The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-03-01

go to die. Yer we'll, the colonel what doe
he do9 They lay him OF the steps of til
church. Then he say, Bring me prizes
quick, for l go to die Nobody answer
The colonel he say; Il have hundred sin
all on my mind. They are on my heart lik
a big hill Bring to me the priest groal
n like dat Nobody speak at first thel
4 somebody say the priest Is not here Fine
/. me priest, say the colonel Find me
d priestp For he tink the priest will mo-
4 come because he go to kill the patriots
!. Bring me priest, he say again. and al
|. the men shall go free He say it over and
over. He Is all smash to pieces, but his
bead it is all right All at once the door Of
the church open behind him-what you
, t'ink? Eyerybody's heart 1t stan still, for
there is Mathurin dressed as priest, with
leetla boy to swing the censor. Every
body say to himself, what Is thisp Mathu-
, rim is dressed as priest-ah, dat Is sin
1t is a-sapriel 1t is what you Gull bias.
pheme.
"The English soldier he look up at Ma
thurin and say: All, apriestl All, m sieu'
10 cure!
"Mathurin look down on him and say:
M'sieu', 1t Is for you to confess your sins
and to have the office of the church. But
first, as you have promise just now, you
must give up these poor men who have
fight for what they t'ink is right. You
will let them 60 FREQ this moment Yes,
yes, say the English colonel, they shall
go free. Only give me the help Of the
church at my last Mathurin turn to the
other soldiers and say, Unloose the men.
Tho colonel nod his head and say, 'Un-
loose the men,. Then the men are I'M
loose, and they all go, for Mathurin tell
them to go.
Everybody is ver' afraid becos of what
Mathurin do Mathurin he say to the SOL
diers, Lift him up and bring him in the
church They bring him up to the steps
of the altar. Mathurin look at the man for
awhile, and 1t seem as If he cannot speak
to him, but the colonel say: i have give
you my word. Give mo comfort of the
church before die He Is in yer great
pain, so Mathurin he turn foun to every
body dat stan by and tell them to say the
prayers for the sick. Everybody get him
down on his kneesa and say the prayer. Ev-
erybody say:
Lord have mercy Spare him, o
Lord, deliver him, o Lord, from thy
wrath. And Mathurin he pray all the
same as the priest YER soft and gentle.
He pray on and on, and tho face Of the
English soldier it get ver' quiet and still,
and the tear drop down his cheek. And
just as Mathurln say at the last dat his
sins they are forgive he die. Then Mathu-
rim, as he 60 away to take off his robes he
say to himself: 'Miserere mel, Deus!
Miserere mel Deusv
$50 dat is the ting dat Mathurin do
to save the patriots from the bullets Yer
well, then men they go free, and when the
governor at Quebec he hear the truth he
say 1t Is all right. Also the English sol
der die in peace and happy becos he t'ink
his sins are forgive. But then there Is Ma
thurin and his sin to pretend he Is priest.
Tho cure he come back and there Is q great
trouble.
'Mathurn he is YER quiet and still.
Nobody come near him in his house; no.
body go near to the school. But he sit
alone all day In him school, and he work
on the blackboar, and he write on the
slate but there is no child come hecos the
cure has forbid any one to speak to Ma
thurin. Not till the next Sunday, then the
cure send word for Mathurln to come to
the church. Mathurin come to the steps of
the altar; then the cure say to him:
go Mathurin, you have sin great sin.
If 1t was 900 years ago, you would be put
to death for dat Mathurln he say YER
soft: Dat is no matter am ready to die
now. l did it to save the fathers Of the
Children and the husbands of tho wives. |
did it to make poor sinner happy as he
go from the world. The sin is mine
"Then the cure he say The men are
free, dat is good; the wives have their hus-
bands and the Children their fathers. Also
the man who confess his sins-the English
soldier-to whom you say the words Of
priest of God, he is forgive The Spirit of
God was upon him when he die, becos you
speak in the name of the church But for
you, blasphemer, who take upon you the
holy thing, you shall suffer For penance all
your life you shall teach child no more
''Ah, III 'sieu' lie cure he know dat is the
greatest penance for tho poor Mathurin.
Then he set him other 'ngs to do, and ev-
cry Sunday for Il whole year Mathurin
come on his knees all the way to the
church, but the cure say, Not yet are you
forgive AT the end of the year Mathurin
he look so thin, so white, you can blow
through him. Every day he go to him
school and write on the blackboar' and
mark on the slate and call the roll of the
school. But there is no answer, for there
is no child. But all tho time tho wives of
the men dat he have save and the Children,
they pray for him. And by and by all the |
village they pray for him, they arc SO sorry.
1T is so for two years, and then they
say dat Mathurln he 60 to die. He cannot
come on his knees to the church, and the
men whose life no save they come to the
cure and ask him to take tho penance from |
Mathurin.
"The euro say, Wait till next Sunday
So next Sunday Muthurin is carry to the
church-ho Is too weak to walk on his
kneos The cure he stan at the altar and |
he read letter from the pope, which say
dat Mathurin his ponancc is over and he i
is forgive; dat the pope himself pray for
Mathurin to save his soul
so Mathurin all at once he stan up, |
and his face it smile and smile, and he
stretch out his arms as if they arc on q
rross, and he say, Lord, | am ready to GO
md he fall down. But the cure catch him
Us be fall, and Mathurin say, The chill.
lCrn-let them come to me dat | may
teach them before die And all the chill
lern in the church they come close to him,
and he sit up and smile, and he say:
" 1t is the class in 'rithmotic. How
much is three times four And them all
answer, Three times four is twelve And
he say, May tho twelve apostles pray for
me- Then heask, Class in geography how
ar is it roun the world2' And they answer
Iwcntyfour thousand miles. He say
GoOd-it is not so far to God The school
t over all the time, he say, and dat Is
)nly all of peor Mathurin He is dead
When the cure lay down after h. make
he sign upon him, he kiss his face and
ay, Mathurin, now you ere a priest unto
iodr''
That was Angelo Rouvier's story of Ma
hllrin the master Of the school, for whom
he women and the children pray in the
'arish of Pontac, though the school has
Ieen dismissed these hundred years Gil
Jert Parker in New York Sun