To be glad, for he doth bless;

And to trust him, for he's mighty
In his tenderness.






THE HOPE OF THE FALLEN.

CHAPTER I.





IT was at the close of a beautiful autumnal day that Edward Dayton
was to leave the place of his nativity. For many years he had looked
forward, in joyous anticipation, to the time when he should repair
to the city, and enter upon the business of life. And now that that
long looked-for and wished-for day had arrived, when he was to bid
an adieu to the companions of his youth, and to all the scenes of
his childhood, it was well for him to cast a retrospective glance;
and so he did.

Not far distant, rearing its clear white steeple far above the
trees, stood the village church, up the broad, uncarpeted aisle of
which he had scores of times passed; and, as the thought that he