in april 1918 his eldest son, roy, died of wounds at estaires after the battle of the lys. loss after loss of boys and trusted colleagues had grieved and distressed him; now came this culminating blow. there had been the closest understanding between father and son; roy had left engineering to become a master at the royal naval college, osborne, which sanderson had helped to reconstruct, and more and more had the father looked to his boy as his chosen disciple and possible successor.

on the whitsunday following sanderson preached a sermon on the text: 'i will not leave you desolate, i will come unto you.' the notes of the sermon were untidy, and have had to be carefully pieced together, but i think they rise to a very high level of poetry. and when i copy them out i think how the dear sturdy man in his[pg 102] academic gown must have stood up and clung to his desk, after his manner, full of grief and sorrowful memories of the one 'gentle soul,' in particular, and of many other gentle souls, he had lost—clinging to his desk with both hands as he clung to his faith and speaking stoutly.

whitsunday—white sunday—white, pure, untainted—day of consolation—day of inspiration—perhaps the most joyous time of all the year. spring in its power, life, spirit of peace, joy. everywhere joy—sanctified, subdued. joy, and peace, and new life in the music, the harmonies and discords, of nature—here, in the country. the singing of the birds, their twittering, chattering, calling; their excitement; their restful chirping, abandon of joy, peace without alloy—they are friends of the soul. the atmosphere too—the gentleness of it, the life within it and soft warmth of it: freedom, imagination, inspiration are in the air; the wind bloweth where it listeth. joy, innocent, white, pure, and happy. happiness too. life steeped in the sunshine of happiness. the spring, the elasticity, the eutrophy of life: life-creating life; life-giving life. happiness on every hand mystic, elusive as the[pg 103] forces of nature. "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth." happiness! not freedom from care, or from sorrow, or from sleepless anguish; not freedom from abasement, not even from dark gloom—the accidie of depression—yet nevertheless the increasing sense of the life of love and service, the power of service, the completeness of it. the happiness which breaks ever and again through the clouds of uncertainties, doubts, darknesses of life—revealing it may be, for a moment, the signs of long years of effort—for as life goes on it is given to catch glimpses of the growth of the soul, something of the part the soul has taken in the building of the kingdom. it is in this life of love and service the words of the master come to us: "i will not leave you desolate, i will come unto you."'

followed praise of the beauty of work with which his congregation must have been familiar. and then came this concluding passage:—

'and when these days of wrath are passed away, there will be a great battlefield for a new birth. days of wrath and then a new revelation.[pg 104] when god came down on the first pentecost on mount sinai, he came amid thunders and lightnings, and in a thick dark cloud—and when the holy spirit of god came to the waiting disciples there was a sound of a rushing mighty wind. and it must be so. new birth comes through much sorrow. so we may hope that new theories of life which for a century have been growing towards birth will spring forth out of this great contest in all the lands of the earth. vast work there will be, and the labourers sadly fewer. the nation is now sending of her very best into the battlefield. there will be great call for new recruits to restore the countries which are devastated—great calls, too, for investigators in all branches of knowledge. pioneers are now leading the way in research, in mathematics, in science, in industry, in the laws of logic and thought, with new ways of expression in language and art.

'there is the great pressing need of revolution in the laws and relationships in the social life. we may have visions of a regenerated social state, in which courtesy, justice, mercy, the spirit of the gentle knight, will show themselves in change[pg 105] of thought, of belief; we may have visions of communities guided by principles which we hope and believe rule in our great school. care for the weak; clothing, feeding, housing, medical care for all; a crime to be poor; to be diseased, to be underfed; these regenerations controlled by the true and public spirit at the cost of the community. laws for reform and redemption, and not for punishment. each member of the state cared for, as it is our hope each boy of this school is. great changes—essential to the well-being of a state, and to each member of it. we may have visions that the spirit of chivalry, of kindness, of courtesy, of gentleness, of all that goes to make the "gentle soul" will bring this redemption to the people.'