1856-57-] FIRST VISIT HOME. 199 



ton, and, owing to the casualty in the Bay of Tunis, he 

 arrived at Dover, but as soon as possible he was with 

 her, reading the poetical welcome which she had pre- 

 pared in the hope that they would never part again : — 



" A hundred thousand welcomes, and it 's time for you to come 

 From the far land of the foreigner, to your country and your home. 



long as we were parted, ever since you went away, 



1 never passed a dreamless night, or knew an easy day. 



Do you think I would reproach you with the sorrows that I bore 1 

 Since the sorrow is all over, now I have you here once more, 

 And there 's nothing but the gladness, and the love within my heart, 

 And the hope so sweet and certain that again we '11 never part. 



A hundred thousand welcomes ! how my heart is gushing o'er 

 With the love and joy and wonder thus to see your face once more. 

 How did I live without you these long long years of woe ? 

 It seems as if 'twould kill me to be parted from you now. 



You '11 never part me, darling, there 's a promise in your eye ; 

 I may tend you while I 'm living, you will watch me when I die ; 

 And if death but kindly lead me to the blessed home on high, 

 What a hundred thousand welcomes will await you in the sky ! 



" Mary. " 



Having for once lifted the domestic veil, we cannot 

 resist the temptation to look into another corner of the 

 home circle. Among the letters of congratulation that 

 poured in at this time, none was more sincere or touch- 

 ing than that which Mrs. Livingstone received from her 

 mother, Mrs. Mofiat. 1 In the fulness of her congratula- 

 tions she does not forget the dark shadow that falls on 

 the missionary's wife when the time comes for her to go 

 back with her husband to their foreign home, and requires 

 her to part from her children ; tears and smiles mingle in 



1 We have been greatly impressed by Mrs. Moffat's letters. She was evidently 

 a woman of remarkable power. If her life had been published, we are convinced 

 that it would have been a notable one in missionary biography. Heart and head 

 were evidently of no common calibre. Perhaps it is not yet too late for some 

 friend to think of this. 



