its exercises. Hosannah to the Lord of Resurrection for this blessed hope! Yea, so overwhelming is its glory, that it is like to obscure our faith. How shall the mother recognize her son, who departed from her an emaciated infant, in yonder angelic form in the vigor and brilliancy of resurrection manhood? And how shall the father, who wept bitter tears in secret over his daughter's decrepitude, distinguish her in yonder seraph of celestial grace? What mean you, friends? You surely cannot wish to meet your children in that plight of wretchedness in which you bade them farewell, so that, unassisted, you could of yourselves recognize them. The Lord will provide ; but methinks it will, probably, be a busy day for those good angels who ministered to us on earth, finding us out for one another, and introducing us. Remembering how they had seen us grieve for one another, how sympathetically they will enjoy the scene, as we stand amazed for a while at one another's glory before we embrace!

How many parents there are, who have almost entirely forgotten those of their children who died in infancy; and who, being inquired at about the number of their family, will, so unlike that sweet faithful child who so resolutely maintained "we are seven," give account

only of those who live, the least worthy of being reckoned! Faithless father and mother, that you are! amid all your rapture, how ashamed you shall be of your forgetfulness, when these neglected ones are restored to you, so beautiful and glorious; and especially when, under that angel-guidance, they hasten with such excitement to meet with those of whom they are told, that under the Creator they were the authors of their existence ! Nor will it be with little excitement that they hasten to meet you, their brothers and sisters, with whom they may associate and worship, as being more of their own nature than any others to be found in all the kingdom. The whole of you brothers and sisters, as well as parents meditate on them; the thought is most sanctifying: it endears the Redeemer with peculiar attraction to a tender heart; and, remember, there are no hearts great which are not tender.

A WORD OF WARNING TO MOTHERS

REV. DR. WM. ANDERSON, GLASGOW.

THE Psalmist says of God, "There is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee," speaking evidently, comparatively, and signifying

that among many objects desired, God received the supreme place. This is a subject of familiar illustration. But David said something before that: "Whom have I in heaven but Thee?" Ah, let the bereaved mother be admonished. If the vision of her child in heaven be more frequent, and more endeared to her heart than the vision of the child's Saviour; and much more, if the vision of the former so engross her heart as to exclude the vision of the latter altogether, I must assure her that heavenly-mindedness such as this will not promote that heavenly meeting on which her hope is set. Her first object of admiring contemplation in heaven must be her own Saviour; and her great hope must be, meeting with Him, and seeing Him in his glory, before any meditation on the present happiness of her deceased child be of a sanctifying character; and before any hope of meeting again with that child in heavenly bliss be a hope not to be disappointed. I would express myself tenderly, when it is a bereaved mother's heart which is addressed; but would. it be genuine tenderness if it were delusive, flattering unfaithfulness? Hope first in Christ for yourself, and then hope, not for your child's salvation (that is secure), but that you shall enjoy companionship with Him in glory.

RESTORATION OF CHILDREN IN HEAVEN.

Rev. Dr. JohN BROWN, Edinburgh.

WITH What delight will parents, themselves released from the captivity of the grave, behold their early-lost, long-mourned children coming forth, not the pale, emaciated, lifeless, ghastly forms they reluctantly committed to the grave, but strong in incorruptibility, glorious in beauty, "fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body." Then shall it appear to the assembled universe, that among the redeemed of the Lord, fathers have not hoped in vain, nor mothers brought forth for trouble. "They are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them."

But it will be long, long ere they return. The captivity of death is measured, not by years, but by ages. What then? What then? It is but the few, it may be the very few, remaining days of the years of our pilgrimage, which prevent our spirits from embracing theirs; and in the resting-places prepared for us, though we shall not cease to desire, we shall never weary for "the adoption, the redemption of the body." "Be patient, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord, Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and

hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; and stablish your hearts." Then "those young and tender plants, which are now cut down, and withering around us, shall spring up in fairer and more durable forms." "The children of the resurrection cannot die any more, but are equal to the angels."

Having been raised from the dead, they shall "mount up together in the clouds," along with those who have been miraculously changed, "to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall they ever be with the Lord." Among that glorious company shall be found those infants and little children whose untimely departure to "the land of the enemy" drew forth such tender regrets and bitter tears. They shall not only "return," but "come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." They shall not only leave for ever the dark and lonesome abodes of death, but they shall for ever dwell in the cheerful regions of perfect life, and light, and joy. They shall not only be brought from the land of the enemy, but they shall be "brought in and be planted in the mountain of Jehovah's inheritance, in the place which He has made for Himself to dwell in, in the