Chapter 6. On the Walls and Streets of the City of God.

THE walls of the city signify nothing more,^ than the divine protection, which alone is sufficient to guard the city, without the aid of soldiers, arms, or towers. "And I will be, saith the Lord, a wall of fire

round about : and I will be in glory in the midst thereof." (Zacharias ii.) Truly admirable promise ! "I will^be a wall of fire round about" — to restrain the enemy: " and I will be in glory in the midst there of" —to honour the citizens. As if He had said : Fire burns and shines : I will there fore burn mine enemies, and enlighten my friends: thus will I be a "fire round about," and a light of glory in the midst thereof. This St. John explains where he says: "And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened^ it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof." The brightness of God, as a sun, illumines their souls ; and Christ, the Lamb of God, illu mines the body. But Christ is said to be a "lamp," not because it is necessary in the night, but with reference to his divi nity : for if the just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of God, as our Lord tells us in St, Matthew ; how much more glorious will Christ appear — not as a lamp, but as the chief Sun enlightening the city of God ! And, therefore, St. John adds, " For there shall be no night." The streets of the city comprehend the whole space which is within the circumference of the walls. This is the habitation of the heavenly citizens — - all of which is pure gold ; that is, an ardent and pure charity which embraceth all, and by which all live in each through mutual love : and not only all in all, but all dwell

in God, and God in all: " for he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him." (1 St. John iv. 16.) And that this might be accomplished, Christ our Lord asked of His Father in that prayer which he made before His passion, in pre sence of all His apostles, saying: "And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me: That they may all be one, as thou Father in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us." (St. John xvii. 20, 21.) O blessed city which, placed on the highest mountain, enjoyest the purest air! Thou art founded on a rock, that thou mayest have eternal strength: thy gates shine as pearls, and are always open to those that enter : God is thy wall, that continually surrounds thee by His protection, and adorns thee as a precious jasperstone : thy street is charity, purer than any gold, clearer than any crystal, which maketh all that dwell within thee, to be of one heart and one soul ; which filleth them with ineffable joy, and crowneth them with eternal peace : "My soul longeth and fairiteth" for thy courts."" What can be

• 0 beatissima Civitas, quse in monte altissimo sita, aur£ purissima fraeris; quse super petram fundata es, ut eeternS lirmitate nitaris; cujus portaB ut margaritse fulgent, et semper in troeuntibus patent; cujus murus Deus est, quite protectione sua semper eircumdat, et ut lapis Jaspis pretiosus exornat; cujus Platea Charitas est omiii auro lucidior, et oinni crystal I o candidior, quae oinnes in te habitantes — facit esse cor unum, et Animum unum," &c.

sweeter to one labouring and groaning amidst a corrupt nation — -amongst false brethren — in a world " seated in iniquity," than to flee away to a kingdom wherein the sweetest peace is found, wherein charity alone reigneth? " When shall I come and appear before the face of my God?" (Psalm xli.) What more desirable for a soul that loves God, than to behold her Beloved — to be seen by her Beloved — and by an intimate and most joyful union, to dwell within Him, and He in her ! It may indeed appear an intolerable boldness, that dust and ashes should sigh after thy courts, O holy city, and a still greater audacity, that a vile creature should aspire to the embraces of his Creator. But He will ex cuse this boldness, since He hath given it unto us, when he asked the Father, that "all might be one ;" and that as the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so also we might be one in both.