1890 EELIGIOUS BELIEF 163 



' The desire to worship Him.' 



These words are the key-note of the religious 

 history of the pure and noble character which I am 

 trying to describe. 



The letters, so touching in the momentary breaking 

 down of reserve, give, as it were, a glimpse of the 

 inner life, give an indication of the struggle, the per- 

 plexity, the sorrow which eleven years later ended in 

 'Eternal Peace.' 



Eeaders of the lately published ' Thoughts on 

 Eeligion ' will see how gradually he grew to perceive 

 the reasonableness of the Christian Faith ; he had 

 never doubted the beauty, the moral worth, the 

 attraction of that faith. And with him it was what 

 Dante in his ' Paradiso ' puts into S. Bernard's 

 mouth : 



' A quella luce cotal si diventa, 



Che volgersi da lei per altro aspetto 

 E impossibil che mai si consenta.' 



And through all these years there was a constant 

 willingness to try to aid other people in their diffi- 

 culties, to remove stumbling-blocks which hindered 

 others. He was always willing to discuss problems of 

 belief, always perfectly fair and candid, and there were 

 not a few who, since his death, have spoken of the 

 real help which he gave them. He did not drop re- 

 ligious observances ; on Sunday in London he usually 

 went to Christ Church, Albany Street, of which the 

 present Bishop of St. Albans was then vicar, and for 

 some years at Geanies he had a short Evening Service 

 for guests and servants who could not drive ten miles 

 to church. 



M 2 



