est souls of the dispensations that have preceded.

And may there not be even more than this? The character of John was
strong, grand in its wild magnificence--like some Alpine crag, with the
pines on its slopes and the deep dark lake at its foot; he had courage,
resolution, an iron will, a loftiness of soul that could hold commerce
with the unseen and eternal. He was a man capable of vast heights and
depths. He could hold fellowship with the eternal God as a man speaks
with his friend, and could suffer unutterable agonies in
self-questioning and depression. But is this the loftiest ideal of
character? Is it the most desirable and blessed? Assuredly not; and
this may have been in the Saviour's mind when He made his notable
reservation. To come neither eating nor drinking; to be stern,
reserved, and lonely; to live apart from the homes of men, to be the
severe and unflinching rebuker of other men's sins--this was not the
loftiest pattern of human character.

There was something better, as is manifest in our Lord's own perfect
manhood. The balance of quality; the power to converse with God, mated
with the tenderness that enters the homes of men, wipes the tears of
those that mourn, and gathers little children to its side; that has an
ear for every complaint, and a balm of comfort for every heart-break;
that pities and soothes, teaches and leads; that is able not only to
commune with God alone in the desert, but brings Him into the lowliest
deeds and commonplaces of human life--this is the type of character
which is characteristic of the Kingdom of heaven. It is described best
in those inimitable beatitudes which canonize, not the stern and
rugged, but the sweet and tender, the humble and meek; and stamp
Heaven's tenderest smile on virtues which had hardly found a place in
the strong and gritty character of the Baptist.

Yes, there is more to be had by the humble heart than John possessed or
taught. The passive as well as the active; the glen equally with the
bare mountain peak; the feminine with the masculine; the power to wait
and be still, combined with the swift rush to capture the position; the
cross of shame as well as the throne of power. And if thou art the
least in the Kingdom of God, all this may be thine, by the Holy Spirit,
who introduces the very nature of the Son of Man into the heart that
loves Him truly. "He that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater
than he."

XIII.

A Burnin