Mrs. Bernard, though a devoted mother, and, in many respects, an
excellent woman, had never realized, for herself, "the blessedness of
things unseen." She had been contented to sail smoothly along the stream
of life, which for the most part had been ruffled by few storms, and she
almost forgot, as day after day and week after week glided past, they
were bearing her frail bark swiftly on to the ocean of eternity. There
was a time,--it seemed to her now like a dream as she looked back,--that
she had thought more of these things, for they were presented to her in
a living form, embracing, as it were, in the daily walk and
conversation of a relative, who had been for some time an inmate of her
dwelling. The lovely traits developed in the character of this lady, had
won the matron's heart, and especially had she appreciated the unbounded
care and tenderness which her friend exercised towards her children,
Ella and Arthur. But this messenger of peace passed away to a brighter
clime, and the impression made by her brief sojourn seemed to have
become erased from the memory; like the morning cloud and the early dew,
it soon passed away.
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