matters. There was also a great deal about the _house_, which did
not enlighten me much, being too rhapsodical, and when he spoke about
our conduct and aims in life, and things of that kind, I understood him
little better. Here is a part of his discourse:--

"It is natural to grieve for those that die, because light and knowledge
and love and joy are no longer theirs; but they grieve not any more,
being now asleep on the lap of the Universal Mother, the bride of the
Father, who is with us, sharing our sorrow, which was his first; but it
dims not his everlasting brightness; and his desire and our glory is
that we should always and in all things resemble him.

"The end of every day is darkness, but the Father of life through our
reason has taught us to mitigate the exceeding bitterness of our end;
otherwise, we that are above all other creatures in the earth should
have been at the last more miserable than they. For in the irrational
world, between the different kinds, there reigns perpetual strife and
bloodshed, the strong devouring the weak and the incapable; and when
failure of life clouds the brightness of that lower soul, which is
theirs, the end is not long delayed. Thus the life that has lasted many
days goes out with a brief pang, and in its going gives new vigor to the
strong that have yet many days to live. Thus also does the ever-living
earth from the dust of dead generations of leaves re-make a fresh
foliage, and for herself a new garment.

"We only, of all things having life, being like the Father, slay not nor
are slain, and are without enemies in the earth; for even the lower
kinds, which have not reason, know without reason that we are highest on
the earth, and see in us, alone of all his works, the majesty of the
Father, and lose all their rage in our presence. Therefore, when the