NO CARE IN HEAVEN

Zachariah declares that "the streets of Jerusalem shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." It is a poetic description of the heavenly employments of children of a larger growth. For when we come to look a little deeper than the surface, what do we mean by play? Coming home at the end of the day, weary and worn, and fretted, you open the door upon your little one, rolling and tumbling upon the floor with a kitten. It is certainly not a very

classical nor a very dignified scene, and yet, somehow, your heart straightway softens to it, and you sit down and watch the romp with a sense of sympathy and refreshment that you have not had through all the dull and plodding day. Why is it? Why, but that because, after all, that is life without effort, or care, or burden; joy without labor or rivalry or tedium! And what is such a life disengaged from its animal characteristics, and ennobled by a spiritual insight, but the true idea of heaven, where, if there be activity there will be no effort, but where all that we do and are will be the free, spontaneous outburst of the overflowing joy and gladness that are in us.-H. C. Potter, D.D.

THE BETTER LAND

"I hear thee speak of the better land;
Thou call'st its children a happy band!
Mother! oh, where is that radiant shore?
Shall we not seek it, and weep no more?
Is it where the flower of the orange blows,
And the fireflies dance through the myrtle boughs?"
Not there, not there, my child!”

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"Is it where the feathery palm trees rise.

And the date grows ripe under sunny skies?
Or 'mid the green islands of glittering seas,
Where fragrant forests perfume the breeze,

And strange bright birds, on their starry wings,
Bear the rich hues of all glorious things?"
"Not there, not there, my child!"

"Is it far away, in some region old,
Where the rivers wander o'er sands of gold,
Where the burning rays of the ruby shine,
And the diamond lights up the secret mine,
And the pearl gleams forth from the coral strand?
Is it there, sweet mother, that better land?"

"Not there, not there, my child!"

"Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy!
Ear hath not heard its deep sounds of joy;
Dreams cannot picture a world so fair;
Sorrow and death may not enter there;
Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom,
Beyond the clouds, and beyond the tomb;

It is there, it is there, my child!"-Mrs. Hemans.

OCCUPATIONS IN HEAVEN

We are warranted in ascribing to that blessed state all that is most genial and ennobling in occupation; all that is most enduring and satisfying in possession; all that is most pure and excellent in character: The occupations of heaven are endless praise, triumph, joy. The possessions of heaven are infinite glory, riches, knowledge. The character of heaven is perfect love, holiness, peace. These things we can at present know only in part, and the word of divine revelation itself must of necessity tell us much of what heaven is by telling us what it is not. With all our studies and all deepest experience we shall never fathom the full meaning of the one word-Heaven.

-Daniel March, D.D.

THE "NEW JERUSALEM"

We are all familiar with the glorious things which are spoken of the "New Jerusalem." But how little of the future and the unseen can be known by mere description; how faint and imperfect a view you can get of anything by a mere statement; how little you know of a landscape, a waterfall, a picture, by any description that can be given! Especially must this be so of objects which have no resemblance to anything that we have seen. Who ever obtained any idea of Niagara by a description? Who, say to the most polished Greek and Roman mind, could have conveyed by mere description any idea of the printing press, of a locomotive engine, of the magnetic telegraph? Who could convey to one born blind an idea of the prismatic colors; or to the deaf an idea of sounds? And when you think how meagre in the Bible is the description of heaven, when you think how easy it would have been to furnish a more minute description, are you certain that human language could have communicated to you the great and bright conception; or that, if words could have been found, they would have conveyed to you an exact idea of a state so different from what is our condition here?-Barnes.

TREASURE IN HEAVEN

Who has no treasure in heaven-well-remembered forms hallowed by separation and distance-stars of hope illumining with ever increasing beauty life s utmost horizon? What family circle has remained unbroken-no empty chair-no cherished mementoes-voices and footsteps returning no more—no members transferred to the illimitable beyond? Heaven is ours; for is it not occupied by our dead Heaven and earth lay near together in the myths of the ancients; and shall it be otherwise in the institutions of Christianity? We need faith. Our paths are surrounded by the departed; our assemblies multiplied by their presence; our lives bettered by their ministries. From beneath night shadows we look forward into the approaching day; and while we gaze, the beams of the morning spread light and loveliness over the earth. It is not otherwise, as fron beneath the night of time we peer anxiously after the pure day of heaven. Faith penetrates the veil and bids the invisible stand disclosed; while its magic wand wakens into life forms well-known, but holier and lovelier far than we knew them here. Such thoughts make us better, purer, gentler. We cannot keep society with the sainted dead and with the great God in whose presence they dwell without feeling a nobler life throbbing through us. They draw us upward. We grow less earthly, more heavenly.

Speak to me, my Saviour, low and sweet
From out the hallelujahs, sweet and low,
Lest I should fear and fall, and miss Thee so
Who art not missed by any that entreat.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Grace and peace in Christ, my dear little son. I hear with great pleasure that you are learning your lessons so well and praying so diligently. Continue to do so, my son, and cease not. When I come home I will bring you a nice present from the fair. I know a beautiful garden, where there are a great many

children in fine little coats, and they go under the trees and gather apples and pears, cherries and plums; they sing and run about, and are as happy as they can be. Sometimes they ride on nice little ponies, with golden bridles and silver saddles. I asked the man whose garden it is, “What little children are these ?” And he told me, "They are little children who love to pray and learn and are good." When I said, "My dear sir, I have a little boy at home; his name is little Hans Luther; would you let him come into the garden, too, to eat some of these nice apples and pears, and ride on these fine little ponies, and play with these children?" The man said, "If he loves to say his prayers and learn his lessons, and is a good boy, he may come; Lippus (Melanchthon's son), and Jost (Jonas's son), also; and when they are all together, they can play upon the fife and drum, and lute, and all kinds of instruments, and skip about and play with little crossbows."

He then showed me a beautiful mossy place, in the middle of the garden, for them to skip about in, with a great many golden fifes and drums and silver crossbows. The children had not yet had their dinner, and I could not wait to see them play, but I said to the man, " My dear sir, I will go away and write all about it to my little son John, and tell him to be fond of saying his prayers and learn well and be good, so that he may come into this garden; but he has a grandaunt named Lehne, whom he must bring along with him." The man said, " Very well; go write to him." Now, my dear little son, love your lessons and your prayers, and tell Phillip and Jodocus to do so, too, that you may all come to the garden. May God bless you. Give Aunt Lehne my love, and kiss her for me. Your dear father, Martinus Luther. In the year 1530. Coburg, June 19.

BIRDS AND FLOWERS IN HEAVEN

Children of delicate natures are always fond of birds. A beautiful child, who died at six years of age, was an instance of this. Seeing his end approaching I said to him:

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Are you willing to die, dear, and go to heaven?"

He put his little arms around my neck and was silent for many minutes, while my heart sank within me. At length he lifted his sweet face and asked:

"Are there birds and flowers in heaven, mamma?"

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'Yes, my darling, all that is beautiful here we shall find there."

"Then I am willing to go, dear mamma.”

In a few hours his pure spirit passed away to those realms, the loveliness of which no heart can as yet conceive.—“S.”

He that studies to know duty, and labors in all things to do it, will have two Heavens: one of joy, peace and comfort on earth, and the other of glory and happiness beyond the grave.-R. Poller.