The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-12-11

6Nt Shocking, stalwart Irishman; his wife, and
their six children, the oldest beautiful girl
~ abont sixteen, the youngest q baby-girl of
saus sso with asS Extreme heat and fatigue, So
famished with hunger and worn out wit agon-
izing fears Of being discovered and hunted
like wild beasts. that the sight of them was
enough to melt heart of stone.
AS we entered, they were on their knees,
breathing thanks to God for the shelter and
the kindness, and imploring blessings for those
When they arose, the repast was soon spread,
and, warning them to eat sparingly at first in
their exhausted state, left them to enjoy it
cd something Of their history from the grand
mother, q most Interesting old woman. I wish
could convey it under the garh of her own
quisite in it's impassioned and touching pathos.
But the tongue must be to Z" the manor born,
which would yield that graceful weapon eff
fectively; otherwise the attempt serves only to
blunt the point and tnrnish the brilliancy.
Doubtless her tone, her attitude and manner
had much to do with the deep impression her
simple narrative made upon the listener, in
this instance, well as the time, the place,
and the circumstances In which it was related.
There was q serene light in her soft black
eyes, divinity in the calm humility of the
would be instinctively impelled to offer rever
entail homage. Her jet-black hair-an occa-
sional silver thread mingled here and there but
to enhance its shining beauty by the contrast
and wrinkled brow, under the fcills of q snow
white cap; q muslin kerchief Of the same snowy
freshness was crossed oyer her breast, beneath
sas opsn
full form Of the wearer. But what impressed
me most was the expression of her counte-
dued by holy patience and resignation, had it's
seal while the sweet smile habitual to those
lips illuminated yet seemed impart by its
very light a touch of deeper, more inetfable
sadness to the face, and slightly revealed lines
of perfectly regular pearly teeth that gave an
INDISPENSABLE effect and finish to the whole
picture. Years have passed; yet can see her
now, as she stood before me in the light of
that summer evening" as wildly as if it
but yesterday,
They had belonged to the class of intelligent
comfortable Irish farmers. Her husband, with
far-sighted sl1rewdness, had been quick to de-
tect every accommodating symptom of the
misery which was to press more and more
heavily, year by year, upon their oppressed
land, and his plans were laid accordingly.
Providing outfit for his Oldest son, he sent
him to America with his little family to seek
q home in the far West, where land could be
secured at the lowest rates,
Upon the arrival of his son in New York, he
fell in with an agent of the United States Gov
eminent among the Indians of the West, who
advised him to join q colony that was about
to start settlement in Southwestern Iowa,
then almost n terra incognita to all bnt the red
man. He did so, and took up, at very low
price, large and fertile tract of government
iaud, well diversified with open rolling prairie
and woodland, and abundantly watered..
When they heard from him of his entire sue
ces, and that nothing was now wanting to
complete his satisfaction but the presence of
his parents and the remainder of his beloved
family, they made speedy preparations to de-
part and join him. They realized sufficient
sum from the sale of their effects to dc{ray all
expenses of the journey and leave n consider
able amount for future contingencies. Their
plan to proceed by water from Montreal,
up through the lakes as far as they could tow
ard their place of destination, and pursue their
journey by land from that point.
On the voyage, the cholera broke out among
the passengers. Their youngest son, the dar-
ling of his father among the first victims. !
Then their newly married daughter and her
husband. The broken hearted father soon fol- |
lowed. The surviving brother was soon crush |
ed by these successive blows that his mother |
had to forget her own sorrows to soothe his, |
and help him to bear up under their accumu- |
lated weight for the sake of his wife and help |
less little ones. Many times she feared ne |
to the merciless destroyer. Prayer was her /
only refuge; her beads, the citadel to which |
she flew for refuge and defence when the storm
seemed about to overwhelm them all in utter /
ruin. And not in vain did she appeal to the |
widows Godi They reached Montreal in safe
~ by his permission; mourning, indeed, over
the vacancies death had left in their desolate
household, but thanking him for all he had
spared.
Here new difficulty met them in the res
trictions placed upon the passage of all for
,igners through the country by land OF water.
Her son, accustomed to rely upon the sagacity
IF his clear-headed father to plan what his own
strong arm could execute, was now Thoroughly
and irresolutei powerless to de-
Use any means of escape from the obstacles
hat beset them on every hand. Almost at ,
andom, they improved chance to be carried
o St, Johns; and proceeded on foot to Missis-
luoi Bay, near the province line. Here they
earned it would be impossible to pass through
he open country into Vermont, the whole line
,eing strictly guarded. They plunged into
orest which extended from that place to a con-
iderable distance into Vermont, and made
heir way in the suffocating heat, with indies
,ribable toll aud fatigue, over logs and fallen b
rees, through tangled thickets and miry !
wamps SO wild and rugged, so different from
,nything they had ever seen in theirown coun- ,
nv, that the effort to get on seemed eftentimes {
Utterly hopeless, and the continued struggle
lseless. The grandmother felt her strength
ailinp more than once, and deathly faintness
tedl5g over herr but, thinking Of her children
Gated on q log, would again betake her
elf to her beads with renewed fervo- and con-
idence, which were rewarded by new acces-
ions of vigor to her enfsebled frame. u