CHAPTEE I. 



HOME AND FAMILY INFLUENCES. 



" Household treasures ! household treasures ! 



Are they jewels rich and rare ; 

 Or gems of rarest workmanship ; 



Or gold and silver ware ? 

 Ask the mother as she gazes 



On her little ones at play : 

 Household treasures ! household treasures ! 



Happy children ye are they." 



" They grew in beauty side by side ; 

 They filled one home with glee." 



IN the year 1812, on the 2d of June, a new household was 

 formed in the city of Edinburgh. The small group of friends 

 assembled at the wedding little thought that any beyond them- 

 selves would look back on that day with interest. So it ever is : 

 we take part in what seems an every-day occurrence, and find 

 afterwards, that, like the prophets of old, we have been by 

 word and act heralding wondrous things, sowing seed that 

 shall never cease to grow and propagate itself; uttering words 

 whose echoes shall resound throughout the eternal ages. 



The bride, Janet Aitken, the youngest of a large family, was 

 a native of Greenock, where her father lived and carried on 

 business as land-surveyor. So fragile was Janet as a child, 

 that it was not expected she could reach maturity, and her 

 mother tried to prepare her for early death. But the race is 

 not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong ; and the tender 

 mother was the first to go, leaving her desolate little girl to 



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