--I was altogether taken by surprise when the news came, 'Mr. Mudie is gone!' --gone to the 'mountain of myrrh and hill of frankincense till the Daybreak.' You do not know how many of Christ's friends here and elsewhere will miss him. All of us felt, when we were privileged to have his visits, that we had among us a man of God, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,--full of brotherly love also in no ordinary degree, and bright in spirit with the hope of soon meeting his Lord. But, dear sister, shall not you and yours lift up your heads and 'rejoice with them that do rejoice ;' rejoice with him who to-day sings before the Throne:
'His presence fills each heart with joy.'
And then the Day of our Gathering together in Christ, how near it may be! Samuel Rutherford would have reminded you as he reminded a dying friend: 'Ye will not sleep long in the dust before the Daybreak. It is a far shorter piece of the night to you than to Abraham and Moses.' Nor will the Comforter forget to bring you many a message from our sympathising High Priest who spoke that word at the grave of Lazarus, 'If thou wilt believe, thou shalt see the glory of God' in this bereavement. We will pray for you all, that your consolation may abound.
Meanwhile, believe me your companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Christ,
