336 GEOEGE JOHN EOMANES 1893 



thought of leaving those whom he loved with such 

 intense devotion, such wonderful tenderness, over- 

 whelmed him ; sometimes the longing to finish his 

 work was too great to be borne, but generally he was 

 calm, and always, even when he was most sad, he 

 was gentle and patient, and willing to be amused. 



On July 13 Dr. Paget gave him the Holy Com-- 

 munion. 



It was a lovely morning. Outside the sunshine 

 and the summer sights and sounds. Inside that 

 quiet room there was a sense of peace, even of joy. 

 Death seemed very near that day, and yet there was 

 no fear, no dread. A little while before the celebra- 

 tion he had listened to Dr. Bright's hymn, ' And now, 

 Father,' and had said, ' It is wonderful ; it is a 

 poem, and yet it conveys the deepest teaching,' or 

 words to that effect. 



One who was much with him at that time read 

 aloud on the following Sunday the Psalms for the 

 sixteenth evening, and as they came to the eighty- 

 fourth he said, ' I can hardly bear that psalm; I have 

 longed so much.' 



He slowly recovered from this attack, and there 

 were hopes — not of perfect health, but of life, and 

 of power to work. Now, more resolutely than ever, 

 he set himself to face the ultimate problems of Life 

 and Being, to face the question of the possibility of a 

 return to Faith. 



It is impossible here to tell of the inner workings 

 of that pure and unselfish soul, of those longings and 

 searchings after God, of the gradual growth in stead- 

 fast endurance, in faith. 



To one or two these are known, and the example 

 of lofty patience and of single-heartedness is not one 

 they are likely to forget. Of this more later. 



