reason or his faith in a God of love. Whatever the
possibilities of the world to come, they are but the extension of the
boundless love of God in Christ, and hold out no promise for us if we
wilfully neglect our day of grace.

But now to pass on to one further source of consolation which comes
in its measure to all the bereaved alike; the chastened joy from the
thought of the splendid sacrifice the dear one has been privileged
to make.

Take an illustration--a letter from Major-General Allenby to Lady de
Crespigny on the death of her son:--

"Dear Lady de Crespigny,--I and the whole of the Cavalry
Division sympathise with you, and we feel deeply for Norman's loss.
But I must tell you that he died a hero's death. The brigade was hotly
engaged, and on the Bays fell the brunt of the fighting on September
1st. Norman, with a few men, was holding an important tactical point,
and he held it till every man was killed or wounded. No man could have
done more, few would have done so much.

"With deepest sympathy, yours sincerely,

"E.H.H. Allenby."

How the bereaved hearts in the midst of crushing grief must have lit up
with gladness at such a record as that!

But to close. The discipline of bereavement consists essentially in the
trial of faith, yet at the same time brings with it the power of faith.
In bereavement, above all other forms of sorrow, comes the felt need of
God; it has been so with countless souls. The answer to the need is the
revelation that God makes of Himself in Christ; then comes the peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, which dries the tears and heals
the broken heart.

_Note_.--The question of prayer in connection with God's foreknowledge
is so admirably treated in "Some Elements of Religion" (Liddon) that we
append an extract:--

"What if prayers and actions, to us at the moment perfectly spontaneous,
are eternally foreseen and included within the all-embracing
Predestination of God, as factors and causes, working out that final
result which, beyond all dispute, is the product of His Good Pleasure?

"Whether I open my mouth or lift my hand is, before my doing it,
strictly within the jurisdiction and power of my personal will: but
however I may decide, my decision, so absolutely free to me, will have
been already incorporated by the All-seeing, All-controlling Being as an
integral part, however insignificant, of His one all-embracing purpose,