in a larger inspiration for a more melodious burst of praise. They would not return to you now, much though they loved you and you them. They do not miss you now, much though you miss them. Your sorrows do not diminish their joys, and their joys ought to diminish your sorrows. O, who would bring them back again here, to toil, and sweat, and suffer, and, perhaps, to sin without penitence, and to die without faith? You, O weeping parent, ought to be the very last to think of it, and yours should ever be the song of gratitude, "O blest exchange! O envied lot! Stranger to pain-in pleasure placed- RECOGNITION AFTER THE RESURRECTION. REV. DR. WM. ANDERSON, GLASGOW. How different in character will be the meeting after the resurrection! when that grave, feared as a destroyer, shall be demonstrated, as made of Christ, the regenerator of our friends-rendering back in incorruption that which it received in corruption, in glory that which it received in dishonour, in power that which it * Why Weepest Thou? or, The Cry from Ramah Hushed by the Voice from Heaven. Amanual for bereaved parents. By the Rev. John Macfarlane, LL.D., United Presbyterian Church, Clapham. London: James Nisbet & Co. received in weakness,* a spiritual body, fit as a tabernacle for the glorified soul, that which it received a natural body, an impediment to 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 recognise her son, who departed from her an emaciated infant, in yonder angelic form in the vigour 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 celestaial 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 recognise them. The Lord will provide: but methinks it will, probably, he a busy day for those good angels who ministered to us on earth, finding us out for one *In the inscription on the tombstone of my child, I have thus paraphrased the Scripture, "Sown in Infancy, he shall be raised in Manhood."--When once comforting a bereaved saint with the assur-ance that she was the mother of a heavenly family, and that she would yet see her children in the kingdom, she inquired what I thought they would be like. I quoted 1 Cor. xv. 43 to her. "Does that mean," she said, "that they will appear like men?" I answered, "I thought many interpretations were further from the truth." "I like that well enough," she replied, "but O, that it might please the Lord to show them to me, just as they were in this world, though it should be but for a minute!"-On the subject of the mode of recognition, I remark, that there are phenomena being daily exhibited, which make it no fantasy to suppose, that the ardent wish of a mother's heart going forth over the kingdom may have an attractiveinfluence in selecting and bringing her child to her side. 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. Alas! many a mother will not find her son there; and yet the Saviour will make her happy; there can be no grief in the Paradise of God, no, not even for a perished son she could not endure him; and Christ will give Himself to her; and he will bring her some other woman's child, who has been seeking for his mother in vain; and He will say, Woman, behold thy son, and to him, Behold thy mother, and the wounds of the hearts of both will be healed. And yet, you who live, see that you secure for the heavenly communion your own sons, and your own mothers: for, although new friends would suffice, old friends will be in many respects preferable. * A WORD OF WARNING TO MOTHERS. REV. DR. WM. ANDERSON, GLASGOW. Ah, let 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?" the bereaved mother be admonished. 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 If the vision of * Discourses. (First Series.) By William Anderson, LL.D., Glasgow. Published 1844. 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 |