I knew Latin
enough to understand it, I am pleased to say,--Deo erexit Voltaire. I
never forgot it; and knowing what a sad scoffer he was at most sacred
things, I could not but be impressed with the fact that even he was not
satisfied with himself, until he had shown his devotion in a public and
lasting form.

We all want religion sooner or later. I am afraid there are some who
have no natural turn for it, as there are persons without an ear for
music, to which, if I remember right, I heard one of you comparing what
you called religious genius. But sorrow and misery bring even these to
know what it means, in a great many instances. May I not say to you, my
friend, that I am one who has learned the secret of the inner life by the
discipline of trials in the life of outward circumstance? I can remember
the time when I thought more about the shade of color in a ribbon,
whether it matched my complexion or not, than I did about my spiritual
interests in this world or the next. It was needful that I should learn
the meaning of that text, "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."

Since I have been taught in the school of trial I have felt, as I never
could before, how precious an inheritance is the smallest patrimony of
faith. When everything seemed gone from me, I found I had still one
possession. The bruised reed that I had never leaned on became my staff.
The smoking flax which had been a worry to my eyes burst into flame, and
I lighted the taper at it which has since guided all my footsteps. And I
am but one of the thousands who have had the same experience. They have
been through the depths of affliction, and know the needs of the human
soul. It will find its God in the unseen,--Father, Saviour, Divine
Spirit, Virgin Mother, it must and will breathe its longings and its
griefs into the heart of a Being capable of understanding all its
necessities and sympathizing with all its woes.

I am jealous, yes, I own I am jealous of any word, spoken or written,
that would tend to impair that birthright of reverence which becomes for
so many in after years the basis of a deeper religious sentiment. And
yet, as I have said, I cannot and will not shut my eyes to the problems
which may seriously affect our modes of conceiving the eternal truths on
which, and by which, our souls must live. What a fearful time is this
into which we poor sensitive and timid creatures are born! I suppose the
life of every century has more or les