"All my children," said the venerable John Eliot, of Roxbury, "are
either with Christ or in Christ." Happy, happy man! The little ones,
blighted soon by the touch of death, surely are with Christ; "for of
such is the kingdom of God." The cherub boy, and the blooming, broken
flower, the young daughter,--the young man in his strength, the young
maiden in her beauty,--are there. As we commune together, in the pages
which follow, on themes touching this subject, God grant that every one
who has not yet gladdened the heart of parent, and pastor, nay, of that
infinite Friend, our Saviour, by the surrender of the heart to God, and
every father and mother who is yet unprepared to join the growing circle
of the family in heaven,--('how grows in Paradise their store!')--may,
as we reach the last page, find that with cords of a man, with bands of
love, He who made Pleiades, and Arcturus and his sons, has united them
in eternal fellowship with their departed loved ones, through faith in
Christ. This, while it hallows the remainder of life with the rich,
mellowed beauty of the changing leaf, and ripening grain, and shortening
days, lays the foundation of that perfect happiness for which our homes
are intended to prepare us; their joys alluring, their separations
pointing, us to heaven.




II.

THE FEAR OF DEATH ALLEVIATED.

Yea, and moreover this full well know I:
He that's at any time afraid to die