home with him. There, my child, you will
see all the blessings of the Saviour's teaching, love and soberness,
pitifulness to the poor and a real heart-felt eagerness to forgive
injuries. I have seen a Christian bestow his last crust on his hapless
foe, on the enemy of his house, on the Heathen or the Jew, because they,
too, are men, because our neighbor's woes should be as our own--I
have seen them taken in and cherished as though they were
fellow-Christians.--There you will find a striving after all that is
good, a never-fading hope in better days to come, even under the worst
afflictions; and when death requires the sacrifice of all that is
dearest, or swoops down on life itself, a firm assurance of the
forgiveness of sins through Christ. Believe me, mistress, there is no
home so happy as that of the Christian; for he who really apprehends the
Saviour and understands his teaching need not mar his own joys in this
life to the end that he may be a partaker of the bliss of the next.
On the contrary: He who called the erring to himself, who drew little
children to his heart, who esteemed the poor above the rich, who was
a cheerful guest at wedding-feasts, who bid us gain interest on the
spiritual talents in our care, who commanded us to remember Him at a
social meal, who opened hearts to love--He longed to release the life
of the humblest creature from want and suffering. Where love and peace
reign must there not be happiness? And as He preached love and peace
above all else, He cannot have desired that we should intentionally
darken our lives on earth and load them with sorrow and miseries in
order to will our share of Heaven. The soul that is full of the happy
confidence of being one with Him and his love, is released from the
bondage of sin and sorrow, even here below; for Jesus has taken all the
sins and pains of the world on himself; and if Fate visits the Christian
with the heaviest blows he bears them in silence and patience. Our Lord
is Love itself; neither hatred nor envy are known to Him as they are to
the gods of the Heathen; and when he afflicts us, it is as the wise and
tender pastor of our souls, and for our good. The omniscient Lord knows
his own counsel, and the Christian submits as a child does to a wise
father whose loving kindness he can always trust; nay, he can even thank
him for sorrow and pain as though they were pleasurable benefits."

Gorgo shook her head.

"That all sounds very beautiful and go