LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. - _ Shelf ..£.3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^m ^H ■ '.'•I^'l? 1 ;\V&- H H ■ ■ W ■ ■ ■ . fvr ■ . ■ I c 5*/\^vC. GLIMPSES Celestial Country: YOUNG PILGRIMS. PHILADELPHIA : PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, No. 1334 Chestnut Street. BV^oT .S3 The irifttas* of Cong n rss WASHINGTON Copyright, 1883, by the trustees of the PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ^ PREFACE. Death is seldom welcome to the young, because they have not yet learned by experience the falsity of the world's promises and the faithful- ness of God. This life glows before them with rosy light, while the life beyond lies in shadow. The Bible is full of rich promises for every need, and of glimpses of a future whose glory and happiness transcend our highest conceptions. But sickness, with its material needs, its absorbing anxiety and little cares, leaves no time for quiet thought and study. 4 Preface. These texts and selections have been arranged for reading to young invalids, in the earnest hope that for some timid souls they may lighten the valley of the shadow of death with God's sun- shine. C. B. S. GLIMPSES CELESTIAL COUNTRY. CHAPTER I. " Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, And stars to set ; but all, Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death !" Mrs. Hemans. The sweet south wind was wakening bud and blossom. The soft, fragrant air, the warm, quiet light, comforted me, until life seemed full of pleasant possibilities ; but this note from the only child of my dead friend darkened the sunshine : 5 Glimpses of " Please come to me at once, dear auntie. I am in sore trouble. "Alice." I found her alone, only servants to minister to the motherless girl. She wept long in my arms before she could speak; and, caressing her soft hair, I silently prayed that the way might be smoothed to her tender feet, and that the Spirit of light and consolation would guide me. "Auntie, the doctors say I can live only a few weeks. Think of it ! I must die before summer. And the grave is so dark and cold ! I am afraid." " Yes, the grave, my darling ; but you will not enter it. You will be car- ried at once by angels into Abraham's bosom as Lazarus was. Still better, the dear Saviour said, ' I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and The Celestial Country. receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.' Only the worn-out body, the ' cast-off dress,' lies unconscious in the grave until the res- urrection." With a vague hope of mistake or remedy, I took the carriage and went at once to the family physician. " Nothing can be done except to alle- viate any pain," he said; "the vital powers are exhausted. The first hot weather will be trying. You remember the old adage about getting up May hill?" " Dear child !" I said ; " I am come to stay with you. Baby is to be sent here, and I have arranged with your father and the housekeeper. Tell me anything I can do for you, for I belong to you now." The girl's face flushed : " You dear auntie !" 8 Glimpses of " Yes, darling ; we love each other, and our greatest pleasure is to comfort one another as Paul directs. You see, he did not believe in a gloomy religion. Now comfort me by taking a nap ; you are exhausted with grieving." In the quiet, darkened room, my fin- gers, perfume-dipped, softly stroking the hot forehead, Alice slept long and sweetly. " I did not sleep a bit last night," she said, excusingly, when, rested and quiet- ed, she opened her eyes, to find me still beside her. " The doctor came in the afternoon, and I cried myself into a headache; then Jane had the room too hot, and the fire shone into my eyes." " Neither did you eat any breakfast. Now spare me a moment, and then please me by eating what I bring." The scalded egg and thin toast were The Celestial Country. ready in a moment, and eaten with rel- ish. Then Baby's cooing contented her for a while. Suddenly she said, " If I only knew ! I am sure I love Jesus — how could I help it, since he first loved me ? — but heaven is so far off and seems so cold and unreal ! I love to pat this little soft, warm baby-hand and to hold your strong one, but I am going into a world of spirits. It chills me. Can you touch a spirit, kiss it, clasp it, as I do Baby ? Yes, I know mother is there ; but she died so long ago that I can dimly remember her, and she would not know me. Besides, she is a saint now ; she would not want to kiss and cuddle me. She would rather stand before the great white throne and sing praises. Oh, I think it will be fearfully lonely up there !" " My darling, have you forgotten that God is our Father, Christ our Brother? 10 Glimpses of He calls the Church his bride : the love that you have read and dreamed about as most satisfying to our hungry hearts is a faint type of what he gives his peo- ple : ' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' Did not Christ take little children in his arms ? Did not John lean upon his bosom ? Was not even Judas allowed to kiss him ? Dear child, I have known the love of father and mother, of brother and sister, of lover and friend and husband ; but no love seems to me so full, so rich, so unselfish, so tender, so self-sacrificing, so thought- ful and comforting, as that love of the dear and glorious Trinity — the Father caring for us with a tender care that numbers even the hairs of our head ; the Spirit comforting ' as a mother com- forteth ;' the Saviour dying for us be- cause he so loved us that he could not The Celestial Country. be content in heaven without us. My lammie, you forget !" Alice was weeping softly, like a com- forted child. " You can never go beyond God's care ; he will never cease to love you. All things work together for your good, even this trial, even sickness and death. To quote again : 'All things are yours ; whether life or death, or things present or things to come ; all are yours, and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's.' " " Oh, auntie, it is the quoting I like best. When you say things that comfort me, I cannot help thinking sometimes that your wish brightens them for me, and so what is not real seems real to you ; but when you quote the Bible, I am sure. I wish you would find out all the Bible says of death and heaven and read it to me. Verses are so scattered, and I am too tired to hunt them up." 12 Glimpses of Evening always found our invalid too weary to sleep, yet restless from ner- vousness ; so we aired and darkened the room early, placing a lamp with night-shade on a small table near the head of her bed, where no ray could fall upon her pillow. Each night her father or I read to her until she was soothed; then some book without in- terest was read slowly, in a low, monot- onous tone, until sleep came, when I took the lamp and left her. She pre- ferred to be alone at night. Always careful to save others trouble, she had a candle and matches, a glass of milk or water and some simple remedies near her ; only rarely did her little bell sound at night, and I slept near enough to hear it and reach her quickly. The hymns she liked best I write down, in hope that they may be as soothing to other dear sufferers. The Celestial Country. 13 Oh, fear not thou to die ! Far rather fear to live ; for life Has thousand snares thy feet to try By peril, pain and strife. Brief is the work of death, But life — The spirit shrinks to see How full, ere God recalls the breath, The cup of woe may be. Oh, fear not thou to die ! No more to suffer or to sin, No snare without, thy faith to try, No traitor heart within ; But fear — oh, rather fear — The gay, the light, the changeful scene, The flattering, smiles that greet thee here From heaven thy heart to wea*. Oh, fear not thou to die — To die and be that blessed one Who in the bright and beauteous sky May feel his conflict done, May feel that nevermore The tear of grief, of shame, shall come For thousands wandering from the Power Who loved and called thee home. Anon. 14 Glimpses of Thy wisdom and thy word Created me. Thou source of life and good, Thou Spirit of my spirit and my Lord, Thy light, thy love, in their bright plenitude, Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring Over the abyss of death, and bade it wear The garments of eternal day, and wing Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere, Even to its source — to thee, its Author — there. From the Russian of Gabriel Derzhavin. The Celestial Country. CHAPTER II. " It is as natural to die as to be born, and to an infant one may be as painful as the other." — Lord Bacon. We began our daily readings at Gen- esis : " In the day that thou eatest there- of thou shalt surely die." "You see, death is a curse," said Alice. " Yes, the death they died in the day they disobeyed. God's punishment for the sin was first enmity and temptation from the serpent — the devil ; then toil, sorrow, pain, subjection and, saddest of all, estrangement from God and ban- ishment from Eden, where God had walked with them as a friend. Merci- fully was death added to end these woes, to break the prison-bars. 1 6 Glimpses of " Directly after this curse Adam changed his wife's name from Isha, the feminine of 'man,' to Havah, or Eva, ' life,' because she was to be the mother of Christ who is our life, little dreaming of the long years of sin and sorrow that must pass before the world would be ready for his coming. Will not heaven more than repay for the lost Eden, since the loving Saviour will be its light ? "The first death was a murder and a martyrdom, when the dead was blessed and the living cursed with banishment from God's presence. Love took Enoch from earth when almost as young, com- paratively, as you. Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years, dying only fifty-seven years before Enoch's birth, and Methusaleh — Enoch's son — lived nine hundred and sixty-one years ; yet because Enoch pleased God he was early translated. After he had walked The Celestial Country. ly with God three hundred and sixty-five years he was not, for God took him. " Long life is promised in the Bible because men desire it, but it is an old adage, ' Whom the gods love die young.'* If only we could become holy here and fulfill the end of our creation, to glorify God ! But sin and failure are far hard- er to bear than pain or sorrow. Even as eminent a Christian as the apostle Paul cried out, ' The good that I would I do not ; but the evil which I would not, that I do. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man ; but I see another law in my members, war- ring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death ? We that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened.' 2 1 8 Glimpses of " The Rev. Joseph Cook says, ' I be- lieve solemnly that I shall never cease to regret any fault which I outgrow. It always will be to me a thing that ought not to have been, and my future will have rays of bliss taken off it by every sin I have committed ; and that will be true no matter what God does for me.' * " Will not those be happiest who car- ry with them fewest regrets ? " You will think, ' I have never done anything very wrong, and perhaps those who have known me all my life would say the same; yet there are years I would be glad to blot out, because in them I came so far short of my ideal. There are dear friends in heaven to whom, it now seems to me, my first words will be " Forgive me." ' * Orthodoxy, p. 17. The Celestial Country. 19 " Then, too, youth is buoyant and enjoys with such pure pleasure ! All the senses are keener. Often I think what rapture your little sister must have felt on entering heaven, she loved birds and flowers and music so in- tensely." " Birds and flowers !" " Why, my darling, did not God cre- ate them ? Has he not covered even lone prairies with exquisite flowers that no eye but his own rests on ? Are we not promised the tree of life with twelve kinds of fruit? " ' If God has made this world so fair, Where sin and death abound, How beautiful beyond compare Will Paradise be found !' " Recollect, too, how full of life you were a year ago, so that mere motion was pleasure ; you sang, as the birds do, because you couldn't help it. Your 20 Glimpses of father was anxious to take you to Eu- rope, because, he said, you would enjoy everything so much more then than you could in after-years. w Now lay down this weary, aching body and assume a new spiritual body ; let the soul have the joy of an exquisite surprise ; give it the love and the com- panionship of dear friends made perfect ; give it an atmosphere of exhilaration — the assurance that no sin or sorrow will be possible, and that all this is to be eternal. Rest now, Alice, and fancy yourself in heaven. " How many chapters of genealogy, each record ending, 'And he died ' ! No wonder that Joshua said, ' I am going the way of all the earth.' Reading the Pentateuch we realize somewhat the apostle's meaning, ' Christ brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.' How the hopes and fears of The Celestial Country. 21 the Israelites seemed limited by the boundaries of Caanan and ended at the grave, unless the care to be buried with their fathers and to carry up the bones of Joseph from Egypt implied hope of the resurrection ! "The rewards and punishments prom- ised were temporal, as we treat children now. The heathen Balaam gives the first hint of difference at death between the righteous and the wicked. ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.' David gives the first clear expression of hope be- yond the grave. When the little child he loved was sick, he wept and prayed for its life ; but when it died, he said, ' He is dead, wherefore shall I fast? I will go to him.' How different from the wail over Absalom ! because, dying in direct disobedience, David felt that he was lost for ever." Glimpses of "Are you not forgetting that beauti- ful passage in Job, ' I know that my Redeemer liveth ' ? In Abraham's time, wasn't it?" " No, dear. I used to think it won- derful that Job had so much clearer vision of the Messiah than Moses had, and that he expressed the doctrine of the resurrection as now understood. But, carefully studying the whole book, it becomes evident that Job had not the clear understanding of these things which his words, as rendered in our English Bible, seem to import. He does not see beyond the grave, though he longs and yearns after a sight of the time, even after his poor body shall have perished, when he shall stand justified by God. His faith in God was strong ; he believed that his Redeemer lived and would vindicate him, though how he did not know. Other Old-Testament The Celestial Country. 23 writers give utterances more distinct. The psalmist says : ' Into thy hands I commit my spirit.' * Sanctified by Christ upon the cross, these words have been the last utterance of thou- sands of saints, going not alone into an unknown future, but into the hands of a loving Father. " ' Death seems but a covered way Which opens into light, Wherein no blinded child can stray Beyond the Father's sight.' " f This was the gem of our evening reading : I lay me down to sleep With little thought or care Whether my waking find Me here, or there. My half-day's work is done, And this is all my part ; *Ps. xxxi. 5. f Whittier. 24 Glimpses of I give a patient God My patient heart, And grasp his banner still, Though all its blue be dim ; These stripes, no less than stars, Lead after him. Weak, weary and uncrowned, I yet to hear am strong ; Content not even to cry, " How long ? How long ?" Anon. The Celestial Country. 25 CHAPTER III. " Jerusalem the Golden ! Methinks each flower that blows, And every bird a-singing, Of the same secret knows. I know not what the flowers Can feel, or singers see ; But all these summer raptures Are prophecies of thee." After days of dreary, drizzling rain came a morning that seemed to have mistaken April for June, birds twitter- ing, flowers blowing and the sun " re- joicing as a strong man to run a race." Alice felt every sweet influence, and as she sat in her reclining-chair at the open window said, " Let us read glad things to-day, auntie.*' 26 Glimpses of " Glad things are ordered for us," I said. " Hopes and promises, sent by the Author of the sunshine and the flowers, come just in the course of our reading. Could anything be brighter than, these verses ? — " Psalm xvi. 1 1 : 'In thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.' " Psalm xvii. 15 : ' I shall behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be satis- fied when I awake with thy likeness.' " Psalm xxiii. 4 : ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' " Psalm xlix. 15 : ' God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me ' — receive me at once to heaven. "Psalm lxviii. 17: 'The chariots of The Celestial Conntiy. 27 God are twenty thousand, even thou- sands of angels. The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place.' " Psalm lxxiii. 24-26 : ' Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and after- ward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.' "Psalm ciii. 12-14: 'As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame ; he remem- bereth that we are dust.' "Psalm cxvi. 15: 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.' "Psalm cxliii. 10: 'Thou art my 28 Glimpses of God, thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.' " Ecclesiastes xii. 7 : ' Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was : and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it,' not sleep with the body in the grave. "Isaiah xl. 11,29: ' He shall feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and car- ry them in his bosom. He giveth pow- er to the faint ; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.' " Isaiah xliii. 1, 2: 'Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.' The Celestial Country. 29 " Isaiah xliii. 25 : 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.' " You see, it is his happiness to do good : he blots out our transgressions because he ' delighteth in mercy.' " Isaiah li. 6, 1 1 : ' The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like man- ner : but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abol- ished. The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head : they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.' " Isaiah liv. 10 : ' For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not depart from 30 Glimpses of thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.' " So also the writer of the forty-sixth psalm, with a kindred faith to that of Isaiah, cries out exultingly, ' God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.' * " Isaiah lx. 19 : 'The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.' " Isaiah lxiv. 4 : ' For since the be- ginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither *Ps. xlvi. i, 2. The Celestial Country. 31 hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.' " Daniel xii. 2 : ' Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- tempt.' " Hosea xiii. 14 : ' I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will re- deem them from death.' " Micah vii. 18, 19: 'Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniqui- ty, and passeth by the transgression of his people, because he delighteth in mercy ? He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us ; he will subdue our iniquities, and then will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.' " Nahum i. 7 : ' The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble ; and 32 Glimpses of he knoweth them that trust in him/ To be his friends, we have only to trust and follow him. "Malachi iii. 1 6, 17: ' Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to an- other : and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels ; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.' The same idea in Isaiah lxii. 3 : ' Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.' Here was no service, no special attainment. They simply feared the Lord ; they thought and spoke often of him. Yet the Lord ' hearkened ' to hear it; still more, he had a book of The Celestial Country. 33 remembrance written, and for only this he calls them his jewels." " What a lovely day this has been!" said Alice as I sat down for our even- ing reading. " ' He giveth power to the faint ; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.' David says, ' Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works.' He has made me very glad through the words we read to-day, and very strong. It does seem to me that I shall never again feel as gloomy as I have felt. He is so kind and loving that I will trust and not be afraid. Now read, dear." I SHALL BE SATISFIED. Not here ! not here ! Not where the sparkling waters Fade into mocking sands as we draw near ; Where in the wilderness each footstep falters. I shall be satisfied, but oh, not here. There is a land where every pulse is thrilling With raptures earth's sojourners may not know; 3 34 Glimpses of Where heaven's repose the weary heart is stilling, And peacefully life's time-tossed currents flow. Thither my weak and weary feet are tending : Saviour and Lord, with thy frail child abide ; Guide me toward home, where, all my wanderings ending, I there shall see thee, and be satisfied. TENDER MERCIES. Tender mercies on my way, Falling softly like the dew, Sent me freshly every day, I will bless the Lord for you. Though I have not all I would, Though to greater bliss I go, Every present gift of good To eternal Love I owe. Source of all that comforts me, Well of joy for which I long, Let the song I sing to thee Be an everlasting song. Waring. LIKE AS A FATHER. Like as a father, when his children weary In the dim path he knows so straight and plain, The Celestial Country. 35 Pities their sorrows, knows how sad and dreary Life seems to them, yet leads them on again, E'en so our Lord, in this our time of sorrow, When our hearts faint and all earth's wells seem dried, Pities his children, and doth let us borrow Help from that heaven where our hearts abide. He knows our frames ; he knows we are but groping, As children in the darkness, for his hand : He leads us on, not seeing, only hoping, And waiting patiently for his command. Mary W. M'Lain. $6 Glimpses of CHAPTER IV. " The tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us. To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace." — Luke i. 78, 79. "Auntie," said Alice as, after a sleep- less night, she lay weak and faint, " was Jesus ever sick ?" " We do not know. His life was hard — full of toil and poverty and self-denial, as the carpenter's son. It may be that he was not strong ; after the long journeys on foot he was weary and exhausted. At the garden of Gethsemane his mental agony forced the blood in great drops through the skin ; so much stronger was the spirit than the sensitive body. After the night of trial, of cruel scourg- The Celestial Country. 37 ing and mocking, he was too weak to bear his cross. Nailed then upon it, the agony of pain, the desertion of the Father, leaving him to bear our sins and the sorrow he felt for the guilty world, even for his murderers, wore out the delicate frame. When the soldiers killed the two thieves by breaking their legs, Christ was already dead ; and so the scripture was fulfilled : 'A bone of him shall not be broken.' You know that for centuries the paschal lamb was a type of his sacrifice, and no bone of that could be broken. Surely he knows what weakness and pain are, and pities your suffering even while he sees it needful. " I am glad our reading to-day is of this dear Saviour. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of Christ's transfiguration, and that Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and ' spake of his decease which 38 Glimpses of he should accomplish at Jerusalem.' They came as glorified spirits, showing that the soul enters heaven at death, that it assumes a spiritual body, and also that our friends there know some- thing of what is passing on earth. " We come now to Christ's own words. " Matthew vi. 19, 20 : ' Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heav- en, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal' Acceptance with Christ is treasure in heaven which can be neither corrupted nor stolen. "John iii. 36: ' He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life/ hath, not shall have. " John v. 24 : ' He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me hath everlasting life ' — that is, the TJie Celestial Country. 39 soul has eternal life as soon as it be- comes united to Christ ; it cannot die, and the body shall be raised. "John iii. 28, 29: 'The hour is com- ing, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrec- tion of damnation.' We are rewarded for what we have done, not for what we have professed. " John vi. 54 : ' Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eter- nal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.' Flesh and blood of Jesus mean the atonement of which they were the price : our redemption was pur- chased by his body broken and his blood shed for us. As this salvation satisfies our longing souls, we are said to feed upon Jesus ; so eating his flesh 4° Glimpses of and drinking his blood means believing in him as our Saviour. Probably the figure of food was used, I. To teach us that we must desire him : ' Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ;' 2. We must accept Je- sus for ourselves, as only the food we eat nourishes us; 3. As we enjoy food and drink, so we must delight in him ; 4. We must grow in grace by loving and following him, as the body grows by eating food. There is a story that some artificial bees were made to move so naturally that the wise man whose wisdom they were intended to test could not distinguish between them and the real bees; so he had honey placed before them, when the live bees went at once to it. Except we desire to feed on Christ, except we delight in him, we have no spiritual life. " John x. 27-29 : « My sheep hear The Celestial Country. 41 my voice, and I know them, and they follow me ; and I give unto them eter- nal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.' An Eastern shepherd does not drive his sheep : he calls each sheep by name, and they follow eager- ly, because he pets them as an Arab does his horse. God gave us to Christ, and therefore he will watch that noth- ing shall take us from him : " ' His honor is concerned to save The meanest of his sheep.' "John xi. 25, 26: 'I am the resur- rection, and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' 4 2 Glimpses of " Matthew xvi. 27 : ' The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall re- ward every man according to his works.' " Matthew xiii. 43 : ' Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.' " Luke xii. 32 : ' Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' " Luke xv. 10: 'There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.' Not joy of the angels alone, then; may it not be joy of watching friends ? " Luke xvi. 22 : ' The beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.' " Luke v. 8 : ' Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.' "Matthew xxii. 30, 32: 'In the res- urrection they neither marry nor are The Celestial Country. 43 given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob ; God is not the God of the dead, but of the living ' — that is, though the bodies of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had long been dust, yet their souls were living when God spoke to Moses. " Luke xx. 35, 36: ' They that are ac- counted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage ; nei- ther can they die any more ; for they are equal unto the angels ; and are the chil- dren of God.' " Matthew viii. 1 1 : ' Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.' " Matthew xii. 50 : ' Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in 44 Glimpses of heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.' Jesus does not say ' shall be,' but ' is.' He is often called our Elder Brother. David says, ' In all their afflictions he was afflicted.' He is /a Brother born for adversity.' You have had almost a brother in your cousin Frank, but now the ocean di- vides you ; he can give you only the scant sympathy of letters, and he can- not help you. But this dear Elder Brother lives to intercede for you, watches over you, hears every sigh and knows every wish. He will ' guide you with his counsel and afterward re- ceive you to glory.' Are you still afraid of being lonely in heaven ?" Alice's glad smile answered me. " Matthew xix. 13, 14: 'Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked The Celestial Country, 45 them. But Jesus said, Suffer little chil- dren and forbid them not to come unto me ; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' " Matthew xviii. 4 : ' Whosoever shall humble himself as a little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.' " Luke xxii. 30 : ' That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.' " Matthew xxvi. 29 : * I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you, in my Father's kingdom ' — symbols, at least, of feasting. " John xv. 9 : 'As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.' To understand this we must try to see how and why God loved Christ. David calls him ' thine Holy One ;' Peter, ' thy Holy Child Jesus.' John calls him ' the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father.' At Christ's bap- 46 Glimpses of tism came a voice from heaven : 4 This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Again, at the Transfiguration : 1 This is my beloved Son, hear him.' " Second Corinthians iv. 4 : ' Christ, who is the image of God.' " Colossians i. 15, 19: 'The image of the invisible God; all things were created by him and for him.' "John iii. 35 : 'The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand.' "Hebrews 1.3, 8-12: 'Who being the brightness of his glory, and the ex- press image of his person, and uphold- ing all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Unto the Son he (the Father) saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of right- eousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. The Celestial Country. 47 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth ; and the heav- ens are the works of thine hands : they shall perish ; but thou remainest ; and they all shall wax old as doth a gar- ment ; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed ; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail/ " Hebrews vii. 26 : • Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens.' "Jude 25 : 'The only wise God, our Saviour.' Now, are not these wonder- ful words? 'As the Father hath LOVED ME, SO HAVE I LOVED YOU.' " John xv. 11: ' These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might Glimpses of remain in you, and that your joy mi^ht be full.' " John xv. 13 : ' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' " John xvi. 26 : ' I say not I will pray the Father for you ; for the Father him- self loveth you, because ye have loved me.' " John xvii. 20, 2 1 , 24 : ' Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word ; that they may be one in us. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.' 11 John xiv. 2, 3 : ' In my Father's house are many mansions ; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And, if I go and pre- pare a place for you, I will come again The Celestial Country. 49 and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also.' Many man- sions ! These wonderful verses are full of suggestions. May not heaven be more homelike than we have supposed ? — a city of beautiful and spacious homes? Yet not uniform like our city homes : for each one a place prepared. When we receive valued guests, we use the same language — preparation to meet their tastes and habits. He who made and watches over us knows what will make us happy — knows the ungratified longings we tell no one. What sur- prises of pleasure may he not be pre- paring for us there ! Nor will he let our hopes be disappointed, for he said expressly to his disciples, ' If it were not so, I would have told you.' " The Rev. Dr. Babb says, ' We can- not doubt that the homes of the saints will be adapted to their individual tastes 4 SO Glimpses of and capacities for enjoyment. I believe that there will be delightful surprises in those homes ; that the happy spirit will say, " How thoroughly my Saviour understands me, and what personal thoughtfulness and affection he has shown in preparing a place for me ! He has cared for me as fully and as tenderly as if I were the only object of his love." ' " ' Till Death the weary spirit free, Thy God hath said, " 'Tis good for thee To walk by faith, and not by sight." Take it on trust a little while ; Soon shalt thou read the mystery right, In the full sunshine of his smile.' " * MY HOME IS OX THE OTHER SIDE. Wounded in fight beside the Nile, Out of the watching and the strife, A soldier sought his English home To spend his last few days of life. * Keble. The Celestial Country. 5 1 So young, so brave, and yet he knew The days were numbered he could live, And glory seemed so vain a thing, And fame could little comfort give. Not fearing, but yet longing sore For just one word of peace and love That unto him, and him alone, Might seem a message from above. He sought it in the calm, fresh morn, And in the sunset's dying flame, From holy priest, in holy book ; But it was thus the message came : One summer eve he paused to rest Beside the church's holy place Just when the gloaming still and dusk Threw over all its mystic grace. Then came a little peasant-child And opened wide the churchyard gate. ' Do you not fear," the soldier asked, " To cross when it is dark and late ?" She lifted up a smiling face, And in a pleasant voice replied : ' Oh no ! Besides, I have to cross : My home is on the other side" 52 Glimpses of Then on she went her lonely way; Her form was lost amid the gloom ; She never knew her simple words Had lit his pathway to the tomb. He took the message calm and sweet, And ever after to his rest He went with unreluctant feet : The words kept singing in his heart ; They were his comfort and his guide, And at the last he whispered clear : " O soul ! the road thou needst not fear; Thy home is on the other side." Mary A. Barr. The Celestial Country. 53 CHAPTER V. " My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me." — John x. 27. After giving Alice her breakfast, I went, at her desire, to see the dear old lady whom we both call grandma, al- though heart-ties are the only bond. Nearly eighty years of life's changes, its labors and sorrows, of death of dear- est friends and loss of property, have left her lonely, sad, bedridden and suf- fering from hopeless disease. But her trust in Jesus is firm and simple as a child's. She might say, "Only waiting till the angels Open wide the mystic gate, At whose portals long I've lingered, Weary, poor and desolate. 54 Glimpses of Even now I hear their footsteps And their voices far away ; If they call me, I am waiting — Only waiting to obey." Continually she prays, " Dear Father, take me home." The other day, in de- lirium, she called often for her husband : "Why doesn't he come? I always came when he called me." Her only child— a delicate, loving woman — said, " Mamma dear, don't you remember? Papa has been in heaven a great many years." " In heaven ! Why, that's just where I want to be. Why didn't he take me with him ? Why didn't anybody tell me he had gone there ?" Often she does not know her own child, but Jesus is always near and pre- cious. Her life has been full of good deeds. " She has lodged strangers, has The Celestial Country. 55 brought up children " — three different sets of orphans, besides her own large family — has been foremost in every good work in our city for fifty years. I am sure she will have a crown full of stars and an abundant entrance into the heavenly kingdom. And yet, as my heart aches over her sufferings, I thank God that our Alice is not to travel the same long, weary road or endure as in- tense suffering. All who love her join in her prayer: " Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." We talked so long of her that but little time was left for our reading, and I chose a passage that her life seemed to illustrate : " ' When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he 5 6 Glimpses of shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye bless- ed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world ; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stran- ger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee anhungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee ? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee ? And the King shall answer and The Celestial Country. 57 say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me/ " Alice's face became anxious, then distressed : "Auntie, I have never done it even to one of the least. I have every com- fort, and yet think only of myself and what may come to me here and here- after. Now let us stop our readings and obey. Can't you find some poor sick girl who loves Jesus, or some child ? Please go at once. Take my purse, and papa will give me more. If only you could bring some one here — some stranger, hungry and naked and poor and sick ! I can't visit any one in pris- on now. How selfish I have been!" Surely God directed us. The pastor of a mission church at once sent me to a poor house where the orphan child 58 Glimpses of of Christian parents was breaking her heart with grief and loneliness. Glad to meet every wish of his darling, Alice's father allowed me to install her in one of the unoccupied rooms and treat her as his child. With solemn joy Alice learned that this girl was indeed one of Christ's little ones of whom he said, "Their angels do always behold the face of my Father," that this loving Father had accepted her desire to serve him, and also used her to answer the dying pray- er of the mother. She took these high favors as fresh evidence of her accept- ance in the Beloved. Then, too, little orphaned Amy's daily visits to the sick-room comforted both. Well trained, gentle and loving, the child's heart opened like a bud in sunshine, and comfort and hope brought back health. The Celestial Country. 59 As my darling paled and wasted be- fore me, the slender limbs each day softer to my touch, it sometimes gave a pang to my heart to see Amy's face glowing with life and vigor. If only I might have all the suffering ! But, as her outward man perished, the inward man was renewed day by day. Desire of life and fear of death equally ceased to disturb her. The peace that passeth understanding was in her gentle manner and her clear, quiet tones : " Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto you ; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." * One evening I read her these lines, as they seemed so clearly to express her own feelings: * John xiv. 27. 6o Glimpses of MY VESPER SONG. Filled with weariness and pain, Scarcely strong enough to pray, In this twilight hour I sit — Sit and sing my doubt away. O'er my broken purposes, Ere the coming shadows roll, Let me build a bridge of song : " Jesus, Lover of my soul, " Let me to thy bosom fly." How the words my thoughts repeat ! To thy bosom, Lord, I come, Though unfit to kiss thy feet. Once I gathered sheaves for thee, Dreaming I could hold them fast ; Now I can but idly sing, " Oh, receive my soul at last." I am weary of my fears, Like a child when night comes on; In the shadow, Lord, I sing : " Leave, oh, leave me not alone." Through the tears I still must shed, Through the evils yet to be, Though I falter while I sing, " Still support and comfort me. The Celestial Country. 61 " All my trust on thee is stayed." Does the rhythm of the song, Softly falling on my heart, Make its pulses firm and strong ? Or is this thy perfect peace, Now descending while I sing, That my soul may sleep to-night " 'Neath the shadow of thy wing" ? " Thou of life the fountain art " If I slumber on thy breast; If I sing myself to sleep, Sleep and death alike are rest. Through the shadows overpast, Through the shadows yet to be, Let the ladder of my song " Rise to all eternity." Note by note its silver bars May my soul in love ascend, Till I reach the highest round, In thy kingdom without end ! Not impatiently I sing, Though I lift my hands and cry, ' Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly !" Mary R. Butler, 62 Glimpses of I know not what the future hath Of marvel or surprise, Assured alone that life and death His mercy underlies; And if my heart and flesh be weak To bear an untried pain, The bruised reed he will not break, But strengthen and sustain. And so, beside the silent sea, I wait the muffled oar ; No harm from him can come to me, On ocean or on shore, I know not where his islands lift Their fronded palms in air : I only know I cannot drift Beyond his love and care. Whittier. The Celestial Country. 63 CHAPTER VI. " Oh, change ! Oh, wondrous change ! Burst are the prison-bars ! This moment there so low, So agonized, and now Beyond the stars !" Caroline Southey. Every pleasant morning Alice's fa- ther carried the frail child to a lounge placed in the sunshine near the house, where she lay protected by shawls from the spring winds. Amy was always delighted to see her dear friend out of doors, and continually brought flowers, pebbles or leaves to amuse her. Suddenly she rushed to me in agony : " Only see, auntie, what Bridget did." 64 Glimpses of In her small palm lay a downy yellow young chicken crushed and quivering. " Do help it," she begged ; " it is in such pain !" The large watering-pot stood near, filled with water to warm in the sun. Instantly I wrapped my handkerchief around the little suffering thing and plunged it deep under the water; in a moment it was still. And now the thought that it was in tender pity our Father would take away the light of our eyes filled mine with tears. " Yes, auntie," said the sweet girl, who had been watching me : " ' He giveth his beloved sleep.' " "As our Saviour hung upon the cross between two thieves one reviled him, but the other prayed, ' Lord, remem- ber me when thou comest in thy king- dom. And Jesus said unto him, Ver- ily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou The Celestial Country. 65 be with me in Paradise ' — Christ's own assurance that the soul enters heaven at death, instead of waiting in some inter- mediate state or sleeping in the grave. " Mark xv. 34: 'Jesus cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' " Isaiah says, ' He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows ; ... he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chas- tisement of our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the in- iquity of us all.' * " ' Immanuel's orphaned cry The universe hath shaken ; It went up single, echoless : " My God, I am forsaken !" * Isa. liii. 4-6. 66 Glimpses of It went up from the holy lips Amid his lost creation, That, of the lost, no son should use Those words of desolation.' * "Christ satisfied justice; he will not let the penalty of our sins be laid on us if we have accepted him as our Saviour. He knew, too, the horrors of loneliness, and so promises his people, ' I will come again and receive you unto myself.' "Never have I known this promise to fail. Friends who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage, have gone peacefully into the dark valley and joyfully away from loved ones. Sometimes they spoke of seeing the invisible; oftener joy came after speech failed; but none went alone. " Nor is death often painful : 'A Phil- adelphia physician has made a special study of the phenomena of death, both * Mrs. B rowning. The Celestial Country. 67 through his personal observations and those of others, and his conclusion is that dissolution is painless, that it ap- proaches as unconsciously as sleep. The soul leaves the world as painlessly as it enters it. Whatever be the causes of death, whether by lingering malady or sudden violence, dissolution comes either through syncope or asphyxia.' Often the mind is unusually clear and the soul eager and loving, showing that it does not fail and die with the body ; but the senses are dulled, the nerves torpid, and pain ceases. Most of my friends have said loving words of part- ing and gone quietly to sleep, as de- scribed in this little poem by Al- drich : " ' Her sufferings ended with the day; Yet lived she at its close, And breathed the long, long night away In statue-like repose. 68 Glimpses of " ' But when the sun in all his state Illumed the eastern skies, She passed through glory's morning gate And walked in Paradise.' " Persons who have been brought back by effort from apparent death say that only the recovery was painful. Dying, to them, had been falling asleep. " ' If I could hold a pen, I would write how easy and delightful it is to die,' said the celebrated William Hun- ter. "An excellent clergyman was asked by a friend what he felt at the near ap- proach of death. He answered, ' In- tense curiosity.' ' Higher ! higher still !' were the last words of another. "A lovely young relative was suffer- ing from consumption, but we hoped she would yet live many months. One sunny morning she breakfasted with the family and rested on the sofa dur- The Celestial Country. 69 ing prayers, enjoying the worship. Her good brother then started to the stable to hasten the carriage for her morning ride. It was near, but he had not reach- ed it when they called him. Quickly he was at her side : ' Clara! dear Clara!' Ah ! the pitying Saviour had been care- ful to save his gentle child one moment's suffering. So instantly had he taken her that the answering smile, as her brother went, had not yet left her face. " Mrs. Julia M'Nair Wright describes another such death as follows : ' The soul strove for its departing dominion over the body. It was full strange to see those fleeting faculties return at some master-summons. He spoke : " I did not know that on earth one could feel so glad at heart as I do now." His face fairly shone with a strange joy, and all at once he seemed to see through depths of some bright dis- ;o Glimpses of tance ; and as he looked the light of life seemed not to shrink back toward a failing heart, as I have marked others die, but in that bright smile and eager gaze to pass out and be away, as I have seen birds lift up from pleasant nooks of earth and be lost in sunny- spaces.' " The Rev. Dr. S. W. Fisher taught that from the analogy of God's dealings with us here it was probable we should at first be surrounded by familiar faces only, and by them be introduced by de- grees to the glories that might other- wise overwhelm us, just as the babe meets only loving care, and gradually learns the new, bewildering life." Our evening reading was on the same subject: SCENES ON JORDAN'S STRAND. There came a little child with sunny hair All fearless to the brink of Death's dark river, The Celestial Country. yi And with a sweet confiding in the care Of Him who is of life the Joy and Giver, And as upon the waves she left our sight We heard her say, "My Saviour makes them bright." Next came a youth with bearing most serene, Nor turned a single backward look of sadness ; But as he left each gay and flowery scene Smiling declared, " My soul is thrilled with gladness. What earth deems bright for ever I resign, Joyful but this to know — that Christ is mine." An aged mourner trembling tottered by, And paused a moment by the swelling river, Then glided on beneath the shadowy sky, Singing, " Christ Jesus is my strength for ever ! Upon his arm my feeble soul I lean ; My glance meets his without a cloud between." And scarce his last triumphant note had died Ere hastened on a man of wealth and learn- ing* Who cast at once his bright renown aside, These only words unto his friends returning : ' Christ for my wisdom thankfully I own, And as a little child I seek his throne." 72 Glimpses of Then saw I this — -that whether guileless child, Or youth, or age, or genius, won salvation, Each self-renouncing came, on each God smiled ; Each found the love of Christ rich compensa- tion For loss of friends, earth's pleasures and renown ; Each entered heaven and " by his side sat down." Anon. THE VALLEY OF DEATH. I have made thee my choice, O Jesus divine ! And my heart shall rejoice ; Thy love it is mine, Though I walk in the darkness, And walk to my death. My soul, like a fountain, Springs upward to thee, And I on the mountain Of Zion would be, But I stand in the valley — The valley of death. Descend, angels, this hour, Through storm-clouds that roll ; As a little white flower, Come gather my soul ; The Celestial Country. 73 Bear it up on your pinions, The swift wings of death. My full heart is yearning, A censer of love ; The sunset is burning Like incense above. 'Tis his token, and gladly I walk to my death. Anon. THE LONG "GOOD-NIGHT." I journey forth rejoicing From this dark vale of tears To heavenly joy and freedom From earthly bonds and fears, Where Christ our Lord shall gather All his redeemed again, His kingdom to inherit. Good-night till then ! I go to see his glory Whom we have loved below ; I go the blessed angels, The holy saints, to know. Our lovely ones, departed, I go to find again, And wait for you to join us. Good-night till then ! 74 Glimpses of I hear the Saviour calling; The joyful hour has come : The angel-guards are ready To guide me to our home, Where Christ our Lord shall gather All his redeemed again, His kingdom to inherit. Good-night till then ! Oh, heaven is nearer than mortals think When they look with a trembling dread At the misty future that stretches on From the silent home of the dead. No heaven is near us ; the mighty veil Of mortality blinds the eye, That we cannot see the angel -bands On the shores of eternity. The eye that shuts in a dying-hour Will open the next in bliss ; The welcome will sound in the heavenly world Ere the farewell is hushed in this. We pass from the clasp of mourning friends To the arms of the loved and lost, And those smiling faces will greet us there Which on earth we have valued most. The Celestial Country. 75 I know, when the silver cord is loosed And the veil is rent away, Not long and dark shall the passage be To the realms of endless day. "IT IS I; BE NOT AFRAID."* These raging winds, this surging sea, Bear not a breath of wrath to thee ; That storm has all been spent on me : 'Tis I j be not afraid. Mine eyes are watching by thy bed, Mine arms are underneath thy head, My blessing is around thee shed : 'Tis I; be not afraid. When, on the other side, thy feet Shall rest 'mid thousand welcomes sweet, One well-known voice thy heart shall greet: 'Tis I; be not afraid. From out the dazzling majesty Gently he'll lay his hands on thee, "Whispering, " Beloved, lov'st thou me ? 'Twas not in vain I died for thee ! 'Tis I; be not afraid." * Matt. xiv. 37. 7 6 Glimpses of CHAPTER VII. " My knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim, But 'tis enough that Christ knows all And I shall be with him." Baxter. As the mornings grew pleasant Alice wished me to go often and sit with our dear old friend, so that the devoted daughter might breakfast and go out into the air a while. The presence of strangers distressed the sufferer, and only old friends by whose sick-beds she herself had watched were allowed to take her daughter's place. Coming back one morning, thankful for the painless quiet of our sick-room, I found Alice dressed and full of joy. " Cousin Frank will be here to-mor- The Celestial Country. 77 row," she exclaimed. " He landed last week, but had to stop in New York under a doctor's care, and has not even been able to write before. They had a stormy passage, and he was bruised and sick. He says there was no sun- light for days and that the waves were dashing over the vessel or tossing it like a ball. He had to comfort himself with the old saying : ' Heaven is as near by water as by land ;' but home will more than repay for all he suffered." Then, in a lower tone, " I could not help thinking, auntie dear, that perhaps /may some time say that, even though my way should be dark and stormy. At any rate, I will not borrow trouble, but will remember Amy's text when she was left in the dark : ' What time I am afraid I will trust in thee.' The dear little thing told me that her moth- er often had to leave her when she went 78 Glimpses of to get sewing and Amy had no shoes, and she always repeated that text before she left her. Now for a new text" " Our last reading was of the cruci- fixion of our Saviour. After he rose from the grave he vanished out of sight at will and entered closed doors, yet said to Thomas, ' Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.' He ate before them, and was seen of them forty days— at one time, of five hundred at once ; so no optical illusion was possible. Fi- nally, he rose into the air like a bird, and as they gazed earnestly on him soared out of their sight. " Just before Stephen was stoned ' he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus stand- ing on the right hand of God '—not so glorified that Stephen could not recog- nize him. The Celestial Country. 79 "Romans viii. 17, 18: ' If children, then heirs : heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified to- gether. For I reckon, that the suffer- ings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.' The same idea in 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18: 'Our light afflic- tion, which is but for a moment, work- eth for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look ... at the things which are not seen.' " ' Affliction, light ; glory, an exceeding weight. Affliction, for a moment ; glory, eternal.' You see, also, it is not glory revealed to us, but glory revealed in us. Then we shall be worthy love. Whittier prays : " ' Clothe with life the weak intent : Let me be the thing I meant.' So Glimpses of "Romans viii. 32, 38, 39: 'He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall he not, with him, also freely give us all things ? . . . For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi- palities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' " Barnes says, ' Those who trust Christ have every possible security — God's purposes to save them, Christ's finished work, the Holy Spirit's aid, and all events working together for their good.' "Romans xiv. 8, 9: 'Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living-.' The Celestial Country. " * Christ, our Redeemer, lives, And often from the skies Looks down, and watches all our dust Till he shall bid it rise.' " First Corinthians iii. 22, 23 : 'All things are yours, whether . . . life or death, or things present or things to come, all are yours ; and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's.' Even death is your servant : he will loose the bond to this suffering body, that you may enter upon your inheritance. " First Corinthians xiii. 12 : ' For now we see in a mirror darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.' " First Corinthians xv. 22, 35-38, 42- 44, 54-57: 'As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But some one will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what manner of body do they come ? Thou foolish one, that which (5 82 Glimpses of thou thyself sowest, is not quickened except it die ; and thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain ; but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness ; it is raised in pow- er : it is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorrup- tion, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy vic- tory ? The sting of death is sin ; . . . but thanks be to God, which giveth us the vic- tory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' " The Celestial Country. 83 " Yes, auntie, I see it now. How ' many object-lessons God gives us every spring! This very bed of hyacinths and crocuses is one. Last fall, when the gardener put the dead-looking little bulbs under ground, I thought the frost would destroy them ; it seemed really cruel to set them out when winter was coming. The tiny brown seeds in the hot-bed, too. And it must mean that the glorified body is to be as superior in enjoyment and beauty as the blos- soming plant is to the little seed. You told me once that the caterpillar is one of God's object-lessons on the resur- rection. Of course we see in a mirror darkly. Had any one said to the cater- pillar, ' You shall be beautiful ; you shall soar gracefully instead of crawl- ing; you will care no longer for cab- bage-leaves and worms, but will feed on roses and fly in the sunshine,' it 84 Glimpses of could not possibly have understood. This is why we need faith." "Yes, dear; and the apostle adds, ' Be steadfast.' The Greek means ■ a seat/ as if one should say, ' Sit down ; rest upon these glorious resurrection truths.' Again, he calls it ' that bless- ed hope and the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.' "This chapter teaches still another lesson. Paul says often, ' Grow in grace.' Here is a strong motive: 'As one star differeth from another star in glory, so is the resurrection of the dead.' " Daniel xii. 3 : ' They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the fir- mament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.' " " Like dear grandma," said Alice. " We shall not be an indiscriminate throng about the throne. While on The Celestial Country. 85 earth Christ selected the twelve, and of them John and Peter were oftenest chosen to be with him. i Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Laz- arus.' Of the young ruler, amiable and upright, it is said, 'Jesus beholding him loved him.' " ' Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name.' 1 "Revelation ii. 17: 'To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in that stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.' So Jesus loves you with a personal love — not merely as one of the myriads of sin- ners redeemed by his blood, but as Alice Taylor. " Second Corinthians v. I : ' For we know that if our earthly house of this 86 Glimpses of tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ' — probably the spiritual body we shall put on. The figure of the tabernacle seems to me intended to teach that as the tabernacle was taken apart and removed on its journeys, yet put to- gether again at the place of rest, so the body is laid down, to be rebuilt; that as the ark of the covenant, where God revealed his glory, was taken from the tabernacle on its journeys and after- ward replaced, so the soul leaves the body to inhabit it again. 'A building of God ' — our spiritual body until the resurrection of our own body. You recollect that Elijah and Moses appear- ed in their spiritual bodies at the Trans- figuration. " Second Corinthians v. 4 : ' We that are in this tabernacle do groan being The Celestial Country. %j burdened, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.' See, this is the Bible definition of death : ' What is mortal swallowed up of life.' ' Know- ing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord ; we are of good courage; and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.' How clearly this teaches that the soul passes at once from the body to the presence of the Lord! " Second Corinthians xii. gives Paul's credentials to speak confidently of heav- en. Fourteen years before, he had been caught up into paradise, to the third heaven, the especial dwelling-place of God. What he saw and heard he was not allowed fully to reveal, but he gives us glimpses of the glory which he calls * unspeakable,' past human power to de- scribe or understand. Whittier says, Glimpses of ' May it not be that Infinite Wisdom sees that a clearer and fuller revelation of the future life would render us less willing or able to perform our duties in the present condition ? Enchanted by a clear view of the heavenly hills, and of our loved ones beckoning to us from the pearl-gates of the city of God, could we patiently work out our life-task here or make the necessary exertions to pro- vide for these bodies, whose encum- brance alone can prevent us from ris- ing to a higher plane of existence?'" From pain and care, O Lord, I seek not to be free • But this my prayer: " Open my eyes to see That thou art leading me." Then I can bear To walk in darkness still, Walking with thee, submissive to thy will. Clouds come and go, But, Lord, clouds only make more bright The Celestial Country. 89 The after-glow. After the darkest night Will come the morning light, And well I know The morn itself may hide Its face, but light shall be at eventide. Home is more near, O Lord, by every passing day; Home is more dear By every prayer I pray — By every footstep of the way That brings me there. Where thou art let me be, For where thou art is home and heaven to me. "A little while!" Dear Lord, the precious words are thine ; A little while ! The blessed hope is mine Till on these eyes shall shine Thy radiant smile, And thine own hand of grace Shall wipe all tears from my uplifted face. Henry Cobb. 90 Glimpses of CHAPTER VIII. " All things else have but their day : God's love only lasts for aye." Cousin Frank is here. The meeting was joyful yet sad—joyful to Alice, who had feared not to see him ; sad to the young man, who had not realized the change in his friend. We have not read for days ; all her brightness and all her strength are given to cheer him, for now she is spiritually stronger than he. This afternoon he was called away, and as we sat alone in the twilight she said, "Frank has given up all his ambi- tious plans ; he will enter Union Theo- logical Seminary next fall." I expressed my joy at his decision. The Celestial Country. 91 " Yes," she said, softly ; " he told me that, since our Father is to have me, he shall have his whole life — that he will feel nearer me if he works for God alone. I am so glad, so thankful ! and I want him to preach often about heav- en. I want it to seem real and near and lovely to him as it does to me, so that wherever he goes he may lead peo- ple to live for it, and not for the things that fade away and fail us or disappoint us when we gain them. Let him read with us mornings." So our next reading was in the pleas- ant library, looking out into the garden. Alice lay on a lounge in the bay-win- dow; Frank sat near with his Bible, and a pencil to mark each verse, always henceforth to be doubly dear to him. Our first texts were of God's love. " Ephesians ii. 7 : ' That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding Glimpses of riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.' " Ephesians v. 25-27 : ' Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it. That he might pre- sent it to himself, a glorious church; not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish ' — the holiness we now long for. " Philippians i. 2 1-24 : ' For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. . . . What I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ ; which is far better : nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.' The original means 'better beyond all ex- pression.' In the vigor of life, full of energy, successful in the grand work he loved — winning souls to Christ — he longed to depart to be with him. Rec- The Celestial Country. 93 ollect, he had been tliere and knew that the souls of departed Christians were in heaven — that he would not lie in the grave like clay, but go at once to Christ. " Philippians iii. 8-1 1 : 'I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord . . . that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness . . . but the righteousness which is of God by faith ; that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, ... if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.' " Philippians iii. 20, 21 : 'For our con- versation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.' 94 Glimpses of " Colossians iii. 4 : ' When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.' "First Thessalonians iv. 13-17: 'I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the com- ing of the Lord, shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord him- self shall descend from heaven, . . . with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall We EVER BE WITH THE LORD.' The Celestial Cotmtry. 95 " Zechariah xiv. 5 : ' The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.' " Jude 14 : 'And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord com- eth with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all and to con- vince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds ; and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.' " Matthew xvi. 27 : ' For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Fa- ther with his angels ; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.' " Revelation xx. 1 1 and Matthew xxv. 31-46 give a full account of this glorious scene. Imagination never could have conceived so sublime a spectacle — the Lord descending with his saints, g6 Glimpses of from Abel, down to the end of time, a countless multitude, attended by hosts of angels ; the bodies of the saints raised and reunited to their spirits, those still alive fitted by some sudden change for the spiritual life, then all caught up to Jesus in the air. The throne of judg- ment shall be set upon the clouds, since our earth could not contain such an assembly. " < All that tread The globe are but a handful to the tribes That slumber in its bosom.' God's people shall be gathered on his right hand, while the wicked on his left are judged. Not those who have trusted Christ; the Bible is plain here : 1 Thou hast cast all our sins behind thy back;' ' Thou hast cast our sins into the depths of the sea ;' ' He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life ; and shall The Celestial Country. 97 not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.' " Charlotte Elizabeth tells how a deaf-mute described it by signs : ' Jack's bads written on a slate ; Christ holds his bleeding hand over it; the blood trickles down and washes them out. God looks. Jack's bads ? No !' ' ' There is therefore now no con- demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' " Never has the universe witnessed so grand an assembly, and to us who trust him it will be only an assurance that our Lord hath taken to himself his great power and hath reigned. "Again we ascend to our home, tak- ing with us the stranger-saints for their first sight of glory. 'And so shall we ever be with the Lord.' " No wonder the apostle adds, ' Com- fort one another with these words.' " 7 Glimpses of JESUS MY LORD. Jesus, thy name I love All other names above — Jesus my Lord. Oh, thou art all to me ; Nothing to please I see, Nothing apart from thee, Jesus my Lord. When unto thee I flee, Thou wilt my refuge be, Jesus my Lord. What need I now to fear, What earthly pain or care, Since thou art ever near, Jesus my Lord ? Soon thou wilt come again. I shall be happy then, Jesus my Lord. Then thine own face I'll see; Then I shall like thee be ; Then evermore with thee, Jesus my Lord. "THAT DAY." The earth and heavens were rolled up like a scroll* Time and space, change and death, had passed away ; The Celestial C 07 entry. 99 Weight, number, measure, each had reached its whole : The day had come — that day. Multitudes — multitudes — stood up in bliss, Made equal to the angels, glorious, fair, With harps, palms, wedding-garments, kiss of peace, And crowned and hallowed hair. They sang a song — a new song — in the height, Harping with harps to Him who is strong and true; They drank new wine; their eyes saw with new light : Lo ! all things were made new. As though one pulse stirred all, one rush of blood Fed all, one breath swept through them myriad- voiced, They struck their harps, cast down their crowns ; they stood And worshiped and rejoiced. Each face looked one way like a moon new-lit, Each face looked one way toward its Sun of love; Drank love, and bathed in love, and mirrored it, And knew no end thereof. 100 Glimpses of Glory touched glory on each blessed head, Hands locked dear hands, never to sunder more; Those were the new-begotten from the dead Whom the great birthday bore. Heart answered heart, soul answered soul at rest, Double against each other, filled, sufficed ; All loving, loved of all, but loving best And best beloved of Christ. Christina G. Rossetti. The Celestial Country. CHAPTER IX. " Green pastures are before me Which yet I have not seen ; Bright skies will soon be o'er me Where darkest clouds have been. My hope I cannot measure ; My path to life is free ; My Saviour has my treasure, And he will walk with me." Again in the pleasant library we wait- ed with our books for Frank, who had gone to carry some flowers to the dear old lady who had been grandma to him also. When he came in, glowing from the fresh morning air, Alice sighed, then smiled. " Report yourself, truant," she said. " Have you sufficient excuse for your tardiness ?" 102 Glimpses of " I was trying to catch the secret of grandma's spirit," he replied. " Let me tell you what Miss Maria told me. Yes- terday she lay quiet for a while, enjoy- ing a rare freedom from pain. Sudden- ly she called out, ' Oh, Ridy, isn't God good ? I haven't an ache or a pain any- where.' How dearly she loves our Sa- viour, and how near and real heaven seems to her! I would be willing to lie there and moan in agony as she does if I could have as noble a record behind me, and as full an assurance of the life beyond. I would gladly spend my life trying to become like her if I were sure of success." " Be satisfied, then, that you may at- tain what you seek : ' Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after right- eousness : for they shall be filled.' Here are more promises of holiness of heart. " Second Thessalonians i. 10: 'When The Celestial Country. 103 he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe ' — glorified and admired, not merely by us, but in us ; for we shall be like him, to the praise of the glory of his grace. We shall be his jewels. " First John iii. 2: ' Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is.' We shall then realize David's longing : 1 1 shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.' The Rev. Dr. Ball says, ' I shall have an angel's spirit and an angel's purity, as well as an angel's drapery and an angel's home. Thank God for the assurance of a holy heart ! for without it there could be no cer- tainty of happiness, even in heaven.' Second Timothy i. 10: 'Our Saviour I0 4 Glimpses of Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.' We saw that the Israelites, and even Abraham, the friend of God, lived in the twilight of prophecy. Christ was known to them only through types and shad- ows, and then merely as a sacrifice for sin. Of Christ as the Son of man they knew nothing. To them death was the entrance, not to heaven, but to a land of shadows where the soul wandered until sent to its final home. The Jews called it ' Sheol ;' the Greeks, 'Hades.' To both it was, as Job ex- pressed it, 'the land of darkness, and the shadow of death; a land of dark- ness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.' * * Job X. 21, 22. The Celestial Country. 105 How different from the heaven Christ revealed to us ! The wisest philos- ophers of Greece and of Rome felt that they were immortal, but they had no knowledge of the future life. Cicero says, ' It is conjecture, and what is true some god must tell us.' Socrates, just before he drank the hemlock, his death- sentence, said, ' I hope to go hence to good men, but of that I am not very confident. I must now die, and you shall live ; but which of us is in the better state, the living or the dead, God only knows.' "Second Timothy ii. 10: 'I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.' Now the apostle Paul is testing the hope he has taught. Imprisoned in a damp dungeon at Rome, soon to be be- headed by the cruel Nero, he writes, ' I io6 Glimpses of am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have fin- ished my course, I have kept the 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 his appearing.' * It used to seem to me that only an em- inently good man like the apostle could rejoice so confidently. But you have fought a good fight, my darling, against love of life and fear of death ; have made your own will submit to the Master's ; have been patient when every quiver- ing nerve protested against patience. When Christ comes for you, it will be because you have finished your course ; and if you still trust him, you will have * 2 Tim. iv. 6-8. The Celestial Country. 107 kept the faith as certainly as did Paul ; so as surely for you as for him is laid up a crown of righteousness." " But Frank's crown will have many stars ; mine, none. For years he will go on winning souls to Christ, and I have done nothing;" and Alice's eyes were full of tears. Frank answered quickly : "And in the Paradise of God you will blossom and grow so far above me ! Will you be willing to welcome me, all battered and scarred with marks of de- feat? The world, the flesh and the devil are no weak enemies. You know how we have often sung : " ' Ne'er think the victory won, Nor lay thine armor down : Thine arduous task will not be done Till thou obtain thy crown.' " " We will honor every scar," Alice io8 Glimpses of said, gravely, " and envy you them— we who were sent to bed with our work unfinished." " God makes no mistakes," I added. Frank had been turning over the pages of his Bible. " Here are some verses for you, Alice," he said. " Revelation xxii. 3, 4: ' The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.' "Again, Revelation xiv. 4: 'These are they which follow the Lamb whith- ersoever he goeth.' " The Scriptures say that Christ 'went about doing good.' It must be a grand thing to follow him as his helpers in the work set by him and done under his eye— done so perfectly, too, when we have become like him ! No doubt then The Celestial Country. 109 about whether this is the right work or whether we are doing it right ; no fail- ures or frets to mourn over; no ques- tion of his approval." " Those who are worthy are called to work near him ; we are kept outside for training, but only for a little while. "Titus ii. 11-13: 'For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath ap- peared to all men, teaching us that, de- nying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Sa- viour Jesus Christ ' — that is, it is our duty to cherish this hope, that by it we may overcome sin, and self, and the world. "A part of your armor, Frank : 'And for a helmet the hope of salvation.' " ' By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he Glimpses of should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourn- ed in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.' * It re- quired more faith for Abraham to take the long journey on foot, among hostile tribes, through an unknown way, to an unknown land, than for us to die. After leaving home and friends, after the long march, he was a stranger in the new land, dwelling in tents and moving from place to place, homeless, his only possession in it a purchased burying- place. We make no toilsome journey. Safe in the arms of Jesus, we rest, weak, * Heb. xi. 8-10. The Celestial Country. yet needing only to wait until the Mas- ter himself lifts us up to his glorious home — the home where our treasures have been gathering for years, where Christ has prepared a place for us, where we shall be warmly welcomed by dear friends, shall add to their joy, and shall be at home for ever. " Thinking, probably, of the loneliness of that life among strangers, the apostle adds, 'They might have had opportu- nity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is an heav- enly ; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God ; for he hath pre- pared for them a city.' Is not this bet- ter country the desire of our hearts ? "James i. 12 : 'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.' Whatever trial 112 Glimpses of God sends — sickness, pain, sleepless- ness — if borne patiently because Christ wills it, will win the crown of life. " First Peter i. 3-5 : ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, begat us again unto a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an in- heritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you ; who by the power of God are kept through faith, unto a sal- vation ready to be revealed in the last time.' Christ will send us no trial that is not needed to purify us : 'In all their afflictions he was afflicted ;' ' He bare our griefs and carried our sorrows ;' ' Jesus wept ' at the grave of Lazarus. In every needed trial he will keep us by his mighty power, so that no pain or trouble shall make us fall away from him. The Celestial Country. 113 " You have seen the print where a woman clings desperately to a cross planted in the cleft of an ocean- rock and is buffeted by waves that would overwhelm her should her frail hold fail : it is a sad misrepresentation. We stand upon the Rock of Ages : ' under- neath us are the Everlasting Arms;' ' he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom.' We are ' kept by the power of God.' David prays, ' Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe ;' ' Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is ever- lasting strength.' ' Come unto me, and I will give you rest,' says Jesus. ' In me ye may have peace.' Trust, rest, peace ! " Second Peter i. 1 1 : ' For so an en- trance shall be ministered unto you abun- dantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' 14 Glimpses of The New Version reads : ' Thus shall be richly supplied to you the entrance.' Not an entrance merely : to cultivate the graces of faith, patience and love is to ensure a joyous welcome at the gate of heaven. "Second Peter iii. 13: 'We, accord- ing to his promise, look for new heav- ens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.' "Isaiah lxv. 17: 'Behold I create new heavens and a new earth.' " Revelation xxi. 1 : 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.' Our earth purified. Not the fu- ture home of all God's people, because this earth would be too small ; but it seems to me we would wish to revisit often the places where Christ suffered for us and where our own lives were spent. The Celestial Country. 115 " First John ii. 17: 'He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.' "First John ii. 25: 'This is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.' " First John iii. 2 : ' Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' The realization of David's prayer : ' I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.' "Hebrew xii. 22, 23: 'Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and 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' Ii6 Glimpses of "Jude 24, 25: 'Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.' " Again Frank read to us a favorite poem. PARADISE. Once, in a dream, I saw the flowers That bud and bloom in Paradise : More fair they are than waking eyes Have seen in all this world of ours, And faint the perfume- bearing rose, And faint the lily on its stem, And faint the perfect violet, Compared with them. I heard the songs of Paradise : Each bird sat singing in his place — A tender song so full of grace It soared like incense to the skies. Each bird sat singing to his mate A tender song among the trees ; The Celestial Country. 117 The nightingale herself were cold To such as these. I saw the fourfold river flow, And deep it was, with golden sand : It flowed between a mossy land With murmured music grave and low. It hath refreshment for all thirst, For fainting spirits strength and rest: Earth holds not such a draught as this From east to west. The tree of life stood budding there, Abundant with its twelvefold fruits ; Eternal sap sustains its roots, Its shadowing branches fill the air. Its leaves are healing for the world, Its fruits the hungry world can feed, Sweeter than honey to the taste, And balm indeed. I saw the gate called Beautiful, And looked, but scarce could look within ; I saw the golden streets begin, And outskirts of the glassy pool. O harps ! O crowns of plenteous stars ! O green-palmed branches, many -leaved ! Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard, Nor heart conceived. Glimpses of I hope to see those things again, But not, as once, in dreams of night — To see them with my very sight, And touch and handle and attain ; To have all heaven beneath my feet For narrow way that once they trod; To have my part with all the saints, And with my God. Christina G. Rossetti. The Celestial Country. 119 CHAPTER X. Again came a day so warm that Frank drew Alice up and down the garden-walks in her wheeled chair un- til she was tired. Then she reclined in it on the portico, and we took our books. " How lovely the flowers are !" she said. " They have reminded me all the while of that hymn of Peter Damiani, ' perpetual bloom of roses.' Please, Frank, bring Jerusalem the Golden from the library-table, and read Mrs. Charles's translation of it while auntie finds her Bible verses." With a voice full of feeling Frank read : 120 Glimpses of THE JOYS OF HEAVEN. Who can utter what the pleasures and the peace unbroken are Where arise the pearly mansions, shedding silvery light afar, Festive seats and golden roofs, which glitter like the evening star? Wholly of fair stones most precious are those radiant structures made ; With pure gold, like glass transparent, are those shining streets inlaid : Nothing that defiles can enter, nothing that can soil or fade. Stormy winter, burning summer, rage within those regions never, But perpetual bloom of roses and unfading spring for ever; Lilies gleam, the crocus glows, and dropping balms their scents deliver. Honey pure and greenest pastures — this the land of promise is; Liquid odors soft distilling, perfumes breathing on the breeze; Fruits immortal cluster always on the leafy fade- less trees. The Celestial Country. 121 There no moonshine chill and changing, there no stars with twinkling ray, For the Lamb of that blessed city is at once the Sun and Day ; Night and time are known no longer, day shall never fade away. Ever filled and ever seeking, what they have they % still desire; Hunger there shall never fret them, nor satiety shall tire; Still enjoying whilst aspiring, in their joy they still aspire. Christ, the Palm of faithful victors, of that city make me free; When my warfare shall be ended, to its mansions lead thou me ; Grant me, with its happy inmates, sharer of thy gifts to be.* " Our reading in course has brought us to the Apocalypse : all the imagery of the hymn you have just read is drawn from it. It is the testimony of * Peter Damiani, eleventh century. Glimpses of John when banished to the island of Patmos, in the ^Egean Sea, for preach- ing the gospel. This is a small barren rock only twenty-eight miles in circum- ference, and here, away from friends and from comfort, shut out from the work he loved, Christ revealed himself • and some glimpses of our future glory to the aged disciple, who in his youth — more than sixty years before — had leaned upon his bosom. " First is the vision of Christ : ' One like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to his feet, and girt about the breast with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like snow, as white as wool, and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters ; and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And The Celestial Country. 123 when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not, I am he that liv- eth and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death.' * Language seems inadequate here. The long robe is sa- cerdotal, as Christ, our High Priest, Still intercedes for us; the white hairs — fit for the Ancient of days — are also a nimbus of glory; the eyes a flame of fire, omniscience; the feet like fine brass, stability. " Ezekiel uses the same figure: 'The glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east ; and his voice was like a noise of many waters ; and the earth shined with his glory.' f " This mighty Saviour now gives us wonderful promises : ' To him that over- * Rev. i. 13-19. f Ezek. xiii. 2. 124 Glimpses of cometh will I give to eat of the hid- den manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth sav- ing he that receiveth it.' * " ' To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.' f " ' He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.' J " ' He that overcometh, ... to him will I give power over the nations, . . . and I will give him the morning star.' § " ' He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name be- fore my Father, and before his angels.' || " ' Him that overcometh will I make * Rev. ii. 17. f Rev. ii. 7. jRev. ii. n. \ Rev. ii. 26-28. || Rev. iii. 5. The Celestial Country. 125 a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God : and I will write upon him my new name.' * " ' Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' We have only to open the door. ' To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.'f " ' Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.' % " ' Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he * Rev. iii. 12. f Rev. iii. 20, 21. % Rev. ii. 10. 126 Glimpses of that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone, and a sardius : and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon; and before the throne, as it were a glassy sea, like unto crystal. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne stood a Lamb, as it had been slain.' * " Now we get some idea of grand ora- torios — music such as earth never heard : " ' The four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood, men of every tribe and tongue and peo- * Rev. iv. 2-6. The Celestial Country. 127 pie and nation, and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests ; and they reign upon the earth. And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders ; and the num- ber of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands ; saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain, to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and bless- ing. And every created thing which is in the earth, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard I saying, Unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever.' * * Rev. v. 8-13. 128 Glimpses of " 'After these things I saw, and be- hold; a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation, and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes and palms in their hands ; and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, say- ing, Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God, for ever and ever, Amen.' * " ' I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, say- * Rev. vii. 9-12. The Celestial Country. 129 ing, Hallelujah ; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God; for true and righteous are his judgments ; for he hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And a second time they say, Hallelujah. . . . And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures, fell down and worshiped God, that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. . . . And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.'* " ' The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty * Rev. xix. 1-6. 130 Glimpses of elders which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worship- ed God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to thy saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.'* " 'And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day *Rev. xi. 15-18. The Celestial Country. 131 and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.' * " 'And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, hav- ing his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harp- ing with their harps ; and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the elders ; and no man could learn that song, but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were * Rev. xii. 10-12. 132 Glimpses of redeemed from the earth. . . . These are they which follow the Lamb whitherso- ever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men ; . . . they are without fault before the throne of God.' * " 'And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire ; and them that come victorious from the beast and from his image . . . standing by the glassy sea, having harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou only art holy ; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee ; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.' " f " * Rev. xiv. 1-5. f Rev. xv. 2-5. The Celestial Country. 133 "As I stood by grandma's bed the other day," said Frank, "and heard her longing for death, I thought of Mrs. Browning's words : " ■ God, in cursing, gives us better gifts Than men in benediction.' Let me read you a passage from Wal- lace's Ben Hur: " 'A word as to the pleasure there is in the thought of a soul in each of us. In the first place, it robs death of its terrors by making dying a change for the better and burial but the planting of a seed from which there will spring a new life. In the next place, behold me as I am — weak, weary, old, shrunk- en in body and graceless ; look at my wrinkled face ; think of my failing senses ; listen to my shrilled voice. Ah ! what happiness to me in the promise that when the tomb opens, as 134 Glimpses of soon it will, to receive the worn-out husk I call myself, the now viewless doors of the universe, which is but the palace of God, will swing wide ajar to receive me, a liberated, immortal soul ! " ' I would I could tell you the ecsta- sy there must be in that life to come ! Do not say I know nothing about it. This much I know, and it is enough for me — the being a soul implies conditions of divine superiority. In such a being there is no dust nor any gross thing ; it must be finer than air, more impal- pable than light, purer than essence : it is life in absolute purity. " ' What now, O son of Hur ? Know- ing so much, shall I dispute with my- self or you about the unnecessaries — about the form of my soul ? Or where it is to abide ? Or whether it eats and drinks ? Or is winged, or wears this or that? The Celestial Country. 135 " ' No ; it is more becoming to trust in God. The beautiful in this world is all from his hand, declaring the perfec- tion of taste ; he is the author of all form ; he clothes the lily, he colors the rose, he distills the dewdrop, he makes the music of Nature ; in a word, he or- ganized us for this life and imposed its conditions, and they are such guaranty to me that, trustful as a little child, I leave to him the organization of my soul and every arrangement for the life after death. I know he loves me.' " 136 Glimpses of CHAPTER XI. " The home of fadeless splendor, Of flowers that fear no thorn, Where they shall dwell as children Who here as exiles mourn." Bernard. It was a sad company that gathered on the portico for our reading, though the sun shone, the flowers bloomed and " the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west." Frank had just re- ceived word that his mother was very ill, and he could not rest till he reached her side. The first train must carry him from us. " The only son of his mother and she a widow," he must re- main with her through her illness ; and Alice could not hope to stay until his return. The Celestial Country. 137 The few intervening hours were pre- cious, and with one accord we turned to the sacred word for comfort. Both our homes darkened, our hearts full of anxiety and pain, it was sweet to read of a home where they go no more out for ever, where there is no death, nei- ther sorrow nor crying ; where there is no more pain. " 'And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came they ? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, 138 Glimpses of 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 wa- ters ; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.' * " 'And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence- forth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.' f "'Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white ; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. *Rev. vii. 13-17. f Rev. xiv. 13. The Celestial Country. 139 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the mar- riage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true say- ings of God.' * " 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, say- ing, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor * Rev. xix. 7-9. 140 Glimpses of crying, neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write : for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.' * " 'And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God ; and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper The Celestial Country. 141 stone, clear as crystal ; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon which are the names of the twelve tribes of the chil- dren of Israel : on the east three gates ; on the south three gates ; on the north three gates ; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.' * " 'And the building of the wall of it was of jasper : and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the founda- tions of the wall of the city were gar- nished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jas- per ; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony ; the fourth, emerald ; the fifth, sardonyx : the sixth, sardius ; the * Rev. xxi. 10-14. 142 Glimpses of seventh, chrysolite ; the eighth, beryl ; the ninth, topaz ; the tenth, chrysopra- sus ; the eleventh, jacinth ; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls : every several gate was of one pearl : and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were trans- parent glass. And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it ; and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day; for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no The Celestial Country. 143 wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomina- tion or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.' * " 'And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceed- ing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve man- ner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month : and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and his servants shall serve him ; and they shall see his face ; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there, and * Rev. xxi. 18-27. 144 Glimpses of they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These say- ings are faithful and true. . . . Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. ... I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life free- ly. .. . He which testifieth these things, saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' " * * Rev. xxii. The Celestial Country. 145 It did not seem so hard now to part : it would be but for a little while. Like a bugle-note seemed the apostle's words : " The time is short." Only a little while to labor for the world, to do or suffer the Master's will ! It would seem far too short when we come to bring our sheaves to the Saviour, who had given his life for us. So for his sake we bravely said, " Good-bye," which meant to each heart, " God be with you ; God comfort and guide and keep you till we meet again." "AH passes but God's will," said my darling, bravely; and in that will we rested. The parting was not our choice, nor had an enemy sent Frank away lonely and sorrowing. It was the loving Mas- ter who was training him for service and Alice for glory. Again and again we read the Script- 146 Glimpses of ure words that were hallowed as our last reading together, and their beauty and sweetness, their glorious fullness of promise, embracing all that heart and soul could desire, grew upon us, until we seemed with Pilgrim in the Land of Beulah, where the soft fragrance of the Celestial Country blew over us and faint sounds of the far-off music made our hearts burn to enter. The tender and loving hymn of Ber- nard of Cluny seemed written for us, as for Christians more than seven hun- dred years ago. Parts of it* I read to Alice repeatedly to soothe the long, restless nights. 'Midst power that knows no limit, And wisdom free from bound, The beatific Vision Shall glad the saints around — * Translated by J. M. Neale. The Celestial Country. 147 The peace of all the faithful, The calm of all the blest, Inviolate, unvaried, Divinest, sweetest, best. Yes, peace, for war is needless ; Yes, calm, for storm is past; And goal from finished labor, And anchorage at last. That peace — But who may claim it? The guileless in their way, Who keep the ranks of battle, Who mean the thing they say ; The peace that is for heaven, And shall be for the earth ; The palace that re-echoes With festal song and mirth ; The garden breathing spices, The paradise on high ; Grace beautified to glory, Unceasing minstrelsy. There nothing can be feeble, There none can ever mourn, There nothing is divided, There nothing can be torn. 148 Glimpses of 'Tis fury, ill and scandal, 'Tis peaceless peace, below : Peace, endless, strifeless, ageless, The halls of Zion know. Oh, happy, holy portion, Refection for the blest, True vision of true beauty, Sweet cure of all distress ! Strive, man, to win that glory ; Toil, man, to gain that light ; Send hope before to grasp it, Till hope be lost in sight — Till Jesus gives the portion Those blessed souls to fill, The insatiate, yet satisfied ; The full, yet craving still. That fullness and that craving Alike are free from pain Where thou 'midst heavenly citizens A home like theirs shalt gain. Here is the warlike trumpet ; There, life set free from sin, When to the last great supper The faithful shall come in. The Celestial Country. 149 Jerusalem demands them ; They paid the price on earth, And now shall reap the harvest In blissfulness and mirth— The glorious, holy people Who evermore relied Upon their Chief and Father, The King, the Crucified ; The sacred ransomed number, Now bright with endless sheen, Who made the cross their watchword Of Jesus Nazarene ; Who (fed with heavenly nectar Where soul-like odors play) Draw out the endless leisure Of that long vernal day. And through the sacred lilies And flowers on every side The happy, dear-bought people Go wandering far and wide ; Their breasts are filled with gladness, Their mouths are tuned to praise, What time, now safe for ever, On former sins they gaze. 150 Glimpses of The fouler was the error, The sadder was the fall, The ampler are the praises Of Him who pardoned all, Their one and only anthem The fullness of His love Who gives, instead of torment, Eternal joys above. Brief life is here our portion, Brief sorrow, short-lived care : The life that knows no ending — The tearless life — is there. Oh, happy retribution ! Short toil, eternal rest, For mortals and for sinners A mansion with the blest ! That we should look, poor wand'rers ! To have our home on high ! That worms should seek for dwelling, Beyond the starry sky ! To all one happy guerdon Of one celestial grace ; For all, for all, who mourn their fall, Is one eternal place. The Celestial Country. 151 There grief is turned to pleasure — Such pleasure as below No human voice can utter, No human heart can know ; And after fleshly scandal, And after this world's night, And after storm and whirlwind, Is calm and joy and light. l 5 2 Glimpses of CHAPTER XII. Perhaps it was only the reaction after excitement, but Alice no longer wished to leave her room. Always patient and gentle, she was now very quiet, glad to be read or spoken to, yet seldom speak- ing. But about a week after Frank went she looked up brightly from a letter she had been reading: " Good news for us, dearie : Aunt Mary is better. Her sickness was as much from distress about business as from ill-health. Frank says that while he was away a dishonest agent had been plundering their little property. Had Frank not gone back suddenly, the man would have escaped. He had The Celestial Country. 153 arranged to start for California the very next day. But Frank had him arrest- ed, and recovered both money and pa- pers. It is wonderful to me that Frank was called home just then. Now he can go to the seminary, and his mother will go East to be with him. Suppose the letter had been delayed a day or he had been out of town. Or suppose Aunt Mary had not been sick enough to need him. Doesn't it look as though God had accepted him for his service and would guide and keep him ? It reminds me of our little verse : " ' For He who cares for the lily And heeds the sparrow's fall Will tenderly lead his loving child; For he made and loveth all.' Now please read more of The Celestial Country, and I will try to rest. I am almost too thankful." 154 Glimpses of For thee, O dear, dear country, Mine eyes their vigils keep ; For very love beholding Thy happy name, they weep. The mention of thy glory Is unction to the breast, And medicine in sickness, And love, and life, and rest. O one, O only, mansion, O Paradise of joy, Where tears are ever banished And smiles have no alloy, Beside thy living waters All plants are, great and small — The cedar of the forest, The hyssop of the wall ; With jasper glow thy bulwarks ; Thy streets with emeralds blaze ; The sardius and the topaz Unite in thee their rays ; Thine ageless walls are bonded With amethyst unpriced ; Thy saints build up its fabric, And the comer-stone is Christ. The Celestial Country. 155 The cross is all thy splendor, The Crucified thy praise; His laud and benediction Thy ransomed people raise. Jesus, the gem of beauty, True God and Man, they sing ; The never-failing Garden, The ever-golden Ring ; The Door, the Pledge, the Husband, The Guardian of his court ; The Day-star of salvation, The Porter and the Port. Thou hast no shore, fair ocean, Thou hast no time, bright day ; Dear fountain of refreshment To pilgrims far away ! Upon the Rock of Ages They raise thy holy tower ; Thine is the victor's laurel, And thine the golden dower. Unfading lilies, bracelets Of living pearl, thine own ; The Lamb is ever near thee, The Bridegroom thine alone ; 156 Glimpses of The Crown is he to guerdon ; The Buckler, to protect ; And he himself the Mansion, And he the Architect ; The only art thou needest, Thanksgiving for thy lot j The only joy thou seek est, The Life where Death is not ; And all thine endless leisure In sweetest accents sings The ill that was thy merit, The wealth that is thy King's. Jerusalem the Golden, With milk and honey blest, Beneath thy contemplation Sink heart and voice oppressed. I know not — oh, I know not— What social joys are there, What radiancy of glory, What light beyond compare. And when I fain would sing them My spirit fails and faints, And vainly would it image The assembly of the saints. The Celestial Country. 157 They stand, those halls of Zion, Conjubilant with song, And bright with many an angel, And all the martyr-throng ; The Prince is ever in them, The daylight is serene, The pastures of the blessed Are decked in glorious sheen. There is the throne of David, And there, from care released, The shout of them that triumph, The song of them that feast. And they who with their Leader Have conquered in the fight, For ever and for ever Are clad in robes of white. Jerusalem, exulting On that securest shore, I hope thee, wish thee, sing thee, And love thee evermore ! I ask not for my merit ; I seek not to deny : My merit is destruction ; A child of wrath am I. 158 Glimpses of But yet with faith I venture, And hope, upon my way ; For those perennial guerdons I labor night and day. The best and dearest Father, Who made me and who saved, Bore with me in defilement, And from defilement laved ; And grace, sweet grace celestial, Shall all its love display, And David's royal fountain Purge every sin away. O mine, my golden Zion, O lovelier far than gold, With laurel-girt battalions, And safe, victorious fold,- O sweet and blessed country, Shall I ever see thy face ? sweet and blessed country, Shall I ever win thy grace ? 1 have the hope within me To comfort and to bless : Shall I ever win the prize itself? Oh, tell me — tell me yes ! The Celestial Country. 159 Exult, O dust and ashes ! The Lord shall be thy part ; His only, his for ever, Thou shalt be, and thou art. Exult, O dust and ashes ! The Lord shall be thy part ; His only, his for ever, Thou shalt be, and thou art. So together we went down softly and not sadly into the valley of peace through long, weary days and feverish nights. But one night there was no fever, and we kept back our tears to watch the dear pale face, and spoke in hushed tones that we might catch the faintest word. At intervals she slept quietly; then her father sat upon the bed and raised her in his arms, that she might breathe more easily. She clasped his hand and laid it on Amy's head. 160 Glimpses of the Celestial Country. "Your little daughter, papa dear," she said. " Yes, my darling, for your sake." Dear hands and lips growing cold, eyes closing! Ah! she opened them quickly, raised herself with a smile of ecstasy and leaned forward, hands and eyes uplifted as one who sees visions. That was all. But when we laid her on the pillow, with that rare smile still on the white face, we could only say, "Thank God!" THE END. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Nov. 2005 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Dnve Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111 BfiAs 91 24 ■ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1 1 II ill 014 239 916 7