion, and it is this which excites such ardent 
 desires after heaven. 
 
 What is heaven ? What is the spiritual idea of heaven ? 
 It is the full enjoyment of our heavenly Father's face. 
 We shall see Him as he is, through the medium of his 
 Son Jesus Christ, the Lamb that was slain. 
 
 What is heaven f It is a tranquillized mind : an 
 eternal and undisturbed peace with God, arising from 
 the assurance that sin is pardoned, and that God is 
 reconciled. This is the result of justification. 
 
 What is heaven ? — It is joy arising from a happy 
 union to the " spirits of the just made perfect" You 
 have, doubtless, had a foretaste, of this heaveuly enjoy- 
 ment when united in church fellowship : when around 
 the Lord's table, you have felt that you were all one in 
 Christ, and united in spirit to all "the excellent of the 
 earth." These, and many other enjoyments of true, 
 believers, have a strong resemblance to the enjoyments 
 of the heavenly state. And having had these foretastes, 
 the soul is on the wing for full possession. " Give me 
 this water, that I thirst not !" All who have tasted the 
 enjoyments of real religion upon earth will say, " I pray 
 thee let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond 
 Jordan, that goodly mountain and Lebanon." This de- 
 sire arises, 
 
 3. From strong faith in the unspotted honor and in- 
 tegrity of Him who has promised this good land to us. 
 The Christian believes that God has graciously revealed 
 of this heavenly state. It was faith in God's promise 
 
OLD AGE. 335 
 
 which inspired the Israelites to proceed on their march 
 through the wilderness. The same principle had before 
 actuated their great progenitor Abraham : he firmly 
 believed what God had told him ; and hence, ' ( he went 
 out, not knowing whither he went/' When the Israelites 
 went out, they knew not the road ; but Jehovah had 
 promised to guide them, and the cloud and pillar were 
 with them through all their journey. 
 
 Well, Christian, aged Christian, you are going to 
 heaven, to the land of which the Lord hath said, " I will 
 give it to you/' Of you it shall be said, as it was of the 
 patriarchs, " They went forth to go into the land of 
 Canaan ; and into the land of Canaan they came/' 
 
 Thus, you see the man, you see his hold of heaven. 
 You hear him expressing his desire, and you find from 
 what it arises. Is the character, is the desire yours f 
 Are you thus " bringing forth fruit in old age ?" Do 
 you thus long to depart, and to be with Christ, which is 
 far better ? If so, there will be proofs and evidences, 
 which I proceed to point out, 
 
 II. What are the evidences of your truly desiring a 
 heavenly state? 
 
 1. Earth loses its attraction. — Brethren, I fear many 
 of you must say with the poet, 
 
 u This world has many charms for mel" 
 
 Yes, it has many charms : its influence is wonderfully 
 attractive : it draws, and many of you run after. But 
 not so the old saint ; not so the aged Christian ripe for 
 glory. He resists the influence : he says to the world, 
 "Farewell! let me go ; I seek a better, that is, a 
 heavenly country." 
 
 This is not the language of the busy tradesman, of 
 the man who has determined to be rich, whose plans are 
 laid, but not as yet accomplished. 
 
336 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 This is not the language of the votary of pleasure. 
 No ; the " lover of pleasure more than of God," is per- 
 petually crying out, "Who will show me any good ?" 
 
 Nor is it the language of the old miser j of the man 
 whose heart is set on his gold. Poor, wretched man, hear 
 what the word of God says : "Thy money perish with 
 thee !" 
 
 For all such men, " this world has many charms/'' 
 But Moses can say, " Let me go ; this world has no attrac- 
 tions for me." And this was not the language of Moses 
 only ; but of David and Paul. Thousands there now 
 are who breathe the same spirit with which these holy 
 men were inspired, and who can sincerely say, "Let me 
 go over, and see the good land : I am crucified to the 
 world ; I have done with all its business ; let me go to 
 Him whom my soul loveth V This is the language of 
 all who love and fear God. 
 
 It is not the feelings of the disappointed speculator, 
 all whose Babel schemes have been frustrated, and who, 
 because he has been thus defeated, cries out, " Let me 
 go V Neither is it the excited feeling of the romantic 
 lover, whose expectations have been derived from false 
 notions ; whose hopes have been fed by airy dreams. 
 
 Nor is the spirit and temper of the old churl ; of the 
 man who looks with disgust on all that is passing around 
 him ; who is out of temper with the young, with the 
 world, with himself; and who, because he finds that 
 other men have an opinion as well as himself, and that 
 all are not inclined to submit to his dogmatic tyranny, 
 often exclaims, "My soul is weary of life !" This was 
 not the feeling that animated the breast of Moses. 
 
 2. Religion assumes its personal importance — " Let 
 me go/' The phraseology is personal. Not that there is 
 anything selfish in religion : the everlasting happiness 
 of others is never lost sight of by a heavenly-minded 
 
OLD AGE. 337 
 
 saint. Yet he is not so intent on the salvation of others, 
 as to forget the interests of his own soul. " Let me go I" 
 It is like saying, " If there be a Saviour from sin, 0, my 
 God, let him perform his work in my soul, and save me 
 from all sin, in thought, in word, and in deed, as well in 
 time as in eternity ! If there be a heaven, let me not 
 seem to come short of it !" "I pray thee, let me go 
 over, and see the good land I" 
 
 3. There will be a restlessness of desire, an unsettled- 
 ness of mind, while absent from the Lord. They feel 
 that this is not their rest. There is nothing here suited 
 to the desires and taste of a renewed soul. Paul was 
 desirous to "depart and to be with Christ/" he was yet 
 willing to abide in the flesh for the good of others. 
 Thus while the aged Christian prays for heaven, he yet 
 says, "The will of the Lord be done, as to time, and 
 place and circumstance -" well knowing that his heavenly 
 Father's time is the best. Still, they are not at home ; 
 and knowing that "while they are present in the body 
 they are absent from the Lord," they pray with Moses, 
 " Let me go over, and see the good land !" — Then, where 
 there is this meetness for heaven, 
 
 4. Death ivill lose its terrors. — Religion does not al- 
 together destroy our fears of death : it may be, and still 
 is, a terrific enemy to many a Christian. But it is the 
 high privilege of the believer, whose character I have 
 been describing, to be exempted from "bondage through 
 the fear of death." He knows how to distinguish be- 
 tween the present circumstances of death and its eternal 
 consequences. 
 
 III. Urge you, by some appropriate motives, to aim at 
 the attainment of this holy ardor after a heavenly state. 
 
 1. Be convinced that it is attainable. How many 
 Christians there are who stop short of this holy state of 
 mind ! They seem to be quite satisfied if they can but 
 15 
 
338 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 arrive at heaven, and never manifest any anxiety to at- 
 tain that perfection which is the great preparation for 
 its enjoyment. Not so the inspired apostle : he said, 
 "Not as though I had already attained, or were already 
 perfect ; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that 
 for which I also am apprehended of Christ Jesus, I 
 press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling 
 of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 " He builds too low, who builds below the skies." 
 
 Christians should aim at great things, and expect great 
 things. 
 
 2. Be assured, also that this state is desirable. It is 
 desirable that you should be thus dead to this world, 
 and alive to that which is to come, on several accounts. 
 
 Consider the personal advantage to the individual. 
 Of whom have we been speaking this evening ? Of "an 
 old disciple ;" of an aged believer, who, by his profession, 
 tells you that he is not of this world ; who lias for years 
 set his face towards the heavenly Canaan ; and who now 
 while standing on the brink of Jordan which "divides 
 the heavenly land from ours," is saying, with Moses in the 
 text, " I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land!" 
 This is as it ought to be ; his hold of earth weak ; his 
 hold of heaven strong. 
 
 But you should aim for this holy ardor, because of 
 the benefit likely to result to others. Can such a city be 
 set on a hill and not observed ! Can a light of such 
 magnitude be placed on a table and not give light to all 
 around ? Impossible. Such a city must be admired — 
 such a candle must illuminate. 
 
 And by this you will, also, be an honor to the religion 
 you profess. 
 
 " Great God! and shall we ever live 
 At this poor dying rate?" 
 
OLD AGE. 339 
 
 No ; your ardor for a heavenly state will ennoble your 
 character, and you will become "epistles known and 
 read of all men." 
 
 Finally, Hereby God will he glorified. It is an awful 
 fact, that there are, in this our world, many who are 
 enimies to God, and wish to rob hirn of his glory. You 
 are the friends, the servants, the sons ; and to you it 
 belongs to vindicate his honor, to reflect his glory. But 
 who can better do this than the aged ? While others 
 doubt the salutary tendency of the doctrines of grace, 
 you can prove its efficacy : it has made you to differ from 
 others ; and it enables you, amidst surrounding temp- 
 tations, to lead a holy life. You are an hourly witness 
 of the doctrine of divine forgiveness ; a daily proof of 
 the unchangeableness of redeeming love in the midst of 
 a changing world. aged saint, 1 pray you aim con- 
 tinually thus to rebuke gainsayers, and to glorify your 
 heavenly Father. 
 
 In looking round this vast assembly, I see many ivlio 
 are well stricken in years. Well, what are you ? Old disci- 
 ples, or old impenitent sinners — servants of God, or ser- 
 vants of Satan ? " His servants you are whom you obey." 
 
 Aged saints, ripe for eternal glory. We love to dwell 
 upon your character, and to mark your attainments: 
 we love to see you, to talk with you, and to pray 
 with you now, and we hope hereafter to see you in 
 heaven. It, rejoices us to behold you ascending the top 
 of Pisgah's mount, and to hear you exclaiming, " I pray 
 thee, let me go over and see the goodly land." We see 
 in you a proof of the reality of religion, and the efficacy 
 of divine grace in making and in keeping you thus a 
 Christian. Young persons, you wish to know what the 
 grace of God can do for a man in the present life; well 
 we will not send you to the verge of the creation; we 
 need not go beyond the present Christian society; we can 
 
340 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 here point you to instances of what the grace of God 
 has done: — what would you have more than we can 
 present to you ? 
 
 Yes, aged saint, we love to see you. You have the 
 infirmities common to human nature; the outward man 
 is perishing, but the inward man is renewed day by day. 
 You have one foot in the grave, and the other on earth; 
 but your heart is in heaven where your best treasure is. 
 Yes, we love to see you: you are ripe for glory. And 
 what has made you thus? You are changed by the 
 power of divine grace; you have found religion to be a 
 source of true enjoyment, and now you find it support- 
 ing and lifting you up. Young Christians, what would 
 you have to encourage you which you do not find here? 
 You have nothing to pass through which these have not 
 passed through before you. Yes, aged saint, we love to 
 visit you, and to contemplate your end. Yoar eyes grow 
 dim, and the description given by Solomon of the decays 
 of age are verified in you; but as your outward man 
 decays, your inward man waxes stronger and stronger. 
 Old man, rejoice in what is before you: you are taken up 
 with the necessary affairs of life; your head and your 
 hands are often diligently employed ; but you shall soon 
 be gathered to your everlasting rest: as the late vener- 
 able and pious John Newton in his last days, when asked 
 how he felt his mind in the prospect of eternity, replied, 
 "I am like a letter fully written, subscribed, and sealed; 
 and only waiting for the postman to call and take it to 
 its destination." 
 
 Aged saint! you have often said, "I pray thee, let 
 me go over and see the goodly land that is be} T ond Jor- 
 dan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.''' Soon will 
 the voice of your beloved Saviour address you, " Thy 
 prayer is heard, thy request shall be granted — come up 
 hither, and be forever with thy Lord." 
 
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 A PHILANTHROPIST. 
 
 A BURKING AND SHINING LIGHT. 
 W. J. R. TAYLOR, D.D. 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE OP THE HON. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, LL.D., IN THIRD 
 REFORMED CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 "He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a 
 season to rejoice in his light. — John v : 35. 
 
 TTOW beautiful this designation of the Forerunner is, 
 we may learn by a brief analysis. 
 I. He was a <* light." But of what kind ? Literally 
 the word in the original means a portable light, as a 
 candle, lamp, or torch, which must be made, prepared, 
 and kindled into a flame. He was not the uncreated 
 Light, "the Sun of righteousness." " He was not that 
 Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That 
 was the true Light which lighteth every man that 
 
 [3411 
 
342 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 cometh into this world." The greatest of all the 
 prophets was but a lamp, a torch, compared with Christ, 
 the full-orbed and Eternal Sun. 
 
 II. But "he was a burning light." He was on fire, 
 burning, blazing with self-consuming ardor in the ser- 
 vice of God. He had " oil in his vessel with his lamp," 
 and it never went out for lack of fuel. The Baptist, 
 like our Saviour, was ever full of his work. His zeal 
 consumed him. His devotion burned with the most in- 
 tense fire of love. It glowed like a furnace at a white 
 heat. It sent out its own radiating and reflecting fire, 
 until the wilderness was kindled by its flames, and the 
 nation was aglow with his awful power. But 
 
 III. i ' He was a burning and a shining light." Some 
 fires burn but do not blaze, nor is it every flame that 
 gives true light. There must be something to burn, 
 some solid chemical matter in every flame that makes an 
 illumination. So there are souls which consume away 
 but do not shine. But John the Baptist burned and 
 shone, because his light was light from heaven. It was 
 not stolen like the fabled Promethean fire, but it was 
 kindled at the uncreated and eternal source ; and then 
 it was set where all could see it and rejoice in it, while 
 it flamed heavenward from earth. 
 
 Yet "that burning and shining light" went out ; it 
 burned fast ; it shone but a little while, and then he 
 who was the lamp that lighted our Saviour's feet on 
 earth, was made one of the brightest of the stars that 
 burn and shine forever and ever before the throne of 
 God. 
 
 When God raises up eminent Christians, endows them 
 with gifts and graces, and honors them and their work 
 for Jesus' sake ; the Church is bound by her loyalty to 
 her King, and by her debt to redeeming love, to "rejoice 
 in that light and to walk in it" "for the season" dur- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 343 
 
 ihg which it lasts. Every such believer in Christ is a 
 miracle and monument of grace. The blood of Christ 
 has been sprinkled on him, the love of Christ constrains 
 him, the witness of the Holy Spirit is within him, and 
 his seal upon him. His body is the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost. He burns and shines with love divine. He 
 does the work of Christ. He obeys the word and will 
 of Christ. "Ye are the light of the world, &c." And 
 when our Lord takes these " burning and shining 
 lights " away from the Church on earth, they go not 
 out in endless night, but he transfers them to the 
 temple "that is not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens." He takes them from a lower to a higher place 
 where they burn and shine forever with brighter lustre 
 and with purer flame. 
 
 In this spirit let us now turn to see the illustration of 
 these truths in the character and death and influences of 
 that eminent servant of the Lord for whom we lament, 
 and yet praise God to-day. 
 
 The object of this discourse is not to present a 
 biographical sketch nor to attempt a full-length portrait 
 of our " American Wilberforce/' but simply to exhibit 
 some of those characteristics which have made him for 
 more than a generation "a burning and a shining 
 light" in the Church and in the nation. Against the 
 dark background of our unhappy times his character 
 stands in bright and bold relief, admired by millions, 
 and beloved by all who know the man and his native and 
 gracious worth. 
 
 A Christian is not the one to undervalue a descent 
 from godly forefathers. The ancestors of Theodore 
 Frelinghuysen, both in this country and in Holland, 
 were eminent for their love of liberty, their independ- 
 ence of spirit, and their intelligent attachment to the 
 truth of God. In character, religion, and statesmanship, 
 
344 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 his lineage was equally honorable and blessed of God, 
 who has made him the most illustrious of his name. 
 
 Let me speak to you of his character. By the con- 
 current testimony of the whole nation as expressed in 
 private and public, in the pulpit and at the forum, and 
 through the press, "he was a burning and a shining 
 light," and " we rejoiced for a season in his light/'' 
 
 It would be hard to say what particular gifts and 
 traits made that light so bright. He was a man of emi- 
 nent intellectual gifts, and of scholarly tastes ; an orator 
 of no mean fame and of classic eloquence ; a lawyer who 
 adorned the able bar of his native State ; a Senator who 
 stood high in the front ranks when the Senate of the 
 United States contained its greatest lights. But it was 
 the final balance of his powers, the beautiful adjustment 
 of intellectual and moral qualities with refinement of 
 culture, admirable judgment, and unique individuality 
 of character, speech and action, which constituted the 
 general excellence of the man. In this happy combina- 
 tion of characteristics without the striking preponder- 
 ance of any one intellectual gift, he was not unlike our 
 matchless Washington. 
 
 Perhaps the best designation of his character would 
 be its purity. JSTo miser's covetousness wrote its hateful 
 legends on his calm brow. Nobody looked in his shadow 
 for " treason, stratagems, and spoils ;' ? for lurking cun- 
 ning, nor for that peculiar malice with which hardened 
 age sometimes steels its withered nerves. He was like 
 the crystal, solid but translucent. You could see through 
 him, and love him, because he unconsciously sought and 
 bore the test of sunlight. Like Nathaniel, when he 
 came to Jesus, he was "an Israelite indeed in whom there 
 was no guile." 
 
 But it was the religion of Jesus Christ which gave to 
 Mr. Frelinghuysen his chief distinction. He was the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 345 
 
 Christian lawyer, the Christian senator, the Christian 
 philanthropist, the Christian gentleman, the Christian 
 always and everywhere. His honesty and integrity, his 
 eloquence and his power were all, like himself, "bap- 
 tized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost." "The blood of sprinkling" was on 
 the posts of his doors, on his family, his calling, on every 
 service that he rendered to the country or to the cause of 
 Christ. 
 
 I know no finer instance of the vast increase of 
 power which religion gives to a man of intellect and 
 education. 
 
 When his name was proposed in the caucus of the 
 National Convention, for Vice-President, on the same 
 ticket with Henry Clay, a distinguished Southern lawyer 
 opposed it in these words : " I know him well ; I admire 
 and love him : if I were searching the world over for a 
 man to be my pastor, my s]p»iritual guide, I would seek 
 Theodore Frelinghuysen of all men living ; but to drag 
 him through the mire of party politics at the tail of a 
 presidential ticket, I will never consent to it — never, 
 never !" Still he was nominated, and failed of an elec- 
 tion, that would have placed in the second office of the 
 nation one of the purest of statesmen. 
 
 But God had better things in store for his honored 
 servant. Both before and after his retiracy from politi- 
 cal life, he was the most eminent living American repre- 
 sentative of the great moral, philanthropic and religious 
 institutions of the age. Nothing that concerned the 
 welfare of humanity and the kingdom of Christ, was 
 foreign to him. Philanthropy has had no more noble ad- 
 vocate, Christianity no more devout pattern of its broad, 
 graces and of its deep, genuine catholicity. The whole 
 Church of Christ in these United States claims him as the 
 type, embodiment and representative of Christian Union 
 15* 
 
346 MEMORIAL TU1BUTES. 
 
 and of that " unity of the spirit" which is " the bond 
 of peace," and " of perfectness." No better proof of this 
 can be named than the singular fact that at one time he 
 held the office of President in those three great national 
 and catholic institutions, the American Bible Society, 
 the American Tract Society, and the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was a theolo- 
 gian of ample acquirements, of rigid evangelical views, 
 and of thorough orthodoxy according to the Calvinistic 
 standard of Dordrecht and Westminister. All his 
 ancestral, traditional, and local associations, his consti- 
 tutional tendencies, his education, and his conscientious 
 convictions, united to make him a living type of " the 
 good old ways of the Keformation." He was neither a 
 bigot nor a latitudinarian. He stood upon the highest 
 ground of unsectarian Christianity, and yet like a good 
 soldier of Jesus Christ he obeyed that apostolic injunc- 
 tion : "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like 
 men, be strong. Let all your things be done with 
 charity." (1 Cor. 16: 13, 14.) 
 
 His faith, and his love for Christ and his cause, were 
 measured by the world, the Bible, and the Cross. With 
 him " there was neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, 
 male nor female : for all are one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 
 3:28.) 
 
 He was a regular attendant of the union daily prayer- 
 meetings which were held in New Brunswick during and 
 since the late revival, and took a leading part in the exer- 
 cises, and an humble seat among the lowly. For many 
 years during his legal practice while a Senator in Con- 
 gress, when Chancellor of the University, and afterward, 
 when President of Eutgers College, he was a Sabbath- 
 school teacher, who loved his work, deemed it one of his 
 highest honors, and found in it a comfort and reward of 
 which he now enjoys the full fruition. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 347 
 
 Another pre-eminent trait of his Christian character 
 was his faithfulness. He could "reprove, rebuke, ex- 
 hort, with all long-suffering and gentleness." He did 
 this with an authority which only goodness can com- 
 mand. The righteous indignation which the sacred 
 writers show against sin, and their fidelity to truth, and 
 to the transgressor, were richly displayed in the habitual 
 conduct of Mr. Frelinghuysen. This was the outwork- 
 ing of a principle within him, which grew stronger and 
 brighter with his experience. Every body felt it. From 
 the Senate Chamber to the farthest bounds of the Union, 
 the wise and good of the whole land rejoiced in his light. 
 It burned and it shone for all the people. 
 
 There is one other characteristic of this venerated 
 man, which cannot be omitted in even the most super- 
 ficial view of his traits. He was the beau ideal of a 
 Christian patriot. The motto of his life was : "For 
 Christ and my country." I need not stop to tell this 
 audience how he exemplified his love of country. It 
 was a part of the man and of his life. 
 
 During his last illness, and up to the day of his 
 death, his country was upon his heart, and upon his 
 tongue, and in his prayers. And when from almost 
 every public building and private house in the city, the 
 good old flag floated at half-mast over his unburied 
 corpse, the people felt that America and the Union had 
 lost the very Daniel of the time. 
 
 His death was preceded by an illness of a few weeks 
 duration, attended by severe suffering. But grace was 
 triumphant there. The faith which be had humbly 
 adorned so long was his victory. The Saviour whom he 
 loved so well, was "Christ in him the hope of glory." 
 Notwithstanding he had been prone to constitutional 
 religious depression, and had during long years felt those 
 fears of death which trouble many of God's dear child- 
 
348 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ren, they were all dispelled by the grace which was 
 given him. The valley of the shadow of death was 
 made light about him. His end was peace — perfect 
 peace — which was the effect of the assurance of hope 
 unto the end. His was not the death of one "who 
 wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down 
 to pleasant dreams." But he died in the faith which he 
 had loved, 
 
 ' ' His eye bright with hope, 
 Flashing its birthright radiance unto heaven, 
 Drinking revealments of God's paradise." 
 
 Amid the prayers and the praises of a great multitude 
 of the best citizens of the land, with tears and with love, 
 his body was laid in the grave of the righteous, among 
 the sepulchers of many honored and sainted dead, to 
 await "the resurrection of the just." 
 
 Yes ! yes ! He was a burning and a shining light, 
 and we rejoiced in his light for a season ! " Oh ! give 
 thanks unto the Lord, for he is good — to him that made 
 great lights — for his mercy endure th forever." 
 
 The beneficent grandeur of such a character deserves 
 peculiar attention in this troublous time. Nature had 
 done much for him ; but grace did more. It gave this 
 "salt its savor." His world-wide chanty, his deep piety, 
 his representative character, his high example, are before 
 the nations of the earth. Wherever the American tract, 
 the American missionary, and the American Bible, "go 
 into all the world preaching the gospel to every 
 creature," they carry with them the influence and the 
 prayers of this prince of God. To our American youth 
 he is the pattern of patriotism, professional purity, and 
 success, and of sanctified ambition, with modesty, 
 humility, and faithful piety. To the legal profession he 
 is " the burning and shining light " of its learning, its 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 349 
 
 integrity, its eloquence, and its legitimate power in the 
 state. To our country, and its rulers, he is the model 
 of its wisest counselors, its best citizens, and its most 
 Christian loyalty. To the Church he is the type of her 
 most eminent servants in her Sabbath-school, her elder- 
 ship, her ecclesiastical courts, and her benevolent opera- 
 tions. To every one of us he is the pattern of the 
 decided believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, "walking 
 softly before God, and occupying his talents until his 
 Lord came."" 
 
 A THEOLOGICAL PROFESSOR. 
 
 REV. GEORGE P. FISHER, 
 LIVINGSTON- PROFESSOR OE DIVINITY IN YALE COLLEGE. 
 
 , A DISCOURSE ON THE DEATH OF DR. N. W. TAYLOR. 
 
 "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
 ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars 
 for ever and ever." — Daniel xii: 3. 
 
 TT^HAT glorious promises are held out, in the Bible, 
 '* to those who spend their lives in bringing sin- 
 ners to God ! They are pronounced blessed even in 
 their persecutions. Having a part in the sufferings of 
 Christ, they go to reign with ..im on high. They are 
 forever lifted above the troubles of this dying existence, 
 as the firmament is exalted above the earth. In the 
 sphere to which they are removed they are like the stars 
 set in the tranquil sky. ISTo man can pluck them down 
 out of the hand of the Father. They are together there 
 in heaven, shining on one another with a mingled radi- 
 ance, reflected from " the Lamb who is the light there- 
 of." They do not die and pass away like the inhabitants 
 of the earth, but thev resemble the stars which have held 
 
350 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 their course undimmed from the morning of creation un- 
 til now. Their life is everlasting — an everlasting prog- 
 ress in knowledge, and purity, and blessedness. Yea, 
 when the stars shall fall, and the heaven depart as a 
 scroll, the Apostles of God will continue near their Re- 
 deemer forever and ever ! 
 
 We cherish the hope that the venerated father whose 
 body we have lately committed to the grave, was a true 
 minister of Christ, and that Christ was with him, ac- 
 cording to the promise, unto the end, and that now he 
 is with Christ in the mansions prepared for His follow- 
 ers. We honor the Creator when we recognize any real 
 excellence to be found in his creature. We honor the 
 Saviour when we admire the fruit of his grace, and con- 
 template the work of those whom he has led by the 
 hand. Only let us keep in mind the words of John the 
 Baptist — himself " a burning and shining light " — "A 
 man can receive nothing except it be given him from 
 heaven." 
 
 Dr. Taylor combined two powers seldom found to- 
 gether — the powers of a metaphysician and of an orator. 
 His faculty of long-continued abstraction was wonderful, 
 and the subtlety of his analysis strained the attention of 
 the most acute of his pupils. His powerful mind found 
 recreation in those forms of activity which, to common 
 men, are a most irksome task. In the department of in- 
 tellectual science, he stands, by general consent, in the 
 first rank. Yet, mixed with the accurate, reflective, 
 kecnty discriminating habit of his mind, and glowing 
 beneath it was the fire of an orator. He loved to con- 
 vince others, and to carry them with him. In the pres- 
 ence of an assembly, even in the presence of a few 
 congenial listeners, his mind would kindle and his man- 
 ner become eloquent. Among his most stirring, as well 
 as instructive efforts, were the extemporaneous decisions 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 351 
 
 which he was formerly accustomed to pronounce in the 
 students' debating society, over which he presided. In- 
 deed, his mind seemed always to be in lively motion ; 
 and it was his complaint through his whole life that he 
 could get but little sleep. When the night came, his 
 brain refused to cease from its work. 
 
 If you look for the secret of the uncommon influence 
 which he exerted over his students, you may find it in, 
 part, in the personal traits which have been already 
 named. They were struck, on their first acquaintance 
 with him, with the superiority of his intellect. There 
 was a fascination in the manifest independence of his 
 character. It was evident that he called no man master. 
 He taught them to throw away the authority of names, 
 and to think for themselves. He stimulated them by 
 putting his propositions in paradoxical and startling 
 forms. He gave them to understand that he was not 
 satisfied with the expositions of theology in the current 
 treatises ; and that he lectured, because he had things to 
 say which had not been said before. He challenged them 
 to examine all his teachings in the light of their own in- 
 telligence, to bring forward all the objections which the}? - 
 could think of, urging them to propose questions, and 
 ending every lecture with the words : "Now I will hear 
 you." He made it clear that he was not discharging a 
 mechanical function, that he was not fettered with false 
 notions of professional dignity, but that he was intent on 
 his great object, and was ready to trample on any mere 
 forms that might stand in his way. The courage of Dr. 
 Taylor fascinated young men. For he was eminently 
 courageous. He had never learned the trick of conceal- 
 ing his opinions. In controversy, he would know noth- 
 ing of stratagem, but marched boldly up in the face of 
 his antagonist. 
 
 He has been properly styled the last of our New Eng- 
 
852 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 land Schoolmen, in the special themes which absorbed his 
 attention, in his method of handling them, and in the 
 extent of his influence over the clergy, the compeer of 
 Emmons and Hopkins, of Smalley and the Edwardses. 
 The animosities of theological strife die away. One 
 generation stones the prophet and the next builds his 
 sepulchre. The memory of Dr. Taylor will be generally 
 honored. His name will soon be historic ; and the col- 
 lege where he was educated, and where, for thirty-five 
 years, he has taught, will be proud to place it high on 
 the list of illustrious divines who have adorned its annals. 
 
 They who knew Dr. Taylor best, do not need to be 
 further reminded of the depth of his affections and the 
 religious earnestness that appeared in his daily life. He 
 held a stem mastery over his feelings, but now and then 
 they broke through the barrier, and the floods of emotion 
 that poured forth betrayed the depth of the fountain. 
 How he loved his family, those long nights spent in 
 prayer, when temptation or distress was impending, are 
 a touching witness. How his sympathies flowed out to 
 his parishioners, their lasting gratitude, and the tears of 
 gray-haired men who followed him to the grave, are a 
 significant proof. The cordiality of his attachment to 
 friends and pupils is seen in the sorrow of so many scat- 
 tered over different States of the Union, and in distant 
 lands, who will mourn as personally bereaved. 
 
 In character, as in name, he was the Israelite in whom 
 was no guile. Some time since, when compelled by his 
 infirmities to lay down his pen for the larger part of every 
 day, he casually remarked to me that he occupied him- 
 self with religious meditation ; to that kind of medita- 
 tion, he said, his strength was adequate. More recently, 
 when fully aware of the near approach of death, he ex- 
 pressed his calm trust in God, and his desire to depart as 
 Stephen did, uttering the petition: "Lord Jesus, re- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 353 
 
 ceive my spirit." To his best earthly friend, he said: 
 " When the time comes for me to die, I want you to be 
 perfectly calm, and when I am called to go, I want 
 you to let me go ; and the widow's G-od will be your 
 God." * * 
 
 It is hard for me to realize the fact that Dr. Taylor 
 is dead. I expect to hear his familiar step at my door. 
 I expect him to come forward and greet me as I enter 
 his house. I think of him as an aspiring boy, journey- 
 ing to college from his father's house, his future career 
 all unseen before him. I think of him as a vigorous 
 youth, grappling with the hard problem of Foreknowl- 
 edge and Will, with the determination to solve it or die 
 in the endeavor. I think of the beauty of his person 
 and the majesty of his eloquence, when, in the center of 
 his manhood, great congregations hung on his lips in 
 rapt attention. I behold him as I first saw him, an old 
 man, but with spirits still buoyant, and all the energies 
 of his mind in full exercise, discoursing, in his lecture- 
 room, on the grounds of guilt and responsibility to God. 
 I see him as he was but lately, when, weary under the 
 weight of his years and his trials, he walked through the 
 streets with slow and painful steps, pausing here and 
 there to talk with some old parishioner on the tilings 
 that pertain to the kingdom of God ; and again, as he 
 lay in weakness on the bed from which he never arose ; 
 and at last I think of his noble features on which death 
 had set his seal. Yet his life seems unfinished. It is 
 unfinished. He has not died, but gone to another life, 
 leaving the worn garment of mortality which he needs 
 no more. Dark clouds may settle on the face of the 
 evening sky, and seem to blot out the sun, while that 
 luminary is rising on other regions, and rejoicing as a 
 strong man to run a race. 
 
 Yet his earthly life is ended forever. Never again 
 
354 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 will he enter this sanctuary where he has so long bowed 
 in worship. In these places where he has been seen for 
 half a century, he will never more appear. That deep- 
 toned voice is hushed in death. That tongue is silent 
 forever. Soon all that was mortal in him whom we hon- 
 ored, will be mingled with the dust. To see so much 
 manhood fade away — shall it not impress on us the vanity 
 of the earth ? Shall it not rebuke the pride of the 
 young who feel strong and safe in their strength ? " For 
 what is your life ? It is even a vapor, that appeareth 
 for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Let this 
 solemn event turn our minds to the true purpose of life, 
 and teach us how worthless, by themselves, are all earthly 
 things. Of what importance, now, to our deceased 
 friend are the admiration and reproach which he re- 
 ceived, both in so large a measure, from his fellow- 
 mortals ? In itself considered, of how little moment 
 that he rose to an intellectual pre-eminence among them? 
 Or even that he has built up with so much toil, a theo- 
 logical system that is called by his name! That system, 
 whatever value it may have at present, will be supplanted, 
 and in time will pass away. For the truth does not 
 abide in one form of expression ; and it is ever showing 
 new phases, and casting off the alloy of error. 
 
 11 Our little systems have their day, 
 
 They have their day, and cease to be ; 
 They are but broken lights of Thee, 
 
 And thou, O Lord! art more than they." 
 
 "Whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away; 
 for we know in part." " For now we see through a glass 
 darkly." In the light of eternity, our departed teacher 
 may have learned more, in these last few days, than in 
 his life-time before. He has left behind an influence; 
 he has borne away a character. Our joy is not in his 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 353 
 
 talents ; in the productions of his intellect, or in his 
 earthly fame > bivt our joy is in the belief that he lived to 
 glorify God, and that his controlling purpose was to do 
 good. We rejoice in the confidence that, in the great 
 ends which he set before him, he was an obedient follower 
 of the Saviour, patiently endeavoring to do His will and 
 humbly trusting in His mercy for salvation. And the 
 source of the satisfaction with which we review his life, 
 is the fact that he was employed, by the Redeemer, as 
 an instrument of turning a multitude to righteousness. 
 To the Redeemer be all the glory ! 
 
 In concluding this imperfect tribute to my venerated 
 and beloved teacher, let me urge the young men of this 
 assembly, in whose welfare my heart is deeply interested, 
 to follow him as he followed Christ. Not to disparage 
 other occupations to which you may be incliued, what 
 can you do more worthy, than to devote yourself, as he 
 did, to the work of a Gospel minister ? What object 
 can you figure to yourself so high as the turning of im- 
 mortal men from sin unto righteousness ? Whatever 
 self-sacrifice may belong to it, what work will, on the 
 whole, yield you so much peace while you live ? Con- 
 trast the life of a faithful preacher, in its lofty studies, 
 its inspiring and delightful duties, with the thorny 
 path of political ambition ! 
 
 But aside from the consideration of temporal happi- 
 ness, when the hour of death shall come — and it will 
 come much sooner than you can now realize — what life 
 will you wished to have lived ? At the portal of the 
 eternal world, as you look back on the past, what work 
 will you desire to have done ? Oh ! how unspeakable is 
 the privilege of him who, in that parting hour, can take 
 to himself the promise of the text ! Blessed are they to 
 whom it is given to turn many to righteousness, and to 
 shine as the stars forever and ever ! 
 
356 MEMORIAL T1UBUTES. 
 
 A LAWYER, EDITOR AND COLLEGE PRO- 
 FESSOR. 
 
 MEMORIAL DISCOURSE ON WILLIAM Q. GODDARD, LL. D. 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST OP THE FACULTY OP BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 FRANCIS WAYLAID, D. D. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 T RISE to perform one of the saddest duties to which I 
 have been appointed. My colleagues have requested 
 me to deliver a discourse, in commemoration of the life 
 and services of one very dear to us all, but, if I may be 
 allowed to say it, specially dear to me. He was the 
 first officer of this institution with whom I had the honor 
 to become intimately acquainted. Our friendship has 
 continued, without interruption until the day of his 
 death. During the whole period, within which we were 
 associated as officers of instruction, we were in the habit 
 of meeting daily, and many times in the day. The va- 
 rious plans, which, since my knowledge of this institu- 
 tion, have been laid, for the improvement either of its 
 course of education or manner of discipline, have all re- 
 ceived the benefit of his wise and thoughtful consider- 
 ation. The principles on which they depended were 
 developed by mature reflection, and the measures which 
 resulted from them were carried into effect by our mu- 
 tual labor. And when, in consequence of ill health he 
 retired from the duties of that chair which he had filled 
 with equal honor to himself and advantage to the Uni- 
 versity, we all considered his separation from us to be 
 rather in form than in fact. We unanimously invited 
 him to be present at all the meetings of the faculty, as- 
 sured that his interest remained unabated in the pros- 
 perity of the institution, on whose reputation his labors 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 357 
 
 had conferred so much additional lustre. We felt that 
 his talents, and labor and fame, were as much as ever 
 the property of the university. For myself I may truly 
 say, that, for nearly twenty years, I have taken but few 
 important steps the reasons for which I have not dis- 
 cussed in the freest manner with him, and in which, 
 also, I have not been in a great degree either guided by 
 his counsel or encouraged by his approbation. There is 
 scarcely a topic in religion or morals, in literature or 
 social law, on which either of us has reflected, that we 
 have not discussed together. ' Neither of us was fond of 
 disputation, but both of us loved exceedingly the honest 
 and unstudied interchange of opinions. It so happened, 
 that our views upon the most of the subjects were, in an 
 unusual degree, identical. The very last conversation 
 in which we were engaged related to those great truths, 
 revealed to us by Jesus Christ, in the belief and love of 
 which, all his spiritual disciples are one. 
 
 In a moment, and all this interchange of thought, 
 and all this concert of action, have ceased, and, so far 
 as this world is concerned, have ceased for ever ; and 
 while the living image of our associate and friend seems 
 yet to walk among us, in all its freshness, I am requested 
 to commemorate the services of the dead. You will all, I 
 I very well know, sympathize in the emotions with 
 which I undertake this solemn service. It is almost as 
 if he of whom I speak were in the midst of us, to be the 
 hearer of his own eulogy. We have been so long ac- 
 customed to his presence on every collegiate occasion ; 
 so few days have elapsed since he occupied his wonted 
 seat in this sanctuary; that we are unable to realize the 
 melancholy truth, that we shall see his face no more. 
 And besides this, the deep feeling, which pervades every 
 bosom, leads us instinctively to distrust our own judg- 
 ments. On the one hand, we fear lest the full utterance 
 
858 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 of our sentiments should seem like panegyric ; and on 
 the other j we are troubled lest eulogy, too much chas- 
 tened, should do injustice to the memory of the dead. 
 Aud yet more is this embarrassment increased by the re- 
 collection, that the occasion necessarily awakens, of 
 those inimitable delineations of character, which so often 
 flowed from the pen of him whose sudden departure we 
 are now assembled to deplore. 
 
 Under such circumstances, I know full well that I 
 must fail to present the portraiture of the late Professor 
 Goddard, as he now reveals himself to your memory, and 
 stands embodied before you in your conceptions. I know, 
 however, that I am surrounded by his friends, who will 
 readily complete the sketch, no matter how imperfectly 
 executed, which I may offer for their contemplation. I 
 know, moreover, that you will all appreciate the diffi- 
 culty of my task, and pardon the indistinctness with 
 which my thoughts reflect the beauty and the symmetry 
 which you have so frequently admired in the honored 
 and beloyed original. 
 
 "While the principles of social and constitutional law 
 were always among the most interesting subjects of 
 study to Mr. Goddard, the practice of the legal profes- 
 sion could never have been congenial to his tastes. Per- 
 manently enfeebled by sickness, he was unfitted for the 
 labors of the forum : while his soul was too sensibly alive 
 to the beautiful, to become wedded to an intellectual 
 pursuit of which the pervading element is logic. He, 
 therefore, relinquished the practice of the law, and 
 chose the profession of an editor, . . . and, at the 
 time of his death, was Professor of Pulpit Eloquence in 
 the Theological Seminary at Xewton, Mass. 
 
 He had formed very just conceptions of the moral 
 and social obligations devolving upon the conductor of a 
 public press. He believed it to be the duty of an editor 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 359 
 
 not merely to abstain from outraging the moral senti- 
 ment of a community ; but still more, by holding forth 
 examples of pre-eminent virtue, and inculcating the prin- 
 ciples of everlasting truth, to elevate che standard of pub- 
 lic manners, and teach the wayward passions of men 
 obedience to conscience and reverence for law. He be- 
 lieved, that by constantly presenting, to the eye of the 
 public, images of beauty, the press might exert a pow- 
 erful influence in forming and purifying the national 
 taste. He thought it incumbent upon him, on all suita- 
 ble occasions to rouse the spirit of the state, to combine 
 together good men of every name, in the promotion of 
 every enterprise by which the ignorant might be enlight- 
 ened, or the vicious reclaimed ; by which vice might be 
 deprived of its means of fascination, or virtue endowed 
 with new elements of attractiveness ; by which the intel- 
 ligent and the wealthy might be excited to beneficence, 
 and the poor and uncultivated be encouraged to self-de- 
 pendence. 
 
 His editorial writings were remarkable for the high, 
 spirit of individual and social morality, which breathed in 
 every line, no less than for the pure, yet sparkling and epi- 
 grammatic English, in which every sentence was clothed. 
 Though he espoused with youthful ardor the political opin- 
 ions he ever afterwards professed, yet, as I have been in- 
 formed, he never in a single instance forfeited the per- 
 sonal respect of his warmest opponents. To every judi- 
 cious effort to promote the welfare of his fellow citizens, 
 he gave his willing and earnest support; and some of 
 our most valuable public charities owe their origin to 
 the editorial labors of this portion of his life. 
 
 His success as an instructor excelled in unfolding such 
 general views as illustrate the principles of a science, by 
 tracing their effects upon the condition and changes of 
 society, and by exhibiting their influence in the forma- 
 
300 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 tion of individual character. He labored to enkindle in 
 the bosoms of his pupils a love of truth, of virtue, and 
 of goodness. 
 
 He was a diligent and profound thinker upon all 
 subjects of religion, morals, general politics, and human 
 civilization. But even here, he appeared to arrive at the 
 result in which he rested, rather by a moral intuition 
 than by any process of reasoning. His spiritual discern- 
 ment seemed to indicate to him what the law should be, 
 and, upon investigation, he found his opinions confirmed 
 by the highest authorities. Hence, in his reading, he 
 rather sought for the truths which our great teachers 
 have discovered, than for the processes by which their 
 discoveries have been effected. To theological contro- 
 versy he paid but little attention ; but of sermons, or 
 other religious writings, which lay bare the human heart, 
 or reveal to us the precepts of duty, or present the scrip- 
 tural motives for well doing, he was a diligent and ear- 
 nest student. Of the various theories of social order, 
 he knew but little, and he cared even less. Let a case, 
 however, be presented, which involved the essential 
 principles either of individual or social right, and lie 
 would seize upon it in an instant : and it would not be 
 long before he had formed a definite and earnest opinion 
 in respect to it. He might not be able to give a logical 
 reason for his opinion; but the opinion would be, with 
 singular certainty, correct, and he would so present it to 
 the public as to leave an impression which no argument 
 could readily efface. 
 
 During the political agitations a few years since, he 
 stood forth the unwavering advocate of justice aud truth, 
 of liberty and law. His essays for the daily press, during 
 this period alone, would fill a moderately sized volume. 
 Day after day, he explained to his fellow citizens the 
 principles of rational liberty ; he laid bare, with a mas- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 361 
 
 terly hand, the distinction between liberty and licen- 
 tiousness ; and when at last the crisis arrived — with an 
 eloquence that fired the soul of every true hearted man, 
 he urged us all to unite in defense of that heritage of 
 civil and religious liberty which God had bestowed upon 
 our fathers. In this cause he labored on, amid sickness 
 and infirmity, through good report and through evil 
 report, until the efforts of patriotism were crowned with 
 triumphant success. All the ends he aimed at were his 
 country's, his God's, and truth's. He desired nothing, 
 either for himself or his friends, which he did not equally 
 desire for the humblest citizen amongst us. He labored 
 to sustain a government which should secure to every 
 citizen the rights conferred upon him by his Creator, 
 and which should guard those rights with equal vigi- 
 lance, both against the oppressions of the many, and 
 the tyranny of the few. 
 
 The manners of Professor Goddard were courteous 
 and refined. His personal habits, without being pain- 
 fully exact, were scrupulously neat, and in perfect 
 harmony with the character of a literary citizen. His 
 conversation, sometimes playful, never frivolous, was al- 
 ways instructive, and at times singularly forcible, 
 captivating and eloquent. His tastes were simple and 
 easily gratified ; and I think that he preferred a book in 
 his study, or a conversation at the fireside with a friend, 
 to any form of more exciting and outdoor enjoyment. 
 He was, both from nature and principle, eminently, but 
 with discrimination, charitable. To the judiciously 
 benevolent institutions of our city he was a liberal and 
 frequently an unsolicited contributor. Nor did his 
 charity exhaust itself in making others the almoners of 
 his bounty. He sought out the poor and infirm, the 
 disconsolate and the forgotten, and specially those who 
 in age were suffering from the mutability of fortune ; and 
 16 
 
362 MEMO HI AL TRIBUTES. 
 
 while he relieved their wants by pecuniary aid, soothed 
 their sorrows by his sympathy, and animated their hopes 
 by his cheerful encouragement. One of his last visits, 
 only a few days before his death, was made to an aged 
 widow, who has since followed him into eternity, to 
 whom he communicated alms ; while, as she herself told 
 me, he consoled her sinking spirit by the humble piety 
 of his conversation. 
 
 The religious opinions of Professor Goddard were 
 those of the divines of the English reformation. He 
 believed most fully in those doctrines which teach the 
 moral corruption of the human heart, the necessity of 
 the influences of the Spirit to our moral transformation, 
 and that our only hope of salvation rests upon the atone- 
 ment by Jesus Christ. He was conscientiously attached 
 to the Episcopal Church ; but, making a wise distinction 
 between spiritual religion and the various modes 
 in which it may be manifested, he loved true piety, 
 wherever he discovered it, "with a pure heart fervently." 
 He carried into daily practice the sentiment which he 
 uttered only a few days before his death. " The longer 
 I live," said he, " the more dearly do I prize being a 
 Christian ; and the more signally unimportant seem to 
 me the differences by which true Christians are separated 
 from each other." 
 
 The death of such a man, at any time, is always felt 
 to be an irreparable loss. I, however, remember no in- 
 stance, since my residence in this city, in which this 
 sentiment has been so deep and universal. The sphere 
 of eminent usefulness, which Mr. Goddard filled, was 
 peculiar and uncommon. It rarely happens that af- 
 fluence is granted to men of so varied learning, so culti- 
 vated taste, and so elevated moral principle. Still more 
 rarely are these advantages combined with the leisure and 
 the will to use them with disinterested zeal for the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 363 
 
 benefit of the community. But it was while thus em- 
 ploying his varied talents, that Mr. G-oddard was so sud- 
 denly removed from the midst of us. At no time of his 
 life had his influence been so widely acknowledged and 
 so beneficially felt, as at the very moment when it all 
 ceased forever. When we think of the intellectual and 
 moral light which he diffused, of the trusts which he 
 held, of the courses of thought and action which he 
 directed, we seem to look in vain, I do not say for the 
 man, but for the men, by whom his place is to be sup- 
 plied. Our only hope is in God. "Help, Lord, for the 
 godly man ceaseth ; for the faithful fail from among the 
 children of men." 
 
 But what, let us inquire, are the sentiments which it 
 is becoming in us to cherish on the occasion of so mourn- 
 ful a bereavement ? In the first place, let us bow in 
 submission before the face of our Father in heaven, who, 
 in inscrutable wisdom, and yet parental goodness, has 
 inflicted upon us this sore calamity. He endowed our 
 departed associate and friend with the intellectual 
 powers and the spiritual graces which made him, for 
 many years, a burning and a shining light. At the time 
 which He had chosen, and in the manner that He him- 
 self had selected, He has removed him from this world 
 of trial, and raised him to his sanctuary of rest. "The 
 Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 A high-minded and public spirited citizen, who has, 
 for many years, devoted a large portion of his eminent 
 ability to the promotion of every design by which we and 
 our children could be rendered wiser and better, has 
 ceased from his labors. A more solemn and urgent re- 
 sponsibility is devolved upon every one of us who remains. 
 Let us cheerfully assume those public burdens which 
 our associate and friend laid down only with his life. 
 
364 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Let his example teach us that the cause of truth and 
 justice, the cause of liberty and law, of charity and piety, 
 are well worth living for. Highly as we esteem the vari- 
 ous gifts of our lamented friend, it is for the use of 
 which he made of them, that now we chiefly venerate 
 him. Though we may not be able to supply the loss 
 which the community has sustained in this calamity, yet 
 if each one of us labors with an honest and earnest 
 spirit, our humble offering will be acceptable to the 
 Master. 
 
 And lastly, how solemn an admonition does this 
 event bring home to the bosom of each one of us. We 
 are most impressively reminded, that no pre-eminence of 
 usefulness, no ties of affection, no gifts of nature or ad- 
 vantages of fortune, can offer to us the least assurance of 
 length of days. The sun of Mr. Goddard went down 
 while it was yet high moon. Nay more : how solemnly 
 are we taught, that every one of us is walking upon the 
 borders of eternity, and that the very next footstep may 
 be planted within the limits of the world unseen. We 
 commence a week in health, but where shall we be at the 
 end of it ? We rise in the morning, buoyant with hope, 
 but God only knows who of us shall look upon the shad- 
 ows of the evening. We arrange our plans for the hour, 
 but ere they are half completed, we are numbered with 
 the dead. We commence a conversation, but while the 
 words yet linger on our lips, we are in eternity. Can 
 there be one among us who mistakes the lesson which 
 these conditions of our being are intended to inculcate ? 
 They surely teach us that we can only live wisely as we live 
 in habitual preparation for death. Let us then give all 
 diligence to make our calling and election sure, for so an 
 entrance shall be abundantly ministered to us, into the 
 everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 365 
 
 A PHYSICIAN. « 
 
 MEMORIAL SERMON OF H. H. GREGORY, M. D. 
 REV. WESLEY R. DAVIS, 
 
 PASTOR OF ST JAMES' M. E. CHURCH, NEW YORK. 
 
 Upon tlie top of the pillars was lily work. — 1 KrsfGS vii : 22. 
 Him that overcometh tvill I make a pillar in the temple of my God. — Rev. 
 iii : 12. 
 
 r pHEEE is a manifest connection between these pas- 
 sages. The first reveals to us the polished columns 
 of Jerusalem's temple ; the last is significant of another 
 temple in a New Jerusalem of which the old was the 
 magnificent type. 
 
 In this divinely planned structure I know of nothing, 
 outside the Holy of Holies, more impressive than the 
 pillars built by Hiram. These were of the finest brass, 
 of great height, splendid in symmetry and crowned with 
 lilies. 
 
 It is a law of art that the most perfect and enduring 
 effects are produced by a combination of things unlike each 
 other. A painter throws into his picture the darkest 
 shadows that he may intensify his clearest lights. A 
 sculptor carves for the top of his columns, capitals of 
 delicate design. An architect relieves the heavy masonry 
 of his walls with items of exquisite device and forms of 
 sculptured beauty. God himself is our original teacher ; 
 for whilst he "setteth fast the mountains, being girded 
 with power," he hath woven around their summits ten- 
 der vines, and rooted in their crevices sweet-scented 
 flowers, that warmly clasp and color the cold grey cliffs. 
 
 Observe that the strength was first and the beauty of 
 lilies afterward. TVe have here the uplifting of those 
 two qualities which are worshipped by the soul of man 
 
366 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 the world over. Power and beauty alike win his homage, 
 but not unfrequently he yields himself to that which is 
 but the sham of strength and renders service to that 
 which has but the semblance of beauty ; to power un- 
 gifted with love and to beauty unadorned by holiness. 
 It is the lie of the world often uttered and often believed, 
 that the righteous must needs be the weak, and the pure 
 the uncomely. God declares the right to be the only 
 strong, and the good the only beautiful. The power 
 that enters human life to rule it within and without, 
 must be a power of conquest, having the inherent quali- 
 ties, of stability. Man is born in battle. His cradle is 
 rocked by his own stragglings. His history is that of a 
 shifting factor in a shifting world. He can neither com- 
 mand himself nor control his surroundings. Antagon- 
 isms swarm on his path. Straggling alone he can have 
 but one experience : the shame that comes of perpetual 
 impotency and the confusion that arises from continued 
 defeat. Sooner or later he learns this truth, that "all 
 power is of God," and that the strength that conquers 
 for the spiritual, that takes hold of eternal things and 
 abides, that elevates life into firmness of character and 
 adorns it w T ith real beauty, is possible only through the 
 patient, helpful, regenerative ministry of Jesus Christ. 
 
 A man having this Christ for his Saviour and friend, 
 and developing thereby a character that was like a 
 column, has just been called out of the stir and bustle 
 of our midst. The beginnings of such a life are of spe- 
 cial interest. 
 
 I cannot speak of the sudden darkness and inner pain 
 that smote my heart on the morning when a messenger 
 entered my room with the tidings, briefly told " Dr. 
 Gregory is dead." I felt as though one of the central 
 foundations of the earth had been removed. I knew 
 that a pillar in our temple had fallen ; that a life on 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 367 
 
 which hundreds of lives leaned was shattered. Looking 
 beyond the shadows of the finite I behold a shining, 
 stately shaft set up on high, and read the destiny he has 
 gone forward to realize; — " Him that overcometh will I 
 make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go 
 no more out." 
 
 What was the ground-work of this life ? At such a 
 time as this, these questions naturally determine the 
 drift of our thoughts. 
 
 The classification of men is a very difficult task, and 
 yet it is one we almost unconsciously perform. It is not 
 simply the result of our judgment after a careful analysis 
 of character. It largely belongs to our intuitions. 
 What a man is, is the final impression he makes on the 
 world rather than what he seems to be. His seeming 
 may be adroitly managed, but the instinctive and neces- 
 sary influences of his real self, will sooner or later tear 
 off the mask. Genuine manhood is as certain of recog- 
 nition as hypocrisy is of detection and scorn. . . . 
 
 Making search for the foundations of this character, 
 I ask you to mark the Faith which shaped and sustained 
 his history. 
 
 He was a man of convictions, a man compacted of 
 positives ; invariably clear in opinion and firm in atti- 
 tude. When he came to apprehend the realities of life, 
 illuminated by the realities of divine truth, it was in no 
 negative mood, but with a vivid experience and seizure 
 of soul that made them his own. . . . 
 
 I ask you to consider also his Fidelity. He was open 
 to conviction, if wrong could be convinced and swayed 
 to the right path, for the right with him was ever the 
 supreme ; but once settled in purpose he could not be 
 moved. He was not a rover or a shifter, playing fast 
 and loose with duty, but an earnest man who having 
 found truth planted himself on it with a firmness invin- 
 
368 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE8. 
 
 cible. Faithful to his professions, he was a column mor- 
 ticed in rock, find him where you might. 
 
 Because he thus stood immovable on things accepted, 
 we have the rounded effect of his entire life ; which was 
 that of strength. 
 
 He was strong because sincere. He had all the ten- 
 derness of real strength and all the strength of real 
 tenderness. Nevertheless he was poorly endowed with 
 patience for many things. He would burn and flare 
 against pretence and hypocrisy with an energy that was 
 startling. He could no more bear a sham than be a sham 
 himself. The meannesses that eat integrity out of char- 
 acter were specially smitten by his sarcasm or shriveled 
 in his scorn. 
 
 He could not dissemble. He had no hiding place 
 even for his faults. These were reported on the very 
 surface of his action, and were the excesses of virtues 
 rather than their perversion. 
 
 An experience of safety belonged to every one that 
 knew him, for he was without guile. To the worth of 
 sincerity he added the Christ-like sjurit of self sacrifice. 
 Two brief passages, often on his lips, revealed his phil- 
 osophy of life — "No man liveth unto himself" — "Ye 
 are not your own." How clearly were these words writ- 
 ten on the pages of his history. Influence consecrated 
 to Christ was the end of his desire and of his deed. 
 
 Self forgetful, he was above envy ; rejoicing in the 
 success of others and hopeful for the unpromising. His 
 record with the younger physicians of Harlem cannot be 
 written. The good cheer, the genial help, the steadfast 
 fellowship, the common sense counsel and liberal hos- 
 pitality, which they have received from the " old man," 
 as they fondly called him, can never be repeated. May 
 the dignity and charm of his memory bind them to 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 369 
 
 that faith, which bore fruit in the warmth and beauty 
 of his example. 
 
 Again, he firmly enthroned himself through sym- 
 pathy with human life in its every stage and experience. 
 The sorrows and struggles of others became his own. 
 He was the sheltering refuge and the trusted friend be- 
 cause of his instant appreciation of your trouble. His 
 consolations were swift to offer all his resources. His 
 helpfulness verified these words — 
 
 " Thy soul must overflow, if thou 
 Another soul would reach ; 
 It needs the overflow of heart, 
 To give the lips full speech." 
 
 This trait of character did not blur moral distinc- 
 tions. He could see wrong and condemn it, but he was 
 like his Lord in this also, that he pitied and yearned to 
 restore the wrong doer. The secret of failure in the 
 ministry of many is littleness of heart ; not want of in- 
 tellectual or expressional gifts, but meagerness of sym- 
 pathy. Their views of life are narrow. They know men 
 after one type. They surround themselves with frigid 
 proprieties that repel the affectionate impulses and deep 
 questionings of souls. He was not of that class. He 
 believed the Gospel to be God's spell for man ; charmful 
 with power and vigorous with hope. Able to win and 
 able to save because straight and fresh from the bosom 
 of an everlasting Love. Under the sway of this faith he 
 would not despise any soul that might fall into the dis- 
 grace that brought suffering. Rejected by others there 
 was forgiveness and help in him. 
 
 His sympathy was the emphasis of that wealth of 
 humanity, which he threw into all his undertakings. 
 This became the source of an enthusiasm that was mag- 
 netic and led captive the doubting and the irresolute. 
 15* 
 
370 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Wherever his name was mentioned you seemed to hear 
 the beat of a big heart. Time and again in the history 
 of this church, when the outlook was dark and the future 
 uncertain, he would become the prophet of the morning 
 and of the clear path to be revealed in its light. San- 
 guine in temperament and faithful in duty, he was al- 
 ways an inspiration. As one upon a steamer's deck feels 
 the throb of the engine and knows that he is near a force 
 that helps him over the waves, so the friends of this man 
 were carried by a power that often propelled against ad- 
 verse currents and across the crests of maddening diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 What a nature ! thus to continuously pour itself forth ; 
 only asking that you take freely, abundantly of its full- 
 ness ; only content when the best had been given. If I 
 could chisel upon his tomb the symbol of his free and 
 generous spirit I would carve a " naming heart upon a 
 broad and open hand." 
 
 The pillars of Hiram were strong because firmly based 
 and magnificently proportioned, but " on the top of the 
 pillars was lily work/' In the ordinary goings of our 
 friend's life you might not have guessed that he carried 
 a crown of flowers. He had more than these — the sweet 
 charities of life and the beauty which best adorns 
 strength. 
 
 Perhaps the most manifest, was his cheerfulness. 
 This shone through his countenance, and rang in his 
 voice and was the elasticity of every movement. His 
 company was as exhilarating as a sea-breeze. Said one 
 of his patients to me, " To have him come into a sick 
 room was to be better right away." His glad vitality 
 gave a new spring to your own powers of enjoyment. His 
 laugh was like the gush of a full fountain, joyously 
 breaking into freedom, satisfying the thirsty and quick- 
 ening dry life-roots. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 371 
 
 His nature, like a revolving mirror, reflected every- 
 thing around it ; the grass by the wayside — the clouds of 
 the sky — the sun-set and the stars — the little child with 
 its laughter and the old man in his weariness — the sick 
 under the fire of fever and the well under the glow of 
 health — the bereaved by the ruins of love-altars, and the 
 unsmitten rejoicing without fear ; all were reported to 
 this genuinely tender and greatly true soul. 
 
 Again, he had an exquisite appreciation of everything 
 that was natural, that had the worth of being what God 
 intended it to be. This directed his estimates of men 
 and things. This decided his tastes ; made him quickly 
 responsive. This formed the standard of his criticism 
 whether in poetry, or art, or history, or character. If 
 he should take up a book and read a sentiment of special 
 energy or peculiar pathos, it would duplicate itself in 
 his own spirit, so swiftly, that his face would flush or his 
 eyes fill with tears. 
 
 This was not a weakness but a source of invigoration 
 to his manhood. It is not the weakness of an oak to 
 carry the light foliage that elaborates strong roots, stout 
 trunks and giant arms. The work of the leaf is as im- 
 portant to it as the qualities of air and clew, the bath of 
 sun-floods and the wrestling of tempests. 
 
 Every class in this community has been stricken by 
 his death. The laborer, who fights want from his door- 
 sill to-day, but knows not from whence the bread for to- 
 morrow will come, has lost a kind helper and healer. 
 
 The weak woman, wasting under disease, is conscious 
 this night that a form has passed from her bedside that 
 cannot possibly return, and no other will take his place ; 
 whose arm "was the strongest on the longest day," and 
 whose mind was filled with soothing thoughts, as his 
 spirit with sympathies. 
 
 The stanch, brave soul, standing full-breasted 
 
372 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 against the storm-tides of the world, shakes with sobs, 
 because the unfailing feet of a braver brother-soul, may 
 walk with him never again through dark waters and 
 under tempestuous skies. 
 
 I behold but one sorrow, which is everywhere break- 
 ing forth in tears, because the strong man sleeps in his 
 grave. 
 
 He fell suddenly. There was no dying scene of which 
 I may speak to you. Just before the Angel of the Dawn 
 opened the gates of morning on May 1st, the Angel of 
 the Lord overstooped his pillow and whispered the sum- 
 mons of departure. Of that going he had apprehen- 
 sions. He said to a friend of mine, the week before he 
 was cut down, il I shall be snuffed out some day," and 
 to another, " I expect to die with the harness on." 
 
 When his brethren of the profession searched for the 
 cause of his sudden death, they discovered that the right 
 auricle of the heart had been worn thin by the pressure 
 of the blood, so thin, that it was but a piece of fine 
 tissue. This was ruptured. The life currents had 
 broken their channel and in a moment he was gone. 
 This is significant to me in a peculiar sense. The Sun- 
 day morning before he died, he sat in his pew, listening 
 to the sermon, with that kindly and helpful attention 
 which made him the best of hearers. I closed with a 
 quotation from an humble English poet, concerning the 
 veil that hangs between us and the eternal home. He 
 said to a friend afterward, "T felt that it was only a 
 veil ; indeed, I almost got a glimpse of heaven." For him 
 sitting there the partition was very thin. Before a 
 second sunrise came, a life- throb rifted the veil and he 
 passed through to the perfect vision. His warfare is 
 ended. The armor has been unclasped and the helmet 
 exchanged for the crown. He is now and ever the right- 
 ful heir of all that heaven holds. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 3?3 
 
 But he does not simply inherit ; he has also some- 
 thing to give, out of the riches of his immortal life. 
 When Benjamin Parsons, of England, died, a friend 
 carried the news to John Pulsford, who lowered his head 
 for a moment in deep sorrow, then suddenly answered 
 with a smile, " He is gone ; yes, but he has gone to 
 make the heavens stronger/' Likewise our kinsman and 
 brother, having triumphed in Christ, is henceforth a 
 pillar in the higher temple of God. The great frame of 
 life is made firmer because of his entrance. The 
 heavens are stronger for us. A fresh magnetism streams 
 past the stars and takes captive our thoughts and 
 desires. A voice from the ' ' house not made with hands " 
 calls us to be true to the laying up of treasures incor- 
 ruptible, and to the elements of character that make for 
 it an enduring good. What can take precedence, or be 
 of greater import to you or to me, above the powers 
 that matured our translated friend for his reward ? 
 Humboldt has said, " The finest fruit earth holds up to 
 its Maker is a finished man." Such fruit Christ seeks 
 and hungers for in your lives, and shall He find at last 
 nothing but leaves ? 
 
 May His consolation to this stricken household be 
 greater than their anguish ; may this darkness bring to 
 them the closer pressure of His bosom ; may they be shelt- 
 ered there, through all years, until one after another shall 
 be lifted higher, to find broader light, sweeter peace, and 
 the abiding fellowship of him, who has been taken from 
 their arms. 
 
 Our Trials. — Trials are medicines which our gracious and 
 ■wise physician prescribes because we need them, and he pro- 
 portions the frequency and the weight of them to what the case 
 requires. Let us trust in his skill, and thank him for his pre- 
 scriptions. — John JSeioton. 
 
874 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 A COLLEGE PRESIDENT. 
 
 THE GOOD AND FAITHFUL STEWABD. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OP WILBUR FISK, D.D., PRESIDENT OF THE WESLEY AN UNI- 
 VERSITY. 
 
 NATHAN BANGS, D.D. 
 
 l 'Who then is that faithful and wise steward, w7wm his Lord shall 
 make rule over his household, to give them their portion of meat 
 in due season?" — Luke xii: 42. 
 
 TT^E mourn to-night, my brethren, the loss of no or- 
 dinary man ! Dr. Fisk, whose thrilling accents 
 you heard for the last time in this church, when he so 
 feelingly and eloquently plead the cause of missions, is 
 no more ! Did I say, no more ? I correct myself. He 
 is no more among us. 
 
 Yet he lives ! He lives in the recollection of thou- 
 sands, to whom he was endeared by the strongest ties of 
 affection, and who will long venerate his memory as an 
 able minister of Jesus Christ. He lives and will long 
 live and speak in those volumes which he has left as re- 
 cords of his worth, and as an evidence of his deep devo- 
 tion to the cause of God — of his ability to expound and 
 defend the truth, while he stretched his thoughts over 
 a wide field in search of theological, moral, and philo- 
 sophical science. 
 
 But he lives in a still higher sense. No longer 
 shrouded by that mortal body, nor impeded in its 
 expansive powers by its sluggish nature, nor de- 
 pendent upon its functions either for the reception 
 of its ideas or for the exercise of its energies, that undy- 
 ing soul, purified by the blood of the Lamb, is now en- 
 joying the fruits of its labors and sufferings in the full 
 fruition of that life w r hich shall never end. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 375 
 
 But, though in this sense he lives, and will for ever 
 live, he is in another sense dead to us. And without 
 anticipating evils which we may never live to realize, 
 permit me to call your attention, 
 
 I. To a brief exposition of the text. 
 
 II. To show by a short account of the life and character 
 of the Eev. Dr. Fisk, that he comes under the denomi- 
 nation of a u faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord 
 appointed ruler over his household." 
 
 The text directs our attention to the following par- 
 ticulars : 
 
 1. The household. By this expression, I shall under- 
 stand the Church of the living God. This is composed 
 of various members, of different ages, sexes, capacities, 
 dispositions, and pursuits in life. These require food; 
 that is, instruction, admonition, reproof or encourage- 
 ment, suited to their respective ages, capacities, disposi- 
 tions, and their several callings. It is the business of a 
 faithful and wise steward to seek out these several mem- 
 bers of God's household, to ascertain their wants, and to 
 furnish them with the needful "food." 
 
 2. Tfie faithful and wise steward, I shall under- 
 stand as designating that minister or pastor whom God 
 hath appointed over his household. That man may be 
 denominated wise who perfectly understands the peculiar 
 duties of his profession. 
 
 A wise minister of the gospel is one who is 
 "thoroughly furnished unto every good work" — fully 
 understands the law and the gospel — is able to explain 
 and defend them, and suitably to apply them to the va- 
 riety of cases which may come within his observation. 
 
 A wise steward, therefore, is one who has so applied 
 himself to the study of divine truth that he has a com- 
 prehensive knowledge of the economy of salvation, of 
 
876 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 the law and the gospel,, and of all those helps afforded 
 by the providence and grace of G-od for the furtherance 
 of his cause among the inhabitants of our world. 
 
 3. A faithful steward is that minister of Jesus Christ 
 who applies his wisdom to experimental and practical 
 purposes. Fidelity in the improvement of time, in the 
 right application of attainments, whether intellectual or 
 spiritual, is the '*' one thing needful " to entitle a minister 
 of Jesus Christ to become " a ruler over his household." 
 
 The faithful steward watches with diligence over the 
 several members of this household, adapts his instruc- 
 tions to their different ages, circumstances, variety of 
 dispositions, and peculiarity of callings in life. He 
 dilligently employs all his time and talent in doing good. 
 His knowledge he uses for practical ends. He makes 
 his theory have a practical bearing upon himself and 
 others. He watches over those intrusted to his care with 
 the tender solicitude of a father, giving them all a k( por- 
 tion of meat in due season." 
 
 4. Such a man is rewarded by being made a ruler over 
 the household of G-od. Being eminently fitted by both 
 to 'isdoni and fidelity , for this high and responsible station, 
 God puts him in his place, and makes him a ruler over 
 that portion of his family where his talents may be most 
 usefully employed for the improvement and salvation of 
 immortal souls. 
 
 By a ruler, I understand one that takes an oversight 
 of some particular department of the church, and is there- 
 fore held responsible for whatever may be transacted by 
 those placed under his care. Here his wisdom and fidel- 
 ity are eminently brought into practical operation. 
 
 II. Whether or not Dr. Fisk was thus qualified for a 
 "faithful and wise steward," whom God made ruler over 
 his household to give them their meat in due season, 
 will appear from a review of his life and character. . . . 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 37? 
 
 On his return from Europe, lie re-entered upon the 
 duties of his station with the same distinguished zeal and 
 eminent ability by which he sustained himself from 
 the time of his entrance upon that important trust. 
 
 I need scarcely say to you that he died as the Chris- 
 tian dieth, "full of faith of the Holy Ghost." "Hay- 
 ing served his own generation by the will of God, he has 
 fallen asleep," and now rests from his labors among the 
 blessed and illustrious dead. 
 
 Thus ended the labors, the sufferings, and the mortal 
 existence of the Rev. Wilbur Fisk, D. D., President of 
 the Wesleyan University — a man who united in himself 
 the graces of the Christian, the gentleman, and the 
 scholar, as well as the purity and dignity of the minister 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 It now only remains to present some of those excel- 
 lent traits of character by which he was distinguished. 
 
 1. His learning, though, perhaps, not so deep and 
 thorough as that of some others, was nevertheless sound, 
 various, and of the most useful character. 
 
 2. His religious experience was deep and genuine. 
 This was fully evinced by the uniformity of his piety, 
 the humility of his mind, and his ardent devotion to the 
 cause of his Divine Master. 
 
 His efforts to do good were limited only by his means. 
 On a certain occasion he was heard to say, "As I have no 
 children of my own to provide for, I feel it my duty to 
 do all I can for the benefit of others." Acting on this 
 principle he devoted all his energies of soul and body to 
 the best interests of his fellow men. 
 
 3. Though deeply interested in the cause of educa- 
 tion, yet he considered it only so far important as it was 
 made subservient to the spiritual and eternal welfare of 
 men. 
 
 The holy influence which was collected around the 
 
378 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Wesleyan University, by the power of his precept and 
 example, seconded as he was by his associates and the 
 official board, was extensively felt on the surrounding 
 population, and gave it a commanding character in the 
 community. 
 
 His invariable maxim was, that sanctified learning 
 only can be useful to mankind. 
 
 4. His talents as a preacher of the gospel were of a 
 high order. He entered deeply and systematically into 
 theological truth, and was thoroughly Wesleyan in his 
 views of the gospel, and the methods of diffusing its 
 blessings among mankind. Though never boisterous in 
 his maimer, but calm and collected he was energetic, 
 plain, and pointed, and evinced that he spoke from the 
 fulness of his heart — a heart thoroughly imbued with the 
 spirit of his Divine Master. 
 
 He was an original thinker. 
 
 His manner in the pulpit was solemn, graceful, and 
 dignified ; his enunciation clear and impressive ; and all 
 his gesticulations corresponded to the purity and import- 
 ance of the cause in which he was engaged. 
 
 5. Dr. Fisk wielded a powerful pen. The few printed 
 sermons he has left behind him bespeak for him the 
 sound divine, the able advocate of revealed truth, and 
 the fearless defender of experimental and practical 
 religion. 
 
 6. Instead of towering above his fellows by an exhi- 
 bition of any one talent of superior strength and brilli- 
 ancy, in him were concentrated that cluster of excellen- 
 cies which constituted a nicely balanced mind, admira- 
 bly adapted to the variety of calls which were made upon 
 bis time and abilities. This concentration of excellencies 
 created the symmetry of character which so beautifully 
 displayed itself on all occasions, and so eminently fitted 
 him to move in the various circles of usefulness in which 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 379 
 
 he was called to exercise his gifts. And in the exercise 
 of these gifts, it was evident that he studied to be useful 
 rather than great, though it is equally manifest that 
 his greatness of character resulted from the usefulness 
 of his life and labors. 
 
 7. But that which characterized Dr. Fisk among his 
 fellows, and rendered him so eminently useful, was the 
 deep vein of evangelical piety which ran through all his 
 performances, and exerted a hallowing influence over 
 his own mind and the minds of others. This blended 
 itself in his private studies, mingled in his social inter- 
 course, graced and sanctified all his public administra- 
 tions, whether in the pulpit, on the platform, or in the 
 discharge of his duties as president of the university. 
 
 8. In his social intercourse he sweetly blended the 
 meekness of the Christian and the gravity of the minis- 
 ter with the urbanity of the gentleman and the graces 
 of the scholar. To the common courtesies of life he was 
 never inattentive, well knowing that Christianity distin- 
 guishes her children no less by the " gentleness *' of their 
 manners, and the delicate attention to the niceties of 
 relative duties, than she does by the sternness of her re- 
 quirements in favor of purity of motive and conduct. 
 
 9. Though inspired with that spirit of Catholicism 
 which embraces all denominations as constituting one 
 Christian brotherhood, he was, nevertheless, cordially at- 
 tached from principle to the doctrine, discipline, and 
 usages of the church to which he belonged, and of which 
 he was such a distinguished ornament. Wesley he vener- 
 ated as the first man of his age, as the greatest of modern 
 reformers, as a sound divine, and as one of the most evan- 
 gelical, laborious, and successful ministers of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 10. It remains only that we look at him as the head 
 of the Wesleyan University. Here he seemed to be the 
 
380 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 center of attraction to all connected with the institution, 
 whether as professors, directors, or as students. His 
 counsel was respected, his precepts observed, and his ex- 
 ample considered worthy of the imitation of all. He 
 ruled more from the love and respect which were felt 
 and entertained for his character, than from a fear of his 
 frown, though the latter was dreaded in exact proportion 
 to the esteem felt for his exalted worth. 
 
 Finally, we may say, that ' ' Whatsoever things were 
 lovely, pure, and of good report/' in religion and morals, 
 in learning and science, in spirit and conduct, were, in 
 an eminent degree concentrated in him, and sweetly and 
 harmoniously blending their united influence in his heart 
 and life, gave a symmetry, a finish and polish to his char- 
 acter, worthy of love and admiration ; and although as 
 a human being he must have felt and exhibited the com- 
 mon infirmities of our nature, yet, having been disci- 
 plined by education, refined by grace, and improved by 
 reading and extensive observation, he may be safely held 
 up as an exemplar for the imitation of the Christian, 
 and the minister of Jesus Christ, as well as those to 
 whom are committed the interests of the youth of our 
 land. 
 
 The doctrine of the text then has had an illustration 
 in the life and conduct of Dr. Fisk. He furnished the 
 most indubitable evidence of being a faithful and ivise 
 steward in whatever relation he sustained to the church ; 
 and hence he became, in the order of divine providence 
 and grace, a ruler over God's household, and he gave 
 them their portion of instruction suited to the various 
 relations and circumstances in life, until his Lord said 
 unto him ; — " Well done, thou good and faithful servant ; 
 thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make 
 thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy of 
 thy Lord." Amen. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 381 
 
 A BISHOP. 
 
 MEMORIAL DISCOURSE ON REY. E. S. JANES, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 LATE SENIOR BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 REV. C. H. FOWLER, CD., LL.D. 
 
 nPHE first Napoleon, when crossing the Alps, saw an 
 old peasant woman hastening through the moun- 
 tains, and he asked her, "Whither are you hastening 
 this sharp morning?" She said, " To yonder pass to 
 see the emperor/' He asked, " What have you gained 
 in him more than in the Bourbons ? Have you not 
 simply exchanged one despot for another f" The old 
 peasant woman stopped, thought a moment, and then 
 answered, " The Bourbons were the rulers of the rich 
 and great ; Napoleon is our ruler." We are here to-day, 
 to pay a tribute of greatful remembrance to the cherished 
 and honored dead, because Bishop Janes was the bishop 
 of the common people. With a scholarship that made 
 him at home in the company of the learned and philo- 
 sophical, with tastes that could revel in the refinements 
 of a select few, with every social circle welcoming his 
 approach, and with resources sufficient to make these 
 varied advantages a delight and not a burden, he still 
 remained, in his convictions, in his habits, in his home, 
 in his sympathies, and in his affections, the brother of 
 the laborer and the friend of the poor ; and the very 
 last business act of his open right hand was to answer 
 to a cry for help. As a Missionary Society we have lost 
 a mighty friend, who labored and planned and lived for 
 us, who cared for our souls, and who sought the society 
 of the wealthy only for our sakes. He is our dead, there- 
 fore, are we here. . . . 
 
 The elements out of which Bishop Janes' greatness 
 was constructed were simple and easily apprehended. 
 
382 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 They are on the surface of his transparent character. 
 They are open to the gaze of the common observer. It 
 is difficult to grasp a sphere. It slips from the grasp. 
 We must encompass it to hold it. This is the problem 
 before us. Thus it happens that a man is comprehended 
 only by his peers. We need not add that Bishop Janes 
 must wait for a biographer. Let us catalogue the com- 
 ponent parts of this character. 
 
 Let us place reason at the head of the list, next his 
 Common sense .... his Conscience ... his Ambi- 
 tion ... his Courage . . . his Affection . . . 
 
 So rounded and complete was his character that, ap- 
 proached from almost any side, it seemed to be greatest. 
 At first sight he seemed not so great ; but as we worked 
 up into his abilities they grew to the limit of our com- 
 prehension. His powers were like groups of mountain 
 peaks towering up side by side, and so close together as 
 to reduce each other's apparent height. Only the accu- 
 rate tests of science show their great elevation above the 
 sea. The group of the exalted peaks in this wonderful 
 man I would call his common sense, his conscience, his 
 will, his concentration, his ambition, his industry, and 
 his economy of power. Other peculiarities, seen in them- 
 selves, would have made him a marked man ; but I 
 think these are the peaks with which he held up the 
 crown of his greatness. 
 
 The elements were so evenly mixed in him, and the 
 powers so nicely poised, that he seemed able to do his 
 best on all occasions and under any circumstances. 
 
 As & preacher, he had few superiors. As a platform 
 speaher, he could come in any part of any programme, 
 and be heard, enjoyed, and remembered. 
 
 As a pastor, he was methodical, exact, easy, and with- 
 out a blemish. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 383 
 
 He was an orator, of superior parts. " He was elo- 
 quent." 
 
 He was a thinker, able to trace and reveal the hidden 
 relations of truths. 
 
 He was a writer of great ability. 
 
 He was a statesman, measured by his papers and by 
 the wisdom of his administration. 
 
 He was an organizer, handling with ease and ability 
 the system of superintendencies that constitute Methodist 
 polity. 
 
 He was a leader, not rushing into revolution, but 
 steadily moving up toward the advance line as rapidly as 
 it became reform instead of schism. 
 
 He was an administrator, when it became necessary 
 for him to assume responsibility he did it so gently that 
 all felt relieved to have it finally determined. 
 
 As a bishop he was a model. 
 
 Bishop Janes must be ranked among the great men 
 of the Christian Church, and his greatness must endure. 
 We hardly call the ephemeral great ; we want our great- 
 ness to abide. Meteors that flash out upon the darkness 
 only long enough to reveal the gloom and oblivion into 
 which they rush are not types of greatness. Suns that 
 shine on forever rather impress us thus. Bishop Janes 
 will stand this test. 
 
 The only man who could give any exhaustive catalogue 
 of the duties and work of Bishop Janes is now voiceless 
 in the grave. We can figure the weight of the atmos- 
 phere on a square inch, or on the surface of the city, or 
 on the earth itself ; but no man has found the outside 
 spot on which to correctly measure the weight of "the 
 care of all the Churches." Gethsemane is the type of 
 that outside spot. We can go with this little man of 
 great achievements through the ceaseless round of his 
 duties, watch him on the wing, like the bee gathering 
 
384 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 honey for the marriage-supper from every field on earth ; 
 yesterday seeking to steady some wavering brother in the 
 streets of Boston, to-day journeying on foot among the 
 camps of the miners near the Golden Gate, to-morrow 
 searching in the crowded cities of heathenism for the 
 picket line of Christianity, crossing oceans, scaling 
 mountains, traversing continents, till the surface of the 
 world seemed more familiar to him than the retreats of 
 his home, and the faces and wants of the great army of 
 workers in all lands were more definitely fixed in his 
 memory than the faces of the neighbors of his family. 
 "We can watch him working right on, year in and year 
 out, knowing no vacations except the quiet of the light- 
 ning express, or the repose of the midnight jerky of 
 the frontier, and asking no rest but hard work. 
 
 The life of Bishop Janes had but one purpose, and 
 his death could leave but one testimony. The light 
 that is brighter than the noonday sun, that had been 
 shining into his life for nearly fifty years, could not fail 
 him in the dark valley. He has walked with God so 
 many years, and so often pointed the dying and sorrow- 
 ing to the city with gates of pearl, and streets of gold, 
 and palaces of fire, and thones of light, that all these 
 things are familiar to the eye of his faith. He enters 
 heaven, from the harvest-field of the world, with the 
 quietness of perfect repose. I know of nothing grander 
 in the history of the race. In thought I have gone 
 out through the Gate of the Martyrs in Rome with 
 Paul as lie went forth to kiss the headsman's ax. ' ' I am 
 now ready to be offered. ... I have fought a good 
 fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : 
 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- 
 ness." Only such a soul as Paul could use such an ex- 
 perience. I have walked yonder with Elijah, and caught 
 the rapture of his soul as he neared the Jordan ; I have 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 385 
 
 watched this grand old prophet of the mountains, who 
 had lived in the solitude of nature's grandest scones, who 
 had gazed with eye undimmed on the clouds of fire that 
 wrapped the mountain summit, and stood with courage 
 unabated, with his foot on the heaving bosom of the 
 earthquake ; I have seen this man step into the chariot 
 of Israel, and ascend in a whirlwind of fire, and I have 
 been awed, as in the presence of God. But to my mind 
 there is something unlike these, indeed, but in its kind 
 not inferior in calm sublimity, in the dying of Bishop 
 Janes. At the end of his worldly journey he pauses a 
 moment in the bed of the Jordan, and, looking straight 
 up into the face of God, he says, "I am not disap- 
 pointed." 
 
 Brothers, the substantial part of this life we may re- 
 peat. Most of its greatness lies within the reach of a 
 holy ambition and consecrated will. Average gifts, con- 
 centrated into power, exercised into greatness, purified 
 into strength, glorified into beauty, vitalized by the di- 
 vine Spirit, and driven by an absolute, despotic, resist- 
 less, omnipotent will, can repeat the wonders of this 
 character as often as the world needs such leaders. May 
 the mantle of this man fall upon the young men entering 
 the ministry till every ear on earth hears the good news, 
 and every seat in heaven by the side of Paul is occupied ! 
 
 " When I get to Heaven, I shall see three wonders there. 
 The first wonder will be to see people there that I did not ex- 
 pect; the second wonder will be to miss many persons whom I 
 did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all will 
 be to find myself there." — John Newton. 
 17 
 
386 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 A WISE AND FAITHFUL KULER. 
 JOHN M'CLINTOCK, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 ON THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, IN ST. PAUL'S M. E. 
 CHURCH, N. Y. 
 
 Remember fTiem which ham the rule over you, . . . whose faith 
 follow. — Heb. xiii : 7. 
 
 TT is the Lord ; His will be done. The blow has 
 stunned the nation. Had we no trust in Him who 
 conquers even the last enemy, the " victory of the 
 grave " which calls us together to-day would fill us with 
 despair, and even with all the light which the word of 
 God affords, and with all the strength which our faith 
 in God gives us, we can still only say, ' ' His way is in 
 the sea, and His path in the deep waters/' We shall 
 know hereafter what He doeth ; but we know not now. 
 " Remeinber," says our text, and "follow" 
 There is little fear of onr forgetting — there is little fear 
 of the world forgetting the name of Abraham Lincoln. 
 It was the remark of Heine, the German poet and satirist, 
 that " men preserve the memory of their destroyers 
 better than that of their benefactors ; the warrior's 
 name outlasts the philanthropist's." There is some truth 
 in this, taking the world's history as it has been. But 
 it is one of the best signs of the times that men's hearts 
 are more than ever attracted by moral greatness, and 
 that all laurels are not stained with blood. The day is 
 dawning, even though its rising sun be dimmed by 
 clouds, and struggles up amid gloom, and tears, and 
 blood, in which the glory of the reformer shall outshine 
 that of the conqueror — in which the 
 
 Saints of humanity, strong, yet tender, 
 Making the present hopeful with their life, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 387 
 
 shall be held the true heroes in men's thoughts, as they 
 are the true heroes in the progress of humanity, and 
 before the eye of God. And to this heroic class belongs 
 the name of Abraham Lincoln, who fell, if ever man 
 did, fighting the battles of humanity. 
 
 The bullet of the assassin has done the work of an 
 age. To-day that name stands as high before this whole 
 people, of all parties, of all sects, of all classes, as it 
 would have stood in half a century, had the blow of the 
 assassin never fallen. Party spirit, for the time at least, 
 is dead. Who thinks of party now ? 
 
 The streets of the city of New York, and of every 
 city in the Union, from Portland to San Francisco, are 
 clad in mourning. I have been struck, in going through 
 the poorer streets of this city, to find the emblems of 
 sorrow more general, if possible, on the abodes of the 
 humble and the lowly, than on the stately dwellings of 
 the rich in the grand avenues. All over this land, and 
 over all the civilized world, I dare say, there shall be 
 grief and mourning in the hearts and homes of those 
 who are called the " common people " — of whom was 
 Abraham Lincoln. The " ruling classes n abroad will 
 grieve also, but for a very different reason. 
 
 But, while there will be real grief among the ruling 
 classes, there shall be sorrow of another sort among all 
 who have hoped and struggled for the future equality of 
 the race, and who, these four weary years, have been 
 watching the issues of our great war for freedom, with 
 an intensity of feeling only next to our own. 
 
 And now let us ask why all this sorrow ? "Whence 
 this universal love ? Certainly it was not intellectual 
 grandeur that so drew all hearts toward Lincoln. But it 
 is stupid to talk of him as a man of mean intellect. He 
 had a giant's work to do, and he has done it nobly. 
 Even in his speeches and writings, where defects of form 
 
388 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 reveal the want of early culture and give room for the 
 carping of petty critics who can see no farther than the 
 form, I do not fear to say that the calm criticism of 
 history will find marks of the highest power of mind. 
 With such gifts as God gave him, he was enabled to 
 pierce to the very core of a matter, while others, with 
 their fine rhetoric, could only talk around it. 
 
 Yet it was not for the intellect, but for the moral 
 qualities of the man that we loved him. It is a wise 
 order of Providence that it is so that men are drawn. 
 We never love cold intellect. We may admire it ; we 
 may wonder at it ; sometimes we may even worship it, 
 but we never love it. The hearts of men leap out only 
 after the image of God in man, and the image of God in 
 man is love. Oh ! what a large and loving heart was 
 stilled last Friday ! How fine, how tender, bow all-em- 
 bracing was the love of that old man ! Men of all class- 
 es were alike won by his personal magnetism. Those 
 who have traduced him most, and those who have been 
 most carried away by the blind fury of partisan hate, and 
 have gone to Washington to see him, have always come 
 away disarmed. 
 
 The entire absence of vindictiveness, either personal 
 or political, was one of the ripe fruits of Lincoln's native 
 tenderness. Did you ever hear of his saying a hard 
 thing of his opponents ? After all the vile calumnies 
 heaped upon him at home and abroad, did you ever know 
 him to utter a single word showing personal hate, or 
 even personal feeling ? It is a marvelous record. He 
 lived as he died : the last of his public utterances closed 
 with the words, " With malice towards none, with char- 
 ity for all." This phrase will fall hereafter into that 
 small number of phrases, not Scripture, but which men 
 often cite, unwittingly, as though they were. 
 
 Another striking element of his moral nature was his 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 389 
 
 profound faith — a faith not like that of the man who 
 now stands at the head of the French people, a blind 
 fatalistic confidence in his own destiny, or in the destiny 
 of the system with which he is identified. Nor yet 
 merely an uncalculating faith in the wisdom, virtue or 
 steadfastness of the American people. Abraham Lin- 
 coln had this, indeed ; but it was not all : he had a 
 profound religious faith : not simply a general recogni- 
 tion of the law of order in the universe, but a profound 
 faith in a Personal God. Of his personal religious expe- 
 rience I can not speak of my own knowledge, but we 
 have more than one cheering testimony about it. I have 
 been assured that ever after the battle of Gettysburgh he 
 was daily in the habit of supplicating in prayer the throne 
 of divine grace, as a believer in Jesus Christ, and that 
 from that time he classed himself with believers. Oh ! 
 what prayers those must have been in the dark days of 
 '63, and how wondrously bas God answered them. 
 
 I shall not speak of the patriotism of Abraham Lin- 
 coln, though it is one of the points of which I had in- 
 tended to speak, but you know all about it. You know 
 what a tremendous duty fell to him, and how he did 
 it all the way through ; seduced by no blandishment, 
 frightened by no threats from the steady pursuit of his 
 one duty — to restore the integrity of the government. 
 How far he succeeded is known to you all. The " forts 
 and places" which he said he would retake are all ours 
 to-day, and the main army of the rebellion is scattered 
 and gone ! 
 
 The manners of Abraham Lincoln have been a mat- 
 ter of a great deal of comment, and of snobbish com- 
 ment too. If unaffected simplicity, the most entire 
 ease, and the power to put one's visitor at ease, and do 
 it unconsciously ; if these are the ultimate results and 
 the final tests of refinement, as they unquestionably are, 
 
396 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 then was he the peer of any nobleman in manners. 
 When you shall learn to be as easy, as gentle, as truly 
 unaffected, as free from all thought of yourself, as Abra- 
 ham Lincoln was, then indeed will you have finished 
 manners. What if there were a few accidental remnants 
 of his former habits ? Of all people in the world, we 
 are the very last that should think of these. 
 
 We had no fear about Abraham Lincoln, except the 
 fear that he would be too forgiving. Oh ! what an epitaph 
 — that the only fear men had was that he would be too 
 tender, that he had too much love ; in a word, that he 
 was too Christ-like ! In coming ages, it shall not be the 
 least idea of his titles to the veneration and love of 
 mankind, that his compeers found no fault with him, 
 except that he had too much love. 
 
 Dear friends, the life of Abraham Lincoln is closed. 
 After a very, very stormy voyage, the ship has reached 
 her harbor at last. And how after all these tempests, 
 these fierce blasts, these rising floods, how did the ship 
 sail in ? Shattered and sinking, with sails all torn and 
 rent ? No, dear friends, God ordered it otherwise. Not 
 a mark of the storm was on the noble vessel ; the hull 
 was sound, the spars were strong, the sails were spread, 
 with the broad flag flying again as it never waved before, 
 and with pennants of red, white and blue streaming 
 gloriously and triumphantly over all, the ship sailed into 
 port, and the angels of God said their glad "All hail I" 
 So now say I — and I venture to speak in your behalf, 
 as well as my own — Abraham Lincoln, Patriot, Philan- 
 thropist, Christian, Martyr, Hail ! and Farewell ! 
 
 And now, what are to be the results of this tragedy 
 to the country and mankind ? It is God that rules, and 
 already we see that, even in this terrible crime, He has 
 made the wrath of man to praise Him. One thing is clear 
 — even now the American people are united as they were 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 391 
 
 never united before. The Republic is not gone, thank 
 God, but stands out in grander proportions, is established 
 upon a firmer foundation than ever before. In the four 
 days that have passed since the shot that laid Abraham 
 Lincoln low, the work of fifty years in the consolida- 
 tion of the Eepublic has been done. The morning of 
 the same day that saw one President die, saw another 
 quietly inaugurated and as quietly performing his func- 
 tions. 
 
 Another lesson we have learned is this : that in our 
 government no one man is essential. The Harpers have 
 just published a book by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte on 
 the Life of Julius Caesar. Its object is to teach the 
 world that it must be governed by its great men ; that 
 they make epochs and not merely mark them. How 
 suddenly that book has been refuted, and what a blow has 
 been given to this gospel of Napoleon, by the assassination 
 of Lincoln and its issues. Here is one greater than 
 Caesar, struck down as Caesar was, and yet the pillars of 
 the Republic are unshaken. What a pitiful anachronism 
 does the Imperial plea for Caesarism appear, in presence 
 of the dead Lincoln, and the mourning, yet living and 
 triumphant Republic ! 
 
 Let us now gather one or two practical lessons for 
 ourselves and our children. Hatred of assassination is 
 one of these lessons, if, indeed, we needed to learn it. 
 The work that Brutus did to Caesar was just as bad a 
 work as that of Booth to Lincoln. It was centuries be- 
 fore humanity recovered from the poisoned wound it 
 received from the stroke of the dagger that pierced the 
 breast of Caesar. Teach your children, moreover, not 
 only to hate assassination, but treason as well ; for treason 
 breeds assassins, as it breeds all other forms of crime and 
 wrong. You cannot be too severe upon it in your 
 thoughts or in your talk ; you are severe upon the rob- 
 
392 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ber and the assassin ; shall you be lenient toward the 
 treason which has begotten both robbery and assassin- 
 ation ? 
 
 Remember, too, that as treason is the parent of assas- 
 sination, so slavery has been the parent of treason. Is it 
 necessary for me to exhort you to teach your children to 
 hate slavery too ? In this one thing I ask you to join 
 with me this day. Let us bow ourselves before Almighty 
 God, and vow that so far as in us lies, none of us will 
 ever agree to any pacification of this land, until slavery 
 be utterly extirpated. 
 
 One more lesson, and not the least. If anything I 
 have said, or anything that you read or hear in these sad 
 days, breeds within you a single revengeful feeling, even 
 towards the leaders of this rebellion, then think of 
 Abraham Lincoln, and pray God to make you merciful. 
 Think of the prayer of Christ, which the President said, 
 after his Saviour, " Father, forgive them, they know not 
 what they do/' Let there be no place for revenge in our 
 souls ; justice we may and must demand, but revenge, 
 never. " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the 
 Lord." I counsel you also to discountenance all dis- 
 order, all attempts by private persons to avenge the public 
 wrong, or even to punish sympathizers with treason. 
 The region of slavery was the natural home of such 
 things as these ; let us have none of them. And soon, 
 when the last shackles shall have fallen, and throughout 
 our land, from sea to sea, there shall be no master and no 
 slave, the blessed Peace shall come, for which we have 
 looked, and prayed, and fought so long, when the Re- 
 public shall be established upon the eternal foundations 
 of Freedom and Justice, to stand, we trust, by the 
 blessing of God, down to the last syllable of recorded 
 Time. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 893 
 
 A WIFE. 
 
 ALBERT S. HUNT, D.D., IN BROOKLYN. 
 
 AT THE FUNERAL OP MRS. MARY C. FOSS, WIFE OF BISHOP FOSS, BROOKLYN. 
 
 " Jesus said unto her, 1 am the Resurrection and the Life. 1 ' 
 —John xi: 25. 
 
 A FEIEND lias been removed. Eight days before 
 God received her to himself she took her little 
 child by the hand, and walking in a meditative and 
 thankful mood to a graveyard, upon one of the hillsides 
 of her native town, seated herself in waiting for a funeral 
 procession, which was to accompany, from the village a 
 few miles distant, the remains of a young patriot, who 
 had given his life to Christ and his country. 
 
 It is " a joy forever," to look upon the landscape 
 which was spread before her, on that bright Sabbath 
 afternoon. 
 
 She waited long for the funeral train, but the hour 
 of her waiting was not lost. Aside from the numberless 
 associations of her early life, which could have been 
 awakened only to do her good, the praises which then 
 and there ascended to God, must have moved her soul 
 like a grand choral service. The prophecy was verified 
 — " The mountains shall bring peace." 
 
 But the bearers of the dead are at hand. They enter 
 the gateway. Slowly, silently, and with that peculiar 
 thoughtfulness which makes a funeral in the country 
 so unlike a funeral in the city, the sad train moves 
 toward the grave. The silence is broken by the voice of 
 the minister of Christ. "I am the resurrection and the 
 17* 
 
394 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
 shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me 
 shall never die." 
 
 The soul of our sister was thrilled as it had never 
 been thrilled before, by the peerless glory of this central 
 doctrine of the Gospel. Tears started in her eyes. Then 
 He, whose way it is to " still the enemy by ordaining 
 strength out of the mouth of babes/' put it into the 
 heart of her child of two summers to pluck a flower, and 
 with cheering words, place it in her mother's hand, as 
 the answer to those tears. 
 
 We discover something in the lessons of the hour in 
 the graveyard, culminating as they do in such touching 
 symbolism, which illustrates better than studied devices, 
 Paul's sublime argument concerning the resurrection of 
 the dead. 
 
 And these words of Jesus, "lam the Resurrection 
 and the Life!" 
 
 This is the central word of one of the most simple, 
 lucid, and affecting narratives of the Gospel. It implies 
 that the dead shall be raised at the last day, and more, 
 it declares that the power of this final resurrection, 
 even then encompassed the sorrowing Martha, and her 
 sleeping brother. He is the Resurrection and the Life 
 — " the Resurrection " because he is " the Life." Herein 
 rested her hope, and his glory. 
 
 Let us name some familiar ideas concerning Jesus, 
 upon the consideration of which we may enter with the 
 hope of reaching a position from which our faith may 
 readily lay hold upon him as "the Resurrection." They 
 are these : His Wisdom; His Tenderness, and His 
 Power. 
 
 I. Very many are the evidences we have of the Wis- 
 dom of Jesus. He so selects and arranges his proofs, that 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 395 
 
 the heart of humanity opens healthfully under then- 
 light and warmth. He does not blind and bewilder us 
 with the glory of the miracle in Bethany, because we 
 have been prepared for it, by less dazzling displays of his 
 power over death. The "ruler's daughter" opens the 
 way for the coming of the "widow's son," and it was 
 needful that both should go before the loved one of 
 Bethany. But more than this, the raising of Lazarus 
 did not furnish full proof of His avowal, "I am the 
 Resurrection and the Life." This miracle,- also, was 
 preparatory, and thus humanity was not withered, but 
 cheered by the brilliant testimony which afterward 
 came from the tomb in the garden of Joseph of Arima- 
 thea. 
 
 Thus, beginning with a meditation upon his Wis- 
 dom, we are led in a few steps to his grave, and feel 
 how truly he is "the Way" to himself as " the Resur- 
 rection." 
 
 II. Let us seek another path. Here is the Tender- 
 ness of Jesus. It is always manifesting itself. 
 
 But here in the narrative concerning the sickness and 
 death of Lazarus, are words which give a shock to our 
 faith in his tenderness. The sisters send a message to 
 Jesus. "He whom thou lovest is sick." No more is 
 said. This surely would be enough. It would be a 
 waste of words to add, " Come and see him." They were 
 confident that he would come at once, as the friend and 
 the healer. And do you not hope with them ? Would 
 you not have expected that the narrative from this point 
 would read something in this way : — Now Jesus loved 
 Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus, and therefore he has- 
 tened to Bethany ? But it tells us that he loved them, 
 and therefore he tarried for two days where he was. 
 What can explain this apparent inconsistency ? The 
 
396 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 answer is here. " This sickness is not unto death, but 
 for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be 
 glorified thereby." In other words : The sickness 
 was not unto death, but unto the resurrection from 
 death. 
 
 Gladly would he have hastened to Bethany, but he 
 denied himself that he might open a way in which he 
 could lead humanity to a better understanding of his 
 words, "lam the Eesurrection and the Life/' 
 
 Thus beginning with the tenderness of Jesus, our es- 
 tablished views are first violated by a strange delay, and 
 then by a gladness still more strange. We seek an ex- 
 planation, and find it at the grave in Bethany, where he 
 teaches us by a preparatory miracle, to look on toward 
 him as "the Eesurrection." 
 
 III. We seek still another path and would come near 
 to Jesus as ' ' the Resurrection " by the way of his Power. 
 I know of no display of his power which more amazes 
 me than that which was needful to subject himself, as 
 iC The Life," to the power of death. How expressive 
 are his own words ! " I lay down my life that I might 
 take it again." Who doubts now that he is " the Resur- 
 rection and the Life ?" Not only has he come forth from 
 the grave himself, but even while his power was in exer- 
 cise, to the end that death might have a temporary hold 
 upon him, he was so truly " the Life " that from his 
 very tomb currents of vitality were issuing which found 
 their way into the graves of many, and quietly put them 
 in readiness to go forth with the Lord of Life. 
 
 Are you ever perplexed in your meditations upon 
 the resurrection of the dead ? Gome back from your 
 vain speculations ! The mystery is too great for you. 
 Come bury your face in the bosom of your risen Lord. 
 You are risen already ! 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 397 
 
 This is what the Saviour meant when he said, "I am 
 the Eesurrection and the Life." It is what Paul had in 
 his heart when he talked of the power of the resurrec- 
 tion " as something he could know, and when he ad- 
 dressed the Ooiossians as those who were already " risen 
 with Christ/ 5 
 
 0, for faitli in Jesus "the Eesurrection!" 
 
 The friend whose sudden death has called us together 
 knew the power of the resurrection in this highest 
 sense. 
 
 It is time that I should speak of her. 
 
 She was born in the town of Salisbury, in the State 
 of Connecticut, in the year 1832. Her parents, who still 
 survive her, are worthy representatives of a consistent, 
 prayerful, cheerful type of Methodism. Unlike many, 
 they have ever acted under the promptings of a convic- 
 tion that religion should be a power and a joy at the 
 fireside. 
 
 The consistent living and the prayers of these parents, 
 more probably than all other agencies combined, have 
 been instrumental in leading a large family of children, 
 of which our friend was one of the youngest, to know 
 the bliss of a personal trust in Christ. Our sister was 
 never able to mark the precise period of her conversion. 
 When a child, only eight or nine years of age, she was 
 often seen at the altar of God seeking his favor. After- 
 ward she was greatly moved under the ministrations of 
 Dr. Davis W. Clark, who was stationed in her native 
 town, but it was in the quietude of her own home 
 and in conversation with her mother, that she was 
 first awakened to the consciousness of God's personal 
 favor. 
 
 The leading lesson of her life is one concerning the 
 blessed?iess of Christian nurture. She was trained for 
 

 398 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 God and grew up into Christ. Now this was a gain not 
 only because it blessed her with a longer day of Christ- 
 ian service, but it was a gain also, because the impres- 
 sions made upon the heart of Childhood by the holy 
 living and words of parents, are more potent to uphold, 
 restrain, and comfort in after life than any other class of 
 influences. Our departed friend never knew how to be 
 sufficiently thankful for the religious atmosphere and 
 sway of the home of her early days. Among her first 
 wishes, ag she began to recover from sickness a few 
 months ago, was that her parents should be informed 
 " how richly she had been reaping during the most seri- 
 ous illness of her life, the fruits of the excellent Christ- 
 ian training she had received at their hands." Passages 
 of Scripture which had been impressed upon her heart 
 in the home conversations of her childhood were the 
 abiding benedictions of her sick room, and even passages 
 of the family prayer offered long before, came back to 
 bless her. Fathers and mothers ! the choicest blessing 
 you can bestow upon your children is a pure Christian 
 nurture. 
 
 Another point demands our thought as it finds illus- 
 tration in the life of our departed friend. Her religion 
 was not a garment worn, but an influence absorbed, and 
 the result was that her life was not only luminous but 
 uniform. It seemed easy for her to pass from the com- 
 mon topics of conversation to the higher themes of 
 faith. 
 
 And now shall I attempt to sketch her as she ap- 
 peared at her own fireside ? I could not if I would, and 
 I would not. There are sacred memories of the loved 
 and gone which are all our own. Enough for me to say 
 here, She was a Christian mother and a Christian wife. 
 My brother ! y#u shall keep the rest, "We have no right 
 in it ! 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 399 
 
 Her death was sudden, but she was ready to die — 
 ever ready ! When she came down to the borders of the 
 grave a few months ago, she was abundantly supported 
 by grace. Her sick-room seemed to her " like the very 
 temple of God, and her bed an altar. " Her soul was 
 elated with a buoyant hope. She was not simply will- 
 ing to go, but jubilant in view of the heavenly glory. 
 Jesus was to her faith es The Resurrection and the Life," 
 and she was glad to entrust herself and her dearest 
 friends to his wonderful keeping. 
 
 She has left us. Do not let us say that her life was 
 incomplete, for in the light which streams from the 
 sacred page, we see that there can be no such thing as 
 an unfinished Christian life. 
 
 My brother ! I think I have some true sympathy for 
 you, but just because it is true it will find some more 
 fitting place than this to express itself. 
 
 Cling to the Cross ! and forget not that " a full hand 
 has the loosest grasp, and withered tendrils cling closer 
 than the green." 
 
 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give 
 thee peace ! Amen. 
 
 " 'Tis past 1 'tis past ! but I gaze on it now 
 With quivering breath and throbbing brow : 
 'Twas there she nursed me — 'twas there she died, 
 And memory flowed with lava tide — 
 Say it is folly and deem me weak, 
 While the scalding tears run down my cheek. 
 But I love it— I love it, and cannot tear 
 My soul from my mother's old arm-chair." 
 
400 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES.. 
 
 A FIREMAN. 
 
 THE LAST FIRE. 
 ON THE DEATH OF ME. BEAIDWOOD, 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE. 
 
 JOHJT CUMMING, D. D. 
 
 IN THE SCOTCH NATIONAL CHURCH, LONDON. 
 
 Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of per- 
 sons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. — 2 Pet. iii: 1. 
 
 T DO not intend to pass eulogiums on those that are 
 gone, but simply, practically and plainly, to illus- 
 trate facts that have occupied a place, and stirred the 
 souls, and awakened interest in almost every inhabitant 
 of London. 
 
 " All things/' infidelity observed of old, " must con- 
 tinue as they have been from the beginning." It needs 
 but common sense, and a fair and impartial survey of 
 our world, to come to a very opposite conclusion. There 
 is nothing in the world permanent but what belongs to 
 heaven. Change, deterioration, or improvement is the 
 experience of every man. 
 
 There are evidences of change taking place everywhere. 
 On the great earth itself a vast change will take place. 
 Just as there was a flood, we are told, so a day will come, 
 when the Lord " will come as a thief in the night," (un- 
 expectedly) " in which the heavens shall pass away with 
 a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat ; the earth also, and the works that are therein 
 shall be burned up." I always rejoice to quote science, 
 not to authenticate the Bible, which would be absurd, 
 but because it is always refreshing to be able to quote 
 science as elucidating and bearing out the exact minute 
 accuracy of the Bible. "We are told in the 7th verse of 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 401 
 
 this chapter, " the heavens and the earth which are now 
 by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire 
 against the day of judgment and perdition of un- 
 godly men." Literally translated, "stored with fire are 
 reserved unto judgment." What a thought is that ! A 
 core of fire in a crust of deposits composed of dead fos- 
 sils, the remains of extinguished and buried dynasties 
 constitutes the strong earth on which we tread. 
 
 The flood annihilated nothing ; it changed, it 
 desolated, it deteriorated, but it destroyed, or an- 
 nihilated nothing. What is the law that every scien- 
 tific man knows ? Fire destroys nothing ; it makes 
 matter enter into new combinations. It was found 
 in that great conflagration which seemed to be per- 
 mitted just to teach us what a precarious tenure after 
 all is our wealth, our greatness, our property, that the 
 fire took the iron, the stone, the metal, the silver, every- 
 thing that was there, and threw them into new com- 
 binations, but it annihilated nothing. So I believe 
 the last baptismal fire that shall wrap this earth in its 
 flame shroud, will destroy nothing but sin, imperfection, 
 decay, and that everything that God has made, every- 
 thing that Christ has redeemed shall emerge frem that 
 baptism more beautiful, more glorious, and more radiant 
 than before. 
 
 This last fire may change the structure of things. 
 That fire invariably does. The most precious manu- 
 scripts have perished in the flames — paintings, each of 
 which would be an estate, have perished in the flames — 
 sculptures, the admiration of ages, have been calcined in 
 the flames — and as we saw warehouses where two millions 
 and-a-half of property were stored, have been reduced to 
 ashes, and rendered utterly and for ever worthless — a 
 rehearsal on a small scale of what will one day be 
 universal. This is not my statement, I am but the echo 
 
402 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 of the voice of Peter. We had a faint foreshadow of 
 that last great conflagration, when we saw the Thames 
 glow as if it were molten brass — when the flames seemed 
 in their awful and mad ecstacy as if they were living 
 things, and rose and laughed at the mightiest efforts of 
 the mightiest master who had ever laid his hand on 
 them and made them still, and triumphed over all his 
 efforts to oppose their fury, and to save the property — 
 and the property would be nothing but for the life that 
 accompanied it — until all perished in the flames. But 
 what will this be — what will these burning warehouses 
 be — what will be the burning of the Parliament Houses 
 — of the Eoyal Exchange — of our next door neighbor, 
 Covent Garden Theatre — what will all combined be 
 when compared with this world's last fire ! when this 
 earth shall be in a white heat, with a blazing atmos- 
 phere, with melting rocks, with dissolving metals, and 
 with detonations, such as have never yet been heard, a 
 picture of terrific grandeur, such as we have never yet 
 seen ? 
 
 But let me now take the bright side of the picture. 
 The last fire that burns our orb, and sets fire to our 
 atmosphere, cannot, dare not, may not touch the 
 humblest Christian's immortal soul. The humblest 
 Christian is safe there. The flame dare not enter the 
 sacred chancel where the soul is. It can laugh at the 
 drawn dagger. It can defy the spear point also. It 
 triumphs over all that dares or attempts to assail it : — 
 
 "The stars shall fade away, the sun himself 
 Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years : 
 But it shall flourish iu eternal youth 
 Unhurt amidst the war of elements, 
 The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds 1" 
 
 It cannot be annihilated. The poorest Christian in this 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 403 
 
 assembly has a soul that is fire-proof, and flood-proof, 
 and death-proof, because it has been sprinkled with the 
 precious blood, and clothed with the glorious righteous- 
 ness of the Son of God ! 
 
 And in the next place, the last fire will not even 
 destroy a Christian's body. It may be crushed by the 
 falling of the walls of a broken up world, it may, as 
 many a brave soldier's has been, be torn into pieces and 
 buried beneath the green sods of the Crimea, or under 
 the burning sands of India — and many families in this 
 country, and not a few in this congregation, have links 
 that knit them to the burning sands of India — but not 
 one atom of that body will ever perish. You say, how 
 can what has been burned in the fire, what has been 
 torn in pieces, or lost in the sea, be discovered ? I 
 answer, if a chemist, when a person has been poisoned, 
 can follow and hunt that poison into every retreat into 
 which it can go, and can produce it before a Judge and 
 Jury, will not the great Chemist of the universe be able 
 to trace out every stray atom of every disintegrated 
 frame, and he who said, "let there be light, and there 
 was light," has only to say, "let Abney Park Cemetery 
 restore the crushed dead" we laid in it, amid the 
 sympathies of hundreds of thousands yesterday, and 
 every atom of that dust will be restored, and the grave 
 shall open, that face shall be seen again, that voice will 
 be heard again, that noble and manly form shall be 
 visible again, and then shall be said, " death, where is 
 thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?" 
 
 That last baptismal fire will not destroy one good 
 deed you have done for Christ's sake. People are so fond 
 in the present clay of building beautiful churches — and 
 there is nothing so beautiful — but I believe if we had 
 more common sense we should think less of building 
 beautiful churches and more of collecting living stones 
 
404 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 to build a living church, whose foundation is the Rock 
 of Ages. A cup of cold water that you have given to a 
 poor thirsty widow — a visit you have paid to a mourner, 
 sitting under the shadow of death — the sympathy you 
 have expressed — the help you have given to a poor rag- 
 ged boy or girl, to educate, to cheer, to help them on 
 the rough, hard way of life — these shall survive the last 
 fire, and they shall be mentioned at that day, when the 
 very words shall be music indeed — " inasmuch as ye did 
 it unto the least of these my little ones, ye did it unto 
 me." 
 
 My dear friends, these are your noblest glory. Let 
 your ornaments not be the beautiful things of this world, 
 but those imperishable things which the fire cannot con- 
 sume, which death cannot destroy, which will be repro- 
 duced at the great white throne, not as merits — God 
 forbid — not as your claims — " Blessed are the dead that 
 die in the Lord." Their happiness is because " they die 
 in the Lord," then it is added, not that their works go 
 before them, but their works do follow them. 
 
 And my dear friends, let me here say where death 
 finds us is of very little consequence, or at what time we 
 die, is of very little consequence, if we live and die in 
 Christ. That's the main thing. I don't believe there's 
 the least accident in anything that befalls us. I don't 
 believe in chance at all. "I believe in God the Father 
 Almighty, maker of heaven and earth." You've often 
 heard me say, when trying to comfort those who had 
 relatives in the far-distant fields of battle, that " every 
 bullet has its billet," and when that calamity occurred 
 the other day, that swept away perhaps one of the most 
 useful members of this Church, there was no chance 
 there. The scythe was peculiar, but the wheat was ripe 
 for the master's garner. He who has gone, I am sure 
 was ripe. In our committees connecteiN'ith our schools, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 405 
 
 ragged schools, day schools, Sunday schools, his pres- 
 ence was welcomed by all his brethren, and his com- 
 bination of good sense, of true piety, of thorough 
 efficiency were such that I fear we shall not soon see his 
 like again. But what is lost to the Church below we 
 rejoice to say has gone to the Church above, and instead 
 of speaking and speculating about the past, and what 
 cannot be recalled, let us draw the inference — " What 
 manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversa- 
 tion and godliness." 
 
 The ranks of our congregation have been thinned by 
 translations to the skies. Fill up the ranks. Many sol- 
 diers are now listening to me. You know that when a 
 comrade falls the rest must close up, and those to whom 
 the battle is bequeathed must act with the greater energy. 
 We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. You 
 will not think me superstitious when I say that the spirit 
 of our departed brother may be the spectator of those 
 that are left behind, and if so, if one wave of bliss can 
 rise from so poor a place to so rich a heritage — it will be 
 to hear that you have taken up with greater zeal and 
 greater energy the good work in which our brethren, who 
 have gone before, have been so usefully employed. I 
 have read in the stories of my country — and I for one 
 hope its ancient traditions will never be forgotten — that 
 one day, in a great battle, the chief of one of the pow- 
 erful clans of the Highlands, fell back, aud lay on his 
 side. The blood ebbed from him, and his clansmen 
 thought he was killed, and they began to fall back dis- 
 heartened — and you know that, be it a regiment or a fire 
 brigade, let the chief fall, how faint are all hearts, how 
 feeble are all arms — raising himself, with the blood ebb- 
 ing from him, upon his elbow on the green turf where 
 he had fallen, as his countrymen always fall, with his 
 back to the field and his feet to the foe, he said, "Mac- 
 
406 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 donald, I'm not dead, but Fin watching how my children 
 fight." My dear friends, the great captain of the brigade 
 is not dead, but is watching us, his children, and seeing 
 how they walk worthy of those "who by faith have 
 inherited the promises." 
 
 A FISHERMAN. 
 
 READY ? OR NOT READY ? 
 REY. ALBERT BIBBY. 
 
 PREACHED AT A SEAPORT TOWN, ON OCCASION OF THE FUNERAL OF A FISHER- 
 MAN WHO HAD BEEN DROWNED, AND BEFORE MANY OF THE SAME CRAFT. 
 
 " Be ye therefore ready also : for the Son of Man cometh at an hour 
 when ye think not." — Luke xii : 40. 
 
 r f^HESE words occur at the end of a very solemn sermon 
 preached by the Lord Jesus Christ to a numerous con- 
 gregation ; for we read — " There were gathered together 
 an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they 
 trode one upon another." If you read the chapter care- 
 fully, you will be able to trace the various links in the 
 chain of thought. 
 
 These words demand from us more than ordinary at- 
 tention. God speaks to men in two ways, through the 
 Holy Scriptures and by his dealings with men. When 
 a friend or relative dies, we feel it is the voice of God 
 calling to us to prepare to meet Him. And has not God 
 been speaking to us, my brethren ? Only eight days ago 
 a respectable fisherman, well known to most of you, left 
 his wife and three children at home and went forth in his 
 little boat to gather from the deep those treasures which 
 it had often yielded to his industry, and which afforded 
 him his daily bread. The day passed swiftly on, and the 
 little boat and its owner came not at the usual hour of 
 
MIS GELLANEO US. 407 
 
 returning. Sad fears began to chill the hearts of that mo- 
 ther and her little ones. The dieary hours dragged slowly 
 on, and fears grew into anguish and distraction, only to 
 be succeeded by the heart-rending certainty, that the 
 wife had become a widow : for her little ones were 
 fatherless. We are told to ' ' weep with them that weep ;" 
 and there should be no heart among us that does not 
 sympathize with the afflicted family. It is not, however, 
 a solitary case. Within the last twelve months three 
 times has such an event happened ; three times it has 
 been whispered in our streets, "A man is drowned f three 
 times the report has proved a fact ; three times has 
 death visited us in this unusual way. Death has not 
 stopped only at the lowly cottages of the poor. I ask 
 you solemnly to consider these dealings of the Lord with 
 ourselves as inhabitants of this parish, and then say if 
 you do not feel God is speaking to us, te each of us, to 
 young, to old, to rich and poor ? If there is one class 
 amongst us to which God speaks more particularly, it is 
 to the fishermen and sailors. Does not God seem to say 
 to us — " Behold, three I have taken away from you ; be 
 ye therefore ready also ; for the Son of Man cometh at 
 an hoar when ye think not ? " 
 
 I. The lesson is, that Jesus Christ will come again. 
 We are taught this in those words — "For the Son of 
 Man cometh." 
 
 When, however, Christ next comes, it will be in His 
 glorious majesty. Nor will he come for the same pur- 
 pose as at the first. Then He came to procure salvation ; 
 when He next appears, it will be to inquire who amongst 
 men have sought His salvation and accepted His offers, 
 and to pronounce sentence accordingly. When Christ 
 came the first time, only a few saw His real dignity and 
 character ; when he comes the second time, His glorious 
 majesty and power will force themselves on the atten- 
 
408 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 tion of all. There will be a little flock who love his 
 appearing. But what frightful consternation will 
 there be among those who cared not to be found ready! 
 What terror, dismay and anguish will seize them as they 
 behold the Son of Man coming ! Thus is that awful 
 moment described in God's Word — " And the kings of 
 the earth, &c." (Revelation vi: 15-17.) In that day 
 every secret shall be made known, every hidden deed 
 brought to light. 
 
 II. Christ will come when we do not expect him. ' ' For 
 the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye thirik not." 
 
 In the scripture the coming of the Son of Man is 
 compared to a flash of lightning, or the coming of a thief 
 in the night. In this way we are taught its suddenness. 
 It will find the world generally unprepared ; for thus it 
 is declared concerning that day in the Holy Scripture — 
 "And as it was in the days of Noe," &c. — (Luke xvii : 
 26-30.) As the flood came when men though not, so 
 will " the Son of Man come at an hour when ye think 
 not." 
 
 Do not such instances as those I have alluded to sol- 
 emnly tell each of us we " know not at what hour the 
 Son of Man cometh ?" This last case was that of a young 
 man not yet thirty years of age. In the morning he 
 left his house and family, probably with no more serious 
 thought of not seeing them again than any of you had 
 on coming here; before the night closed in, the cold 
 waves were rolling over his lifeless body. 
 
 III. We now proceed to notice, thirdly, the necessity 
 of being prepared to meet our God when He cometh. In 
 the language of the text it is thus expressed — " Be ye 
 therefore ready." 
 
 It is the same as saying, " Because you must stand 
 before the judgment-seat, and may be called to do so at 
 any hour of any day, take care and be prepared. Be ready 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 409 
 
 to meet God every day." Remember, too, that these are 
 the words of Christ. 
 
 And this will lead us to inquire, What is meant by- 
 being ready for the coming of the Son of Man ? In other 
 words our inquiry is, Who is prepared to die ? 
 
 First, Are you forgiven? 
 
 All men need forgiveness, because all men are sinners. 
 Sinners we are born, and sinners we have been all our lives. 
 There is not a commandment which we have not broken. 
 
 2. Are you holy ? 
 
 Scripture says, " Without holiness no man can see 
 the Lord." To be holy is to have a mind like God — 
 that is, to love what He loves, and to hate what He hates. 
 A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin, and 
 to keep every known commandment. He will feel just 
 what Paul felt when he said, "I delight in the law of 
 God, after the inward man." By means of prayer made 
 in the name of Christ, and efforts made in reliance upon 
 the grace of Christ, the Christian will be able to over- 
 come the solicitations to sin which surround him on 
 every side, and lurk in every corner of his heart. 
 
 Fishermen ! for many hours almost every day you 
 are separated from a watery grave only by a few inches 
 of board : do you ever think, that without holiness you 
 cannot see the Lord ? Of some few of you there is a 
 hope that you do ; but of a very large number there is, 
 at present, no hope at all. Do not say this is unchari- 
 table ; God says, " By their fruits ye shall know them •" 
 and by swearing, by drunkenness, by lascivious conduct 
 and conversation, by bickering and dishonest dealing, by 
 the neglect of the Sabbath, by idleness and disregard of 
 your families, too many declare, as plainly as if they said 
 it in so many words, that they are the servants of the 
 devil, and not of God. And some who are more decent 
 
 in their conduct at home, leave all their care of the Sab- 
 18 
 
410 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 bath behind them, when they go to fish elsewhere. In 
 a few weeks you will again be leaving, and exposed to the 
 same temptation. Let me intreat you wherever you 
 may be, to leave your nets on the Sunday and follow 
 Christ by worshipping Him in His house. 
 
 A MEEE PKOFESSOR. 
 
 LESSONS FROM THE LIFE AND END OF JUDAS ISCAEIOT. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM S. PLUMER, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 "It had been good for that man if he had not been born.''' — 
 Matthew xxvi : 24. 
 
 OUCH is the alarming and astounding language of the 
 ^ Lord Jesus Christ respecting one of his disciples 
 and apostles. The Messiah needed not that any should 
 testify to him of man ; for he knew what was in man. 
 He searches the hearts and reins. He declares the end 
 from the beginning. " Jesus knew from the beginning 
 who they were that believe not, and who should betray 
 him." Christ's ministers are often deceived ; Christ, 
 never. He knows all things. He never was overreached. 
 His eyes are as flaming fire. He easily detects the most 
 specious pretenses. He knows all men, all hearts, all 
 destinies. 
 
 The person here spoken of is Judas, whose surname 
 is Iscariot. Let us consider the life and end of him of 
 whom the words of the text were spoken. 
 
 1. There is no evidence that Judas Iscariot was a 
 man of bad countenance. Most men are much influenced 
 by looks, and many think they can tell a man's character 
 by the physiognomy. This may often be true ; but 
 there are many exceptions. 
 
 2. There is no evidence that, up to his betrayal of his 
 Lord, his conduct was the subject of censure, complaint, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 411 
 
 jealousy, or of the slightest suspicion. Until the night 
 when he committed the traitorous deed, his reputation 
 seems to have been fair, and without the shadow^ of a 
 blenikh. He was not ambitious, as James and John on 
 one occasion were. He was free from the characteristic 
 rashness of Peter. His sins were all concealed from the 
 eyes of mortals. He was a thief ; but that was known 
 only to Omniscience. 
 
 3. There is no evidence that, during his continuance 
 with Christ, he regarded himself as a hypocrite. Doubt- 
 less he thought himself honest. He knew no other kind 
 of sincerity than that which he possessed. He may have 
 had solemn and joyful feelings under the preaching 
 of Christ. He may have had very awful and tender 
 thoughts when he himself was preaching. Such is man's 
 self-ignorance, that it is probable not one in ten thou- 
 sand, who are hypocrites, firmly believe that such is their 
 character. N~ay, it commonly happens, that the worse 
 men are, the better they think themselves to be. 
 
 The first mention made of this man is entirely cred- 
 itable to him. He is introduced to us as one of the 
 twelve, whom Christ chose as disciples and confidential 
 friends, to be with him and hear his instructions, both pub- 
 lic and private. We are not told that Christ ever availed 
 himself on the absence of Judas to make any communi- 
 cations to the eleven, until the night of his betrayal. 
 
 The Lord ordained him with the other eleven to the 
 office and work of an apostle. Since the birth of Christ 
 this is the highest office to which any mortal could at- 
 tain. The gifts requisite for the performance of its 
 duties were extraordinary and miracukms. They belong 
 to no man now living. The proofs of an apostle were 
 in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. . . 
 
 The next account we have of Judas respects his ap- 
 parent regard for the poor. When the affectionate Mary 
 
412 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 anointed the feet of the blessed Jesus, Judas was there. 
 Being treasurer of Christ's family, and acting without 
 auditors, he had dishonestly used some of the funds for 
 his own private purposes. Hence he is called "a thief." 
 
 When Judas went to the chief priest, he probably 
 expected to obtain several thousand pieces of silver, and 
 thought thus to make his fortune. Possibly he intended 
 to get his money, fulfill his bargain, and put his Master 
 into their hands; but expected Christ immediately to 
 deliver himself out of their power. Thus the traitor 
 would have become a swindler. 
 
 The bargain being made, the difficulty with Judas 
 now was to fulfill his part of it. " And from that time 
 he sought opportunity to betray him." Wickedness is 
 troublesome. Probably Judas gave frequent assurances 
 of fidelity in his covenant with the Jews, and would have 
 pretended to be grossly insulted if any had charged him 
 with a design of fraud. Sin fearfully blinds the mind, 
 and hardens the heart. The devil seems now to have 
 had full possession of Judas. He took no time, he had 
 no heart for reflection. He may have kept up some form 
 of prayer, but there was no sincerity in him or his devo- 
 tions. . . . 
 
 The aggravations of the sin of betraying Christ were 
 many and great. The traitor was eminent in place, in 
 gifts, in office, in professsion ; a guide to others, and one 
 whose example was likely to influence many, and if evil, 
 to give great occasion to the enemy to speak reproach- 
 fully. His sin had for its object the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 It was an attack on God himself. 
 
 This subject is full of instruction, and teaches many 
 salutary lessons. Let us not so far separate ourselves 
 from Judas as to suppose that we are naturally better 
 than he, or that if left to ourselves we will not prove 
 that we are ready for any deed of wickedness. A monster 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 413 
 
 of depravity was he. But all sin is horrible. And God 
 would have us learn wisdom from the fall of the worst 
 men in the world. Thus we may profit by the overthrow 
 of the most infamous. 
 
 From the history of Judas we learn, that when a 
 man is once fairly started in a career of wickedness, it is 
 impossible to tell where he will stop. God's grace may 
 arrest one in the maddest career, as it did Saul of Tarsus. 
 But left to himself, man will dig into hell. The good 
 providence of God mercifully restrains even the wicked, 
 else existence on earth would not be desirable. Scenes 
 of violence and blood, deeds of outrage and atrocity, 
 words of hatred and blasphemy, and looks of fierceness 
 and terror would appall us every hour, but that God lays 
 his almighty hand upon the hearts of men and com- 
 mands them to be still. Unrestrained, every heart would 
 show its possessor a monster of wickedness. Passions, 
 which now lie smothered, would, if let loose, rage and 
 sweep everything before them. Natural affection, the 
 voice of conscience, public opinion, regard to reputation, 
 and fear of the law, are hapily employed by providence 
 to hold men back. 
 
 All men should especially beware of covetousness. 
 " The love of money is the root of all evil : which while 
 some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and 
 pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 
 Tim. vi : 10.) Of the truth of this teaching Judas was 
 a fearful witness. No tongue, no pen can describe the 
 sorrows which rolled over his soul. When men are 
 eagerly heaping up riches, they are doing work for bitter 
 repentance in this world, or in that which is to come. 
 Even on earth "the covetous man heaps up riches, not 
 to enjoy them, but to have them ; and starves himself in 
 the midst of plenty ; and most unnaturally cheats and 
 robs himself of that which is his own ; and makes a hard 
 
414 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 shift to be as poor and miserable with a great estate as 
 any man can be without it." 
 
 Oh ! that men would hear the warning words of 
 Richard Baxter : " Use sin as it will use you ; spare it 
 not, for it will not spare you ; it is your murderer and 
 the murderer of the world. Use it, therefore, as a 
 murderer should be used. Kill it before it kills you ; 
 and though it kill your bodies, it shall not be able to 
 kill your souls." 
 
 Nor should we forget that character may as well be 
 learned from small as from great things. Judas' petty 
 larceny was as good an index to his character as his 
 treason. A straw will show which way the wind blows. 
 Human character is not made up of a few great acts, but 
 of a multitude of little things. Every-day conduct 
 shows the man. Great events, in which we are actors, 
 will fully expose us, if in small affairs we are unable to 
 act well. "He that contemneth small things shall fall by 
 little and little." (Eccles. xix : 1.) The failure of our 
 virtue on great occasions is but an announcement to the 
 world that we have been habitually coming short in our 
 more private behavior. Little rills form the greatest 
 rivers. The ocean itself is made up of drops of rain or par- 
 ticles of mist. A man is what his habits make him. He 
 who can not resist a slight temptation will never gain 
 the mastery over a grievous one. 
 
 It is also manifest that bad men may for a long time 
 appear well. To do so may cost them trouble, but may 
 still be practicable. Through life they may have such a 
 fear of exposure, and be so studious of appearances, as 
 to deceive all around them. Even suspicion may not 
 soil their fair name, and yet they may be in the gall of 
 btiterness. Eschewing the devices of the debauched, 
 they may practice the sins of devils. It is true that this 
 class of transgressors have a hard task. They are always 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 415 
 
 like one who has a rent in his garment, which he finds 
 difficult to conceal. A life of deception is full of hard- 
 ship and uncertainty ; and at its close, when amendment 
 is impossible, the truth comes out, and in a moment 
 damnation flashes in the face, and the poor soul enters 
 on an existence full of misery. When God tears away 
 the mask, disguise is no longer possible. * * * 
 
 How small a temptation to sin will at last prevail 
 over a vicious mind. For less than twenty dollars, Judas 
 sold his Lord and Master. Those temptations commonly 
 esteemed great are not the most sure to prevail. The 
 ribaldry of the Philistines did not move Samson from 
 his fidelity, but the blandishments of Delilah overcame 
 him. Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. 
 Many a man consents to lose a friend for his wit, yea, to 
 lose his soul for a quibble. Men may sin until the mere 
 force of habit, without any apparent inducement, seems 
 sufficient to impel them to great enormities. 
 
 Nothing prepares a man faster for destruction than 
 hypocrisy or formality in actions of a religious nature. 
 The three years which Judas spent in the family of our 
 Lord probably exceeded all the rest of his life in ripen- 
 ing him for destruction. So many, so solemn, so impres- 
 sive truths were presented to his mind, that he must 
 have become very rapidly hardened. 
 
 It is a small matter to be judged of man's judgment. 
 The judgment of God, it shall stand ; it is righteous, it 
 is always according to truth. Man judges of the heart 
 by appearances. God judges of appearances by the heart, 
 and he judges of the heart by itself. The tribunal, from 
 which there lies no appeal, will reverse a vast number of 
 decisions made by the tribunals of earth. Public opinion 
 often errs. Individual judgments are as often erroneous. 
 If men condemn and God approves, all is well. But if 
 
416 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 men acquit and God condemns, all is lost. He that 
 judgeth us is the Lord. 
 
 We should never forget that official character is one 
 thing, and moral character another thing. All official 
 characters may be sustained without any real grace in 
 the heart. Balaam's prophecies were as true and as sub- 
 lime as those of Moses or Isaiah. So far as we know, 
 Judas' performance of the duties of the apostolic mission 
 was as acceptable and as useful as that of the majority 
 of his brethren. Even success in preaching is not proof 
 of piety. It is the message, not the messenger ; the 
 truth preached, and not the man who utters it, that con- 
 verts the soul. Piety is of infinite importance to every 
 soul of man ; but a man who has no piety may yet do 
 good. 
 
 The history of Judas shows us how man will cling to 
 false hopes. Hypocrites hold fast their delusive expec- 
 tations with the utmost tenacity. There is no evidence 
 that during years of hypocrisy Judas ever seriously 
 doubted his own piety. There were many sure marks, 
 indeed, against him ; but what cares any hypocrite for 
 evidence ? His own blind confidence is to him more 
 powerful than all the truths of God's word. Because he 
 is determined to believe his state good, nothing will con- 
 vince him to the contrary. 
 
 If men thus self-confident forsake their profession, 
 and openly apostatize, we need not be surprised. " It is 
 impossible but that offences will come." (Luke xvii : 
 1.) " There must also be heresies among you, that they 
 which are approved may be made manifest among you." 
 (1 Cor. xi : 19.) Open defections from truth and right- 
 eousness are no strange things. It has been so from the 
 beginning. Jesus had his Judas. Peter must deal with 
 Ananias, Sapphira, and Simon Magus. Paul was in 
 perils among false brethren, and Demas quite forsook 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 417 
 
 him. We must expect those that are not of us to go out 
 from us. If they were of us, they would no doubt con- 
 tinue with us. The wicked will do wickedly, though for 
 a while they may seem to be righteous. 
 
 The case of Judas gives us the rule of admission to 
 church-membership, and, so far as moral character is 
 concerned, to church offices. We may require a credible 
 profession of piety. Infallible evidence of love to Christ 
 is not attainable. A profession of piety, accompanied by 
 such evidence as a consistent life affords, is as much as 
 we may demand. Our Savious knew Judas from the 
 beginning to be a bad man, " a devil ;" but his omni- 
 science, not the overt acts of Judas, taught him thus, 
 and so he received him into the church, leaving us an 
 example that we should follow his steps. Our Lord 
 judged of the members of his church, not by what he 
 as God knew of their hearts, but by their credible pro- 
 fession. The Master never did evil that good might 
 come. He practiced on the true rule. Let us seek no 
 other. However painful our fears respecting the real 
 characters of men, we must respect a profession of piety, 
 not contradicted by the life. 
 
 Thus, too, we have a full refutation of the objection 
 made to a connection with the visible church, because 
 there are wicked men in her communion. The apostles 
 certainly knew that among them was one bad man ; but 
 they did not therefore renounce their portion among 
 Christ's confessed friends. And Christ himself held in- 
 tercourse with Judas just as if he were all he professed 
 to be. So that if one certainly knew another to be an 
 enemy of God, and yet could not prove it to the satis- 
 faction of impartial church authorities, this should not 
 debar him from the Lord's table. If dogs will some- 
 times get the children's bread, that is no reason why a 
 table should not be spread for the children. 
 
418 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 How difficult it is to bring home truth to the deceit- 
 ful heart of man. Nor could one do a wiser thing than 
 to inquire whether he has better evidence of piety than 
 the great traitor had during his apostleship. Judas 
 could heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils. 
 He was first a disciple, and then an apostle of our Lord. 
 He often heard Christ preach. He held the only office 
 of trust among the apostles. His reputation for piety 
 stood as fair as any man's. His persuasion of his good 
 state seems to have been so firm, that he hardly felt in- 
 clined to look into the grounds of his hopes. He was 
 not a drunkard, nor a swearer. He was not a captious 
 hearer of the Gospel. Without a murmur he bore all 
 the fatigue of his apostolic mission. He was not an en- 
 vious man beyond others. He was not a slanderer, a 
 reviler, a backbiter, a whisperer. He displayed no in- 
 ordinate ambition. He was not a brawler, nor a violent 
 and outrageous man. And yet he was not a child of 
 God. Mere negative goodness, mere freedom from open 
 vice, proves no man an heir of glory. It is true there 
 was sufficient evidence against Judas, but he willingly 
 overlooked that. If many men had as good evidence 
 against their enemies or their neighbors, as they have 
 against themselves, they would speedily pronounce them 
 hypocrites. 
 
 In the case of Judas we have also a fearful example 
 of the terrible judgment of God against the wicked. As 
 he loved cursing, so it came unto him ; as he delighted 
 not in blessing, so it was far from him. As he clothed 
 himself with cursing like as with his garment, so it came 
 into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. 
 God's judgments are still abroad in the earth. Of all 
 judgments, those which are spiritual should most alarm 
 us. To have eyes and not see, to have ears and not hear, 
 to have hearts and not understand, to hold the truth in 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 419 
 
 unrighteousness, to be forsaken of God,, to be given over 
 to believe a lie — these are among the direst curses that 
 fall on men in this world ; and they are sure forerunners 
 of God's sorest plagues in the world, to come. And how 
 fearful must it be to fall into the hands of the living 
 God, when on earth a drop of wrath will make men 
 choose hanging rather than life. And how dismal must 
 be the prospects of all who die in their sins, when they 
 shall have for their companions Judas and all evil-mind- 
 ed men, the devil and his angels. The society of the 
 damned is good ground of earnestness in fleeing from 
 the wrath to come. 
 
 All temporal suffering can be gauged. But who can 
 fathom the sea of love, the ocean of bliss, made sure to 
 all believers ? And eternal misery is as dreadful as eter- 
 nal glory is desirable. Oh ! how fearful must be the 
 doom of the incorrigibly wicked, when in their case 
 existence itself ceases to be desirable, or even tolerable ! 
 It is true of every one who dies without repentance 
 toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that it 
 
 HAD BEES' GOOD POR THAT MAS IF HE HAD SOT BEES 
 BOBS. 
 
 THE SCEPTIC ; 
 
 OB, HAPPISESS APART PROM THE HOPE OP RESURRECTION. 
 
 PARIS EXHIBITIOS- SERMOS. 
 
 REV. JAMES MURRAY, M. A. 
 
 IN THE CHURCH OF THE ORATOIRE, RUE ST. HOXORE, PARIS. 
 
 "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most 
 miserable." — 1 Con. xv : 19. 
 
 TT was the intention of the Apostle, to establish in the 
 
 minds of Christian converts at Corinth, the truth of 
 
 the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. A greater or 
 
420 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 more important doctrine could not be submitted for their 
 consideration or for ours, as it is the groundwork and 
 foundation of our holy religion. Without this the suffer- 
 ings and death of Christ, undergone for sinful men 
 would be in vain, and the system of instruction which 
 he came to deliver, would be better in degree only, than 
 that of any wise teacher of the ancient world. Without 
 this, our hopes and expectations must have been confined 
 within the narrow sphere of our present earthly state. . . 
 
 The whole chapter deserves the most serious and at- 
 tentive consideration. In it you will see the certainty 
 of a future resurrection enforced by the closest reason- 
 ing, and in plain, yet eloquent language, such as must 
 have produced a powerful impression on those to whom 
 it was addressed. Among the errors which appear to 
 have crept into the Corinthian church, and against which 
 this great teacher had to watch and to warn, was that 
 derived from the Sadducees, who denied the doctrine of a 
 resurrection. Some of the early professing Christians at 
 Corinth had probably belonged to the sect of the Sad- 
 ducees, and had insinuated some of the poison into the 
 Corinthian church. . . . 
 
 This doctrine of Sadducees, which represents all who 
 sleep in the grave as utterly and for ever dead, holds 
 out a cheerless and melancholy prospect to all, but espe- 
 cially to us, the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, for if 
 in this life only we had hope in him — if we could not 
 look beyond this vale of tears to a brighter and more 
 animating scene, then we who are exposed to so many 
 and great calamities for his name's sake, were of all men 
 most to be pitied ; amidst such evils as we are summoned 
 to endure, nothing could support and comfort us except 
 the blessed hope of everlasting life which God hath given 
 us in his Son Jesus Christ. 
 
 We must be strictly careful lest our outward security 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 421 
 
 in religion should lull us into disregard and forgetf ulness 
 of that inward and spiritual part which constitutes the 
 very life of religion, or lest, while we admire the happy 
 and beneficial effect produced by Christianity on nations 
 and individuals, we should lose sight of that to which 
 precept points, and which is the end of practice, the 
 blessed hope of everlasting life. To show the necessity 
 of the same principle extending to daily life, and shed- 
 ding its gracious influence upon the scenes through 
 which we are passing, it will be found that the very bless- 
 ings and comforts of which our state is susceptible must, 
 in order to be genuine, have this mark upon them, indi 
 eating futurity ; and experience will abundantly prove 
 that amidst the reverses of life, in deep and lowly pov- 
 verty, in sickness and bereavement, there must be some 
 better remedy proposed than the skill of this world can 
 suggest, some more lively hope than present restoration 
 from pain and sorrow, and from the bitterness of desola- 
 tion. Constituted as we are, there must be within us for 
 our happiness, that hope in Christ hereafter, which will 
 not only regulate and adjust our joys and difficulties, 
 and prepare the soul for better and permanent things, 
 but will act with good results upon our behavior and 
 conversation, while in this world we are partakers of 
 God's gifts and the subjects of his afflictive dispensa- 
 tions ; for viewed independently of this hope, what is 
 man with regard to his joys and to his sorrows ? His 
 enjoyments are transient and unsatisfying. There are 
 few without a certain alloy of a trouble and anxiety, 
 and many are quickly followed by sorrow and regret. 
 
 In contemplating the enjoyments and pursuits of man- 
 kind in general, we must acknowledge, that the situa- 
 tion and circumstances of the poor naturally deprive them 
 of many of this life's satisfactions, and their present en- 
 joyment will be found to lie in but a narrow compass. If, 
 
422 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 then, they are living without God in the world, if they 
 bestow no settled thoughts on their eternal state, if 
 in this life only they have hope in Christ, their state is 
 deplorable indeed ; but if they rely with humble trust 
 on their crucified and risen Saviour, — if they respect the 
 Sabbath and are constant in prayer, setting a good exam- 
 ple to their neighbors — if, in proportion to their acknow- 
 ledged want of wordly joys below, they look forward 
 with a sure and ardent hope to a state in which they 
 shall receive the promised reward, then "blessed are the 
 poor, for they shall be blessed in the day of the Lord." 
 
 Yet there are enjoyments and satisfactions of this life 
 which all can experience and understand, namely, those 
 which spring from social and domestic happiness. Of 
 all the cordials which heaven in mercy has poured into 
 the cup of life to cheer us on our pilgrimage here, few 
 are so sweet and refreshing as these. To look upon those 
 who are indeed our friends, who compose the circle of a 
 peaceful home, imparts the liveliest feelings of joy. But 
 here the Christian hope must have its play. Without 
 this, the bond of affection must soon be broken, and all 
 enjoyment derived from it be but as a shadow. It is 
 this which will pervade with its soothing influence our 
 thoughts and conduct.; will consecrate each mutual 
 office of paternal kindness and filial respect ; will, with 
 God's grace, check the angry passion ere it rises from the 
 heart to the lips ; and will point to a state of perfect 
 and unalloyed bliss beyond the grave. * * * 
 
 I am not going to dwell on the advantages of wealth 
 and talent, because the possessors of these gifts, when 
 unblessed with higher hopes, have been like beacons to 
 warn us from the rocks of offence, rather than the sub- 
 jects of envy or admiration. Nor need I, when turning 
 to the reverse of the page of man's life, and to the trou- 
 ble which every one labors under, in a greater or less de- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 423 
 
 gree, enlarge upon a field familiar to us all. The sketch 
 must be imperfect, but it will avail for my argument. 
 How many diseases are there, some lingering and others 
 sudden and acute, which are sufficient, without this hope 
 in Christ, to make life a weary burden. Reckon the 
 difficulties which many have to encounter in seeking just 
 and honest ends, the cares necessary for arriving at some 
 point of desired success, and, in certain instances, even 
 for securing a hard-earned competency ; in one case the 
 threatening form of poverty coming after better days, and 
 approaching as an armed man ; the growing infirmities of 
 age ; the ill conduct, or the losses, or the distresses of 
 those who are dear to us ; — any one of these would have 
 its weight in depressing the soul, and much more so, if 
 they shall be found to follow up one another in sad and 
 swift succession. On such a survey, how is it possible 
 to pronounce man's state on earth a happy state, unless 
 at the same time we view him as inly conscious of that 
 within him which was not born to die ; as endued with 
 some secret support, which can give strength and cheer- 
 fulness to his spirit, and qualify him to go through more 
 than human strength or human reason could do of them- 
 selves ; as possessed, in short, of that hope on which he 
 can always confidently lean, which encourages him to 
 look upward as the waters of affliction roll over his head, 
 and to exclaim at the approach of his last hour, " death, 
 where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? 
 Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ/' 
 
 Our home in heaven ! Oh, the glorious home, 
 And the spirit joined with the bride, says, ' Come.' 
 Come, seek His face, and your sins forgiven, 
 And rejoice in hope of your home in heaven." 
 
424 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 A BLASPHEMER. 
 
 LESSONS FROM THE DEATH OF If ABOTH. 
 REV. HUGH HUGHES, D.D., ENGLAND. 
 
 " And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him : 
 and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against 
 Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blas- 
 pheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of 
 the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died." — 1 Kings 
 xxi : 13. 
 
 T^HE scene recorded in these words exhibits one of the 
 most lamentable and cruel deaths on record. It oc- 
 curred about seven years after the destruction of the 
 discomfited priests of Baal on Mount Carmel. The 
 signal punishment of the wicked on that occasion ought 
 to have converted Ahab from his evil ways, and brought 
 him to " repentance not to be repented of." The signal 
 deliverance of the kingdom from famine, which followed, 
 ought to have knit his heart for ever to Him who 
 delighteth in mercy and goodness. And he appears to 
 have been for the time convinced and softened by the 
 indisputable testimony of what he had seen and heard 
 and felt. But the impression soon wore off under the 
 bad influence of his irreclaimable queen Jezebel. He 
 relapsed into idolatry, and became again the sport of all 
 the evil passions to which our evil nature unchecked by 
 true religion is prone. 
 
 The evil passion which now worked in the heart of 
 Ahab was covetousness. There lived at Jezreel a right- 
 eous man of the name of Naboth, whose vineyard bordered 
 on the grounds belonging to the royal palace. Ahab, 
 not content with his already ample domains, in disregard 
 of the tenth commandment, coveted that possession of 
 his neighbor, and wished to annex it to his own property. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 425 
 
 It appears that he was not so unjust as to expect it 
 without a price. He offered even to give a better vine- 
 yard in exchange for it, or to pay its full value in money. 
 But Naboth said unto Ahab, "The Lord forbid it me 
 that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto 
 thee/' 
 
 Ahab, who had sinfully set his heart upon this prop- 
 erty, was greatly chagrined and disappointed at Naboth's 
 refusal. But displeased as he was, and despotic as he 
 was, he durst not by force seize upon another's inherit- 
 ance, as it would have been a flagrant breach of the con- 
 stitution of the country, and perhaps, by creating a 
 universal panic respecting the security of property, would 
 have endangered the stability of his throne. Neither 
 could he alter the law upon the point, the Israeli tish 
 kings had no authority to alter, annul, or enact a single 
 statute of the realm, the code of Moses being the alpha 
 and omega of the national legislation. Under these cir- 
 cumstances the evil passion of covetousness, and his 
 inability to gratify it, caused him excessive annoyance, 
 embittered all his enjoyments, and appears to have seriously 
 affected his health. " He laid him down on his bed, and 
 turned away his face, and would eat no bread/' What 
 sources of misery are capricious appetites and ill-regu- 
 lated desires ! Here is a man already lord of ten-twelfths 
 of the country, the king of Israel, and the recent con- 
 queror of Syria, made wretched because he could not 
 obtain possession of a poor man's vineyard. What a proof 
 of the vanity of worldly things, and their inability to 
 " minister to a mind diseased !" . . . 
 
 She adopted a most infamous scheme for the purpose 
 — a scheme the more abominable in the sight of God and 
 upright men from it combining with robbery and murder 
 the odious vices of hypocrisy and. perjury. She wrote 
 letters in Ahab's name to the elders and nobles of Jezreel, 
 
426 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and commanded them to procure two men, sons of 
 Belial, that is, two men who were unprincipled enough 
 to take a false oath, and for a bribe to swear away the 
 life of a fellow creature. She ordered that Naboth 
 should be charged with treason and blasphemy, for 
 which, according to the Mosaic law, the punishment was 
 death by stoning. She ordered a fast to be proclaimed 
 in the place, to intimate the deprecation of a great 
 calamity impending over the nation for its toleration of 
 such a crying evil as the existence of such a traitor and 
 blasphemer within the city. . . . Justice and religion 
 are themselves made the pretexts for perpetrating the 
 most atrocious crimes. The very seat of justice is cor- 
 rupted, and the very sanctuary of religion polluted. 
 The handmaids of virtue become the abettors of vice, 
 and the daughters of heaven are changed into ministers 
 of hell, the angels of light into the emissaries of Satan. 
 Under such circumstances the decay of moral and 
 religious principles is rapid beyond calculation. Pro- 
 fligacy, fear, treachery and sycophancy bear uncontrolled 
 sway. It was precisely so on the present occasion. 
 There was not among all the magistrates and counsellors 
 of Jezreel so much of regard for righteousness and 
 purity as in the single breast of the God-fearing jSTaboth. 
 We do not hear that the innocent accused attempted a 
 word of defence. Her charge against him was similar 
 to that against a greater One, who was " led as a lamb 
 to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is 
 dumb, so He opened not His mouth." In the one case 
 as in the other, the power of evil under the auspices of 
 Jezebel was triumphant, as it triumphed at the instiga- 
 tion of those who cried out, "Crucify Him, crucify 
 Him I" And, like Jesus, Naboth was overwhelmed by 
 the force of injustice and malignity, and consigned to 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 42? 
 
 execution. " They carried him forth out oi the city, 
 and stoned him with stones, that he died." . . 
 
 How short are the triumphs of the wicked ! and how 
 vain the attempt to increase our enjoyments by crime ! 
 In the very scene where Ahab expected an augmentation 
 of happiness, there was presented to him the greatest 
 source of mental disquietude and suffering. There 
 Elijah told him from the Lord that ample vengeance 
 would be taken upon him, his wife, and family, for the 
 atrocity connected with that vineyard ; that he himself 
 should die a violent death, and that the dogs should lick 
 his blood as they had licked the blood of Naboth ; that 
 Jezebel should die a violent death, and that the dogs 
 should eat her up, so as to deprive her of the honor of a 
 burial ; and that his whole family should be ex- 
 tinguished, and no posterity left him in the land. Just 
 retribution for extirpating Naboth and his house ! All 
 this terrible judgment, though part of it was delayed on 
 account of Ahab's humiliation under the reproof, so 
 that it was not fulfilled in his lifetime, was ultimately 
 brought to pass to the uttermost extent of its meaning. 
 Ahab died in consequence of a wound received in battle ; 
 and they washed his chariot and his armor in the pool 
 of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood according 
 to the word of the Lord. His son Ahazia, who suc- 
 ceeded him on the throne, came to a premature end by 
 an accident, which, by the judgment of God, proved 
 fatal on account of his persisting in idolatry. His son 
 Jehoram, the next in succession, fell by the hand of 
 Jehu, and his bleeding body was cast into that very vine- 
 yard which his father and mother had criminally taken 
 from Naboth. How awful a fulfillment of the threat 
 against the idolatrous and the wicked — " I will visit the 
 sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and 
 fourth generation of them that hate Me \" 
 
428 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 But a far more common, and not less fatal, though 
 not apparently so atrocious a working of avarice, is found 
 in the common walks of life around us ; and I notice it 
 as a disgrace to our country. I mean the oppression of 
 the weak and innocent by the strong and unprincipled, 
 through the medium of litigation, by the quibbling in- 
 strumentality of legal forms. Many are they who give 
 up their just rights for fear of the ruinous consequences 
 of an expensive law-suit ; many are they who avail them- 
 selves of the apprehensions of the timid to appropriate 
 what is not their own. Some have thought it their duty 
 to resist injustice, and have been ruined in the attempt 
 by the force of superior wealth, and brought desolation 
 on their families, and premature death on themselves. 
 
 Let me conclude the subject with a word of admonition 
 to the wordly-minded, and a word of consolation to the 
 afflicted people of God. Ye worldly-minded men, see 
 the end of worldly-mindedness in Ahab and his house. 
 " How are the mighty fallen !" It has slain its thousands 
 and tens of thousands. It will certainly slay, yea, ever- 
 lastingly destroy thee, whosoever thou art who are led 
 captivity by it; for "the wages of sin is death/' 
 "Though hand join in hand the wicked shall not go un- 
 punished " Methinks I hear you say, "The subject is 
 too gloomy for the present. We have other concerns to 
 attend to. At a future time we will consider the subject. 
 Now, or ( to-morrow, we will go into such a city, and 
 continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain ;' 
 ( and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more 
 abundant.' " To-morrow ! When to-morrow comes, time 
 may be with you no more ; when to-morrow comes, your 
 fair form may be a ghastly corpse. Come, and take a turn 
 with death. Behold him riding on his pale horse, to meet 
 you in your mad career. Perhaps he is now about to 
 seize the healthiest in the assembly. The passing bell, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 429 
 
 which may have just tolled for a departed brother, may 
 next be heard for you ; the feet of those who lately car- 
 ried his remains to the silent grave, may next carry you 
 thither. " How long, ye simple ones, will you love sim- 
 plicity ?" How long will you resolve to enlarge your 
 borders, to " pull down your barns and build greater," 
 when ye know not but the Lord may blast all your ex- 
 pectations with the withering sentence, " Thou fool ! 
 this night thy soul shall be required of thee. - " Will 
 nothing rouse you from carnal security ? " If a man 
 live many years, and rejoice in them all, yet let him re- 
 member the days *f darkness, for they shall be many." 
 Though the sinner die a hundred years old yet shall he 
 be accursed. Can you trifle here ? Is it a matter of in- 
 difference whether you are happy or miserable ? Is it a 
 matter of indifference whether you are saved or damned ? 
 How will you endure "the voice of the archangel and 
 the trump of God, saying. Arise, ye dead, and come to 
 judgment ?" Will you not then in wild confusion cry 
 to " the rocks and mountains to fall upon you, to hide 
 you from the the face of Him that siteth upon the 
 throne, and from the wrath of the lamb ? " But then 
 that cry will be vain. 
 
 And rocks but treasure up for wrath to come." 
 
 May the Lord enable you to call upon Him by fervent 
 prayer now that He is seated upon a throne of mercy, 
 that so, when He is seated in judgment, you may stand 
 before him with boldness among the happy heirs of a 
 blessed immortality ! 
 
430 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 THE WICKED MAN'S LIFE, FUNERAL, AND 
 EPITAPH. 
 
 BEV. C. H. SPURGEON, LONDON". 
 " And fto 1 saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from Hie 
 place ofthelwly, and they were forgotten in the city where they 
 had so done : this is also vanity." — Ecclesiastes viii : 10. 
 
 TX/'E shall this morning want you, first of all, to ivalh 
 with a living man; it is said of him that he did 
 "come and go from the place of the holy:" next, I shall 
 want you to attend his funeral ; and then, in conclusion 
 I shall ask you to assist in writing Ms epitaph — "and 
 they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: 
 this also is vanity." 
 
 I. In the first place, here is some good company 
 for tou ; some with whom you may walk to the house 
 of God, for it is said of them, that they did come and 
 go from the place of the holy. By this I think we may 
 understand the place where the righteous meet to wor- 
 ship God. God's house may be called "the place of the 
 holy." 
 
 Shall we just take the wicked man's arm and walk 
 with him to the house of God ? When he begins to go, 
 if he be one who has neglected going in his childhood, 
 which perhaps is not extremely likely, when he begins 
 to go even in his childhood, or whenever you choose to 
 mention, you will notice that he is not often affected, 
 by the sound of the ministry. He goes up to the chapel 
 with flippancy and mirth. He goeth to it as he would to 
 a theater or any other place of amusement, as a means 
 of passing away his Sabbath and killing time. Merrily 
 he trippeth in there ; but I have seen the wicked man 
 when he went away look far differently from what he 
 did when he entered. His plumes had been trailed in 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 431 
 
 the dust. As he walks home there is no more flippancy 
 and lightness, for he says, " Surely the Lord God has 
 been in that place and I have been compelled to tremble. 
 I went to scoff, but I am obliged, in coming away, to 
 confess that there is a power in religion, and the ser- 
 vices of God's house are not all dulness after all." Per- 
 haps you have hoped good of this man. But, alas! he 
 forgot it all, and cast away all his impressions. And 
 he came again the next Sunday,, and that time he felt 
 again. Again the arrow of the Lord seemed to stick fast 
 in his heart. But, alas! it was like the rushing of water. 
 There was a mark for a moment, but his heart was soon 
 healed, he felt not the blow ; and as for persuading him 
 to salvation, he was like the deaf adder, " charm we ne- 
 ver so wisely," he would not regard us so as to turn from 
 his ways. And I have seen him come and go till years 
 have rolled over his head, and he has still filled his seat, 
 and the minister is still preaching, but in his case preach- 
 ing in vain. Still are the tears of mercy flowing for 
 him ; still are the thunders of justice launched against 
 him ; but he abideth just as he was. In him there is no 
 change except this, that now he groweth hard and 
 callous. 
 
 But it is not strange that, though wooed by love 
 divine, man will not melt ; though thundered at by 
 Sinai's own terrific thunderbolts they will not tremble ; 
 yea, though Christ himself incarnate in the flesh should 
 preach again, yet would they not regard him, and may- 
 hap would treat him to-day as their parents did but 
 yesterday, when they dragged him out of the city and 
 would have cast him headlong from the summit of the 
 mount on which the city was builded. I have seen the 
 wicked come and go from the place of the holy till his 
 conscience was seared, as with a hot iron. 
 
 J3ut now we are going to change our journey. In- 
 
432 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 stead of going to the house of God we will go another 
 way. I have seen the wicked go to the place of the holy, 
 that is to the judgment bench. We have had glaring in- 
 stances even in the criminal calendar of men who have 
 been seen sitting on a judgment bench one day, and in a 
 short time they have been standing at the dock them- 
 selves. I have wondered what must be the peculiar 
 feelings of a man who officiates as a judge, knowing that 
 he who judges has been a law-breaker himself. A 
 wicked man, a greedy, lustful, drunken man — you know 
 such are to be discovered among petty magistrates. We 
 have known these sit and condemn the drunkard, when, 
 had the world known how they went to bed the night 
 before, they would have said to them, "Thou that 
 judgest another doest the same thing thyself." There 
 have been instances known of men who have condemned 
 a poor wretch for shooting a rabbit or stealing a few 
 pheasant's eggs, or some enormous crime like that, and 
 they themselves have been robbing the coffers of the bank, 
 embezzling funds to an immense extent, and cheating 
 everybody. I have seen the wicked come and go from 
 the holy place, until he came to think that his sins were 
 no sins, that the poor must be severely upbraided for 
 their iniquities, that what he called the lower classes 
 must be kept in check, not thinking that there are none 
 so low as those who condemn others whilst they do the 
 the same things themselves ; talking of curbing others 
 and of judging righteous judgment, when had righteous 
 judgment been carried out to the letter, he would him- 
 self have been the prisoner, and not have been honored 
 with a commission from government. 
 
 But the third case is worse still. " I have seen the 
 wicked come and go from the place of the holy " — that 
 is, the pulpit. If there be a place under high heaven 
 more holy than another, it is the pulpit whence the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 433 
 
 gospel is preached. This is the Thermopylae of Christ- 
 endom ; here must the great battle be fought between 
 Christ's church and the invading hosts of a wicked world. 
 This is the last vestige of anything sacred that is left to 
 us. We have no altars now ; Christ is our altar ; but we 
 have a pulpit still left, a place which, when a man 
 entereth, he might well put off his shoes from his feet, 
 for the place whereon he standeth is holy. Consecrated 
 by a Saviour's presence, established by the clearness 
 and the force of an apostle's eloquence, maintained and 
 upheld by the faithfulness and fervor of a succession of 
 Evangelists who, like stars, have marked the era in which 
 they lived, and stamped it with their names, the pulpit 
 is handed down to those of us who occupy it iioav with a 
 prestige of everything that is great and holy. Yet I 
 have seen the wicked come and go from it. Alas ! if 
 there be a sinner that is hardened, it is the man that 
 sins and occupies his pulpit. We have heard of such a 
 man living in the commission of the foulest sins, and at 
 length has been discovered ; and yet such is the filthi- 
 ness of mankind, that when he began to preach to the 
 people again, they clustered round the beast for the mere 
 sake of hearing what he would say to them. We have 
 known cases, too, where men, when convicted to their 
 own forehead, have unblushingly persevered in proclaim- 
 ing a gospel which their lives denied. . . . 
 
 II. And now we are going to his funeral. I shall 
 want you to attend it. You need not be particular about 
 having on a hat-band, or being arrayed in garments of 
 mourning. It does not signify for the wretch we are 
 going to bury. There is no need for any very great out- 
 ward signs of mourning, for he will be forgotten even in 
 the city where he hath done this : therefore we need not 
 particularly mourn for him. Let us first go to the 
 19 
 
434 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 funeral and look at the outward ceremonial. "We will 
 suppose one or two cases. 
 
 There is a man who has come and gone from the 
 place of the holy. He has made a very blazing profes- 
 sion. He has been a county magistrate. Now, do you 
 see what a stir is made about his poor bones ? There is 
 the hearse covered with plumes, and there follows a long 
 string of carriages. The country people stare to see 
 such a long train of carriages coming to follow one poor 
 worm to its resting-place. What pomp ! what grandeur ! 
 See how the place of worship is hung with black. There 
 seems to be intense mourning made over this man. Will 
 you just think of it for a minute, and who are they 
 mourning for ? A hypocrite ! Whom is all this pomp 
 for ? For one who was a wicked man ; a man who made 
 a pretension of religion ; a man who judged others, and 
 who ought to have been condemned himself. All this 
 pomp for putrid clay. At the head of the mournful 
 cavalcade is Beelzebub, leading the procession, and look- 
 ing back with twinkling eye, and leer of malicious joy, 
 says, " Here is fine pomp to conduct a soul to hell 
 with !" Ah ! plumes and hearse for the man who is 
 being conducted to his last abode in Tophet ! A string 
 of carriages to do honor to the man whom God hath 
 cursed in life and cursed in death ; for the hope of the 
 hypocrite is evermore an accursed one. And a bell is 
 ringing, and the clergyman is reading the funeral service, 
 and is burying the man "insure and certain hope." 
 Gh ! what a laugh rings up from somewhere a little 
 lower down than the grave ! Trust to a bubble, and 
 hope to fly to the stars ; trust to the wild winds, that 
 they shall conduct you safely to heaven ; but trust to 
 such a hope as that, and thou art a madman indeed. . . 
 Oh ! if we judged rightly, when a hypocrite died, we 
 should do him no honor. Ah ! when a godly man dies, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 435 
 
 ye may make lamentation over him, ye may well carry 
 him with solemn pomp unto his grave, for there is an 
 odor in his bones, there is a sweet savor about him that 
 even God delighteth in, for " precious in the sight of the 
 Lord is the death of his saints." But the gilded hypo- 
 crite, the varnished deceiver, the well accoutred wolf in 
 sheeps' clothing — away with pomp for him ! 
 
 Bad men die out quickly, for the world feels it is a 
 good thing to be rid of them ; they are not worth re- 
 membering. But the death of a good man, the man 
 who was sincerely a Christian — how different is that! 
 And when you see the body of a saint, if he has served 
 God with all his might, how sweet it is to look upon 
 him — ah, and to look upon his coffin too, or upon his 
 tomb in after years ! Go into Bunhill-fields, and stand 
 by the memorial of John Bunyan, and you will say, 
 "Ah! there lies the head that contained the brain 
 which thought out that wondrous dream of the Pilgrim's 
 Progress from the City of Destruction to the better 
 land. There lie the fingers that wrote those wondrous 
 lines which depict the story of him who came at last to 
 the land Beulah, and waded through the flood, and en- 
 tered into the celestial city. And there are the eyelids 
 which he once spoke of, when he said, "If I lie in prison 
 u^ntil the moss grows on my eyelids, I will never make a 
 promise to withhold from preaching." And there is that 
 bold eye that penetrated the judge, when he said, " If 
 you will let me out of prison to-day, I will preach again 
 to-morrow, by the help of God." And there lies that 
 loving hand that was ever ready to receive into com- 
 munion all them that loved the Lord Jesus Christ : I 
 love the hand that wrote the book, " Water Baptism no 
 Bar to Christian Communion." I love him for that sake 
 alone, and if he had written nothing else but that, I 
 would say, "John Bunyan, be honored for ever." 
 
436 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 III. We are to write his epitaph ; and his epitaph is 
 contained in these short words: "this also is vanity.-" 
 And now in a few words I will endeavor to show that 
 it is vanity for a man to come and go from the house of 
 God, and yet have no true religion. If I made up my 
 mind to hate God, to sin against him, and to be lost at 
 last, I would do it thoroughly, out and out. If I had 
 determined to be damned, and had calculated the chances, 
 and made up my mind that it would be better to be cast 
 away for ever, I know there is one thing I would not do, 
 I would not go to the house of God. "Well may we write 
 over him, " This also is vanity!" But, sir, you will be more 
 laughed at for your pretensions than if you had made 
 none. Having professed to be religious, and having pre- 
 tended to carry it out, you shall have more scorn than 
 if you had came out in your right colors, and have said, 
 "Who is the Lord, that I should fear him ? Who is 
 Jehovah, that I should obey his voice ?" And now, are 
 there any here who are so wicked as to choose eternal 
 wrath ? if thou art choosing self -righteousness, if thou 
 art choosing pride, or lust, or the pleasures of this world ; 
 remember, thou art choosing pride, or lust, or the 
 pleasures of this world ; remember, thou art choosing 
 damnation, for the two things cannot but go together. 
 Sin is the guilt, and hell is the bread beneath it. If you 
 choose sin, you have virtually chosen perdition. Think 
 of this, I beseech you. 
 
 "O Lord! do thou the sinner turn 1 
 Now rouse him from his senseless state; 
 O let him not thy counsel spurn, 
 Nor rue his fatal choice too late." 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 43? 
 
 A GOOD MINISTEE. 
 
 A SERMON PREACHED IN" TABERNACLE CHURCH, (BAP- 
 TIST) PHILADELPHIA, BY GEORGE E. REES, PASTOR, 
 OK THE DEATH OF W. T. BRAKTLY, D. D. , A FORMER 
 PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 A good minister of Jesus Christ. — 1 Tim. iv: 6. 
 WILL speak of Dr. Brantly under the guidance of 
 -*- the text that I have read: "A good minister of 
 Jesus Christ." There are many ministers in the church. 
 Every one who enters upon the service of the brother- 
 hood for Christ's sake is a minister — the teachers, the 
 visitors, the givers, the helpers — all who go on the Lord's 
 errands, all who do good unto men, are ministers of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. But a minister of Jesus is chiefly 
 known as one who devotes himself to the preaching of 
 the Word, and to the oversight of the Church of Cod. 
 
 I. The essential elements of a good minister of Christ 
 are found primarily in his personal character. 
 
 There is no work in life in which fitness depends so 
 largely on character as that of the ministry. Genius 
 might set her zeal on the spoken word, and common- 
 place truths may shine with new lustre ; knowledge 
 might buttress the truth with facts and arguments ; im- 
 agination might clothe the Word with beauty, so as to 
 kindle the delight and awaken the emotions of hearers ; 
 zeal might bring system and efficiency into every depart- 
 ment of ministerial labor, yet these, separated from 
 genuineness and goodness of character, do not render 
 one a good minister of Christ. 
 
 A lawyer's argument in a court of law is not vitiated 
 because the speaker may be an unjust and wicked man ; 
 there is no connection between his professional calling 
 
438 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and his moral character. A physician ministering to 
 the sick prescribes his remedies, and nothing in his 
 character or bearing can possibly change the effect of 
 his prescription on the health of the patient. But, when 
 we come to the work of the ministry, we find that the 
 effect of spoken trnth is dependent on the character of 
 the speaker. The truth indeed, is as shot fired from a 
 cannon ; but the force that sends it forth with effect lies 
 hidden in the heart of life. 
 
 Eeverence for the dead and sorrow at their departure, 
 I know, dim our vision as to faults in their charac- 
 ter, and bring into vividness virtues that had been hid- 
 den through life ; and so it should ever be ; scars and 
 flaws and blotches make deleterious fare on which to 
 feed our eyes, even when they are on the living, how 
 much more so when they are upon the dead. Let us ever 
 remember that infirmities are transient and will pass away; 
 but virtues are eternal. Infirmities are the accidents of 
 Christian manhood ; virtues are woven into its very tex- 
 ture. Intimities are the lingering traces of a corrupt 
 nature fast sinking into death ; virtues are signs of the 
 germinating and budding of that immortal life which 
 Christ gives us, and which will grow and bloom and 
 ripen in the after-world. 
 
 But it is one of our chastened joys to-day that we can 
 trace the life of this revered friend without being dis- 
 turbed by memories of glaring faults and deficiencies. 
 Often we have to forget, to forgive, and to extenuate, 
 while we speak of even endeared and worthy friends ; 
 but it is our privilege to review a life which suggests no 
 memories bat which are pleasant, ennobling, and assur- 
 ing. To pronounce his life perfect would be to deny that 
 it was human ; but to say that it was pre-eminent among 
 other lives, is only to give it the tribute which it merits. 
 There is no higher eulogy that we can give at such a time 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 439 
 
 as this than to say, He was a good man and a Christian. 
 Intellectual greatness, social distinction, and worldly 
 success will elicit praise and admiration ; but it is good- 
 ness which compels the heart to render the homage of its 
 affection, and perpetuates itself in the loving memories 
 of the living. 
 
 Dr. Brantly's character was not marked by any one 
 conspicuous, overshadowing excellency, but by the 
 blending of many ; so that there was symmetry in his 
 life. There was in him the grace of proportion. His 
 life was orderly, systematic, harmonious and balanced. 
 There were no corners and crevices and angles in him. 
 The intellectual did not overtop the moral and emotional. 
 Strength blended with gentleness. Strictness was soft- 
 ened by charity. Self-assurance, which is an element 
 in every successful life, was allied with humility. Fervor 
 was controlled by sobriety. He was, therefore, not an 
 enthusiast, but an earnest man ; he was not a reformer 
 sent to destroy, but a wise builder. He was not isolated 
 from his fellow men by reason of any great, extraordi- 
 nary gift — like a high mountain peak standing apart 
 from the lesser hills — but he touched them at many 
 points, and walked with them in familiar fellowship, for 
 he had so much in common with other men. 
 
 II. The essential elements of a good minister are 
 found in his gifts and consecrations. 
 
 His wide success was reached, not, by one particular 
 gift — not by his gift of utterance alone, not by his pas- 
 toral skill alone, not by his scholarship alone, — but by 
 his varied powers and devotion working in harmony to- 
 wards one specific end. His sermons instructed, quick- 
 ened, and comforted his hearers ; never perhaps rising 
 to sublime heights in eloquence, and never falling into 
 weakness or commonplace ; thoughtful and graceful, 
 
440 MEMORIAL TPdBUTES. 
 
 spoken with benign countenance, and couched in happy 
 diction. 
 
 Perhaps he owed as much of his success in the min- 
 istry to his pastoral gift, as to his pulpit. In fruitful- 
 ness, this is the greater gift of the two, and, perhaps, 
 the rarer. The solid abiding work in the church is 
 mostly done in this way. Here his gracious nature 
 came into loving contact with other natures, and all felt 
 the touch of a holy presence. Two needed elements for 
 pastoral work are the power of sympathy and godly con- 
 versation ; both of these were possessed in an unusual 
 degree by him. Through pastoral work, a connection 
 is established between the preacher and the hearer, a 
 connection like to that in the great system of telephon- 
 ing ; the living voice speaking from the platform, vi- 
 brates in the hearer's heart. Eot the least of his powers 
 was that of Christian conversation. One, in writing to 
 me said : '-'It almost paid to be sick to have him come 
 to see you, and to speak of Jesus, and pray with you." 
 
 I must omit speaking of other elements of a good 
 minister of Jesus Christ, and will now refer to his work 
 while pastor of this church. . . . 
 
 His peaceful, Christlike life is ended. And within 
 five brief hours after the Sabbath-evening benediction 
 fell from this lips he opened his eyes on scenes in the 
 eternal world. An angel from Cod touched the mortal 
 chains that held him here, and his spirit rose, ransomed 
 and liberated, to walk in the light of God's face. The 
 conflict lasted but a moment ; his spirit quickly yielded; 
 and with a meekness already possessed, it entered upon 
 the inheritance of the saints in light. 
 
 It was a sudden death. Some may covet it, dreading 
 lingering pain and wearisome watchings ; some may 
 covet it to escape the torment of fear; some call it the 
 best and happiest of deaths. We know not, except this; 
 

 MISCELLANEOUS. 441 
 
 that it fills the mind with holy awe. So near the other 
 world we live that we pass the dividing line in so brief a 
 time ; so little hold we have on life that in a thoughtless 
 moment it drops like a slender thread from our hand. 
 
 " Sudden death." We know not what it means ; we 
 gauge not its power to alarm and shake the soul, unless 
 some fellow-pilgrim has fallen at our side, in a moment 
 we thought not, some loved one hastened away without 
 having time to say to us "farewell." 
 
 He passed away in a moment, before friends could 
 gather to witness the last scene, to say their good-bye. 
 Almost in the twinkling of an eye, his spirit "glided 
 into the company of the great and mighty angels, passed 
 into the dread light and amazement of eternity, learned 
 the great secret, and gazed upon the awful splendors of 
 the eternal world." 
 
 Your friend will speak to you no more ; his last 
 counsel has been spoken, his last visit has been made. 
 Yet he speaks. There are echoes of his words still in 
 your memories ; the imprint of his influence is on your 
 life. Many of you are what you are through his life 
 and teaching. Some of you were brought to Christ by 
 him ; keep his memory sacred by renewing your covenant 
 with his Lord to day. Some of you walked in very near 
 and tender fellowship with him ; keep remembrance of 
 him by cherishing his spirit and emulating his example. 
 
 But especially do I look on some of you to whom he 
 preached the gospel of Christ — and preached it in vain. 
 By personal entreaty and public address, he sought to 
 lead you to the Saviour, and he sought in vain. Twenty- 
 five years have flown, and you are still without the king- 
 dom of God, with the accumulated guilt of a wasted life 
 and of perpetual rejection of the Son of G-od upon your 
 head. You cherish his memory with tender sorrow. 
 
442 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Do not slight his Master, do not refuse his testimony, 
 for he longed after you as "a good minister of Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 T 
 
 A STATESMAN. 
 
 TIMES OF MOURNING. 
 EEV. ALEXANDER FLETCHER, D.D. 
 
 ON OCCASION OP THE DEATH OP THE LATE SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 "A time to mourn" — Ecclesiastes iii : 4. 
 
 HE inspired writer of this Book designates himself 
 "the Preacher " The Book is entitled "the words 
 of the Preacher." The royal author was Solomon, the 
 wisest of men. 
 
 By the assistance of the Holy Spirit, I shall, first, 
 mention some chief reasons of mourning ; secondly, in- 
 troduce to your notice illustrious men presented m the 
 Holy Scripture, over whose death mourning was made ; 
 and lastly, some remarks on the sudden death of our il- 
 lustrious statesman, calculated to promote our mutual 
 improvement. 
 
 I. Of all reasons of mourning, sin is the chief. Our 
 own sins, and the sins of others ; our personal, and our 
 family sins ; our sins as a church and congregation ; our 
 sins as a city, and as a nation, loudly demand our peni- 
 tence, our mourning, our tears ! In mourning over 
 personal sins, may Divine grace teach us to follow David 
 as a pattern ! Observe Psalm li : 3, 4 — "For I acknow- 
 ledge my transgressions : and my sin is ever before me. 
 Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned, and done this 
 evil in Thy sight : that Thou mightest be justified when 
 Thou speakest, and clear when Thou judgest." 
 
 If our hearts are properly affected, we cannot behold 
 the sins of others, without feelings of grief, and expres- 
 
MiS CELLANEO US. 443 
 
 sions of sorrow. David said (Psalm cxix), "Kivers of 
 waters run down mine eyes, because they kept not Thy 
 law. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved ; be- 
 cause they kept not Thy "Word." Jeremiah breathed 
 David's spirit, and he also shed floods of tears over the 
 sins of his people and nation. 
 
 Oh ! how peculiarly touching were the mournful 
 lamentations which our Lord uttered over sinful, guilty, 
 doomed Jerusalem ! Matthew xxiii : 37,38, "0 Jeru- 
 salem." 
 
 The death of relatives calls for sorrow and mourning . 
 When the wife is deprived of her husband, or the hus- 
 band of his wife ; — when parents are deprived of their 
 children, and children of their parents ; — when brothers 
 die, or sisters are removed by death ; — when ministers 
 are taken away from their people, or valuable active 
 church members laid in the grave, these are times for 
 mourning and sorrow I There are many in this assem- 
 bly in mourning over departed relatives. 
 
 When relatives die, without leaving behind any evi- 
 dence of their safety in a future world, oh ! it is partic- 
 ularly a time to mourn ! Absalom died a depraved rebel, 
 thirsting even for his father's blood. Never, never did 
 father mourn over the death of a graceless son, as holy 
 David mourned over the death of Absalom. 2 Samuel 
 xviii : 33. 
 
 II. Eminent saints mentioned in scripture, over whose 
 death mourning was made. 
 
 Jacob when dying was evidently encircled with a 
 halo of glory ! After he had poured out prophetic bless- 
 ings on the head of his twelve sons, in regular order, one 
 by one, with the utmost composure, "he gathered up 
 his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was 
 gathered unto his people." Joseph, more than all his 
 brethren, mourned over his beloved father's death. 
 
444 MEMO HI AL TRIBUTES. 
 
 Genesis 1 : 1 — " And Joseph fell upon his father's face, 
 and wept upon him, and kissed him/' To show the 
 veneration in which the memory of this departed 
 patriarch wa« held, "the Egyptians mourned for him 
 threescore and ten days." When Jacob died, his sons 
 had reason to say in the language of the psalmist (Psalm 
 xii : 1), " Help Lord ; for the godly man ceaseth ; for the 
 faithful fail from among the children of men \" Moses 
 life from its commencement to its close, was certainly 
 unexampled ; from the time of his appearance as a babe 
 in the ark of bulrushes, to his position on the summit of 
 Pisgah, when his spirit took its flight to the glories of 
 heaven. Before his departure to the heavenly Canaan, 
 God gave him a panoramic, and we may add, miraculous 
 prospect of the earthly Canaan, " the goodly heritage of 
 the host of nations." When he saw the fairest and 
 richest portion of the globe, which Israel was destined 
 soon to possess, he instantly dropped down dead. The 
 Jews say, ' ' with a kiss from the mouth of God !" 
 Happy expression, descriptive of a death, most happy 
 and honored and blessed ! 
 
 There was great mourning at his death. "And the 
 children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab, 
 thirty days." 
 
 Stephen. His early, sudden, violent, cruel death 
 called forth great and unfeigned lamentation. Acts viii: 
 2 — " And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and 
 made great lamentation over him." Certainly, speaking- 
 after the manner of men, the church sustained an im- 
 mense loss, by the death of Stephen, the Proto-martyr ! 
 His qualifications for the holy ministry, were of a dis- 
 tinguished character, and in a distinguished degree. He 
 was eminently, a most gifted servant of Christ, both as 
 to natural talents, and as to Divine graces. His labors 
 were attended with the most marked success, which ex- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 445 
 
 cited the enmity of the adversaries of the Cross, and 
 accelerated his death. His course was short. There is 
 no evidence that it lasted so long as twelve months. The 
 church could "ill spare" a man, a saint, a minister of 
 such piety, such zeal, such usefulness. 
 
 When Stephen was removed by death, the mourning 
 church found great reason to pray to its Divine Head 
 and Saviour, "Help Lord, for the godly man ceaseth 
 and the faithful fail from among the children of men !" 
 
 III. Our illustrious statesman. 
 
 He was born in Lancashire, on the fifth of July, 1788, 
 during the very heat of the first French Eevolution, 
 when the thrones and dynasties of Europe were threat- 
 ened with extinction. 
 
 His talents, learning, industry, persevering activity, 
 studious and contemplative habits, varied and extensive 
 experience crowned with commanding senatorial elo- 
 quence, qualified him for filling with honor to himself, 
 and especially with benefit to his country, the highest 
 offices of the State. 
 
 He had a large share of the amiable virtues. 
 
 It is with great satisfaction that I record the following 
 circumstance. It was the practice of Sir Eobert, be- 
 fore leaving home for the House of Commons, regularly 
 to enter his closet, and supplicate Divine counsel and 
 assistance. This leads us to conclude, that the mind of 
 this eminent statesman was not only adorned with 
 natural virtues, but enriched with grace. True Beligion 
 alone teaches " to acknowledge Him in all our ways, "who 
 has promised "to direct our steps." (Proverbs iii : 6.) 
 
 Few men have been held in such universal esteem. 
 Throughout the whole land there is an excitement man- 
 ifested by a determination to raise memorials in every 
 part of our Island, as lasting testimonies of the nation'^ 
 respect. 
 
446 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 We must not omit to observe that our departed states- 
 man had a deep-rooted aversion to worldly pomp, and 
 every description of gorgeous ostentation. He has left 
 an admonition to his descendants, never to accept of 
 the honors of the peerage, as a reward for any services, 
 however great, which they may be enabled to render 
 their country. 
 
 The statesman's abode was a temple consecrated to 
 the worship of God. Family worship was regularly ob- 
 served, and the head of the household acted himself as 
 chaplain and priest. Psalm cxviii: 15 — "The voice of 
 rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the 
 righteous." 
 
 He has earned the honor, and the title of patriot. 
 The cheap loaf of bread in loudest sweetest accents pro- 
 claims his patriotism. While his memory lives, he shall 
 be held in admiration as the poor man's friend. How 
 true of the merciful patriot, 
 
 "Compassion dwells upon his mind, 
 To works of mercy still inclin'd: 
 He lends the poor some present aid, 
 Or gives them not to be repaid." 
 
 Hi& death. The event was sudden and unexpected. 
 It was by a fall from his horse. In the very meridian of 
 his mental vigor, activity and usefulness, he was re- 
 moved by the hand of death. He had labored long, 
 and much, and usefully. But his time was come, his 
 work was done. Britain's God had no more work for 
 him to perform. And now, amidst a nation's mournful, 
 thankful, and affectionate remembrance, he " rests from 
 his labors, and his works do follow him." (Rev. xiv: 13.) 
 
 Concluding reflections. This event calls on us to 
 sympathize with the excellent surviving widow who sus- 
 tains an earthly loss that can never be made up in this 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 447 
 
 world. Oh, may she cleave to Jesus as her everlasting 
 Husband, who is willing to comfort her under this heavy 
 bereavement, by the consolations of his Gospel, and the 
 blessings of His fellowship ! 
 
 "He sympathizes with our grief, 
 And to the mourner sends relief." 
 
 This dispensation calls upon us to adore the sovereign- 
 ty of God. Let us say in the words of the Chaldean 
 monarch — (Dan. iv: 35) — "None can stay His hand, 
 or say unto him, what doest Thou ?" 
 
 Is human life so uncertain ? In the very midst of 
 life, are we in death ? Then, what wisdom to be in 
 readiness at our Lord's call ! 
 
 Have we fled for mercy to Jesus ? Oh ! let us say 
 now, and may the Holy Spirit enable us, " I flee unto 
 Thee to hide me." (Psalm cxliii: 9.) 
 
 Slumbering sinner, flee ! Escape for your life. If you 
 flee now to Jesus, your salvation is sure. If you delay, 
 your perdition may be sealed ! How sweet the voice of 
 mercy. (i Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt, xi: 28.) "Him 
 that cometh unto Me I will no wise cast out." (John 
 vi: 37.) 
 
 It is my affectionate wish and earnest prayer, that 
 when we are removed to the world of spirits, the follow- 
 ing most lovely and animating words may be applicable 
 to us all — (Rev. xiv : 23) — " Blessed are the dead, 
 which die in the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the 
 Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their 
 works do follow them." Amen ! 
 
448 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 A CALAMITY AT SEA.* 
 
 KEV. S. E. CATTLEY, M. A., ENGLAND. 
 
 WITH SOME NOTICE OP THE DEATH OF WILLIAM SEKELTON, ESQ., FIFTY-THREE 
 TEARS A DIRECTOR OF THE ORPHAN ASYLUM. 
 
 " And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not 
 be quenched. — Ezekiel xx : 48. 
 
 /^VCCASIONAL references to some of the passing 
 ^^ events of life produce more lasting effects upon the 
 mind than eloquent and persuasive exhortations to holi- 
 ness, or lucid disquisitions upon the doctrines of the gos- 
 pel. Exhortations, however powerful, cease to excite, 
 — doctrine, however forcibly illustrated, fails to interest 
 the soul. But when we contemplate an event of Provi- 
 dence, we feel that we ourselves might have been its 
 actors ; that we might have recently occupied the alarm- 
 ing position of those of our fellow-creatures who were so 
 circumstanced, that their choice of death was of two 
 kinds, and those two kinds the most terrible. The 
 choice lay between a deep and salt sea wave, or a fierce 
 and agonizing flame. 
 
 This accident, in which many of our countrymen 
 have perished, and which has produced such a convul- 
 sion of feeling, that "all faces from the south to 
 the north" may be said to be "burned therein." It 
 seems therefore desirable, that we should turn aside this 
 morning, and contemplate such a sad spectacle, especially 
 tracing the event alluded to its great and mysterious 
 Source, and endeavoring to derive such profit as a merci- 
 ful God has ordained that it should afford. 
 
 The public channels of intelligence will already have 
 informed you, that, on Thursday week, the ship " Ocean 
 
 * The " Ocean Monarch " burned at sea with nearly 400 lives. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 449 
 
 Monarch " safely left the Mersey and sailed for America. 
 Her passengers, most of them, were emigrants. This 
 class of persons surely demand alike our sympathy, our 
 best wishes, our sincere prayers. In their native land 
 they have too frequently felt the pressure of poverty. At 
 home the times are hard, prospects gloomy, friends are 
 few ! Sad perhaps at first, but rendered familiar by 
 necessity, and the pressure of pecuniary difficulties, the 
 proposal to leave their land becomes the mournful sub- 
 ject of their discourse. Necessity decides the question ! 
 They collect the remnants of their once comfortable 
 fortune — all at home is hopeless ; all beyond the sea, at 
 least is uncertain, and may be prosperous. They and 
 their children join the crowded ship — the last affection- 
 ate embrace, and the last heart-felt benedictions are 
 given and received with friends on shore ; the anchor is 
 weighed ; the expanding canvass invites the breeze : and 
 the emigrants seek in the new world, and in strange and 
 foreign lands, that provision denied them in their own ; 
 though still enjoying that privilege, of which circum- 
 stances and situation cannot deprive them — "being heirs 
 together of the grace of life." 
 
 And what are we all but emigrants ? What is our land 
 but one, which, if we would make it our home, and if we 
 would enjoy all its good things, it will be but for a short 
 season ; and all those good things are incapable of afford- 
 ing permanent relief. Do we never feel this ? Though 
 earth be the place of our nativity, it is neither our native 
 home, nor a state that can satisfy our souls. This home 
 must perish. Its honors, hopes, riches, crowns, sceptres, 
 all must fail ! Oh ! why then do we struggle against 
 impossibilities ; and try to attain here, that which only 
 belongs to another country, a new and eternal state ? 
 
 And if we are emigrants, you see builded for your trans- 
 mission over life's troubled sea, that spiritual ship, that 
 
450 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ark of Christ's church, in which you have been recognized 
 by baptism ! That ark is composed of Christ and His mem- 
 bers all fitly framed together, a habitation of safety. Ce- 
 mented with love, united in hope, preserved in redemp- 
 tion, this spiritual ark has ever sheltered one blessed fam- 
 ily of the faithful. Attach yourselves to the real members 
 of this communion : bid farewell to many things which 
 you have made your friends : your sins ; your tempta- 
 tions ; your anxieties ; and your over-careful 'mind ; — 
 much which human nature esteems, and much which 
 human infirmity loves ; — this day come thou and all the 
 house into the ark, and with Christ as the " Captain of 
 your salvation," emigrate "to a better country, even a 
 heavenly." 
 
 "Watch and be ready I" Are there not some here, 
 whose prospects are equally fair as were those of the 
 " Ocean Monarch !" You are saying, " the wide and 
 varied sea of life is before me ; I am happy ; my bark is 
 trimmed ; my sails are filled ; I feel life's breezes wafting 
 me on ; admiring eyes and friendly salutations accom- 
 pany me ; I will bound from wave to wave, froin joy to 
 joy ; I care not for the future ; the present happy mo- 
 ments are enough for me !" 
 
 Some of us, perhaps, have been startled by similar 
 alarms from our midnight slumbers. Terrible it is to 
 see and here fche raging and crackling enemy, consum- 
 ing, with relentless power, the house which was once 
 our home, and the rooms in which we had passed such 
 happy days. But far more terrible is it, without a hand 
 to aid, or a neighbor to shelter us, to stand upon the deck 
 of a crowded ship, and see the livid and curling streams, 
 ascending from below, and shrouding in a canopy of fire 
 the fair white sails, the heavy and threatening spars, and 
 the once beautiful network above. At such a moment 
 all thoughts and recollections seem to vanish in the des- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 451 
 
 pairing rea'lity of the present. The ocean around, the 
 heated and blazing deck, alike bespeak approaching 
 death ; and approaching death consumes the mind with 
 indescribable dismay ! That fear of death is twofold. 
 The dying agony from fire or water to the gasping and 
 writhing body, and the fear of that future doom, arising 
 from the consciousness of sin, which fire could not purify, 
 and water could not purge. 
 
 The bravest would be pallid at such a moment. Even 
 the resigned and sincere Christian could not fail to en- 
 ter into the terrors of the calamity ; and though lie 
 woul feel, "I the .Lord have done it," and though he 
 would bow to God's high and mysterious decree, yet who 
 would not feel that it were sweeter u to sleep in Jesus/' 
 in a calmer death, and leave the world in peace, than to 
 sink amid the terrible cries of the dying, with no friend 
 to soothe our pillow : or perish in the flame, with none 
 to moisten our parched lips ? 
 
 We might have been actors in the calamity of the 
 " Ocean Monarch," but we must be actors in that great 
 shipwreck of creation, and participate in its glories and 
 its grandeurs, or in its sorrows and its sighs. Let us be as 
 eager for our soul's salvation, as the poor sufferers in that 
 ship, were for their lives ! Remember how eagerly they 
 strived to save themselves — what energy — what effort — 
 what frenzy ! Mothers cast their children to the waves ; 
 or leaped from the burning ruin with their infants em- 
 braced in their arms ; husbands, whom affection could 
 not separate from those they loved, wildly followed their 
 frantic wives. . . . 
 
 Our late venerated friend William Skelton was an 
 example of activity and industry. From very early years 
 he excelled in the execution of works of art ; and his 
 masterly hand may be traced in those numerous engrav- 
 ings which will long commemorate his talents. As his 
 
452 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 frame was unbent by years, so his eye retained its power, 
 and bis hand its nerve ; so that, within a short period of 
 his death, he passed many hours of his blessed and 
 tranquil life, in the use of his graver and his pen- 
 cil ! 
 
 He was also an example of friendship and kindness. 
 He entered with peculiar pleasure into the employments 
 and amusements of the children of this Asylum. The 
 records of the Charity show, that, during his long life, 
 his contributions from time to time, have been very con- 
 siderable. When in his eighty-fifth year he was a fre- 
 quent and welcome visitor in society, walking to the re- 
 sidences of his most distant friends. At my own fireside, 
 I have witnessed the ready and lively interest which he 
 took in the affairs of manhood, or the merry joys of 
 children. And he was much esteemed by the elder mem- 
 bers of the illustrious house of Hanover, all of whose 
 portraits, I believe, he delineated ! 
 
 But above ail, he was an example of quiet and un- 
 pretending practical religion. His faith was manifested 
 in actions, not in words. His own home, little known 
 to the world, was one in which godliness, kindness, 
 charity, and purity predominated ! His views and con- 
 versations upon religious subjects were clear ; but he was 
 diffident and humble ; and on holy things, his feelings 
 were deep, his words were few ! His latter years, like 
 his protracted life, smiled in peace and friendship ; he 
 was mercifully permitted to enjoy the heaped-up measure 
 of his fourscore years, exempt from (( labor and sorrow." 
 He thanked G-od for it ; till, his long, healthy, regular, 
 and contented life was shaken by a sudden seizure, from 
 which he nearly recovered ; but a repetition of which, 
 closed his days, in the faith of Christ, " in a good old 
 age, and full of years," 
 
 Such was the end of our departed friend. With it I 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 458 
 
 gladly close, in happy contrast, the exciting subject 
 which has principally occupied our attention ! 
 
 But let us " watch," and " be ready :" so that, when 
 our voyage is over, and we are cast upon the shore of an 
 eternal state, in the mingled and awful wreck of this 
 world, we may be prepared to commit ourselves into the 
 ocean of God's mercy ; or, if weak and wavering in that 
 trying moment, we may be able to seize upon some of 
 the promises of the Gospel, or support our souls with 
 some of the assurances of grace, that so, as they of old 
 did, " some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the 
 ship," we may all " escape safe to land " through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord ! Amen. 
 
 A COAL MINE CALAMITY.* 
 
 THE MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE. 
 REV. T. BINNEY, ENGLAND. 
 " Thy judgments are a great deep" — Psalm xxxvi : 6. 
 T\7E were lately called to sympathize with our Queen, 
 
 * * and we are doing it yet ; our sympathy is as real 
 and as deep at this moment as ever, though it may not 
 have such public and visible expression : and now that 
 illustrious mourner, that Koyal widow, is summoned by 
 God, with us, to sympathize with the humble and lowly, 
 who in such numbers have been made widows and father- 
 less. I don't know that we could do better this morning 
 than meditate a little upon this event, with which you 
 are all familiar. Anything that will soften the heart, 
 anything that overcomes our selfishness, anything that 
 makes us think of others and feel for them, is medicinal 
 and for our good. 
 
 * By the breaking of a coal mine shaft, 219 men are suffocated. 
 
454 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 The catastrophe is such a one as never happened be- 
 fore. Many disasters have happened in coal mines, but 
 the present was something very extraordinary. There 
 was no preparation. Sometimes men have reason to ap- 
 prehend danger. Women have to see them go to their 
 work under the consciousness of some special peril, which 
 has to be braved ; and then there is tremulous apprehen- 
 sion, and a sort of preparation for anything that may 
 occur. It was not so here. There were no special cir- 
 cumstances — nothing to excite apprehension ; the men 
 and boys had finished their work, and were about to re- 
 turn to their homes, when they were suddenly over- 
 taken by this terrible event, and those who waited to 
 welcome them are now widows and orphans. There was 
 apparently nothing but the ordinary peril of a miner's 
 life, which custom makes to be thought but little of. 
 When soldiers and sailors go to war people are prepared 
 to hear that many of them are killed — they expect to 
 learn of a battle and its results ; and so there is a tremu- 
 lous anxiety, which is a preparation. There was nothing 
 of that sort here. Suddenly there was a crash, and then 
 a fearful rumor spread from house to house along the 
 row of little habitations, and women and children 
 were seen hurrying out, wondering and anxious to know 
 what had really occurred. 
 
 Then came a long and terrible period of suspense. 
 The obstacle could not be got through. 
 
 At length the mine is penetrated, discovery made, 
 and intelligence brought up. "Well." "All dead. 
 All dead ; lying dead in groups." " Did you see 
 John ?" "I saw him with the three boys, all lying to- 
 gether. They seemed perfectly calm." And so one after 
 another was indicated. The men went down again, and 
 the awful truth was confirmed — " not a single man or 
 boy alive ;" men and lads, husbands, fathers, sons, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 455 
 
 nephews, grandsons, all dead ; apparently having died 
 more from the noxious gases than from anything else. 
 Most of them seemed to have died calmly ; but some 
 strong men bore upon them the marks of intense agony, 
 as if to the very last there had been with them a 
 desperate struggle for life. But they were all dead. 
 " Thy judgments are a great deep." 
 
 Why there should be suffering and sorrow in the 
 world has been, you know, a question pressing upon 
 humanity in all ages. If God be omnipotent, why ? 
 If God be benevolent, why ? If there be a God at all, 
 why ? Eead the oldest book in the Bible, and you find 
 a constant argument upon these mysterious, deep, and 
 dark judgments, and how to reconcile them with just 
 conceptions of Deity and of providence. Into the ques- 
 tion of moral evil, the existence of sin, we will not go ; 
 but it may be remarked, that much physical evil is the 
 direct issue of sin. There are many forms of suffering 
 in the world that would not be here but for sin; yet 
 there are other cases, like the present, that seem to have 
 no relation to moral evil, being separated entirely from 
 the will of any man ; and are what we call accidents," 
 or the " visitations of God." The anti-supernaturalist 
 may be found objecting to our Bible because it contains 
 so much that is mysterious ; but we would say to him, 
 -" There is as much that is mysterious in your Bible as 
 there is in ours." Suppose him to be one who believes in 
 a personal God, a personal Governor of the world, and 
 he says, "I cannot receive your Bible because I read in 
 that book such extraordinary things, about what God 
 has done and said, that I am shocked." My dear friend, 
 have you read your own Bible ? Do you meet with no 
 mysteries there ? Can you understand all the pages and 
 passages in it ? Are there no terrible facts occurring on 
 the surface of this earth ? Is everything that happens 
 
456 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 in harmony with your conceptions of a benevolent 
 Governor ? Would you allow that gallant vessel to be 
 dashed to pieces on those rocks ? Would you have per- 
 mitted twenty tons of iron to descend the shaft of that 
 pit ? Your God did not prevent it ; the God of your 
 Book — the only Book you acknowledge — this world. It 
 is not a fine and beautiful page always. You may talk 
 about fruits and flowers, and admire them, but do not 
 shut your eyes to the great and terrible facts that con- 
 front you. Do you pretend that your Bible, the Book of 
 Nature, will explain these things ? I do not tell you 
 that I have got a Bible to explain all these things. I 
 have got a Bible to teach me a great deal more and some- 
 thing higher ; and it may be that the Bible comes to me 
 with parallel, and analogous things in it just that I may 
 understand and know that it comes from the same God 
 — that the Creator of the world is the speaker in the 
 Book ; and that it is for me to listen and to obtain the 
 higher revelation. And perhaps through that 1 shall 
 come to understand the mystery. In reading the one 
 book or the other, we had better just stand dumb and 
 thoughtful, endeavoring to extract from the great 
 mystery a religious advantage. There are things which 
 we cannot comprehend by our understanding, but in 
 which we may acquiesce by faith. 
 
 Of course we can understand that the world is 
 governed by great general laws. Great general principles 
 and laws are ever at work, and we may depend upon it 
 that they will not be suspended for us. There is a young 
 mother on a beautiful spring morning, sitting there by 
 an open window ; she is looking at and enjoying the 
 landscape — and something far more lovely than that, for 
 she has her beautiful baby, her first-born upon her arm. 
 She turns her eyes for a moment, and the little child, 
 chirping and cooing, makes a sudden movement, and is 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 457 
 
 out at the window ; it falls down upon the pavement be- 
 low, and is picked up bleeding and mangled — maimed 
 for life ! If you had been the Governor of the world, 
 with your particular affections, with your attention to 
 the little, and the individual, you would have interfered 
 to save the child. God could have done it, but that 
 would have been a miracle — that would have been to 
 govern the world upon the principle of miracle. But 
 the law exists, and it must act, in spite of everything. 
 If the twelve apostles were walking upon a railway 
 when the train was rushing along it would go over them 
 if they did not get out of the way, and the whole twelve 
 apostles would be crushed to atoms. God would not in- 
 terfere. You are to understand, then, that that is the 
 general law. If we go back to the question, "Why 
 should things be so constituted ?" we may ask further, 
 4 ' Why should there be a world like this at all ?" 
 Enough for us, however, to know that it is so. But we 
 believe that along with these general laws there is a place 
 for prayer, there is a sphere for God's agency ; but we 
 are to remember that there is a constant operation of 
 these laws. If every time we got into danger or trouble 
 there was to be a Divine interposition — as a poor, silly, 
 indulgent mother always comes in between the child 
 and the consequence of its fault — we should never be 
 anything. 
 
 Hence we can understand the great lesson of our 
 Lord, when he said to those that told him of the Galile- 
 ans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with there sacrifices, 
 " Suppose ye that they were sinners above all the Gali- 
 leans, because they suffered such things ? Or those 
 eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew 
 them, think ye that they were sinners above all men 
 that dwelt in Jerusalem?" No; they were standing 
 there when the tower fell, and they were killed ; it would 
 20 
 
458 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 have been the same whether they were saints or sinners. 
 We are not to judge of God as if the calamities that 
 happen to men were indications of peculiar Divine senti- 
 ments, and were judgments upon individuals. But these 
 things may well teach us our own littleness, and the ne- 
 cessity of humility, that tve may have to adore where we 
 cannot comprehend. " His judgments are a great deep," 
 which we cannot fathom, and yet, when we look up our 
 religious faith may help us to say, in the words that im- 
 mediately precede these, " Thy righteousness is like the 
 mountains ;" our Consciousness of the rectitude of God 
 stands out like the mountains in the sun, visible even in 
 spite of this dark tumultuous ocean which we cannot 
 fathom. We are sure that there is a God who ruleth and 
 governeth, whatever the mysteries that may surround 
 his operations. Hence you have religious faith. You 
 have it in Job, when he says, " Though he slay me, 
 yet will I trust in him." There is the child's heart 
 uttering itself from beneath the man's understanding. 
 Though his understanding was perplexed and baffled, his 
 faith remained firm. You hear it in David. Was there 
 ever anything sublimer in this world than that little 
 sentence of David — which may teach us all to look at 
 distress, calamity, and the terrible judgments of God — 
 "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou 
 didst it"? I cannot understand it, I cannot comprehend 
 it ; if I was to open my mouth at all I should speak fool- 
 ishly. It is to me a great deep, and so I will lay my 
 hand upon my mouth, and be dumb, for it is God : Thou 
 didst it. Ah, there is the sublimity of religious faith- - 
 the universe is not a machine. It is not a number of 
 wheels grinding out its results, without feeling, without 
 thought, without purpose, and grinding me in the midst 
 of them. No. Thou — a personality with feeling, thought, 
 purpose, my Father — " Thou didst it." And I will wait 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 459 
 
 till the time comes when in Thy light I shall see light — 
 shall know what I know not now — and my mouth shall 
 then be opened with praise and adoration, because Thou 
 hast done all things well. You hear this sentiment of 
 religious faith again in Asaph. He was sadly perplexed 
 once. The poor man was plunged into a great deep, and 
 he thought he would find the bottom, but he only sank 
 down deeper and deeper. He was mercifully brought up 
 again, but his perplexities continued until he went into 
 the sanctuary of God, and there, in the exercise of relig- 
 ious faith, he said, " "Well, I will give it all up ; I will 
 not attempt to comprehend it, but Thou shalt guide me 
 by Thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory. I 
 will be a religious man if I cannot be a philosopher. I 
 will be led as a little child by the hand of God if I can- 
 not comprehend the incomprehensible." A wise man 
 that. Do you not see this religious faith also in the 
 prophet whose words I read to you in the lesson ? That 
 " although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall 
 fruit be in the vines ; the labor of the olive shall fail, 
 and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flocks shall be 
 cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the 
 stalls " — what could be worse ? Widowhood, orphanage, 
 destitution ; true, but here everything, every necessity, 
 and every enjoyment — flocks, herds, fruit, everything 
 gone, nothing but destitution — "Yet I will rejoice in 
 the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." 
 
 Let this truth be also impressed upon us, that all duty 
 involves sacrifice in one form or other. There will be 
 something to be borne, something to be endured, some- 
 thing to be foregone. It is the law. God has sent us 
 into the world to do something, and to do it in danger, 
 in peril, in temptation, in trial and tears. This being 
 so, it is a grand thing to look upon all the circumstances 
 and events of life as what, indeed they are, not so much 
 
460 MEMOB1AL TMIBUTE8. 
 
 important in themselves, as they are important as in- 
 struments of discipline, and in relation to the man. The 
 greater matter is, have we learnt the lesson ? Have we 
 got out of the events of life what it was meant we should ? 
 Poverty, riches, prosperity, calamity, are alike instru- 
 ments to an end. The world is a great school, life is a 
 grand discipline ; and we have to look rather to the 
 results than to the means. 
 
 Then there is another thing we should not for- 
 get — the way in which a calamity like this calls out the 
 human sympathies. Who can tell whether a far greater 
 number of hearts have not been softened and bettered by 
 this calamity, than have been caused to suffer by it ? 
 
 " One touch of nature " — 
 
 and when it comes in the shape of sorrow, one touch of 
 sorrow, 
 
 — "makes the whole world kin." 
 
 How many a heart has been moved by the account 
 of the mother, with the little babe upon her arm, whose 
 husband and five sons, and a foster son — a child on whom 
 they had had compassion — were under the earth, starv- 
 ing, suffering, dying ! Who can tell what a sermon 
 that may preach to many a soul ! It is God's teaching. 
 It is Grod's picture book for us children, who continually 
 need such aids — principles embodied, invisible facts. 
 And so I cannot but think that much benefit results in 
 this way, from these disasters, to very many. 
 
 I know very well how Skepticism, a mechanical re- 
 bellious understanding, will come up and say, " Why 
 should it be ? Why should we have sin even if we have 
 redemption ? Why should we have a curse even if it be 
 ultimately removed ? Would it not be better just all at 
 once, directly, like the angels in heaven, to come forth 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 461 
 
 from the hand of God perfect, upright, pure ! Why 
 this circuitous route, the permission of sin just for the 
 purpose of redemption and removal ?" Why ? I cannot 
 tell all the whys, but my faith enables me to say, I believe 
 it is better that things should be as they are. Without 
 evil, without sin in the universe, without a personal Ee- 
 deemer, without the intervention of mercy, without 
 God's wonderful, manifestation of himself in relation to 
 sin, and evil, and death, God's creatures could not have 
 known perfectly what God is ; there could not have been 
 a complete, perfect development of the Godhead. There- 
 fore I do not ask that question, but I can understand 
 that God tells me that by the Church, through the pro- 
 cess of redemption, he is showing to the heavenly intel- 
 ligence his manifold wisdom, and revealing the attri- 
 butes of his character, which could be revealed in no 
 other way. " Thy judgments are a great deep." Yes ; 
 but out of great mystery will come ultimately a great 
 manifestation, and then we shall rejoice and adore in 
 the light, as we now adore in the darkness. 
 
 SUDDEN DEATH BY A EAILWAY ACCIDENT. 
 
 D. L. MOODY 
 Otf THE DEATH OF ME. & MRS. P. P. BLISS. 
 
 T EXPECTED to enjoy, this afternoon, coming around 
 here and hearing our friend Mr. Bliss sing the gospel 
 and our friend Mr. Whittle preach. I was telling my 
 wife when I got home Friday night that I was really 
 glad I didn't have to work so hard on this Sabbath. 
 I cannot tell you what a disappointment it has been to 
 me. I have looked forward to those two men of God 
 coming to this city. I had arranged, made my plans to 
 
462 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 stay over a few days in order to hear and enjoy their ser- 
 vices. Ever since I heard that I would have to take 
 their place this afternoon, there has been just one text 
 running in my mind. I cannot keep it out: " Therefore 
 be ye also ready." You who have heard me preach the 
 past three months I think will bear witness to this, thnt 
 I haven't said much about death. Perhaps I haven't 
 been faithful in this regard. I'd always rather tell about 
 life ; perhaps there's not been warning enough in my 
 preaching. But I feel that if I should hold my peace 
 this afternoon and not lift up my voice and warn you to 
 make ready for death, God might lay me aside and put 
 some one else in my place ; I must speak and forewarn 
 you. 
 
 To-day has been one of the most solemn days in my 
 life. The closing hours of every year, for the past ten 
 or twelve years, have been very solemn to me. I think 
 I never spent such a day as I have to-day. This world 
 never seemed so empty, and men never looked so blind 
 away from God, as they do to-day. It seems as never 
 before that I cannot understand how life can go on in 
 madness, how a man can keep away from Christ, when 
 in just a stroke he is gone to eternity, and there is no 
 hope. Those men I mean that really believe, intellec- 
 tually, that the Bible is true, that if they die without re- 
 generation, without being born again, they cannot see 
 God's kingdom. How it is they can believe, and how 
 they can still stay away from Christ when such judg- 
 ments are brought near to them, is a mystery to me. I 
 hope the words of the Lord Jesus will find their way to 
 your hearts as they have to mine ; I hope you will hear 
 Him this afternoon saying: "Therefore be ye also 
 ready." He had been warning them ; for in the verse 
 preceding this text he said, " As in the days of Noah 
 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 463 
 
 marriage, until the flood came and took them all away." 
 It came suddenly. How often the judgments of God 
 come suddenly upon us. I want to call your attention 
 to a few words we find in the Old Testament in the sixth 
 chapter of Jeremiah at the tenth verse : " To whom shall 
 I speak and give warning that they may hear ? Behold 
 their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken ; 
 behold the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach ; 
 they have no delight in it." Also in the thirty-third 
 chapter of Ezekiel, fourth, fifth and sixth verses: "Then 
 whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh 
 not warning, if the sword come and take him away, 
 his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the 
 sound of the trumpet and took not warning; his blood 
 shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall 
 deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword 
 come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not 
 warned ; if the sword come, and take any person from 
 among them, he is taken away in his iniquity ; but his 
 blood will I require at the watchmen's hands." Do you 
 ask me now why I am so anxious to warn you ? Because, 
 if I don't, the blood of your soul will be required at my 
 hand. 
 
 I want to warn you to-day ; I want to plead with you 
 to-day. And it is because I love you that I come to 
 plead with you. I am sure there is nothing else that 
 could induce me to speak this afternoon. I felt, rather, 
 like going into my room and locking the door and try- 
 ing to learn what this providence means. I don't expect 
 to find out yet — I'm not sure I'll ever know. But— (the 
 speaker paused in deep motion), I just felt I'd got to 
 comedown here this very afternoon and cry out : "there- 
 fore be ye also ready !" make ready before the close of 
 this sermon ! just ask yourselves this question, "am I 
 ready to meet God this moment ?" If not, when will 
 
464 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 you be ! G-od would not tell us to be ready, if he did 
 not give us the power, — unless it was something within 
 our reach. 
 
 The thought is put into some of your minds that I 
 am trying to take advantage of the death of this good 
 man to frighten you and scare you; and I haven't any doubt 
 Satan is doing this work at this moment. Eight here 
 let me notice that some say I'm preaching for effect. 
 That's what I am doing. I want to affect you ; I want 
 to rouse your death-sleep, when I warn you to prepare to 
 meet your G-od ; for "in such hour as you think not the 
 Son of Man cometh." It is just from pure love, pure 
 friendship to you that I warn you ; the thought that I 
 am trying to frighten you from selfish motives is from 
 the pit of hell. You take a true mother ; if she does 
 not warn her child when playing with fire, you say she's 
 not what she professes to be, not a true mother. If a 
 father sees his boy going to ruin and don't warn him, is 
 he a true father ? I say it is the single power of love 
 that makes me warn you. Suppose I walk by a house 
 on fire with a man and woman in it, and their seven 
 children. If I don't call out, hammer on the door, 
 smash in the windows if necessary, and cry out, "escape 
 if you can," what would you say ? You would say I 
 ought not to live. If souls are going down to death and 
 hell all around me — I verily believe such live to-da}^ 
 and some are in this building — how can I hold my peace 
 and not cry out at the top of my voice : " therefore be 
 ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the 
 Son of Man cometh." 
 
 There is a legend that I read soma time ago of a man 
 who made a covenant with Death ; and the covenant was 
 this : that Death should not come on him unawares, — 
 that Death was to give warning of his approach. Well, 
 years rolled on, and at last, Death stood before his victim. 
 
MIS CELLANEO US. 465 
 
 The old man blanched and faltered out, "why, Death, 
 you have not been true to your promise, you have not 
 kept your covenant. You promised not to come unan- 
 nounced. You never gave any warning." " How, 
 how \" came the answer, " every one of those gray hairs 
 is a warning ; every one of your teeth is a warning ; 
 your eyes growing dim are a warning; your natural 
 power and vigor abated — that is a warning. Aha ! I've 
 warned you — Fve warned you continually." And Death 
 would not delay, but swept his victim into eternity. 
 
 That is a legend ; but how many the past year have 
 heard these warning voices. Death has come very near 
 to many of us. What warnings have come to us all. 
 The preacher's calls to repentance, how again and again 
 they have rung in our ears. We may have one or two 
 more calls yet, this year, in the next few hours, but I 
 doubt it. Then how many of us in the last twelve 
 months have gone to the bedside of some loved friend, 
 and kneeling in silent anguish unable to help, have 
 whispered a promise to meet that dying one in heaven. 
 Oh why delay any longer ! Before these few lingering 
 hours have gone, and the year rolls away into eternity, I 
 beg of you, see to it that you prepare to make that 
 promise good. Some of you have kissed the marble 
 brow of a dead parent this year, and the farewell look 
 of those eyes has been, " make ready to meet thy God." 
 In a few years you will follow, and there may be a re- 
 union in heaven. Are you ready, dear friends ? 
 
 When visiting the body of my brother just before he 
 was put in the grave, I picked up his Bible, of the size 
 of this in my hand, and there was just one passage of 
 scripture marked. I looked it up and I found it read ; 
 " whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy 
 might." As I read it that night the hand that wrote it 
 was silent in death. It was written in '76. Little did 
 
466 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 he think when he wrote it that in that same year lie 
 would be silent in the grave. Little did he think that 
 the autumn wind and the winter snow would go roaring 
 over his grave. Thank God it was a year of jubilee to 
 him. That year he found salvation ; it was a precious 
 year to his soul. That year he met his God. How 
 often have I thanked God for that brother's triumphant 
 death ! It seems as though I could not live to think he 
 had gone down to the grave unprepared to meet his God, 
 — gone without God and hope. Dear friends, — dear un- 
 saved friends, — I appeal to you that you will now accept 
 Christ. Seize the closing hours of this year ; let not 
 this year die till the great question is decided. I plead 
 with you once more to come to the Lord Jesus. Oh hear 
 these blessed words of Christ as I shout them again in 
 your hearing : " therefore be ye also ready." 
 
 Now death may take us by surprise. That's the way 
 it has taken our dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bliss. Little 
 did they know as they rode towards Cleveland last Fri- 
 day night what was to be the real end of the journey. 
 About this time I was giving out notice last Friday 
 night of their being here this afternoon, they were then 
 struggling with death. That was about the time they 
 passed into glory-land. It was a frightful death, by 
 surprise. But, beautiful salvation ; star of hope in that 
 time of gloom, darkness and death ; they both were 
 ready. They were just ripened for the kingdom of God. 
 I do not think I ever saw two persons who had grown 
 more in Christ than these dear friends had in the past 
 four or five years. I do not think a man walks the streets 
 of Chicago to-day who has so few enemies as P. P. Bliss. 
 He was a man we will love in another world. When the 
 summons came, it must have been terrible, it must have 
 brought cruel pain for a few minutes. But it lasted 
 only a few minutes and — they were in glory. Only a 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 467 
 
 few minutes — and they were all together in that world 
 of light, perhaps raising the shout of praise, "Alleluiah; 
 what a Saviour." I think the heavenly choir has had a 
 great accession to-day. I doubt whether many around 
 the throne of God sing sweeter than P. P. Bliss. I 
 doubt whether many have loved the Son of God more 
 than he. With that golden harp of the glorified how 
 sweetly shall he sing ! 
 
 But my friends, while we are mourning here, are we 
 ready ? We cannot call them back. We may mourn 
 for them ; we may mourn for the sad misfortune that 
 has befallen ourselves. But what is our loss is their 
 gain. It is better for them there than here ; it is better 
 to be "absent from the body, and present with the 
 Lord." Shall you join him in that blessed land ? Say, 
 are you ready ? 
 
 Xow there are three things which every man should 
 be ready for in this world ; ready for life, ready for death, 
 and ready for judgment. Judgment after death is as 
 sure as life; judgment is as sure as death. There are 
 three sure things. "It is appointed unto man once to 
 die, and after that the judgment." It is of very little 
 account how we die, or where we die, if we are only pre- 
 pared, if we are only ready. We don't know what may 
 happen any day. It seems to me we ought to be ready 
 any hour, any moment ; we know not what may happen 
 any moment. Oh, let us get ready ! It seems sheerest 
 folly to delay this matter a single moment. Look at that 
 train where great numbers were ushered into eternity 
 unexpectedly. Little did they think that there time was 
 so near at hand. Little did our friends, Mr. Bliss and 
 wife, think that they were going to be ushered into 
 eternity as they stepped lighthearted on that railway 
 train. It would seem that people ought to resolve never 
 to step aboard a railway train again until they're ready 
 
468 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES, 
 
 to meet their God. It would seem as though no one 
 would lie down and go to sleep to-night until he knows 
 he is ready to meet the bridegroom. 
 
 Dear friends, are you ready ? This question this 
 afternoon it seems to me ought to go down into all our 
 hearts. And then, if we are ready, we can shout over 
 death and the grave ; that death is overcome, the sting 
 of death is gone and the grave opens terrorless. Sup- 
 pose we do go on and live thirty or forty years, — it is all 
 only a little moment. Suppose we die in some lone 
 mountain ; like Moses on Pisgah, or like Jacob in the 
 midst of our family, or like Joshua with the leaders of 
 Israel around us ; or suppose God lets us die surrounded 
 with the comforts and luxuries of home ; or suppose death 
 comes on unexpectedly and suddenly as it did on Stephen ; 
 it may be we shall be called to die the death of a martyr 
 and be put to death unexpectedly — but if we are only 
 ready what care we just how our summons comes. If I 
 am ready I would as soon die like Stephen or Moses on Pis- 
 gah. I would as soon die like our friend Mr. Bliss as 
 like Jacob with all his sons around him, if only I am 
 ready for my glorious inheritance beyond the grave. 
 That is the main question. It is not how we die. 
 It is not where we die. At the worst it may be but the 
 sudden shock of a few minutes and all will be over ; and 
 we enter upon eternal joy, joy for evermore. Millions 
 and millions and millions of years in this world will not 
 yield the joy of one minute of heaven. Oh my friends, 
 shall you have a place in that heavenly home ? Oh ! 
 will you not each one ask this question just now, " Am 
 I ready, am I ready ?" 
 
 I believe that every man in this Christian land has 
 had some warning ; some John the Baptist to warn him 
 as Herod had. some Paulas Agrippa and Felix had, some 
 friend like Nathan, sent to warn him, as David had ; 
 
MISCELLANKO US. 469 
 
 some friend to warn him such as Ahab had in Elijah. 
 And, my friends, I think this is a day of warning to you. 
 Are you not coming to God to-day ? "Will you not hear 
 the Saviour's loving voice to-day, " Come unto me." God 
 will forgive your sins and blot them out and give you a 
 new heart. Oh, let not the sun go down to-night with- 
 out being reconciled to God. 
 
 Little did those people on that train as it neared 
 Cleveland on Friday night, little did they think the sun 
 was going down for them the last time, and that they 
 should never see it rise again. It is going down to-night, 
 — as I am speaking, the last sun of the year — and some 
 of you in this assemblage may never see it rise again. 
 Dear friends, are you ready for the call if it comes to you 
 between now and to-morrow morning ? This very night 
 you may be called away — your soul may be required by 
 God your Maker. Are you ready to meet the King and 
 Judge of all the earth ? Let me put, urgently but kindly, 
 these questions to every soul here to-night : can you say, 
 "I have Christ; I have eternal life through Jesus 
 Christ my Saviour." If not, dear friends, let me ask 
 you what will you say when He shall come to judge you ? 
 If, this very night, He should summon you to stand be- 
 fore Him, what would you say ? 
 
 Oh, how deceitful death is ! Something may fall on 
 us as we walk home to-night, or we may fall down and 
 break some part of our body and be ushered into eter- 
 nity. We may be seized by some fit, and we're gone. We 
 may have some disease around the heart that is hidden 
 from us and that we know nothing about, and this may 
 be our last day on earth. "Boast not thyself of to-mor- 
 row ;" we don't know what will happen even before to- 
 morrow. And then, another deception ; a great many 
 people, you know, because their parents have outlived 
 the allotted years, because their parents were long-lived 
 
4?0 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 people, think they're going to live long also. How man}' 
 are deceived in that way. Then there is that lying de- 
 ception, " Oh it is time enough to be a Christian. — time 
 enough to cry to God — when He calls us." Look at that 
 wreck ! Look at those people being dashed down that 
 frightful chasm to frightful deaths ! That is no time to 
 get ready ; that is not the time ! They have all they 
 can do trying to get out of the wreck, — bleeding, burn- 
 ing, drowning, frozen ! How many in eternity in five 
 minutes ! How many instantly ! No time for prayer in 
 such chaos as that : I would not say God is not merciful, 
 — He may have heard even then, the penitent cry ; but 
 I would not dare to say : "put it off till some calamity 
 overtakes you." The word comes now, at this moment, 
 ''prepare to meet God." "Seek first the kingdom of 
 God and His righteousness." Oh, that is the first duty 
 and pleasure of this life, not its last ! It is more impor- 
 tant that you seek the kingdom of God to-day — just 
 now, this very hour — than anything else, than anything 
 else, in life ! It is more important than going home to 
 look after the highest earthly affairs ; more important 
 than if you could win the wealth and the honors of the 
 universe! Let business be suspended and everything 
 laid aside until this greatest question of life — the great- 
 est question of time and eternity — is settled : <( Prepare 
 to meet thy God." Oh prepare ! 
 
 My friends, I call upon you to come to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. I call upon you to prepare this day and this 
 hour to meet your God. I lift up my voice in warning 
 to all of this assembly. Would you not rather be in the 
 place of Mr. and Mrs. Bliss and die as they did, in that 
 terrible wreck by that appalling accident — would you 
 not rather choose tha u , than to live on twenty- five years 
 or a hundred years, and die without God and go down 
 in despair to dark rivers of eternal death ! Oh, it was 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 471 
 
 appalling ! but I would rather a thousand times have 
 been on that train that dark night, and taken that awful 
 leap and met my God as I believe Mr. and Mrs. Bliss 
 have met Him, than to have the wealth of worlds and 
 die without God and hope ! Oh, if you are not ready, 
 make ready just now ! I think a great many tears should 
 be shed for the sins of the past year. If you take my 
 advice you will not go out of this tabernacle this night 
 until you have tasted repentance and the joy of sins for- 
 given. Go into the inquiry-room and ask some of the 
 Christian people to tell you the way of life, to tell you 
 what to do to be saved. Say " I want to be ready to 
 meet my God to-night, for I don't know the day or the 
 hour He may summon me." 
 
 I may be speaking to some this afternoon who are 
 hearing me for the last time. In a few days I will be 
 gone. My friends, to you I want to lift up my warning- 
 voice once again. I want to speak as to brethren be- 
 loved, hastening on to judgment : " Prepare to meet thy 
 God." I beg of you, I beseech of you, this moment, 
 don't let the closing hours, these closing moments of '76 
 pass, until you are born of God — born of the Spirit, born 
 from death. This day, if you seek God, you shall find 
 Him. This day if you, turn from sin and repent, God 
 is ready to receive you. Let me say He never will be 
 more willing than to-day and you'll never have more 
 power than to-day. If you are ready, He is ready now 
 to receive and bless you forever ! Oh, may the God of 
 our fathers have compassion upon every soul assembled 
 here ! May our eyes be opened, and all flee from the 
 wrath to come ! May the Divine warnings take hold on 
 every soul ! May we profit by this sad calamity, and 
 may many be raised up in eternity to thank God that 
 this meeting was ever held 1 
 
472 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 J. A. GARFIELD. 
 
 DEATH IN THE SIGHT OF ALL THE PEOPLE. 
 WM. M. TAYLOR, D.D. 
 
 IN BROADWAY TABERNACLE NEW YORK. 
 
 They went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 
 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on 
 Eleazar his son ; and Aaron died there in the top of the Mount. — 
 Numbers xx: 27, 28. 
 
 r F<HAT is an old history ; but in some of its main fea- 
 tures, it has just been repeated in the experience 
 of this nation ; and so I have turned to it to find com- 
 fort and instruction in our hour of sorrow. Of our be- 
 loved President, too, it may be truly said that he has 
 ascended the hill in the sight of all the people. His life 
 has been a constant climb. From the log-cabin in the 
 forest he went " still upward/" until he reached the 
 highest office which can be attained among us ; and al- 
 though, while he was patiently and heroically threading 
 his way up the earliest slopes, he was unseen, by the 
 multitudes, yet the misroscopic inspection of his antece- 
 dents at the time of his nomination to the Presidency 
 has made even the youngest among us familiar with his 
 career from his earliest boyhood until the night when 
 amid the tolling of bells and the tears of the nation, the 
 sad words passed from mouth to mouth among us — 
 •' The president is dead V 
 
 We have followed him from the cabin to the school- 
 house ; from the school-house to the carpenter's shop ; 
 from the carpenter's shop to the canal barge ; from the 
 canal barge to the academy ; from the academy to the 
 college — first as a student and afterward as a professor ; 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 473 
 
 from the college to the battle-field; from the battle- 
 field to the halls of legislature : from the halls of legis- 
 lature to the White House ; and from the White House 
 to that cottage by the sea, wherein the long alternation 
 between relapse and recovery terminated in his dissolu- 
 tion. No Hebrew in all the host that day when Aaron 
 went up Mount Hor watched the progress of the ascend- 
 ing high-priest with more interest than that with which 
 we have scanned the history of Mr. Garfield ; and we 
 had all a glow of honest, thankful satisfaction when we 
 saw in the Presidential chair a man who might be re- 
 garded as a typical representative of the best elements 
 of the American character. But alas ! like Aaron, he 
 reached the summit only to die ; and his death also was 
 in the sight of all the people. The nation — nay, the 
 world was admitted to his sick-chamber. For all these 
 weeks each hand among us was upon his pulse, and each 
 ear among us was at his heart. It was as if each of 
 us had a beloved patient in his home. The " fierce light " 
 which usually " beats upon a throne " is nothing to the 
 radiant publicity into which the affection of the citizens 
 insisted upon putting the incidents of that chamber of 
 suspense ; and in coming years there shall yet be made 
 in song and story many a pathetic mention of his heroic 
 sayings and his thoughtful solicitude for those who were 
 most dear to him. 
 
 Now it is in the effects which this very publicity of 
 his history and sufferings has produced, and is, I believe, 
 destined in still larger measure yet to produce among 
 us, that I find some of the richest elements of consola- 
 tion under our sore trial. 
 
 I. For, in the first place, that publicity has elevated 
 into the view of the community a character every way 
 worthy to become an example and an inspiration to us 
 all. And in speaking thus, I refer not so much to the 
 
474 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 perseverance and indomitable pluck by which he was 
 distinguished, as to the moral and spiritual qualities 
 which in him were so conspicuous. He was from the 
 first characterized by conscience. From the day when 
 on the canal barge he refused to take by stratagem or 
 trick from another boat, the right of way to which it 
 was fairly entitled, on to that of the Convention in which 
 he stood unyieldingly up for a principle which he 
 believed to be " everlastingly right," he was unflinching 
 in his adherence to that which in his view was just. 
 
 And this conscience in him, I rejoice to add, was 
 thoroughly Christianized. In his early youth he became 
 on deliberate conviction, a disciple of the Lord Jcsns ; 
 and in every sphere he filled, it might be said of him that 
 he was "not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." There 
 was, indeed, no ostentatious parade of his devotion. He 
 said little because he acted so much. His piety was that 
 of principle rather than emotion ; and it was too much 
 occupied in conduct to have any energy to spare for dis- 
 play. He was more ambitious for excellence than for 
 position. The only place he ever asked for he did not 
 get, and every office which he filled was one to which he 
 was called by others without any seeking of his own. 
 And surely I am not wrong in saying that in the eleva- 
 tion and glorification of such a character by such a 
 death we have an element of comfort which is well-nigh 
 incalculable. We cannot mourn for him ; for, being 
 such a man as he was, -we know right well whither he 
 has gone — and we may be thankful that such a career 
 has been so prominently brought before the eyes of the 
 rising generation among us. 
 
 Young men, let it fire you with the noblest of all 
 ambitions. Seek rather to be than to get. Labor not 
 for office, but for character ; and, to that end, cultivate 
 through faith in Christ a conscience that shall spurn 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 475 
 
 from it every thought of wrong \ for in conscience is the 
 main-spring of character, and as you act concerning it, 
 you will become either a hero or a coward. 
 
 But it is not only in its public aspects that the history 
 of our nation's second martyr is fraught with benefit 
 There was a domesticity about him which strikingly il- 
 lustrated the fifth commandment ; and, in a day when 
 some believe that our home-life in America is degenerat- 
 ing, I am thankful that he who has gone set such a 
 noble example in this regard. What devotion he showed 
 to his venerable mother ? Who can recall without emo- 
 tion that scene with his fellow students when, camping 
 out with them, he took out his Bible and said : " Boys, 
 I promised my mother to read a portion of the Scriptures 
 every night, and I am going to read it now — shall I read 
 it aloud ?" and then, with their concurrence, not only 
 read a chapter, but led them in prayer to the throne of 
 the heavenly grace ? Who can speak without pleasure of 
 the kiss which he imprinted on his mother's lips im- 
 mediately after he had taken the oath of office on his 
 installation day ? And who can read without tears the 
 letter — the only one he wrote during his weeks of lan- 
 guishing — to the venerable woman, that he might, with 
 his own hand, give her as much hope of his recovery as 
 possible ? What an example for the sons and daughters 
 of the land ! Oh, ye poor, paltry puppets, who, in the 
 day of your prosperity, turn your backs upon your 
 parents and think of them only as a burden and a dis- 
 grace — look at these beautiful indications of his filial 
 devotion and go hide your heads for shame ! That in- 
 stallation kiss ! let it stand out in our history forever as 
 an enforcement of the holy law — " Honor thy father and 
 thy mother " — and let it serve to lift up the family 
 among us to its ancient elevation. 
 
 But he was no less tender as a husband than he was 
 
476 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 faithful as a son. We got a glimpse of his conjugal 
 devotion during the serious illness of Mrs. Garfield in 
 the White House ; and the impression made then upon 
 us was deepened by the telegram which he calmly 
 dictated to her immediately after he was shot ; while, on 
 the other hand, her noble calmness in that trying hour, 
 coupled with her unslumbering watchfulness beside his 
 bed, has given her a place in the nation's heart second 
 only — if indeed it be second — to that in which it has 
 enshrined him. While, in the bearing of Mr. Garfield 
 toward his boys and his tender solicitude for his 
 daughter, I feel persuaded that every father among us 
 has been stimulated and benefited. How many homes in 
 the land, I wonder, could bear the revelation made by 
 the turning of the white electric light of publicity in 
 upon them as the household of the President has done ? 
 This terrible affliction has made it a spectacle to all. 
 Let us be thankful that it is of such a character that it 
 may be an example for all. 
 
 But I find another element of consolation in the uni- 
 fication of the nation which has resulted from the pub- 
 licity in which our President lived and died. When 
 Aaron was ascending Mount Hor, no jealousy was per- 
 mitted to alienate the tribes of Israel from each other. 
 In sight of the venerable high-priest going up to meet 
 his death, the envyings of Reuben and the rebellion of 
 the sons of Korah were forgotten. Israel was once more 
 a unit. One great grief swallowed up and into itself all 
 minor things, even as the uprising tide overwhelms all 
 the pools which the last ebb has left behind ; and, in 
 the thirty days of mourning which followed his dissolu- 
 tion there was no exception to the universality of the 
 grief ; for, as the historian tells us, " they mourned for 
 Aaron, even all the house of Israel." So it is now with 
 us. For the first time in many, many years there is no 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 477 
 
 section in our land to-day. North and South — their 
 differences for the time forgotten — are weeping in equal 
 sorrow over Garfield's bier, and it looks as if the feuds 
 of a quarter of a century were to be healed and the divi- 
 sions cemented by his blood. No tributes to his memory 
 are more sincere than those which have been uttered 
 by Southern statesmen, and no tokens of grief are 
 deeper than those worn by our fellow-citizens with whom 
 formerly we were at war. Now that we have wept to- 
 gether, w r e shall begin to forget that we have fought. 
 
 I think, too, that among the consolatory effects pro- 
 duced by this trial I see the beginning of a spirit of in- 
 dignation which shall at length sweep away the abuses 
 that have gathered around that system of making pub- 
 lic offices the rewards of party service which has become 
 the shame of our American politics. 
 
 Unless I greatly mistake, there has been growing all 
 through these sorrowful weeks a spirit of determination 
 among the people to put to death the system out of 
 which this murder sprung, and woe to the public man 
 who shall attempt to stay that execution ! It may take 
 a long time. The struggle may be severe, for self-in- 
 terest is always difficult to dislodge; but, depend upon it, 
 its death-knell is rung, and the sovereign people will see 
 that their will is carried through, no matter what official 
 heads may be lopped off in the process. Over the bier 
 of Garfield they have pledged themselves that he shall 
 not die in vain, and a covenant in such blood will never 
 be forgotten. The evil now has only smitten the na- 
 tion's head ; it has not yet corrupted the heart. The 
 universal feeling of this hour is a proof that that is 
 sound ; and, when the people are in earnest, they can 
 do anything. They are in earnest now. It seems to be 
 the law of God's providence that no great advance can 
 be secured in anything without a victim, and the value 
 
478 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 of the victim in this case is so great — for he was the best 
 the nation had — that we may anticipate that the advance 
 will be decided. Let us pledge ourselves by the memory 
 of him at whose bedside we have stood for so many 
 weeks, that, God helping us, we shall slay the system 
 out of which his assassination sprung. If we do not 
 succeed in doing that, it may be the assassination of the 
 nation next. 
 
 But the effects of the publicity given to our Presi- 
 dent's character and death have not been confined to our 
 own land. The nations have sat with us round his bed, 
 and they are mourning with us now over his decease. 
 Thus this calamity has brought the ends of the earth 
 together, and knit the peoples in a brother-hood of be- 
 reavement. From all quarters and from every land, mes- 
 sages of condolence have kept pouring in upon us. In 
 Great Britain, as I can testify from observation during 
 my recent visit to my father-land, the President and his 
 patient, self-denying wife were daily through his illness 
 a source of interest to all, from the palace to the cot- 
 tage. Queen Victoria never wrote anything so queenly 
 as that message which came quivering over the wires to 
 the stricken mourner ; for it was the queenliness of the 
 woman, rather than of the monarch — the sympathy of a 
 widow, speaking from her own experience, with a widow 
 just entering the valley of her loneliness — " May God 
 comfort you as he alone can ;" and the memorial wreath 
 which she caused to be laid upon his coffin will flourish 
 as an "immortelle " in the memory of this people. 
 
 But as another element of consolation under our sor- 
 row, suggested by this text, I name the continuation of 
 the nation's organic life. When Lincoln was muidered 
 it was the voice of Garfield which stilled the surging 
 crowd in Wall Street with the words : "Fellow -citizens, 
 clouds and darkness are round about him ; justice and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 479 
 
 judgment are the habitations of his throne 
 
 God reigns, and the government at Washington stiil 
 lives.-" This is our consolation now ; and to-day, while 
 we sympathize with the bereaved, and count ourselves 
 among them, our prayers must also ascend for him who, 
 in circumstances so solemn, and amid grief so profound, 
 has been called to the duties and responsibilities of the 
 Presidential chair. 
 
 But to mention only one thought more, we have the 
 largest consolation of all in the fact that God is among 
 the people. Aaron did not take with him the pillar of 
 cloud and fire. The shechinah still hovered above the 
 mercy-seat, and after the days of mourning for the high- 
 priest were ended, Jehovah was as much the leader of 
 Israel as He had been before. No individual is indis- 
 pensable. It is as easy for God to carry on His work 
 without us as with us, if only He be recognized and 
 honored by those who remain behind. All individuals 
 are but His instruments; and all instruments may be 
 made alike mighty in his hands. Let us be only sure 
 that God is with us and all will be well. And He will 
 be with us if we will be with Him. As Lincoln said, 
 when one spoke to him of the importance of having 
 God on our side — " The great thing for us is to make 
 sure that we are on God's side ;" and there are many in- 
 dications now among us that the people are anxiously 
 desirous that this shall be the case. What spiritual as- 
 pirations have been awakened in us all by the sorrows of 
 these weeks, culminating in the sad climax of this day ! 
 It is almost like a revival of religion over the land. 
 Were ever prayers so numerous or so earnest offered as 
 those which have been and are now being presented 
 throughout the country ? 
 
 So let us take heart again and sing, " God is in the 
 midst of her, she shall not be moved ; God shall help us, 
 
480 
 
 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and that right early." As good John "Wesley said with 
 his dying breath, " The best of all is, God is with us ;" 
 or as the pious Scotch woman put it in her own vernac- 
 ular, " The Lord's aye to the fore !" " God lives ; 
 blessed be our rock, and let the God of our salvation be 
 exalted." 
 
 For the rest our loved one sleeps in Jesus. We have 
 no doubts or misgivings about him. Already he has en- 
 tered into the joy of his Lord ; and great is the contrast 
 between the gloom of our mourning and the gladness of 
 his glory. 
 
 A voice is heard on earth of kinsfolk weeping 
 
 The loss of one they love ; 
 But he has gone where the redeemed are keeping 
 
 A festival above. 
 
 The mourners throng the ways, and from the steeple 
 
 The funeral bells toll slow ; 
 But on the golden streets the holy people 
 
 Are passing to and fro: 
 
 And sayiug, as they meet, "Rejoice, another, 
 
 Long waited for, is come. 
 The Saviour's heart is glad, a younger brother 
 
 Hath reached the Father's home." 
 
 To that home may we also be admitted, in God's 
 good time and way, through the merits and mediation 
 of our great High-Px-iest. Amen. 
 
MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 1. ON THE DEATH OP TWO MEMBERS OF THE EVAN- 
 GELICAL ALLIANCE. 
 
 At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Evangelical 
 Alliance of the United States, the following preamble and resolu- 
 tions, submitted by Rev. William Adams, D.D., of New York, 
 were adopted, and cordially commended to the Christian people 
 of this country : 
 
 Greatly afflicted by that mysterious Providence which has 
 consigned to a watery grave Rev. Professor Pronier, of Geneva, 
 and Rev. Antonio Carrasco, of Madrid, when on their home- 
 ward voyage from the recent Conference in this city ; be it 
 
 Resolved, That, cherishing with great affection the memory of 
 these brethren, who endeared themselves to so many during their 
 recent visit to this country, we extend to their desolate families, 
 in this sudden and terrible bereavement, our tenderest Christian 
 sympathy. 
 
 As an expression of this affection and sympathy, and in cordial 
 obedience to the Divine teaching, to " love not in word only, 
 but in deed and in truth," be it 
 
 Resolved, That this Alliance, so far adopting under its care 
 the widowed and orphaned families of these beloved brethren, 
 will undertake to raise a memorial fund, to be held by the 
 Finance Committee of the Evangelical Alliance in this country, 
 who shall be empowered to expend the same or its (semi-annual) 
 income, according to their best judgment, for the support of 
 Mesdames Pronier and Carrasco and the education of their 
 children. 
 
 Resolved, That all churches sympathizing with the Evangeli- 
 cal Alliance, be hereby requested to take a collection on the 
 third Sabbath in January, or as near that time as possible, in 
 furtherance of this object ; confident that such an act will not 
 
 21 [481] 
 
482 MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 only convey needful relief to the distressed, but will prove a 
 means of promoting a new and greater interest in Christian 
 brotherhood and Christian evangelism throughout the world. 
 
 2. ON THE DEATH OF A BISHOP AND COLLEGE 
 PRESIDENT. 
 
 By the University Senate of Ann Arbor University, Mich. 
 
 At a meeting of the University Senate, held in the room of the 
 President, August 5, 1881, the following testimonial of respect 
 for the memory of Dr. E. 0. Haven, Ex-President of the Univer- 
 sity, was ordered to be placed on the records of the Senate. It 
 was also ordered that copies should be sent to the family of the 
 deceased and furnished to the press for publication : 
 
 Rev. Erastus O. Haven, D.D., Bishop in the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, and an Ex-President of this University, died at 
 Salem, Oregon, on the second day of August, 1881. 
 
 Dr Haven held the chair of the Latin language and literature 
 in this University in 1853, and that of history and English litera- 
 ture in 1854 and 1855, and the office of President of the Univer- 
 sity from 1863 to 1869. 
 
 This Senate has received with profound grief the intelligence 
 of his death. Cut down suddenly, almost at the beginning of 
 the sacred duties of the high and responsible office to which he 
 had been called by the church of his choice, while still strong 
 and vigorous, and, to all appearance, capable of doing good 
 service in the cause of his Master for many years to come, he has 
 left a record of great and manifold and fruitful labors to per- 
 petuate his memory, and to console the multitude of friends, 
 brethren, and associates who mourn his loss. 
 
 The uninterrupted successes of his life, from the day of his 
 graduation at Middietown to the day of his death in Oregon, 
 were due to his unwavering faith in Christ, his indomitable 
 energy, his ready adaptation to circumstances, his versatility of 
 talent and breadth and variety of attainment, his prudence and 
 tact in administration, and, not least, his remarkable facility 
 and felicity of expression in writing, and, especially, in public 
 speaking. 
 
 He was elected to many and honorable positions, involving 
 either educational, ministerial, or literary labor, but among all 
 the high duties to which he was called, none did he discharge 
 with more distinguished ability than those of the presidency of 
 this University. During the six years of his administration the 
 attendance of undergraduates was constantly increasing, while 
 the institution was steadily progressing in its proper work, and 
 
MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 483 
 
 growing in popular favor. Not less was his administration dis- 
 tinguished for the internal harmony and unity promoted by his 
 large and kindly spirit, which at the same time attached all mem- 
 bers of the University heartily and firmly to his person. 
 
 This University will ever cherish and honor the memory of 
 President Haven, and while it mourns his death it is thankful 
 for the good which a kind Providence has permitted him to 
 achieve not only here but in many fields of beneficent enter- 
 prise. 
 
 The Senate, while thus expressing its sense of the loss sus- 
 tained by education and religion in the death of Bishop Haven, 
 desires most sincerely and respectfully to extend its sympathies 
 to the family, so suddenly visited by a mysterious but wise and 
 merciful Providence with this great sorrow and heaviest of 
 earthly bereavements. 
 
 By order of the Senate. 
 
 , Secretary. 
 
 3. ON THE DEATH OF A COLLEGE PROFESSOR. 
 
 At a meeting of the Faculty of Brown University, held Febru- 
 ary 17th, the President announced the death of William Giles 
 Goddard, formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy and Metaphy- 
 sics, and more recently of Belles Lettres, in the University, and, 
 at the time of his death, a member of the Board of Fellows, and 
 Secretary of the Corporation. 
 
 Whereupon, the following preamble and resolutions were 
 unanimously adopted, and ordered to be entered upon the records 
 of the Faculty : 
 
 It having pleased Almighty God to remove from this life 
 William Giles Goddard, LL.D., a distinguished Alumnus of this 
 University, for many years one of its most successful instruc- 
 tors, and through life one of its most efficient friends, a gentle- 
 man eminent alike for rich and varied learning, elegant scholar- 
 ship and refined taste, as well as for high attainment in all the 
 graces of pure Christianity and enlarged philanthropy : 
 
 Resolved, That we cherish a profound veneration for the 
 talents, virtues and services of our late associate and friend. 
 
 That we tender to the family of the deceased the expression of 
 our sincere sympathy on the occasion of their irreparable loss. 
 
 That, as a Faculty, we will attend the funeral solemnities, 
 and that the exercises of the College be suspended on the after- 
 noon of the day on which they take place. 
 
 That the President of the University be requested to deliver a 
 
484 MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 discourse in commemoration of the life and services of Professor 
 Goddard; and 
 
 That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the family of 
 the deceased, and published in one of the papers of this city. 
 
 P. WAYLAND, President. 
 
 4. ON THE DEATH OF A PASTOR. 
 
 At a special meeting of the official board of the church, 
 
 held June 28th, the following preamble and resolutions were 
 unanimously adopted ; 
 
 Whereas, in the order of Divine Providence, our pastor, Rev. 
 - has been removed from our midst by the hand of death, 
 
 and our hearts have been deeply moved thereby ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That in his death we have lost one of nature's 
 nobleman, a generous friend, a genial companion ; a man of true 
 and honest purpose, of pure mind, of sound judgment, prompt 
 in action, faithful in matters of trust, an earnest Christian 
 worker, and an ardent lover of Methodism. 
 
 2. That we treasure the memory of his blameless Christian 
 life, his wise counsels, his faithful warnings, and his zeal for the 
 cause of Christ. 
 
 3. That from the manner of his life among us, and from the 
 positive character of his Christian experience and testimony dur- 
 ing his illness, we are fully persuaded that our loss is his eternal 
 gain ; and that while we are mourning on earth, he is rejoicing 
 with the redeemed and blood-washed in heaven. 
 
 4. That we deeply sympathize with the widow and children, 
 who have been called to part with their chief earthly counsellor 
 and support, and that we earnestly beseech the Father in Heaven 
 to grant them the consolation they so much need, and which he 
 alone can give. 
 
 5. That we tender to the widow the use of the parsonage, and 
 the salary her husband would have received, for the remaining 
 part of the conference year. 
 
 6. That a copy of these resolutions be tendered to the family 
 of the deceased, that they be published in The Christian Advo- 
 cate, and recorded on the minutes of the quarterly conference. 
 
MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 485 
 
 5. ON THE DEATH OF A MEMBER OF THE SCHOOL 
 BOARD. 
 
 At a meeting of the School Committee of the city of Provi- 
 dence, R. I., holden at the City Council Chamber, on Friday, 
 the 20th of February, on the announcement by the President, 
 the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted 
 and ordered to be placed upon the records : 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased the Disposer of all events suddenly to 
 
 remove from this life , Esq., who has been for the last 
 
 nine years a member of this body; who cherished with equal 
 ardor the interests of popular education and those of refined 
 literature; and who was ever ready with his matured counsel, 
 his liberal hand and his gifted pen, to co-operate with his fellow 
 citizens in every enterprise for the advancement of good morals 
 and social improvement ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Mr. this Committee has 
 
 lost one of its most judicious and efficient members, the city one 
 of its worthiest and most accomplished citizens, and elegant 
 learning one of its greatest ornaments. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender to the family of the deceased our 
 unaffected sympathy and condolence in this their most afflictive 
 bereavement. 
 
 Resolved, That as a tribute of respect to the memory of our 
 lamented associate — a tribute demanded alike by his eminent 
 private virtues and public worth — we will, in a body, attend the 
 funeral solemnities, which are to take place this day. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed by the 
 President and Secretary, be communicated to the family of the 
 deceased, and that the same be published in the newspapers of 
 this city. , Secretary. 
 
 6. ON THE DEATH OF AN EDITOR. 
 
 Whereas, It has pleased the Great Head of the Church to le- 
 move, recently, another of His workmen from the field of his 
 earthly labor to His nearer presence and eternal rest, our beloved 
 brother, Rev. Wm. S. Baird, late Editor of the Baltimore Episco- 
 pal Methodist, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That we recognize with feelings of sadness the 
 inroads of death upon the ranks of the ministry in our midst, and 
 
486 MEMORIAL RESOL UT1 ONS. 
 
 the loss which the Church sustains in the vacancy of the im- 
 portant post of usefulness so recently filled by Brother Baird. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That we will cherish the pleasing recollection of 
 his active service in the Redeemer's cause, and of his fervent 
 piety and unsullied life ; and that it shall be our aim to follow 
 him as he followed Christ. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That our sorrow at the separation from one so 
 long and so highly esteemed is softened by the joy of the assur- 
 ance that in departing he has gone " to be with Christ, which is 
 far better." 
 
 Resolved, 4. That we offer to the bereft members of the family 
 of our deceased brother out sincere condolence ; and for them 
 our earnest prayer is, that He who has promised to be the Father 
 of the fatherless and the husband of the widow, may afford them 
 gracious consolation. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That the Secretary of this Conference be in- 
 structed to furnish for publication in the Baltimore Episcopal 
 Methodist a copy of the foregoing resolutions. 
 
 7. ON THE DEATH OF A PUBLISHER. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Book Trade of New York, on 
 motion, Messrs. Seymour, Randolph, and Hurd were appointed 
 a Committee on Resolutions, who reported the following : 
 
 Resolved, That we have received the announcement of the 
 death of John Harper with the most profound sorrow. 
 
 Resolved, That in him our trade mourns its oldest as well as 
 one of its most respected and honored members, and the business 
 community in general a representative man, one whose long and 
 distinguished career has ideiY ified his name with the history of 
 our city, and done much to establish and maintain its reputation 
 as the literary centre of our country. The record of diligence, 
 industry, steadfast perseverance, thrift, and economy which 
 marked his earlier years remains for the imitation of those who 
 are entering upon business life. The determination with which 
 he met and triumphed over almost overwhelming disaster stands 
 as an encouragement to any who may be struggling with adver- 
 sity. His unswerving love of country has our praise. We re- 
 cognize the skill and foresight which he displayed in the prose- 
 cution of the large business in the control of which he took such 
 a prominent part for so long a series of years. We should emu- 
 late his untiring energy and imitate the strict honor which 
 marked his transactions, while his unfailing kindness of heart 
 has our grateful remembrance. 
 
 Resolved, That we close our respective places of business 
 
MEMO EI A L MES OL UTIONS. 487 
 
 during the hours of the funeral, and that we attend the services 
 in a body. 
 
 Resolved, That we extend to the business associates and to the 
 family of the deceased our sincere sympathy in their bereave- 
 ment,' and that the Secretary be instructed to send them a copy 
 of these resolutions. 
 
 8. ON THE DEATH OF A PHYSICIAN. 
 
 By a Medical Association. 
 
 Inasmuch as death has suddenly removed from our midst our 
 highly esteemed and much beloved brother, Gr. H. H., M.D., 
 while in the prime of life, apparently in the vigor of perfect 
 health, in the crowning success of his cherished profession, in 
 the unfeigned love of a large and rapidly increasing circle of 
 friends, in the exalted appreciation of his patients, and in the 
 unsullied respect and confidence of his church ; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That we have lost one whose presence in memory we 
 shall ever be proud to recall as an active and zealous member of 
 this Association, and an honor to its medical status, and an ex- 
 ample to its associates of pure friendship, noble generosity and 
 true manliness. 
 
 Resolved, That the medical profession at large have sustained 
 m his death the loss of one whose qualities may be feebly 
 grouped as the working, sympathizing, skillful, and gentlemanly 
 physician. 
 
 Resolved, That the community in which he immediately 
 moved have reason to bow in humble sorrow at the loss of a noble 
 and exemplary citizen, a faithful friend, a respected physician, 
 an ornament to the church, and a fit example of morality. 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the grief-stricken 
 family of our deceased friend, and assure them of the sincere 
 fellow-feeling of all who knew of their great affliction. 
 
 Resolved, That in his sudden and unexpected death we deeply 
 realize the shortness and uncertainty of life, and would learn 
 afresh the lesson that we, like him, should so live that we* may 
 not be afraid to die. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the 
 family of the deceased, and also to the medical periodicals of 
 this city for publication. 
 
 , Committee. 
 
488 MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 9. ON THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT OF A BOARD OF 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 A special meeting of the Board of Trustees of St. James M. E. 
 Church was held in the Chapel on Wednesday evening, May 2d, 
 1877. 
 
 On motion, Brother D. J. D. was called to the chair. 
 
 The object of the meeting having been stated, the following 
 resolutions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of St. James M. E. Church, desiring to 
 attest their sense of the loss sustained by this church in the death 
 of their late President, H. H. G., their appreciation of his char- 
 acter, and their sympathy with his family, here record the follow- 
 ing minute : 
 
 Resolved, That the death of our beloved brother, in the prime 
 of his years and usefulness, is a dispensation of affliction incapa- 
 ble of consolation otherwise than by humble faith in the Om- 
 niscient One, who is " too wise to err, too good to be unkind." 
 
 Resolved, That our departed brother was endeared to his 
 official associates by his unfailing generosity, kindness and 
 geniality, and to the entire church by his effective service and 
 active benevolence ; that his earnest Christian life is an assurance 
 to us that our sudden loss is his endless gain. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender our sincerest sympathy to his 
 esteemed wife and family, praying that in this hour of sore 
 affliction they maj r find the Saviour near, and that ' ' they may 
 put their trust under the shadow of His wings." 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to transmit a copy of 
 the foregoing resolutions to the family of our late President. 
 
 , Secretary. 
 
 10. ON THE DEATH OF A KNIGHT TEMPLAR. 
 
 In Memoriam — Sir Knight . Commandery , Knights 
 
 Templars, in conclave assembled, having heard of the death of 
 
 our late companion, Sir Knight , desire to place on record 
 
 an expression of their deep sorrow for the loss they have sus- 
 tained by his death, and the great esteem in which Sir Knight 
 
 was held by the members of this Commandery, and to 
 
 bear testimony of our high appreciation of his Christian charac- 
 ter as a Knight Templar, and do hereby 
 
 Resolve, That the unsearchable wisdom of the Grand Master, 
 the Templars' God, has called him to the asylum of rest. 
 
MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 489 
 
 That we have unbounded faith in the safety of his Divine 
 Power, by whose life our dead shall live. 
 
 That we tender our sympathy to his widow and children in 
 their sorrow, and assure them of our love for their husband and 
 father, who being dead is yet alive. 
 
 That a copy of this testimonial be recorded on a full page of 
 our Book of Record, and be also suitably engrossed and sent to 
 the family of our deceased companion. 
 
 , Committee. 
 
 11. RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY A MASONIC LODGE, 
 COMMEMORATIVE OF THEIR LATE PAST MASTER. 
 
 Whereas, By the sudden and unexpected death of our Past 
 Master, G. H. H., Lodge has suffered a great and irrepar- 
 able loss. 
 
 Resolved, That as an officer of the Lodge he faithfully and 
 efficiently performed his work, displaying administrative quali- 
 ties of a high order as a presiding officer, and commanding our 
 respect and confidence by liis impartiality and fairness. 
 
 Resolved, That he had endeared himself to us all by his genial, 
 open-hearted and social disposition ; that he was ever the kind 
 and generous friend, the wise counsellor and devoted brother, 
 and that in his death each member of Bunting Lodge mourns a 
 personal friend. 
 
 Resolved, That it is not alone the recollection of his qualities 
 as a Mason that we shall cherish with affectionate regard, but as 
 an upright man he had entrenched himself in the hearts of tins 
 community, and the fond remembrance in which he is held 
 by all will form the silver lining to the dark cloud which hangs 
 over us. 
 
 Resolved, That, recognizing the depth of sorrow in which his 
 family are plunged we extend them our heartfelt sympathy, 
 commending them to the Supreme Architect on high, who 
 maketh all things work together for good to those who love 
 Him. 
 
 , Committee. 
 
 12. ON THE DEATH OF A FREEMASON. 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased the Supreme Architect of the Universe 
 to summon from this terrestrial Lodge of F. & A. M., to the 
 Grand Lodge on high, our beloved Right Worshipful Brother, 
 whose faultless record, Christian character, genial nature, charit- 
 
 21* 
 
490 
 
 MEMORIAL RESOL UTI0N8. 
 
 able and generous spirit, together with an earnest zeal, and un- 
 tiring devotion in the interests of Lodge No. — , developed in 
 our hearts for him the profoundest sentiments of affectionate 
 regard and brotherly love. 
 
 Therefore, be it Resolved, That while we reverently and de- 
 voutly bow, in obedience to the behests of that being whose* 
 ways are inscrutable and who doeth all things well, in removing 
 from this life our deceased brother, we desire to express our 
 deep sense of the irreparable loss sustained in the death of one 
 who, with eloquent tongue and exemplary life, always fittingly 
 and impressively illustrated the cardinal principles that consti- 
 tute the foundation stones upon which the grand superstructure 
 of Freemasonry stands. 
 
 Resolved, That we share deeply in the sorrow of the widow, 
 the children, and the relatives of our deceased brother, and 
 hereby tender to them our heartfelt sympathy, and commend 
 them to the loving and tender care of him who has promised to 
 be a " Father to the fatherless," and a "Helper to the widow. 1 ' 
 
 Resolved, That this Lodge be suitably draped in mourning, as 
 an expression of the grief we feel for the loss of our beloved 
 brother and faithful Worshipful Master. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the minutes, 
 and that an engrossed copy of the same be transmitted to the 
 widow of our deceased brother. 
 
 13. ON THE DEATH OF A MILITARY OEFICER. 
 
 At a meeting of the resident members of the Third Army 
 Corps Union, held in New York, September 16, the following- 
 preamble and resolutions were adopted : 
 
 Whereas, The Third Army Corps Union has heard with deep 
 regret of the sudden and untimely ending of the life of our much 
 
 beloved and esteemed comrade, Captain , while in the 
 
 discharge of his duty; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That this sad accident has taken from us a comrade 
 and companion who possessed rare virtues. He united intelli- 
 gence with great courage, which, together with an earnest desire 
 to do his whole duty, made him a most valuable and efficient 
 public officer. He was a true and devoted husband, a fond and 
 loving father. His wife and children honored and loved him. 
 He endeared himself to all who came in contact with him by his 
 honest, manly and straightforward conduct. He contributed 
 his full share in aiding us in our deliberations when considering 
 the welfare of our cherished organization. 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of our late comrade the Third 
 Army Corps Union has sustained a loss of one of its most valued 
 
MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 491 
 
 members, whose genial smile and cordial greeting was one of the 
 promised gems of each "Diamond" reunion, and who, though 
 at roll call missing, will hereafter be recorded amongst our clus- 
 ter of heroes who willingly sacrificed life in the performance of 
 duty. 
 
 Kesolved, That in this their hour of trial and affliction, we ten- 
 der to his bereaved family our heartfelt sympathy. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect the members of the Third 
 Army Corps Union resident in this city attend his funeral in a 
 body and follow the remains of our beloved comrade to their last 
 resting-place. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, suitably engrossed, 
 be furnished to the family of the deceased, and that the same be 
 forwarded to the secretary for record on the minutes of our 
 association. 
 
 , Chairman. 
 
 14. ON THE DEATH OF A DIRECTOR. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Directors of this Company, the 
 
 following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Whereas, It has pleased the Almighty, in his profound wisdom, 
 to remove from our midst, so suddenly, our highly-honored and 
 beloved friend ; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That we sincerely and deeply sympathize with the 
 family and friends of the departed in their so unexpected and 
 severe bereavement, and that we implore kind Providence to 
 comfort them in this their hour of trial. 
 
 Resolved, That we express our heartfelt and most solemn 
 regret at the loss of a gentleman so worthy of the highest honor 
 and esteem among the commercial community, so devotedly be- 
 loved by his friends, tenderly attached to his family, and who 
 for so many years, at the head of one of our first importing 
 houses, by his strict probity and untiring industry, successfully 
 weathered the many storms which swept from time to time with 
 ruinous consequences over our industrial enterprises. 
 
 Resolved, That as a token of the high esteem and respect for 
 the departed, the Directors of this Company attend the funeral 
 of the deceased in a body. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be engrossed and handed to 
 the family, with the deepest and sincerest regards, and the same 
 be published in the several daily papers. 
 
492 MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 15. ON THE DEATH OF A FIREMAN. 
 
 At a meeting of the officers of companies of the Fourth bat- 
 talion, held on the 15th inst., the following preamble and resolu- 
 tions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Whereas, we have received the painful intelligence of the un- 
 timely death of our Chief of Battalion ; be it, therefore 
 
 Resolved, That while we bow with submission to the will of 
 an allwise Providence, it is due that we take this method of 
 showing our appreciation of one who in the discharge of his 
 every duty, requiring on all occasions the stern qualities of a 
 disciplinarian, always possessed the noble instincts of a gentle- 
 man. 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Chief we are deprived 
 
 of a genial associate, a brave commander, and the Fire Depart- 
 ment one of its most faithful officers. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender to the family of the deceased our 
 sympathy in their bereavement, and would console them with 
 the belief that their loss is his gain, and he who doeth all things 
 well has taken him to the home of eternal happiness. 
 
 Resolved, That out of respect to his memory we attend the 
 funeral and wear a badge of mourning for thirty days ; also, that 
 a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the family. 
 
 16. ON THE DEATH OF A DIRECTOR OF AN 
 ATHENAEUM. 
 
 Whereas, an inscrutable Providence has suddenly removed 
 from among us a member of this Board, from its organization, 
 until his recent resignation, the Vice-President of this institu- 
 tion, and one of its principal founders ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply lament the loss which we have sus- 
 tained in the death of one whose enlightened zeal and liberal and 
 active exertions contributed to lay so broad and deep the founda- 
 tion of this institution, and whose continued care and labor 
 have been unceasing for the promotion of its usefulness and 
 prosperity. 
 
 Resolved, That in placing upon record an expression of our 
 sorrow at this afflictive bereavement, we cannot do justice to our 
 feelings by a mere compliance with the forms which custom has 
 prescribed. Such an expression would be far too inadequate to 
 the occasion. Whilst we mourn the loss of a founder and a 
 benefactor, we feel that by his death this community has lost 
 
MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 493 
 
 one of its most valuable and patriotic citizens, a firm friend of 
 constitutional freedom, whose mind, of rich scholarship, rare 
 accomplishments and practical wisdom, was ever devoted to the 
 cause of literature and science, and to the great work of social 
 improvement. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to communicate a 
 certified copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased, 
 as expressive of our sympathy in their deep affliction. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be entered upon the records 
 of the Board, and be published. 
 
 , Secretary. 
 
 17. ON THE DEATH OF A MEMBER OF A LITERARY 
 SOCIETY. (Keystone State Normal School.) 
 
 Whereas, the hand of Providence has removed our beloved 
 sister from the scene of her temporal labors, and from our society, 
 and in view of the loss we have sustained by the death of our 
 friend and sister, and of the still greater loss sustained b} r those 
 who were nearest and dearest to her, be it 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply mourn her untimely departure, and 
 sincerely regret the loss of her faithful services as a co-laborer in 
 our literary enterprise, taking refuge in the thought, however, 
 that after having ended her earthly strife she has at last joined 
 the blessed society of the redeemed in heaven. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender our earnest and heartfelt sympathies 
 to the afflicted family, and commend them for consolation to Him 
 who orders all things for the best, and whose chastisements are 
 dealt by a loving hand. 
 
 Resolved, That we do honor to her memory by having her 
 name arrayed in black on the roll, and by performing all the rites 
 due on so solemn an occasion. 
 
 Resolved, That the above resolutions be published in the 
 National Weekly Educator, that a copy thereof be placed in 
 the archives of the society and another sent to the parents of 
 the deceased. 
 
 , Committee. 
 
 18. ON THE DEATH OF A STUDENT. 
 
 At a meeting of the St. Paul's School, 
 
 Concord, Mass., the following resolutions were drafted : 
 
 Since it has pleased Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, in 
 
494 MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 His Providence, to remove our friend and classmate, L. F. W., 
 from among us by death, we desire to place on record our sense 
 of his true worth, and of the great loss and affliction the school 
 and we ourselves, as well as his relatives and family, have sus- 
 tained, and we accordingly 
 
 Resolve, That we unanimously join in the expression of our 
 affectionate regard for one who so long as he has been here has 
 led a blameless, studious life, been pure and reverend in word 
 and deed, and to the best of our knowledge and belief abstained 
 from every wrong way. That we thank God for the example 
 which he set before us, and pray that we may have grace both as 
 boys and men to follow it, that we may reach the same happy 
 rest which we believe he has now entered. 
 
 Asking the Divine blessing upon the school and ourselves in 
 particular under this bereavement, the undersigned append their 
 names in behalf of the school. 
 
LIST OF AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Anonymous 43 
 
 Armitage, Thomas, D.D. . 258 
 
 Beecher, Rev. Henry 
 
 Ward 47 
 
 Bangs, Nathan, D.D 374 
 
 Betts, Rev. Robert Wye. . 57 
 
 Bibby, Rev. Albert 406 
 
 Binney, Rev. Thomas 168, 286, 
 
 453 
 
 Bonar, Rev. Andrew R. 220, 241 
 
 Brown, Rev. Archibald G. 206 
 
 Bruce, John, D.D 33 
 
 Burder, Rev. H. F 257 
 
 Cattley, Rev. M. A.. . 448 
 
 Clayton, Rev. George 280 
 
 Cole, Rev. Thomas J 260 
 
 dimming, John, D. D.200, 400 
 Curler, Theo. L., D.D. 35, 294 
 
 Davis, Rev. Wesley R 365 
 
 Deems, C. F., D.D 196 
 
 Dickson, Alexander, D.D. 
 
 238, 245 
 
 Dix, Morgan, D.D 208 
 
 Dykes, J. Oswald, D.D. . 82 
 
 Ellaby, Rev. Francis, B.A. 125 
 Evans, Chas. A 50 
 
 Farrar, Canon, F. W 204 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fletcher, Alex., D.D. . . . 442 
 
 Forsyth, Rev. W 31 
 
 Fowler, Rev. C. H., D.D., 
 
 LL.D 381 
 
 Fisher, Rev. George P 349 
 
 Gasquoine, Rev. T 13 
 
 Gebler, Rev 24 
 
 Gibson, Rev. R 142 
 
 Graham, Wm., D.D 26 
 
 Guthrie, Thomas.D.D. 302,262 
 G wither, Rev. James Henry 160 
 
 Hall, John, D.D 227 
 
 Hamilton, James, D.D ... 78 
 Haslegrave, Rev. Joseph. 89 
 Hitchcock, Roswell D., 
 
 D.D 253 
 
 Hodge, Charles, D.D 193 
 
 Horwood, Rev. W. D. 97, 154 
 
 Howard, J. M., D.D 215 
 
 Hughes, Hugh, D.D 424 
 
 Hughes, Rev. James 101 
 
 Hunt, Albert S., D.D. . . . 393 
 Hyatt, Rev. Charles 331 
 
 Ingram, Rev. Geo. S 307 
 
 Jay, Rev. Wm 202 
 
 Jerdan, Rev. Charles .... 76 
 
 Landels, William, D.D. 236, 283 
 [495] 
 
496 LIST OF AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS. 
 
 PA0B 
 
 Liddon, Canon H.P., D.D. 290 
 Lincoln, Rev. Varnum. . . 15 
 Lord, Rev. A. E 130 
 
 Macdonna, Rev. John H. . 274 
 Macduff, J. R, D.D... 37,191 
 
 McCree, Rev. J. W 21 
 
 Macgregor, Rev. G. D . . . 23 
 McClintock, John, D.D. 
 
 LL.D 401 
 
 McElrov, J., D.D 212 
 
 Melvill, Canon H. . . . 210, 270 
 
 Moody, D. L 461 
 
 Moore, Rev. Daniel, 217, 
 
 225, 249 
 Murray, Rev. Jas., M.A. . 419 
 
 Newton, John 373 
 
 Orme, Rev. G 18 
 
 Ormiston, William, D.D., 
 LL.D 188 
 
 Parsons, Rev. James 254 
 
 Parsons, Rev. Edward. . . 318 
 Paxton, Wm. ML, D.D. . . 80 
 Plumer, Wm. S., D.D. 
 
 LL.D 410 
 
 Punshon, Rev. Wm. Mor- 
 
 ley 85 
 
 PASS 
 
 Raffles, T., D.D., LL.D. 313, 
 323 
 
 Rees, Rev. Geo. E 437 
 
 Robertson, Rev. A. S 14 
 
 Rodwell, Rev. W 72 
 
 Sanderson, J., D.D 17, 20 
 
 Scudder, Henry M., D.D. 271 
 Spring, Gardiner, D.D. . . . 256 
 Spurgeon, Rev. C. H. 
 
 430, 230, 263, 265 
 
 Smith, Rev. Thornley 28 
 
 Smith, Rev. James 115 
 
 Stanley, A. P. (Dean), 
 
 D.D 198 
 
 Sprague, William, D.D. . . 190 
 Stowell, Canon Hugh 278 
 
 D.D 195 
 
 Taylor, W. J. R., D.D... 341 
 Tavlor, Wm. M., D.D 40, 472 
 
 Thomas, Rev. U. R 266 
 
 Thomas, David, D.D. 276, 298, 
 
 Todd, John, D.D 268 
 
 Wagstaff, Rev. F 74 
 
 Wayland, Francis, D.D... 356 
 
 Williams, W. R, D.D. ... 222 
 
 Williams, Rev. B. W 233 
 
TEXTUAL INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Gen. xlii : 13. And one is not 18 
 
 Gen. xMii : 21. Behold I die, but God shall be with you. . . . 257 
 
 Gen. xlix : 18. I have waited for thy salvation, O, Lord 220 
 
 Gen. 1 : 24. I die and God will surely visit you 227 
 
 Num. xxiii : 10. Let me die the death of the righteous, &e . . 208 
 Deut. iii : 25, 27. I pray thee let me go over and see the good 
 land that is beyond Jordan. . . .Thou shalt not go over 
 
 this Jordan 26 
 
 Deut. iii : 25. I pray thee let me go over and see the good 
 land that is bevond Jordan, that goodlv mountain and 
 
 Lebanon " 331 
 
 Joshua i : 11. Prepare your victuals ; for within three days 
 
 ye shall pass over this Jordan 245 
 
 Joshua iii : 17. And the priests that bare the Ark of the 
 Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the 
 
 midst of Jordan 195 
 
 2 Sam. iii : 38. A great man fallen this day in Israel 260 
 
 2 Sam. xii : 23. Can I bring him back again ? I shall go to 
 him, but he shall not return to me 40 
 
 1 Kings xxi : 13. And there came in two men, children of 
 
 Belial, and sat before him ; and the men of Belial 
 witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the 
 presence of tne people, saying, Xaboth did blaspheme 
 God and the King. Then they carried him forth out 
 of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died 424 
 
 2 Sam. xii : 23. I shall go to him, but he shall not return to 
 
 me 15 
 
 1 Kings vii : 22. Upon the top of the pillars was lily work. . . 365 
 
 1 Kings xiv : 13. Because in him there is found some good 
 
 thing toward the Lord God of Israel 57 
 
 2 Kings iv : 20. He sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 31 
 2 Kinirs iv : 26. Is it well with the child ? And she answered, 
 
 It is well 33 
 
 Job v : 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age like 
 
 as a shock of corn cometh in, in his season 265 
 
 [497] 
 
498 TEXTUAL INDEX. 
 
 PA.GB 
 
 Job xiv : 14. Shall he live again ? 268 
 
 Job xvi : 22. When a few years are come, then I shall go 
 
 the way whence I shall not return 274 
 
 Job xviii : 14. The King of terrors ... 233 
 
 Job xxx : 23. I know thou wilt bring me to death, &c 200 
 
 Job xxxviii : 17. Have the gates of death been opened unto 
 thee ? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of 
 
 death ? 298 
 
 Job xix : 26, 27. And though after my skin worms destroy 
 this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; whom I shall 
 see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold and not an- 
 other ; though my reins be consumed within me 303 
 
 Job xix : 25, 26. I know . . . that in my flesh shall I 
 
 see God 318 
 
 Ps. xxiii : 4. Yea, though I walk through the valley, &c 191 
 
 Ps. xxxvi : 6. Thy judgments are a great deep 453 
 
 Ps. xxxix : 4. Lord, make me know mine end, and the 
 measure of my days, what it is ; that I may know how 
 
 frail I am 125 
 
 Ps. lxxi : 5. Thou art my trust from my 3 r outh. 21 
 
 Ps. xc : 9. We spend our years as a tale that is told 76 
 
 Ps. xc : 9. We spend our years as a tale that is told 80 
 
 Ps.xc: 12. So teach us to number our days that we may 
 
 apply our hearts unto wisdom 323 
 
 Ps. cxvi : 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death 
 
 of his saints 215 
 
 Eccles. iii : 4. A time to mourn 442 
 
 Eccles. vii : 1. The day of death is better than the day of 
 
 one's birth 307 
 
 Eccles. vii : 1. A good name is better than precious oint- 
 ment and the day of death than the day of one's birth 230 
 
 Eccles. viii : 10. And so I saw the wicked buried, who had 
 come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were 
 forgotten in the city, where they had so done ; this is 
 
 also vanity ." 430 
 
 Eccles. viii : 8. There is no discharge in that war 266 
 
 Eccles. viii : 8. There is no discharge in that war 222 
 
 Eccles. xii : 7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it 
 
 was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it 271 
 
 Cant, viii : 6. Love is strong as death 206 
 
 Isa. xi : 6. A little child shall lead them 43 
 
 Isa. xl : 2. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto 
 
 her that her warfare is accomplished 280 
 
 Isa. xl : 6. The voice said cry, and he said what shall I cry ? 
 
 All flesh is grass, &c 313 
 
 Isa. xl : 7. The flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord 
 
 bloweth upon it 101 
 
 I^a. xl : 8. The grass wit hereto, the flower fadeth, but the 
 word of our God shall stand for ever 290 
 
TEXTUAL INDEX. 499 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Isa. lvii : 2. He shall enter into peace ; they shall rest in 
 
 their beds, each one walking in his uprightness 89 
 
 Isa. lvii : 1, 2. The righteous is taken away from the evil to 
 
 come, &c 37 
 
 Isa. lxiv : 6. We all do lade as a leaf 286 
 
 Jer. v : 31. What will ye do in the end ? 168 
 
 Ezekiel xx : 48. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have 
 
 kindled it • it shall not be quenched 448 
 
 Jer. xv : 9. Her sun is gone done while it was yet day. .... 72 
 Daniel xii : 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- 
 ness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to 
 
 righteousness as the stars for ever and ever 349 
 
 Micahvi : 9. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. . . 23 
 Zech. i : 5. Your fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, 
 
 do they live forever ? 286 
 
 Matt, ii : 18. Rachel weeping for her children 14 
 
 Matt, xviii : 2. Jesus called a little child unto him and set 
 
 him in the midst of them 35 
 
 Matt, xviii : 14. It is not the will of your father which is in 
 
 heaven that one of these little ones should perish 13 
 
 Matt, xxiv : 8. To what purpose is this waste ? 20 
 
 Matt, xxv : 21. Well done, thou good and faithful servant, &c. 193 
 Matt, xxvi : 24. It had been good for that man if he had not 
 
 been born 410 
 
 Matt, xxviii : 8. They departed quickly from the sepulcher 
 
 with fear and great joy, &c 238 
 
 Mark iv: 28. First the blade 57 
 
 Mark v : 39. The damsel is not dead but sleepeth 74 
 
 Mark xvi : 6. Behold the place where they laid him 210 
 
 Lukevii: 11—17. And it came to pass the day after that he 
 
 went into a city called Nain, &c 24 
 
 Lukevii: 12. Behold there was a dead man carried out, 
 
 the only son of his mother, and she was a widow 154 
 
 Lukevii: 13. When the Lord saw her he had compassion 
 
 on her, and said unto her, weep not 82 
 
 Luke vii: 14. Young mau, 1 say unto thee, arise 78 
 
 Luke xviii: 17 Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of 
 
 God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein 50 
 
 Luke xx : 36. Neither can they die any more ; for they are 
 
 equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being 
 
 the children of the resurrection 28 
 
 Luke xxvi: 34. The Lord is risen indeed 258 
 
 John v: 35. He was a burning and a shining light, and ye 
 
 were willing for a season to rejoice in his light .♦ 341 
 
 John xi: 25. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and 
 
 the life 85 
 
 John xi: 25. I am the resurrection and the life 256 
 
 John xvii : 24. Father, I will that those also whom thou hast 
 
 given me be with me, &c 212 
 
 Rom. viii: 21. The creature itself also shall be delivered 
 
 from the bondage of corruption 204 
 
500 TEXTUAL INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 Cor. xvy 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we 
 
 are of all men most miserable 419 
 
 Rom. xiv : 7. ISTo man dieth unto himself 196 
 
 j. Cor. xv : 21. For since by man come death, by man came 
 
 also the resurrection of the dead = 278 
 
 1 Cor. xv : 35, 36. How are the dead raised up, &c 270 
 
 1 Cor. xv : 56, 57. The sting of death is sin and the strengh 
 of sin is the law; but thanks be to God which giveth us 
 
 the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 263 
 
 1 Cor. xv : 57. Thanks be to Cod which giveth us the vic- 
 tory, &c 202 
 
 Phil, i: 21. To live is Christ and to die is gain 198 
 
 Phil, i: 23. Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ 
 
 which is far better 130 
 
 Col. i: 5. The hope which was laid up for you in heaven. . . 254 
 
 Col. i: 18. The firstborn from the dead 262 
 
 1 Thess. iv: 13. I would not have you to be ignorant, 
 brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sor- 
 row not, even as others which have no hope 283 
 
 1 Thess. iv: 14. For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose 
 again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God 
 
 bring with him 294 
 
 1 Thess. iv: 14. Them also which sleep in Jesus 160 
 
 1 Thess. iv: 17. So shall we be ever with the Lord 241 
 
 1 Thess. iv: 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these 
 words 217 
 
 1 Tim. iv: 6. A good minister of Jesus Christ 437 
 
 2 Tim. i: 10. Who hath abolished death, and hath brought 
 
 life and immortality to light through the gospel 115 
 
 2 Tim. iv: 6-8. For I am now ready to be offered, &c 142 
 
 2 Tim. iv: 6, 7, 8. I am now ready to be offered, &c 190 
 
 Heb. ii: 15. And deliver them who through fear of death 
 
 were all their lifetime subject to bondage 225 
 
 Heb. xi: 13. These all died in faith . . . and confessed 
 
 that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth 249 
 
 Heb. xi: 21. By faith, Jacob, when'he was a dying, blessed 
 
 both the sons of Joseph, and worshipped leaning upon 
 
 the top of his staff 276 
 
 Rev. ii: 10. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee 
 
 a crown of light 258 
 
 Rev. iii: 12. Him that overcomelh will I make a pillar in 
 
 the temple of my God 365 
 
 Rev. xii: 5. And her child was caught up unto God and to 
 
 his throne 17 
 
 Rev. xiv: 13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
 
 from henceforth ; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
 
 rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. .. 97 
 Rev. xiv: 13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord — 188 
 
The BOW in the CLOUD: 
 
 OK, 
 
 WORDS 
 
 OIF 
 
 COMFOUT 
 
 For those in Bereavement, Sickness, Sorrow, 
 and the Varied Afflictions of Life. 
 
 Edited by REV. J. SANDERSON, D.D., 
 
 Editor of The Pulpit Treasury, etc 
 
 The messages, which this book conveys to tlie 
 mourning and tried ones, come from the hearts 
 and pens of those who have known what afflic- 
 tions are, and who have been comforted by the 
 precious truths, through which they would 
 here seek to console others. Its contents, 
 general and particular, comprise : 
 
 i. -Consolation from the Bible. "Thus 
 
 saith the Lord,"— which abideth forever. 
 
 a-COMFORT FOR PARENTS Bereft of Child- 
 ren, with Assurances of Infant Salvation. 
 
 3.— FOR BEREAVED ONES. Various ages and 
 conditions considered. Prose and poetry. 
 
 4.— Comfort for the Aged and Infirm. They 
 
 may here find a balm for every wound. 
 
 5.— To those in Varied Afflictions; Earth 
 
 has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. 
 
 450 pages, Square, xamo, with Frontispiece and 
 Presentation Pag: from Special design, $1.75. 
 
 E. B. TEEAT .Publisher, New York. 
 
" Behold (Luke 2-io)I bring you GLAD 
 TIDINGS of great joy, which shall be 
 to all people." 
 
 MOODTS 
 SERMONS 
 
 PRAYER MEETING TALKS, 
 
 Entitled Glad Tidings delivered in New York 
 from verbatim reports revised and corrected, with 
 full Index to Anecdotes and Illustrations, in- 
 cluding the life and labors of D. L. Moody. 
 
 This volume is issued in compliance with the numer- 
 ous and repeated requests for the publication in a perma- 
 nent and popular form of Mr. Moody's Addresses at the 
 Hippodrome, in this city. The reports (from stenographic 
 notes) have been carefully revised and corrected, and are 
 believed to constitute the only complete and adequate pub- 
 lication of Mr. Moody's Sermons, either in this country or 
 England. — The New York Daily Tribune. 
 
 Moody is a power without being peculiar. He is straight 
 and plain, like the way to Heaven which he preaches. — 
 Cincinnati Journal and Messenger. 
 
 They are the fullest and best reports that have been 
 made. — New York Observer. 
 
 It will prove a treasure in every Christian home. — New 
 York Christian Advocate. 
 
 504 i2mo pages, extra cloth, $1.50. 
 
 This series of Sermons are issued in 3 Volumes and are uni- 
 form in style and entirely different in subiects and matter. 
 
 Grlad Tidings, Moody' sNew York Sermons, 504 pp. $1,50. 
 
 Great Joy, Moody's Chicago Sermons, 544 pages, $1.50 
 
 To all People, Moody's Boston Sermons, 508 pages, 1,50, 
 
 Introduction by Rev. Joseph Cook, of Boston. 
 
 E. B. TREAT, Publisher, 771 Broadway, New York. 
 
TALMAGE'S SEBMONS. 
 
 New Tabernacle Series. 
 
 By T. DE WITT TALMAGE, D.D., 
 
 Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. 
 
 This book contains the best specimens of the wonder- 
 ful pulpit productions of their brilliant author. There are 
 no tame thoughts, drowsy platitudes or prosaic utterances 
 within its covers. Every page beams with originality, 
 flashes with light and sparkles with gems of oratory. His 
 simple, earnest, pungent, eloquent presentation of the 
 truths of the Gospel, command attention and are read 
 with a lasting interest and profit. 
 
 Dr. Talmage has the ear of the world. It is literally 
 true that his pulpit fame "has gone out through all the 
 earth and his words to the end of the world." Hence the 
 demand for his sermons which are eagerly sought for and 
 read by hundreds of thousands. 
 
 This volume is authorized by Dr. Talmage. See fac- 
 simile of autograph letter published in the preface. 
 
 Intensely earnest, brilliant as a meteor, practical 
 beyond most preachers — always pleading for Christ and 
 grasping for souls. — Philadelphia Presbyterian. 
 
 He is a fearless antagonist to all forms of sin. — 
 Chicago Interior. 
 
 His sermons reveal skill in word-painting, fearlessness 
 in statement, and directness of aim. — Am. Ch. Review. 
 
 A line sometimes unfolds a picture.— Congregation - 
 
 alist - [Observer. 
 
 A fertility of illustrations that is marvelous. — N. Y. 
 
 Nearly 400 pp. With Portrait. Price, - $1.50 
 
 E. B. TREAT, Publisher, 771 Broadway, Hew York. 
 
"Their words go straight to the mark like bullets. "-£i 
 
 PEN 
 
 PULPIT 
 
 AND 
 
 PLATFORM. 
 
 By T. DeWltt TALMAGE, DJ). 
 
 AIMED AT 
 
 Wrongs To Be Righted. Burdens To Be Lightened 
 
 Errors To Be Corrected. Follies To Be Shunned. 
 
 Dangers 2 B Avoided. Sorrows 2 B Mitigated. 
 
 Victories To Be Won. 
 
 This book is a Treasury of the best things that have ema- 
 nated from the brain of its distinguished author. All 
 who become familiar with its contents will agree that it is 
 wisely named. The varied ills of life, as targets subject to 
 these unerring shots, cover nearly every phase of disordered 
 humanity. The young will appreciate its warnings and in- 
 structions, and delight in its incidents and anecdotes, and 
 the aged will welcome it as a companion, for its wise and 
 soothing counsel. Hearts that ache with nameless burdens 
 will be soothed, victims of folly and error will be admon- 
 ished, the sorrowing will be comforted, and all struggling 
 souls will be inspired with new faith and hope, determined 
 to remain in the field of conflict uutil the last shot is fired 
 and the final shout of victory is heard. 
 
 Open the book where you will, the eye rests upon some 
 passage of rare beauty, some truth painted, some sorrow 
 depicted, or some joy unfolded as if every lost one was found. 
 
 No one ever tires of what Dr. Talmage writes. — Lutheran Visitor, 
 He is dead in earnest, and every blow tells. — N. Y. Independent. 
 It may be termed a literary Gatling gun. — Christian Hour. 
 Packed with live thoughts from a live man, — Evangelical Messenger. 
 Faithful in wounding, skillful in healing. — Christian Herald, [cate. 
 An exhaustless mine of thought and illustration. — Christian Adva- 
 
 Agents "Wanted. 6 56 crown Bvo pages Illustrated, $2.00. 
 
 E. B. TEE AT, Publisher, 771 Broadway, N.ew York. 
 
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