Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

reasoner, that it was difficult to gain any advantage over him in argument; yet he was easily provoked, but immediately sensible of error; every deviation from propriety was marked by tears. He had so much self-command, as never to strike a child in a passion; this he denominated a demoniac sacrifice; he would first correct the angry man; but however painful the act, he never omitted what he conceived it his duty to bestow. He was a very tender-hearted man, and his prayers were rarely unaccompanied by tears. He mourned with the mourner, for he was himself a man of sorrow. Being for the last nineteen years of his life a confirmed invalid, he was constantly and fervently looking towards his heavenly home-sometimes with impatience, when, correcting himself, he would say, 'Well, well, heaven is worth waiting for; one hour, passed in the courts of my God, will be a rich remuneration for all terrestrial sufferings.'

It is the custom in Ireland, when any person of distinction or respectability is called out of time, to watch around their remains, night as well as day, until the body be entombed. The remains of my father were affectionately attended, but they were attended in an uncommon manner; as he differed from others in life, so these last honors differed from those usually bestowed. The morning immediately succeeding his demise, our friends and neighbors assembled in our dwelling, when Mr. Little thus addressed them: 'My friends, it has pleased God to take unto himself the soul of our beloved brother: as he lived, so he died, a pattern of excellence; we know, we feel, that he has not left his equal. We unite with this dear family in sensibly lamenting the departure of our experienced friend, our guide, our comforter.' Here he mingled his tears with those of our attendant friend. After a long pause, he proceeded: 'Fellow mourners, the greatest respect we can pay to the remains of our inestimable, our heavenly guide, is to pass our time together in this house of mourning, not only for him, but for ourselves, in the way which would be most pleasing to him, were he present; we will therefore appropriate our hours to reading, and to prayer. One of our brethren will address the throne of grace, after which I will read a sermon, the production of Mr. Erskine, whose writings the dear departed was remarkably fond.' The prayer, the sermon, the concluding prayer, deeply affected every one; and the evening witnessed a renewal of these pious exercises. Thus were our nights and days devoted, until the interment. On that day the throng was prodigious.

The worth, the good actions of my father, were the theme of many a tongue; his praises were echoed, and re-echoed, while tears of sorrow moistened many an eye. Every one bore in his, or her hand, to the grave-yard, a sprig of bays, which, after the body was deposited, was thrown over the coffin. But no words can describe my agonizing, my terrific sensations, when I reflected upon the charge which had devolved upon me. I remembered my father's words, on the evening preceding his exit, and I felt myself reduced to the necessity of assuming his place in the family; but how much was I to suffer by comparison with him, whose place I was appointed to fill: yet, had I wished to avoid entering upon my office, my mother, the friends of my father, would have borne testimony against me. They thronged around me, they entreated me immediately to take charge of the family, and to commence my arduous task by devout supplications to Almighty God I complied with their united wishes; but no tongue can utter, no language can delineate the strong emotions of my soul; again I was convulsed, again I agonized; the whole family were inexpressibly affected. It was the most melancholy evening I had ever experienced; but my benighted spirit was suddenly refreshed, by a ray of consolation, emitted by the cheering hope, that my father's God would be my God, and that the fervent prayers he had offered up, in my behalf, would be answered in my favor. I was encouraged too by my mother, and by the friends of my father, who besought the Lord in my behalf and were daily reminding me of the interest, which my deceased parent, unquestionably had with the prayer-hearing God.

Yet, although soothed, and greatly stimulated, my new employment continued to distress and appal my spirit. The conviction of every day assured me, that I was unequal to the arduous task I had undertaken. My mother was my ever-ready aid and counsellor; but my brothers and sisters always remembered, that I was not their father; and they were highly displeased, whenever I presumed to exercise over them paternal authority; yet this I believed to be my duty, and, that I might be in every thing like my father, I took up the rod of correction, seriously chastising my brother, for the purpose of restoring him to the narrow path, from which he had wandered. But, although I had learned of my father to use the rod, I never could make it answer the same purpose; in my hand, it only served to increase the evil, it became the signal of revolt; and, while my brother continued incor

ex

rigible, my other brothers, and my sisters, enlisted on his side. My mother, dear honored sufferer, was ceedingly distressed; she had in fact a difficult part to act; she was fearful, whichever side she might espouse, would, by creating new irritation, make bad worse, and yet, upon an occasion so interesting, we would not allow her to be silent; she must positively attend to our appeals. But however arduous her task, she possessed discretion sufficient to meet it, and to produce an ultimatum completely satisfactory to all parties.

She replied to our remonstrances, by a request to be allowed until the evening, succeeding our complaints, for serious deliberation. The interesting evening came, 'Come my children, all equally dear to my soul: come, the doors are now shut; this is the time of evening service. There is the chair, which your pious, your affectionate father, once filled. Can you remember the last time he addressed you from that seat. Let me, my dear children, let me repeat, as well as my memory will permit, what he said to us the last time he addressed us from that chair. 'Come,' said he, come near me, my children,' when, folding his arms around your elder brother, and pressing him to his bosom, while shedding over him abundance of tears, and pouring out his soul in supplication for him, he most affectingly said: 'I am, my dear child; hastening to that heaven, for which I have so long waited. For you, ever since you were born, I have wept and prayed; graciously hath my God inclined his ear to the voice of my supplication. He hath blessed me, by giving me to see you, before I die, prepared, by divine favor, to take my place; I leave you, my dear son, to act a father's part, when I shall be here no more; let your mother, your brothers, and your sisters, receive from you that attention, and care, they can no more obtain from me; but, although I shall be no more with you, your God, your father's God, will never leave nor forsake you. Nay, my own beatified spirit may obtain increasing felicity, by being sometimes permitted to behold the order and harmony of my beloved family, while collected before the throne of grace, with the love of God and love of each other glowing with divine exstasy in every bosom.' It was then, my precious children, that your devout father clasped you separately to his bosom; you remember how he then spake to you: 'I go, my beloved children: you will no more hear my voice from this chair; I shall no more be able to pray with you, to advise, or to direc you. But, my children, I leave with you a brother, wh

will perform to you the part of a father; I leave him in my place; it is my command, that he tread in my steps, as far as I have proceeded in the path of justice; and, my dear children, I conjure you to attend to his directions. The eldest son was, of old, the priest in the family of his father; and if you love me, if you love your mother, if you would prove your love to God, or even to yourselves contribute all in your power to strengthen the hands of your brother.' You remember he then embraced each of you, and wept over you; and I pray you to remember, that you then solemnly promised, to perform all which your dying father directed you to perform. Perhaps the saint may be at this moment beholding us, in this very spot, in which a few days previous to his departure out of time, he so affectingly, so tenderly admonished usMy mother paused, as if influenced by sacred awe of the presence she had supposed. We audibly wept; we rushed into each other's arms, we embraced each other, and so long as we continued together, our affection, our piety, and our devotion were uninterrupted.

CHAPTER II,

Record continued, until the Author's Departure from Ireland.

Launch'd from the shore, on life's rough ocean tost,
To my swoll'n eye my star of guidance lost;
Torn, from my grasp, my path-directing helm,

While waves, succeeding waves, my prospects whelm.

By the malpractices of the second husband of my maternal grandmother, a large share of my mothers patrimony passed into other hands. I accidentally obtained intelligence of some fraudulent proceedings of the great personage, by whom it was then holden. We did not possess ability to support a prosecution for the recovery of our rights. Some time after the demise of my father, the person, who resided upon the estate, was sued for rent; to this person I communicated in confidence, what I knew to be fact. I assured him, the great man who retained the estate had no legal claim to it; and I advised him not to pay the rent. He followed my advice, and the business came before a court of judicature. The gentle

ors.

man, who sued the tenant, summoned me, as a witness, to prove that the tenant had occupied the house the speci fied number of years; thus I was unexpectedly present at the trial, and the interference of Providence produced a result, far beyond our most sanguine expectations. The tenant denied the right of the landlord to demand the rent, alleging, that if he paid it to him, he might hereafter be compelled to pay it to another. To whom?' interrogated the court. To Mrs. Murray and her children, to whom the estate in question properly belongs. I was called upon for an explanation, and I boldly pledg ed myself to prove the truth of the testimony delivered by the tenant; adding that I could make such a statement, as would render the affair abundantly clear to their honI was immediately silenced, by the lawyers upon the opposite side, who produced a deed of the contested property, signed, sealed, and delivered; I then requested the indulgence of the honorable court, while I observed, that, as I was not sufficiently opulent to procure council, I presumed to solicit permission to plead my own cause. Full consent was unhesitatingly granted; when I proved to the satisfaction of the court, and jury, that this deed was signed, after the death of the husband of my grandmother; and further, that, had the man been living, the right of the disposal was not vested in him. I consumed a full hour and a half, in unfolding a scene of wickedness, not to be defended; and I closed, by grateful acknowledgements to their honors, for the patience they had exercised. The jury retired, and speedily returned with a verdict in favor of the tenant. I immediately entered my claim, and a trial commenced, which terminated in my favor; and I not only obtained the house in question, but two others, in like circumstances, to the no small satisfaction of the public, and the mortification of the great man and his lawyers. We immediately took possession of the house; and our utmost gratitude to that God, who had interposed for us, was most powerfully excited. Here I had a very large, and, in no long time, a very well improved garden; abounding with every thing useful, and beautiful; herbs, fruits, and flowers, in great abundance; and my situation was fully adequate to my wishes. Harmony presided in our family; but, alas! gradually, as by common consent; we grew more careless of our domestic duties, and more attentive to public affairs; deriving a kind of amusement from what was passing abroad, which we could not obtain at home. We had many visitors, and consequently we frequently visited; yet no in

« AnteriorContinua »