With what majestic glories does this thought invest the redemption of Christ! His triumph is complete. Death sweeps away a majority of the human family in infancy. God converts it into an instrument of translating millions to glory. From every nation, and kindred, and tribe under the whole canopy of heaven, and in all ages, countless thousands of young blossoms of humanity have gone up from heathenism, degradation, and shame, to be crowned with life and immortality, and repose in safety in their Father's House. There that sweet one, whose absence you mourn, will see the young trophies of redeeming love snatched from the fire which destroyed the guilty cities of the plain, and rescued from the waters which swept away a godless world. Its voice will mingle with the voices of Egypt's first-born; and of the innocents saved from the arms of Moloch; the Ganges' turbid tide; the shores of every island; and the mountains and plains of the dark places of earth which have been, and are, the habitations of heathenism, cruelty, and sin. It will hear the

songs of the first fruits of the Saviour's incarnation—the unconscious "infantry” of the noble army of martyrs; and of the train who enter in from Christianity's consecrated chambers. How large the number of infant victors who shout God's praises in the sanctuary above!

Blessed, forever blessed be Thy name, Lord God Almighty, our Saviour, for Thy cheering Gospel, and the full salvation which encircles our babes, and plants them firmly in the celestial Eden. Their praises were grateful to Thy ear on Thy journey to the cross. "How surpassingly sweet must they be now, as Thou dost look from Thy cross-bought throne upon the countless throng in sinless, immortal beauty, forever safe from sin, and sorrow, and shame, through Thine abounding love !"*

*Dr. Bethune.

VII.

"Suffer Little Children to come unto me.'

"Forbid them not, the Saviour said,
Oh suffer them to come to me!
Of such my Heavenly Kingdom is-
Like them must all my followers be.
Young children are the gems of earth,
The brightest jewels mothers have;
They sparkle on the throbbing breast,

But brighter shine beyond the grave."

THIS DOCTRINE IS CONFIRMED BY THE WORDS OF THE LORD JESUS.

Jesus of Nazareth! who can declare the comprehensiveness and depth of His sympathy and love? His every action was inlaid with grace. His daily path was marked by one act of beneficence after another. Sorrow resorted to Him to have its tears wiped away; unsheltered weakness sought a sanctuary in His presence; and the troubled heart sought relief at His hands. None went empty away.

He supplied every want, and bestowed a balm upon every wound. From His character we might reasonably infer that He would not leave uncheered one great source of human sorrow; that parents bereaved would receive some rays to gild the darkness of the hour, some words of cheer to sustain the sinking spirits. Nor are we mistaken. Two acts, and the accompanying words, remain immortalized in the Gospel. The bereaved parent may raise the pillar of gratitude, and say: "Here has my blessed Master helped me."

For what parent who misses from the fireside the sunny smiles, and guileless joy of infancy, and drops the tear of anguish over some little mound, does not bless the Saviour, with a heart too full for utterance, for His comforting words: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven ?"

Precious saying! It determines the question of our infants' interest in the kingdom of heaven. It clearly shows that Christ recognized the parental relation and feeling includ

ed in the Abrahamic covenant, and confirmed its perpetuity by incorporating it into the new dispensation. It affirms that infants, as such, should be affectionately and believingly given to Him, for no other purpose than that He might save them.

Precious saying! As the echoes of His welcome linger on the ear, and their consolation, like gales from spice groves, gladdens the riven heart, the eye rests upon a picture, than which none is more beautiful, none more calculated to attract, in the Redeemer's life. There stands the Redeemer in all His gentle loveliness. Around Him are congregated His disciples, the pharisees, and the people, to whom He is uttering weighty words upon subjects of vital interest in the present life. "Then were brought unto Him little children." A benignant look illumes His countenance, as He extends His arms to welcome, and gently places His hands upon their heads. The excited multitude watch every motion, and catch every word. His disciples, rebuking those who press forward the little ones to receive