THE YOUNG CLERGYMAN. 585 



the fatherless and to the orphan, he was a father ; to the sick he was 

 a physician ; to the afflicted a comforter : whilst to the rich he was 

 a confidential friend and adviser; and to the dying, of all classes, he 

 was a guide and monitor to the narrow path which leads over that 

 bourn ' from whence no traveller returns." 



Well educated, of gentlemanly manners, and of cheerful and amiable 

 disposition, Mr. Edwards was a welcome and honoured guest in a 

 wide circle of wealthy and aristocratic families ; and this led to a 

 style of living certainly incompatible with his condition, considered 

 only in a pecuniary and prudential point of view. 



His youngest and most darling child, a fair girl, was seized with 

 sickness in her tenth year ; and, after several weeks of great suffering, 

 was removed. Death found them even in their beautiful and sancti- 

 fied home. The minister mourned, but not as one without hope. 

 The Dispenser of life had taken to himself the fairest of his gifts ; 

 but the deprivation was doubtless for some wise and beneficent pur- 

 pose : and the bereaved father followed his innocent child to the 

 grave, murmuring " Thy will be done !" 



His son, who was named after himself, was now sixteen. His 

 education, which had proceeded under his own inspection, had made 

 him master of most of the common departments of youthful learning. 

 James inherited his father's disposition he was cheerful, good-tem- 

 pered, and had a heart stored with home affections. He was most 

 fondly attached to his mother and to his surviving sister, and was 

 moreover a general favourite. The time was approaching when it 

 was intended he should leave his paternal roof for the university, in 

 the hope and expectation that he would become a worthy successor 

 to his father in the rectory. 



Few incidents diversify the life of individuals thus moving in a 

 limited and well-defined circle. The day came, and it found them 

 happy and contented; and the night was passed in the unbroken 

 and dreamless sleep of innocence. Mr. Edwards began to show 

 evident signs that age was stealing over him. It had blanched his 

 hair, and furrowed his cheeks, and made his eye and his ear some- 

 what dimmer than had been their wont. But, on the whole, the 

 hand of Time had pressed lightly upon him. His faculties were 

 unimpaired, and his cheerfulness and usual gaiety were his constant 

 companions. He was no richer than when he first entered on the 

 duties of his ministerial office; and, so far, he had been a faithful 

 steward. He had, however, neglected to take precautions for the 

 future welfare of his family ; and, in doing this, he had neglected an 

 important moral duty. 



