Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 1.djvu/426

 pious passing away. And as I take a review of the many leading incidents of this noble soul, I feel that it is not the lack of opportunity but the absence of spirit that makes life so very barren in us. Here is a young man who lived for a few years, yet with a matured spirit that a sage may covet, with a serene repose that a saint may envy and a sustaining faith which a prophet may follow as an example. He passed through these years as the inspiring example of a noble life to his survivors. And as we dwell upon that life, we feel how much is possible for man and how deeply inlaid this life is with Divine presence. He was a man of twenty-five years more or less. In this short span of life, he illustrated in himself, in so many ways, the rich possibilities of youth well spent and of opportunities sacredly employed. We also feel compelled by the physical absence, with more than usual emphasis, to dwell upon that life, that so we may sustain and intensify its healthy influence within us. By its very withdrawal, it is made more significant and its spirit is better brought home to us.