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On the 4th of July, 1884, >1 si V BEIKO THE i L ' ^1 !»5 i CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE i FOUNDATION OF THE PAKISH. &Jl'»i^(,■ (Published by Bequest.) fi^lSK^f»^^s^tv&^^^^ i.^i/O^ '^'^'^^i^^mmfmm *iA ^^^^^ ■■^i' ,' %-i SERMON tREJLCREb Bf THE B. I IN ilU\*Uyr^^^ U>^ cX/.C4i>->^^ *>V, CHRIST CHURCH, SOREL. On the 4th of July, 1884, BEING TttE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF TSB FOUNDATION OF THE PARISH. (Published bt Bequest.) •i r •I'ii'i'ig^ 1 \. 4- \. 4- l8t. Book of Samuel, 7th Chapter and I2th Verse. Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it " Bbenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." In the Centennial Commemoration to-day of the birth of Christ Church, Sorel, as a regularly organized Parish of the Church of England, in Canada, we desire to follow the example of the grand old Hebrew judge and prophet of former days, when he set up in Mizpah, his memorial stone for signal mercies received, calling it Ebenezer ; or as that word signifies, the " stone of help," saying, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." It is every way fitting and proper, that God's signal mercies to any Church or people, should be held in continual and loving remembrance, among the professing people of God. The Jewish ordinances of the Passover, of Pentecost, of Tabernacles, of the feast of the dedication, of Purim, and other festivals of the old dispensation, were all of them designed to be, so many " Ebenezers," as they have now been for hoary centuries, of God's wonderful dealings with His people of old. And crowning all, as a memorial ordinance, binding upon the Universal Church of God, in all lands, and among all people, till the second coming and kingdom of God our Saviour, is the sacramental ordinance, instituted by our dear Lord V Himself, with the solemn injunction, " This do, in remem- brance of me,'' for " it is written," as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death until He come." The little church, in which we worship to-day, lifting from its leafy bower its gi'actiul spire heavenwards, is to us, and will be, while it stands, to those who come after us, our " Ebenezer," our memorial that " Hitherto, indeed, hath the Lord helped us." And with God's blessing, it will not, I trust, be time uuprofitably spent, if I gi^''e you, as I have been specially desired to do, and as suggested by the commemorative event of the day, such brief historical sketches as I have been able to glean, of the history of the Parish, (and Sorel, is a Parish full of historic interest), by giving you some of the personal reminiscences, with some of the remarkable incidents, in the successive Ministry of the difierent men, who have lived and laboured for God, in Sorel, for the past one hundred years. • The first Protestant settlers of Sorel, appear to have been chiefly retired officers, and disbanded soldiers, of the British army, together with several United Empire Loyalists, the founders in the Dominion of several noted families, who sought refuge in Canada, after the American Kevolu- tionary war. At the closa of that unhappy contest, the Society for the i*ropagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, directed their attention to Canada as a missionary field, T and they selected the Eev. John Doty, who had previously been the Society's missionary in the thirteen revolted States, first at Peekshill on the Hudson, and afterwards at Schenectady, but who was then in England, to proceed to Canada, and commence a mission at Sorel. Mr. Doty sailed accordingly from Gravesend, in April 1784, landing in Quebec in June following, and on the fourth day of July ju-^t one hundred years ago, he performed Divine service and preached for the first time at Sorel, memorable thence — forward, and for all time, in the annals cf the Canadian Church, as the site of the first mission, which the " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," ever established in Canada. Early in the following year, Mr. Doty reported to the Propagation Society that the mission contained about seventy Protestant families of various denominations, but all attending church ; that the number of actual communi- cants was twenty-nine, and that the church had been regularly organized by him, under the style or title of " Christ Church, at Sorel, in communion with the Church of England, as by law established.'' It is a matter of thankfulness that the first Kector was guided to give the Church in Sorel, the name, not of any Saint in the calendar, but of that dear Saviour, whose name is above every name, sweeter than any music to the ear, and more precious than gold or rubies to the heart of every believer, and 111 that thus, through all its future history, our loved Church was to be known, as it is this day, under the name of " Christ Church, at Sorel." . , , Mr. Doty appears to have been a man of superior at- tainments, living in stirring times, and leaving the im- press of his own marked individuality of character behind him, both in the country he left, and in the country to which he came. He had graduated at King's College, New , York, 1*770, was ordained in England; was twice a priMjner during the revolutionary war, left for Canada in 179i'; where he became Chaplain of the King's Eoyal regiment of New York, and returning to England in 1781 ; was three years afterwards sent out again, to found the mission of Sorel. In 1803, he resigned the Rectory, after nineteen years incumbency, retiring to Three Rivers where he died long afterwards, at a very advanced age. The first church, in which he ministered, was of wood, and was originally a marine store, fitted up for divine service in something of church-like form, with belfry and Bell, the self same Bell which now hangs in our spire. This chuch was situated near the present market-house, and barrack-yard. A government survey of the town, however, having thrown this building into one of the principal streets, it was ordered to be removed ; and the Rector and congregation, selling the old building to the best advantage, proceeded forthwith, to the erection of a new Church, on a bettor site, granted to them by tlie gov- ernment, upon the Koyal Square. This second Church was erected in 1790. The new building was of wood, filled in with clay and mortar, and upon a slight stono foundation, and surmounted with belfry and spire, but without the slightest pretensions to architectural beauty or design. There was originally no gallery, and the ground floor contained 34 pews, exclusive of a government pew, and of a so-called Baptistery. But this latter sounding name, simply designated a vac.int corner near the door, in which stood a small pine table, surmounted by an ordinary white crofkery bowl. This, is the building designated as " Sorel Church, the first erected in Canada," an engraviug of which appears in the annals of the Diocese of Quebec, published in Eng- land, by the late Rev. Ernest Hawkins. It was in truth the first church erected, although the second used^ since the former building, the old Marine store, had been merely atted up, and adapted, for the performance of divine service. • ^ Time, will only permit the mention of two or three note- worthy incidents, during Mr. Doty's ministry. It may interest you to know, that with the early planting of the Church in Sorel, the ancient order of Masonry, appears also to have been established. I have a printed sermon of Mr. Doty's, preached in Christ Church, at Wm. Henry, 8 on St. John's Day, (27 Dec. 1798), before Richelieu Lodge, No. 6, of Ancient York Masons, under the patronage of his Royal Highness, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the Queen's father, then Commandant at Quebec. And to this day, the title of the chief functionary of the Masonic order in Cartada, now the Honorable Judge Badgley, of Montreal, is that of "Grand Master of Montreal, arid William Henry." Another circumstance, which occurred /'a Sorel, in 1796, durifig the period of Mr. Doty's incum- bency, a most singular case of mediaeval superstition, perhaps the only instance of its kind on record in Canada, is deserving of passing notice. A man named Jean Pailly, was found murdered in his dwelling. The deed of blood, naturally created, intense excitement, throughout the little communit}'. Searching inquiry was instituted, but no clue was obtained to the guilty party. Resort was then had, to the ordeal of touchy the theory being, that if the guilty party touched the corpse, hlood would flow from it. The body of the murdered man, with head and breast uncovered, was publicly exposed in the market place, and proclamation made, that under penalty of imprisonment, all the males of the town, above a certain age, should then and there be present. At the same time, the whole of the military in garrison, by order of Captain Dickinson, R. A., the commandant, were similarly mustered, and then marched round the body, each man in passing being made » to touch the murdered man, " but, records an eye-witness, whose manuscript kindly loaned to me by one of the old families of Sorel," I have seen, " but, there was no sign given by blood" ; " this, however," he adds, " clears the town of the innocent blood shed in it." During Mr. Doty's Rectorship, Sorel was honored by a visit from Prince Wm. Henry, Duke of Clarence, after- wardsj Wm. the 4th. Leaving his frigate at Quebec, he made a short stay in passing, at Sorel, and in reply to an address presented to him by the magistrates, was pleased to sanction the change, of the Name of the town to his own of " William Henry," from that, which it had previously borne for more than 100 years, of the Sieur de Saurel, a French engineer officer, who, in 1665, constructed a fort at the mouth of the Eichelieu. In January 1803, Mr. Doty was succeeded in the Rec- tory of Sorel, as second Rector, by the Rev. James Suther- land Rudd, B. A., of Queen's College, Cambridge. This gentleman, was appointed from Cornwall, where for two years, he was the immediate predecessor of the late Dr. Strachan, subsequently Lord Bishop of Toronto. Mr. Rudd was Rector of Sorel, for somewhat more than five years, years, of mournful, almost of tragic interest. Attractive in personal appearance, highly musical, and variously accom- plished, in addition both at Cornwall and at Sorel, and also in Montreal, by universal concurrent testimony, Mr, Riidd's reputation as a most eloquent preacher, long survived him. In fact, throughout the Church in Canada, he appears to have been the Chrysostom, the golden- mouthed orator of his day. Long years ago, the Ir.te Doctor Edward Carter, whose marvellously retentive memory was well known, cited to me a portion of a sermon, which in the Doctor's own youth, some 30 or 40 years before, he had heard Mr. Rudd deliver, " in thoughts that breathed and in words that burned," with tlie eloquence almost of a Demosthenes, on the glorious theme of the Resurrection. The Pansh Registers, tell their own sad tale, of the young Rector's, grievous domestic trials. In the short period of his incumbency, all his children save one, and his wife at the age only of 28 years, of great personal attractions, and to whom he was devotedly attached, were consigned by him to the grave, where in his own early manhood of 32 years, he was soon laid by their side. He literally died in harness. He fainted in the pulpit, whence he was lovingly borne to his own home, and very shortly after wards, in March 1808, the self-same BeU, whose tongue has summoned you here to-day, by preconcerted signal with the anxious parishioners, suddenly broke the solemn stillness of the midnight hour, and as it slowly tolled forth its heavy tidings of woe, that the gifted young Rector was no more, many an eye was bedewed with tears, and many a heart, and many a home, were filled that night, with deepest sorrow, in Sorel. ^ 11 The Eev. Richard Bradford, as third Eector, was ap- pointed successor to Mr. Eudd, in 18drf, This gentle- man's incumbency, was still shorter, than his predecessor's, scarcely extending^over three years : But short as it was, it was marked by some external progress, in the Church's history. Twenty-nine candidates were confirmed, in the year following his appointment, a slight increase on the number previously reported. A grant also of £100, was obtained from Sir James H. Craig, Governor General, from the Seigniory funds, and was appropriated in .part, towards the construction of a Gallery in the former old wooden Church, and of a Stair-case to the same, the previous access to the Belfry, and to a sort of rough platform beneath, having been only by means of a ladder. The little Bell, however, from that Belfry, used in the first church of 1784, has followed the fortunes of the Church, through all its Centennial History, meriting the frequent boast of the old parishioners, of being the first Church Pro- testant Bell, which ever sounded in Canada. And as weekly it still calls the parishioners to this house of God, it sounds among others, in he ears of one of the pupils of Lincoln Col- lege, son, or nephew, of the Hon. J. J. Abbott, of Montreal, which 76 years ago, it sounded, in the rectorship of his father's Grandsire, the then Eector of Sorel. In 1811, Mr. Bradford removed to a station on the Ottawa, and was succeeded at Sorel, as fourth Eector, by the 12 Rev. John Jackson, then Assistant Minister at the Cathedral in Quebec, and Principal of large classical and com- mercial school at Montcalm >.ouse in that city, the former residence of the celebrated Marquis of that name. Mr. Jackson, was a man of high culture, of poetic tastes and was the author of a small volume of poetry, and was most successful as a teacher of youth. The late Bishop Moun- tain, who by the way, wrote the inscription to the memory of his old teacher, on the mural tablet in this church, and all the Bishop's brothers, the late Judge Gale, of Montreal, Gen. Sir James Hope, and many others, were among his pupils, reflecting in different walks of life, the highest credit on the instructions of their early preceptor. Mr. Jackson's ministry in Sorel, exceeded that of any of his predecessors, lasting for the long period of 28 years. It was marked by some notable incidents, worthy of passing record. One of the earliest acts of Mr. Jackson's incum- bency, was the outward adornment, with great good taste, of the Church property, by planting those magnificent elms, in our front, which now constitute one of the greatest ornaments of the Church and Rectory at Sorel. T Ae Church in this parish, although then a most humble edifice, yet was frequented by persons of greatest note in the country. The Governors General, and Com- manders-in-chief, from the time of Sir Frederick Haldi- mand downwards, generally resided during the summer 13 months at Sorel, where they possessed, on the banks of tlie Richelieu, an official residence, well known to you all, as Government Cottage. In 1819, during the incumbency of Mr. Jackson, and whilst forming one of his Congregation. His Grace, the Duke of Richmond, Lennox, and Aubigny, then Governor General, met his death from a singuhir, well known cause. "Whilst the Duke was amusing himself on his lawn, at Government Cottage, with a young pet fox, pur- chased in the Sorel market, the treacherous animal suddenly snapped at, and bit his finger. The wound, was thought little of at the moment, but in a few weeks afterwards, whilst journeying on a tour of inspection up the Ottawa, the dreadful symptoms of hydrophobia displayed them- selves, progressing so rapidly, that the head of this great ducal house, and Governor General of Canada, died miserably in a barn, whither he had hurriedly sought shelter, by the roadside. The successor to the Duke, in the Government, the Earl of Dalhousie, in the very first year of his residence at Sorel, and wholly unsolicited, most kindly proffered to the Rector, a donation of ^£300 from the Seigniory funds, towards putting the church in a state ot much needed repair, and which, both within and without, was accordingly done. In 1821, Sorel, together with a few other parishes, in the then united Dioceses of Quebec and Montreal, was formally constituted, by letters patent from the Crown, a Royal Rectory, with the right of presentation 14 in the Crown, and constituting the Rector, a corporation sole. All that is now changed, and as the old Incumbents died off, their Parishes came under the action of Synod law, and both in our own, and in the neighboring Diocese of Quebec, I am this day, the sole surviving Rector, who, under God, holds his appointment directly from the Queen, (God bless her), the last link, as it were, and how very frail a link at that, which connects the old time practice, with the present order of things, in the Church in Canada. In 1834, the Church, then in use, and the present Burial ground were consecrated, by the late Bishop Stewart, of Quebec : It is a curious fact, that there is every reason to believe, that the burial ground was thus twice consecrated. In 1789, Bishop Inglis, of Nova Scotia, the first Protestant Bishop in British North America, visited Quebec and Montreal, and as the old inhabitants of that time all asserted, he stopped a day in passing at Sorel, preaching in the Church, and consecrating the Burial ground. Mr. Jackson, was cognizant of this fact, but as it was simply a tradition of what had taken place some 50 years before, with no written record of it whatever, in the church books, good old Bishop Stewart, to make assurance doubly sure, consecrated the ground over again, in 1834. No wonder, then, that God's Acre, thus twice blessed, the second time by a man so saintly as the revered Bishop Stewart, together with the hundred other endearing asso- f . 16 ciations which cluster around the graves of the loved and lost of earth, should make that spot, peculiarly sacred to us all, and that it should be given up by us shortly, from stern necessity, with extreme repugnance and regret. In Sep- tember, 1836, honorable and upright Mr. Jackson, bowed with many infirmities, and many sorrows, was super- annuated, and the minister of St. Peter's Chapel, Quebec, was appointed by Bishop Stewart, to the Curacy of Sorel, with the Mission of Berthier, and part of the now Rawdon mission, attached. And now, dear brethren, as in his more than three score years and ten, that minister looks back to that September month of nearly half a century ago, he feels, that if ever man, on all God's earth had cause, to raise an *' Ebenezer " to the Lord, that man stands before you all, in this pulpit to-day. When all Thy mercies My God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the yiew I'm lost, In wonder, love, and praise. It is in no spirit of mock hu jaility, but from his very inmost soul, he feels, in the long retrospect of his own mani- fold sins and short comings, — of duties omitted, of oppor- tunities lost, of precious privileges neglected, that the lan- guage most appropiate to himself, is the prayer of the poor publican in the temple, as he stood afar off and exclaimed, (as from my very heart of hearts, I do this day), " God be 16 merciful to me, the sinner." But what an inexpressible blessing, and mercy, it is, that in this life present, we may hide ourselves behind the Cross ; that that grand Gospel truth, has never lost its significance and power, that " God was in Christ; reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses,/©/* He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin that ^^q might be made the righteousness of God in Christ" and that now thro' the precious, precious Blood of God's dear son, the unsearch- able riches of Christ are ours, and the choicest blessings of heaven flow down, even to the very chief of sinners. In 1837, the year following my appointment, the unhappy rebellion broke out, with its focus in Eastern Canada, on the banks of the Kichelieu. It was my fortune to have been brought into closest contact, both as friend and pastor, with some of the prominent actors, on both sides, in the scenes of those troubled days, and to have been an eye, and an ear witness, of events, which have since become his- tory. But it comes not to-day, within my scope, further to dwell upon them. Mr. Jackson dying in January 1839, his curate was presented by the Crown, * to the vacant Eectory, becoming thus, the fifth rector of Sorel. The (*) On the part of the Crown, by Sir John Golbome,thenGk>Ternor General, afterwards Field Marshal, Lord Seaton. This most gallant officer, and excel- lent man, with his sucoeasors in the command of the Forces, Lieatenants Oeneral, Sir R. D. Jackson; Sir Benjamin D'Urban; and Sir Wm. Eyre, were all of them, tiot only warm friends of the Sorel Church, but also, faithful Soldiers and Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, as of the Monarch, whom they served. 17 duration of his ministry however, already far transcends that of any of his predecessors, covering within a very little, the one-half of the whole one hundred years. Con- sequent on the sad political troubles, of those days, a large Military force, was gathered to Sorel, and the little Wooden Church previously too small, and fast decaying, became so straitened, as to necessitate the immediate construction, of another house of God, an undertaking, then, to human eye, of most formidable character, in view, either of the resources at command, or of the feeble agent to be employed. But it furnished only another occasion for an " Ebenezer" to be raised : Spread before the Lord, and begun with much, and earnest prayer, it was made to end speedily and trium- phantly, with praise. The present Church, is the result; Beneath its corner-stone, is the parchment which briefly tells its story. " The corner-stone of the foundation, of this church which, is the second on the same site, was laid on this 16th day of August, in the year of our Lord, 1842, by Lieut. Gen. Sir K. D. Jackson, K. C. B., Commander-in- chief of the forces in British North America. There were present, and assisting at the ceremony etc., Glory to God alone." Within less than ten months after the laying of the corner-stone, without a stoppage, and without a hindrance, in the progress of its construction on the 3 0th day "of May, 1843, in the presence of the Commander of the Forces, and of a large congregation, the little Church 18 was solemnly consecrated to the service of Almighty God, by Bishop Mountain, then Lord Bishop of Montreal. The Rectory was completed the same year and with these completed buildings, as they now stand, with all their subsequent additions, improvements, presents of varied nature, our silver Communion service, font, organ, together with the Endowment, and Poor funds, and Cemetery lots, God has enriched the Parish, as time flowed on, with continuous proofs of loving kindness that in money value alone, would probably exceed some thirty thousand dollars, without this day, one dollar of indebtedness, upon them. But in this world, alike with Churches, as with individuals, siiade and sunshine, sorrow, and joy, life and death are constantly and strangely interwoven, and intermingled; " change and decay, in all around we see," and in two short years, from the joyous completion of the Church, the ever kind and generous Sir Richard Jackson, died suddenly in Montreal ; but though breathing his last in that city, yet his heart was here, and in accordance with his own previously expressed wish, his remains were conveyed to Sorel, for interment, and followed by General Lord Cathcart, and all the military heads of departments then in Canada, with the organ, mainly his own gift, pealing forth the solemn strains of the dead march in Saul ; in the descrip- tive words of our beautiful burial service, his body was sorrowfully consigned to its last earthly resting place, in \ 19 the little church he ever loved so well, and within a few feet of the foundationatone, which he himself had laid. The army in Canada erected here a mural Tablet to his memory. The Church, as you will observe, is rich in these Monumental marbles, perhaps beyond that of any otlier Country Church in Canada, and among them are two claim- ing pre-eminence, not only from their exquisite finish and novel design, but much more from the honored names that are graven upon them ; Names of a family, from grand- sire to grandchild, and great grandchildren interwoven as warp and woof, with the history of this Church, ever the friends of its five Kectors and ever promoting the cause of Christ, at home and abroad, throughout the church's whole Centennial History.* But if " Ebenezers" are to be raised for signal mercies received, time would utterly fail me, to enumerate them all. They marli our whole history, more frequently than mile-stones by the way. Let me particu- larize only one or two more. When impaired health, and the infirmities of advancing years, laid aside from continu- ous duty, the old Kector, God has raised up to our little Church, a succession, of loved and honored brethren ; Fortin, Tucker, Bareham, Machin, Lariviere, men who have faithfully broken to you the bread of life, men who have (*) One of these reaUy beatiful Marbles; is to the memory of the late Mrs. Ross Cuthbert, nee Emily Bubh, of Philadelphia of the celebrated American family of that name. The adjacent similar Tablet is to the memory of her husband, the late Qiouorable Koss Cuthbert, Seigneur of Lanoraie and Dauti-ay. 20 not ceased to teach and to preach the truth as it is in Jesus ; the glorious Gospel of the blessed God and our Saviour, the grand old, old story of Jesus and His salvation, as all sufficient, and sufficient for all. One other cause of thankfulness to God, and the latest, is the establishment, in our midst, of Lincoln College. All who wish well to the Church, should ^eek to do good to the College. True science and religion, will ever go hand in hand, and be the complement the one of the other. And alike, from the splendid structure of the College, from its position and its health-giving surroundings, from its well equipped Professorial staff, composed of men of the highest academic distinction, and intellectual calibre, Lincoln, holds forth educational advantages this day, not to be surpassed, if indeed any where equalled, throughout the whole Domi- nion of Canada ; May it realize the best wishes of its sup- porters, and send forth its Alunjm, as its future best adver- tisemfent, to illustrate in a manly christian character, all that is pure, praiseworthy, and of good report among men. And now, dear friends, having given you a sketch, con- sciously imperfect, of the Centennial History, external history I mean, of our little Parochial Church ; let me in brief conclusion, solemnly remind you, that any and every Church under the whole heaven will only be blessed of God ; will only have her candlestick not removed, will only be- come the glory of earth, as she is scriptural in her doctrine , 21 as she is gpiritual in her worship ; and as she is both in her ministers and in her worshippers the reflection of heaven. Remember dear friends, the Jewish Church, its temple the glory of all lands, with God Himself as its designer and first architect, with a ministry, and with a ritual, and with mag- nificent robes and services, and singing, far surpassing in splendour and beauty, anything that we have. But wha did it all come to ? With all this religion in the Jewish church, there was an amount of worldliness and wicked- ness, a want of faith, repentance and holiness, which brought that church to ruin, destroyed its temple and made the Jews themselves wanderers over the earth, for now more than 1800 years. The lesson we are to learn, is that we are not to be con- tent with any mere outward ceremonial of religion. Let us ask with all that is going on at the present day, of great phoirs ; of splendid organs, of musical services, how much work is there being done for the Holy Ghost in the congre- gation? How many temples of the Holy Ghost are there among its men, women and children ? Let us learn from the history of the Jewish church, not to pride ourselves with thinking, how much we have been outwardly pros- pered and blessed. Bishop Ryle, of Liverpool, observes, with all the outward show of religion increasing year by year, in the day in which we live, with bright services, with ■ • 22 numbers of people at the Lords supper, with splendid sing- ing and with magnificent organ playing, depend upon it, there is the gravest reason to doubt whether there is much increase of real religion, religion, that is acceptable in the sight of God. Let us then often ask ourselves, where is the Holy Ghost ? where is the faith ? where is the hope ? where is the walking with God ? These, are the fruits of the Spirit, and by these alone, God judges the churches and congregations of the present day, and of every other day, as He judged. His own church and His own people, in the days that are past. And now, dear friends, one word more and I have done. There cannot be a doubt that our Centennial History closes, in most eventful times ; times, ominous of change and that are casting their dark shadows before. But whatever may betide, our best and surest safeguard against any and every form of evil, is individual, personal and saving urion to a personal present, and living Saviour, to the Lord Jesus Christ. May you all be satisfied with His goodness ; May you be complete in Him, in whom all fullness dwells ; and like the apostles of old on Mount Tabor, " see no man save Jesus only." Let Him, be the Lord your righteousness, let Him be your refuge, your hiding-place, your support, your solace and comfort, in every hour of temptaiion, amid the conflicts of life, the agonies of death, and the realities of the 23 coming and kingdom of God our Saviour, and never fear brethren, but that, safe in the arms of Jesus, safe upon His gentle breast, with all His blood bought;people, the weakest, the poorest, the humblest believer shall yet raise, on the other side of Jordan, his, or her "Ebenezer," and say, " Hitherto, indeed, hath the Lord helped us."