Appleton Chapel.

Bishop Hall of Vermont preached last night at Appleton Chapel from the text "and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had the face of a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle," taken from Revelation. All the Revelation of St. John, he said, must not be taken as a literal description of heaven. It is an allegory, and all through the Bible we find God teaches His people constantly by allegories. They make the truth easier to comprehend. Some people find in a literal interpretation of the Bible much reason to scoff at Christianity. Who, they say, cares to look forward to a future existence spent in a white robe, with a golden crown on his head listening to music? or who is terrified at the prospect of having a spirit bound by iron chains and tortured with material fire? No one, surely, but we do look forward to having a pure and spotless heart, to being crowned by royalty of character, and we do fear the iron chains of habit and the torture of remorse. What now does this allegory in the Revelation mean? These four beings, rather than beasts, are personifications of four qualities necessary to the acceptable service of God. First is the lion standing for courage. To serve God the most necessary of all things is courage. From the first to the last is needed bravery and firmness. There is always temptation to be faced, trials and dangers to be met,- without independence and a firm courage we cannot do it. Next is the ox, the being standing for strength brought under discipline. To be acceptable to God we must learn to sacrifice our own desires, to submit to His will. The third being had the face of a man, and the chief attribute of man is intelligence. We cannot do anything without intelligence. We can have no guide but our reason and in all things we must use this as a test whether or not we can believe in them. We cannot accept what is contrary to our reason. God does not expect us to believe that which contradicts our very guiding power. So a blind faith is worth nothing; we must believe reasonably and intelligently. The doctrine of the Trinity, if it is contrary to our reason, we cannot accept; it is only when it is put reasonably to us that we believe in it. We cannot conceive of three separate persons making one person, but we can conceive a God, one person, who has three distinct attributes which for lack of better terms we regard as distinct personalities. Last there is the eagle, standing for knowledge. As a bird rises above the world and looks from a height over everything, so from the height of knowledge we can take a broad and intelligent view over all things, past and present, and make our service wise and acceptable to God.

The choir sang: "Come My Soul," by Martin; "He Shall Give His Angels Charge," by Rheinberger; and "Angels Ever Bright and Fair," by Handel.