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and all enchanting innocencies than with dark human passions, who can think no ull of man or God, and in whom religious gladness, being in possession from the outset, needs no deliverance from any antecedent burden" He found such a friend' at this moment, and the tender affection which developed tended to soften the hardness of his heart Religion was entering his life
As the Fates would have it, the friendship was not destined to last long The bud of this charming Platonic friendship was nipped before its blossoming Death parted them for good and for all The heroic and dark preliminaries which bring us to this lyric episode in RUP life and which is soon followed by his taking a vow of Renunciation add to the pathos of its heart-rending close The boy belonged to the healthy-minded type, as we had occasion to refer to-one who would never yield to sentimental and morbid sorrow
The faith in Goodness which he had ever had and which was greatly strengthened of late, stood him well now when he had to pass through a great test It will be hypocrisy to deny that this was not a positively agonising moment of his life Death cast a spell over him as it were
"The seed to take to the ascetic life was there, no doubt But it was buried deep down in the subconscious To what he had given half-hearted attention in the past, now loomed up before him He
