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on the right hand, some on the left, as it were to guard them through the upper regions, continually sounding as they went, with melodious noise in notes on high; so that the very sight was, to them that could behold it, as if Heaven itself was come down to meet them. Thus therefore they walked on together, and as they walked, ever and anon these trumpeters, even with joyful sound, would, by mixing their music with looks and gestures, still signify to Christian and his brother how welcome they were into their company, and with what gladness they came to meet them. And now were these two men as it were in heaven before they came to it; being swallowed up with the sight of angels, and with hearing of their melodious notes. Here also they had the City itself in view, and they thought they heard all the bells therein to ring, to welcome them thereto; but above all the warm and joyful thoughts they had about their own dwelling there with such company-Oh! by what tongue or pen can their glorious joy be expressed! . . . Now I saw in my dream that these two men went in at the Gate; and lo! as they entered, they were transfigured, and they had raiment put on that shone like gold. There were also that met them with harps and crowns; the harps to praise withal, and the crowns in token of honour. Then I heard in my dream that all the bells in the City rang again for joy; and that it was said unto them, Enter ye into the joy of the Lord. I also heard the men themselves sing with a loud voice, saying, Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Now just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked in

after them, and behold the City shone like the sun; the streets also were paved with gold, and in them walked many men with crowns upon their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps to sing praises withal. There were also of them that had wings; and they answered one another without intermission, saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. And after that they shut up the gates; which, when I had seen, I wished myself among them."

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The passing hence of Christiana and her friends at the end of the second part of the book is after a somewhat more homely fashion than that of Christian and his companion. They are summoned, as you remember, by post to go to the heavenly city; and with quiet. trust and resignation they depart. What is told of the passing of Valiant-for-Truth is particularly noteworthy. "After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiantfor-truth was taken with a summons. When he understood it he called for his friends, and told them of it. Then said he, I am going to my Father's; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought his battles, who will now be my rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the river-side; into which, as he went, he saith, Death, where is thy sting? and as he went down deeper, he said, Grave, where is thy victory? So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side."

VIII

WILLIAM LAW'S SERIOUS CALL TO A DEVOUT AND HOLY LIFE.

WHEN Canon Overton wrote the Life of William Law (1881) he felt it necessary to give some reasons why the life of one whose name was then so unfamiliar should be written at all. Were the life to be written now there would be no need for apology. William Law's name is no longer an unfamiliar one. After long neglect he has taken his place among the most honoured figures in the history of devotional literature; and there are probably no writings that are doing more than his to nourish the deepest roots of religious thought and life throughout the English-speaking world at the present time.

He was born in 1686 at King's Cliffe, a village near Stamford, Northamptonshire, where his father was a grocer. He entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, as a sizar or poor scholar in 1705. The serious bent of his mind even then is evident from the Rules which he drew up for his guidance on becoming a student of the University. Among the Rules, which were eighteen in all, are these:

"To fix in my mind that I have but one business upon my hands-to seek for eternal happiness by doing the will of God.

"To examine everything that relates to me in this view as it serves or obstructs this only end of life.

"To think nothing great or desirable because the world thinks it so; but to form all my judgments of things from the infallible Word of God, and direct my life according to it.

To avoid all concerns with the world, or the ways of it, but where religion requires.

"To remember frequently, and impress it upon my mind deeply that no condition of this life is for enjoyment, but for trial; and that every power, ability, or advantage we have, are all so many talents to be accounted for to the Judge of all the world.

"That the greatness of human nature consists in nothing but in imitating the divine nature.

"To avoid all excess in eating and drinking.

"To be always fearful of letting my time slip away without some fruit.

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"To think humbly of myself, and with great charity of all others.

"To forbear from all evil speaking.

"To think often of the life of Christ, and propose it as a pattern to myself."

Law took his degree of B.A. in 1708. He was elected a Fellow of his College and received holy orders in 1711, and graduated as M.A. in the following year. On the accession of George I in 1716, he declined to take the oath of allegiance, and for this he was deprived of his Fellowship and of all prospect of ministering in the Church. It was a great sacrifice which he thus made for conscience sake, and he made it without hesitation and without murmuring-his only trouble being as to the grief and disappointment this apparent spoiling of his

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career would cause his mother. Always with the noblest souls, it is not their own sacrifice and suffering about which they are most concerned, but rather is it about the sorrow and the blighting of the hopes of those nearest and dearest to them. In a letter which Law wrote to his brother he pleads with him to try to make the blow as easy for the mother to bear as possible, and he goes on to say: "My prospect indeed is melancholy enough, but had I done what is required of me to. avoid it, I should have thought my condition much worse. The benefits of my education seem partly at an end, but that same education had been more miserably lost if I had not learnt to fear something more than misfortunes. . . . I expected to have a greater share of worldly advantages than what I am now likely to enjoy; but am fully persuaded that if I am not happier for this trial it will be my own fault. . . . I have hitherto enjoyed a large share of happiness; and if the time to come be not so pleasant, the memory of what is past shall make me thankful. . . . I shall conclude, as I began, with desiring you to say as many comfortable things as you can to my mother, and to persuade her to think with satisfaction upon that condition which, upon my own account, gives me no uneasiness." We may be quite sure that if Law's conscience had been as pliable as that of the Vicar of Bray, we should not have had the Serious Call or any of the other books through which he has influenced and enriched the world. There is no spiritual greatness, either of character or service, which has not its foundation in sacrifice.

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The fact of his being a Non-juror helps to explain the long neglect of his works on the part of the many; but

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