consider the present unhappy relations of Church and State the world over, and, more especially, the antagonism between the one true Church and the various Christian and anti-Christian sects, we are apt to become discouraged — to lose heart as did the little crew of Peter's bark on the storm-tossed sea of Galilee. Men are more observant of destruction than they are of constructive results — the thunder and lightning command attention, but Nature's greatest force — the sun — is barely considered. So, too, the Church. So uniform is her progress, her influence on the age — that it is scarcely noticed, whereas the opposing forces are the observed of all. When the storm of persecution rages, therefore, remember a storm clears the atmosphere; that it is only momentarily dangerous — for silent and peaceful forces alone are productive of lasting effects. No cause for fear for the Pilot and crew of Peter's bark, for they have on board not merely Caesar but Caesar's God. Nay, religious persecution should be our greatest joy, our liveliest hope, for resistance betokens progress — action is measured by reaction: and invariably antagonism arouses the antagonized to more strenuous efforts. In her inception, in her experiences of the past, in her attitude at the present day, we find no cause for alarm regarding the Church's ultimate destiny. She should not, cannot, be destroyed except, indeed, as another Samson burying herself and mankind in the ruins of the universe. No, when finally she stands on the borders of time and eternity looking back over the past she shall be able to say with
