OUR ANGEL FRIENDS

Alfred Fowler

Listen! To cheer thy heart
These angel voices come
Whispering: Onward is thy path
And upward is thy home!

THE query fronts us : What do we know about the angels? Is it possible for us to realize that unseen friends, soothing and nerving us, are ever by our side! Is it profitable for us, in the strenuous life that we are living, to spend precious moments in learning what the wise men of all ages have written and painted and sung of the "couriers of the Most High?" We answer at once in the affirmative. We may know them as very near and dear friends—helpers in every time of need—and it is a good thing to sing and speak of them, and study what the master minds of the world have said upon the subject. We have ascertained in our study that the world's greatest writers and singers have been those who believed in angels, and that the finest of their contributions have been upon this theme. The matchless gems furnished herein are ample proof. The blessings to be derived from a careful study of so exalted and so important a subject to the intellectual, moral and spiritual life is beyond calculation. Macaulay in his eulogy of the Puritans, says that they "were men whose minds had derived a peculiar advantage from the daily contemplation of superior beings and eternal interests." Clara Erskine Clement exclaims : "What study is more charming and restful than that of the angels as set forth in Holy Writ and the writings of the early Church ? ' ' Mrs. Needham :' ' Surely the cultivation of our souls in fellowship with angels must lift the aspirations and purify the conduct. Let us weigh well the benefits to be derived from an unreserved and Scriptural faith in the strong and tender offices of these God-appointed messengers  of grace." While still another, Dr. Patterson, writes: "Great instruction, comfort and consolation may be drawn from the angels. Next to Christ they are the best friends we have. Why should we not learn all we can about them? With good old Baxter we may all wonder why the Church pays so little heed to them." There is, indeed, an amazing ignorance on the subject. Only the other day a great scholar remarked to me : "It is unfortunate that there is so little known about the angels."

I have therefore found great pleasure in compiling this present volume, which contains practically all that the inspired writers, the rhetoricians, the poets, the song composers, and the master painters of the ages have contributed on this theme. Every phase of the question is discussed. How few people, if any, know that there are 365 passages in the Bible on the subject of angels. This thought gave to me the idea of a Year Book, the verses being placed in consecutive order from Genesis to Revelation. Five minutes each day for one year will enable you to read the book. Since angels are to be our immediate companions after death, why should we not spend a little time each day in cultivating their acquaintance and friendship ? The book is an incentive to action as well as devotion. It inspires one to "do lovely things, not dream them all day long." The writer takes this occasion to thank all authors from whose works extracts have been drawn for the strengthening of this beautiful theme, the existence and ministry of heavenly friends—the angels. Permit me to say that the work as a whole is in commemoration of an angel's visit to me when a youth. The message was this:— Preach! Preach! Preach! At the angel's bidding, a promising business career was at once abandoned, and a life work in the ministry begun. Since then the study of Angels has been a work of love, and the bringing of this book to completion,—what a joy it has been!And now:

I send this little volume forth
Preened as an angel's wing,
East and West and South and North
A constant song to sing.