CHRISTIANITY'S INFLUENCE.                  545

the land of the dead for that of the living, goods of no value
for those of inestimable worth. It is a life in which brief sor-
row will merit for us endless joy, a life more angelic than hu-
man, and which confers in this world the greatest part possible
of eternal felicity." Augustine wrote: "I have been passionate-
ly fond of the perfection of evangelical counsels; with the grace
of God I have embraced it, and with all of my power I have
induced others to do the same; and, thanks be to God, I have
companions whom I have succeeded in persuading to enter
this holy state." Bernard says, in the religious state, one
                       "Lives more purely,
                       Falls more rarely,
                       Rises more quickly,
                       Walks more cautiously,
                       Receives graces more frequently,
                       Rests more securely,
                       Dies more confidently,
                       Is cleansed more promptly,
                       Is rewarded more abundantly."
  Jno. Chrysostom pays this tribute: "God cannot lie. He
has promised eternal life to those who give up this world for
his sake.  You have left everything, what then hinders you
from reckoning with confidence on the promise of God?"
Laurence Justinian pays this tribute: "Religion is the gate of
heaven. To be religious is a sign that one is already chosen
to be a companion of the saints." But why cite further testi-
mony from this quarter? It could be multiplied ad infinitum.
Surrounded by the examples of virtue, and animated by the
love of Jesus our Master and Model, how could any one be dis-
couraged? Take up, therefore, thy cross and follow Jesus,
and thou shalt go into everlasting life. The value of religious
men to society cannot be over-estimated. It was the religious
orders that cultivated one-third of Europe; liberated a million
slaves; copied manuscripts, preserved the light of literature
science and history; founded many cities and villages, estab-
lished the first and best schools and hospitals. Religion is the
staff and stay of the Christian, it illumes a dying bed.
  The secret of true art, said the great French painter, Millet,




			

OHS/National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center Serial Collection

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 28, Num. 2

Volume:  28
Issue Number:  02
Date:  10/1911