His Views and Principles
the vision of an English child attached to a Free Church, a member of a well-governed community, be as acceptable and as probable as that of the old time seer, who must have lived under conditions that we should deem revolting? At all events, to the earnest Christian there are many sources of information open; let him read "The Gates Ajar," for example; a touching anticipation that life in Heaven will be extremely like life in the smaller villages of the United States of America. And, if we consider the matter seriously, can we find much amiss in such an anticipation? I have often felt that many of my brothers are unduly timorous when speaking on this subject; modern, enlightened, and advanced in most matters, they seem, if I may say so, still somewhat under the bondage of ecclesiastical tradition when they approach the question of eschatology. They use, I mean, the figures and the symbols which John uses, which no doubt may have appealed forcibly enough to the uneducated, unscientific Christians of the early centuries; to men whose eyes were
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