Rejoice then, O mortal! in the
beneficence of nature and of thy Parents, God, for surely it is well
that they call a halt for thee and thine beside the river of death, and
loosen thy burthens of pain and heart-breaking sorrow, and let loose
from thy soul that raven, "Never more," which has preyed long upon thy
soul and held thee in the grip of unspoken despair and anguish. This
is of all demons the blackest and most subtle. In tones of love it has
been proclaimed by the divine mind that nought is ever taken away that
shall not be restored to thee. Not as thou, in thy small, limited way,
wouldst hold it back from its own high place, and mission in the
universe and bend it to thy purpose; but according to the wisdom of its
Creator and thine, shalt thou see and know and claim all that belongs
to thee, be it the inspiration of thy nature, unexpressed here amid the
din and rush of this chaotic existence; or power to carry forth thy
grandly bold designs in conjunction with nature's illimitable
chemistry; or to perfect within thy mind a knowledge of her laws; or to
fold to thy bereaved heart thy lover, friend, or child, so lost to thee
now in the great unexplored silences, that thou wilt not even try to
see their way of life, but art ever persistent in saying they are dead.
Whatever thy soul shalt cherish as highest and best good to be longed
for, that shall be given to thee, in its new and resurrected form, over
which has passed the chrism of the immortal and everlasting life. We
need a new perception of that great law of the "survival of the
fittest." Who are the "fit"? The nomadic tramp who yields no meed of
use to his fellows? The willfully sin-sodden who poisons all his
surrounding atmosphere with the noxious exhalations from his decaying
organism? He who hoards and locks away from his fellows his treasures
of gold or precious knowledge, and he, who having in his hands the
powers of wealth and influence, never deigns to stretch forth his hand
to relieve the cruel stress of the needy or to protect the helpless, or
to sustain and strengthen the weaker ones of earth?

Nay! The true "survival" is not here on this underdone sphere, but
outside, beyond, above, in the realms of the spiritual where our
burdens are loosed and the souls of men are set free, and true liberty
is accorded to each and everyone to be, and to do, all that in him lies
toward the upbuilding of the great sum of the soul life we call God.

Once thi