putting my thoughts into shape. The question which you raise is complicated. For a certain distance we can see clearly, and then comes a barrier which we cannot overleap.

Every physical effect, as physical, follows an inexorable sequence. This is the will of God. So far we are on certain ground. Under one aspect every bodily ailment corresponds -must correspond-with some violation of order near or far off; and we may be quite sure that, since every consequence in the physical order is the expression of the will of Him who is Love and Wisdom and Righteousness, it will in the end bring that which we desire. Physical suffering is then in itself part of God's discipline, and on a large scale contributory to restoration.

But then we have to take account of the connexion of the spiritual with the material. Hunger, e.g., is salutary in itself, but Satan may use it for temptation. We may give admission to his influence. Then he can use for evil under the conditions of this life that which is from God. And on the other side we can by God's help accelerate the healing power of suffering. I have endeavoured to suggest some thoughts on this subject in the fifth sermon on "The Victory of the Cross."

The phrase "rebuked the fever" must be compared with corresponding phrases in the O.T., e.g. Ps. lxviii. 30 (R.V.), cvi. 9; Nahum i. 4; Matt. viii. 26. It appears to me to be more than a personification. I can feel a little of that which is implied in it by reference to Rom. viii. 18 ff.

You will see that I do not think that it is possible to obtain an individual solution of your problem; but in the endeavour to gain a larger view of the Redemption of the world I catch sight of that which is sufficient to bring rest and hope.

You will be able and willing to fill up the meagre outline, which is all that I can draw.-Ever yours most sincerely, B. F. DUNELM.

BISHOP AUCKLAND, 23rd December 1893.

Dear Miss Cordeux-Let me thank you for your most kind remembrance of me and my great needs. Faith and

patience are our sorest wants in the stress of work. To faith all things are possible, and the promise is that in patience we shall,win our souls, and, if so, our people too.

It would have been a great pleasure to show you Auckland. Our Chapel is unique in interest.

It is happy for us, I think, that we have no choice as to strength or weakness. The service of waiting and bearing is not the least fruitful. Those who are called to it may silently and in a moment help weary workers. May you know this joy! With every good wish for Christmas, yours most truly, B. F. DUNELM.

BISHOP AUCKLAND, 19th September 1894.

Dear Miss Cordeux-On my return home I found your questions. They are indeed questions which must always haunt us, and to which we cannot find any complete answer. But all seems to me to lie implicitly in the fact to which consciousness witnesses most clearly, the coexistence of finite beings with an Infinite Being. If a finite being exists with power of self-determination, there must be the possibility of self-assertion, i.e. sin, and of all that must follow from this disharmony. We view effects dispersedly and in succession, and men as disconnected, but this is simply a consequence of our limited powers. To God "all creation is one act at once." And we must remember that, however great the suffering may be which God allows-or rather which follows sin by His righteous law-He has more than matched it by His spontaneous love: "God so loved the world . . ." In this too He has shown that there is another side to suffering. (If you have not read J. Hinton's Mystery of Pain, it will, I think, suggest helpful thoughts.) You speak of intellect, but intellect has very little to do with character; in capacity for love men are nearly equal, as it seems.

You will anticipate that I should demur to your interpretation of the word "ordering." This in regard to the action of God does not indicate arrangement from moment to moment, but such laws-as we speak—as infallibly secure the end which we, with perfect knowledge, shall desire. A Belgian historian (F. Laurent) has written eighteen volumes to

show, by a general survey of the life of humanity, that men, in endeavouring to fulfil their own ends, establish a Divine end wholly different. What I have said suggests that no prophecy requires a fulfilment. Knowledge beforehand no more causes an event than knowledge after. The words in St. Matthew xvi. 24 are very hard. But life is a perilous gift. If the being of Judas had ceased with his earthly life the words would have been true. His remorse must have outweighed all the joy of his past life.

Do you not, to suggest one last thought, feel that the parallel between an earthly father and a heavenly Father is misleading? No earthly father can feel what sin is. His difficulty is to realise its consequences. Our appeals to God are, in one sense, a feeble endeavour to make His will our If you have never looked up Bishop Butler's sermon on "The Ignorance of Man," you will find it very instructive. Yours most sincerely, B. F. DUNELM.

Own.

BISHOP AUCKLAND, 25th September 1894.

I feel sure that we can rest in the Lord and wait. When it is obvious that we see an infinitesimal fragment of life, and when at the same time we believe in the work and Person of the Son of Man, I do not see what ground there is for doubt. Love is seen to triumph through and over sin and suffering on the Cross and on the Mount. This is enough. Is it not reasonable to suppose that there may be goods which prove to be goods only if sought for? Our Lord prayed for deliverance from His "hour." We may pray in like manner, and yet find that the spirit of our prayer is answered otherwise than we judged best.

I cannot see that we can say that God is responsible for the action of creatures whom He has created with personal responsibility. He is (if we may so speak) responsible for the end, and for this He has made provision. All between beginning and end is in form determined by man's responsible action. I think I have said all I have to say on this in The Victory of the Cross, which you may know. . .

BISHOP AUCKLAND, 18th September 1895.

Dear Miss Cordeux-It is very kind of you to tell me of your anxiety and trial. A Bishop naturally bears many sorrows in his heart, and it helps him to think of them, for in this way he feels more keenly how much he is himself helped by innumerable friends. From what you say, I fancy that an invalid daughter of ours, who is now perhaps the brightest and most helpful member of our household, went through the treatment which is prescribed for you. If it did not do all that we had hoped, she has had a very happy, useful life since. May this at least be your experience! The most effective service is often that of the weak.

May God comfort and strengthen you, and enable you to hear His silent message!-Yours most sincerely,

B. F. DUNELM.

CHAPTER XII

DURHAM (continued)

1897-1900

THOUGH the Bishop was far from well in June 1897, he was able to attend the "Diamond" Jubilee Service in Westminster Abbey on the 20th, and be present at the short service without St. Paul's on the 22nd. On this latter occasion he contrived to take up his position in a humbler room than that intended for him, and appears to have regarded the pageant with mixed feelings, for he enters in his text-book, "Is the army the nation? or the strength of the nation?"

He wrote a short paper on Lessons of the Reign, which appeared in The Commonwealth for June. The article opens with these words :

The memorable saying of Pascal that "humanity is a man who lives and learns for ever" (qui subsiste toujours et qui apprend continuellement) suggests a standard by which we can measure the progress of a nation during each period of its life. To apply it to the present time, What have we learnt during the last sixty years? And in asking the question, I do not think directly of the increase of our knowledge of phenomena and of the records of the past, but of the effect which our deeper insight into Nature and our completer apprehension of the course of history have had upon our views of life—of its conditions, its duties, its destiny. These views finally deter