as others which have no hope. Should our eyes no more behold loved ones who have left us, and upon whom our lives leaned more than we ever knew before their arms were finally unclasped from ours, and the shelter they made was for ever taken away,-let us not yield to weakness or despair. But let us look beyond the darkness to a higher light. Let us carry our thoughts from earth to heaven; and again, when the darkness is past, let us remember the duties of the day-assured that in due season we, too, shall reap if we faint not, and enter into our rest. "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."* "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." + Such worthy aims and hopeful aspirations should especially mingle with our sorrow when, as now, we are led to recall the departure of the wise and good; and our thoughts for the dead are thoughts not only of love, but of reverent *Revelation, xiv. 13. + 1 Corinthians, xv. 58. affection and of deep respectful tenderness. The late Princess,* sister to our gracious and beloved Queen, was one whose memory is justly blessed, as her life was not merely blameless, but in a rare degree a true and beautiful life,studious of all things high and pure, lovely and of good report, thoughtful not only for her own. things, but for the things of others also. It is the presence of such genuine and noble natures, faithful to duty, firm in good, ever aspiring through all weakness and imperfection, that helps us more than aught else to realise a higher and more enduring being, a spiritual sphere above and beyond us, where the unfinished good will be complete, and the aspiration become a fact; where, moreover, hearts that have taken counsel together here how to live well and do their duty fitly, shall be joined in bonds never more to be broken, and in yet loftier endeavours after all that is true and right. Let us not fail to be followers of so Christian an example. Let such a loss, and every thought of dear ones who have passed away, inspire us with hope yet unattained, as well as with regret *The Princess Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who died at BadenBaden, Sept. 23, 1872. The remarkable character of the Princess, "her fine intelligence, and sweet, serene nature," will be found noticed in Mr Martin's Life of the Prince Consort, ii. 478. K us! for a past that can never be regained. Let us awake from all indifference, and laying aside all pride, vanity, or self-indulgence, give ourselves faithfully and heartily to Christian work. All have work to do, trusts to be discharged, aims to be fulfilled, evil to be overcome, good to be realised. Let us not weary in well-doing. How often, alas! do we spend our days in idleness and our nights in vanity. What small occupations engross us, what poor anxieties and ambitions torment us, what paltry pleasures absorb The time is passing away, and we are not redeeming it; the hour of death is drawing near, and we are not preparing for it. Let us take care lest, a promise being left us of entering into rest, any of us should come short of it through unbelief or negligence. Let not science nor the world steal our hearts from God; but humbly feeling how little we know, and how much we need, may we look upward both for light and help. May we "hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering," and run with patience the race that is set before us, so that at last we may lay hold of eternal life, and through the grave and gate of death may pass to the inheritance of the saints in light, and dwell for ever with the Lord, that where He is, there we may be also. The departed saints shall welcome our faithfulness-for they await our coming, and without us they shall not be made perfect. "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." PREACHED IN BALMORAL CASTLE, 148 VIII. LIGHT IN THE FUTURE. REVELATION, xxii. 5.—“ And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light." HE future is to us the unknown. We speak THE of it as dark and inscrutable; and so in a true sense it is. We know nothing in detail of that future life which is promised us in Christ. We cannot conceive it, or bring before our minds any true image of it. The more we may try to do So, the less do we probably realise the Divine ideal. The picture may be splendid and attractive; but it is our own device. It is the reflection of our own imagination. It tells us nothing which it has not borrowed from our own thought. And it may be doubted whether all the pictures of this kind men have formed do not rather tend to lower than heighten the reality. They have |