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but hope gaily advances to meet us with outstretched hand, promising us 
happiness or success, and we seize it with joy. 
Besides, the Christian who does not deceive himself as to the destiny 
of man, and who places his hope higher than earth, accepts the miseries 
here below as a chalice of expiation; he knows that God will reward him in 
supreme felicity for his sorroivs and sufferings here below , and he rejoices 
in having to suffer. 
How sublime, then, is the hope which thus produces resignation, re¬ 
presses every murmur, disposes the heart to sacrifices of every kind, and 
sheds over the ills of fleeting time the balm of eternal consolation. 
What though from life’s bounties thou mayest have fallen ? 
And what though thy sun in dark clouds may have set ? 
There is a bright star that illumes your horizon ,— 
It telleth thee loudly— "there's hope for tiiee yet !” 
This earth may look dull, old friends may forsake thee. 
And sorrows that never before thou hast met 
May roll o’er thy head, yet the bright star before thee 
Shines to remind thee,— "there's hope for thee yet !” 
’Tis but folly to mourn, though fortune disdain thee, 
Though ever so darkly thy sun may have set, 
'Tis wisdom to gaze at the bright star before thee. 
And shout as you gaze, — "there's hope for me yet !” 
—John S. Adams. 
And, prayerfully, with resignation, writes another poetical genius: 
“Lord, though I dread with countless fears unspoken 
The path that stretches out before me now, 
Shrouded in gloom, its silence yet unbroken, 
In answer to Thy call my will I bow, 
My God, I trust Thee! 
“My human courage fails, and doubts oppress me, 
I cry aloud to Thee in anguish sore; 
I cannot see Thee, but Thy hands caress me, 
And at Thy touch my fears are soothed once more, 
My God, I trust Thee! 
