xliii. 1.) "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels." (Rev. iii. 5.) St. Paul speaks of those whose names are in the book of life; and St. James of those whose names are not in the book of life. And numerous other passages might be quoted to show that the Christian especially will stand before God in heaven as personally and as individually known and distinguishable from his fellow beings as he now stands before God and man on earth. The deduction is obvious: where individuality exists, recognition is a necessary consequence. If, with our present limited faculties, men know each other after long absence, and change from youth to age, is it possible that redeemed man, with the enlarged perceptions of a higher existence, can fail to recognise the earthly friends who were the faithful solace of their life's pilgrimage?—On Futurity, by W. Merry. The mutual recognition of the redeemed in glory is demonstrated in a calm and convincing spirit by the Rev. J. A. Killeen, in his popular work entitled Our Friends in Heaven. The Scriptural argument is ably conducted throughout; and in the Appendix to the work, the doctrine of mutual recognition after death is shown to be a truth acknowledged by the heathen Homer, (always understood to express the views and feelings of his age and country:) he uniformly describes the departed as recognising each other, and conversing together in their disembodied condition. Thus, when Ulysses is permitted to visit the world of spirits, his mother recognises him; so also, the soul of Achilles recognises Ulysses; and the prophet Tiresias, not only recognises him, but predicts his coming fortunes. In Hades, Achilles recog nises Agamemnon, from whom he receives an account of what had occurred on earth since his decease. Here too, Ulysses sees the souls of the suitors he had slain. Achilles, too, talks with Ulysses, comparing his former with his present state, and wishes to know from his earthly visitant whether his son strove to "rival his father's godlike deeds." So also we find Sophocles make Antigone, when about to endure a cruel death, exclaim, Oh! my deep dungeon! my eternal home! Eschylus, in his Perse, represents the soul of Darius as still possessing the thoughts and feelings of his former life; and in the address which he delivers, this departed spirit is exhibited as retaining a perfect recollection of his former history. Socrates, in his apology before his judges, thus bears testimony to the doctrine of mutual recognition and companionship in the life to come: "Will it not be unspeakably blessed, when escaped from those who call themselves judges, to appear before those The Recognition of each other by the Blessed. 223 who truly deserve the name, such as Minos, Rhadamanthus, Eacus, and Triptolemus, and to associate with all who have maintained the cause of truth and righteousness; or again to converse with Orpheus and Musæus, and Hesiod and Homer; at how much would any of you purchase this? Be assured I would choose to die often, if these things be true; for to me delightful would be the communion with Palamedes, Ajax the son of Telamon, and others of the ancients who died in consequence of an unjust sentence pronounced upon them!" Virgil describes Æneas as visiting the realms of the departed, and there recognising, and being recognised by, the spirits he met: The gladsome ghosts in circling troops attend, And with unwearied eyes behold their friend, Delight to hover near, and long to know, What business brought him to the realms below.-Eneid, vi. His father Anchises Meets him with open arms and falling tears. "Welcome," he said, "the gods' undoubted race, O long expected to my dear embrace. 'Tis true, computing time, I now believed The happy day approached-nor are my hopes deceived." Eneid, vi. Cicero, (de Senectute,) declares his belief in the doctrine of recognition thus emphatically: "I feel impelled by the desire of joining the society of my two departed friends, your illustrious fathers, whom I reverenced and loved. I desire not only to meet those whom I myself knew, but those of whom I have heard or read, or regarding whom I myself have written. Oh, illustrious day, when I shall go hence to that divine council and assembly of souls, when I shall escape from this crowd and rabble; for I shall go, not only to those illustrious men of whom I have before spoken, but also to my Cato, than whom one more excellent or illustrious in goodness was never born. He himself consoled me, judging that our distance and parting would not long continue." "Thus," says Mr. Killeen, "we find that the poets and philosophers of both Greece and Rome comforted themselves with the hope of recognition and reunion after death. They did not consider that death destroyed either friends or friendship; and they looked forward to spending an eternity of love with them in the Elysian plains, the Hesperian gardens, or the far-off Islands of the Blest." The reverend author then shows that this belief in a future recognition has not been confined to the ancient Pagans. The Heathen of modern times have adopted the same doctrine. Dr. Robertson records that upon the death of a Cazique, or American chief, certain of his wives, favourites, and slaves, were put to death, and interred with him, that he might appear with the same dignity in his future station. The burning of Hindoo widows was founded on a similar belief: they prayed to abide in heaven with their husbands as many years as there were hairs on their heads. Porphyry tells us that the Hindoo Gymnosophists, or barefooted philosophers, were wont to send messages to their departed friends by those who were about to commit suicide. The natives of Dahomey entertain the same belief: when the King is anxious to send to his forefathers an account of any remarkable event, he delivers the message to the person who happens to be nearest to him, and then orders his head to be chopped off immediately, so that as a courier he may convey the intelligence to the King's friends in the land of spirits. In Guinea, when a King dies, many persons are slain, that they may live again with him in another world. "Similar customs and ideas have been found existing among the Danes, the Chinese, the Brazilians, the people of Macassar and Japan, all which, though often defiled by superstitious and cruel rites, betoken the aspirations of the human spirit, and prove that humanity, even in its most degraded phases, still retains the purest of its social affections, and longs for everlasting friendship with those it loves."* The Members of the Primitive Church were remarkable for their love of their dead, which they strongly showed by sacrifices, by honourable burial, and by visiting their tombs-thus aiming to realize a secret and invisible communion with their deceased friends, and to come, as it were, into a sort of spiritual contact with their dead. Hence they loved to have their burial-places around their churches. Neander says that the anniversary of the decease of their friends was observed as a birthday to a nobler existence. That on this day "it was usual to partake of the Supper of the Lord, in the consciousness of an inseparable communion with those who had died in Christ; " and he adds, "a gift was laid on the altar in their names, as if they were still living members of the Church." Cyprian consoled his church at Carthage, when multitudes had been swept away by pestilence with this healing: "We ought not to mourn for those who, by the summons of the Lord, are delivered from the world, since we know they are not lost, but sent before us-that they have only taken their leave of us, in order to precede us. We may long for them as we do for those who are on a distant voyage, but not lament them. Why do we not ourselves wish to depart out of this world, or why do we mourn our departed ones as lost? Why do we not hasten to see our country, to greet our parents? There await us a vast multitude of dear ones-fathers, mothers, and children,-who are * Our Friends in Heaven. Appendix, 8th Edit. The Translation of Enoch. 225 already secure of their own salvation, and anxious only for ours. What a mutual joy to them and us, when we shall come into their presence and embrace !-Church History, vol. i. THE TRANSLATION OF ENOCH. The history of the prophet to whom the book of Enoch is attributed, or rather whose visions it relates, is recounted as follows in Gen. v. 18-24: "Jared, at the age of 162, begat Enoch; who, at the age of 65, begat Methuselah, and afterwards walked with God 300 years, and begat sons and daughters. All the days of Enoch were 365 years. He walked with God, and was not, for God took him." (Compare Ecclesiasticus xliv. 16; Heb. xii. 5.) The translation of Enoch has been compared with the ancient mysterious burial at sunrise of noble and comely youths who prematurely died. They are said to have been not really dead, but carried up alive to the region of light, in consequence of their being loved by the Supreme Being. The story of Ganymede is an instance. (See the learned disquisition on the subject in Montfaucon's Religion des Gaulois, tom. ii. p. 305, &c.; and in his Explication des Textes difficiles, tom. i. p. 132.) Hence the wellknown axiom, "He whom the gods love dies young." Plutarch, De Consolatione Philosoph. The Translation of Enoch has been commemorated by Thomas Peyton, a learned and pious poet, in his Glasse of Time; published in 1620: God re-ascends, and lets the world alone, Takes Enoch vp, that liu'd therein to mone, Small hope to mend, when hope could not assuage To good (sweete saint) with these foule men to bide. 66 MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN." The origin of this beautiful proverb is thus explained. Normal marriages being so innocent of all premeditation by man, can only be ascribed to the will of "the angel" espoused, or to fate, in either case, (for ce qui femme veut, Dieu le veut) to the will of Heaven. After marriage, another sense may appear in the saying, viz. that expressed in the words of St. Francis de Salis: Marriage is a state of continual mortification;" and hence a sacrament for human salvation. Again, in suggesting the meaning of this phrase, we are led to the well-known beautiful myth of Plato, according to which, in a true marriage, the two counterparts have met by destiny, and form a perfect homo. The account in Genesis (chap. ii.) is not to a dissimilar effect. In this view, marriages are those whom God has joined only. (Mark x. 9.) In a literal sense, the phrase in question clearly expresses an impossibility; since in heaven are no marriages (Mat. xxii. 30) according to the usual interpretation; though some may take refuge in the beautiful evasion of Swedenborg-who says that in the next world, the married couple will become one angel. Had not this saying an astrological foundation? Sir Kenelm Digby says of his own marriage: In the first place, it giveth me occasion to acknowledge and admire the high and transcendent operations of the celestial bodies, which containing and moving about the universe, send their influence every way and to all things; and who, although they take not away the liberty of free agents, yet do so strongly, though at the first secretly and insensibly, work upon their spiritual part by means of the corporeal, that they get the mastery before they be perceived; and then it is too late to make any resistance. For from what other cause could proceed this strong knot of affection, which, being tied in tender years, before any mutual obligations could help to confirm it, could not then be torn asunder by long absence, the austerity of parents, other pretenders, false rumours, and other the greatest difficulties and oppositions that could come to blast the budding blossoms of an infant love, that hath since brought forth so fair flowers and so mature fruit? Certainly, the stars were at the least the first movers, &c.-Private Memoirs of Sir K. Digby, 1811, pp. 10-11. 66 THE BUSINESS OF THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN." What a singular book is this, by father Lewis Henriquez : printed at Salamanca in 1631. He attempts to prove, in the twenty-second chapter, "That every saint shall have his particular place in heaven; and Christ a most magnificent palace! That there shall be large streets, great piazzas, &c."-He says in the twentyfourth chapter, "That there shall be a sovereign pleasure in kissing and embracing the bodies of the blest; that there shall be |