In the midst of his career of business, he was attacked by a long and tedious , which his constitution, and obliged him to all thoughts of business at a very early age. Not long after he had given up all mercantile pursuits, the failure of his banker deprived him of two-thirds of his fortune. The remainder of his possessions, which consisted only of the house he then lived in, and a few cottages in the village, afforded him but a for the support of his wife and two children, Edwin, then about ten years of age, and Matilda, about nine.
Their mother was tenderly fond of them, and consequently was less able to endure the of seeing them reduced so low, and her philosophy failed her in this instance. The narrow scale of living to which she was now forced to submit, and the parting with many little comforts and conveniences in which she had taken pleasure to indulge her children, and which they were no more to expect;—the affliction of seeing her dear Edwin and Matilda become her servants, and that dumb sorrow she fancied she in their whenever she looked on them;—all these, and many other thoughts, crowding on her mind, so weakened and impaired her constitution, that she was no longer the same woman. Every time she looked at her children, the tears stole down her cheeks; and her husband, who most tenderly loved her, would sometimes his tears with hers, and at other times retire to them.
As Edwin was one day apples in the , he perceived his parents in close conversation with each other. A hedge of rosebushes only parted them, so that he heard every thing they said. His mother gave a sigh, and his father thus endeavoured to console her.
"I was far from blaming," said he, "the excess of your affliction in the of our misfortunes, and I did not attempt to interrupt you; but now you ought to be wiser from experience, and patiently bear those evils which cannot be removed, but may be increased by our under them. I have my sorrows, fearing they might add to yours; but you, in return, put no restraint on yourself; and you are shortening my days, without being sensible of what you are doing. I love my children no less than you, and feel for their misfortune in losing what I hoped they would live to enjoy after we were no more. Consider my infirmities, which will probably carry me to my long home before you. You must then act the part of father and mother; but how will you be able to do this, if you give way to such immoderate grief? You are sensible these misfortunes are not my own seeking; they are the works of the , and it is not to submit to them. It has pleased him to deprive me of my property and health, while you deprive me of the satisfaction of seeing you submissive to his decrees. I see sorrow191 must pursue me to the grave, and you will not help to that awful hour of my dissolution."
Edwin treasured up in his youthful every word that dropped from the lips of his father, but his mother answered only in sighs and half-finished words. "Do not your mind," continued her husband, "on the hapless situation of our children, since they may still be happy though deprived of their fortune. Edwin has noble and generous sentiments; and Matilda has been brought up in the strictest principles of virtue. Let us, therefore, set our children an example, by teaching them to submit to the will of , instead of teaching them to repine at his decrees."
As soon as the conversation was ended, Edwin got away as softly as he could, and, going into the house, met his sister Matilda, who, as she saw him look very serious, asked him what was the matter with him. They went together into the parlour, when Edwin thus addressed his sister.
"Ah! my dear sister, had you, like me, heard what has just passed between my father and mother, on our account, I am sure you would have been equally . I was very near the arbour in which they were ; but though I could hear every thing they said, they could not see me. My mother talks of nothing but192 about our being ruined; and my father says every thing he can to and comfort her. You well know, that my father has never had a good state of health, and my mother's is going very fast; so that I fear we shall soon lose them both. What, my dear sister, will become of us, and what shall we do without them? I could wish to die with them."
"Let us hope," replied Matilda, "that things will not go so hard with us. Do not let such thoughts enter your head, and be particularly careful not to cry in their presence, as that would affect them more than any thing else. Let us endeavour to be cheerful, and when they see us so, it will possibly their affliction. They love us tenderly, and we ought, in return, to do every thing in our power to make them cheerful and
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