CHAPTER VII.

The Home Call.

"We shall miss thee at a thousand turns along life's weary track, Not a sorrow or a joy but we shall long to call thee back,

Yearn for thy true and gentle heart, long thy bright smile to see; For many dear and true are left, but none are quite like thee: And evermore to all our life a deeper tone is given,

For the father of our childhood has entered into heaven.

How wise and great and glorious thy gentle soul has grown,
Loving as thou art loved by God, knowing as thou art known;
Yet in that world thou carest still for those thou lovedst in this,
For memory surely liveth in yonder world of bliss.

For sitting at the Saviour's feet and gazing on His face,

Surely thou'lt not unlearn one gentle human grace;
Human and not angelic the form He deigns to wear;

Of Jesus, not of angels, the likeness thou shalt bear.

At rest from all the storms of life, from its night watches drear,
From the tumultuous hopes of earth, and from its aching fear,
Sacred and sainted now to us is thy familiar form,

High is thy sphere above us now, and yet in this the same.

Together do we watch and wait for that long promised day,

When the voice that rends the tombs shall call, 'Arise, and come away,
My Bride and my Redeemed, winter and night are past,
And the time of singing and of light has come to thee at last :'
When the family is gathered and the Father's house complete,
And we and thou, beloved, in our Father's smiles shall meet."

The Home Call.

In what different ways God takes His servants home! Jacob calls his children and grand-children around him, and before he is "gathered to his people" utters predictions which not only fall on their wondering ears, but echo through ages of the Church's history.

Moses climbs the mount alone, and, amidst the solitude and quiet of its solemn heights, resigns his spirit into the hands of God. Elijah, without a touch of pain or sickness, ascends gloriously in a chariot of fire. Stephen, surrounded by infuriated foes, feels sharp stones breaking down his tabernacle. Elisha, prostrate on his dying bed, calmly gives directions to his kingly visitor about the future. John the Baptist, in his prison, finds that a wicked woman's plans for his death are to be the means of his entering into life. Looking from the other side of the river, it will probably appear of little consequence by what means it was crossed. The Lord deals with His own children as He pleases; nor is it for them to choose. "He that is invited to the king's banquet will not be over careful whether the day be wet or fine, or the road muddy or clean."

""Tis home, 'tis home that we wish to reach ;

He who guides us may choose the way;
Little we heed what path we take,

If nearer home each day!"

Our father delighted to speak of the prospect of heaven. It was not always easy to those who loved him to hear him talk of going away, but it became more and more the habit of his life; and many walks in the garden and talks in the study were occupied with this topic.

His eye used to kindle and his face light up as he recalled the names of friends safe landed, and thought of the occupations and beauty of the place. Sometimes he seemed almost impatient for a sight of "the Prince of that country."

In replying to a birthday letter, he writes, on December 5th, 1870.

"Thank you for all your good wishes respecting my life and labours. As long as I can do or suffer anything for my Saviour, I hope I am willing to remain; but the prospect of heaven becomes dearer and dearer to me from day to day.

"There my best friends, my kindred dwell,

There God my Saviour reigns.""

In his sermon-book begun in 1860, he writes,"This is the third book in which I have entered my texts and the various places in which I have preached. I do not expect to fill this. Long before I shall have come to the last page, I shall in all probability be numbered with the dead. Be it so. My soul will, I trust, be in heaven. I do not wish to live when I am unable to labour. When I cannot preach the gospel, I should like to sing the Song of Moses and the