LONDON, April i, 1912 

 Last month 1 wrote, and wrote 

 Back truly, that Britain stood on the 



from Purgatory, brink of Hell. This month 1 write 

 not less truly that Britain, having 

 e.scaped Hell, is returning from the purifying flames of 

 Purgatory. Whereat let us thank God and glorify Hi.s 

 Holy Name for ever. March has been a dark and 

 dolorous month — a month of grim suspense and sore 

 affliction, a trying month, a testing month, but never- 

 theless it is likely to be remembered long in our annals 

 as one of crowning mercy. '" For whom the Lord loveth 

 He chasteneth. and scourgeth every son whom He 

 receiveth," and alihough " no chastening for the pre- 

 sent is joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterward it 

 jieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto 

 them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up 

 the hands wliicli hang down, and the feeble knees, and 

 make straight paths for your feet." How appositely 

 the familiar vir>es from the Epistle to the Hebrews 

 apply to the present situation ! For the making of 

 straight paths, lest that which is lame be turned out 

 of the way, is the task to which the nation is now 

 addressing itself, and we shall do well to take as our 

 order of the day. "Follow peace and holiness, without 

 which no man -^hall see the Lord." Which lesson, if it 

 be indeed takfii seriously to heart, will be well worth 

 the fifty miliiijiis sterling which Britain is computed 

 to have lost in the Month of Trial. 



The fining-pot is for silver and the 

 Like Cold furnace for gold, but the Lord 



from 111 ,,. , , 



the Furnace. trieth the hearts. \Ve have been 



tried, and we have not been found 



wanting. From the highest to the lowest, from the 



King upon the throne to the humblest of his subjei ts in 



the depth of thi mine, we have been subjcctcfl to a 



stem ordeal, and if we have not come out pure gold 



frrini till- nfiiiir' firi- ui- cm :ii l(M-t thank God and 



take courage from the fact that there has been so little 

 dross to be burnt away. The Prime Minister and the 

 Lord Chancellor both referred in terms of gratitude 

 and pride to the evidence which this stern crisis has 

 revealed of the resources of our national character. 

 The way in which this strike has been faced and settled 

 has been the admiration and the wonder of the w-orld. 

 " The British democracy," exclaimed a Norwegian 

 observer, " has set an object-lesson to the world." Even 

 ilaximilian Harden has been constrained to pay a 

 tribute of admiration to the self-control and the dignity 

 with which this conflict has been carried on. A French 

 correspondent chronicled in amazement the fact that 

 at the fiercest moment of the social war leaders on both 

 sides met as friends, and that the bitterness of the 

 industrial strife never poisoned the relations of the 

 men and the mine-owners. There were not wanting evil 

 ones, emissaries of Satan, who were prompt to proffer 

 counsels of hatred and malignity. The inciters to 

 class hatred were busy on both sides. But the nation 

 heeded them not. So it has come to pass that we can 

 look back upon what threatened to be a plunge into 

 Hell with the devout thankfidness of those who have 

 emerged from the purifying fires of Purgatory. 



First and foremost, honour must 



"Blessed are he rendered where honour is most 



the Peacemakers." jue, to the King and his Prime 



Minister, for the patient, strenuous, 

 and weariless energy with which from first to last they 

 laboured in the cause of peace. I say the King, because 

 Mr. Asquith would be the first to acknowledge how 

 keen was the interest taken by His Majestv in the 

 efforts made for the composing of the strife which 

 threatened to convulse the realm, and how ardently 

 and sympathetically His Majesty encouraged his 

 Prime Minister to persevere in the paths of peace. 

 Of Mr. Asquith it is difficult to speak too highly. 

 From first to last he showed a statesmanlike appre. 



