"
"But that surely would be a great, good thing," exclaimed Ambrose,
astonished.
"In a way, yes," the canon rejoined, "but consider, all life depends
upon that impulse which comes of strife--strife of the body, strife of
the soul. I worship God believing He has called upon me to take my
share in fighting the evil which is in the world. Remove that evil, and
what is my inspiration? Beyond the grave, yes, there may be that sphere
of holiness to which the human condition contributes nothing--a sphere
in which all happiness, all goodness centres about the presence of the
Eternal--but here we know that man must strive or perish, must fight or
be conquered--must school his immortal soul in the fire of temptation
and of suffering. So, I say, it may even be a bad day for the world
could the devil be chained in bonds which even he could not burst. It
might even be the loss of the knowledge of the God by whom evil is
permitted to live that good may come."
This and much more he said, always in the tone of one who bared his
head to destiny and had a faith unconquerable.
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