He has been, though but for a
moment, in harmony with the polity of the Living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem; and with an innumerable company of angels, and the church of
the first-born who are written in heaven; and with the spirits of just
men made perfect, and with all past, present, and to come, in this and in
all other worlds, of whom it is written, "Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who hunger and
thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the
pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are they who are
persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom of
heaven." Great indeed is their reward, for it is no less than the very
beatific vision to contemplate and adore. That supreme moral beauty, of
which all earthly beauty, all nature, all art, all poetry, all music, are
but phantoms and parables, hints and hopes, dim reflected rays of the
clear light of that everlasting day, of which it is written--that "the
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
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