and the extremity of thirst.
They abound, because they have been empty. They are heavenly-minded,
because they have first learned in the bitterness of their spirits how
unsatisfying is earth. They are firmly anchored by faith, because
frequent tempests and threatened shipwreck have taught them their need.
The Master himself was made perfect through suffering, and with his
baptism, must they who would follow him closely, be baptized.

While Hannah was undergoing at Ramah the discipline which wrought in her
such noble qualities, there dwelt in Shiloh one of kindred spirit, who
was called to endure even severer tests, inasmuch as that which should
have constituted her happiness, was evermore the bitterest ingredient in
her cup; what might have been her purest joys became her greatest
griefs. She was a wife, but only in name. Of the serenity and bliss
which attend on true wedded love she was deprived. Her bridal pillow was
early planted with thorns, which henceforth forbade all peace. She was a
mother, but her children were to be partakers of their father's shame,
disgraced, and doomed to early death or lives of wickedness and woe. She
seemingly enjoyed abundant privileges, but her trials as a child of God
were deeper than all others. She dwelt on sacred ground, but alas!
herein lay the secret of her sorrow. Had her home been among the
thousands in the outer camps, it had not been so sadly desecrated. Her
husband was the High Priest's son, and daily performed the priest's duty
among holy things. Had he been a humble member of Dan or Naphtali, his
crimes had not been so heinous. She lived under the shadow of the
tabernacle; had her abode been farther from the sacred enclosure, she
had not been daily witness to the heaven-daring deeds which made men
abhor the offering of the Lord, and called for vengeance on her nearest
and dearest. Her food was constantly supplied from the sacred offerings;
had it been procured in ordinary ways, she had not been a partaker with
those who committed sacrilege.

No trifling vexations, no light sorrows were hers; and as might be
expected, her virtues bore their proportion to the purifying process to
which she was subjected. Disappointed in her earthly hopes, she clung to
her God, and fastened her expectations on Him. Humiliated in her human
relations, she aspired to nothing henceforth but His honor and glory.
Wounded in heart, her wealth of love despised, lonely, deserted, she
sought in Him the