The times., 1897-05-17

the balm OF the one and the tonic OF the
other The social life in that realm where
they are is superb and perfect NO contro-
versies or jealousies, or hates; but love,
universal love, everlasting love.
Someone says: "Will you tell US what
most impressed you In heaven?' I viii.
/ was most impressed with the reversal
OF earthly conditions. I knew, of. course.
that there would be differences of attire
and residence in heaven, for Paul had
declared long ago that such would then
differ as one star differeth from another"
as Mars from Mercury, as Saturn from
Jupiter.
l pointed to one of the most colonnaded
and grandly -domed residences in all the
city, and said. Who lives there?' and
the answer was, "The widow who gave
two mites, s'And who lives there?' and
the answer was. .'The penitent thief to
whom Christ said, This day shalt thou
lie with me in Paradise - .And who
lives thcIe?'' said, and the answer was,
.'The blind heggar who prayed, Lord, that
my eyes may be opened"
Some of those professors OF religion who
were famous on earth l asked about, but
no one could tell me anything concerning
them. Ttcir names Were not even in the
City Directory of the New jerusalem.
The fact is that | suspected some OF them
had not got there at all.
AS L walked through those streets 1
appreciated for the first time what Paul
said to Timothy: ''If we suffer, We shall
also reign with Him." 1t surprised me
beyond description that all the great
of heaven were great sufferers All the
high up In heaven. great sufferers, and
women more than men; Felicitas, and
st Cecilia, and st. Agnes, and St Agatha,
and st. Lucia, and women never heard
OF outside their own neighborhood, queens
of the needle, and the broom, and the
scrubbing- brush, and the wash-tub, and
the dairy, rewarded according to how
well they did their work. whether to
set tea-tabie or govern nation. whether
empress or milkmaid
My walk through the city explained n
thousand things on earth that had been
to me inexplicable When / saw up there
the superior delight and superior heaven
of many who had on earth had it hard
with cancers, and bankruptcies, and per
secutiors. and trials of all sorts, | sail:
'.God has eQualized 1t all at last, excess
OF enchantment in heaven has more than
made up for the deficits on earth
Then passed on amid chariots OF saliva
tion, and along by conquerors thrones, Ind
amid pilared ma aIesties, and by windows
of agate. and under arches that had been
hoisted for returned yictors. And as
came toward the walls with the gates,
the walls flashed upon me with emeralds,
aud sapphires, and chrysoprases, and
ameth ysts, until 1 trenbIed under the
glory, and then l heard bolt shove, and
latch lift, and Ia gate swing, and they
were all of pearl, and | passed out loaded
with rapiures, and down by worlds lower
aud lower, and lower still, until / came
within sight of the city OF my earthly
residence, ana until through the window
of my earthly home the sun poured SO
strong upon my pillow that my eyeiids
felt it, aud in bewilderment as TO where
WAS and what had seen, awoke
Oh. ye OF the broken heart, and the dis
appointed ambition, and the shattered for
tune. and the blighted life, take comfort
from what 1 saw in my Sabbath morning
dream.
Heaven, as dreamed about it. and as
read about II, is SO benign a realm YOU
cannot any OF you afford 10 miss 1t. Oh,
will il not be transcendently glorious after
the struggle OF this life is over to stand
in that eternal safety. Samuel Rutherford.
though they viciously burned his books
and unjastly arrested him for treason,
wrote OF that celestial spectacle:
"Tbe King there in His beauty,
without a veil is seen;
1t We're well-spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between.
The Lamb with his fair army,
|. Doth on Mount Zion stand.
And glory, glory dweileth
In InImannel's land"