embracing Arms. It is not
a common picture; and the expression of the Saviour's face is most
beautiful, full of such immense feminine compassion and tenderness that
it makes me feel more vividly, "In all our sorrows He is afflicted." In
such a grief as this I find the conviction of the reality and depth of
the Divine sympathy is my only true comfort; the tenderest human love
falls short of the feeling that, without any words to express our
sorrow, God knows all about it; that He would not willingly afflict or
grieve us, and that therefore the anguish which wrings our hearts is
absolutely necessary in some mysterious way for our highest good. I fear
I have often thought lightly of others' trouble in the loss of so young
a child; but now I know what it is. Does it not seem strange and sad,
that this little house in a distant, lonely spot, no sooner becomes a
home than it is baptized, as it were, with tears? No doubt there are
bright and happy days in store for us yet, but these first ones here
have been sadly darkened by this shadow of death. Inanimate things have
such a terrible power to wound one: though everything which would remind
me of Baby has been carefully removed and hidden away by F----'s orders,
still now and then I come across some trifle belonging to him, and, as
Miss Ingelow says--

"My old sorrow wakes and cries."

Our loss is one too common out here, I am told: infants born in
Christchurch during the autumn very often die. Owing to the flatness of
the site of the town, it is almost impossible to get a proper system of
drainage; and the arrangements seem very bad, if you are to judge from
the evil smells which are abroad in the evening. Children who are born
on a station, or taken there as soon as possible, almost invariably
thrive, but babies are very difficult to rear in the towns. If they get
over the first year, they do well; and I cannot really call to mind a
single sickly, or even delicate-looking child among the swarms which one
sees everywhere.

I cannot say that I think colonial children prepossessing in either
manners or appearance, in spite of their ruddy cheeks and sturdy limbs.
Even quite little things are pert and independent, and give me the idea
of being very much spoiled. When you reflect on the utter absence of any
one who can really be called a nurse, this is not to be wondered at. The
mothers are thoroughly domestic and devoted to their home duties, far
more so than the general