The roots and foundations of all great things, in nature or in the
buildings that man rears, lie underground and out of sight.
Thoughtless gazers may think little of them; but no towering oak,
no stately temple, can stand without them. Above all, in the
Church of God, he who works on any other rule than this will lose
his labor, it may be will lose himself, and find written at last
over his most cherished plans the woeful words: "All is vanity."

Another thought presents itself, another voice is heard full of
the inspiration of faith and hope, telling us of the abiding
presence of the Lord with His Church, carrying us back to those
two unfailing promises: "I will pray the Father and He shall give
you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever"; "Lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!" In very truth,
in that day of doubt and dismay this Church was "as a cottage in a
vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged
city." To-day we look upon her as "she hath sent out her boughs
unto the sea and her branches unto the river," and we bless God
for the greatness of "His goodness" and the greatness of "His
beauty."

Do we rejoice, dear brethren, in all this with trembling? Do we
seem to hear, from the not distant horizon, the muttering of
storms which are gathering around us and may burst upon us? Do we
see tokens not only of assault from without, but of betrayal from
within? Then let us take courage from our past; let us do what
those who went before us did; let us, like them, "keep that which
is committed to our trust"; and if "evil men and seducers wax
worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived," let us, as they
did, "continue in the things which we have learned, knowing of