Note 31 — Chapter XVIII · MY LIFE IN LONDON IN THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES. SOCIAL (continued 2)
Reading edition
The lines to which Lord Shaftesbury refers—“Best in the Lord” (since included in many collections) begin with the words:
“God draws a cloud over each gleaming morn.
Wouldst thou ask, why?
It is because all noblest things are born
In agony.
Only upon some Cross of pain or woe
God’s Son may lie.
Each soul redeemed from self and sin must know
Its Calvary.”
Lord Shaftesbury entirely understood the point of view from which I regarded that sacred spot.