"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
"Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
"Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
"They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot.
"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
"He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
"With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation."
During this most exquisite pronunciamento of Divine favor Eugene was sitting with his eyes closed, his thoughts wandering over all his recent ills. For the first time in years, he was trying to fix his mind upon an all-wise, omnipresent, omnipotent generosity. It was hard and he could not reconcile the beauty of this expression of Divine favor with the nature of the world as he knew it. What was the use of saying, "They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone," when he had seen Angela and himself suffering so much recently? Wasn't he dwelling in the secret place of the Most High when he was alive? How could one get out of it? Still—— "Because he hath set his love on me—therefore will I deliver him." Was that the answer? Was Angela's love set on him? Was his own? Might not all their woes have sprung from that?