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Article MASONIC REMINISCENCES. ← Page 2 of 7 →
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Masonic Reminiscences.
queen of beauty when she arose from the smiling ocean to vanquish hearts , and rule the world of love ! Behind , and only separated by a deep ravine or glen , through which rushed a rapid stream , arose a mountain "' range ,- whose sides , almost to the summit , were covered with trees of the most varied
foliage , where beneath the shade roamed the wild deer , in all the pride of freedom and security ; herds might be occasionally seen cropping the grass on the green knolls that skirted the extremity of the wood , now and again raising their graceful heads to gaze on the distant traveller , when the sound of the bugle or the rifle
would send them bounding along the intricate but well known path , to their safe covert in the deep recesses of their forest home . The ruin seemed , and was supposed to be , uninhabited , at least by any of human kind , but superstition peopled it with other tenants ; and wonderful were the tales told of the various shapes assumed by the apparition of the haunted castle , and bold would be deemed the adventurer wdio should approach it after the revolving earth had hid the light of the bright and glowing sun , and darkness overspread the
mountain . It was confidently asserted in the neighbourhood , that beneath the ruin were extensive subterranean passages , communicating with other ruins on distant hills ; this point , however , few felt disposed to investigate , as a legend ran , that some half a century before the period of which we write , a tourist , more bold than prudent , ventured to explore the mysterious caverns , and was never afterwards seen alive ; his dead body having been found several miles down the
stream of the river which flows through the adjoining glen . Yet such was the chosen home of Maurice De Courcy , the highwayman ! In this dark and dismal dwelling he found safety from pursuit , and shelter from the storms of the world with which he warred ; thither would he wend his weary way after hours of toil and danger , and there , in that scene of gloomy horror , fit only for the incantations of some dark and fiendish sorcery , even there " was an eye that watched
Ins coming , and looked brignter when he came , there awaited him the pure and faithful love , that shame , and guilt , and sorrow could not change , and the affection of Mary Butler burned fondly and brightly as when she yielded up her young heart to De Courcy , beneath the roof-tree of her happy home ! J none of these vaulted caverns , turned into a rude but comfortable chamber bv the industry and ingenuity of De Oourcy ' s , or rather
Captain Starlight ' s ( as lie was called ) band , sat , long past midnight , the weary highwayman and his lovely wife ; their only child enjoying the repose of innocence and peace , calm and unconscious , as if in the proudest baronial castle , or surrounded by troops of watchful attendants ; the mother , gazing on its angelic face with that look of anxious fondness which only a mother can bestow on the first pledge of consecrated love ; the father , gazing on both alternately , with von . ' j r ., jo
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Reminiscences.
queen of beauty when she arose from the smiling ocean to vanquish hearts , and rule the world of love ! Behind , and only separated by a deep ravine or glen , through which rushed a rapid stream , arose a mountain "' range ,- whose sides , almost to the summit , were covered with trees of the most varied
foliage , where beneath the shade roamed the wild deer , in all the pride of freedom and security ; herds might be occasionally seen cropping the grass on the green knolls that skirted the extremity of the wood , now and again raising their graceful heads to gaze on the distant traveller , when the sound of the bugle or the rifle
would send them bounding along the intricate but well known path , to their safe covert in the deep recesses of their forest home . The ruin seemed , and was supposed to be , uninhabited , at least by any of human kind , but superstition peopled it with other tenants ; and wonderful were the tales told of the various shapes assumed by the apparition of the haunted castle , and bold would be deemed the adventurer wdio should approach it after the revolving earth had hid the light of the bright and glowing sun , and darkness overspread the
mountain . It was confidently asserted in the neighbourhood , that beneath the ruin were extensive subterranean passages , communicating with other ruins on distant hills ; this point , however , few felt disposed to investigate , as a legend ran , that some half a century before the period of which we write , a tourist , more bold than prudent , ventured to explore the mysterious caverns , and was never afterwards seen alive ; his dead body having been found several miles down the
stream of the river which flows through the adjoining glen . Yet such was the chosen home of Maurice De Courcy , the highwayman ! In this dark and dismal dwelling he found safety from pursuit , and shelter from the storms of the world with which he warred ; thither would he wend his weary way after hours of toil and danger , and there , in that scene of gloomy horror , fit only for the incantations of some dark and fiendish sorcery , even there " was an eye that watched
Ins coming , and looked brignter when he came , there awaited him the pure and faithful love , that shame , and guilt , and sorrow could not change , and the affection of Mary Butler burned fondly and brightly as when she yielded up her young heart to De Courcy , beneath the roof-tree of her happy home ! J none of these vaulted caverns , turned into a rude but comfortable chamber bv the industry and ingenuity of De Oourcy ' s , or rather
Captain Starlight ' s ( as lie was called ) band , sat , long past midnight , the weary highwayman and his lovely wife ; their only child enjoying the repose of innocence and peace , calm and unconscious , as if in the proudest baronial castle , or surrounded by troops of watchful attendants ; the mother , gazing on its angelic face with that look of anxious fondness which only a mother can bestow on the first pledge of consecrated love ; the father , gazing on both alternately , with von . ' j r ., jo