_ LIFE is a mystery to all men, and the more profound the deeper the
striving spirit is immersed in its own selfish instincts. How
earnestly do we all fix our eyes upon the slowly-advancing future,
impatiently waiting that good time coming which never comes! How
fast the years glide by, beginning in hope and ending in
disappointment! Strange that we gain so little of true wisdom amid
the sharp disappointments that meet us at almost every turn! How
keenly the writer has suffered with the rest, need not be told. It
will be enough to say that he, too, has long been an anxious waiter
for the "good time coming," which has not yet arrived.
But hope should not die because of our disappointments. There is a
good time coming, and for each one of us, if we work and wait for
it; but we must work patiently, and look in the right direction.
Perhaps our meaning will be plainer after our book is read. _