of Newton ceased its profound investigations into the laws of the universe, and sunk in ignoble repose?"

Rev. Phillips Brooks believes that the man whose life is a struggle after simple obedience to God, when at last his earthly task is done, may look from the borders of this life into the other, and humbly say, as his whole history of the life that is finished, and the whole prayer for the life that is yet to come, the words that Jesus said with his cross before him: "I have glorified thee, O my Father! on the earth; now, O my father! glorify thou me with thee."

Bishop Matthew Simpson pictures the grave as "a passage into the beautiful and the glorious. We have laid our friends in the grave, but they are around us. The little children that sat upon our knees, into whose eyes we looked with love, whose little hands have clasped our neck, on whose cheek we have imprinted the kiss, we can almost feel the throbbing of their heart to-day. They have passed from us, but where are they? Just beyond the line of the invisible. And the fathers and mothers who educated us, who directed and comforted us, where are they but just beyond the line of the invisible? The associates of our lives that walked along life's pathway, those with whom we took sweet counsel and who dropped from our side, where are they but just beyond us?-not far away-it may be very near, in the heaven of light and love. Is there anything to alarm us in the thought of the invisible ? No; it seems to me that sometimes when our heads are on the pillow, there come whispers of joy from the spirit land which have dropped into our hearts thoughts of the sublime and beautiful and glorious as if some angel's wing passed over our brow and some dear one sat by our pillow and communed with our hearts to raise our affections toward the other and better world."

And so, of the relation of the earthly life to the future equally clear and convincing views have been expressed. "Only when,' says Rev. Thomas Smyth, D. D., "in the light of God's word, we see life to be a probation, a discipline, a preparation, a labor, a strife, a conquest, an emancipation, a redemption; and the world to be the field and opportunity for working out glory and honor and immortality and eternal life-only then is sunlight thrown

over the turbid chaos of human existence, every wave of trouble made to sparkle with beauty and roll in majestic harmony, and sin, sorrow, and toil-clothed in angel garments-transformed into ministering spirits sent forth to minister to heirs of immortality."

"The soul is too great," affirms Dr. E. A. Kitridge, "to be fully expanded in this sphere. Its capabilities link it to another. It hungers for knowledge, but only learns the alphabet here and picks out a few crumbs of truth. This longing for immortality implanted by the Creator is his promise that it shall be satisfied."

President C. H. Payne remarks that "in every true life there is an adaptation of means to end; an inseparable sequential connection between the life that is and the life which is to be. Look upon this life as in any sense a finality; it baffles your thought. Look upon it as a probation, as a means to an end, and the mystery is solved."

Hear Bishop John F. Hurst: “Man is made for spiritual beauty. Hence the need of this stern discipline of conflict. The youth meets it as he opens the door of his father's house and looks out on life. The sound of battle is heard. Will he triumph? The eagle is not made for the valley and the shadows. Its beak and talons, its eye and wing, speak of its upward reach and the sphere it has to fill. We are to live in the sunlight and infinite favor of God. Through strenuous endeavor, by patient suffering, not by ‘peace,' but by a 'sword,' are our victories to be won. Loiter not, but with faith in him who causeth us always to triumph, let us go forward."

Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler finds comfort in the same thought: "To my mind there is only one solution for life's mysteries and only one support for its days of terrible affliction. The only relief I can find is in the certainty that this life is not the end; but simply and only the preparatory school for the real and endless life beyond. The moment that I accept this truth fully and hold it firmly, I find solid ground for my feet and light for my sorrowing soul."

Rev. W. H. Wilcox, D. D., adds his testimony: "Life is a process of spiritual discipline. Our world is a reform school, where God is trying to educate his wayward children for eternal lives of

uprightness and blessedness in heaven. And the burdens we are called to bear form a most important part of our training."

If, then, correction, salvation, and discipline constitute the purpose of man's life on earth, and eternal ages are his destiny when he goes hence, how important the years of his pilgrimage! How important those factors of thought, of emotion, of principle, of action and of experience, which enter into his probationary training. These constitute the sum of the Christian Religion. Its suitableness to man in relation to an unending futurity has been the theme of the ages. "There are many things of importance in this world," says Brown, "but none so important as religion. To man as an immortal being, it is solely important. It casts all other things into the shade, and stands forth in its own ineffable brightness bearing the stamp of its divine origin. To the man who died yesterday, it is now a matter of no consideration whether he was rich or poor; whether he was honored or despised; whether he was a prince or a beggar; whether he spent his days in mirth, or had anxiety and sorrow for his portion; all these things, except for the influence they may have exerted on the formation of his religious and moral character, all these are now to him matters of no importance; but it is a matter of importance to him still, and will continue to be so forever, whether he was or was not really religious; for on that single point hinges the happiness or the misery of eternity.

"You may easily get other subjects on which to employ your thoughts; but none that so much deserve them as Religion. You may easily get other objects on which to fix your affections: but none that will reward them like religion. You may make other acquirements, which will be useful to you in your social capacity; but none so universally and really useful as Religion. To be without Religion, is virtually to deny the most honorable fact which can be stated in reference to human nature; that it is closely connected with the Divinity. To be without Religion, is to be 'quite unfurnished' for the awful eternity on which we must soon enter."

Let us give our cheerful, but earnest attention to this great truth. Let us ponder it over and over. Let us be deeply serious in apply

ing it to our lives. Let us be diligent in the use of its means. Let us be tireless in availing ourselves of its advantages and privileges. Let us make it the one business of our existence here to know its worth, feel its power, and gain its glory. As some unknown author says:

"So live, that when the mighty caravan,

Which halts one night-time in the Vale of Death,
Shall strike its white tents for the morning march,
Thou shalt mount onward to the Eternal Hills,
Thy foot unwearied, and thy strength renewed
Like the strong eagle's for the upward flight."

THE TRAINING OF CHILDHOOD.

A good part of life's discipline results from the institution of the family. Our lives are mainly spent at home. Business and pleasure may take us for brief periods abroad, but we always gladly

return to

"The resort

Of love, of joy, of peace, and plenty; where,
Supporting and supported, polished friends
And dear relations mingle into bliss."

We are born at home, taught to speak and think at home, trained in our habits of life chiefly at home, tried in a thousand ways as to temper and disposition at home, and swayed by home influences in all the relations we sustain in life. As a rule, a man is in character what he appears to be at home. Restraints are thrown off, and he manifests the real spirit of his heart. When George Whitefield was asked whether a certain man was good, he replied, "I know not-I never lived with him." And Philip Henry declares that "Every man, in religion, is really, what he is relatively."

A good family government is a glorious arrangement for a child. "Order is heaven's first law," and to be made subject to the first law of heaven is to take the first step toward getting there. "Let everything be done decently, and in order," is the mandate of the apostle. The welfare of a household requires the observance of

times and seasons, of distinctions in age, authority, and privileges. Regularity of devotion, of meals, of rising, and of rest, is worth insisting upon. Peace, temper, diligence, economy, prosperity, not unfrequently depend upon it. Confusion is the foe to bliss, and disorder is friendly to disease and pain. Authority, rightly shown, is often a boon, and subordination the best lesson a mortal can learn. In the family especially, "It must needs be that offenses will come," and how shall they be disposed of? There are two extremes-too much severity and too great leniency. Let the father be the tenderest of fathers, but a father still. Make not a helpless child tremble and retreat, but win his confidence and love so that he will run to your arms even for correction and reproof. "And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." "Chasten thy son while there is hope." Make him clearly to understand his duties and privileges. Keep improper books and companions away from him. Supply him with good books. There are families who spend a hundred dollars willingly to improve their stock who think that ten dollars is too much to pay for good reading for their children; and yet they wonder why their boys will leave their homes for bad company. "A home without books is like a room without windows." Teach your children to love fine and good books. "Five-cent volumes,' says the Congregationalist, "with dingy print and worn-out cuts within paper covers, do not foster a love for literature any more than curtainless windows and broken panes foster a love for home. The dress of books often determines for children the difference between boorishness and culture. Good parents will insist on their children finishing one book before they take up another. They will then be less likely to choose worthless books, and they will linger in thought over the characters and pictures brought before them. Such parents will also ask their children why they are reading this book; and why at this particular time, and why they like it. And they will reap the reward of their care in seeing their children improve in tastes, appreciative of fine thoughts, happy in home life, and prepared to choose wisely between good and evil.”

Take care to be strictly truthful with your children. They learn in their tenderest years to study our faces, and to interpret our