Gathering Jewels | Page 3

songs which the seraphs are wafting o'er, They catch from the
other side.
And their faces beam with unearthly light, In the rays of the setting sun,
As their eyes peer far beyond mortals' sight, And they learn that life's
journey is done.
Hand in hand by the river, they stray Where the dark waves wash the
shore; And they hear the splash, and the feathery spray, As the
ferryman dips his oar.
Now the father waves a loving adieu, As he looses his claspèd hand;
And the ferryman plies his oar anew, Till he reaches the golden strand.
By the silent waves of the river of death, The mother is waiting still,

With eager eye and with bated breath, The call of the Master's will.
Now her face is illumed by a heavenly light As sweet as angels' breath;
For she knows that the unclasped hands will unite, Across the river of
death.
GEORGE F. SARGENT.
NEW YORK, February 17, 1887.
[Illustration: JAMES KNOWLES]

GATHERING JEWELS
CHAPTER I.
BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JAMES KNOWLES.
"God bless thee, bairn--my bonnie bairn," She said, an' straikit doon his
hair; "O may the widow's God be thine, And mak' thee His peculiar
care!"
James Knowles was born at sea, December 5, 1811, his father, the
previous day, having been swept overboard and lost. Unfortunately no
record of the misfortune was kept to be available for the present
purpose; hence we are unable to give either the name of the ship, or the
latitude and longitude it was in when his birth occurred. Picture to
yourself the deck of a vessel in mid-ocean, where the widow of a day
becomes a mother the next, the subject of this sketch being the infant
presented to her bosom, and you have a glimpse of the
situation--though it be unconnected with either a cottage, a mansion, or
a palace.
The mother returned with the infant to the home of her father at
Ballymena, Ireland, where her relatives then undertook the care of the
fatherless babe, which eventually grew into healthy boyhood of the
most affectionate character.

As a youth he made rapid progress in the elementary branches of
education, often surprising his teachers with the patience and care he
exhibited in keeping in advance of his fellow-students--for he was
almost always at the head of his class. He was noted for his quiet,
unobtrusive disposition, underlying which was an internal force, which
made him prompt in action, and to the point in word, when the display
of such characteristics was sometimes necessary to establish his
individual superiority with more than usual power among his
fellow-schoolmates.
In 1826 he commenced his apprenticeship as a compositor, under the
care of Mr. Dugan, in the city of Belfast, Ireland, where he continued
until the expiration of the time of his indentures.
In 1832, after an ocean passage of sixty days in a sailing vessel, he
arrived in Philadelphia, Pa.
During this long and tedious voyage across the Atlantic, he and the
captain of the ship became very intimately attached to each other, and
he was frequently invited to dine with the officers.
After a brief stay in Philadelphia, he came to New York City, where he
found employment. Immediately after his arrival in this city, he became
a member of the Rev. Dr. McLeod's Reformed Presbyterian Church, in
Chambers Street, and continued with this church until after they had
removed to Prince Street.
In 1835 he became an employé in the office of the Journal of
Commerce. He frequently recalled that fearful night during the great
fire in New York, when the greater part of the lower portion of the city
was totally destroyed, and some of the large buildings had to be blown
up with gunpowder, to stop the ravages of the flames; he took an active
part in carrying the printing "forms" to a place of safety.
In 1839 he was married to Miss Matilda Darroch, who was a member
of Dr. McCarthy's Canal Street Presbyterian Church and a teacher in
the Sabbath-school.

As a Christian man, at this time, we find him teaching a large
Bible-class for young men in the above church, and to the end of his
earthly career he was constantly engaged in the Sabbath-school.
In 1849 the Prince Street Church property was sold to erect a new
building on Twelfth Street, where he continued to attend the services
until the year 1850, when some of the members, being anxious to
enlarge their borders, and continue the work in the lower part of the
city, formed the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church. They
organized, and called the Rev. Spencer L. Finney to the pastorate, who
commenced to hold services in the hall of the Apprentices' Library, No.
472 Broadway, where they worshipped for one