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AET. 19. , . - .. , .f' ■ i ' ; ■ . ■ . \ ' " ' .-'. . ^ •" SERMON, > > PREACHED AT WEST BRANCH EAST RIVER, PICTOU, ON THE 18T DAY OF OCTOBER, 1865^ m- r\aJ^M THE REV. a McGregor, a. m. <'■<.."''■- .-■'■>■ PUBLISHED BY KEaUEST, DEDICATED TO THE TOUNG OF HIS CONGREGATION. PICTOU, N. S.: PttrNTED AT THE "COLONIAL STANDARD" OFFICE. "' 'V " V -i'-'^y 186G. ■fiVf^ .■''7:- ;,';;'' '- •» ,' , ■ .,1/, ^i^. 5 ^,-,. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ - •!. _ ;■ -^ •■f^/ '.I .^■■. .,'■;'. i- ■ «V>»V4' - **^ '-»•.".■■ ..;^.i^^:j^jrM. -i 5^ ^i:^i4dLUf;j^i. a it A. Si-Jv ■ji.';'hii^m''^'!'.i. ?.-lff TO vj'niJ'Tr ■•r»iT I'l? vrrr;;'-!^'^ rt - "-;5'^---V; i. .-.,.. '''•;/?,:V'^''_, ^;•,*^ '«lv. f : - :v ; ■ 1f°: ;.i-:i ,( 1, i / 1 -n" 1' il •<■■>>,■; J/ J' •■../, i ■;;•;! / :■.. " And Hb said unto them, Give place ; for the Maid i$ 2WT DEAD, BUT 8LBEPETH."— Matt. ix. 24. It seems easy to comprehend this death-scene in the house of Jairus. In so far, at least, as some of the circumstances attending it are conoemed, the event might have been one of yesterday, and the dead one of our acquaintances and fStiends. We can, in thought, easily cross that threshold darkened by the shadow of affliction, mingle with those mourners that have, long ages ago, slept in their turn the sleep of death, understand their sorrows, and comprehend their joys. Standing by the side of the couch where lies the lifeless maiden, we can gaze upon that brow ennobled by death- calm and motionless as the chiseled marble, and more dignified and august, by far, than that of any living queen. And, as we stand by that couch and gaze upon that upturned, motionless face, resting in the strange depth of the marvellous calm of death, we certainly do feel, that throughout the ages, there is a singular sameness in the existence and causes of human sorrow, and the Sources of human joy. Time, mighty though it be, is not onmi- j}Otent. Centuries, in their onward march^ m^y lay low and destroy the works of man, but they change not the work of the Almighty. The ages, as they roll onwards, witness human customs strangely altered, but they leave human nature Unchanged. The house of the ruler has long ago crumbled to decays those who dwelt beneath its roof have passed out into the land bt fol'getfulness and silence; — ^but the death-scene there witnessed, the emotions there experienced, the wail of sbrrow that has thence risen heavenward, are such as constantly reappear, and may be witnessed in a thousand homesteads, and heard around a thousand hearths. But, what a strange interest clusters around that home where Death has entered, and turound that member of the family Avhom he has summoned away ! Truly, however poor and insignificant men may be in life, there is at least one day coming when they shall appear great and noble, aiid bear upon their brows a majesty more august and imposing than the greatest of princes. Their homes, may be sufficiently lowly and humble ,* they may die in a poor hovel or in a lonely garret, —but, no sooner does Death enter than the house becomes a palace, and men enter it reverently with Uncovered heads, and speak softly and tr gently, fbr they 21338 tfiat a greater than they has passed the threshold before them, tcttd* has left thb'impress of his hand upon one of the inmates, and that lus dread 'presence still hovers arotmd 'the darkened room. Such ^vas the case in the house of the rulef, at his only daughter lay (;alm antd 'mottonlesj beneath us roof, and tliev?aoT»racr» moved ttbout the Vouse' ivith mulfled footfall,- and evistytfting: ^nns^hhshed erccept the notes of grief. Thai dwvlHng waff now consecrated by sorrow, and dignifi^ed by de&th^ CroupM of anxious nei'gHbours and sympftfhizing friends cidstel'ed ' arband ft Tides, however thoughtless oit ordinary occasionti, b^ame grftve and very serious tis they ehtA-ed. The loudest v6i6eia Became i&ttte, as they caught up tlid strange' iniTuence of that atnfoi^here, and men appeared afraid 't% Break the sacred silence of th^ pl&ce^ 6y talking over the urdihui^ aitnirs of life, for all such Conversation seemed strangely out ofplftctrin tliaf cIiaAner of death^. A%d, what is the source of fitai p'ettuHiir'fnftuinde Whfch rests upon al! Mrho ent^ that dwelling; damptsi drdin^i'y coitvet^ation, makes thd most carefess appear aeriotto f ili^ &oH thbifgHtlesir, tTiotrghtflil /' the' rtrdest, tender i and the ltfo»t'fuiT)ulfenf, <5arth? Strange, yet tnie, we must seek f(ir it in that pali^yoUhg'face', wfth its closed iefyeUd^, and its sealed lips and califl f»iito^V^i liow full of self-possession ahd"firmness'He appears 1 Benea'th that roof, thene are "hut vtwo 'p^ecUy tsailm and un^istuiibed brows. Death. and* Life — a happy death and the highest life-^here niet, arid seemed'to possess something in common. Both our Lord arid > Hhe daughter of 'Jairus rested c&lm and undisturbed— as two rocks Amid the beating of tiieuvaves— in that wild sea Of 1mm Ai unrest, -and doubt, .and perplexity; by which ihey were surrounded. Yet, how different 'ihe composuse in each case t In the one, it was the absence, of life, and the negation of thou^t, feeling and emotion. '. In the other, it was the presence US the hig|hest' fife, and the ("Consummation df l)eing, arid the Idendlng and (^orification of 'thought, feeling and>emotion,-^so as 'to render the cmmtenance of 'the God-man more peaceful arid ciQiii than anything merely human. In His presence, there could «carc!^ly be unretrt. Before Him, discord chaijged to hazmony, and corifusion to order. It was He -who walked on the' Sea of U^eo, arid spdke to the wild, tossing :waves, and-''lnmie*£ately. thefe-^wlaB a great eeibn." 'It is He who «nters the human lieart^ anil says td'the "^aves of doubt and fear, ■** be still ;'" and peace reigns in the spirit, arid the wild waves are at rest. It is ^fhe:«ame*Xofd of 'Feaee 'nAo ^here again speaks: *^ Why make this ado, arid we^p P the maid is ix)t dead, but sleepeth f* and so eaved'tke faith &f the father from dying at the «ight.of Usdead iditld. And, IncLeeQ, if we are fiflly to understand . and appieiSate the conduct and words of our Lor'd on iMs occasion, "we must stkways view fkem in relalaoa to this father^ fidth. Whtft the precise eeoine extinct in diis ** riigllt of fear** and -uncertainty. .Thrice, we «m fiSv tti0t^ for& a^^Mplng liand to eare the ruler from sinking in: £he wav«s df dotklst and fear. First of all, we find our Loi^ reaidytto go witli'hunaf «nctf,.for He knew that delaying /for some .time, as He did in'the case of Laearus, might be fatal to (aith of thjs new disciplej and .so .He .encourages ]]Im to hope, and goes vrlth him immedfately. But again, whea aii their way tp the house ef the raler, when the messenger met them -with the sad tidings, " thy daughter is dead, trouhle not tke Master" — our Lord again speaks to the father in word» of encouragement, sa}ing, " fear not, only believe." Probably, while the ruler beHered tiiat the Great Physician couM fan the smouldering iTght of life in the soul of Ikds chi2ti, he did not yet realize the great power of our Hord, so as t9 beliave that he ceuld rekindle the lamp of Kfe after ft had become wholly extinguished. And He who know* the heart saw the danger, and checked any doubt that might arise from the message which he just- heard, by turning to the father and saying ; ** fear not, only bclieTe.** But> a more trying time was still before tham. They had now come to the house where so great a change had taktn place during the father's absence. Here, whatever en* couragement the^words of our Xiord might have afforded, it was in danger of provnig too weak in the presence of aB this, lamentation, which. filled the bouse a8> they entered^ Yet^.hpw anxiously ancT tenderly does the Lord woteh over and defend the filtith of this man ! Not. mpre anxious wa»^ Ithe father for the Il£» of has daughter, than was the Saviour for the &itb of this rulbr. Hence, He immediately speaks to those present; -word* wdQ fitted to re- assure the fether: "why make ye thisado, i^ndwcepP the maid is not dead, but sfeepeth.*' Ob, slarange woids! Oh, Holy Comforter !— not " dead," but " shepet^ f* He rejjaeteth th^ harsher expression, and makes choice of the mildoT and mere joyous one, — for the Lorft of Hfe Iboks forward to an awakenmg, ^nd consequently aseerts : . " she sleepeth." Strange words they must have truly been to Ifitt vnbe£«i^g multitttde assembkd in the house of Jamis. '*'The- maid is not dead, haH i^peth," asserts the Great Physician. Idl» and wild word» iHblvj eertaihiy must have^ been to those unbefieviiig friendsoftlie departed;, and^ to such of them as did not comprehend our Lord'^trne meanmgv ItiA He mean to mock their grief? was He dceerred Himself? or did He- simply mean to deceive the father for a HttJe, and thus break the shock of the sad' truth ? What T not " dead,"* but " sleepeth ;"— surely ne sleep was ever so dieep — soKoaka — so peaceful, as this* deep and awful' slumber! Bid they not stand by the side of that couch, -watching and wirtnessmg the l^arful stn^Ie. between Life and Deatb^ until the fottor gained the vietory and trramphantly bore his prize away? *Thte, they saw not the spirit pass; and no more can we, however anxiously and intently we may. gaze to catch a glimpse ef its upward flight as we stand expectant^ the side of the dying. YjbI; that slig^bt shwider— th^t 8|LQppin^.ppthe pulsie-" >>« that cessation in breathing, all told the tale that life's struggles were over, and whisperings passed through the room, "she Ih gone, ihe is dead !" Nor are we to suppose that our Lord means to assert that the spirit had not fled, or that the daughter of Jairus had fallen into a swoon or a deep and quiet ordinary slumber. The succeeding part of the history would condemn such an asser- tion, for the spirit undoubtedly had flown, and this was no ordinuy sleeps Our Lord uses the same term as he used in the case of another^ when he said " Our friend Lazarus tleepelh" when we •know that he had already been some time dead. In both eases. He who knows the end from the beginning knew that Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus would awake fVom their slumber, and, consequently. He speaks in both instances of death as a sleep. And, indeed^ throughout the Word of Ood, we may find very many instances in which the term " sleep" is substituted for the term ** deatii" ; for whatj after aUtis death, hut a slumber? The patriarch Job B4ys, " For^ now lipi I «7mp in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, dnfl shall not be found." Daniel also declares, ''And many of tmm thftt sleep in the dust of the earth fihall awake, some to everlastMg life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." With the Aposde Paul it is a favorite ■expression, la. that chapter of surpassing grandeur (1 Gor. xv.) wherwho stood once by the couch of the daughter of Jairus, and declared, in his own peacc'giving wordti " The maid is not dead, but sleepeth !" But further : so striking is the resemblance between Death and Sleep, that it has not escaped the notice even of heathen nation's^ So won('9rfiil is the analogy, that, it has been observed in all ages, and has found expression in eveiylanguagik Posts have described Death and Sleep an brothen. Mbilosoiifciere have been led« by their 'similarity^ to investigaUppUir relationship more closely* Moralists have, in every Jattfj^'lild them up before the gase of mankind, and fUlly shewn thiir points of similarity as well as of contrast .Many of those points of resemblance lie upon the very surface, and may be seen at a single glance. Thus, for example, there is in each state the personification of deep composure and of oalm rest. The quiet slumber of the innocent specially resembles 'the sleep of the dead, which is disturbed by no dreams, but who sleep' on in deep calm slumber through the whole lon^ night of time, tUl the breaking of the resurrection mom. .r.^r "■•'': •Again : in both states there is the same apparent disregard of what is being doner in the world by which the sleepers are sur- rounded. 'However anxious we may be as to matters of self- interest, or human opinion, or the movements of human society, no sooner do we sink to sleep tha^ they are forgotten or disre- garded much as they seem to be disregarded or forgotten by the dead. ' :.;,}/', xi; /^..-H!-:: /;';::y;^ ^.^^^^^ Again : both states are induced by weariness and exhaustion. The laborer returns home after the long and wearisome toils of the day are ended, and, with exhausted energies and weary limbs, stretches himself upon his couch, and ** tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," soon seals his eyes in slumber. So, also, at the end of life's day: the energies of the laborer afe exhausted, and the sleep of death comes on, and the 8lee|>er slumbers through .the bng night of time. ^K:'r¥:..f:r;j,^L'?;'X:'' ■^^■-[■■i^\y- 'V'^- V A^ain: they resemble each other in the certainty of their ap- proach. Both are alike inevitable,--'ari8ing &om the||aW8 of our •conititution,->warded off by no exertion, submitting to no tour ditiont, listening to no remonstraaoe, conquering all our energies, prostrating all our puny power. By no exertion ufours can we keep constantly awake. Sleep gradually creeps upon us with ever- increasing power, until at length we are obliged to submit and close our.eyes in slumber. So, also, with death. However anxious we may be to aveid it ; however much concerned about our health and continued life; and however comparatively long that life maybe I— still, it must end fin dealh, 'just as sure as our waking hours ave followed by sleep. Again: •they resemble each other, inasmuch as their power alike is limited to the body and the physical organisation. The mind — the soul, can never slumber, as it can never die. Never for a moment is the spirit inactive. The eyes are closed in slumber, and the senses liAled to sleep, while the active, busy, -immortal pirit traverses the uniwrse — explores the -past and contemplates the ftiture— crosses, with the rapidity of thought, the mighty expanse of ocean— brings objects >the most vemote near to each other, and almost completely annihilates all distance in time and in spaoe. -What mighty feats are performed -in our dreams ! What seemed impossible in our waking moments, then appears quite easily performed': distance presents no difficulties, and time is a matter of little consequence. The mind, at such moments, seemd to have cast aiide tbe dhackles of all material iaws and all mere eu'thly conditions, as it revels in its own magnificent power a *! ffomithe dogging influence of a material body and the restraining barriers of material laws. The mind never slumbers ; it never can . sleep. That spark of the Almighty's kindling^ bums always, and must hum on forever. From the moment of creation, down through the countless ages of eternity, those spirits must live •co-extensive in duration with the lives of angels and of Ood. And during the whole of that period it is never inactive ; it never can Meep : nay, while the body sleeps, the mind is most active, and eeems to enjoy most perfectly the full exercise, of its own sublime iand magnificent powers. And so, also, that other jleep — the sleep of death, gains its triumph over the body, but not over the mind or spirit. Deep as the slumber may seem, it does not affect the life of the soul, for it still lives ; yea, lives more fully and perfectly 8 spiritual life than ever it did during its most wakeftil earthly moments. What a profound mystery is that sleep of death ! You stand by the side of the sleeper, and yet feel that he is ?ia far removed from you as eternity is ft*, n time. You suppose you can ^^lace your hand ^upon him- that be still lies beneath the old roof ■:.\rM< U 10 \irhete his spirit passed away, attd that you will soon follow him to his last resting-plaoe, and consign him to the narrow house ap» ' pointed for all Uving. Yet how small a portion of>your friend is really left in that darkened room which ''the laft enemy" has.^ entered, and where he has left the visible manifestations of his power t All that the eye can see is not your friend. The intelli- gent, thinking, loving, active being who was here With you before death came, is here no longer. AH that you can see before you, and all you can follow to the grave, is but the frail body— the house in which your friend formerly dwelt, ot the clothing in which, he robed himself during his earthly sqjoum. Through those sealed eyes he once gased out upon the material Universe. With those hands he labored and accomplished his earthly purposes. Through this material and bodily organiitation he Was fitted forspending some time . among material olitjeets t but when lifb's laKoi's were \ accOthpHshed, he cast them all aside without losing his personal identity, much as we cast aside our garments without losing out- power of thought) feeling ot emotion» Death and Sleep alike chiefiyaflfect the body. The slumber in neither ease extends to the soul,' or damps the ardor of the spirit, or checks the activity of^ the immortal mind. The storm of sickness may come ; the nights of death may arrive, and the tenement of clay fall prone to the> dust, yet the tenant escapes unhurt. from the falling ruin, and exchanges his abode for a land wheie death shall never enter* You cannot see the departed; no more can you see the soul of your friend when resting in calm sleep; stilly you know that his ihind is active as ever, and that sleep 6s,nnot control its activity olf West its operations. Oh ! let us not regard the day of our death as the end of our life t If such were a true estimate of our being, then were life less solemn, and life's responsibilities less over-* whelming in magnitude, than they )%ally are. If there be no lift! beyond the grave ; if the lamp of life be forever extinguished in the cold waters of the dark Jordan ; if the life here be not continued in the hereafter t-*truly man is a paltry, short-livedi and unitti<* portant being in the universe of God ! But how different must he our estimate of life when wd n^gard death merely as a slumberi and that a slttmbet of the body; when we consider that our life now is part of si lifb that shall never end ; when we remember that our habits and pastimes are moulding our existenc«-aiid destiny for countless ages after the leavens and the earth shall pass away— that every sin committed is an eternal evil, and every step in the pathway of holiness an everlasting gain—- that the future is the result of the present^ and that the " noW'^ is the parent of th^ hereafter! How sltrikihgiy^ also, does the light of the Gospel aruT the sulHime doctrme of immortalltjr light up the darkness of the- tombf Isnotdeatk deprived of his greatest terrbrs to the sur< viving friends who can triwmpbantly say — i : t^ >; ^^ 5i-v..ii4^ - Iilo*j^', **The 4eafl ate like the stars by day; |^^/:;j^;v-; i;i^W| rfi»i»?i om I WUhdrawn from mortal eye, ^,^.^^ ■'^i^^im ^«» ^w»i\^ ,♦•..» But not extinct, they hold their way, ' , * . ^"^^'^* In glory, through the Bky:' ^^^^i^^i*^^^ ■m.-^mm^'^ Spirits from bondage thus set U^t.-^^m'^'^mM^^m A^i^W:^^r,^-i^ ■ Vanish amidst' immensity, > '««;> M»'./^i«>fr*^fii *^ 'i?^^c>rf fails to pursue their traQklejis flfc|^.V.,i, , But again. There is another point of resemblance between Death and Sleep, and one pre-eminently joyoos, whiph, robs death of much of its terrors. Both Sleep and Death shall.end in waking. And perhaps, indeed, it was this point of analogy which our Lord had specially in view in the bouse oi Jairus, when He spoke those peace-giving words, " The maid is not dead, but sleepeth." Those who stood by that couch where lay the remains of the maiden, bewailed the laating separation caused by de^th between them and their departed friend. They realired that she was gone from among them, and that no power or entreaty of theirs could ever call her back. They knew that the worjid, in its changes and its stability, would still continue, as of old. Summer would fade into winter, and winter merge into summer, but the changing seasons could never bring back the lost one, or restore the absent. Nighty would come, and the family assemble, as of old; but one place, formerly filled, would remain empty— one cheerful voice would be silent, and one happy face absent for ever. And this ** never" and '< forever" made up the roost bitter ingredients in the cup of sorrow. Temporary separation they could well endure. A long sleep they could regard with calm composure. They might even separate themselves from their young friends until youth merged into ma- turity and maturity faded into old age — if age could restore her at last to her home and her friends ; but that long, long separation<~- that deep and everlasting slumber— that absence " for ever",— how dark and gloomy and cheerless it seemed! Spring would come again and breathe upon wood and field, and call forth new life an^ beauty and music to gladden the face of nature, but no spring would ever bring her back to home and to friends. We say that it was probably this view of the lasting and permanent change wrought by death in the house of this ruler, and which hie novr *>''. i 'inurks among tM,'th«t most specially ai) ~yi and «till affects the living, and irhich our Lord means specially* to meet and answer by ,the joyous, tKfe-giving'Words, "The maid is not deadvbutsleepeth/' "t^True it is that the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus M'as •special and peculiar, and that we no longer can expect such a •sudden transition from the state of the dead to that of the living. How long her «pirit had ^one ere o«r Saviour entered the room, we know not, but of this w» are certain : upon that couch around whi^h the mourners assembled, nothti\g remained but " dust and ashes;" And, in so far as the miracle of awakening is concerned, the time during (which she was dead seems to us but of little con> sequence. The fact of iier resurrection is aU that is necessary to prove the 'boundiless power of the Almighty., and to give us the strongest confidittioe that the same power is -still able to awake the dead. fUke creation of a grain of sand Is an act of Omnipotence as well as t^e formation of a universe. None but He who gav» life to the archangel who has lived from eveafion's morn and shall live for ever, could cireate the insect which dances aWay its few hours 'in the sunbeam; and He who called "back the spirit of the daughter df Junius, ^s equally able to raise our friends to life after they have slept the Aeep of ages. And say fou^ — "there is no joy for us in the dedaratCion made by the Lord of 9ife,'ages ago, in the ;house of the rul^r and by the side of his dead daughter**? Why* >my hearers, the -words ere unspeakably joyous ! Without such ^words, and destitute cf that faith wliidh nday be ftrmfly grounded ^upon .them, S^aitii would indedd he " the king of terrors," the ,gra\w «vei4a8ting darkness and ^lence, and our p«rlings with our -friends at the Jordan eternal farewells. Yet w'ke has not felt their •sacred life-giving power ? It was only yesterday that many among IU8 were called to stand by tbe lifeless remains of one of our own 'fipecial friendn. Like the daughter of Jatrus, slie was called away in the full bloom of youth. Death had indeed eome; but as we stood by that composed and peaceful sleeper, we eould scarcely f ealisKB that he had achi^'ed any great victory. The spirit, it is true, had passed, and life's throbbings were over, and t^e weary had found rest, and the Lord of life did not appear In visible form as He once appeared in the house of Jairus to re'k'indle the lamp of life, and reanimate the lifeless frame ; yet, could w« not hear Him speak just as distinctly as He spoke long ago in that house at Capernaum, " The maid is not dead, but sleepeth" ? We all felt and knew that the slumber of our friend would not be broken so iBuddenly as wasf that sleep of the dau|;hter of }fisifii»i hat, at the ^ame tim ikiej^^and light and beauty to the landscape ? j^KSri ♦■ v .Wj,^ . .^.i^*,.,:^,^. ;.»*«>. Or again. Observe tliose frail creatures of beauty tliat danced in the summer' siinshine>, and flit joyously across the summer ilelds. Winter comes, and they fold their glittering wings and remain quiet and motionless, and apparently dead, while the storm' rages without, arid the angry winds and the Blighting fi'o'sts are ' roaming abroad, blasting' and withering al( things* as' they pass. - Who that had* never witnessed the fact, coul^ indulge the fancy that those wings vVDuldagaih be unfurled, and that those gay and' frail creatures ooulil^ again flit' from flower tb floAi-er, and revel fti- die joys of summer ? Yet, what is the fact ? WintierpafiMei, and' spring* comes, and the death-aleep vanishes, and life, in myriad iorms, starts up anu turOws asiue tue grave-ciutues, anu* r^cioes,- as ofold,inthe warm sunshine and the full enjoyment of existence.- ^ Ok again* Obierve that grain of seed,, swept from Uie fbrest^ i t i l ■ tree, tossed by the autumn winds hith£^ and thither until it has at len^h found a resting-place. Shall it die P Yes, truly — but oaly to spring up again a noole tree that can do battle with the tempest and brave tne storm. But it is needless to multiply examples, for everywhere throughout the wide extent of nature we may find ' striking emblems of the resurrection. The great book of nature may enable us to understand and realize more fully the declaration of our Bibles, as the Bible enables us to understand and interpret many of the dark problems in nature. And while we thank God for the clearer light of His written Word, let us also be fateful for the fainter but still joyous light which His handwriting i)i nature throws upon His purposes and our destiny. In the duties of life, the light of the one is absolutely necessary, and of the other strengthening and consolitary. Upon the one we may build Dur hopes- as upon a rock, sure and stedfast ; but as the weak arms of faith grasp the support afforded by the other, we can stand securely amid the breaking waves and the tossing billows. And on the morrow we shall experience the joyous influence of both. As we follow, " to the house appointed for all living," the earthly part of our friend, we shall remember the joy-giving words of ouV Lord, "The maid is not dead, but sleepeth;" and as we look around us, we shall certainly remember that death is but a sleep» <• There's nothing terrible in death ; i-.: ,.; i i, ... 'Tis but to cast our robes away, And sleep at night without a breath, i-i.) Ui J •To break repose till dawn of day." To you, the young friends and companions of the departed, this change that has so suddenly come among us seems to Speak with peculiar power. Your friend hah left you, as the summer glory is fast fading from the skies, and light and beauty from the landscape. She has mllen asleep as the mellow fruits are falling from the trees, and the tinted leaves are fast but silently dropping from the forest. She has gone as the birds have ceased their warbling, and, like them, we hope — nay, we firmly believe — has gone to a brighter and more sunny clime, where the beautiful never withers, and where the winter never comes. We shall all miss hi^r. Sabbath after Sabbath, from this house of prayer, where she so constantly joined in our worship, and so joyfully in our praises. We shall personally and deeply feel her absenca, when you, her young friends, shall meet, as of old, to })romote the prosperity' gf our beloved Church in this country, and she who was so active — so cheerful — so useful, shall no longer appear among you. And you who knew her so well shall long miss her from the social circle where her presence always was welcome; ai^d her brightness always gave joy. Yet we all know that there is a home where her loss shall be felt more severely still and for a longer period, and sure I am that ytm will all most fervently pray that this family, detained to-day from the house of prayer by their bereavement, bo gi'eatly sustained by the promises of Him who said, in another bouse of mourning, *' 'J'he maid is not dead, but sleepeth." '^ Our friend was called away in the full blooiri of youth, and in' i- ■ ''1 ' .'jffe f 15 tile midst of much utefiilneBi. Time had as yet writtea no wrinkles on her brow. Life's rude warfare had brought her no bitterness or Borrow. She can scarcely be said to have come in contact with life's stem realities, or to have mingled with coarser natures, or to have struggled with life's difficulties, or contended with life's temptations, and, consequentljr, felt not their effects, and bore not the marks of their contamination, but fell asleep much as a child sinks to slumber, and passed out from among us as the rainbow melts from a summer sky. She is gone ; and shall we murmur at this mysterious dispensation, and fret beneath the stroke P Oh, let us ratiier plead for resignation to God's will ; and taking up, in the arms of faith, all this youth and usefulness and beauty, go direcUy to the foot of the Cross, and, on bended knee, thank Him who has lent them all, and, -vv>h unfaltering faith and cheerful resignation, say, " the Lord giveth, and the Lord hath taken away^ blessed Ve the name of the Lord." It is to that Creator who gave her we wish to restore our friend. From that Saviour who loved her let us not, even in thought, wish to withhold her; but, on the contrary, cheerfully resign her to Him who loved her more than did all her earthly friends, and with whom she shall be infinitely more happy for ever. Oh, Death ! we surrender her not to thy everlasting keeping. We bring our burden and place it down at the feet of the Lord of life, and as faith would willingly surrender it to Him, it knows full well how safely it shall be kept — how tenderlv our friend shall be guarded during her slumber, and how certainly she shall be aroused when the conflicts of earth are over, and the night of time merge in the day of eternity. We say "there's nothing terrible in death:" let us pause a moment. Is this true universallv, or ti'ue only in special instances ? Oh, let us not be deceived. Irue universally it cannot be, but true in special instances it certainly is. Death not terrible to the unbeliever ! — whv, he is emphatically to him the '• king of terrors." Death not terrible to those whose sins are unpardoned, and whose souls are unsanctified, and who go down to the grave with all the black catalogue of their sins written against them, and there to remain for ever t Words of ours can oiuy weaken the conception of such a condition. To feel that time, with all its opportunities of improvement, and all its free offers of pardon and mercy, are gone for ever! To realize that earth is fast receding, and that every anchor of hope to which the soul might cling is yielding, and the spirit di'ifting out further and further into the wide ocean, darki terrible, and solitary ! To do battle all alone in the thick darkness with the last enemy, with no friend to comfort or encour- age the spirit onwards in the flight ; to feel within the firstfruits of the terrible harvest beyond ; to find the fluttering, trembling spirit ready to fly iorth into the darkness !— Let us not try to describe it, for it defies all description. Yet, in some instances, the words are true, *' there's nothing terrible in death," and we firmly believe that they were true in the case of your friend. To her, we have jeason to believe that " to die was gaiu." And, let us ask, upon what is this belief founded P Is it simply upon the fact that her life was pure and unspotted ; her disposition, amiable ; her attendance iapon the means of grace, regular j and her usefulness in the Church t€ "1 and th6 world felt by us all P Do we oonsidelr that she thus merff-' ed heaven, and purchased ererlasting happiness ? If such had been the eround of our hopes, then, indeed, were they built upon an unsatisfactory and worthless foundation! Measured by the' standard of the requirements of the divine law, and weighed m the balance of divine justice, even in her life there* were imperfections' and defects. Merit heaven she could not any more than you can, however blameless in conduct or unspotted ' in character. Oh, let us ever ren^ember the- words of our Lord to Nidodemus-^words eternally true, however the mere worldMng may regard them: *' Unless a man be bom again, he cannot •6e>the^ kingdom of Qod." Let us never forget that mere morality cannot save us<^that a nature, however amiable, if unsanctified by divine grace, is unfit for heaven — and that a life, however pure and beautiful,- unless it \ie a life of faith in the Son of Ood,^ cannot be regarded as the commencement of that life which the redeemed enjoy- in heaven. Truly mere morality is a poor preparation for death, and self- righteoUsness a flimsy robe for the preltence-cbamber of the Great King and the just and impartial Judge, Trust not your immortal' hopes to any such' superficial preparation, and peTii not'^your ever- lasting happiness by wrapping yourselves up in any such miserable garment ; but' rather go directly (as we believe your friend did) to Christ, and take from His own hands the' pure robes of Hih own righteousness, and earnestly seek' for the sanetifi^cation of the Holy Spirit and the purifpng influences of heavenly grace. Rest not satisfied' mth anything short of reconciliation through the merits of the atonement, and a personal' union vrith Christ as a {)er8onal Saviour. Go at once to the " fountain opened to the louse of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness." and there having washed your robes, you shall indeed* be pure in the sijg^ht of angels and>'of Gbdi Seek your hiding-place in the "rock of a^^," for eveJry other stronghold is but " a refuge 6f lies." Make the Lord of life your friend i strive to copy His holy exaihple ; learn to submit to His government and to trust in His grace, and then it shall ind^d be true in your case^as it has been in the case of her whose presence we this day miss from among us, " there's nothing terrible in death.*^ Think, then, of your abs^t friend* not ar lost, but as gonebefofe you. Cherish her niemory faith&lly ar.d long. All that was excellent in her life, endeavor to copy. Whatever was " lovely and of good report,'* strive earnestly to imitate. Reg^ard her departure as anotner link in that chain of circumstances intended by the Governor (if the universe to lead- yoUt* spirits heavenward, and another of God's impressive sermons upon the uncertainty of human life. She has gone before you to " the better land," and thither yoU' hope, through God's grace, to follow. Rest assured that were she allowed this day to address you, sUch would be her most earnest entreaty. Remember, too, thd great and general awakening— forget not that one day ybir shall meet her— that '"the j^rave shall yield his ancient charge" — that the slumber" of time" shall be broken, and that the declaration of the Lord of life shall then he justified ih her case, &s f\illy as in that of the daughter of Jairus, *• Ihe maid is not dead, but sleepeth.'^