sublime, in the meeting of representatives from all parts of the country for the purpose of aiding in bringing about a state of things in which there shall be no more war. The mode in which the meeting was convened is, we think, not an insignificant circumstance; a requisition signed by seventeen members of Parliament, about seventy ministers of the Gospel, and 500 men of position and influence in the country, is cheeringly indicative of the spread of peace principles in the right direction. The speeches present an array of facts and arguments, advanced with an amount of ability and force, almost overpowering. The right view of the matter seemed to prevail also; although the meetings were held at Manchester, the seat and centre of the manufacturing and commercial spirit of the country, and although some of the "Manchester men are foremost in the movement, it was gratifying to hear from a practical man, like Mr. Cobden, that "the main spring of the movement must be with the men who look beyond temporary concerns of any kind-who, instead of viewing this as a pounds, shillings, and pence question, or even a question of physical suffering, have an eye to the eternal interests involved in it." Such an admission from such a man was, as a subsequent speaker expressed it, "the very genius of triumphant commerce bowing before the shrine of Christianity." It was resolved to raise a fund of 10,000l., of which between 4,000l. and 5,000l., was at once subscribed, and to organize machinery for inundating the country, by means of the press and lectures, with information and arguments on the subject. The MADIAI are still in prison, all the exertions used hitherto having failed to move the Grand Duke of Tuscany, or the Austrian Government, or the Pope,-for it is doubtful to whom this imprisonment should be accredited. An official letter, indicating an interference on the part of our government has just been published. It is dated from the Foreign Office, and addressed by Lord John Russell to Sir Henry Bulwer. We have not space to give it in its integrity; but we may remark, that it speaks in unqualified condemnation of the persecution, and instructs Sir Henry Bulwer to use his utmost influence, as the representative of the British Government, in obtaining their release. He thus speaks out: "If therefore, as has been lately reported, one of the Madiai were to die in prison, the Grand Duke must expect that throughout Europe he will be considered as having put a human being to death for being a Protestant." He adds, "You are, therefore, instructed to speak in the most serious tone to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and to lay before him all the considerations stated in this despatch." We hope shortly to give some attention to the subject of Life Assurance, as a philanthropic institution. In the mean time, we subjoin a notice of the Annual Meeting, held on the 27th ult., of the British Empire Mutual Assurance Company, as one, the whole of the executive of which, being members of Christian churches, and the greater portion of whom, being connected with the Sunday School Union, entitles it to confidence. The report stated that the year 1852 was signalised by a free and general public discussion of the fundamental requirements of the age regarding life assurance offices. The discussion had resulted in an unanimous public conviction that life offices, which unite in the highest degree the convenience, the advantage, and the safety of the public, were entitled to the largest share of public favour, and would acquire the greatest accessions of public business. During the past year 1,400 new members had joined the present society, and the new business of the year consisted of 1,400 life policies, assuring 281,687., the annual premiums thereon being above 9,1007. Fiftyone annuities also had been issued, of which eight had been immediate annuities, on which 1,3807. 18s. 1d. had been received. By the last year's new business the annual revenue of the company from premiums on life business had been increased, after deducting for lapsed policies, about 8,3581., and the amount assured by the new life policies in 1852 was above 33 per cent. more than those of the year 1851. Thirtysix members had died during the year, and the sums payable for assurances and bonuses under their policies had amounted to 6,5441. 98. 2d.-an amount which was much less than the sum provided for the current deaths by the tables. The number of life policies in force on Dec. 31, 1852, after deducting those which had terminated by lapsing or death, was 3,955, assuring the amount of 732,6057., the annual income thereon being about 23,8097. 13s. 3d. After payment of all expenses and claims, the company has accumulated the sum of 45,8311. 128. 8d., the whole of which (the balance in hand of course excepted) is invested on approved securities. The balancesheet showed that the receipts for the year ending 31st Dec. amounted to 42,478. 138. 3d., and the payments to 30,1887. Os. 6d., leaving a balance of 12,290l. 128. 9d. The Rev. C. T. Keen moved, and Mr. Cooper, the Mayor of Canterbury, seconded, the resolution that the report be adopted. The motion was unanimously carried, and the retiring officers having been re-elected, the proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks. Poetry. THE POOR MAN AND THE FIEND. A fiend once met a humble man Where music circled sweet, And light and warmth cheered the wanderer's heart, From frost and darkness screened, Ah! well if he never had knelt to the fiend, Thou hast toiled in the heat or snow, Let thy gains on mine altar an offering be;" And the poor man ne'er said, "No!" Now, men and matrons in your prime, Oh, listen, till your brain whirls round, That in England's isle al! this befell, THE DOOMED MAN. There is a time, we know not when, To glory or despair. There is a line, by us unseen, That crosses every pathThe hidden boundary between God's patience and his wrath. To pass that limit is to die, To die as if by stealth; The conscience may be still at ease, That which is pleasing still may please, But on that forehead God has set Unseen by man, for man as yet And yet the doomed man's path below Or feel, that he is doomed. He knows, he feels that all is well, Oh where is this mysterious bourne How far may we go on in sin? How long will God forbear? Where does hope end, and where begin The confines of despair? An answer from the skies is sent 66 The Wesley Banner, AND CHRISTIAN FAMILY VISITOR. APRIL, 1853. Essays, Articles, and Sketches. PERSONAL RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN. "For if, as holiest men have deem'd, there be A land of souls beyond the sable shore, With those who made our mortal labours light, “If a man die, shall he live again?" is a question which, happily, to the Christian needs no solution. Arising out of this, and scarcely less interesting, is the inquiry, "shall we know each other after death, is there any personal recognition in the spirit-world?" and this question, to many minds, at least, is much less capaple of satisfactory determination. To seal the subject with an unequivocal and absolute negative, would be with many sincere Christians to rob their anticipations of immortality of an important and endearing charm,-to blot out no trifling element in their visions of future bliss: whilst, on the other hand, there are those to whom the admission of any such consideration into the estimate of celestial happiness as the continuance and perpetuity of mundane affections, would be, in their opinion, to carnalize and degrade it. As the question is one entwining itself so intimately with some of our purest and most cherished sympathies, we shall not consider it a vain speculation to inquire on what grounds the hope of personal recognition in a future state is based. The first consideration which strikes us is the universality of the belief in this recognition. In all ages, ancient and modern; amongst all peoples, Jew or Gentile, Christian or Pagan, we meet with records or traditions of such a faith. The classical student will at once recall to memory the repeated allusions of Homer to the interviews between the shades of departed heroes in the world of spirits. He will remember, too, the words of Socrates: "Who would not part with a great deal to purchase a meeting with Orpheus, Hesiod, and Homer? What inconceivable happiness will it be to converse in another world with Sisyphus, Ulysses, and Palemedas, especially as those who inhabit that world shall die no more." The touching words of Cicero when bereaved of his son would have done honour to a Christian: "If I seemed to bear his death with fortitude, it was by no means that I did not most sensibly feel the loss I had sustained; it was because I supported myself with the consoling reflection that we could not long be separated." Turning from the philosophic speculations of Greece and Rome to the simple faith of the untutored Red Man in the wilds of North America, we find him looking forward, with a confidence never shaken by doubts, to meeting all his tribe in the happy hunting-grounds, no companion of his earthly career wanting; he Once more crossing the ocean, and still referring to heathen authorities, we find that amongst the various tribes of Western Africa, when any personage of imp ortance dies, forthwith a number of menials are slain, in the full conviction that they will accompany and continue to attend on their superior in the land of shades. In like manner the poor Hindoo woman, who buries herself, or is burned with the corpse of her husband, never doubts that she will meet and know him again beyond the grave. The sensual paradise of the Mohammedan is but an exaggeration and distortion of this all-prevalent idea that man's human affections and sympathies are not entirely extinguished or annihilated in the world to come. The universal prevalence of this belief or hope affords, at least, a strong presumption in favour of its truth. The strongest argument of Plato and the Grecian philosophers on which they based a belief in the immortality of the soul, was derived from the all-prevalent yearning amongst mankind for such immortality, which they regarded as a Divine instinct of the soul, indicating its futur e destiny. As Addison beautifully expresses it, putting the words into the mouth of Cato: "It must be so-Plato, thou reason'st well!- Or, whence this secret dread, and inward horror 'Tis the divinity that stirs within us: 'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter, It is not unfair or illogical, in like manner, to regard this wide-spread anticipation and common hope of mankind, in all ages and under all circumstances, as to a future recognition of those they have loved on earth, as marking a want of the soul, which, as it is not in itself unholy or unreasonable, we may without presumption expect to be realized. Having assumed this position, however, we must go further. This is at best but a balance-of-probabilities kind of argument; and, in relation to any actual want of the soul, the Christian is not placed in any position of uncertainty. The few stray beams of living light which illumined the minds of Plato and others through the doubtful medium of a cloudy philosophy, are gathered together and concentred, as it were, in a focus in the revealed word of God; so that we are not now left to draw uncertain conclusions in regard to any question which concerns the soul's welfare. We will, there fore, in the first place refer to a few passages of God's word which appear to have specific reference to the subject; and then briefly advert to some general considerations which appear obviously to arise out of the whole tenor of Christian doctrine. The terms used in the earliest allusions in the Old Testament Scriptures to the departure of the soul to the world of spirits, are suggestive of the truth of this belief the patriarchs are spoken of as being "gathered unto their fathers," "gathered unto their people," &c., and that this phraseology has reference to the soul is manifest from the fact that their places of sepulture were often far asunder. To the same effect is the exclamation of good old Jacob on hearing the tidings of the supposed murder of Joseph: "I will go down unto the grave unto my son mourning;" not unto the sepulchre or place of his burial, surely, for he knew not where the slaughtered body was; but unto the grave, hades, the place of departed spirits; there it was he hoped to go and meet his beloved son. The remark of David, under somewhat similar circumstances, is still more pointed; when mourning the death of his infant son, he takes comfort from the reflection that he shall meet him again, and recognise him, of course, saying "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." These allusions are sufficient to show that the meeting and personal recognition of the souls of the departed, in the spirit-world, was a received tenet of faith under the Jewish economy. Turning to the New Testament, we find this idea still more distinctly recognised. In the history and teaching of our Lord, repeated reference is made to the mutual recognition of spirits in their disembodied state. In the parable of the rich man, where the veil is for a moment withdrawn, and we have a glimpse of the unseen world, we find that Lazarus is at once recognised by Dives; and it is worthy of remark, that the familiar Jewish metaphor which expresses the happy state of Lazarus, is in itself a collateral confirmation of the common prevalence of this belief: he is described as being " in Abraham's bosom ;" the phrase certainly indicating the continuance in the future state of both the elements of recognition-personality and memory. Again; our Saviour in speaking of the gathering in of the Gentiles, makes use of similar phraseology; he says: “Isay unto you that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." In the narrative of the glorious transfiguration of our blessed Lord, Moses and Elias are described as talking with him : from which we may infer not merely their retention of a wellknown personality, but also the fact of their friendly intercourse. These citations might be continued further, and repeated evidence drawn from the writings of the Apostles, showing their faith in this recognition as an undoubted verity having an important influence in stimulating them to exertion in winning souls. Reference, with the same result, might be made to the Apocalypse, but it is unnecessary, as enough has been quoted to show the general character of scriptural allusion to this subject. We shall now briefly refer to some of the objections to this belief. It is objected by some, in the first place, that throughout the sacred volume the fact of the recognition of the sainted dead is never once clearly affirmed. In answer to this we remark that the incidental implication of any fact is often evidence more convincing than even a distinct affirmation. This might be illustrated by numerous examples, but one will abundantly suffice. The existence of |