338 THE SMUGGLER. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THERE arc periods in the lives of some men, when, either by a 

 concatenation of unfortunate events, or by the accumulated 

 consequences of their own errors, the prospect on every side 

 becomes so clouded, that there is no resource for them, but to 

 shut their eyes to the menacing aspect of all things, and to take 

 refuge in the moral blindness of thoughtless inaction, against 

 the pressure of present difficulties. "I dare not think,'' is the 

 excuse of many a man, for continuing in the same course of 

 levity which first brought misfortune upon him ; but such is 

 not always the case with those who fly to wretched merriment 

 in the hour of distress; and such was not the case with Sir 

 Robert Croyland. 



He had thought for long years, till his very heart sickened 

 at the name of reflection. He had looked round for help and 

 had found none. He had tried to discover some prospect of 

 relief; and all was darkness. The storm he had long foreseen 

 was now bursting upon his head; it was no longer to be 

 delayed ; it was not to be warded off. His daughter's misery, 

 or his own destruction, was the only choice before him ; and 

 he was resolved to think no more: to let events take their 

 course, and to meet them as he best might. 



But to resolve is one thing, to execute, another; arid Edith's 

 father was not a man who could keep such a determination 

 long. He might indeed, for a time, cease to think of all the 

 painful particulars of his situation ; but there will ever come 

 moments when thought is forced even upon the thoughtless, 

 and events will arise, to press reflection upon any heart. His 

 efforts were, at first, very successful. After he had despatched 

 the letter to Mr. Radford, he had said, "I must really pay my 

 visitor some attention. It will serve to occupy my mind, too. 

 Anything to escape from the torturing consideration of ques- 

 tions, which must ever be solved in wretchedness." And 

 when he returned to Sir Edward Digby, his conversation was 

 particularly gay and cheerful. It first turned to the unpleasant 



