Page:In Memoriam. Matthew Fontaine Maury.djvu/26

 "And Who has been so merciful as to preserve my senses to the last."

His thoughts were much turned to his absent children, who were hourly expected, with expressions of the tenderest love towards them. Whenever he aroused from one of his fitful slumbers, he would anxiously ask—"Have they come?" When told that they had not arrived, but were expected that day. Then said he, "If unable to speak when they come, I want this prayer repeated to them—and he repeated the prayer which he had just offered, and without completing it, he added, "Put this in B——'s mouth—in N——s mouth—in W—'s mouth—and let them say, "Glory be to God for His mercies." His children arrived in time to receive his blessing.

Hearing the pencil running over the paper, as one of his sons was endeavoring to trace his utterances, he said—"Somebody is taking down what I say;" and he added—"Ever since the time when I broke my leg (thirty-three years before) I have used this prayer. It contains eleven petitions—not designedly, but still there are eleven—and I want it taken down. Now keep me up to the eleven; they have all been answered."

Here he exhibited signs of fatigue and prostration,