Preface to Tauler’s Sermons. 1854.
Proverbs False and True. October 21.
There is no falser proverb than that devil’s beatitude, “Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Say rather, “Blessed is he who expecteth everything, for he enjoys everything once at least, and if it falls out true, twice also.”
Prose Idylls. 1857.
True Sisters of Mercy. October 22.
Ah! true Sisters of Mercy! whom the world sneers at as “old maids,” if you pour out on cats and dogs and parrots a little of the love that is yearning to spend itself on children of your own. As long as such as you walk this lower world one needs no Butler’s Analogy to prove to us that there is another world, where such as you will have a fuller and a fairer (I dare not say a juster) portion.
Two Years Ago, chap. xxv. 1856.
The Divine Fire. October 23.
Well spoke the old monks, peaceful, watching life’s turmoil,
“Eyes which look heavenward, weeping still we see:
God’s love with keen flame purges, like the lightning flash,
Gold which is purest, purer still must be.”
Saint’s Tragedy, Act iii. Scene i.
1847.