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028 - The Death of the Persecuted · Huguenot- A Tale of the French Protestants

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty eight of The Huguenot by George Payne Rainsford James.
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  Speaker 1: This librivoxu recording is in the public domain. Chapter twenty eight,
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  Speaker 1: The Death of the Persecuted. When the flight had been
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  Speaker 1: conducted for about two miles, in the midst of the
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  Speaker 1: perfect darkness which surrounded the whole scene, for the lights
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  Speaker 1: and torches which had appeared in the town had been extinguished,
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  Speaker 1: with the exception of one or two. On leaving it,
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  Speaker 1: the voice which had before addressed Clement de Marlis again
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  Speaker 1: spoke nearer, apparently giving command as some one in authority
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  Speaker 1: over the others. Where is the litter? He exclaimed, Where
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  Speaker 1: is the litter that was brought for the good minister?
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  Speaker 1: Bring it hither he will be more easy in that
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  Speaker 1: Claiman's had kept as near as she could to the
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  Speaker 1: spot where Claude de l'estan was carried, and she now
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  Speaker 1: heard him answer in a faint and feeble voice, do
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  Speaker 1: not move me, in pity, do not move me. My
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  Speaker 1: limbs are so strained and dislocated by the rack that
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  Speaker 1: the slightest movement pains me. Carry me as I am,
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  Speaker 1: if you will, but move me not from this bed.
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  Speaker 1: Well then place these two ladies in the litter, said
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  Speaker 1: the same voice, We shall go faster. Then, without asking
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  Speaker 1: her consent, claiments, de Marlie was placed in a small
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  Speaker 1: hand litter which had been brought for the pastor. Her
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  Speaker 1: maid took the place by her side, and lifted on
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  Speaker 1: the shoulders of four men. She was carried on more quickly,
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  Speaker 1: gaining a faint and indistinct view of what was passing
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  Speaker 1: around from the more elevated situation in which she now was.
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  Speaker 1: They were mounting slowly the side of the hill about
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  Speaker 1: two miles from the town of Tuar, and she could
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  Speaker 1: catch a distant view of the dark towers and masses
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  Speaker 1: of the town as it then existed, rising above the
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  Speaker 1: objects around. From thence, as far as her eye was
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  Speaker 1: able to distinguish, a stream of people was flowing on
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  Speaker 1: all along the road to the very spot where she was,
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  Speaker 1: and several detached parties were seen here and there, crossing
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  Speaker 1: the different eminences on either side, so that the force
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  Speaker 1: assembled must have been very considerable. She listened eagerly for
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  Speaker 1: any sound from the direction of Tuar, apprehensive at every
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  Speaker 1: moment that she would hear the firing renewed, for she
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  Speaker 1: knew or at least she believed she knew that Albert
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  Speaker 1: of Morseilles, with the better disciplined band which he seemed
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  Speaker 1: to command, would be the last to leave the city
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  Speaker 1: he had so boldly entered. Nothing, however, confirmed her expectation.
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  Speaker 1: There was a reddish light over the town, as if
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  Speaker 1: there were either fires in the streets or the houses
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  Speaker 1: were generally lighted up. But all was silent except a dull,
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  Speaker 1: distant murmur heard when the sound of the marching feet
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  Speaker 1: ceased from a cause. For a moment, few words passed
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  Speaker 1: between Clemence and her attendant. For though Maria was a
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  Speaker 1: woman of calm, determined spirit in moments of immediate danger,
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  Speaker 1: and possessed with a degree of religious zeal which was
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  Speaker 1: a strong support in times of peror and difficulty, yet
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  Speaker 1: the scenes in the prison and the dungeon, the horrors
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  Speaker 1: which he had only dreamt of before brought actually before
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  Speaker 1: her eyes, had not precisely unnerved, but had rendered her
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  Speaker 1: thoughtful and silent. The only sentence which she ventured to
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  Speaker 1: address to her mistress without being spoken to, was oh, madam,
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  Speaker 1: is the young count so much to blame? After all?
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  Speaker 1: Alas Maria replied Clement in the same low tone. I
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  Speaker 1: think that all are to blame more or less. Deep
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  Speaker 1: provocation has certainly been given. But I do think that
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  Speaker 1: Albert ought to have acted differently. He had not these
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  Speaker 1: scenes before his eyes when he fled to put himself
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  Speaker 1: at the head of the insurgents, and ere he did so.
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  Speaker 1: He certainly owed something to me and something to the king. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: since I have seen what I have seen and heard
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  Speaker 1: what I have heard, I can make excuses which I
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  Speaker 1: could not make before the attendant made no reply, and
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  Speaker 1: the conversation dropped. The march continued rapidly for three or
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  Speaker 1: four hours, till at length there was a short halt,
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  Speaker 1: and a brief consultation seemed to take place between two
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  Speaker 1: or three of the leaders on horseback. The principal part
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  Speaker 1: of the men on foot, exhausted as it appeared, by
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  Speaker 1: great exertion, sat or laid down by the roadside. But
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  Speaker 1: ere the conference had gone on for above five minutes,
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  Speaker 1: a cavalier, followed by several other men on horseback, came
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  Speaker 1: up at the full gallop, and again the deep, mellow
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  Speaker 1: tones of that remarkable voice struck the ear of Clement
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  Speaker 1: de Marlis and made her whole friend thrill. His words,
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  Speaker 1: or as they appeared, commands were but few, and without
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  Speaker 1: either approaching the side of Claude de l'estain or herself,
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  Speaker 1: he rode back again in haste, and the march was renewed.
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  Speaker 1: Ere long, a fine cold rain began to fall, chilling
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  Speaker 1: those it lighted on. To the very heart and Clayment's thought,
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  Speaker 1: she perceived that as they advanced, the number of people
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  Speaker 1: gradually fell away at length. After a long and fatiguing
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  Speaker 1: march through the night, as the faint gray of the
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  Speaker 1: dawn began to appear, she found that at the very
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  Speaker 1: utmost there were not above a hundred of the armed
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  Speaker 1: Protestants around her. The party was evidently under the command
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  Speaker 1: of a short but powerfully made man on horseback, whom
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  Speaker 1: she recognized as a person who had carried the unfortunate
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  Speaker 1: Novice Claire in his arms to the house of Claude
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  Speaker 1: de l'estal. He rode on constantly by the side of
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  Speaker 1: the bed in which the good pastor was married, on
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  Speaker 1: men's shoulders, and bowing down his head. From time to
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  Speaker 1: time he spoke to him with what seemed words of
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  Speaker 1: comfort and hope. They were now on a part of
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  Speaker 1: the road from Tua towards Nantes, and passed through the
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  Speaker 1: midst of one of those wide sandy chats called in
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  Speaker 1: France Lawnd, across which a sort of causeway had been
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  Speaker 1: made by felt trees, rough and painful of passage even
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  Speaker 1: to the common parts of the country. This causeway, however,
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  Speaker 1: was soon quitted by commander of Armand d'r valle. One
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  Speaker 1: party took its way through the sands to the right,
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  Speaker 1: and the rest following. The litters bent their course across
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  Speaker 1: the country towards a spot where a dark, heavy line
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  Speaker 1: bounded the portion of the Lawnd within sight and seemed
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  Speaker 1: to denote a large wood of the deep black pine,
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  Speaker 1: which grows better than any other tree in that sandy soil.
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  Speaker 1: It was near an hour before they reached the wood,
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  Speaker 1: and even underneath its shadow, the shifting sand continued, only
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  Speaker 1: diversified a little by a few thin blades of green
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  Speaker 1: grass sufficient to feed the scanty flocks of sheep which
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  Speaker 1: formed the only riches of that tract. In the midst
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  Speaker 1: of the wood, where they had found or formed a
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  Speaker 1: little oasis around them, were two shepherd's cottages, and to
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  Speaker 1: these the party commanded by Armand d'er val at once
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  Speaker 1: directed its course. An old man and two boys came
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  Speaker 1: out as they approached, but with no signs of surprise,
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  Speaker 1: and Claude de l'Estang was carried to one of the
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  Speaker 1: cottages into which clements followed. She had caught a sight
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  Speaker 1: of the good Man's face as they bore him past her,
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  Speaker 1: and she saw that there was another sad and painful
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  Speaker 1: task before her, for which she nerved her mind. Now, good, Antoine,
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  Speaker 1: said armand d'er val, speaking to one of the shepherds,
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  Speaker 1: lead out the sheep with all speed, and take them
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  Speaker 1: over all the tracks of men and horses that you
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  Speaker 1: may meet with. You will do it carefully. I know
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  Speaker 1: we have delivered the good Man, as you see, but
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  Speaker 1: I fear I fear much that we have after all
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  Speaker 1: come too late, for the butchers have put him to
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  Speaker 1: the question and almost torn him limb from limb. God knows.
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  Speaker 1: I made what speed I could, and so did the count.
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  Speaker 1: The old shepherd to whom he spoke, made no reply,
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  Speaker 1: but listened, gazing in his face with a look of
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  Speaker 1: deep melancholy. One of the younger men who stood by, however, said,
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  Speaker 1: we heard the firing. I suppose they strove hard to
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  Speaker 1: keep him, that they assuredly did, replied 'erval, his brow
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  Speaker 1: knitting as he spoke. And if we had not been
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  Speaker 1: commanded by such a man, they would not only have
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  Speaker 1: kept him, but us too. One half of our people
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  Speaker 1: failed us borlso was not there. Khak and his fan
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  Speaker 1: never came. We were full seven hundred short. And then
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  Speaker 1: the petag went off too soon and did no good,
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  Speaker 1: but brought the whole town upon us. They had dragoons too,
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  Speaker 1: from y Or, and tried first to drive us back,
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  Speaker 1: then to take us in flank by the tower street,
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  Speaker 1: then to barricade the way behind us. But they found
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  Speaker 1: they had to do with the Count de Mooiseur, and
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  Speaker 1: they were met everywhere and everywhere defeated. Yet after all,
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  Speaker 1: continued the man, he will ruin us from his fear
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  Speaker 1: of shedding any blood but his own. But I must
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  Speaker 1: go in and see after the good man, and then
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  Speaker 1: speed to the woods. We shall be close round about,
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  Speaker 1: and one sound of a conk will bring a couple
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  Speaker 1: of hundred to help you. Good Antoine, thus saying, he
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  Speaker 1: went into the cottage, where Clement had already taken her
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  Speaker 1: place by the side of the unhappy pastor's bed, and
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  Speaker 1: on the approach of er Val, she raised her finger
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  Speaker 1: gently to indicate that he slept. He had indeed fallen
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  Speaker 1: into momentary slumber, utterly exhausted by suffering and fatigue. That
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  Speaker 1: the fallen temples, the sharpened features, the pale, ashy hue
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  Speaker 1: of the countenance showed to the eyes of Clament at
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  Speaker 1: least that the sleep was not that from which he
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  Speaker 1: would wake refreshed and better. Erval, less acute in his perceptions,
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  Speaker 1: judged differently, and after assuring Claymont in a whisper that
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  Speaker 1: she was quite in safety there as the woods ran
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  Speaker 1: were filled with the band, he left her, promising to
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  Speaker 1: return ere night. Claimence would fain have asked after Albert
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  Speaker 1: of Morseilles, and might perhaps have expressed a wish to
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  Speaker 1: see him, But there were strange feelings of timidity in
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  Speaker 1: her heart which kept her silent till the man was gone,
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  Speaker 1: And then she regretted that she had not spoken, and
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  Speaker 1: accused herself of weakness. During that time that she now
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  Speaker 1: sat watching by the pastor's side, she had matter enough
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  Speaker 1: for thought in her own situation. What was now to
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  Speaker 1: become of her was a question that frequently adjusted itself
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  Speaker 1: to her heart, and more than once, as she thus
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  Speaker 1: sat and pondered, the warm, ingenuous blood rushed up into
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  Speaker 1: her cheek at thoughts which naturally arose in her bosom
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  Speaker 1: from the consideration of the strange position in which she
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  Speaker 1: was placed. Albert of Monsell had not seen her. She
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  Speaker 1: knew he could not even divine or imagine that she
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  Speaker 1: was at two hour at all, much less in the
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  Speaker 1: prison itself. But yet she felt somewhat reproachfully towards him,
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  Speaker 1: as if he should have divined that it was she
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  Speaker 1: whom he saw born along not far from the unhappy pastor.
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  Speaker 1: Though she acknowledged too in her own heart that there
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  Speaker 1: were great excuses to be made for the decided part
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  Speaker 1: which her lover had taken in the insurrection of that
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  Speaker 1: part of the country, Still she was not satisfied altogether
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  Speaker 1: with his having done so. Still she called him in
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  Speaker 1: her own heart both rash and ungrateful. On the other hand,
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  Speaker 1: she remembered that she had written to him in haste
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  Speaker 1: and in some degree of anger, or at least of
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  Speaker 1: bitter disappointment, that she had refused without explaining all the
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  Speaker 1: circumstances which prevented her to share his flight, as she
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  Speaker 1: had previously promised that Harrod and confused, she had neither
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  Speaker 1: told him that at the very time she was writing,
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  Speaker 1: the Duchess de Rouvray waited to accompany her to the court,
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  Speaker 1: and that to fly at such a moment was impossible,
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  Speaker 1: nor that during the whole of the following day she
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  Speaker 1: was to remain a fair Silles, where the eyes of
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  Speaker 1: everyone would be upon her, more especially attracted towards her
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  Speaker 1: by the news of her lover's flight, which must by
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  Speaker 1: that time be generally known. She feared too, that in
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  Speaker 1: that letter she had expressed herself harshly, even unkindly. She
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  Speaker 1: feared that those very words might have driven account into
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  Speaker 1: the desperate course which he had adopted, And she asked herself,
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  Speaker 1: with feelings such as she had never experienced before, when
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  Speaker 1: contemplating a meeting with Albert of Moselle, how would he
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  Speaker 1: receive her? In short, in thinking of the count, she
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  Speaker 1: felt that she had been somewhat in the wrong in
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  Speaker 1: regard to her conduct towards him. But she felt also
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  Speaker 1: at the same time that he had been likewise in
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  Speaker 1: the wrong, and therefore what she had first to anticipate
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  Speaker 1: with the words of mutual reproach rather than the words
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  Speaker 1: of mutual affection. Such was one painful theme of thought,
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  Speaker 1: and how she was to shape her own immediate conduct
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  Speaker 1: was another. To return to the house of the Duke
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  Speaker 1: d' roufret seemed utterly out of the question. She had
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  Speaker 1: been found in the prison of Claude de l'Estang. Her
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  Speaker 1: religious feelings could no longer be concealed. Her renunciation of
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  Speaker 1: the Catholic faith was sure at that time to be
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  Speaker 1: looked upon as nothing short of treason and death or
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  Speaker 1: eternal imprisonment was the only fate that would befall her
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  Speaker 1: if she were once cast into the hands of the
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  Speaker 1: Roman Catholic party. What then was she to do? Was
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  Speaker 1: she to throw herself at once upon the protection of
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  Speaker 1: Albert of Morse? Was she to bind her fate to
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  Speaker 1: his for ever, at the very moment when painful points
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  Speaker 1: of difference had arisen between them? Was she to cast
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  Speaker 1: herself upon his bounty as a suppliant instead of holding
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  Speaker 1: the same proud situation she had formerly held, Instead of
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  Speaker 1: being enabled to confer upon him that which he would
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  Speaker 1: consider an inestimable benefit, Was she herself enhanced its value
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  Speaker 1: beyond all price by the sacrifice of all and everything
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  Speaker 1: for him. She was now, on the contrary, when it
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  Speaker 1: seemed as if she had refused to make that sacrifice
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  Speaker 1: for his sake, to come to him as a fugitive
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  Speaker 1: claiming his protection, to demand his bounty and his support,
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  Speaker 1: and to supplicate permission to share the fate in which
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  Speaker 1: he might think. She had shown a disinclination to participate
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  Speaker 1: till she was compelled to do so. The heart of
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  Speaker 1: Claments de Marlie was wrung at the thought. She knew
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  Speaker 1: that Albert of Morseu was generous, noble, kind hearted. She
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  Speaker 1: felt that very likely he might view the case in
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  Speaker 1: much brighter hues than she herself depicted it. To her
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  Speaker 1: own mind, she felt that if she were a suppliant
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  Speaker 1: to him, no reproach would ever spring to his lips,
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  Speaker 1: no cold, averted look would ever tell her that he
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  Speaker 1: thought she had treated him ill. But she asked herself
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  Speaker 1: whether those reproaches would not be in his heart, and
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  Speaker 1: the pride which might have taken arms and supported her
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  Speaker 1: under any distinct and open charge, gave way at the
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  Speaker 1: thought of being condemned and yet cherished. How should she act,
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  Speaker 1: Then how should she act? She asked herself, And as Clayments,
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  Speaker 1: de Marlie was far from one of those perfect creatures
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  Speaker 1: who always act right from the first impulse. The struggle
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  Speaker 1: between contending feelings was long and terrible, and mingled with
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  Speaker 1: some tears. Her determination, however, was right at length. I
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  Speaker 1: will tell him all I have felt and all I think,
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  Speaker 1: she said. I will utter no reproach. I will say
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  Speaker 1: not one word to wound him. I will let him
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  Speaker 1: see once more how deeply and truly I love him.
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  Speaker 1: I will hear, without either pride or anger, anything that
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  Speaker 1: Albert of Morseille will say to me. And then, having
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  Speaker 1: done so, I will trust to his generosity to do
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  Speaker 1: the rest. I need not fear. Surely, I need not fear.
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  Speaker 1: And with this resolution she became more composed, the surest
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  Speaker 1: and the strongest proof that it was right. But to
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  Speaker 1: say the truth, since the perils of the night just passed,
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  Speaker 1: Since she had beheld him, she loved in a new character,
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  Speaker 1: Since with her own eyes she had seen him commanding
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  Speaker 1: in the strife of men, and everything seeming to yield
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  Speaker 1: to the will of his powerful and intrepid mind. New
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  Speaker 1: feelings had mingled with her love for him, of which
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  Speaker 1: what she had experienced when he rode beside her at
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  Speaker 1: the hunting party at Poitiers had been But as it
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  Speaker 1: were a type, it was not fear, but it was
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  Speaker 1: some degree of awe. She felt that, with all her
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  Speaker 1: own strength of mind, with all her own brightness of
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  Speaker 1: intellect and self possession, there were mightier qualities in his
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  Speaker 1: character to which she must bow down, that she in
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  Speaker 1: fact was woman altogether woman in his presence. As she
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  Speaker 1: thus thought, a slight motion of the bed where Claude
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  Speaker 1: de l'estan was laid made her turn her eyes thither.
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  Speaker 1: The old man had awoke from his short slumber, and
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  Speaker 1: his eyes, still bright and intelligent, notwithstanding the approach of
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  Speaker 1: death and the exhaustion of his shattered frame, were turned
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  Speaker 1: towards her with an earnest and a melancholy expression. I
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  Speaker 1: hope you feel refreshed, said Claymon, spending over him. You
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  Speaker 1: have had some sleep, and I trust it has done
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  Speaker 1: you good. Do not deceive yourself, my dear child, replied
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  Speaker 1: the old man. No sleep can do me good, but
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  Speaker 1: that deep, powerful one which is soon coming. I wait,
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  Speaker 1: but God's will claimants, and I trust that he will
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  Speaker 1: soon give the spirit liberty. It will be in mercy,
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  Speaker 1: claimans that he sends death for were life to be prolonged,
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  Speaker 1: Think what it would be to this torn and mangled frame.
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  Speaker 1: Neither hand nor foot can I move, nor were it
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  Speaker 1: possible to give back strength to my limbs or ease
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  Speaker 1: to my body. Every hour that I remain I look
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  Speaker 1: upon but as a trial of patience and of faith.
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  Speaker 1: And I will not murmur no claimance, not even in thought,
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  Speaker 1: against His almighty will, who bids me drag on the
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  Speaker 1: weary minutes longer. But yet when the last of those
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  Speaker 1: minutes has come, Oh, how gladly shall I feel the
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  Speaker 1: summons that others bread and fly from. I would feign
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  Speaker 1: my child, he said, I would faiginn hear and from
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  Speaker 1: your lips some of that blessed word which the misguided
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  Speaker 1: persecutors of our church deny unmutilated to the blind followers
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  Speaker 1: of their faith. Though every word therein speaks hope and
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  Speaker 1: consolation and counsel and direction to the heart of man
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  Speaker 1: Alas good Father replied, claments, the Bible, which I always
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  Speaker 1: carry with me, was left behind when I came to
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  Speaker 1: see you in prison. And I know not where to
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  Speaker 1: find one here. The people in this or the neighboring
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  Speaker 1: cottage have one, said the pastor. They are good, honest souls,
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  Speaker 1: whom I have often visited in former days. As the
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  Speaker 1: good woman of the cottage had gone out almost immediately
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  Speaker 1: after the arrival of the party to procure some herbs,
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  Speaker 1: which he declared would suit the pastor greatly, Clayman proceeded
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  Speaker 1: to the other cottage, where she found an old man
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: with a Bible in his hand, busily reading a portion
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: thereof to a little boy who stood near. He looked
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: up and gave her the book as soon as she
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: told him the purpose for which she came, and then
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: following into the cottage where the past delay, he and
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: the boy stood by and listened attentively while she read
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: such chapters as Claude de la Stung expressed a wish
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: to hear. Those chapters were not, in general such as
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: might have been supposed. They were not those which hold
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: out the glorious promises of everlasting life to men who
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: suffer for their faith in this state of being. They
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: were not such as portray to us, in its real
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: and spiritual character, that other world to which the footsteps
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: of all are tending. It seemed as if of such
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: things the mind of the pastor was so fully convinced,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: so intimately and perfectly sure, that they were as parts
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: of his own being. But the passages that he selected
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: were those in which our Redeemer lays down all the bright,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: perfect and unchangeable precepts for the rule and governments of
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: man's own conduct, from which the only code of law
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: and philosophy that can indeed be called divine. And in
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: that last hour, it seemed the greatest hope and consolation
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: which the dying man could receive to ponder upon those
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: proofs of divine love and wisdom, which nothing but the
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: spirit of God himself could have dictated. Thus passed the
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: whole of the day. From time to time Clayment's paused,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: and the pastor spoke a few words to those who
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: surrounded him, words of humble comment on what was read,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: or pious exhortation. At other times, when his fair companion
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: was tired, the attendant Maria would take the book and read.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: No noises, no visit from without disturbed the calm. It
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: seemed as if their persecutors were at fault. And though
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: from time to time one of the different members of
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: those shepherd families passed in or out. No other persons
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: were seen moving upon the face of the lond. No
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: sounds were heard, but their own low voices threw out
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: the short light of a November day to one fresh
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: from the buzz of cities and the busy activity of man.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: The contrast of the stillness and the solitude was strange,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: But doubly strange and exceeding solemn were they to the
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: mind of her, who came fresh from the perturbed and
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: fevered visions of the preceding night, and saw that day
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: lapse away like a long and quiet sleep. Towards the
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: dusk of the evening. However, her attendant laid her hand
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: upon her arm as she was still reading, saying, there
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: is a change coming, And Clement's paused and gazed down
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: upon the old man's countenance. It looked very gray, but
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: whether from the shadows of the evening or from the
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: loss of whatever hue of living health remained, she could
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: hardly tell. But the difference was not so great in
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: the color as in the expression the look of pain
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: and suffering, which, notwithstanding all his efforts to bear his
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: fate with tranquility had still marked. That fine, expressive countenance
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: was gone, and a calm and tranquil aspect had succeeded.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Although the features were extremely sharpened, the eyes sunk and
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: the temple's hollow. It was the look of a body
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: and a spirit at peace, And for a moment, as
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: the eyes were turned up towards the sky, Clayman's imagined
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: that the spirit was gone. But the next moment he
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: looked round towards her as if inquiring why she stopped.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: How are you, sir, She said, you see more at ease.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: I am quite at ease, Claiman's replied the old man.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: All pain has left me. I am somewhat cold, but
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: that is natural. For the last half hour the remains
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: of yesterday's agony have been wearing away, as I have
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: seen snow upon a hill's side melt in the april sunshine.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: It is strange and scarcely to be believed that death
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: should be so pleasant, For this is death, my child
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: and I got away from this world of care and
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: pain with a foretaste of the mercies of the next.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: It is very slow, but still it is coming, claimants,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: and bringing healing on its wings. Death the messenger of
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: God's will to one that trusts in his mercy, is
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: indeed the harbinger of that peace of God which passes
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: all understanding. He paused a little, and his voice had
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: grown considerably weaker even while he spoke. God forgive my enemies,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: he said at length, and the mistaken men who persecute
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: others for their soul's sake, God forgive them and yield
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: them a better light. For Oh, how I wish that
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: all men could feel death only as I feel it.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: Such were the last words of Claude de l'estal. They
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: were perfectly audible and distinct to everyone present, and they
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: were spoken with the usual calm, sweet simplicity of manner
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: which had characterized all the latter part of his life.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: But after he had again paused for two or three minutes,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: he opened his lips as if to say something more,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: but no sound was heard. He instantly felt that such
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: was the case, and ceased. But he feebly stretched forth
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: his hand towards Claiment's, who bent her head over it
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: and dued it with her tears. When she raised her eyes,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: they fell upon the face of the dead end of
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty eight