606 THE RUINED MERCHANT. 



And vigorously and determinedly the old man set about his long- 

 neglected and almost forgotten particular department of business. 

 But he was poor the friends of his youth and manhood were either 

 dead or removed, and he found himself in a new world ; and toil 

 and trouble were for a time his sole reward. He felt however that 

 he was performing a sacred duty; and in firm reliance upon his 

 ' anchor of hope,' he persevered, and bore contumely, neglect, and 

 the ' world's spite/ with the meekness and forbearance of a martyr. 

 One or two small commissions were at length obtained, and he waa 

 enabled to carry to his famishing wife a pittance, miserable it is 

 true in amount, but which promised to afford them a slight respite 

 from want. 



Woman's love, and the love of childhood, are the most engrossing 

 and intense of human passions; but neither have the same endurance 

 as a mother's love for her offspring. Crime may stain the character 

 of her child, misery may haunt its footsteps ; but the bands which 

 link her affections are rarely destroyed. To Monson, whose life had 

 been an exemplar of filial love, his mother in his present helplessness 

 seemed to become more and more devoted. Imbecile in mind and 

 feeble in body, his condition closely resembled that of a sick child, 

 and unweariedly did she exercise her tenderness as a nurse and a 

 mother. Her own necessities were overlooked : she deprived her- 

 self even of the absolute rest and support required by nature, and 

 watched over him and tended him whilst her frame was sinking with 

 inanition. But her reward was as rich as her cares and sufferings 

 were great, for 



" Upon such sacrifices 

 The gods themselves throw incense." 



Slowly, indeed, and almost imperceptibly, Monson began to re- 

 cover ; but his recovery was like that of the forest- tree which has 

 been overthrown, and nearly up-rooted by the blasts of winter. The 

 spring returns, and a bud or shoot is seen springing from the appa- 

 rently lifeless mass, indicating that the germ of vegetable existence 

 is still in being. So trifling and minute however are these, that the 

 indifferent observer would fail to recognise them. Thus it was with 

 Monson ; but the eye of a mother failed not to discern the first faint 

 indications of returning consciousness ; and in a transport of gratitude, 

 she hailed them as the dawn of recovered happiness. 



As soon as he could bear the motion, they removed with the mise- 

 rable relics of their fortune to a small cottage at the outskirts of the 

 town, in which they had hitherto resided. Away from the clang of 

 human contention, and from the impure atmosphere of a narrow and 

 crowded street, a very favourable change soon developed itself in 

 Monson's pitiable condition. The breath of heaven 



" Came sweet and wooingly :" 



and by its eddies through his small but clean apartment, acted as a 

 restorative to his shattered and decayed strength. As his physical 

 vigour improved, his mental perceptions became more distinct; and 

 though he still murmured the name of Amy, he began to be sensible 



