174 RECOLLECT IONS OF POVERTY. 



habits; but, notwithstanding- our evident shyness, they often sought 

 to intrude themselves on our little society. Their advances were al- 

 ways firmly, yet civilly, repelled by my mother. Soon they ceased 

 to trouble us, and we had well nigh forgotten them. 



" For some time all was well with us, and little did I anticipate 

 the storm of calamity which was about to burst forth. But there were 

 presages of evil that I could not overlook. That parental kindness 

 which my father had always manifested towards me was succeeded 

 by stern moroseness ; his manners, once so engaging and pleasing, 

 were now hasty and repulsive ; his home, in which all his pleasures 

 seemed once to centre, was now often forsaken. My mother saw 

 this, and wept ; and often have I found her mourning in solitude, and 

 would seek to share her sorrows. 



" It was one evening in October that, having prepared his usual 

 meal, we awaited his coming. It was eight o'clock, and he came not. 

 Nine struck my mother now feared that some accident had befallen 

 him ; another hour passed away her anxiety could no longer be 

 controlled. She hastened to the manufactory. The gates were shut, and 

 all was silent. She hurried home. Breathless and in haste she turned 

 into the little street in which we dwelt. All at once she uttered a 

 loud cry, and fell senseless on the ground. She had seen my father 

 drunk and bleeding, raving with all the fury of the wildest delirium, 

 in company with our worthless and unprincipled neighbour. This 

 wretch, stung with anger against my mother, had vowed revenge, 

 and, in concert with his wife, had determined to ruin my father's 

 character, and thus bring misery and sorrow on our family. It was 

 too evident how successfully they had accomplished their horrid pur- 

 poses. By degrees they had insinuated themselves in his favour, and 

 at last had enticed him from his home to seek his pleasure in the 

 haunts of vice. That day their triumph was complete. He had neg- 

 lected his work, [had insulted his master, had drunk till no longer 

 able to guide himself he had fallen to the ground. 



" In the mean time I was alone, and, being in a meditative mood, 

 I fell into a deep reverie. My thoughts reverted to the happy days 

 which I had passed at the place of my birth. It was summer's eve 

 (so it seemed), and, seated beneath the wide-spreading jessamine 

 which covered our cottage wall, I enjoyed the mild and retiring 

 beauties of departing day. The setting sun, gilding the mountain 

 tops, shed a mild and subdued light on all around. A gentle breeze, 

 redolent of sweets, wafted past my delighted senses ; and, lulled into 

 sweet composure, I sat in silent pleasure at the feet of my beloved 

 parents, who, reclining on a rustic seat, in sweet converse passed the 

 happy hour. In the midst of this delightful reverie I was disturbed 

 by an uproar in the street, but so strongly were these fair visions im- 

 pressed on my mind that it was some time ere I was conscious of my 

 situation. But the disturbance increased, and, my fears being roused, 

 I rushed into the street. Not far distant I beheld a dense crowd. I 

 hastened to the spot. I burst through the people. I saw my mother 

 lying as if dead, my father covered with blood, and our neighbour 

 standing by, gazing on the scene with a look of fiendish pleasure. I 

 shrieked aloud. I recollect uo more. 



