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very unregenerate nature, must necessarily be at war with each other as soon as they come into contact. Let us be careful to direct our efforts towards the right point, and to make them coincide with the operation of Divine and unalterable laws. Let us ever begin with the head and not with the skirts of the garments. We cannot make the precious ointment of love flow upwards. Let us, in one word, endeavour to lead men to be good first, to be united in goodness, for then, and only then, can their unity be pleasant.

But it may be said that it is not the mere amalgamation of external institutions that New Churchmen think of when they speak of the unity of the Church, but that they include in their idea agreement of true doctrine also. Let us then, in the next place, examine this point. Now it is evident that if agreement in true doctrine would produce unity in the Church, then all New Churchmen would be in unity, for they all agree together in their views, and in correct views of the essential doctrines of the Word of God. Yet what is the fact? Are they all united as brethren? Do they invariably dwell together in unity? Have the histories of their Societies been the histories of peaceful and united communities, without jarring, discord, enmity, or strife? If, therefore, we cannot secure the unity of the Church among a few who all worship the same God and acknowledge the same way of salvation, what probability is there that we could secure it among a greater number? Agreement in doctrine, therefore, can no more than amalgamation of institutions, produce unity in the Church.

But that which can produce unity both of spirit and of action in the Church, is that which comes by nature to no one, which cannot be learned, cannot be joined, cannot be put on. It is regeneration. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must be born again. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. The Church is the Lord's Kingdom here, and no man can therefore even see it, much less enter into it, and be one with it, except in proportion as he becomes regenerate. Whenever, therefore, the old man shows any inclination to become demonstrative, he must be put down. It will not do to tame him, to train him. Can the leopard change his spots? The leopard must be banished altogether, and man must become a new creature. We have all great need constantly to pray, "CREATE in me, create in me, a clean heart, O God."

As soon as this has been done, secure the unity of the brethren. produce the unity of the Church.

we shall find it a very easy thing to And the unity of the brethren will That will necessarily follow. We

shall then know what perfect unity is, because we shall know what perfect love is. If differences of opinion arise and they will always arise wherever intelligent men meet together-they will not cause dissension, because we shall then no longer be under the government of that self-love which desires that all men should worship itself, and its own way of thinking. But, on the contrary, we shall still glow with mutual kindness towards all our brethren, even when they oppose us, and we shall be able to discuss and to debate with each other with the utmost stress and energy, and we shall be willing even to find ourselves in a minority, without any diminution of that mutual kindness which is the type of Heaven upon earth. The unity of the Church will then be so far an accomplished fact, and the Lord, looking down from Heaven, His dwelling-place, will see that His ardent prayer has been fulfilled, and that we are one, even as He is one.

The realization of this heavenly unity must, however, from the very nature of the case, be difficult for us to attain in this life. Nor ought we to be too much surprised to find that even those who profess to regard charity as an essential to salvation may often fall far short of the standard they acknowledge. If unity and the spirit of unity is only possible among the regenerate, and if it grows only as regeneration advances, it is obvious that it would be unreasonable to expect perfection in this virtue from men, who, like ourselves, are as yet at the best only beginning to live the life of the New Church.

It is a common saying that it takes two to make a quarrel. But it is equally true that it also takes two to make a unity. This circumstance, therefore, adds to the difficulty of our dwelling together in that good and pleasant state. One may be ready for unity and not another. In this world good, bad and indifferent are mixed together. But it will not always be so. The Lord's prayer for the unity of His Church cannot fall to the ground. And as for us, who will soon be here no more, if we, in our day of earthly labour, are faithful to our duty, if we do all we can to promote unity with each other, as a result and as a part of personal regeneration, then, even though we should now be shrouded to some extent in the mists of disappointed or unsatisfied affections and hopes, yet a bright and glorious ETERNITY is before us :

"When the mists have rolled in splendour

From the beauty of the hills,

And the sunshine, warm and tender,

Falls in kisses on the rills,

We may read love's shining letter
In the rainbow of the spray,
We shall know each other better
When the mists have cleared away.
We shall know as we are known,
Never more to walk alone,
In the dawning of the morning,
When the mists have cleared away.

"If we err in human blindness

And forget that we are dust,
If we miss the law of kindness
When we struggle to be just;
Snowy wings of peace shall cover

All the pain that hides away,
When the weary watch is over,
And the mists have cleared away.

"When the mists have risen above us,
As our Father knows His own,
Face to face with those that love us,
We shall know as we are known.
Far beyond the orient meadows
Floats the golden fringe of day,
Heart to heart we'll bide the shadows,
Till the mists are cleared away.
We shall know as we are known,
Never more to walk alone,

When the Day of Light is dawning,

And the mists have cleared away."

We too, then, shall meet sweet Angel guides, who will take us by the hand and say, Come hither, come hither, ye faithful soldiers of the New Jerusalem, and we will show you the Bride. Behold there, behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is there that for you also the Lord Jehovah has commanded the blessing of life for evermore. Amen.

THE REV. JOHN HYDE.

In our last number we briefly recorded the death of the Rev. John Hyde, which took place on the 18th of August at the residence of his brother-in-law, Derwent House, near Derby. And it is quite conceivable that some friends might think that the simple record of the fact would be sufficient; Mr. Hyde's place in the affections and thoughts of the members of the Church was so large, his usefulness so extensive,

and his genial and gentle nature so universally appreciated, that by them no memoir could be required to make his labours known, and no survey of his character could be deemed more trustworthy than the estimate established in the memory of his contemporaries. But on the other hand the deep sympathy so generally felt, the grief for the loss of a beloved personal friend which in this case is almost co-extensive with regret for the loss of a useful and eloquent advocate of the truth, finds satisfaction in dwelling on the details of his career, and for this, if for no other reason, we should have been ready to offer a biographical sketch of our departed friend more extended than the short obituary notices to which we are generally limited in these pages. But most of all are we encouraged to attempt this sorrowful duty by the knowledge that a true narrative of so noble and useful a life would be scarcely less useful and helpful than acceptable as a memento.

John Hyde was born in London on the 26th February 1833. Since his death many even of his friends have been surprised that he was only forty-two years old, but it was a consolation to him in his last illness to reflect that his days had not been idle. Those who remember Mr. Hyde in his early years speak of him as a bright and happy boy, ardent and active in temperament, gentle and affectionate in disposition. He was educated at a school in Hackney, but he himself looked back to the supplementary instructions given by his father in the early mornings and late evenings of his school-days, as having been chiefly active in developing and directing his youthful intellect. As a boy he attended a Wesleyan Sunday school and Bible class, but he never became a member of any Wesleyan society. As a child he took great delight in the study of the Bible, and theology had attractions for him at a comparatively early age. Logical exercises were also amongst his boyish delights, and nothing gratified him more than to gain a place in the Law Courts where he could listen to the forensic struggles of eminent barristers. Even in these days he was ready to apply his talents to the defence of religion, and it is remembered that at the age of sixteen he took the affirmative side in debates on the authenticity of the Scriptures, holding his own against practised deistical debaters, and astonishing the audience by the fluency and power of his speech. He never regretted his experience with the Wesleyans, and he was always ready to acknowledge the benefits he derived from his early initiation into habits of external piety.

It was about this time that Mr. Hyde's family joined the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Mr. Hyde sometimes said that he was surprised that his former association with the Mormonites had not excited

greater prejudice against him in the New Church, and he added that he thought he might himself, had he been born a New Churchman, have entertained some such prejudice in a similar case. "It must exist," he once said, "and I shall only attempt to dissipate it by the argument of a good life." But wherever Mr. Hyde went he invariably won confidence and esteem, and we do not refer now to his Mormonite experience because we suppose there remained any want of sympathy for Mr. Hyde on account of it. This page in his biography requires neither apology nor explanation; on the contrary, speaking from knowledge gained not merely by direct communications from himself, but from those who knew him intimately before, during the time of, and after his experience in America, we have no hesitation in saying that the period may be looked back to as one of the noblest and most admirable passages of his life. He was only a boy when he first heard the Mormonite doctrines preached, and what first attracted him was the remarkable manner in which they appeared to be confirmed by the letter of Scripture. He was captivated by the zeal of the enthusiastic promulgators of the faith, some of whom, we believe, were earnest, conscientious men. At that time the features of Mormonism, which at the present day excite so much horror, were never proclaimed by the English advocates, who indeed honestly denied them when they were first mentioned. Under the influence of the elder members of his family, and excited by the powerful appeals of his new friends, Mr. Hyde began to preach the new doctrines. He believed that God was preparing a refuge of peace and security from the wickedness and snares of the world in the Western Continent. He was sent on a mission to France, and though unacquainted with the language, he soon acquired it, and was able to address audiences in the French language. 1853 he left England for America, and the fatigues and dangers of a weary pilgrimage through the wilderness were cheerfully overcome, under the influence of the enthusiastic hope that he was on his way to another promised land. But when he settled in the Salt Lake City, when the excitement of travel and toil had passed away, and when his boyish imagination was tempered by the more developed rational faculty of the man; when he could not remain blind to incidents that alarmed him, and was compelled to reflect on what he saw around him, terrible disappointment and painful doubts began to afflict him. He was shocked at the wickedness of some of the so-called Saints, and he carried his doubts to the ablest leaders of the movement. He was met by specious reasonings, and warned against what these men called the injustice of condemning the system on account of the backsliding of its supporters. But though unwilling to abandon the illusion for which he had

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