THE LAND OF BEULAH.-G. B. Cheever. - [The prevalent "Expression" of the following passage, is that of admiration rising to rapture; - the tone of joy, however, softened by that of sacred and solemn feeling.] No other language than that of Bunyan himself, perused in the pages of his own sweet book, could be successful in portraying the beauty and glory of such a scene; for now he seems to feel that all the dangers of the pilgrimage are almost over; and he gives himself up without restraint so entirely to the sea of bliss that surrounds him, and to the gales of heaven that are wafting him on, and to the sounds of melody that float in the whole air around him, that nothing in the English language can be compared with this whole closing part of the "Pilgrim's Progress," for its entrancing splendor, yet serene and simple loveliness. The coloring is that of heaven in the soul; and Bunyan has poured his own. heaven-entranced soul into it. With all its depth and power, there is nothing exaggerated; and it is made up of the simplest and most scriptural materials and images. We seem to stand in a flood of light poured on us from the open gates of Paradise. It falls on every leaf and shrub by the way-side; it is reflected from the crystal streams, that between grassy banks wind amidst groves of fruit-trees into vineyards and flower-gardens. These fields of Beulah are just below the gate of heaven; and with the light of heaven there come floating down the melodies of heaven: so that here there is almost an open revelation of the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. During the last days of that eminent man of God, Dr. Payson, he once said, "When I formerly read Bunyan's description of the land of Beulah, where the sun shines and the birds sing day and night, I used to doubt whether there was such a place; but now my own experience has convinced me of it, and it infinitely transcends all my previous conceptions." The best possible commentary on the glowing description in Bunyan is to be found in that very remarkable letter dictated by Dr. Payson to his sister, a few weeks before his death. "Were I to adopt · the figurative language of Bunyan, I might date this letter from the land of Beulah, of which I have been for weeks a happy inhabitant. The Celestial City is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me; its breezes fan me; its odors are wafted to me; its sounds strike upon my ears; and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothing separates me from it but the River of Death, which now appears but as an insignificant rill, that may he crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give permission. The Sun of Righteousness has been drawing nearer and nearer, appearing larger and brighter as he approached; and now he fills the whole hemisphere; pouring forth a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of the sun; exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this excessive brightness. and wondering, with unutterable wonder, why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm." There is perhaps, in all our language, no record of a Christian's happiness before death so striking as this. What is it not worth, to enjoy such consolations as these, in our pilgrimage, and especially to experience such foretastes of heaven, as we draw near to the River of Death, such revelations of God in Christ as can swallow up the fears and pains of dying, and make the soul exult in the vision of a Saviour's loveliness, the assurance of a Saviour's mercy? There is no self-denial, no toil, no suffering in this life which is worthy to be compared, for a moment, with such blessedness. It is very remarkable that Bunyan has, as it were, attempted to lift the veil from the grave, from eternity, in the beatific closing part of the Pilgrim's Progress, and to depict what passes, or may be supposed to pass, with the souls of the righteous immediately after death. There is a very familiar verse of Watts, founded on the unsuc cessful effort of the mind to conceive definitely the man ner of that existence into which the immortal spirit is to be ushered. "In vain the fancy strives to paint The moment after death; The glories that surround the saint The old poet, Henry Vaughan, in his fragment on" Heaven in Prospect," refers to the same uncertainty, in stanzas that, though somewhat quaint, are very striking "Dear, beauteous Death, the jewel of the just, Could man outlook that mark! "He that hath found some fledged bird's nest, may know At first sight if the bird be flown; But what fair field or grove he sings in now, That is to him unknown. "And yet, as angels in some brighter dreams So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes, LIFE'S COMPANIONS.- Charles Mackay. [The "Expression," in the first three stanzas of this piece, is marked by the tones of animation, cheerfulness, composure, joy, and courage; it changes in the next three, to regret, — in the seventh to earnest but tender entreaty, in the eighth, to sublime aspiration and triumph.] When I set sail on Life's young voyage, 'T was upon a stormy sea; But to cheer me night and day, Through the perils of the way, With me went companions three; Three companions, kind and faithful, Heedless of the stormy weather, One was Health, my lusty comrade, Cherry-cheeked and stout of limb; I was thankful, blessed with him. Who, though storms the welkin swept, Waking, gave me calm reliance, And though tempests howled defiance, Smoothed my pillow while I slept. One was Hope, my dearest comrade, Brightest in the darkest days, Kindest in the roughest ways, Dearer far than all the rest. And though Wealth, nor Fame, nor Station, But, alas! ere night has darkened, Spectres twin around me flit; |