that will not heal the pain of speculation. Live above the world, above its petty maxims, above its low desires, above its foolish sneer, above its passion for the transient, above its selfish cry of " Make your fortune." For we shall never have any real feeling of eternal life till we have entered the temple of self-sacrifice, never any true conception of ever-growing perfection as long as we embrace the mortal as our only good, and cling to imperfection as our only hope. "And with Him continually dwell!" Oh! to be able to do that, to live in His love, to breathe the air of His purity, to see and do the truth, to walk in justice, to make mercy the legitimate child of justice, to do nothing of ourselves, but all as we see the Father do; and to love this life in a Person whom we see moving in all around us, and feel moving in our own heart, this is the blessed life, indeed, for then as our deathful self is lost in love of God, so our true being is found in union with the self-giving Being of God.

It is then that faith in the life to come fills the heart, for the life itself has already begun to spring. It is then that speculation never brings despondency, for the spirit replies with conviction to the intellect. It is then that we can approach the exquisite dawnlight in which S. Paul and S. John lived, and, as our temperaments urge us, say with the aged saint, "We know we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is," or with the aged warrior, "It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."

[November 1, 1868.]

THE FESTIVAL OF ALL SAINTS.

Revelation vii. 9.

THIS is the festival of All Saints. Its origin in the Western Church is curious, partly as showing the way in which Pagan conceptions were taken up into Christianity, and partly as proving that so late as the seventh century the Romish See was still transforming the remnants of Paganism into Christian forms. It was in the year 608, when Boniface IV. became Pope, that he begged of the Greek emperor, Phocas, the gift of the Pantheon. Having received it, he dedicated it to Mary and all the martyrs. The dedication suggested the festival, and ever since, on November 1, the day on which it is said that the Pantheon was separated to Christianity, this festival has been observed in the Western Churches.

But though at the moment it was suggested by the idea of the Pantheon and its consecration, similar feast days existed already in both the Greek and Latin Church. It was in the same century that the imagination of men being greatly stirred by an outburst of interest in the Apocalypse, visions of the archangel Michael were continually seen by excited religious persons. Such a vision was seen at a particular church in Rome, and with the dedication of this church the feast of S. Michael and all

Angels is connected. The origin of a feast may be

ignoble, but the idea connected with it may be noble, and the idea of this feast is of such a character. It celebrates the existence of the Church triumphant; it is the memorial bond which unites in a common interest and a common work the conquest of evil- the angelic host of heaven and the human host of Christian warriors upon earth.

The festival of All Saints is related in conception to, yet distinct from, the festival of All Angels. For while the latter speaks of angelic victory, the former speaks only of human victory, over evil. In the Greek Church, in which it was first introduced, it was celebrated as an octave to the feast of Pentecost, representing the idea that the collective force of all the saints against the evil of the world was due to the entrance of the Holy Spirit into human nature. In the Western Church the same thought was embodied, but the meaning seems to have taken a more objective form. It was considered to be the feast of the glorification of human nature by Christ.

Now what is it which glorifies human nature? It is expressed in the name of this festival. It is saintli

ness.

There are many things which gild the career of men and glorify their name. There is the glory which comes of daring courage or of calm endurance, such glory as fell to the French who charged, and to the English who stood still, upon the field of Waterloo. There is the glory of intellectual power, such glory as has given to the philosopher empire over the growth of human thought, to the scientific man empire over the world of nature. There is the glory of the imagination, such glory as rests on the memory of the artists who, penetrating to the heart of things, have revealed, not without

a due reserve, the spiritual world which hides beneath the visible its own mysterious beauty. There is the glory of sympathy with humanity, such glory as falls upon those poets who, by expressing not only what is common to all men, but also that which is subtle and exquisite in particular men, have made life a hundredfold more interesting by their creation of a new world. of men; who have in all ages made men known to themselves, and given them, in so doing, aspiration and consolation; who have presented to the race the noble ideals which have exalted it.

But the greatest and the highest glory, the glory which is not confined to a few, but in the power of all, is the glory of holiness. There are many associations into which to enter was fame, companies of warriors, societies of science, bands of poets, circles of statesmen, orders of honor, — but the most ancient, the most memorable, and the most continuous-continuous even forever and ever- is the order of All the Saints.

For it is not only an earthly society; it does not belong to one nation alone; it does not seek its members only out of one age of history. It began with the beginning of the race. It has drawn its members out of every nation and kindred and tongue. It is existent in the world beyond the grave.

And being thus partly of heaven and partly of earth, it is divided into two parts with relation to its distinguishing glory, holiness. For those who belong to it in heaven have attained to saintliness; those who belong to it on earth are still contending towards saintliTheir end is then the same, and in this unity of end the company above and the company below are bound together into one. Theirs also is one Master,

ness.

and they both live-the one in satisfied attainment, the other in aspiring effort by love of His character and faith in His presence. Thus, though divided in degree and place, they are one in spirit.

We have now arrived at this idea, an innumerable multitude of diverse human spirits, of whom part are living in perfect glory of holiness in heaven, and part in imperfect glory of holiness on earth, bound together into one united polity by common love, common worship, and common dependence on the power of one King. This, in itself, is a sufficiently magnificent conception. But there is a further development of it. What is the constant, ceaseless work of this society? It is the overthrow of evil.

Is that work ever to cease? "Yes," answer some; "it will cease when all the redeemed are gathered in, when the number of the elect is complete." And where are the rest, we ask, the millions who have not reached your elect standard? "They are in hell forever," is the reply, "deepening in evil: baffled revenge and hate, consuming and ruinous despair, growing darker and fiercer against God the good, from day to day of everlasting punishment."

Is that the cessation of God's work? Is that the result of the magnificent work of Christ? Is that the lame and impotent conclusion of the organization of the great society of the Church of Christ? Is that the end of the war against evil? Then I can only say that it seems no triumph at all to me, but ignominious defeat. Then good is not omnipotent, for it is impotent to root out evil. Then love is not lord of all, for it cannot conquer hatred. Then, indeed, we are not Christians who believe in perfect Good, but Manichæans, who be