Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

attracted, doubtless, by Aunt Sarah's gentle mien and voice, and taking her hand in both his, said,

"George Frost told me that his father was going to put my papa in jail, because he said papa was a thief. It is this makes mamma ery so; but we are crying because we were so hungry. We have had no bread this two days, and now we have no potatoes."

The ice being thus broken up, Mr. Howard confirmed what the child had spoken, related his history as sketched above, and ended by saying that he had asked Mr. Frost to give him credit for a few bushels of grain, and had been refused; that, consequently, he had written to a friend in Ohio, and had resolved, if he should get an unfavourable answer, to end his miserable existence by suicide, before this last blow fell upon him.

Aunt Sarah, with a few sensible, gentle words, quieted the stormy spirits of the household, reproached herself for having been deficient in neighbourly kindness, and assured Mr. Howard that if his circumstances had been known, he would have found a ready sympathy.

The good lady soon discovered that Mrs. Howard was in a violent fever; and Mrs. Lacey left, promising to send her husband, Dr. Lacey, immediately, while Aunt Sarah remained to take care of the invalid. The doctor soon arrived, and before night the house was full to overflowing with all manner of good things. And during the evening Mr. Frost came in to say that the affair of the lost bag was all cleared up. His eldest son had just returned from a short journey, and said that, wanting a bag to fill with oats to feed his horses by the way, he had emptied the wheat into the granary and used the bag, little dreaming of the mischief he was occasioning by so doing. Mischief, indeed! for though Mrs. Howard received every attention, she never recovered from the shock, and after lingering a few months died.

But Mr. Howard got his expected letter from Ohio, and, after the death of his wife, departed for that state with his mourning family. We heard afterwards that he was in good circumstances as clerk of a bank; that Alice was married to a worthy young farmer, and that her brothers were at college. But Aunt Sarah often speaks of Mr. Howard as one of the many victims to the injustice

[blocks in formation]

A GLIMPSE OF THE REDEEMED
IN GLORY.

BY THE REV. JAMES HAMILTON, D.D.*
Revelation vii. 9-17.

Whatever debate there may be regarding the locality of this description, there can be no question that it unveils a state of glory. Whether the scene of it be laid on earth or some other world, it is a glimpse of HEAVEN -one of the fullest and most satisfactory glimpses which the Bible gives. Perhaps it may do us good to dwell on it. It may give us more life-like and more home-like thoughts regarding those who have gone to it; and it may make us more dilligent in insuring that we ourselves shall go thither. All that need be said may be summed up in answer to those two questions:-Who are there? And what are they doing there?

We speak not now of the original inhabitants, but of the Redeemed from among men; and we ask, WHO ARE THERE? The region is not soliThe period was when There was the Throne,

"A multitude." tary. Once it was. God was all in all. and the Great I AM sat upon that throne. But there was no world beneath it, and no multitude before it. And even after the sons of God were made, it was long before any of our race was there. When Abel found himself before the Throne, he found no human comrade there. Seraphs waved their wings of fire, and Cherubs hovered out and in around the depths of Deity, and all was sanctity, and all was love; but the new-comer found himself unique,-not lonely, not unwelcome, but singular, and different from all the rest. But thus it is not now. There is "a multitude,"-so many, as to give the region a friendly look of terrestrial brotherhood,-so many, that the affinities and tastes which still survive will find their congenials and counterparts,-s0 many, that every service will be sublimed, and every enjoyment heightened, by the countless throng who share it.

A mighty multitude. "A great multitude, which no man could number." Not a stinted few; not a scanty and reluctant remnant;

We have long wished to find room for the above beautiful piece, by the eloquent author of "Life in Earnest." We are even now obliged to divide it between two numbers. Though we have copied it from an American paper, it appeared originally, we believe, in an English journal.

but a mighty host; like God's own perfections, an affluent and exuberant throng; like Immanuel's merits, which brought them there, something very vast, and merging into infinity; so great a multitude, that, when those who have not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression are added to the many saved in the thousand years of reigning righteousness, it may prove, in the long-run of our poor earth's history, that Satan's captives are outnumbered by the Saviour's trophies.

A miscellaneous multitude. "Of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues." For many ages, one nation supplied most of the inhabitants. Most of those who passed the pearly gates had spoken on earth the Hebrew tongue. But Jesus broke down the partition wall; and since His Gospel went into all the world, all the world has contributed its citizens to the New Jerusalem. The Latin tongue has sent its Cornelius and its Clement; the Greek tongue has sent its Apollos and its Stephen, its Lydia and its Phoebe. The Philippian Gaoler is there; and there is the Ethiopian Treasurer. All kindreds and people are there-men of all aptitudes and all instincts-men of all grades and conditions; the herdman of Tekoah, and the fisherman of Galilee; the head that once wore Israel's crown, and the genius which managed all the realm of Babylon. And there, suffused with sanctity, and softened into perfect subjection, we may recognize the temperament or the talent which gave each on earth his identity and his peculiar interest. David has not laid aside his harp, and there is still a field for Isaac to meditate. Solomon may have still the eagle-eye, which searches Nature's nooks, and scans the infinitude of things; and Moses may retain that meek aspect, to which no future was anxious, and no spot suspicious, for every place and every future was filled by a Covenant-God. Peter's step may still spring elastic and eager on the sapphire floor; whilst Paul triumphs in some lofty theme; and John's love-curtained eye creates for itself a brighter heaven. Blended and overborne by the prevailing likeness to the Elder Brother, each may retain his mental attributes and moral features; and in the dimensions of their disc, and the tinting of their rays, the stars of glory may differ from one another.

A multitude who once were mourners. "These are they which came out of great tribulation." To live in a world like this

was itself a tribulation,-a world of distance from God-a world of faith without sight a world of wicked men; but they have come out of that tribulation. To have had to do with sin was a terrible tribulation, -from the time that they were first convinced of it, and abhorred themselves in dust and ashes, all along through the great life-battle, contending with manifold temptations— contending with the atheism and unbelief within-contending with their own carnality and sloth, their pride and worldly-mindedness, their unruly passions and sinful tempers; but they have come out of that tribulation also. They have done with conviction, and the broken spirit, and the daily struggle, and the entire tribulation of sin. And most of them had sorrows of another sort the tribulation of personal trials. One of them had a brave family, and a splendid fortune; but the same black day saw that fortune fly away, and the grave close over seven sons and three daughters. Another was a king; and his heir-apparent was his pride and joy,-a youth whose beauty was a proverb through all the realm,-so noble and yet so winsome, that his glance was fascination, and the people followed his chariot with delirious plaudits; but whilst the doating father eyed with swelling bosom his gallant successor, the selfish youth clutched at his father's crown; and the old monarch fled with a bursting heart, to return with a broken one-for his misguided son was slain. One of them filled a place

of power in a heathen land, and fidelity to his God brought him into constant jeopardy; till, reft of title, and torn from his mansion, he was flung food for lions into their howling den. And another was an Evangelist, who delighted to go from city to city, proclaiming that Saviour whom he dearly loved; till the grasp of tyranny bore him away to an ocean-rock, and left him to chant the name of Jesus to wailing winds and booming waves. And many others were "destitute, afflicted, tormented;" but from all tribulation they have now come out, and are a safe and happy multitude before the Throne.

And they are a multitude who shall form an eternal monument of the Redeemer's grace and power,-a multitude who "have washed their robes, and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb." There was a time when their robes were not white. many the character was stained by sensuality, and earthliness, and sin; and, though some had little more than the dingy dye of the

Of

natural depravity, others were filthy with many a crime and much positive pollution. But, in His marvellous grace, God had opened a fountain for human guilt, and filled it with the precious blood of His Own Dear Son; and in that sin-purging fountain these ransomed ones had washed their robes. It was there that Abel, so amiable and innocent, felt it needful to seek a cleansing, and confessed to a more excellent sacrifice than that which smoked on his own altar. It was there that Enoch found the white robe in which he walked with God. It was thither that Manasseh carried his raiment, red with the blood of Jerusalem, and found it suddenly white as snow. And it was there that the Dying Thief, blackened with many an atrocity, washed away his stains, and was that same hour fit for Paradise. White is the uniform of glory,-the spotless righteousness of Immanuel. This is the only garb which a child of Adam can wear before the Throne of God. And though the apparel of some may be more curiously wrought and exquisitely embroidered than that of others, though the hand of the beautifying Spirit may have made it "raiment of needlework," the hue and lustre of each is the same. Every spirit in glory wears the vesture radiant with Redeeming righteousness, -the snowy stole, which speaks of the Fountain opened, and which will commemorate through eternity THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

(To be concluded in our next.)

THE BIBLE IN MY TRUNK.

A few evenings ago I was present at a tea-table where the conversation turned upon praying "before folk;" some of the party contending that where two travellers lodge in the same room for a night, it would look Pharisaical for one or the other to kneel down and "say his prayers" in the presence of the other; while the other party defended the propriety of it, and asserted it to be a duty. As an illustration, an incident was related where two members of one church-at home good men enoughboth got into bed prayerless for fear of praying before the other's eyes. This conversation, which was very interesting, and in the course of which many striking illustrations were brought up to prove the healthy example of never neglecting prayer, led a minister present to relate the following anecdote, which I think worthy of preservation, and perhaps may do some good:

"When I was a young man," said the clergyman, "I was a clerk in Boston. Two of my room-mates at my boarding-house were also clerks, about my own age, which was eighteen. The first Sabbath morning, during the three or four long hours that elapsed from getting up to the time of public worship, I felt a secret desire to get bible, which my mother had given me, out of my trunk, and read in it; for I had been so brought up by my parents as to regard it as a duty at home to read a chapter in my bible every Sabbath. I was now very anxious to get my bible and read, but I was afraid to do so before my room-mates, who were reading miscellaneous books, At length my conscience got the mastery, and I rose up and went to my trunk. I had half raised it, when the thought occurred to me, that it might look over-sanctity and Pharisalcal, so I shut my trunk, and returned to the window. For twenty minutes I was miserably ill at ease; I felt I was doing wrong; I started for my trunk a second time, and had my hand upon my little bible, when the fear of being laughed at conquered the better emotion, and I again dropped the top of the trunk. As I turned away from it, one of my room-mates, who observed my irresolute movements, said laughingly,

"James, what's the matter? You seem as restless as a weathercock!'

"I replied laughing in my turn, and then conceiving the truth to be the best, frankly told them both what was the matter. To my surprise and delight, they both spoke up, and averred that they both had bibles in their trunks, but were afraid to take them out, lest I should laugh at them."

"Then,' said I, 'let us agree to read them every Sabbath, and we shall have the laugh all on one side.' To this there was a hearty response, and the next moment the three bibles were out; and I assure you we all felt happier all that day for reading in them on that morning.

"The following Sabbath, about ten o'clock, while we were reading our chapters, two of our fellow-boarders, from another room, came in. When they saw how we were engaged, they stared, and then exclaimed,

"Bless us! what is this? A conventicle?'

"In reply, I, smiling, related to them exactly how the matter stood; my struggle to get my bible from my trunk, and how we three, having found we had all been afraid

of each other without cause, had now agreed to read every Sabbath.

"Not a bad idea,' answered one of them. "You have more courage than I have; I have a bible, too, but I have not looked into it since I have been in Boston! But I'll read it after this, since you have broken the ice.'

"The other then asked one of us to read aloud, and both sat and quietly listened till the time for public worship arrived.

"That evening we three in the same room agreed to have a chapter read every night by one or the other of us at nine o'clock, and we religiously adhered to our purpose. A few evenings after this resolution, four or five of the boarders (for there were sixteen clerks boarding in the house) happened to be in our room talking when the nine o'clock bell rang. One of my

room-mates, looking at me, opened the bible. The others looked enquiringly, and I then explained our custom.

"We will stay and listen,' they said, almost unanimously.

"The result was, that, without an exception, every one of the sixteen clerks spent his Sabbath morning in reading the bible; and the moral effect upon our household was of the highest character. I relate this incident to shew what influence one person, even a youth, may exert for evil or good. No man should ever be afraid to do his duty. A hundred hearts may throb to act right, that only await a leader. I forgot to add that we were called the 'Bible clerks !' All these youths are now useful and christian men, and more than one is labouring in the ministry."-American Sabbath Recorder.

Correspondence.

THE BURIAL OF AN ASS.

I was speaking once with a friend, of the erroneous tendency of the reading of the Church of England burial service over the dead promiscuously, and expressed the opinion, that no religious service at the grave at all would be preferable to that which had an injurious influence. "What, then," said my friend, "would you give one the burial of an ass ?" Circumstances occurred afterwards which brought the subject afresh to my mind, and seemed to offer strong corroboration of the opinions I had then expressed.

A. B. was a man of some influence in the neighbourhood, and, in consequence, known to many. It was his misfortune to be of a most irritable temper, which, being unrestrained, was the source of frequent outbursts of passion. In one of the most violent of these, it was the permission of God's providence to allow the hand of death to strike, and the soul of the swearer was at his Maker's disposal. Solemn was the gathering to bear his lifeless body to his home, and thence, after a while, to the grave; there the procession was met by the minister appointed by the State-church for the burial of the dead; and, while the awfully solemn circumstances attendant on the sudden removal of the deceased were fresh in the minds of those present, this clergy

man (as directed by the law) "committed the body of the departed brother to the grave, in sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection." Surely it is not as God would have it, that men's minds should be blinded with delusive hopes, where there has been no expression of reliance on the mediation of the Saviour whom God has appointed between himself and guilty man.

Very different to the former was the case of B. C. Having lived in the fear of God, and in humble dependence on the righteousness of his ways in the dispensation of his providence; having lived in the exercise of faith in the Son of God, and being privileged to have much happiness in the expectation of enjoying the pleasures of a future state, of which the Holy Spirit is the earnest, his end was peace. As may be supposed, every signal for his departure served only as a reminder of the joyfulness of his expectations; and when God's providence willed that he should be removed by death, the summons found him ready to depart and be with Christ. In the ordinary course of time, his sorrowing friends met to accompany his remains to the tomb. These friends, like himself, were amongst the number of those who dissented from religious worship having forms and ceremonies appointed by'a worldly and state power, and they therefore disapproved of the ceremony

and service which is appointed to be used by the State-church in the burial of the dead. The friend whose ministry the deceased had been in the habit of attending was present, and after having referred to the impossibility of speaking in the parish grave-yard, where they were going to lay their friend, he made a few solemn and impressive remarks while in the house, on the solemnity of death, the importance of a preparation for its coming, and the inestimable privilege of a good hope through grace. The deceased was then silently borne away, accompanied by many weeping friends, who with that solemnity which necessarily attends the circumstances of death, saw the remains of one they much loved, laid in their last resting-place. Doubtless, there were many as they left the grave, who lifted their hearts to God, praying that they may live the life of the righteous, that they may also die his death.

Whilst thinking of the circumstances now related, my mind reverted to the conversation referred to in the commencement of this paper, and I could not help thinking that my friend had thoughtlessly spoken in comparing such an interment to the burial of an ass.

H. P.

THE BAPTISM OF BELLS AND THE BAPTISM OF INFANTS.

Dear Sir,

You and your readers may find in "The Christian Treasury" for May, the following choice bit on the "Baptism of Bells." The writer says,

"We observe that recently in France, a Romish bishop and three inferior clergy were very gravely employed in-what? In baptizing four bells! We have heard of a commission to the clergy to go into all the world to preach the gospel, but never of one directing them to baptize bells. Suppose it should be replied, they do not intend to baptize them in a sacramental way, but only to bless them; taking this construction, where is the authority, we ask, for blessing a mass of metal? How is the insensible and unconscious object to be benefited by a bishop's blessing? Can it feel and enjoy it? Can it be made happy by it? Could it even acknowledge the favour by one single, merry, and spontaneous peal? Alas, that such foolery can be enacted, in an age at least of some intelligence, without exciting pity and contempt !"

Now, Sir, we have heard of a commission to the clergy (not Episcopalian) to go into

all the world to preach the gospel, but never of one directing them to baptize "infants." Suppose it should be replied, they do not intend to baptize them in a sacramental way, but only to bless them; taking this construction, where is the authority, we ask, for thus blessing an infant child? How is the mentally insensible and morally unconscious object to be benefited by a bishop's blessing? Can it feel and enjoy it? Can it be made happy by it? Could it even acknowledge the favour by one single, merry, and spontaneous pealexcept in the way of a spontaneous peal of screaming or crying? Alas, that such foolery can be enacted, in an age at least of some intelligence, without exciting pity and contempt!

I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully, Tenterden.

D. PLEDGE.

THE SABBATH QUESTION. We shall be glad to receive communications on the subject named in the following letter. Articles written with sufficient ability, and in a proper spirit, will be inserted without reference to the views advocated.

Sir, Will you permit me, through the medium of your valuable magazine, to request an answer from some of your correspondents to the following questions in regard to the Sabbath? I have read with interest the letters on John iii. 5, and as that subject has been allowed by you to be discussed with candour, so I hope you will permit this question (which so seldom is allowed to come before the public on both ́sides) to be examined with equal liberality: especially in these times, when the public mind is engaged with disputes as to the expediency of making laws for the greater sanctification of the Lord's-day, it might be well to raise such enquiries as these:

Is the day for which they seek to enforce such sanctity, the true Sabbath which God has commanded? Is it the day which our Saviour and his apostles, and christians for the first three or four centuries, observed? And does it behove christians, and espeIcially those who believe that man has no right to legislate on matters of religion, to seek to obtain such stringent laws for the sanctifying the first day of the week?

Trusting that you will give the subject an impartial examination,

I am, Sir, yours truly,

T. W. B.

« AnteriorContinuar »