ersity and
suffering have fallen upon those who deserved reward. Where the
guiltless are found suffering, He relieves their necessities, and
brings them once more that happiness which they deserve on earth.

Why shall it be always said that when a home of happiness is in an
instant hurled from the summit of earthly felicity and buried in the
dark gulf of adversity, that such is the work of God? If that home is
contaminated by grievous sins, there is justice in the claim, but
where the transgressions are not heavier than those good men commit,
it cannot be, for the God who reigns above seeks to build up, and not
to destroy, unless there is no other way of punishing the sinner but
by the infliction of the heaviest penalties. We have painted a
soldier's wife, if not free from sin, at least innocent of crimes
which are calculated to bear upon the conscience and cause remorse or
fear; we have pictured her two children, pure and unsinful, for it
cannot be said that mortal can sin in infancy. We have shown them
plunged in direst misfortunes, and is there not force in the question
when we ask if their months of penury and suffering were the works of
the God of Mercy and Righteousness?

It cannot be. The innocent do not suffer by the hands of God, while
the guilty revel in all the wealth and affluence that this earth
bestows. How many men are there who live in ease and comfort, while
their souls are burdened with sins? The hypocrite, the liar, the
thief, the murderer; all, and by hundreds they can be counted, appear
to the world

"A combination and a form, indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,"

but in whose souls the fires of hell rage with remorseless fury. But
their afflictions are not known to man. The eyes of the world gaze not
on them, when the mind is racked by the conflict of sin. We see not
their sufferings; we know not the pangs they feel; we only recognize
them by the outward appearance. They live, surrounded with all that
can make mortal happy, save the happiness of a clear conscience. In
this world they prosper, and many gain the applause and commendation
of their fellow mortals. What are their sufferings? They are unknown
to man, though remembered by God. And if punishment comes at last, it
is just and merited, nor do we regret that sin is scourged by the
avenging hand of a Savior.

But while we witness the guilty revelling in wealth and affluence, how
often are the innocent plunged in wa