I wish it were not so. Ah! this
passage through the world, hard and toilsome as it is, has many, many
dangers."
"If we put our trust in God, we need have no fear," said Edith, in a
gentle yet earnest and penetrating voice, laying her hand lovingly on
the hot forehead of her husband, and gazing into his eyes.
"Nothing without can harm us. Our worst enemies are within."
"Within?"
"Yes, love; within our bosoms. Into our distrusts and unsatisfied
desires they enter, and tempt us to evil."
"True, true," said Claire, in an abstracted manner, and as if speaking
to himself.
"What more do we want to make us happy?" asked Edith, comprehending
still more clearly her husband's state of mind.
Claire sighed deeply, but made no answer.
"More money could not do it," she added.
"Money would procure us many comforts that we do not now possess,"
said the young man.
"I doubt this, Edward. It might give more of the elegancies of life;
but, as I have often said, these do not always produce corresponding
pleasure. If they come, without too ardent seeking, in the good
pleasure of Providence, as the reward of useful and honest labour,
then they may increase the delights of life; but never otherwise.
If the heart is set on them, their acquirement will surely end in
disappointment.
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