"And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for
God proved them, and found them worthy for himself."
And assuredly, if in the hour of death the conscience is at peace, the mind need not be troubled. The future is full of doubt, indeed, but fuller still of hope.
If we are entering upon a rest after the struggles of life,
"Where the wicked cease from troubling,
And the weary are at rest,"
that to many a weary soul will be a welcome bourne, and even then we may say,
"O Death! where is thy sting?
O Grave! where is thy victory?"
On the other hand, if we are entering on a new sphere of existence, where we may look forward to meet not only those of whom we have heard so often, those whose works we have read and admired, and to whom we owe so much, but those also whom we have loved and lost; when we shall leave behind us the bonds of the flesh and the limitations of our earthly existence; when we shall join the Angels, and Archangels, and all the company of Heaven,—then, indeed, we may cherish a sure and certain hope that the interests and pleasures of this world are as nothing compared to those of the life that awaits us in our Eternal Home.
[1] Montgomery.
[2] Emerson.
[3] Seneca.