Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

There, as the feeling poet averred,

'Happiness descending sat and smiled.'

Mrs. Howe was happy; not that she was faultless, or exempt from a share of sorrow, but because she was aiming to reach a high standard of personal excellence. She failed, it is true, to attain that degree of virtue for which she panted. She was not perfect, or at all satisfied with herself; but she pressed forward continually, and thus prepared daily for that abode of perfection and bliss to which she looked forward with the most joyful anticipations. Those who had been the objects of the disinterested benevolence of this lady, rose up to call her blessed; and, by imitating her example, exerted a happy influence in the sphere in which they were by Providence allotted

to move.

It might truly be said of Mrs. Howe that she loved and served her God.' Happy would it have been, if all the members of her father's family had resembled her in goodness; and glad, too, would be the writer, if she had not to turn from the contemplation of loveliness, the view of which refreshes the spirit and bids it aspire to a likeness to the reality, to dwell upon traits of character which cast a sombre hue over this otherwise beautiful earth.

CHAPTER XII.

Gilbert Dunbar - Mrs. Dunbar - Horatio Newton

Henry Clandestine Union.

Rebecca

It is often asserted that those dispositions of the mind which are earliest developed give the strongest bias to the actions of the man, if left unchecked until he reaches the period of manhood.

This assertion was true of Gilbert Dunbar. As soon as he was capable of putting forth a moral act, he evinced an uncommon love of money. It was his ruling passion; and to gratify it he scrupled not to sacrifice every thing that opposed this darling wish.

He was often known, when a mere child, to hold a piece of silver in his tiny hand, for hours, with a grasp that was considered at the time almost an exact mimic of the miser. He would also take money with him when he retired to his bed at night, and if, while asleep, he chanced to drop it from his hand, would, if he waked, cry until some one found it and gave to him again.

It is not known whether his parents strove to check this propensity, as he grew older, or whether they deemed it of little consequence to do so. It may safely be inferred, however, that they thought but little upon the subject; and

thus, by their neglect, suffered Gilbert to cultivate an acquisitive disposition.

At a very early age, he commenced trading in various articles, which he procured very readily from his father's store, and amassed quite a sum of money ere he arrived at the age of fourteen. Of this he was very proud, and often boasted to his youthful companions. Little did his affectionate parents think, that in allowing their son to foster his fondness for gain, they were helping to kindle a fire that would continue to blaze until it had destroyed not only the peace of their own dear child, but also of others endeared to them by the ties of nature and affection.

When Gilbert became a man, he expressed his determination to be possessed of a million, at any rate. If I cannot do as I wish,' said he, on one occasion, to his sisters, 'by being strictly honest, I will compromise my integrity; for riches I will have.'

He did accumulate gain, and was esteemed by the world around him an exceedingly prosperous man. Years passed, and he became a husband and father, yet riches continued to be his polar star. By his companion he was favored with a respectable addition to his fortune. Still, unfortunately, he was ignorant of the just value of the talent Heaven had lent him to improve for the benefit of himself and those around him.

His family consisted of two daughters and a son. The son partook not of the avaricious disposition of his father; but like his mother, to whom he was most ardently attached, he was generous, almost to a fault. He could not pass, unaided, a fellow-traveller to another world, whose case seemed to demand relief, or turn a deaf ear to the

to

many calls made upon those who have it in their power diffuse, liberally, the blessings of intelligence and gospel truth to those who are destitute of this means of substan

tial good.

Not unfrequently was he rebuked, by his lucre-loving father, for his acts of liberality, when those very acts were far from being in magnitude what the spirit of the youth would gladly have made them. On such occasions, he looked to his mother and was silent, leaving her to excuse his conduct, if indeed it needed excusing, to his avaricious parent.

He

His mother taught her children to submit to, and reverence their father, though at the same time she felt it her duty to instil into their minds precepts with which the teachings of her partner in life were entirely at war. would have them live for the gratification of selfish desires; but she labored to impress upon their minds a sense of the weight of obligation resting upon them, to keep in view the end for which they were created, and adopt early the sentiment of the poet, who has truthfully affirmed, that

'That man may last, but never lives,

Who much receives, and nothing gives;

Whom none can love, whom none can thank,
Creation's blot, creation's blank.'

Often was the deep-drawn sigh of sadness breathed by Mrs. Dunbar, as she reflected upon the covetous temper indulged by the father of her children. She was well aware that he was not happy himself; besides which she had every reason to believe that the happiness of her children was greatly abridged by the miserly course he

pursued. It was little that she could do to obviate this difficulty in the way of the well-being of those who regarded her example as worthy of their imitation; yet that little was faithfully executed, and she had the pleasure of knowing that her influence over the minds of her children was such as was calculated to inspire them with the love of moral excellence.

Her eldest daughter, whose name was Rebecca, had a mind cast in a mould similar to that of her mother. Her father was proud of her, and looked forward dotingly to the time when the wealth of his family would be increased by her union with some individual possessing an abundance of riches. Not so Mrs. Dunbar. This lady, who placed a right estimate upon money, as a means of good, did not consider it indispensable to the future comfort of her family, and consented cheerfully to Rebecca's accepting the attentions of one who, though he could boast of many qualities requisite to render him a worthy companion for any young lady, was still destitute of what, in the opinion of Rebecca's sordid father, was the sine qua non of real greatness.

The business of Mr. Dunbar called him from home much of the time, so that there was opportunity afforded Henry, the young gentleman who sought the favor of Rebecca, to visit her some time without his knowledge. Mrs. Dunbar sanctioned his attention to her beloved child, from correct principle, and felt that she was acting the part of a mother in so doing. She hoped, and even ventured to expect, that in process of time the father of Rebecca would consent to receive into his family a young man of inestimable character, such as Henry had proved himself to be; yet did not think it best to be particular in regard to mentioning the subject, until it was absolutely necessary to do so.

« ÎnapoiContinuă »