PEACE. 175 



It was the word that I found on the grave-stone of the 

 girl Faith in the thicket by the trout-brook. It is the word 

 which every mountain-brook, every breaking ripple on a 

 lake-shore, every voice of the wind whispers to the angler 

 who goes along thinking of companions that are gone. 

 Over all the tempestuous waves of human sorrow it comes 

 with the melody of his voice, and the waves obey him. 

 There is no better illustration of the manner in which 

 heaven-expecting men in all ages have longed for peace, 

 have prized it and sought it as a blessing to poor human- 

 ity, than is found in the fact that from the remotest times 

 in the East it has been the burden of those salutations, as 

 we call them, which men exchange. More than thirty 

 centuries ago, when Jacob met the servants of Laban he 

 inquired, " Is it peace with him ?" For such is the cor- 

 rect rendering of the Hebrew which in our version is trans- 

 lated " Is it well with him ?" When Moses met Jethro 

 they inquired after one another's peace. And to this day 

 in the Oriental countries the common salutation is the 

 blessing " Peace be with you," and the answer " Be it 

 peace." 



In old times it was a word that seemed to belong emi- 

 nently to our faith. We do not find it often in Greek and 

 Roman authors, nor did they seem to look to it as the 

 blessing of this or the joy of the other life. 



Horace bade Dellius 



"^Equam memento rebus in arduis 

 Servare mentem — " 



Because an equable temper of mind and life was, in his 

 opinion, best suited to men who looked forward only to 

 exile beyond an unknown sea : 



