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 less special resemblance to that of
some particular Apostle. I cannot help thinking this century has Thomas
for its model. How do you suppose the other Apostles felt when that
experimental philosopher explored the wounds of the Being who to them was
divine with his inquisitive forefinger? In our time that finger has
multiplied itself into ten thousand thousand implements of research,
challenging all mysteries, weighing the world as in a balance, and
sifting through its prisms and spectroscopes the light that comes from
the throne of the Eternal.
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