affection, while it teaches us, concerning them which are asleep,
not to sorrow, as those which have no hope.

I soon fell into meditation on the mysterious subject of the flight of a
soul from this world to that of departed spirits.

"Swifter than an arrow from the bow, or than the rays of light from the
sun, has this child's spirit hastened, in obedience to its summons from
God, to appear in his immediate presence. How solemn a truth is this for
universal consideration! But, 'washed in the blood of the Lamb that was
slain,' and happily made partaker of its purifying efficacy, she meets
her welcome at the throne of God. She has nothing to fear from the
frowns of divine justice. Sin, death, and hell, are all vanquished
through the power of Him who hath made her more than conqueror. He will
himself present her to his Father, as one of the purchased lambs of his
flock--as one whom the Spirit of God 'has sealed unto the day of
redemption.'

"What a change for her!--from that poor tattered chamber to the regions
of paradise!--from a bed of straw to the bosom of Abraham!--from poverty,
sickness, and pain, to eternal riches, health, and joy!--from the
condition of a decayed, weary pilgrim in this valley of tears, to that of
a happy traveller safely arrived at home, in the rest that remaineth to
the people of God!

"I have lost a young disciple, endeared to me by a truly parental tie.
Yet how can I complain of that as lost which God has found? Her willing
and welcome voice no longer seeks or imparts instruction here. But it is
far better employed. The angels, who rejoiced over her when her soul
first turned to God, who watched the progress of her short pilgrimage,
and who have now carried her triumphantly to the heavenly hills, have
already taught her to join

'In holy song, their own immortal strains.'

Why then should I mourn? The whole prospect, as it concerns her, is
filled with joy and immortality: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'"

As I looked upon the dewdrops which rested on the grass and hung from the
branches of the trees, I observed that the sun's rays first filled them
with beautiful and varied colours; then dried them up, and they were seen
no longer.

Thus it was with myself. The tears which I neither would nor could
restrain, when I first began thus to reflect on the image of the dying
chamber of little Jane, were speedily brightened by the vivid sunshine of
hope and confidence. They t