SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
January wore away, and February, and at last, on one of the first
days of the first month of spring, a raw and dreary day, when Dr.
James had been glad that no patient needed his attendance, he had
made a bright little fire, and was sitting in his study chair, deeply
engaged with the last number of THE CATHOLIC WORLD, which Father
Barry had lent him. Richards came in from the post-office, laid the
doctor's mail upon the table, and then went home to his mother's
house. Dr. James very deliberately finished the article he was
reading, stared at the fire for a few minutes, and then carelessly
took up his letters and glanced at the handwritings. There was
one from his sister Lucy, one from a medical friend at the West,
and--what was this?--one in a clear, firm hand, which gave him a
start, and brought him very quickly out of his reverie.
"From Margaret Lester! What can she have to say to me?"
A misgiving came over him as he held the letter in his hand, and he
delayed opening it. What might not her boldness and independence
be capable of! He smiled contemptuously as he realized that his
imagination was running away with him.
"She is engaged, I suppose," and he quickly broke the seal.
"MY DEAR FRIEND: I write to you because this is the very happiest
day of my life, and because I owe that happiness, after God, to
you.
"Do you remember your words, 'For the direction of practical,
systematic good works, I advise you to go to the Catholic priest'?
Well, I established myself in New York with the object of making
myself happy by doing as much good to the poor as I was able;
and as soon as I asked myself how I should begin, I thought of
your words, and said to myself, 'I found how true that advice
was in that quiet little town; now, why should it not hold good
in a great city like this, where there is so much more misery,
and where opportunities for doing good are so much greater?' So
I said to my cook, whom I found to be a good Catholic, going to
her confessions and communions regularly, 'Where does your priest
live? For I want to go and see him.' She gladly told me where to
find him, and I went where she directed me, and found an old,
white-headed Frenchman with most courtly manners, before whom I
felt as unpolished as a school-girl. I told him the simple truth,
and asked to be instructed as to how I could aid the poor. Well,
we sat down, and he gave me a little sketch of the different
Catholic charities in New York, and each one, as he described it,
seemed to me best of all; and I saw how much more good I could do
by aiding those perfectly organized charities than by working on
my own responsibility. He ended by telling me of a lady who would
take me with her and show me all these institutions.
"From that day began for me a life of revelations. I had always
dreamed of lives of heroism; and I began to see that they were not
only possible, but of every-day occurrence among those men and
women devoted to works of mercy. Then came the question, What is
it that inspires such self-sacrifice, such complete abnegation and
ignoring of self, such all-embracing charity and purity of motive?
For in no case could I see a trace of any personal advantage to
be gained from these almost superhuman labors. And then, Dr.
James, I began to look into the doctrine of that church which all
my life I had been taught to regard as the teacher of falsehood,
superstition, and idolatry.
"The result has been that a week ago I was baptized a Roman
Catholic, and this day, for the first time, I have received our
Lord Jesus Christ in the most holy communion.
"O my friend! God's goodness has been great to me, and I am as
happy as a person should be who has found there is such a thing
as heaven upon earth. This is why I have written to you, because
my heart, in its gratitude to God, turns next to you; and also
because I wish you to hear from no one except myself of this great
change in my life.
"And now, I cannot end my letter without one more word. I have
another saying of yours in my mind; was it not this? 'Do as well
as you know how, and then be at peace.' That is true; yet it is
not all that will be required of us. We ought to try to know the
best thing, and then do what we know as well as we can.
"Good-by, and God bless you.
"MARGARET.
"P.S.--Martha Burney, after trying her best to dissuade me, had
the justice to examine what I was about, and she was received into
the church this very day."
Father Barry received this news by the same mail as Dr. James, and
from him Margaret heard at once. The pious priest wrote a letter full
of joy and congratulation, of good advice and blessing; but to her
other letter no answer was received. Two weeks passed, and no word
came. Miss Selina had written a reproachful and admonitory letter,
assuring Margaret that it was not too late, and while life was spared
her she could draw back. She insinuated that a plan of rescue could
be easily arranged, and offered her home as an asylum to the fugitive.
Margaret laughed over this letter, and showed it to her friends with
great glee. However, she wrote back a kind and soothing answer, which
softened her aunt a little, though the subject continued a very sore
one for a long time. To think that she should have been a month in
the same house with Margaret, never suspecting the machinations of
which the poor child was being made the victim! But when she applied
to Dr. James for sympathy, he said abruptly,
"I don't agree with you at all, ma'am. Miss Lester has done right
because she has consulted her own conscience, and been brave enough
not to stop for what the world or her friends would say or think."
He then changed the subject; and Miss Spelman was so much scandalized
that she never spoke of it again.