THY WILL BE DONE. HOUGH dark and heavy sorrow Though grief doth hover o'er thee, Though when life's bark seems freighted With happiness for thee, And with bright hopes elated, Thy heart with joy may be, And Grief thy heart doth stun, Then pray, in that sad hour: "Father, Thy will be done." That sorrowing mortals shed on such green graves, DICKENS. HERE is one more reason why I am disposed to accept this doctrine of future recognition; that is, so many in their last hour on earth have confirmed this theory. I speak not of 'persons who have been delirious in their last moment and knew not what they were about, but of persons who died in calmness and placidity, and who were not naturally superstitious. Often the glories of heaven have struck the dying pillow, and the departing man has said he saw and heard those who had gone away from him. How often it is in the dying moments parents see their departed children and children see their departed parents. I came down to the banks of the Mohawk River. It was evening, and I wanted to go over the river, and so I waved my hat and shouted, and after awhile I saw some one waving on the opposite bank, and I heard him shout, and the boat came across, and I got in and was transported. And so I suppose it will be in the evening of our life. We will come down to the river of death and give a signal to our friends on the other shore, and they will give a signal back to us, and the boat comes and our departed kindred are the oarsmen, the fires of the setting day tingling the top of the paddles. In Oh, have you ever sat by such a deathbed? In that hour you hear the departing soul cry. "Hark! look!" You hearkened and looked. A little child, pining away because of the death of its mother, getting weaker and weaker every day, was taken into the room where hung the picture of her mother. She seemed to enjoy looking at it, and then she was taken away, and after awhile died. the last moment that wan and wasted little one lifted her hands, while her face lighted up with the glory of the next world, and cried out "Mother!" You tell me she did not see her mother? She did. So in my first settlement at Belleville a plain man said to me, "What do you think I heard last night? I was in the room where one of my neighbors was dying. He was a good man, and he said he heard the angels of God singing before the throne. I haven't much poetry about me, but I listened and I heard them too." Said I, "I have no doubt of it." Why, we are to be taken up to heaven at last by ministering spirits. Who are they to be? Souls that went up from Madras, or Antioch, or Jerusalem? Oh, no, our glorified kindred are going to troop around us. VISIONS OF A DYING YOUTH. THIS young man about half-past ten was evidently sinking; but he was still able gently to wave his hand, bidding those around him Farewell; and he added with a smile-" Death! where is thy sting? grave! where is thy victory?" After a little time he spoke once more, to beg all about him would be perfectly still: "Don't speak, don't speak," he feebly uttered, "I am enjoying deep and blessed communion with God." For above half an hour perfect silence was maintained, during which he seemed wrapt in meditation, a smile frequently playing about his face. About the end of that time, his head gradually fell back, his eye brightened, and as if his ear caught the harmonies of the invisible world, he exclaimed in a calm and loud voice, expressive of admiration-"Beautiful! beautiful!" A few moments more, and then as if the veil had been withdrawn, which hides from mortal eye the radiancy of the upper world, he added'Glory! glory!" And with these words dying on his lips, he fell back upon his pillow, and his purified spirit took its flight to heaven. This is a description of FACT. It is A FACT, whether Christianity |