70 DEATH 



subjected to these sorrowful visitations of Providence : in 

 every relation of life, as a son, a brother, a husband, a 

 father, have I had to bow to the decrees of the Almighty, 

 and with becoming fortitude and resignation bear the 

 grief inflicted by His chastening rod ; but this was the 

 first, and it is not to be wondered at if it made a deep 

 and lasting impression on my then youthful heart. 



The shock which the mind receives from the death of 

 a near and dear relative, cut off in the bloom of health 

 and pride of youth, makes it loth to surrender its grief, 

 even to the growing incidents and allurements that time 

 may throw in the way, particularly where there is little 

 else to dwell on. 



He was a fine handsome promising youth, in his 

 eighteenth year, endeared to the family circle by a most 

 amiable disposition, and, by his manly and generous 

 conduct, had won the admiration and enjoyed the friend- 

 ship of many persons of his own age and station. He was 

 on an excursion of pleasure round the Island, with two 

 or three others, prior to their entering on their studies 

 necessary for the profession each of them had adopted. 

 He was a most excellent swimmer, but imprudently, 

 Avithout a thought of the consequences, under a noon- 

 day's sun in the autumn, undressed after a long ride on 

 horseback, and plunged into the sea, to indulge in his 

 favourite pastime. 



How he was first taken I do not know ; but I found 

 him in a cottage at Shanklin, in bed, with a burning 

 fever — attended by our weeping parents and our elder 

 sister — which, in a few days, proved fatal. 



This was a severe blow to all, though I remember my 



