Erect--the Rabbins pictured the glorious angel, at the outermost gate of the City Celestial: “And he gathers the prayers as he stands, And they change into flowers in his hands, Into garlands of purple and red; And beneath the great arch of the portal, Through the streets of the City Immortal Is wafted the fragrance they shed.” And now outside the cathedral another multitude had gathered; saints and sinners, revellers and vulgarians. All sorts and conditions of men; the drunk and the half-drunk; the senseless bawlers of silly jokes; the maudlin bellowers of “Auld Lang Syne.” But, after all, these noisy people were but the tide-tossed scum and flotsam upon the surface of a broad, strong stream. The crowd, like the nation, had had a lesson--stern, convincing--and it was sound at core. As the solemn hour drew near, a scarcely-broken silence fell upon the multitude. From the hearts of many rose unspoken prayers. High in the winter night the London bells were chiming, ringing the Old Year out, ringing the New Year in. * * * * * Hark to the bells!... “The year is dying in the night, Ring out, wild bells!... The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.” Hark, they are chiming still!... “Ring out the feud of rich and poor Ring in redress to all mankind.” Chime on, chime on!... “Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace.” Ring out! Ring in!... “Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be.” The “faithless coldness of the times,”--was that, too, dying with the Old? Were “sweeter manners, purer laws” to dawn with the first daybreak of the New? No answer came from earth or heaven. The deep and secret things were not revealed; none knew what was in the darkness of the future. The ringers paused. Hush! the hour is striking. The last vibration quivers on the air. Deep silence falls. Then once again the bells ring out--clear-toned, hopeful, strong: “_There’s a new foot on the floor, my friend, And a new face at the door, my friend, A new face at the door!_” THE END * * * * * PRINTED BY M^{c}LAREN AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH