Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/219

219

THE NEW BIRTH.

  The father's emotions were but an echo of the son's ;
and his joy that his child had found peace, scarcely left
a full consciousness of what he himself had obtained.
  The pastor found him, early in the morning, on his
knees by the bed-side of his son. Their hands were
clasped together in united prayer. Their eyes, still
moist with tears, were turned toward him who had
granted them this healing mercy.
  The work of the Holy Spirit was complete. The
pastor said little. He made no allusion to the past, no
exhortation for the future ; his words were rather the
closing benediction, the final hallelujah of this solemn
consecration.
  It was not until the second and third days following,
that Hold indulged himself in a longer conversation
with young Mander ; and he found him so ready to re-
ceive all the blessings and promises of the Gospel, so
willing to accept all the mysteries of faith, so clear and
decided in his understanding of such portions of the
Revealed Word as were pointed out to him, that, full
of astonishment, he exclaimed,
  "When have you learned this ?"
  "Learned!" replied Oswald; "I know neither how
nor when. Those terrible hours in the water seemed to
me like the fire which purges the gold from its dross.
Terrible as were those, and the hours which have fol-
lowed them, still it seems to me as if I had suffered
nothing for the peace which I now possess ; as if I ought
to drink a far more bitter cup, before enjoying the riches
of his grace, which, out of his fullness, he has poured
upon me. Oh ! God is full of love, goodness, and mercy,
far, far above our knowledge or understanding! How