his soul has done, for we
know that the servant who best used his ten talents was made ruler over
ten cities, while he that increased his five talents by five received
five; and the Saviour in whom he trusted, by whose aid he made his
fight, stands ready to receive him, saying, 'Enter thou into the joy of
thy Lord.'

"As the dark, earthly background recedes, the clouds break and the
glorious light appears, the contrast heightening the ever-unfolding and
increasing delights, which are as great as the recipients have power to
enjoy, since these righteous souls receive their rewards in proportion
to the weight of the crosses that they have borne in the right spirit.
These souls are a joy to their Creator, and are the heirs of Him in
heaven. The ceaseless, sleepless activity that must obtain in both
paradise and hades, and that must make the hearts of the godless grow
faint at the contemplation, is also a boundless promise to those who
have Him who is all in all.

"Where is now thy Saviour? where is now thy God? the unjust man has
asked in his heart when he saw his just neighbour struggling and
unsuccessful. Both the righteous and the unrighteous man are dead.
The one has found his Saviour, the other is yearly losing God. What is
the suffering of the present momentary time, eased as it is by God's
mercy and presence, compared with the glories that await us? What
would it be if our lives here were filled with nothing else, as ye know
that your labour is not vain in the Lord? Time and eternity--the
finite and the infinite. Death was, indeed, a deliverer, and the
sunset of the body is the sunrise of the soul."

The priest held himself erect as a soldier while delivering this
sermon, making the great cathedral ring with his earnest and solemn
voice, while Ayrault, as a spirit, saw how absolutely he meant and
believed every word that he said.

Nearly all the members of the congregation were moved--some more, some
less than they appeared. After the benediction they rapidly dispersed,
carrying in their hearts the germs he had sown; but whether these would
bear fruit or wither, time alone could show.

Ayrault had noticed Sylvia's father and mother in church, but Sylvia
herself was not there, and he was distressed to think she might be ill.

"Why," pondered Ayrault, "am I so unhappy? I was baptized, confirmed,
and have taken the sacrament. I have always had an unshaken faith,
and, though often unsuccessful, have stri