heart, and a repentant spirit. Blessed is death, and blessed the
unknown realms, where souls await the resurrection day, for Christ
redeemed them by His death. Blessed are all things, weak, as well as
strong. Blessed are all days, dark, as well as bright, for all are
His, and He is ours; and all are ours, and we are His, for ever.

Therefore sigh on, ye sad ones, and rejoice in your own sadness; ache
on, ye suffering ones, and rejoice in your own sorrows. Rejoice that
you are made free of the holy brotherhood of mourners, that you may
claim your place, too, if you will, among the noble army of martyrs.
Rejoice that you are counted worthy of a fellowship in the sufferings
of the Son of God. Rejoice and trust on, for after sorrow shall come
joy. Trust on; for in man's weakness God's strength shall be made
perfect. Trust on, for death is the gate of life. Endure on to the
end, and possess your souls in patience for a little while, and that,
perhaps, a very little while. Death comes swiftly; and more swiftly
still, perhaps, the day of the Lord. The deeper the sorrow, the
nearer the salvation:


The night is darkest before the dawn;
When the pain is sorest the child is born;
And the day of the Lord is at hand.


Ay, if the worst should come; if neither the laws of your country nor
the benevolence of the righteous were strong enough to defend you; if
one charitable plan after another were to fail; if the labour-market
were getting fuller and fuller, and poverty were spreading wider and
wider, and crime and misery were breeding faster and still faster