THE GUERNSEY LILY. 305 



know not the exact spot where the distorted joints 

 of the old Irishman now moulder into dust ; but 

 well I know that thence shall arise a being fashioned 

 like unto Christ's glorious body. The form that 

 wears the white robe, bleached in the blood of the 

 Lamb, will not bend under the burden of disease ; 

 the hand that tunes a celestial harp will be pained 

 and crippled no more ; neither smite upon the 

 breast in the anguish of self-accusing compunction . 

 My poor O'Neil, now rich with inexhaustible 

 treasures, has already changed ' I believe' into c I 

 see,' and * I hope' into ' I possess.' The bountiful 

 lady whose alms first enabled me to nourish him, 

 is with him there : and D. who ministered like a 

 comforting angel unto him in the dark dungeons of 

 St. Giles's, is likewise " made equal unto the 

 angels," and joining their hallelujahs in the courts 

 of heaven. Howels, whose energetic plea from 

 the pulpit once poured upwards of fifty pounds 

 into my St. Giles's purse, is there too ; ' an in-door 

 servant,' according to his own beautiful, dying 

 thought, rejoicing among the souls which he help- 

 ed to gather in. And now what matters it, 

 whether like that titled lady they lived in princely 

 halls, faring sumptuously every day, or like O'Neil, 

 received at the hand of charity a daily dole in a 

 garret : whether like Howels they formed the cen- 

 tre and chief of an admiring congregation, " known 

 and read of all men," or like D. paced the darken- 



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