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 death she  speaks  to  us  of  the  joys  of  victory  and  the peace and  happiness  of  our  heavenly  home. Christ and His  Church  lead  us  heavenward  by  alternate appeals to  our  hopes  and  our  fears — for  mental  food they give  us  a  judicious  mixture  of  the  bitter  and  the sweet. That is  the  idea  we  find  embodied  in Raphael's  masterpiece  —  "  The  Transfiguration." Below is  depicted  the  misery  of  human  life — the  tortured demoniac,  the  frantic  appeals  for  help,  and  the vain efforts  of  even  the  Apostles  to  afford  consolation or  relief. But a  hand  points  upward  to  the tower of  comfort  and  support — Religion  represented in the  ecstasy  of  the  Apostles,  and  heaven — the happy consummation  of  it  all — reflected  in  the serene loveliness  of  the  Saviour.

Brethren, when  God  promised  Palestine  to  Abraham, He  bade  him  lift  up  his  eyes  and  view  that region and  walk  in  the  length  and  the  breadth thereof; and  Moses  while  still  in  the  desert  was  bidden to  send  messengers  abroad  to  inspect  the promised land. So, too,  should  we  with  regard  to our  promised  land — the  kingdom  of  heaven;  but who shall  be  able  to  walk  through  the  length  and  the breadth thereof? Glorious things  are  said  of  thee,  O city  of  God,  says  the  Psalmist,  but  the  greater  part  of heaven's  glories  must  be  left  untold,  because  even  to conceive  them  hath  not  entered  into  the  heart  of man. Like all  things  most  intimately  associated  with us, heaven  is  the  best  known  and  the  least  known. That there  is  life  everlasting,  our  craving  for  happiness testifies,  but  what  heaven  is,  where  it  is,  what