I think of those precious words, 'A cloud received Him out of their sight,' and I look up and see the cloud sure enough, and then I think-well, that may be the cloud that hides Him. And so you see there is comfort in a cloud."

ure.

It is said that gardeners sometimes, when they would bring a rose to richer flowering, deprive it for a season of light and moistSilent and dark it stands, dropping one faded leaf after another, and seeming to go down patiently to death. But when every leaf is dropped, and the plant stands stripped to the uttermost, a new life is even then working in the buds, from which shall spring a tender foliage and a brighter wealth of flowers. So, often, in celestial gardening every leaf of earthly joy must drop before a new and divine bloom visits the soul.—Mrs. H. B. Stowe.

PRAYERS.

AT THE FUNERAL OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.

BY C. F. DEEMS, D. D., NEW YORK.

ALMIGHTY and Most Merciful God, our Heavenly Father, to whom all hearts are open and all thoughts are known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse Thou the thoughts of our hearts with the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy excellent name. We worship and adore Thee, Maker of Heaven and Earth, for all the things Thou hast made in the heavens above and in the earth beneath, and in the waters that are under the earth. And we thank Thee for this human race, of which we are parts, that Thou hast called into existence man, and hast given him reason and remembrance and imagination, and fear and love and hate. We thank Thee that Thou hast given us this earth, that we may till it and improve it, and make it to be the garden of the Lord. And we thank Thee, O Father, for all the generations of men that have come and gone, that have sown and planted, and reaped and replanted, and made for us such harvests of civilization, and garnered for us such results of culture. We thank Thee that we are living men, born into the world, with capacities for indefinite development in this world and in the world to come. We thank Thee that we are not shut up here forever, but having been trained and disciplined on earth, Thou openest unto us the gates of the second birth and the second life-the life that is everlasting.

Above all, we thank Thee for Thine inestimable love in the gift of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to be the propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. We thank Thee that He has brought life and immortality to light, and that the blood of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

And now we thank Thee, Holy Father, for those who have assisted us in moral and intellectual development, and this day especially for him, Thy servant, whose remains we are about to bury forever out of our sight. For all his bodily and intellectual and spiritual endowments; for his long continuance among men ; for his successful efforts to raise the lowly, to strengthen the weak, to enlarge men's ideas of their own capacities, and to increase the comforts of this present world, we thank Thee, good Lord. We thank Thee, too, that he had such a mother, and that he had such influences about him in the beginning of his life; that during all his career he had perfect trust in Thy Word, as coming from the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise God-and honoring his father and his mother, so that his days were long in the land; and that, at the last, after his weary and troubled life, like a little child, according to the word of his Saviour, he laid his head at the feet of Christ, and being so humbled by himself, was by his Lord lifted up into the embrace of love so that he should die on the bosom of Jesus. And now, Father, that he has been taken from our midst-he who has been the guide and leader of this generation he who has been so strong to stand and so bold to go forward-he who has been such a fortress and strong tower to so many-now that Thou hast been pleased in Thy providence to take him away, grant us grace to lead such godly and righteous lives that we may be able to carry forward such plans as seemed his purpose.

Drayer of thanks

We beseech Thee to send grace and divine consola- asks for consolation

tion to these bereaved ones. Bless his wife. Thou that hast put in the Holy Scriptures so many words for the widow, bless her; and now that the strong staff has been stripped out of her hand, may she rest upon Him who has been her guide from her youthher divine Saviour. Bless these, his children. Grant unto them grace to feel the immense responsibility of inheriting the fame of their father, and grant unto them grace so to love one another, so to cleave together, so to co-operate, that the blessing of God may be invoked day by day upon their family relations and all the public interests in which they are involved. We pray for them who for years have shared his bounty, and now shall see his face no more, for the lowly, for the broken, for the weak to whom he showed such kindness in secret. God bless them and comfort them, and make them feel that there is a stronger arm than is i

+ conferk

man.

Bless those who soothed him in his last hours-these faithful nurses, these devoted friends, these skilful physicians, and grant that at the judgment of the last day the divinest lips may say to them, as touching him that hath gone, "Even as ye did it unto the least of these, ye did it unto me.'

And while we pray for ourselves, we pray also for those who in distant places are lifting unto God their hearts to-day in solemn worship in memory of this great life and this great death; and especially we pray Thee to bless the solemn services conducted in the university that bears his name, that the Spirit of grace may come and rest upon them, and that the young men who shall bow this day before Thy throne in the church there, may worship God, and may go forth in strength to carry the benefaction of Thy deceased servant, even unto the ends of the earth. And now, God, be merciful to us and bless us, and cause the light of Thy countenance to shine unto us, that Thy name may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations.

BEFORE A SERMON ON "THE REST OF GOD."

BY REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER, BROOKLYN.

WE are in the midst of mortal toils, in uncertainties, in strifes that have no fruit but sorrow; and we are glad to believe that there is a world where all things do move in harmony, where wisdom is perfect, where guidance is without erring, where all do help all, and all love all; where the lowest and the least are great, and the greatest bow down themselves unto the least; where Thou art, O Thou eternal and helpful God; where, without warrings, without shadow of turning, without slumber, or sleep, or weariness, Thou dost bear up the mightiness of creation, and yet hast time, and thought, and desire for love toward every living thing. The circuit of Thy being is further than our thoughts can fly. We wonder at Thy justice, at Thy love, and Thy compassion, which are interpreted to us by no experience in human life. Thy love is deeper than any love we have ever known. Thy sense of kindness, wider than the earth, is more than all its life. Thou art filled with sweetness and gentleness. Thou art the thunderer;

and yet, all Thy creatures do rejoice in the goodness of the unstorming God, unto whose land of rest we are sending pilgrims. They who brought us up, they who taught us to love Thee, they who taught our knees to bow in prayer and our lips to syllable the words-they are chanting before the throne evermore; not according to the picture that our mind forms, though we struggle as best we may on an undeveloped sketch; but in a glory without name, and with a power transcending human thought or experience. They rest from earthly care, and from all sin and imperfection, and rejoice with a glory that it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive. We thank Thee for their rest. We thank Thee for the service that they rendered us. We thank Thee that they have entered into the nobler service of the sanctuary above. There are many of our companions with whom we have taken sweet counsel upon earth. We walked hand in hand, and labored together. They have gone up, while we yet struggle on, doing imperfectly the few things that we are minded to do that are noble and disinterested. Enthralled with care, we drudge on in this material life; but they have heard the call, and gone before. We do not envy them; but Lord, grant that we may be ready to follow whenever Thou comest for us.

We rejoice that the little pilgrims are safe. No storm hath pursued their ship, or can, in the land on whose shore breaks no wave, and whose air is distempered by no winds or storms. They rest sweetly. They are in angel charge, nearest to God. Thine own elect angels are their guardians; and in their bosoms, or led by their hands, they do rejoice, not forgetting their earthly home, yet wandering in the beauty and joy of their heavenly home..

We pray that Thou wouldst grant that Thy life may be more and more perfectly shown in our lives. May we walk together in the hope of glory. May we feel that we are not of this world; that while our feet do press the soil here our heads are above the cloud, and that by faith we walk in the celestial city. So we beseech Thee, O Lord our God, when at last all temptation is over, all suffering, all things intended for our education having been done, we may not be afraid to depart. May we believe that it is better to be with Christ than to live on earth. May that silent voice which draws men away, come to us; and may love cry "The warfare is accomplished; come up, come;" and with ex