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“No, no, Papa Coudret, do not be un
easy. It shall all be done so quietly, I
will bring him out most skilfully; trust to
me ; I know how to manage without get
ting into any difficulty, or fuss of any
kind. When I think it the right mo
ment to act, I will say : ‘ Monsieur Cou
dret; did not respect for you restrain me,
I should reply very differently to this
man, who has so failed in respect to me;’
and then I will affect the air of one whose
heart is filled with rage, but who is com
pelled to smother it. You will say then:
‘Yes, it is true, you have not been well
treated at my house, Jean Marie ; but do
not let it provoke you; it shall never
happen again, I swear it! I have no
ticed, for some time past, there are some
folks who aim at being masters in my
house ; now, this is just exactly what I
have no idea of, and, in short, will not
permit! If good customers like you are
not respected’—fact is, Pere Coudret, I
am a good customer of yours, am I not ?
‘Yes, if you are rude to my largest and
heaviest customers, how will you act to
the more indifferent ones ? The Coudret
Mill would soon be without work, I am
sure of it.’ Oh ! never fear Jean Marie,
I will put everything to rights! Be—”
Here Xavier hastily cut him short.
“Enough! enough!” cried he, pressing
his hands against his breast; “you have
said more than enough. Very well! I
understand! I would be stupid as a
goose, if I did not! Pardieu! Jean
Marie—you have said enough !”
* “You are sure you understand me ?”
asked Jean Marie, who certainly never
sinned through excess of confidence in
the quick wit of others. “That position
once gained, you know you can go on,
and—”
Xavier again broke in :
“Oh, bah ! once again, I say, enough !
What do you take me for ? Do you think
I have no brain ? It is all settled—set
tled. Do your part; I will take care of
mine!”
They reached the house, and Xavier
said :
“The table seems to be laid. Go to
the hall at once; I will go to my room
for a moment, then I will come down—
and then— an revoir /” added he with a
significant nod of his head, as he struck
the young man familiarly on his shoulder.
And he left him.
Jean Marie boldly entered the hall,
drew near the fire, where the great pot of
soup was bubbling and boiling, spread
out his hands, pretending to be shivering
with cold, and then began to speak with
the servant, who was busy spreading the
supper table.
XVII.
RETREAT AND DESERTION.
Some moments later, Xavier entered,
pretending to re-tie his cravat, and re
button his vest; after him, followed Mar
garet, and then Etienne, who glanced fur
tively at Margaret; Luc was the last to
come in, and seated himself quietly in
his usual place.
The soup bowl was then placed smok
ing on the table, and the whole family of
the Mill was brought together, once
more, face to face.
They had scarcely been seated, when
Jean Marie evidently evinced his deter
mination to engross the attention of the
party. He began speaking in general
terms of indifferent matters; but soon
changed his tactics; and his words now
evidently showed that they were careful
ly chosen, to lead indirectly to some very
decided conclusion.
Xavier seemed, at first, to be the only
one conscious of his intention, and from
time to time, glanced anxiously at Luc,
who apparently took no notice whatever
of Jean Marie’s incessant talk. At last,
though, our skirmisher became tired of
these distant movements ; he ventured a
step nearer, and found himself on more
positive ground, where he could manoeuvre
more at his ease. lie was speaking of
the variety of character one encounters
in the march of life; he glanced from the
gayest to the most sombre; from the
obstinate, self-opinionated speaker to the
man who seems to have no use lor the
gift of speech ; he remarked, cn
that, in his experience, he had always
found the most voluble talkers to be those
who thought the least; while others,
again, who are seldom heard, should al
ways be watched, for they arc those who
think the most. “And whenever I meet
with one of these suspicious, silent, surly
creatures—”
Here Xavier’s glances towards Luc
became more frequent and troubled ; for
Luc, to the infinite satisfaction of Jean
Marie, bad at last been moved to honor
him with a rapid glance, and even Mar
garet seemed somewhat startled.
‘Aes,” said Jean Marie, becoming ex
cited, “we must always keep strict watch
over these sullen, silent creatures, for ”
But the Mill bell rang.
Luc, leaving bis supper half finished,
instantly rose, and almost automatically
left the hall.
Jean Marie’s face instantly fell, and
Xavier seemed like one who has sudden
ly thrown off some oppressive weight.
Jean Marie left his sentence unfinished,
and Margaret seized upon the pause in
the conversation to commence negotiations.
In her turn, now, she began “to heat
about the bush,” to start the game that
she felt very sure of being able to follow
up. The hare once flushed, she drove it
on herself, skilfully and easily enough.
The question of marriage was freely en
tered upon.
Xavier looked with amazement upon
his grandchild, who now approached so
fearlessly the question she had hitherto
so carefully avoided.
He did not object, however, to her
taking the initiative now, seeming, on the
contrary, to pay great attention to all that
she proposed, and answered her in the
same strain; for, after all, it was the old
ground ol dispute, and he felt desirous of
taking advantage of Margaret’s present
mood, to have as much light as possible
thrown upon the mystery that had so long
baffled him.
Jean *v.arie, solely intent upon watch
ing Luc’s return, seemed to be absolutely
forgotten by the rest of the party.
Margaret continued her remarks, and
Xavier became more and more absorbed
as the question became more and more
earnestly discussed. She brought forward
and established three principles; first, the
generally recognized conditions of mar
riage. and, next, the fear such a step
naturally gives rise to.
(to be continued.)
HOW TO "REFORM DRUNKARDS,
A correspondent of the New York
Tablet thus narrates a method adopted
by a Western Priest to reform drunkards
in his Parish. When he first took posses
sion, the people were sadly “demoral
ized,” the church $25,000 in debt, and
the congregation anything but popular,
owing to the scandal given by the people.
One of the first steps taken was to forma
temperance society. Many kept aloof,
“I did not scold them,” he remarked,
with a knowing smile, “but 1 begged the
people repeatedly to pray for them, and
we did pray for them with good effect.
A number of those who, at first, refused,
finally relented, abandoned their cups,
joined the society, and became sober men.
Still there were a few who seemed quite
incorrigible. At last I went to each one
of them in turn, and after expostulating
with him in the most earnest manner to
no effect, gave him warning that if within
a certain specified time he did not aban
don his habits of drunkenness I would ask
the congregation to pray for him indi
vidually by name.”
In a short time, the people became
steady, and a wonderful reformation took
place ; order, industry, aud thrift became
prevalent, property was accumulated, the
debt of $25,000 paid, and Catholic char
acter redeemed in the region around.
Still, there were some who adhered
to their old habits, who were thus dealt
with :
“ I did not scold them, but I prayed
;’or them ; and even when I threatened to
:>ray for them by name, they could not
find fault with me, for the whole town
xnew that they were drunkards, and they
xnew that they were a public scandal,
and how could they be angry with me, or
find fault at our praying for them ? They
could have borne a good scolding, and
even gloried in it, and answered back
with stout hearts, but to be prayed for,
to feel that the whole congregation, with
the Pastor at their head, was compas
sionating them, and praying for them
firorn day to day, and week to week,
that was a little too much for them. . It
rankled in their breasts ; they could not
fiorget it. It disturbed their consciences.
Above all, the grace of God, in answer
to prayer, touched their hearts, arrd they
relented, and came and begged to bo in
cluded among the sober and the good of
the congregation.”
This Pastor adopted a charitable and
wise course—“ I did not scold them, but
I prayed for them.”
It is said that Georgetown College de
signs publish’ng a weekly newspaper. We
fiope the rumor is true. There are men
in Georgetown who can write Latin as
well as Livy, Greek worthy of Athens,
Italian as smoothly as Cardinal Bcmbo,
French as polished as Rousseau, Spanish
as superbly as Mariano, German like
Schlegal, Portuguese as pure as Lisbon
ever heard, and English as freely and ele
gantly as mortal ever used that tongue;
and every year finds students in it who
are worthy of their Professors. Certainly
it is the Queen College of America. A
weekly paper ought to be published at
such *an Institution. Father Maguire,
the most successful and the best beloved
President this venerable nurse of letters
ever had, would gratify thousands, and
benefit multitudes, by bringing out a
handsome sheet. —Philadelphia (Pa.)
Universe.
[For the Banner of the South.]
Despondency.
Down the dark waves of Oblivion
Sweepeth the record of Time,
Chanting a murmuring melody,
Fitful and sad in its rhyme;
Tuning my feelings to harmony,"
W’reathing my thoughts into song,
Making my heart to beat tenderly,
Still as the current flows on.
Over the islets of Memory,
Surgeth the billowy tide,
Crumbling all noiselessly, carelessly,
Monuments built in my pride;
Dash the wild waters relentlessly
’Gainst the frail structure of years,
Whose life hath departed so suddenly,
Bathed in the dew of my tears.
Gone from the ranks of humanity,
They, the best treasured and ti’ied,
Gone, and in weary despondency,
Wait I the ebb of the tide;
Naught in the dread of futurity,
Trifling the grief of to-day,
If Time, on its road to Eternity,
Bear a bright record away. Fidelia.
FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE
MOST BLESSED VIRGIN MARY-
This feast is the most exalted and
glorious celebrated in honor of the most
blessed Mother of our Lord ; for it re
minds us of the glory to which she was
elevated by her Divine Son Jesus Christ,
after she had ended her holy life here be
low, and that now seated upon a throne,
and united with Him, as Queen of
Heaven, she is venerated by all who, with
faithful hearts, recognize and worship her
Divine Son. Even in the earliest times,
our holy Church celebrated this day with
an Octavo, reminding us, as it does, of
the glory attained by the most Blessed
Virgin, and it is regarded as one of her
highest festivals.
The holy Fathers of the Church mani
fest in their writings how greatly they
rejoiced in the glory of the Blessed
Mother of our Lord, and frequently ad
monish the faithful to celebrate this day
with holy reverence and joy. Thus, St.
Augustine, in the sermon he preached on
the Assumption, says : “Bebvcd brethren,
the glorious day has arrived that sur
passes all the Feasts of the Saints, a
most solemn day, when, as wc believe, the
Holy Virgin was received from this mortal
life into the glory of Heaven. There
fore, the whole world shall exult and
rejoice in her Assumption; for it would
be wrong if the greatest Festival of her
through whom the Author of the world
became our Saviour, should pass without
being honored.” St. John, of Damascus,
says: “To-day the holy and living Ark
of the Covenant of the living God, which
has received its Creator, rests in the
Temple of the Lord, which is not built
by the baud of man. David, her an
cestor, exults, and all the choirs and de
grees of Angels surround her with him,
celebrating, rejoicing, exulting, praising,
and proclaiming her glory. The heaven
ly Paradise of the new Adam, free from
every curse, in which is planted the tree
of life, and our (spiritual) nakedness
covered, this Paradise is to-day exalted
into the abodes of everlasting life. To
day the Immaculate Virgin, free from every
earthly passion, and filled with heavenly joy,
has not turned into dust and ashes, but
she herself being a living Heaven, has
been received into the abodes of Heaven.”
According to Christian tradition, the
most Blessed Virgin, after the Ascension
of her Divine .Son, lived with St. John
the Apostle, to whom our Saviour, shortly
before his death, had commended her as
His Mother, and who, from that hour,
took her to his own house in Jerusalem,
(John 19: 26-27), to the joy and comfort
of the faithful, who greatly venerated her
as the Mother of their Lord, and as a
supporter of the Church, just then in its
infancy. Her presence was to the faith
ful a substitute for the former bodily
presence of the Saviour. She was, to use
the words of a learned writer, a model to
the Apostles, and a teacher to the teach
ers of the Church. She, who had care
fully preserved in her heart all that had
happened to her Divine Son, from the
moment of Ilis incarnation, undoubtedly
informed the Evangelist St. Luke of the
many and important incidents which he
relates of the early youth of Jesus, and
His great precursor, St. John.
After the Ascension of Jesus, the most
Blessed Virgin had certainly no greater
desire than that of leaving the world,
and of being united in heavenly bliss with
her beloved Son, and, if her former life
had been a heavenly one, all the thoughts
of her mind, and all the wishes of her
heart, were now turned where she knew
her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, to be, in the
majesty of the Father! Yet, notwith
standing her infinite longing to be with
her Divine Son, submitting to the holy
will of God, to whom she, as an humble
servant of the Lord, had always sacrificed
her own will, she still remained, after the
Ascension of Jesus, for a long time on
earth, bearing, with a firm heart, the
trials to which the Lord subjected her.
One of the most painful for her to bear
was the cruel persecution incited by the
Jews against the Christian community
shortly after the descent of the Holy
Ghost, which persecution disturbed her
holy spirit, and for that reason, she, with
St. John, left the city of Jerusalem, and
sought refuge in Ephesus, until the perse
cution abated.
When the Apostles, according to the
command of our Saviour, went to all parts
of the world to preach the Gospel to all
creatures, Mary returned to Jerusalem;
for her heart could not bear to stay long
away from the sanctified place where her
Divine Son had lived, labored, and suf
fcred; where lie had died and risen
from the dead; and where He had sent
down the Holy Ghost upon her, and upon
the other disciples.
At last, in the fifty-sevent’ l year after
the birth of Jesus, that is, twenty-three
years after His Ascension, and when she
had reached the seventy-second year of
her age, the long wished for time'of her
death approached. According to tradi
tion, the same Angel of the Lord,
Gabriel, who had before announced to her
the birth of her Divine Son, now appeared,
and revealed to her the day and hour of
her death. As she was free from original
►sin, and never had committed actual sin,
she might have remained free from death,
which is the punishment of sin, and, ac
cording to the Bible: “Passed over all
men, because all men have sinned in
one (Adam)." (Rom. 5:12.) But, like
her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, who volun
tarily submitted to the law of death to
procure thereby for man life everlasting,
His blessed mother, His most faithful
follower, wished to submit to that law.
St. John of Damascus says: “Why should
death overcome her who was to all of us
a source of life ? Yet in humility she
submits to the general law of her Son,
and, a daughter of Adam, she suffers his
punishment. She suffers the punishment
of Adam in order that she, the mother of
the living God, might be received into
Heaven with greater glory.”
According to tradition, the most
Blessed Virgin, at the time when she
closed her earthly course, lived in the
venerable house in which our Saviour,
with his disciples, had partaken of the
Last Supper, at the same time instituting
the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar,
and in which the Holy Ghost had de
scended upon the Apostles. When it
became known that the Mother of our
Lord was about to depart this life, to
share the glory of her Divine Son, the
hearts of all the faithful in Christ were
filled with sadness and joy; with sadness
at the thought that their beloved Mother,
their comfort and support, would soon
leave them; and with joy, because they
knew that she would be henceforth their
continual aud mighty mediator with her
Divine Son. Following St. Dionysius,
St. John of Damascus thus describes her
last moments:
“By an old and venerable tradition, we
arc informed that all the Apostles who
were still living, with the exception of
St. Thomas, were with the Mother of God
in her last hours. As the moment ap
proached when she yielded up her blessed
soul into the hands of her Divine Son, who
appeared with the choirs of the Angels,
and surrounded by the numberless hosts
of the holy inhabitants of Heaven, won
derful hymns were heard, and a celestial
light filled the apartment of the most
Blessed Virgin, to which, loudly weep
ing, all the Cristians of Jerusalem
crowded, to see, for tffe last time, their
beloved Mother and Mistress. Number
less sick and blind persons, and many
who were otherwise afflicted, among them
unconverted Jews, were instantly cured,
as soon as they entered the holy place.
Three days after the bereaved Apostles
had buried the holy body, St. Thomas ar
rived, and lie was sorely grieved when he
heard that the blessed Ark of the Covenant
in which the Son of the Almighty had
dwelt, had been consigned to the grave.
In the desolation of his heart, he besought
the other Apostles to open the grave
where her holy body was laid, so that he
might once more look upon her counte
nance, beaming with love. They granted
his prayer; but when the grave was
opened, it was discovered that the body
had disappeared, and they found only the
wiuding sheets in which it had been
wrapped, and which filled the air with an
odor of indescribable sweetness. Greatly
astonished at this wonderful mystery, they
closed the grave, and could only think that
it had pleased the Lord of glory, who had
preserved the virginity of His mother
even after His birth, to preserve also her
spotless body, and to honor it, even before
the time of the general resurrection, by
receiving it into the heavenly abodes of
bliss.”
The opinions of the most celebrated
teachers of the Church are in harmony
with this tradition, and it is the pious be
lief of the whole Church that, though the
most Blessed Virgin died a natural
death, still her body had not seen corrup.
tion in the grave, but that, awakened froin
the grave by the power of the God-man,
who has risen and ascended into Heaven
the most Blessed Mother of God was
received into Heaven with her body
glorified; for the pious faithful in Christ
cannot presume that the holy body which
had brought forth the Saviour of the
world, and from which He, the Almighty
Creator and Lord of Heaven and earth,
had assumed flesh, should have become
dust* “Who would dare to assert, 7 ’
Augustine says, “that the blessed body
in which Jesus Christ assumed flesh, was
given as food to the worms ?” And thus,
also, St. John of Damascus: “Eve, who
listened to the seduction of the serpent
is punished with pain and death, and must
enter the abodes of death; but this truly
Blessed Virgin, who listened to the word
of the Lord, who was filled with the effect
of grace of the Holy Ghost, who, by the
salutation of the Archangel, without sen
sual affection, and without intercourse
with a man, conceived the Son of God,
and brought Him forth without pain, and
who entirely devoted herself to God, how
could death devour her ? How could the
grave hold her ? How could corruption
attack the body in which life was con
ceived ? A road to Heaven, straight,
even, and free from obstacles, was pre
pared for her; for, if Christ says: ‘ Where
I am there also shall my servant be,' how
much more will His Mother be with
Him !”
How glorious must have been the en
trance of the most Blessed Virgin into
the Kingdom of her Divine Son ? With
what joy must the blessed inhabitants of
the heavenly Jerusalem have met their
glorified Queen, and with what honors
must her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, have
distinguished her whom He, in His earth
ly life, had honored as His mother ! St.
Bernard says : “If eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither hath it entered into
the heart of man, what things God hath
prepared for them that love Ilimf (1
Cor. 2:9), who then shall be able to ex
plain or comprehend what He assigned to
His Mother, who loved Him more than all
men, and who was loved by Him more
than all the rest ?” And if, like her
Divine Son, she already manifested so
great love and care for the welfare of her
fellow-men, and procured them, by her
powerful influence with Jesus Christ,
such great and miraculous gifts of grace
when still living on earth, how much
more will she now, united in the glory of
Heaven with her Divine Son, employ her
compassion so full of love, and her influ
ence, so powerful with the King of
Majesty, for the welfare and blessing of
those she protects on earth, for the pious
and faithful Christians!
The most Blessed Virgin was, there
fore, at all times most justly venerated in
our Holy Church above all other Saints,
and, in preference to that of all other
Saints, has her protection and interces
sion been invoked with the greatest con
fidence. And this trust reposed in her,
the mother of charity, by pious Chris
tians, was very often most gloriously jus
tified, as is proved by history, by great
and frequent miraculous gifts of grace.
St. Bernard, her great advocate, there
fore, most deservedly and significantly
implores her intercession on the Feast ol
her Assumption with a heart full of
reverence, and wc, the disciples and wor
shipers of her Divine Son, should echo the
words of that celebrated teacher of the
Church, when lie says : “0 thou gloriou-
Queen of Heaven and Earth, most Blessoi
Mary ! Thy deep humility and heaven
ly purity brought down from the highest
heavens the King of Glory, the eternal
Son of God, from the bosom of Iff
Father, into thy virginal womb, ami to
day lie has exalted thee to the highest
degree of honor in Heaven, and male
thee the dispenser of His divine grace.'
Behold, 0 powerful Virgin! we po or chi!,
dren of Adam to-day, at thine Assump
tion, accompany thee with the most joy
ful felicitations to the throne of thy glory
and pray thee most humbly to make
manifest in thy love to the world the
grace thou hast found with God. 0, ‘v
thy powerful intercession, obtain for '
of God the forgiveness of all the sim
whereby we have so often offended tny
Son. Through thee the sick expect re
lief, the disheartened strength, the op
pressed help, the sad comfort, and thoseia
danger, safety and deliverance. Brant
us, therefore, thine assistance, 0 C ilietTi
of Charity! and despise not the
that we send up to thee on this soleffi
and joyful day celebrated in thy h u -
but cause that Jesus, thy beloved Son Vy
is God in eternity, may bestow the ;
His grace upon all who call upon
sweet name with fervent hearts.’
The Advertiser contains an epitome y
the reports of the Committee of the
Peers and members of the House off 1
monson Irish railways. They reem
mend the purchase of the lines ffv
State.
t