The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-06-14

| 81 cannot stand here, DE-. Beechwood, wrangl-
ing over the bed of dying woman but marx
my words, sir. and weigh them well, if her soul
before His Judgment; for, devoid of all author
ity, you have robbed her of her own expressed
desire to die in the bosom of that Church in
which she was born"
Saying which, and turning q last inquiring
look upon Mr.. Stewart, who stood helpless be-
tween the two, he left tho room. During this
placed the crucifx in Mrs. Stewards hands,
seeing by the expression of her eye that she
was still conscious, though speechless.
Although unable to read, this poor woman
tremity. So putting her face close to the dying
woman's ear, she repeated tho itany for the
dying, which she had long known by heart,
my soul shall be on my lips departing from this
world, and shall leave my body cold and life
less, then hen %erciful Jesus, have PITY on me-"
long, heavy sigh, and fixing her eyes, first on
the crucifix, then on her husband, who knelt
by her side, she closed her eyes forever on time
to open them on the pain or bliss of eternity:
Well is it for us who watch such lives, aud
witness such deaths, to know that the mercies
of God are infinite, and to recall when fear
and doubt torture the loving heart that scene
man, whose life had been spent in breaking
the divine law, whose lips had never uttered a
prayer, whose heart was the receptacle of every
hour Of doom. Through. torture and torment
indispensable, his iniquities chung to him like a
part of himself, and as he writhed in the double
agony of soul and body, suddenly his eyes fell
upon the God illumined face that hung by his
side and n voice more piercing and moving
than the weird trumptes that sounded the noon
vibrated before or after,) fell upon his ear, en-
tered his SOUL and made clear like lightnings
flash all the vileness that had SO long rOted
unchecked therein. Like fountain in the
fnsf vlnv,l
welled up in his heart, and through its light he
beheld the divinity that enclosed him in halo
of glory Moved by faith, love, and repentance
this poor sinner cried out for salvation, and
with that one word, the evil of the pest was
forgotten, the robes of his wicketlness fell off
like the mantle of Elias, and he entered with
day shalt thou be with me in Paradise" stands
emblazoned on shifting clouds that hang be-
tween the repentant sinner and eternity.
When all was over, Bridget sent a hasty mes
sage to Mrs. Field hoping that through her i'll
huence her beloved mistress might at last he
accorded the rites OF burial in consecrated
grounds, but Mr.. Stewards friends had already
made every arrangement and when Mrs. Field
spoke to the bereavcd husband Oh the subject of
paying this last tribute to the feelings of his
wife, he said:
''It is too1ate, now. to interfere. Beside
what matters it now who cOnsigns her to earth
or where sho lies! She has gone now beyond
all hope: desires for this world, and the an
guish is mine alone"
The good bishop, knowing what Il double
blow this sad death of his daughter would
prove to Mr.. OBrien, strove to give him, by
letter, all the. consolation in his power. AL
though he made no attempt to excuse her past
dereliction from duty, he yet seized upon the
good desires Of the last few weeks of her life
dwelt upon her frequent prayers, her sOlicitude
for an opportunity OF reconciliation, her dying
appeal to her husband, all of which, Joined to
the evident horror with which she rejected the
ministrations of DR.. Beechwood, he believed
would be weighed in her favor by our all mer-
ciful Lord.
CHAPTER V.
Poor Kate had laid many days in her grave
ere the news OF her sad end reached her loving
parents. Only Il few days previously they had
heard OF her comparative safety, and not having
the slightest idea OF her danger, the blow fell
heavily upon them both, but more especially |
upon Mrs. OBrien, whose remorseful conscience
added tentold misery to her loss, and proved |
the means of setting the final seal to her with
drawal from those ambitious aspirations upon |
which she had staked much, and out of
which she had gathered unl,roiuctive and
II harvest.
Mr.. OBricn's business had for some time be-
come more and more entangled, and his losses
greater, through injudicious, speculations in
lands which had been pressed into the market |
under a fictitious value Under the pressure of
falling and when the news of the last
sad hours of his beloved child reached him, the
shock proved too much for his broken spirits
and wasted strength. He never again rallied,
but in a few months was borne to his last home
by large number of friends, though few ofthe
former attendants of his wife's grand fetes
were noticed in the cortege. A-.- ~
Upon the settlement OF his affairs it was
found that only small annuity, through the
of his creditors could be secured
to Mrs. O'Brien during her life ; but as she was
allowed to retain nearly every article that had
been endearcd to her hy long association, and
had the heart and home of her remaining child
still open to her, she content to accept
these blessings i'll the true spirit of u chastened
soul, offering the rest of her life as atone
ment for her past false and foolish of bless
ings and opportunities for good, that rarely fall
to the lot of those whose birth was such as hers.
Nellie, now Mrs. Talmadge though grieved
at the-4cath of both father and sister, rebclled
even more against the loss of her great eXpecta-
tons. The first ardor and romance of her mar
riage had subsidized into feelings more practical
than ideal; and her natural love for luxury,