The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1860-04-06

ceased to come in, as Mr.. Dickens stood and
looked over the quiet sunny sea, and tho
divers were still busy seeking tho golden
treasure, of which f350 900 worth had been
lost, and mp to that day, f300, 900 worth
had been recovered. What IN overwhelm.
ing conception Of the majesty Of nature Is
given by this simple sentence: $50 tre-
mendous had the force Of the SEQ been when
It broke the ship, that 1t hadbcatcn one great
ingot of gold deep into strong and heavy
piece of her solid iron work, in which, also,
several loose sovercigns, that tho ingot had
swept in before II, had been found as firmly
imbcdded as though the iron had been liquid
when they werc forced there"
As the dead forms, 90 lately buoyant with
the hope of homo and dear friends, drifted
ashore on that bleak coast, the clergyman Of
the district (and this is the hero Of thestory,)
received them. He himself, whom they had
been borne to tho little church. (forty-four
laid there at ono timely patiently sought
among the Ipoor relics, not for plumber, but
for some token by which friends might be
able to identify them, throwing open his
house to agonixcd friends. In this sanctuary
of death, with weeping and wailing in ey-
cry room of his house," says the narrator,
Z" my companion worked alone for hours,
solemnly surrounded by eyes that could not
sec him, and by lips that could not speak to
him, patiently examining the tattered cloth
ing, cutting OF buttons, hair, marks from
linen-anything that might lead to subse-
quent identifcation-studying faces, look.
ing for scar, bent finger, n crooked toe,
comparing letters sent to him with the ruin
about him." Have oil the cxquisitely pa.
thetic pages which the pen Of the worlds
novelist has inscribed, anything moro touch.
ing than this?
"Thc ladies of the clergyman's family,
his wife and two sisters-in-law, came In
among the bodies often. 1t grew to be the
business of their lives to do so.I Any new
arrival of bereayed woman would stimulate
their pity to compare the description brought
with the dread realities. Sometimes they
would 90 back to say, i have found him."
or,'I think she lies there Perhaps the
mourner, unable to bear the sight of all that
lay in the church, would be led in blindfold.
Conducted to the spot with many compass
sonate words, and encouraged to look, she
would say, with piercing cry, This is my
boy' and drop insensiblc on the inScnsible
figure"
Amid these most narrowing sccncs-be-
side the passionless corpses, and those who
were dead in heart-in fearful chorus OF
lamentations, always rising - tho small
church yard so crowded "tho villagers had
begun to express uneasy doubts whether they
themselves could lio in their own ground,
with their forcfathers and descendants, by
and by'-writing to all points OF the king
dom letters of agonizing burden to relatives
and friends Of the lost-his white surplice
hanging up near the door, ready to put on
ut any time for funeral service, this un.
known nan of God I" used most sweet and
patient diligence, for weeks and weeks."-
There is no record of hcroism truer and more
ennobling than this of tho Welsh parson.
His figure, in the soft halo which Genius has
put around IL, will pass. into tho sacred
chambers of the soul where Florence Night
ingale and Others are, to remember whom is
to get new courage and new hope. IL was a
work well befitting that genial, loving ma
ture, which shining from his books, has
made the name of Charles Dickens bright in
every house, to pay their tribute to great
worth, of which, otherwise, the world, whose
averages are, to say the least, curiously ar-
ranged might never have heard, until oil Be-
crets arc revealed, and We see, in the calm
light of eternal truth and justice. great he
rOes OF whom no account was taken here
The simple earncstness with which no full
fills his task of lovc-ihc genuine enthusiasm
with which ho speaks of tho "kind and
wholesome face" and the " cheerful earnest
ness of this good Christian minister" are
most beautiful, as the only denials we need
care for Of the old charge against Charles
Dickens of incapacity to portray the lowell.
ness of Christian character. 81 have never
secn," he said, "anything more delightfully."-
genuine than the calm dismissal by himself
and his household of oil they had undergone
Ms simple duty that was quietly done and
ended :" aud then this touching passage, |
from tho hand that would not spare Chad. |
band:
In this noble modesty, in this beautiful
simplicity, in this serene avoidance Of the
least attempt to improve m occasion,
which might be supposed to have sunk its
own weight into my heart, seemed to have
happily como, in few steps, from tho
with its open grave, which was
the type of Death, to the Christian dwelling |
side BY side with It, which was the type of
Resurrection. never shall think Of the
former without the latter. The two will al. |
ways rest side by side in my memory. II /
had lost any ono dear to me in that unfor.
tunate ship-if made a voyage from Aus
tralia to look at tho grave in the church.
yard-I should 60 away thankful to God
that that house was 30 close to 1t, and that
its shadow by day, and Its domestic lights by
night, fell upon the earth in which its
master had 90 tenderly laid my dear ones
head
The namc Of the clergyman is the Rev.
Stephen Roose Hughes, Lanallgo, near Mo-
plfra, Anglcsey. The sorrow ofmany hearts,
for those lost with tho Royal Charter, Is
,oothed by its sound, but tho world would
know It not except through the generous
,ffice of Dickens. Truly he says, In burst
If manhood, "Conyocations, conferences,
diocesan epistles, and the like. will do a deal
ror Religion, dare say, and Heaven send
.hcy may but doubt if they will ever do
heir Masters service half 50 well, in all tho
line they last, ns tho heavens havc seen i
lone in this black spot upon tho rugged
,oast of Wales"
FAITH.