thought and word and deed by Divine standards. John Milton expressed the true idea of prayer when he declared his purpose to use life and time and opportunity

"As ever in my great Taskmaster's eye."

The old monks embodied the same conception in their fine maxim, "Work is Worship" (Laborare est Orare). Tennyson glances at it in the declaration,

"Thrice-blest whose lives are faithful prayers."

And Paul alludes to it in the precept, which only becomes practicable when interpreted in this extended sense, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. v. 17). To pray for Jerusalem, therefore, is not only to desire the welfare of the Church, and to beseech the Divine favour in its behalf. Involving all this, it yet more imperatively demands that the life shall be devoted to the Church; that every faculty and opportunity shall be dedicated to the sacred work of establishing upon earth the principles of righteousness and truth, in the supremacy of which consist the joy and excellence of heaven.

But the prayer required by the text is further specified--"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." When David wrote this Psalm, how appropriate was this petition! The capital of a newly-consolidated empire, with fierce Philistines and other enemies around, and traitors almost more dangerous within, Jerusalem, if she was at all to flourish, and afford a centre for just, wise government, and a home for a thriving, happy population, needed, before all things else, the continuance of peace. And is it not the same with the Jerusalem for which we pray? Environed by antagonists without; hampered by the indifference, the sensualism, the worldliness, the unhallowed covetousness and greed for gain which constitute the besetting sins of our age; menaced within by those "foes of our own household" (Matt. x. 36), the wily affections and delusive persuasions of that unregenerate heart which is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jer. xvii. 9), surely the Church likewise sighs for peace, as a condition indispensable alike for the successful prosecution of her work and the satisfactory enjoyment of her privileges. Let us be ever thankful that if the Church's difficulties are many, and her opponents strong, "they that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2 Kings vi. 16). For "as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth, even for ever" (Ps. cxxv. 2).

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But what is "the peace of Jerusalem ?" The first, most general thought respecting peace, is of a state of harmony and agreement, marred by no discordant elements. Applying this idea, then, to the subject under consideration, we find that "the peace of Jerusalem " involves three chief essentials.

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Firstly It requires harmony between the Church and the outward Where such harmony has been most conspicuously absent, the peace of the Church has suffered violence in the extreme form of persecution, from peril of which, however, we are now happily exempt. But is not all collision between the Church and world subversive of " the peace of Jerusalem?" Can the Church rest complacent and happy in the midst of ignorance and want?-surrounded by filth and pestilence ?-shamed by the spectacle of ignorance and vice?—aghast at the outrages of crime and the brutality of war? Even although her welfare may not be directly affected, and her members may still remain in undisturbed possession of their rights and liberties, the very existence of such defects is an infringement of the Church's peace. Her work is to subdue and banish them from the world, introducing in their stead the golden days of prophetic promise, when "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. xi. 9). So that rightly to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem," we must strive with our might to reform social abuses, and to ameliorate social miseries. Sentimentally to mourn the imperfections we observe, or to amuse ourselves with speculative theories as to their amendment, is not enough. We must practically work, grappling with existing evils, wrestling against them, fighting for their destruction, exemplifying, in our experience and conduct, the Divine paradox of Him who, although the Prince of Peace, came, nevertheless, "not to send peace, but a sword" (Matt x. 34). Because until these evils, which are utterly incompatible with rest, are expelled, "the peace of Jerusalem" is at the best imperfect; a beautiful, but empty dream; an exalted, but unattained ideal.

Secondly: "The peace of Jerusalem" depends upon the agreement and mutual harmony of those who form the Church. Not, necessarily, their uniformity of judgment; for on many subjects opinion must and will vary, and the general perfection and happiness, even in the heavens, will greatly depend on such diversity. What is really indispensable is unanimity of heart; accordance in the great ends of

desire and pursuit; and the mutual respect and sympathy which dispose those of differing intellectual convictions to yet work together for the same high aims, and thus to enrich the common stock of wisdom and experience with the treasures peculiar to each. Effectual prayer "for the peace of Jerusalem," therefore, must include an endeavour to promote such union, by enlisting the ability and co-operation of men of varying thought and character in labour for the Church. If the conflict of contrasting opinions should threaten any rupture of affection, or if actual dissensions should have unhappily arisen, it demands the spirit of the peacemaker to prevent the menaced breach or heal the enfeebling wound. In short, it requires that a man should wisely and conscientiously take part in the business affairs of the Church, lending his aid to strengthen her by securing in her service the work of each and all, thereby rendering her institutions useful and prosperous, and making herself, like Jerusalem of old, "a city compact together" (Ps. cxxii. 3).

And thirdly: "the peace of Jerusalem" supposes the existence of tranquillity in the mind of each member of the Church. If the heart is divided against itself; if conscience is ever raising her voice in condemnation and warning; if evil is loved or falsehood trusted, the individual attainment of "the peace of Jerusalem" is impossible. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isa. lvii. 21). "Evil shall slay the wicked" (Ps. xxxiv. 21); does actually visit them, even here, with retribution, ending, unless the evil itself cease, in the death of everything spiritually pure and good. The peace of Jerusalem, in the private and personal sense of the phrase, thus requires a clear conscience, and that just balance between desire and knowledge in which the knowledge of what is right is the constant measure of purpose and aspiration; above all, it demands a sense of conjunction with the Lord, and of a life striving after conformity with His perfect will. And faithful prayer for such peace involves an effort to attain and communicate this happy state: firstly, to realize it in our own experience; and then, having freely received its blessings from the source of all good, to seek to extend them freely unto others. Wise and loving instruction as to the nature of good and evil; the implantation of that knowledge from the Divine Word which alone can establish a just conscience in the soul; the excitement of pure desires and noble resolutions; especially the continual insistence upon obedience as the only genuine service and vital religion; these aids and efforts after the possession, and the diffusion among the individual

members of the Church, of mental calm and welfare, are all included in the significant and comprehensive precept, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."

May we not claim our text, therefore, as one peculiarly appropriate to connect with the memory of him whose removal from our midst is now filling the thoughts of us all? The short but full and fruitful life of the Rev. John Hyde was one constant effort to promote the peace of Jerusalem: firstly, to obtain for his own mind those clear convictions of truth which could alone supply a satisfactory basis for useful and energetic action; and, having by the Divine mercy obtained them, to labour, generously and with his might, to extend the blessing through the world. Born in London, on the 26th February 1833, he very soon evinced delight in the clear discernment of truth; a favourite amusement as a boy having been the composition of logical syllogisms with his father's help at the breakfast table, before the duties of school or business commenced. His oldest and most intimate friend testifies regarding his early years, "He was a boy of fifteen when I first knew him, of a bright, happy temperament, delighting in athletic exercises. His attention was soon turned to theological studies, and at the early age of sixteen he took the affirmative side in debates on the authenticity of the Scriptures, holding his own against practised deistical debaters, speaking with a fluency and power quite remarkable in one so young." In maturer years, after a struggle for the satisfaction of his yearnings for religious truth of unusual difficulty and interest, he was indebted to the same friend for his reception of the principles of the New Church. Wandering at the time in the mazes of a philosophical Unitarianism, the Doctrine of the Lord, enforced by a vigorous appeal to the Divine testimony (John xiv. 9), "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?"-wrought conviction in his mind that the only true Unitarianism is that which sees "all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling bodily" (Col. ii. 9) in the glorified Person of the Saviour Jesus. He embraced the principles of the New Church quickly and most intelligently; and on Sunday, the 24th of October 1858, was publicly baptized into her communion at Argyle Square Church, London, by the Rev. Dr. Bayley, delivering on the occasion an address which is still remembered, by those fortunate enough to have heard it, for its earnest eloquence, its manly declaration of faith in the tenets he had thus confessed, and its devout and

fervent assertion of his resolution to hold them loyally until the end. And right well have his solemn pledges been fulfilled.

Mr. Hyde's first official connection with the New Church was as leader of the Society at Brightlingsea, in Essex, rendering at the same time most efficient service to the neighbouring congregations at St. Osyth and Wivenhoe. He very soon began the delivery of the lectures expository of the doctrines of the New Church, for which he ultimately obtained such great and deserved reputation; his early essays in this direction, on "Swedenborg the Man of the Age," "Will the Natural Body rise from the Grave?" "The Glory and Divinity of the Holy Bible," and "The Serpent that beguiled Eve," abounding in power and in promise of the yet abler work that distinguished his maturity. After a residence at Brightlingsea of about two years, he removed to Derby, where he was ordained into the ministry on the 29th of September 1861, and where he remained until August 1866, when he settled in Manchester, the scene of his last, ripest, and best labours.

Having succeeded Mr. Hyde in the pastorate of the Derby Society, I can abundantly testify to the affection and respect which the endearing qualities of his personal character, and the distinguished ability of his official labours, won from the members of his congregation in that important town. But how shall I venture to expatiate upon his career in Manchester, standing in this place, which has so often resounded with his voice, and speaking to you, whose deeply-stirred and thrilling hearts have so frequently owned the spell of the beautiful and glorious truths he has proclaimed? As a preacher, who was more persuasive and tender, now melting the affections by some pathetic illustration which went home to all; anon, kindling enthusiasm and resolution, as with a trumpet-call to enterprise and action? Who was so clear and logical, presenting his ideas with such lucidity that none could misunderstand them; and enforcing his doctrine with arguments so sound and considerations so weighty, that the admiration and assent of the convinced hearers testified to his power as a great, wise, and earnest teacher? The same qualities distinguished him as an author; his more important works on "Our Eternal Homes," "Emanuel Swedenborg," "The Angels," and "Character," constituting a legacy of lasting value to the Church; while his frequent contributions to our periodical literature, his numerous and able Tracts, and his sweet and tuneful Hymns, show his command of the various modes of intellectual expression, and prove the untiring industry with which his every faculty was exercised for the dissemination of the good and true. Remember