ministering spirits; and among them we behold our sainted friends bidding
us climb on to their lofty abodes; they beckon us to themselves; their
voices animate us, as they steal down upon our spirits in solemn and
beautiful cadence.

"Hark! heard ye not a sound
Sweeter than wild-bird's note, or minstrel's lay!
I know that music well, for night and day
I hear it echoing round.

"It is the tuneful chime
Of spirit-voices!--'tis my infant band
Calling the mourner from this darkened land
To joy's unclouded clime.

"My beautiful, my blest!
I see them there, by the great Spirit's throne;
With winning words, and fond beseeching tone,
They woo me to my rest!"

Weeping mother! that little babe, whose spirit has been borne by angels to
heaven, where it now glows in visions of loveliness around God's throne,
comes often as a ministering spirit to thee, whispers peace and hope to thy
disconsolate heart, and with its tiny hands bears thee up in thy dark and
troubled path! And my dear bereaved young friend! that mother, who nursed
you on her knee, who taught your infant lips to lisp the name of Jesus, and
amid whose prayers you have grown up to maturity,--that sainted mother over
whose grave you have often wept in bitter anguish, hovers over you now with
all the passionate fondness of a mother's love, guides and impresses you,
attends you in all your walks, takes charge of you in all your steps;
soothes you in your sorrows; and when burning with fever on the sick bed,
fans you with angel wing and breath, and warms your chilled nerves with an
angel's heart!

Now when we regard the departed of our homes in this light, shall we not
admit that the death of those who go to heaven is a blessing, not only to
them, but to those they leave behind! And especially when we remember that
they return to us in spirit to minister to our wants even unto the smallest
details of life, that they are our guardian angels, are with, us wherever
we go, to warn and deliver us from temptation and clanger, to urge us in
the path of duty, to smooth our pillow when thrown upon beds of
languishing, and then, when the vital spark has fled, to convey us to the
paradise of God,--oh, when we remember this, we say, shall we not rather
bless God that He has afflicted us? Though our hearts may be lonely, yet
with this view of the departed ones of our home, we can feel that we are,
nevertheless, not alone.

"I