ON THE DEATH OF OUR DAUGHTER, EVANGELINE

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastenings of the Almighty: for he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole. Job 5:17, 11.

     This is a new chapter. The book was completed and about ready for the press, when, lo, a new sorrow came like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky. This is the third time Death has ruthlessly entered our home and it would seem by this time I ought to be acquainted with the grim monster, but he is always an unwelcome guest.

     For years I have noticed that life is made up of opposites -- joys and sorrows, adversity and prosperity, appreciation and depreciation. I have already noticed that as a rule they balance. The greater the one, the greater the other. Children, and sometimes older people, are not aware of these antitheses. When great joys and prosperity are theirs, they do not fortify themselves against the counteraction which is likely to follow. Hence, weeping generally follows a season of laughter.

     After these years of ups and downs and thorns and roses, I have come to see the emptiness of earthly things; hence, I have learned to "rejoice with trembling." Business men tell us that in the nature of things panics follow waves of prosperity. Wife and I have certainly had our share of ignominy and poverty. But of recent years it seems we have lived down opposition and have gotten ahead more or less financially. This has made me fear that we were nearing a great storm of some kind. Our sailing was too smooth and soothing.

     When the news reached me that our lovely daughter, Evangeline, had suddenly passed away, I said to myself, with Job, "The thing that I feared is come upon me." I had a presentiment that some kind of sorrow or loss was about to come, but never dreamed that it would be this. How strange are the vicissitudes of life!

     There are very few lives that flow on like a song, without any interruptions. Indeed, such a life might be called a calamity. It seems that we need frequent shocks and disappointments, lest we become too much attached to earthly things. Interruptions may be sudden or gradual. Those that are unexpected produce a greater shock and surprise, while those that are not so severe at first, nevertheless in the end total about the same amount of pain.

     Millions have been comforted and strengthened by reading of the sorrows of David, the lamentations of Jeremiah and the heartbreakings of Paul. Not until after Job had lost everything -- cattle, children and property -- was he able to say, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."

     After a recent season of prayer and weeping at the grave of our darling, I said to my brave little wife, "While it seems a great loss to part with her, especially just as she was entering the ministry and becoming proficient in soul winning, yet it is a great privilege to rear children for heaven. And since God is all-wise, our responsibility is ended when through our feeble efforts we succeed in turning them over to Him, not as helpless infants, but as full-grown soldiers of the Cross. Whether He, as a great General, sees best to enlist them in the home field, or promote and transport them to another clime -- Heaven-very well.

     "The Judge of all the earth doeth right."