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FEMALE CHARACTERS OF SCRIPTURE.
XI.
THE SISTERS OF BETHANY AFTER THE DEATH OF LAZARUS.
One grief, one faith, O sisters of the dead!
Was in your bosoms—thou, whose steps, made fleet
By keen hope fluttering in the heart which bled,
Bore thee, as wings, the Lord of Life to greet;
And thou, that duteous in thy still retreat
Didst wait his summons—then with reverent love
Fall weeping at the blest Deliverer's feet,
Whom e'en to heavenly tears thy woe could move.
And which to Him, the All Seeing and All Just
Was loveliest, that quick zeal, or lowly trust?
To those unveilings of its deepest shrine,
By the wrung spirit made in outward sign:
Free service from the heart is all in all to Heaven.
