The Recognition of each other by the Blessed.

EVIDENCES OF THE RECOGNITION.

BISHOP KING, in a poem entitled the Exequy, (17th century,) thus apostrophises the person whose departure from this life was the occasion of the composition:

Never shall I
Be so much blessed as to descry
A glimpse of thee, till that day come
Which shall the earth to cinders doom,
And a fierce fever must calcine
The body of this world like thine,
(My little world!) that fit of fire
Once off, our bodies shall aspire

To our souls' bliss: then we shall rise
And view ourselves with clearer eyes
In that calm region, where no night
Can hide us from each other's sight.

After some intervening passages, the poem concludes thus:
The thought of this bids me go on,
And wait my dissolution

With hope and comfort. Dear (forgive
The crime !) I am content to live
Divided with but half a heart

Till we shall meet and never part.

These quaint lines exemplify an opinion which prevails very generally among Christians: namely, that in the future state of happiness of the blessed, they who have known and loved each other in this world will be the subjects of mutual recognition, and will be re-united and associated with each other, and contribute to each other's delight in that condition of perpetual blessedness.

Bishop Mant observes that very little is said in Holy Writ, which can be judged to bear directly upon this subject; but, in the absence of this specific testimony, he does not desire to discredit the opinion, since it is calculated to enhance the innocent delights, and to alleviate the unavoidable sufferings of this present life; and to improve us in virtue, as well as to further our consolation and enjoyment. Scripture does not contain anything that militates against the opinion; but on the contrary, makes it highly probable.

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Under the Old Testament, comfort was derived from the persuasion, that in a future life a re-union would be effected of those ties of affection which had been severed in this life. In what affecting language David explains the motives of his conduct, first during the illness, and then after the death, of his child: "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.' (2 Sam. xii. 23.) From his own explicit avowals, David comforted himself with the assurance, that the child whom God had taken from him in this life, he would restore o him in the life to come.

From several passages in the Epistles, Dr. Mant derives a very considerable probability that St. Paul anticipated on the last day a personal knowledge of those on his part, and a personal re-union with them, with whom he had been connected in this life by the ties of personal offices and kind affection. That the recognition would be mutual, seems to be a matter of course. And it may, Dr. Mant apprehends, be further assumed, that the same faculty of recognition which would exist at the "day of Christ,” and the commencement of the future state of existence, would be perpetuated during its continuance; and that a faculty which should be allowed to St. Paul, and to those with whom he was thus connected, would not be withholden from others, who had stood in relations of mutual attachment and endearment whilst on earth.

The language of our Lord with reference to the Day of Judgment also renders this recognition of each other extremely probable.

The Transfiguration of our Saviour, as recorded by St. Matthew xvii. and St. Mark ix. is not only proof of this recognition. Moses and Elias were talking with Jesus. Moses and Elias must then have been alive: not two unknown but two specific persons. It cannot properly be said that "Peter and James, and John his brother," the disciples present, recognised those whom they had never known in life; but the identity of Moses and Elias is declared, and that of course involves the question of recognition. Again, in the parable of Lazarus in Abraham's bosom,* and the rich man in torment, identity of persons, and recognition after death, are presented to us as facts in the understood order of Providence.

That these are indeed the facts, may be clearly comprehended also from the definite and distinctive position of man in the sight of God. "Fear not, I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name." (Is.

Alluding to the custom of those days, when men reclined at length, side by side, at their feasts, instead of sitting. Thus, also, St. John is described as "leaning on Jesus's bosom," at the last supper.

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 recognises 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!
Whither I go to join my kindred dead;
But still I have great hopes I shall not go
Unwelcomed, to my father, nor to thee,
My mother!-Dear to thee, Eteocles,
Still shall I ever be.

Eschylus, in his Persa, 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

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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 I 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.-Æneid, 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.