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Page 29
Great man! the nations gazed and wondered much,
And praised and many called his evil good.
Wits wrote in favor of his wickedness;
And kings to do him honor took delight:
Thus full of titles, flattery, honor, fame,
Beyond desire, beyond ambition, full;
He died!--he died of what? of wretchedness!
Drank every cup of joy, heard every trump
Of fame; drank early, deeply drank, drank draughts
That millions might have quenched, then died
Of thirst, because there was no more to drink.
His goddess, nature, woo'd, embrac'd, enjoy'd;
Fell from his arms abhorred!
SELF-RELIANCE.
"Well, my dear Miss Willoughby, how is your mother this morning," said
a venerable looking clergyman as he pressed the hand of a fair young
girl, apparently, not more than eighteen. Her face was pale with
watching, and her eyes were red with weeping, and though she seemed in
deep distress, there was a subdued and resigned manner about her, as
she replied:
"Not any better, sir, I fear; she has had a very bad night, her cough
has been so very troublesome." Saying this, she opened a door which
led to an inner apartment, into which Mr. Montgomery entered, and
approached the bed, followed by the afflicted daughter, who now tried
to assume a composure of manner, very foreign to her feelings, as
faintly smiling, she exclaimed, "Here, dear mamma, is our kind friend
again." The poor sufferer looked anxiously at him. Her attenuated
frame and sharpened features told the sad tale, that consumption had
done its work, and the hand of death was upon her.
"Well, my dear madam," said the good pastor, "I will not ask if you
are better; I will only hope the same spirit of resignation to the
Divine Will fills your mind as when I left you, yesterday. Remember in
_whom_ you trust, and for _whom_. There are never-failing promises
recorded there," pointing to a Bible that lay on the bed, "and thrice
happy are they who can rely on them in affliction's hour. I have read
them to you, and your own eye, you tell me, has often rested on them;
you have only, therefore, to 'commit your way unto the Lord, and he
shall bring it to pass.'"
"Oh, yes," replied the suffering woman, in a feeble tone, "I know it
all; I know He is able and willing to take care of my hapless
children. I _can_ and _do_ trust them to Him; feeling sure He will
more than supply the place of the only parent left them; but, oh, my
dear sir, convinced, as I am, of all this, it is, nevertheless, hard
to leave them; may He forgive my weakness; but human nature is such,
that--" here she paused from exhaustion.
"It is, my dear madam, meant that we should do so; and trial would
lose the object for which it is sent, did we not feel its bitterness;
but you must try, and rejoice that you are allowed to manifest both
faith and hope, under so severe and trying a dispensation. Let me
entreat you to remember the many instances recorded in scripture,
where answer has been given from on high to the prayers of those who
can faithfully cling to them." But while the worthy man strove to lead
the sufferer beyond this sublunary sphere, his heart bled for the poor
children she was leaving. The first blow she received, was the sudden
news of her husband's death in the Crimea, which came to her ears so
abruptly, that her nerves received a shock, from which she did not
rally for months. This was followed by a letter, informing her that
some property which had been left to her a few months previous to
Captain Willoughby's departure, had been claimed by a distant branch
of the family, as heir at law, the testamentary document being found
invalid. These circumstances, joined to delicate health, following
each other so quickly, proved too much for feeble nature, and she sunk
under them.
Her excellent daughter, whose fragile form seemed little calculated to
breast the storms of adversity that now threatened her, was unwearied
in attention to her dying parent. She saw there were heavy trials
before her, and knew they could not be averted, though she could not
tell how she was to meet them; but there was a trusting feeling in her
young heart, that must ever be inseparable from a trust in God's
over-ruling providence; and as she sat through the long nights,
watching by her mother's bed, a thousand vague shadows of the future
flitted before her, and many schemes offered themselves to her mind;
she tried to drive them off, for it seemed to her sinful. She durst
not _think_, but she could _pray_; and she did so; and oh! the
eloquence of that simple trusting prayer, that her God would protect
and bless her and the two young beings, whose sole dependance she was
soon to be. How widely changed was her position in a few short months!
The petted, and almost idolized child of doting parents, whose every
wish had been anticipated, must now soon exert herself to support her
orphan brother and sister.
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