356 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



body must be inhabited by the perfect soul. 

 To this conclusion , you have seen, he was led 

 by Nature herself. Now he beheld clearly 

 perhaps more clearly than ever the way from 

 this imperfect and fragmentary life to a fuller, 

 happier life beyond the grave. He had no 

 need of priest ; he wanted no other assurance 

 than the voice and words of Him who swept 

 away all priests. The man who wrote the 

 " Story of My Heart ;" the man who was 

 filled to overflowing with the beauty and order 

 of God's handiwork ; the man who felt so 

 deeply the shortness, and imperfections, and 

 disappointments of life that he was fain to 

 cry aloud that all happens by chance ; the man 

 who had the vision of the Fuller Soul, died 

 listening with faith and love to the words con- 

 tained in the Old Book. 



What follows is written by his friend, Mr. 

 J. W. North, who was with him during the 

 last days. 



" It was in the early summer, two or three 

 months before his death, that I saw JefFeries for 



