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Article THREE CHRISTMAS EVES. ← Page 5 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Three Christmas Eves.
jny effectually searching till I found the resting-place of my wife and the darling child she left me when she went before . " ' Resolutely turning my back upon the treacherous sea , that had so nearly been to me an unhallowed grave , I once more turned into the town , and finding the door of a church—St . Mary's—open , I turned in and sank upon my knees in humble prayer . I tnow not how long I stayed , but as I thanked the Great Architect for His mercy ,
suddenly a voice—it seemed like my Mary ' s voice from heaven—burst into song . It was Mendelssohn ' s glorious , "In His hands are all the corners of the earth ; " and as the words fell upon my ears , they seemed to sink into my very soul , and bid my tooping heart take courage , for that wherever my little one was dwelling , there the Great Father ' s hand was over her for good . , . j , " 'I felt , now that I was calmer , that reparation was due to the Brother that I had
wronged ; true , my child was lost from beneath his roof , but , equally true , he had sought her , and—finding her not—had mourned for her as if she had been his own . Accordingly I went to his home , but he was away , " gone to Lodge , " they said , and { hither I turned my halting steps . " 'I approached the cloor , and was humbly waiting without , when the Tyler , recognizing me , notwithstanding my forlorn appearance , called out my friend , who I found
was then the Master of the Lodge . "' I began to ask his pardon , but—half embracing me—he covered my mouth with his Hand , and , drawing me into the presence of the Brethren , seated me close by his side . Truly ! I felt like the prodigal son ! for the meeting was one of Emergency , called on this Christmas Eve , fit night for charity aud love , for the sole purpose of considering my case , and the Brethren had determined to give me sufficient for my present wants , and to advance me upon my bank deposits , which it had been ascertained would be refunded , sufficient to enable me to start in life afresh .
j '" I accepted with joy then- generous offer , and having been assured by all that Ibey would aid the Brother , in whose keeping I had left my little daughter , to prosecute ; the search , I bade them farewell , and started next morning for France to try and glean some tidings of my Mary's end . " ' Returning to the town where French Brethren had so befriended me , I starte d flience , and wandered in every direction , far and wide , for many a weary month . At last at the close of walk been
, a long day ' s , having resting for a time under the porch | of a little rustic church , hard by the sea-shore , as I rose to go into the village , my attention was attracted to the shadow of the churchyard cross , which was so cast by I the moon as to form a back-ground to a tiny marble headstone , which was thus thrown , 'ip in strong relief . Tho stone itself was also in the form of a cross , and on its arms j ' . 'ero traced Masonic emblems . Stooping to see better the inscription I read , —¦
'" MARIE , DU F 1 UNC-MACON , LA MAHIEE !' "' Mary ! My wife ! "' All through that night I lay with my head pillowed on that stone , and was found Wf dead with cold in the morning , by the village notary , himself a good and worthy 'Bason who took to his house
, me . "' When I had recovered , he told me ofthe finding of my Mary ' s body , lying calm and beautiful as if in sleep , in a weed-bedeeked nook in the rock ' s , on the morning after jj terrible storm . In the bosom of her dress , the notary ' s wife , since laid to restbesido » > found iny certificate securely sewn , whence knowing her to be a Mason ' s wife , as ach the Masons had reverentlburied herand raised ab her the marble
y , ove grave cross 'oat I had beheld the night before . IW " My Max'y ' s resting-place thus found , half of my earthly task was clone , and , knowing at 1 . could only hope , by chance ,, or rather by the guidance of Heaven ' s great cmtect , to discover my other treasure , I have wandered about almost without ipose until this night , when , resting once more in the place where my Mother
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Three Christmas Eves.
jny effectually searching till I found the resting-place of my wife and the darling child she left me when she went before . " ' Resolutely turning my back upon the treacherous sea , that had so nearly been to me an unhallowed grave , I once more turned into the town , and finding the door of a church—St . Mary's—open , I turned in and sank upon my knees in humble prayer . I tnow not how long I stayed , but as I thanked the Great Architect for His mercy ,
suddenly a voice—it seemed like my Mary ' s voice from heaven—burst into song . It was Mendelssohn ' s glorious , "In His hands are all the corners of the earth ; " and as the words fell upon my ears , they seemed to sink into my very soul , and bid my tooping heart take courage , for that wherever my little one was dwelling , there the Great Father ' s hand was over her for good . , . j , " 'I felt , now that I was calmer , that reparation was due to the Brother that I had
wronged ; true , my child was lost from beneath his roof , but , equally true , he had sought her , and—finding her not—had mourned for her as if she had been his own . Accordingly I went to his home , but he was away , " gone to Lodge , " they said , and { hither I turned my halting steps . " 'I approached the cloor , and was humbly waiting without , when the Tyler , recognizing me , notwithstanding my forlorn appearance , called out my friend , who I found
was then the Master of the Lodge . "' I began to ask his pardon , but—half embracing me—he covered my mouth with his Hand , and , drawing me into the presence of the Brethren , seated me close by his side . Truly ! I felt like the prodigal son ! for the meeting was one of Emergency , called on this Christmas Eve , fit night for charity aud love , for the sole purpose of considering my case , and the Brethren had determined to give me sufficient for my present wants , and to advance me upon my bank deposits , which it had been ascertained would be refunded , sufficient to enable me to start in life afresh .
j '" I accepted with joy then- generous offer , and having been assured by all that Ibey would aid the Brother , in whose keeping I had left my little daughter , to prosecute ; the search , I bade them farewell , and started next morning for France to try and glean some tidings of my Mary's end . " ' Returning to the town where French Brethren had so befriended me , I starte d flience , and wandered in every direction , far and wide , for many a weary month . At last at the close of walk been
, a long day ' s , having resting for a time under the porch | of a little rustic church , hard by the sea-shore , as I rose to go into the village , my attention was attracted to the shadow of the churchyard cross , which was so cast by I the moon as to form a back-ground to a tiny marble headstone , which was thus thrown , 'ip in strong relief . Tho stone itself was also in the form of a cross , and on its arms j ' . 'ero traced Masonic emblems . Stooping to see better the inscription I read , —¦
'" MARIE , DU F 1 UNC-MACON , LA MAHIEE !' "' Mary ! My wife ! "' All through that night I lay with my head pillowed on that stone , and was found Wf dead with cold in the morning , by the village notary , himself a good and worthy 'Bason who took to his house
, me . "' When I had recovered , he told me ofthe finding of my Mary ' s body , lying calm and beautiful as if in sleep , in a weed-bedeeked nook in the rock ' s , on the morning after jj terrible storm . In the bosom of her dress , the notary ' s wife , since laid to restbesido » > found iny certificate securely sewn , whence knowing her to be a Mason ' s wife , as ach the Masons had reverentlburied herand raised ab her the marble
y , ove grave cross 'oat I had beheld the night before . IW " My Max'y ' s resting-place thus found , half of my earthly task was clone , and , knowing at 1 . could only hope , by chance ,, or rather by the guidance of Heaven ' s great cmtect , to discover my other treasure , I have wandered about almost without ipose until this night , when , resting once more in the place where my Mother