Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
"Its Precepts Are Eternal;" Or, The Practice Of A Freemason's Daughter.
" I—I—had expected to see old- — -old friends , " exclaimed Maurice in accents of uncontrollable vexation . " They are not far off , " replied the Frau , stooping to recover her knitting-pins , and speaking with her habitual , passionless , and irritating unconcern .
" Never more needed than now , " cried the young man vehemently . " The mercies of THE GREAT FATHER above often fall on us as opportunely as undeservedly , " returned the Frau gently and reverently . "But my friends!—friends ! — old familiar faces were
spoken of !—where are they ?" " Here !"—and from a recess curiously contrived in the back of her cumbrous old-fashioned chair the lady produced to Heathfield ' s wondering gaze the bulky packet containing Grafs correspondence . " If , as I surmise , those documents are important , they are restored to you entire . Beside them
repose the missing seals , cherished doubtless by their owner , but contraband in Austria . And now , sir , let your further stay in Wien be numbered not by days , but by hoiu-s : quit it
to-night . " How can I sufficiently thank you ?" The Frau ' s whole manner changed ; tears filled her eyes ; her lips quivered , and , speaking under the influence 01 rarelyindulged emotion , she exclaimed : " I am an Englishwoman , —now can you confide in me ? I am the daughter and
granddaughter of a Mason , —now can you understand me ? When THE GREAT RULER above called my father home after the illness of an hour ; when HIS inscrutable will made my mother a widow , and myself and four sisters orphans , — who was it that had compassion on us ? who stepped in with its opportune and invaluable aid ? who rescued me from want and
shame ? gave me in their charity-school the education I needed , and by which ultimately I earned an honest livelihood ? —THE FRATERNITY . Can I forget this ?— -should I ? Are not ' its principles ETERNAL , ' and its lessons EVER applicable ? Do not both teach life-long benevolence , especially to the Brethren ?—do they not say , Succour those who are in need :
but especially , and at all hazards , shield in the hour of peril those whom you know to be Brethren ? Such is my creed , — do you quarrel with its fruits ?" " Quarrel!—a madman ' s act ! But how were my Masonic relations discovered ?" " Did your seals—did the emblem they bore—convey no
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
"Its Precepts Are Eternal;" Or, The Practice Of A Freemason's Daughter.
" I—I—had expected to see old- — -old friends , " exclaimed Maurice in accents of uncontrollable vexation . " They are not far off , " replied the Frau , stooping to recover her knitting-pins , and speaking with her habitual , passionless , and irritating unconcern .
" Never more needed than now , " cried the young man vehemently . " The mercies of THE GREAT FATHER above often fall on us as opportunely as undeservedly , " returned the Frau gently and reverently . "But my friends!—friends ! — old familiar faces were
spoken of !—where are they ?" " Here !"—and from a recess curiously contrived in the back of her cumbrous old-fashioned chair the lady produced to Heathfield ' s wondering gaze the bulky packet containing Grafs correspondence . " If , as I surmise , those documents are important , they are restored to you entire . Beside them
repose the missing seals , cherished doubtless by their owner , but contraband in Austria . And now , sir , let your further stay in Wien be numbered not by days , but by hoiu-s : quit it
to-night . " How can I sufficiently thank you ?" The Frau ' s whole manner changed ; tears filled her eyes ; her lips quivered , and , speaking under the influence 01 rarelyindulged emotion , she exclaimed : " I am an Englishwoman , —now can you confide in me ? I am the daughter and
granddaughter of a Mason , —now can you understand me ? When THE GREAT RULER above called my father home after the illness of an hour ; when HIS inscrutable will made my mother a widow , and myself and four sisters orphans , — who was it that had compassion on us ? who stepped in with its opportune and invaluable aid ? who rescued me from want and
shame ? gave me in their charity-school the education I needed , and by which ultimately I earned an honest livelihood ? —THE FRATERNITY . Can I forget this ?— -should I ? Are not ' its principles ETERNAL , ' and its lessons EVER applicable ? Do not both teach life-long benevolence , especially to the Brethren ?—do they not say , Succour those who are in need :
but especially , and at all hazards , shield in the hour of peril those whom you know to be Brethren ? Such is my creed , — do you quarrel with its fruits ?" " Quarrel!—a madman ' s act ! But how were my Masonic relations discovered ?" " Did your seals—did the emblem they bore—convey no