Had she believed in the common creed, her attention would have been
concentrated on the salvation of her own soul; she would have found
her Redeemer and would have been comparatively at peace; she would
have acknowledged herself convicted of infinite sin, and hell would
have been opened before her, but above the sin and the hell she would
have seen the distinct image of the Mediator abolishing both.
Popular theology makes personal salvation of such immense importance
that, in comparison therewith, we lose sight of the consequences to
others of our misdeeds. The sense of cruel injustice to those who
loved her remained with Madge perpetually.
To obtain relief she often went out of London for the day; sometimes
her mother and sister went with her; sometimes she insisted on going
alone. One autumn morning, she found herself at Letherhead, the
longest trip she had undertaken, for there were scarcely any railways
then. She wandered about till she discovered a footpath which took
her to a mill-pond, which spread itself out into a little lake. It
was fed by springs which burst up through the ground. She watched at
one particular point, and saw the water boil up with such force that
it cleared a space of a dozen yards in diameter from every weed, and
formed a transparent pool just tinted with that pale azure which is
peculiar to the living fountains which break out from the bottom of
the chalk.
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