were hurling their cruel stones, saw the heavens opened and recognized Jesus at the right hand of God."

This is a truth in harmony with our best moral instincts. We are social beings by our very nature. Our attachments to each other grow stronger and stronger as the years pass on, and everything within us. pleads for an endless continuance of this affection and companionship. Every earthly relationship may be changed in the heavenly life, but the love that is in our souls shall never perish. God, who is a God of Love, would not torture us with these hopes and anticipations if they had no foundation in reality. We need to feel, in our hours of bereavement, that though we sadly miss our loved ones in the now silent and desolate home, they are to-day somewhere in God's universe and perhaps not unconscious of our simple testimonies to them here in the earth; that they live and are active agents of God, and are looking forward with glad expectation to the time when we shall to them. They will not go come to us, but we shall go them.

The Lord Christ grieveth for the human

race

For he appeals to mortal men in vain, Except through hope of bliss or fear of bane;

Why seek they Heaven? For love of God? Not so;

But only for the bliss they hope to gain! Why shun they Hell? For hate of evil? No;

But only to escape the woe and pain! Wherefore, O child, at the Lord Christ's desire,

Arise! He hath for thee an errand! Go! Go with swift feet that loiter not, nor tire

Go as the wild hare roves through brake and brier

Go as the swallow speeds upon the wingGo bear two emblems to the pious king: One this fierce flambeau that shall hotly burn,

And one this cool, full, brimming water

urn:

Give both into the king's own mighty hand:

Then bid him whirl, three times, the burning brand

Round, round, and round his head-and let it fly

Straight at the very zenith of the sky,
To set high heaven on fire, and burn it low,
Till all its crumbled walls with ashes
glow,

And not a gate remain to enter by!
Then bid him from the brimming urn
outpour

The water through some crevice in earth's floor

Down, down, deep down into the depths of hell,

Whose fire these cooling drops shall quench and quell,

That these eternal flames may blaze no more!

This do, O king, at the Lord Christ's behest,

Till round the rolling earth from east to west,

Shall neither Heaven nor Hell by man be known,

But God be worshipped for himself alone!"

Her errand done-with sudden leap and bound,

The virgin vanished out of sight and sound!

This tale in olden chronicle is found; And if the maid was daft (as there is writ)

Much wisdom often lies in little wit.
Thou and I" by Theodore Tilton.

15

There are those who belong to our church and ministry, who are clamoring continually for the removal of the word restore from our Confession of Faith. And still the apostle Peter says when speaking of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ: "Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began." Acts 3: 21.

What did the apostle mean? The Rev. Albert Barnes says, "The passage means that the heavens must receive the Lord Jesus, until all things spoken by the prophets in relation to his work, his reign, the spread of his Gospel, and the triumph of his religion shall be fulfilled. It also conveys the idea of the predicated recovery of the world from sin, and the restoration of peace and order; the consummation of the work of the Messiah, now begun, but not yet complete; slow it may be in its advances, but triumphant and certain in its progress and its close."

The celebrated Dr. Adam Clark gives a similiar explanation of the meaning of this passage of Scripture. He says: "These words must mean the accomplishment of all the prophecies and promises contained in the Old Testament relative to the kingdom of Christ upon earth; the whole reign of grace, from the ascension of our Lord till his coming again, for of all these things have the holy prophets spoken; and as the grace of the Gospel was intended to destroy the reign of sin, its energetic influence is represented as restoring all things, destroying the bad state, and establishing the good; taking the kingdom out of the hands of sin and

Satan, and putting it into those of righteousness and truth. This is done in every believing soul; all things are restored to their primitive order; the peace of God, which passes all understanding keeps the heart and the mind in the knowledge and love of God. The man loves God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself; and thus all the things of which the holy prophets have spoken since the world began, in relation to the salvation of any soul are accomplished in this case; and when such a work becomes universal, as the Scriptures seem to indicate that it will, then all things will be restored in the fullest sense of the term."

If these learned writers have given the true meaning of the apostle Peter's words, I cannot see how any one can believe in Jesus Christ without believing in "the restitution of all things." And I certainly cannot see how any one who believes in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the whole world from sin, can possibly object to the statement that he will restore the whole family of man to holiness and happiness. If the use of the word restore in our Confession of Faith is really out of place, and needs to be amended, I suggest that we begin at the beginning, and amend the Bible first. For of what possible use will there be for us to remove the word restore from our Confession of Faith, if we continue to keep Bibles in all of our homes, and in all of our churches, likewise, in which any person may read that "the heavens must receive Jesus Christ, until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began."

It seems very evident to me that the fathers of our church, who framed the Winchester Confession of Faith,

were led to use the word restore, because the apostle Peter testifies that "all of God's holy prophets have spoken of the restitution of all things." And the holy prophets do not seem to have been to blame for using this word "restitution," because God is said to have spoken this word by them. And then there is no probability that the Rev. Albert Barnes, or Dr. Adam Clark, would ever have written so eloquently about "the restitution of all things," had they not read that "God has spoken it by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." If they have made a mistake in what they have written upon this subject, they evidently made it without knowing it. Would they not have looked blank, if after completing their notes on this text of Scripture, one of our brethen had said to them, "This is all a mistake. Christ will not restore all things, and of course there can be no restitution of all things.""

I imagine that these learned men would have replied: "Then you mean to say that God was mistaken in speaking of the restitution of all things.' That the holy prophets were also mistaken, and likewise the apostle Peter. And that all the translators of the Bible have fallen into the same mistake, except the learned Samuel Sharp of England, who has made the greatest mistake of all; for he translates the passage, Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restoring all things."

It is very fortunate, if the use of this expression, "the restitution of all things," is really a mistake, that it has at last been discovered; and I really hope that our brethren who are learned and sensitive about mistakes, and especially about the wrong use of words, will proceed to make

the needed correction at once. And that they will begin at the beginning,

that no one else may be deceived by reading of the "times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began."

MARGARET FULLER.

Margaret Fuller's friends have stood by her as she would have stood by them. But so many have gone to whom her memory was dear that I think it right to let her speak for herself from a very private letter. Margaret had many friends and many lovers. I knew of her having several offers of marriage; but she was afraid. She had seen great love change to dullness and indifference in domestic life, and she did not feel entirely sure

of herself.

In Rome, in 1847, after we had talked far into the night, she wrote to me a letter of twenty-four pages before we met again in the morning. In this letter (which has never been published) she says:

"I do not know whether I have ever loved at all in the sense of oneness, but I have loved enough to feel the joys of presence, the pangs of absence, the sweetness of hope, and the chill of disappointment. More than once my heart has bled and my bodily health has suffered from these things, but mentally I have always found myself the gainer, always younger and more noble....I have no wish about my future career but that it should be like the past, only always more full and deeper. You ask me whether I love Mr. —. I answer, he affected me like music or the richest landscape; my heart beat with joy that he at once felt beauty in me.... Still, I do not know but I might love still better to-morrow. I have never yet loved any human being as well as the music of Beethoven, yet at present I am indifferent to it. There has been a time

when I thought of nothing but Michael Angelo, yet the other day I felt hardly inclined to look on the forms his living hand had traced on the roof of the Sistine. But when I

no

loved either of these great souls 1 abandoned myself wholly to it; I did not calculate. I shall do so in life if I love enough....The inward voice has decided that I should come here, and being here, I wish to see Italy. Perhaps I shall be gradually drawn from Mr. —; perhaps he will find he does not need me. Perhaps he will find some soul more attractive to him; it may be so to me. In any case, God is always in the world, and some time he will satisfy all wants. Our duty is simply to grow....It is not easy for any one to live with me; it requires faith, but that faith would ennoble the one who could feel it. Children always love and trust me. If I should explain myself much, I should have strength for mental resolve, for action. I do not wish to waste it in words, I need to be serene, and I try, and try and keep on trying, but it is not possible to me always to be sweet. The renunciations of my life have been many, and I sometimes suffer from the opening of an inward wound. I do not wish to excuse myself for not being constantly sweet and noble, but it is not in want of good will on my part. Domestic life is trying to every one; it requires a great deal of love, faith, and nerve to dignify_it." Margaret's letter begins: "Dear Rebecca I had last night a terrible dream. I thought I was condemned to death, and preparing for execution." She goes on to tell of the calmness with which she was ready to meet death:

"Dreams often present things under truer relations than the reasonings of our waking hours, and I think my character would show this

kind of courage, and rise superior, even into an air of serenity and joy. For the rest, I want no trial; I am already weary; I feel much need of repose. Should it be presented under the auspices my soul approves, it would be welcome; but I see no probability of this. Should there be no fiery crisis in my life, it still must be one of labor and conquest."

sea.

I know enough of the greatness of Margaret's soul to know that when the trial came she met it grandly. She comforted and inspired the others on that ill fated ship; she soothed her baby boy to sleep; she was calm and ready for the end, though life was more to her than ever before. The greatest agony must have been when the kind but resolute sailor took her child from her, for she saw no chance for him in that terrible No friendly hand was there to save her; let her friends stand round her now! From "the ship Elizabeth, off Gibraltar," came a letter, probably the last Margaret ever wrote, telling us of the terrible calamity that had befallen them in the death of the captain captain from confluent small-pox. She says: "I was with him a great deal-indeed, whenever I could relieve his wife from a ministry softened by great love, and the heroism of womanly courage, but in the last days truly terrible with disgusts and fatigues. Then she helped nurse the mate through this dreadful disease; also her own boy, doing everything to save his childish beauty for

her own mother to see.

At the end she writes, "Keep a lookout; should we arrive safe, I should long to see a friendly face." Margaret always trusted her friends.

Many years before this she went one day in New York to see her dress-maker. The woman exclaimed, "Go away Miss Fuller; we have the small-pox!" But Margaret would

not leave until she knew they had all they needed; and the woman, with tears, said, "You are the only one who has dared to stop to ask." One Thanksgiving-day Margaret visited with William Channing and Marcus. 'Spring the prisoners at Sing Sing, and spoke cheering words to them with her sweet voice. She addressed Mazzini's poor Italian boys at their yearly festival in London, and afterward she worked with him and Ossoli and a noble-hearted princess in the hospitals in Rome. After being with her for years, we could say, "There was a beauty in her daily life." To call others up to their highest, to live her own true life, was her best wish. She said to me, "If I can not always be sweet, my friends will always find me true." I am happy to be able, and to feel worthy, to call myself Margaret Fuller's friend.Rebecca B. Spring, in Harper's Magazine for June.

[For Manford's Magazine.] LETTERS TO MY FRIENDS IN CONNECTICUT.

REV. W. E. MANLEY, D. D.
No. IV.

Dear Friends: In giving the definition of Universalism, to prevent misapprehension, I should have said that the definition is that of the doctrine, and not of the system. Besides the doctrine, there is the system of Universalism, embracing all the doctrines of the Gospel as we understand it. The system of Universalism teaches, first of all, that there is one God, who is infinite in all his attributes; and, in the next place, that there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We teach that all souls are under the influence of the Holy Spirit as one of the most potent means of uplifting and saving them.

We hold that the human soul

comes from God absolutely pure, but by being in an imperfect body subject to evil passions it becomes corrupt. Our bodily infirmities are hereditary and come down to us from

our ancestors, even from the first human pair. We believe that justice. is a part of goodness, and that every sin and every virtue is adequately rewarded and punished under the divine government in this world or in the next; these rewards and punishments being designed to discourage sin, and foster the principles of virtue in the souls of men.

We believe in the atonement as defined by its own meaning, which is reconciliation. Divide the word into syllables, and you will see that this is the meaning-thus, at-one-ment. In the only place in the New Testament where the word was found in the old version (Rom. 5: 11), it is reconciliation in the revision. The work of atonement is progressive. "God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." 2 Cor. 5: 19. When the world is reconciled the atonement will be complete.

The foregoing is not a full list of our doctrines; but it will at least show that our faith is not limited to the single tenet of universal salvation. I showed in my last that God, being infinite in his goodness, wisdom and power, must at the beginning have designed and planned the holiness and happiness of every human soul. If he did not do this, he was lacking in his goodness or some other attribute. But this last is absolutely impossible. As you and I venerate the Scriptures, and alike regard them as our final resort, let us consult them, and see if they bear out and sustain the argument in the last letter.

1. No sooner had sin entered into the world, than a gracious promise was given of its being finally over