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diff --git a/23231.txt b/23231.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4d4e84 --- /dev/null +++ b/23231.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1728 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Rich Enough, by Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Rich Enough + a tale of the times + + +Author: Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee + + + +Release Date: October 29, 2007 [eBook #23231] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICH ENOUGH*** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1837 Whipple and Damrell edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +RICH ENOUGH; +A TALE OF THE TIMES + + +BY THE AUTHOR OF +"THREE EXPERIMENTS OF LIVING." + + And while they were eating and drinking, there came a great wind from + the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell + upon them. + +Third Edition. + +BOSTON: +PUBLISHED BY WHIPPLE & DAMRELL, +No. 9 Cornhill. + +NEW YORK:--SAMUEL COLMAN, +No. 114 Fulton Street. + +1837. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1837, by +WHIPPLE AND DAMRELL, +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"Welcome," said Mr. Draper, the rich merchant, to his brother, who +entered his counting-room one fine spring morning. "I am truly glad to +see you--but what has brought you to the city, at this _busy country_ +season, when ploughing and planting are its life and sinews?" + +"A motive," said Howard, smiling, "that I am sure will need no apology +with you--_business_! I have acquired a few hundreds, which I wish to +invest safely, and I want your advice." + +"When you say safely, I presume you mean to include profitably." + +"Ay, profitably and safely." + +"I am just fitting out a ship for Canton; what do you think of investing +the sum in articles of foreign merchandise?" + +"I confess," said Howard, "I have great distrust of winds and waves." + +"Suppose you invest it in Eastern lands? many have made fortunes in this +way." + +"I am not seeking to make a fortune," said Howard, quietly;--"my object +is to secure something for my family in case of accident, and I only want +to invest what I do not require for present use in a manner that will +bring compound interest. I hope not to be obliged to take up the +interest for many years, but to be adding it to the principal, with such +sums as I may be able to spare from our daily exertions." + +"I perceive, brother," replied Mr. Draper, a little scornfully, "you have +not increased in worldly wisdom." + +"I have not been much in the way of it," said Howard.--"Mine is a still, +peaceful life--I study the changes of the atmosphere more than the +science of worldly wisdom." + +"We can get along, however, but poorly without it," replied Mr. Draper; +"the harmlessness of the dove is no match for the cunning of the +serpent." + +"True," said Howard; "but if you mean me by the dove, there is no +necessity for my venturing into the nest of serpents. I am well aware +that my habits of thinking and modes of life are tame and dull, compared +to your projects and success;--but we are differently constituted, and +while I honor your spirit and enterprise, and do justice to the honest +and intelligent business men of your city, I am contented with my own +lot, which is that of a farmer, whose object is to earn a competency from +his native soil, or, in other words, from ploughing and planting. I have +no desire for speculation, no courage for it; neither do I think, with a +family like mine, I have a right to _risk_ my property." + +"There you are wrong; every body has a right to do as he pleases with his +own property." + +"To be honest, then," replied Howard, "I have none that I call +exclusively my own. Property is given to us for the benefit of others; +every man is accountable for his stewardship." + +"But can you do better than to double and treble it every year, or, by +some fortunate speculation, convert ten thousand dollars into ten times +ten thousand?" + +"I should say," replied Howard, "if this were a certainty, it would cease +to be _speculation_, and I should feel bound to do it, within honest +means. But as the guardian of my family, I feel that I have no right to +venture my little capital in a lottery." + +"It is lucky all men are not of your mind," said Mr. Draper, rather +impatiently, and taking up his pen, which he had laid down;--"but really, +brother, I am full of engagements, and though I am rejoiced to see you, I +must defer further conversation till we meet at dinner; then we shall +have time to talk over your affairs; just now, I am wholly engaged." + +Near the dinner hour Howard went to his brother's house. It was large, +and elegantly furnished, and, what in the city is rather uncommon, +surrounded by trees and pleasure-grounds, a fine yard in front, and a +large garden in the rear. Mr. Draper purchased the place when real +estate was low, and it had since risen to more than double its original +value. Howard was conducted to the dining-room, where he found his +sister-in-law, Mrs. Draper. They met with much cordiality--but he +perceived that she was thinner and paler than when they last met. + +"You are not well, I fear," said Howard, anxiously. + +"I have a cold," replied she; and with that nervous affection which often +follows inquiries after the health, she gave a half-suppressed cough. +"Have you seen my husband?" she asked. + +"Yes, I left the stage at the corner of State Street, and went directly +to his counting-room; but I found him engrossed by business, and verily +believe I should not have obtained a moment's conversation after the +brotherly welcome that his heart gave me in spite of teas, silks, hides, +stocks, and per centage, if I had not had a little business of my own,--a +little money to invest." + +"Are you, too, growing rich?" said Mrs. Draper, with a languid smile. + +"O no," replied Howard; "we farmers have not much prospect of growing +_rich_. If we earn a comfortable living, and lay by a little at the end +of the year, we call ourselves thriving, and that is the most we can +expect." + +"You have advantages," said Mrs. Draper, "that do not belong to those who +are striving to grow rich; you have wealth that money seldom can +buy,--_time_." + +"We have our seasons of leisure," returned Howard, "and yet, I assure +you, we have employment enough to prize those periods. You would be +surprised to find how much constant occupation every season demands. +Spring is the great storehouse of our wealth, but we must toil to open +its treasures; they are hid in the bowels of the earth." + +"You remind me," said Mrs. Draper, "of the story of the farmer who had +two sons. To one he left a large sum of gold; to the other his farm, +informing him he would find an equivalent portion hid in the earth. The +one invested his money in merchandise, and made 'haste to grow rich;' the +other dug every year with renewed hope of finding the gold, and continued +planting and sowing as his father had done before him. At the end of +fifteen years, they met on the same spot, the one a bankrupt, the other a +thriving farmer. I suppose," added she, "I need not put the moral to the +end of my tale, in imitation of AEsop's fables; you will find it out." + +"It is so applicable," said Howard, "to our present conversation, that I +almost think it is an impromptu for my benefit." + +"Not for yours," said she; "you do not want it. But now tell me a little +about your fanning seasons. Spring, I understand, must be a very busy +one; but when you have ploughed and planted, what have you to do but sit +down and wait?" + +"My dear sister," said Howard, "you, who know so much better than I do +how to carry out your comparisons, can well understand that there is no +time given us for idleness; while we wait the result of one part of our +labors, we have other works to accomplish. Spring-time and harvest +follow each other rapidly; we have to prepare our barns and granaries. +Our mowing season is always one of our busiest. We have our anxieties, +too;--we watch the clouds as they pass over us, and our spirits depend +much on sunshine and rain; for an unexpected shower may destroy all our +labors. When the grass is cut, we must make it into hay; and, when it is +properly prepared, store it in the barns. After haying-time, there are +usually roads, fences, and stone walls to repair, apples to gather in, +and butter to pack down. Though autumn has come, and the harvest is +gathered in, you must not suppose our ploughing is over. We turn up the +ground, and leave it rough, as a preparation for the spring. A good +farmer never allows the winter to take him by surprise. The cellars are +to be banked up, the barns to be tightened, the cattle looked to,--the +apples carefully barrelled, and the produce sent to market. We have long +evenings for assorting our seeds, and for fireside enjoyment. Winter is +the season for adjusting the accounts of the past year, and finding out +whether we are thriving farmers. Depend upon it, we have no idle time." + +"How curiously we may follow out the cultivation of the earth with the +striking analogy it bears to the human mind," said Mrs. Draper, "in +sowing the seeds, in carefully plucking up the weeds without disturbing +what ought to be preserved, in doing all we can by our own labors, and +trusting to Heaven for a blessing on our endeavors! A reflecting farmer +must be a wise man." + +"I am afraid," said Howard, "there are not many wise men amongst us, +according to your estimation. In all employments we find hurry and +engrossment; we do not stop to reason and meditate; many good +agricultural men are as destitute of moral reflection as the soil they +cultivate." + +"At least," said Mrs. Draper, "they have not the same temptation to +become absorbed by business as merchants." + +"I believe we shall find human nature much the same in all situations," +said Howard. "There is one great advantage, however, in farming--that +is, its comparative security:--we are satisfied with moderate gains; we +have none of those tremendous anxieties that come with sudden failures, +the fall of stocks, and obstructed currency." + +"And this is every thing," said Mrs. Draper, with enthusiasm. "Nobody +knows better than I do, how a noble and cultivated mind may be subjugated +by the feverish pursuit of wealth--how little time can be spared to the +tranquil pleasures of domestic life, to the home of early affection--" +She stopped, and seemed embarrassed.--Howard's color rose high; there was +a pause. At length he said, + +"Every situation has its trials; those who best support them are the +happiest. But we are growing serious. I want to see your children--how +they compare with mine in health and size, and whether we can build any +theory in favor of a country life in this respect." + +The children were brought; they were both girls. The eldest was the +picture of health, but the youngest seemed to have inherited something of +the delicacy of her mother's constitution. + +"I can scarcely show one amongst my boys," said Howard, "that gives +evidence of more ruddy health than your eldest girl, Frances; but my +wife's little namesake, Charlotte, looks more like a city-bred lady.--O, +here comes my brother James." + +Mr. Draper entered. A close observer would have been struck with the +difference of expression in the countenances of the two brothers, +although they were marked by a strong resemblance. That of the eldest +was eager and flushed; the brightness of his eye was not dimmed, but it +was unsettled and flashing; there were many lines of care and anxiety, +and his whole air marked him as a business man. Howard's exterior was +calm, and thoughtful;--the very hue of his sun-burnt complexion seemed to +speak of the healthy influence of an out-of-door atmosphere. They were +both men of education and talent; but circumstances early in life +rendered them for a time less united. Both had fixed their affections on +the gentle being before them. James was the successful suitor. There +are often wonderful proofs of St. Pierre's proposition that 'harmony +proceeds from contrast.' Frances and Howard had much the same tastes and +pursuits. Howard's attachment was deep and silent; James's, ardent and +zealously expressed;--he won the prize. Howard's taste led him to a +country life. He was not rich enough to become a gentleman farmer; he +therefore became a working one. For years, he did not visit his brother; +but at length the wound was entirely healed by another of the fair +creatures whom Heaven has destined to become the happiness or misery of +man. Still the theory of contrast was carried through; his second love +was unlike his first; she was full of gayety and life, and gave to his +mind an active impulse, which it often wanted. Frances, in the midst of +society, drew her most congenial pleasures from books. Charlotte, the +wife of Howard, though in comparative solitude, drew her enjoyment from +society. There was not a family in the village near, that did not, in +some way or other, promote her happiness. Her information was gathered +from intercourse with living beings--her knowledge from real life. If +the two sisters had changed situations, the one might have become a mere +bookworm; the other, from the liveliness of her disposition, and the warm +interest she took in characters, a little of a gossip. As it was, they +both admirably filled their sphere in life, and influenced and were +influenced by the characters of their partners. + +"Why did you not persuade Charlotte to come with you?" said Mrs. Draper. +"Sisters ought to be better acquainted than we are." + +"I invited her," said Howard, "but she laughed at my proposing that a +farmer and his wife should leave the country at the same time. I have +brought, however, a proposal from her, that you should transport yourself +and children back with me; we have room enough in our barn-like house for +any of your attendants that you wish to bring." + +For a moment Mrs. Draper seemed disposed to accept the invitation; but +she immediately added,--"I do not like to take my children from their +schools." + +"That is just the answer Charlotte anticipated, and she desired me to +combat it with all my book-learning opposed to yours, and now and then +fill up the interstices with such plain matter-of-fact argument as she +could offer; for instance, that they would improve more in one month +passed in the country, at this fine season, than in a whole summer at +school. 'Tell her,' said she, 'to let them + + 'Leave their books and come away, + That boys and girls may join in play.'" + +"I really think, Frances," said Mr. Draper, "this would be an excellent +plan; you are not quite well, and the country air will be of service to +you and Charlotte." + +"We have so much more of country round us," said she, with an air of +satisfaction, "than most of my city friends, that I scarcely feel it +right to make trees or grass an excuse for emigration. I have as much +pleasure in seeing spring return to unlock my treasures, as you can have, +Howard. I must show you some of my rare plants. I have, too, my grape +and strawberry vines; and finer peach trees I do not think you can +exhibit." + +"I sincerely hope," said Howard, "you will enjoy this pleasure long, and +eat fruit that you have cultivated yourself: I dare say, it is sweeter +than any you can buy." + +"It ought to be," said Mr. Draper, a little seriously, "for it certainly +costs about six times as much as the highest market price that we should +pay. We live here at a most enormous rent; my conscience often twinges +me on the subject." + +"And yet I have heard you say, that you bought this place lower," said +Howard, "than any which you would now occupy." + +"That is true; but by taking down this building, and cutting the land +into lots, I might get a house clear." A slight flush passed over Mrs. +Draper's cheek. + +"I have had applications," continued Mr. Draper, "for the whole estate as +it stands; but really, it is such a source of pleasure to my wife to have +her garden and her shrubbery, that I have not listened to them." + +"Thank you," said Mrs. Draper. + +"I am doubtful, however, whether I am doing right to let so much property +remain idle and useless." + +"Not useless, brother," said Howard, "if it gives so much enjoyment to +your family. What can you do with money but purchase happiness in some +form or other? The benevolent purchase it by relieving the wants of +others, and are blessed in blessing; nor can I see why money may not as +wisely be expended in the purchase of a fine house and garden, as by +investing it in stocks, or ships and cargoes." + +"Simply because the one is dead property, and brings no interest; the +other is constantly accumulating." + +"Is there no such thing as being RICH ENOUGH?" said Howard. "Are we to +be always striving to acquire, and never sitting quietly down to enjoy?" + +"No one can look forward to that time more earnestly than I do," said Mr. +Draper. "Every wise man will fix upon a certain sum, that his reason and +experience tell him will be sufficient for his expenditures; and then he +ought to retire from business, and hazard no more.--Now, Howard, as I +must hurry through dinner, we may as well improve our time. I promised +to aid you in the disposition of your surplus money. As you have a dread +of adventure, and do not like to run any risk, I will take it myself, and +give you compound interest." + +Howard expressed his thanks. "You owe me none; it will be a matter of +convenience to me to have the use of this additional money. I only feel +some compunction in deriving that profit from it which you might yourself +reap. However, as I take the risk, and you take none, it is according to +your own plan;--and now I must be off; I have already overrun my time," +said he, looking at his watch. "If possible, I shall be at home early, +but it is a busy season; two East India cargoes have just arrived, and +several consignments of cotton from the south; all are pressing upon us." + +"My brother," said Howard, as he disappeared, "is the same active, +enterprising man he always was. I rejoice to hear, however, that he has +set some limits to his desire for wealth." + +"Our desires grow proportionably to our increase of wealth, I believe," +said Mrs. Draper. "When we began life, your brother said, if he was ever +worth a hundred thousand dollars, he would retire from business; he now +allows himself to be worth much more than that amount, and yet you +perceive our homestead becomes too valuable for our own use, because it +can be converted to money. All this, however, would be nothing, if I did +not see this eager pursuit of gain robbing him of the pleasures of +domestic life, of the recreation every father ought to allow himself to +receive from the innocent conversation and sports of his children. He +cannot spare time for travel--to become acquainted with the beautiful +views of our own country. To you, who knew him, as I did, full of high +and noble perceptions, this is a melancholy change." + +Howard was silent; he remembered his brother's early restless desire of +wealth, strikingly contrasted with his own indifference to it. Frances +judged of his character by that period of life when all that is +imaginative or sentimental is called into action;--she judged him by the +season of _first love_. She little supposed that the man who was +contented to ramble with her over hill and dale, who could bathe in +moonbeams, and talk of the dewy breath of evening and morning, as if it +came from "Araby the blest," would one day refuse to quit the bustle of +State Street, or the dark, noisy lumber of India Wharf, to gaze on the +Falls of Niagara, because it could not thunder money in his ear! that his +excursions were to be confined to manufactories, coal-mines, rail-road +meetings, and Eastern lands. This development of character had been +gradual, and she scarcely realized his entire devotion to business, till +she saw his health affected by that scourge of our "pleasant vices," +dyspepsy. She expressed her apprehensions to Howard, and begged him to +use all his influence to break the spell. + +"I can think of nothing that will have more effect," said Howard, "than +for you to accept my wife's invitation, to pass a few weeks with us in +the country. This will occasionally withdraw my brother from the city, +and it appears to me that your own health may be benefited by the +change." He was struck with his sister's altered appearance, with the +occasional flush, the short, low cough; yet she said she was well--"only +a slight cold." + +At length she promised to be with them the ensuing week, provided her +husband could make arrangements to go with her. "If he knows that I +depend on him," said she, "it will be the strongest inducement for him to +quit the city for a few days." + +Mr. Draper returned late in the evening, and had only time to complete +his business affairs with his brother, who departed early the next +morning. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The spring had returned with its new-born beauty, its swelling buds, it +tender grass; here and there a tree in the city anticipated the season of +leaves, and put forth its verdant honors. "Now, ma'am," said Lucy, who +had long been a faithful domestic in the family, "if you are going +particular, and don't expose yourself by going into the garden, and will +take the cough-drops regularly, morning and evening, you will get rid of +your cold. This is just the season when every body gets well that got +sick as you did." + +"How was that?" said Mrs. Draper. + +"Why, when the sap was going down the trees in the autumn; but now it is +going up." + +But whether the sap had already gone up, or for some other reason, which +was as clear to human perception, Francis did not shake off her wearing +cough. Mr. Draper was not alarmed at it; it was very unobtruding, and he +had become _used to it_. It was not one of those vulgar, hoarse coughs, +that, till we connect danger with it, often excites indignation in those +who are listening to an interesting narrative, or to a reader, who is +obliged to wait till the impertinent paroxysm is over. Mrs. Draper's was +quite a lady-like cough, low and gentle, and seemed rather like impeded +respiration. + +Visiters would sometimes observe, when they went away, "Mrs. Draper is +still a handsome woman, though she has lost her bloom. What a pity she +has that affected little cough! it really spoils her; it is nothing but a +habit; she could easily break herself of it, if any body would be honest +enough to tell her." This task rested with Lucy alone; but it was all in +vain. Frances took the cough-drops morning and evening, and still the +disagreeable habit remained. Mr. Draper was very little at home; and +when he was, his mind was engaged by new projects. Anxiety, however, did +not rob him of sleep: he was too successful; he seemed to have the Midas- +like art of turning every thing to gold:--his thousands were rapidly +accumulating, and half a million was now the point at which he determined +to stop. Mrs. Draper's slight cough did not attract his attention; but +if her appetite failed, he grew anxious, and feared she was not well. + +Week after week passed, and still it was impossible for Mr. Draper to +leave the city. At length, a letter arrived from Charlotte, claiming the +visit; and he substituted one of his clerks to conduct his family to his +brother's residence. Here, though not more than forty miles from the +city, Mrs. Draper found the freshness and novelty of country life. The +family were farmers, children and all. Charlotte was acquainted with all +the little details belonging to a farm, and took as much interest as her +husband did in the growth of grain, the raising of pigs and poultry, and +feeding cattle in the best and most economical manner. She displayed her +dairy with its cheese arranged on shelves, her white pans of milk, and +her newly-churned butter, which impregnated the air with its sweetness. + +It was with long-forgotten feelings of health that Frances breathed the +atmosphere around her; she perceived that her respiration was more free. +"How ignorant I was," said she to Howard, "to compare my city garden to +the country! There is music in every accidental sound. How fresh is the +air! how unlike the mornings to which I have been accustomed, where the +voice of the teamster urging on his over-loaded horse, or the monotonous +cry of the fishmonger, disturbed my slumbers!" + +Her heart beat with pleasure as she saw her children go forth with their +cousins to rural enjoyments: her tender bud, which she had often feared +would never live to unfold its beauty, her little Charlotte, she saw here +as joyous and as active as her sister. New hopes and anticipations +brightened the future. How does returning health change the prospect of +external circumstances! The cough was much less constant, and Charlotte, +who professed to have wonderful skill in curing diseases, had undertaken +to eradicate it. She did not approve of late slumbers, and every morning +she brought her patient a tumbler of new milk, and challenged her to come +out and breathe the fresh air. "Do not wait," said she, "till its wings +are clogged by the smoke of the city; come and win an appetite for our +country breakfast, our new-laid eggs: the children are hunting for them +amongst the hay, and here comes my little namesake with her prize: she +has brought hers for your breakfast." + +Mr. Draper did not arrive at the time he appointed, and Frances often +felt the sickness of hope delayed. "Deliver me from such excellent +husbands," said Charlotte to Howard, "who are wasting the best years of +their lives in acquiring wealth for their families, and yet never think +themselves _rich enough_. Here is poor Frances, kept in a state of +feverish anxiety, when rest and tranquillity are absolutely necessary for +the restoration of her health." + +The Saturday evening following, Mr. Draper arrived. He was delighted to +see his wife and children, and thought they looked remarkably well. On +Sunday morning, he walked with his brother over the farm, and calculated +the probable receipts of the year. Away from the atmosphere of business, +his mind seemed to recover its former freshness. "How beautiful this +stillness is!" said he: "it reminds me of the mythology of the heathen +world; the ancients used to say that when Pan slept, all nature held its +breath, lest it should awake him. You have made an enthusiast of +Frances; nothing will do for her now but the country." + +"My wife is anxious about the health of yours," said Howard; "she thinks +her cough an indication of weak lungs." + +"I know," said Mr. Draper, stopping short, "she is subject to a cough; +ours is a miserable climate; I hope the warm weather will entirely banish +it. I have a bad cough myself;"--and he coughed with energy. + +"I wish, brother," said Howard, "that period had arrived, at which you +have so long been aiming, that you thought yourself _rich enough_ to +devote more time to your family." + +"No one can look forward to it more eagerly than I do," replied Mr. +Draper; "but you can little understand the difficulty of withdrawing from +business. However, I fully mean to do it, when I have secured to my wife +and children an inheritance." + +Howard smiled. + +"O," said Mr. Draper, in reply to the smile, "you must not suppose my +wants can be measured by yours. Your farm supplies you with the +materials of life, and you get them at a cheap rate." + +"I give for them what you give," said Howard, "time,--and a little +more,--I give manual labor; you know I belong to the working class. In +this money-making day, men despise small gains, and yet my own experience +tells me they are sufficient for happiness. Great wealth can add but +little to our enjoyments; domestic happiness, you will allow, is cheaply +bought, as far as money is concerned, and riches cannot add a great deal +to our corporeal enjoyment. The pleasures of sense are wisely limited to +narrow boundaries; the epicure has no prolonged gratification in eating; +though he may wish for the throat of the crane, he cannot obtain it; +neither does he enjoy his expensive delicacies more than the day-laborer +does his simple fare. Of all the sources of happiness in this world, +overgrown wealth has the least that is real; and from my own observation, +I should think it the most unproductive source of satisfaction to the +possessor. I have heard of many very wealthy men that have tormented +themselves with the fear of coming to actual want, but I never heard of +one man in moderate circumstances that was afflicted with this +monomania." + +"You talk like a philosopher," said Mr. Draper, laughing, "who means to +live all his life in his tub. However, I assure you that I do not intend +always to pursue this course of hurry and business; in a very short time, +I expect to agree with you that I am _rich enough_; now, my only desire +is to hasten that period, that I may devote myself to my family." + +"Is it possible," said Howard, "that this incessant toil is to purchase a +blessing which is already within your grasp! At least I hope you mean to +devote yourself to your family now, for a few days." + +"I regret to say," said Mr. Draper, "that I must be off early to-morrow +morning. But I am thinking, as my wife and children enjoy the country so +much, that it is an object for me to purchase a snug little place where +they may pass the summer. Do you know of any such near you?" + +"Clyde Farm is up for sale," replied Howard. + +"I should like to ride over and see it," said Mr. Draper, musing. + +"Not this morning," said Howard. + +"This afternoon, then, will do as well." + +"No," said Howard; "this is the only uninterrupted day I have with my +family, and it is our regular habit to attend public worship. To-morrow +morning we will ride over as early as you please, but to-day I hope you +will accept as a day of rest from business." + +Mr. Draper had thought it quite impossible to give a part of the next +morning to his family, but he always found time for business. +Accordingly, when the morning arrived, they rode over to Clyde Farm. + +"I remember that farm perfectly well," said Mr. Draper; "it was my +favorite resort when I was a boy." + +"I remember those times too," replied Howard, "when I used to lie +stretched at full length by the side of the waterfall, getting my _amo, +amas_, and only now and then roused by the distant sound of your gun, +which put all the little birds to flight." + +"Has it still that fine run of water?" asked Mr. Draper. + +"Precisely the same," replied Howard; "this very stream that flows +through my pasture, and sparkles in the morning sun, comes from old +Clyde. Look this way, and see what a leap it takes over those rocks." + +Clyde Farm was just such a spot as a romantic, visionary mind might +choose for its vagaries,--such a spot as an elevated, contemplative one +might select for its aspirations after higher hopes, which seldom come in +the tumult of life. Mr. Draper felt at once that the place was congenial +to the taste and habits of his wife; it awoke in his own mind the +recollection of his boyish days, and from these he naturally reverted to +the days of courtship, when he talked of scenery and prospect as +eloquently as Frances. With a light step he followed his brother along +the stream that came leaping and bounding from the hills, till they +arrived at the still little lake whence it took its course. The mists of +the morning had dispersed, and the blue sky and white clouds were +reflected from its glassy surface, while on its borders the deep, dark +foliage of the woods lay inverted. Both of the brothers stood silent +when they reached the edge of the water; both were impressed with the +beauty of the scene. + +"How delighted Frances would be with this spot!" said Howard. "It is +like the calm, tranquil mirror of her own mind, which seems formed to +reflect only the upper world, with its glorious firmament. I think we +have before us two excellent prototypes of our wives:--while the clear, +peaceful lake represents yours, this happy, joyous, busy little stream +may be likened to my Charlotte, who goes on her way rejoicing, and +diffusing life and animation wherever she bends her course." + +"I wish Frances had a little more of her gayety," said Mr. Draper. + +"Depend upon it," said Howard, "they will operate favorably on each +other. I perceive already a mingling of character. I will venture to +predict, Charlotte will have a boat with its gay streamers winding the +shore before long, and persuade her sister to become the 'Lady of the +Lake.'" + +The matter was soon decided; the sisters visited the place, and were +enchanted with it; and Howard was authorized by his brother to make the +purchase. + +The house had been built many years. It was irregular in its form, and +certainly belonged to no particular order of architecture. There was a +large dining-room, and doors that opened upon the green, and plenty of +small rooms; in short, it was just such a house as Frances fancied; it +was picturesque, and looked, she said, "as if it had grown and shot out +here and there like the old oaks around it." + +Charlotte begged that on herself might devolve the care of furnishing it. +"I know better than you," said she, "what will save trouble. Banish +brass and mahogany; admit nothing that requires daily labor to make it +fine and showy. I do not despair of setting you up a dairy, and teaching +you to churn your own butter." She truly loved and honored her sister-in- +law, and trembled for her life, which she was persuaded she held by a +frail tenure. She was eager to prevent her returning to the city during +the warm season, and readily undertook to go herself and make all +necessary arrangements. Frances furnished her with a list, and left much +discretionary power to her agent. + +In the course of a few days she returned.--"We must be at Clyde Farm to- +morrow," said she, "to receive the goods and chattels of which I am only +the precursor. Your husband enters warmly into the furnishing of your +country residence, and therefore we must let him have a voice in it. His +taste is not so simple as ours, so we must admit some of the finery of +the town house; pier and chimney glasses are to be sent from it. I did +not make much opposition to this, for they will not only reflect our +rustic figures within, but the trees and grass without. How I long to +have haying-time come! You must ride from the fields with your children, +as I do, on a load of hay, when the work of the day is over, and look +down upon all the world. O Frances," added she, "if we could only +persuade your husband to turn farmer, our victory would be complete." + +"It will never be," said Frances. + +"I don't know that," replied Charlotte; "he seemed to set very little +value on the city residence, and would fain have stripped his elegant +rooms to dignify your rustic retreat; but I would not consent to the +migration of a particle of gilding or damask, but told him he might send +the marble slabs, with the mirrors,--and I speak for one of the slabs for +the dairy. But I have been more thoughtful for you than you have for +yourself: look at this list of books that I have ordered." + +Frances was surprised; she had never seen Charlotte with a book in her +hand, and she candidly expressed her astonishment that, amidst all her +hurry, she had remembered _books_. + +"Where do you think I acquired all my knowledge," said Charlotte, "if I +never open a book? But you are half right; I certainly do not patronize +book-making; and yet all summer I am reading the book of Nature. I open +it with the first snow-drop and crocus which peeps from under her white +robe; and then, when she puts on her green mantle, strewed with + + 'The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose,' + +I study the lilies of the field. Depend upon it, there is more wisdom +without doors than we can find within,--more wisdom there than in books." + +"I believe it," said Frances; "all nature speaks of the Creator,--of the +one great Mind which formed this endless variety, and can give life to +the most insignificant flower that grows by the way-side." + +"I should like to know what flower you call insignificant," said +Charlotte; "not this little houstonia, I hope; that has a perfection of +organization in which many of your splendid green-house flowers are +deficient. But that is the way with us: we call those things sublime +which are on a large scale, because they are magnified to our narrow +minds, and we can comprehend them without any trouble.--But I must not +display all my wisdom to you at once--how, like Solomon of old, I can +speak of trees, from 'the cedar-tree that is in Lebanon even unto the +hyssop that springeth out of the wall.'--And now, fair sister, + + 'Up, up, and quit your books,' + +and come with me to one of my studios--namely, my poultry-yard. I hear +the bipeds clamorous for their supper." + +"This is the woman," thought Frances, "that I have sometimes wondered +Howard, with his reflecting mind, could select as his partner for life! +Because I saw her, like the Deity she worships, attending to the most +minute affairs, I foolishly imagined she comprehended no others." + +From this time the two sisters resembled in union Shakspeare's twin +cherries growing on one stem. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The furniture arrived, and the country residence was very soon in order. +Howard took the direction of the farming part. But it was no object to +Frances to have much ploughing or planting. She loved the "green +pastures and still waters," and often repeated those beautiful lines of +the hymn-- + + "To dewy vales and flowery meads, + My weary, fainting steps he leads, + Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow, + Amid the verdant landscape flow." + +Clyde Farm was a singularly retired spot, notwithstanding its vicinity to +a country village, which, on a straight line, was about two miles from +it. But there was a high hill between, that belonged to the farm, and +was crowned with oak and chestnut trees; while here and there was an +opening which gave a perfect view of the village, with its church, +academy, and square four-story tavern, with windows enough to give it the +appearance of a huge lantern. The high road was a mile from the house, +and no dwelling was nearer. The hill overlooked one of those New England +landscapes that could not be wrought into a well-composed picture; +objects were too abundant; it was dotted with farms and sheets of water; +and beyond, the beautiful Merrimac wound its way. On this spot, Frances +had a little open pavilion erected, and it was her resort at sunset. As +her health improved, her mind opened to the impressions of happiness, and +she grew almost gay. "There is but one thing more," said she to her +brother and sister, "that I now desire in this world." + +"Always one thing wanting for us poor mortals!" said Charlotte; "but let +us hear what it is." + +"That my husband, who is the liberal donor of my enjoyment, should +partake of it." + +"Pray be contented," replied she, "and let him enjoy himself in his own +way." + +"I have a letter for you," said Howard, "that came enclosed in one to +me;" and, with an air of hesitation, he gave it to her. + +Frances hastily took it; her color came and went as she read. It +informed her, that the offers her husband had received for his estate in +town had not only opened his eyes to its value, but had convinced him +that, as a patriotic citizen, he had no right to retain it for his +private use; he had therefore come to the conclusion to reap the benefit +himself which other speculators had proposed to do. He should take down +the house, make a street through the land, divide it into small lots, and +erect a number of houses upon it, one of which he meant to reserve for +himself. "I should regret what I conceive to be the necessity of this +thing," he added, "if you were not so perfectly satisfied with your Clyde +residence. As you will always repair to it early in the spring, it +matters little if you return to walls of brick and mortar in the autumn." + +We pass over the involuntary tears that followed this communication, as +speculators would pronounce them unreasonable. It now became necessary +for Frances to visit the city to make arrangements, and take a last leave +of her pleasant mansion. In justice, it must be said, she thought less +of her own deprivation than of the new accession of care and toil that +her husband was bringing upon himself.--When she returned to Clyde, she +had lost by fatigue nearly all the health she had previously gained. + +Most people have witnessed the rapidity with which the work of +destruction goes on in modern days. In a very short time the splendid +mansion was a pile of ruins, a street laid open, and buildings erecting +on the spot. + +Mr. Draper's visits to Clyde had been hitherto confined to the Sabbath, +and generally terminated with it: but he now wrote to his wife that he +intended to "pass a month with her. It was a comparative season of +leisure; his vessels had sailed, his buildings were going on well, and he +should be able to enjoy the quiet of the country." + +Frances received this intelligence with new-born hope. She felt certain, +that one month, passed amidst the tranquil pleasures of the country, +would regenerate his early tastes. She talked eloquently of the +corrupting atmosphere of the city, and was sanguine that now all would go +well; that his inordinate engrossment in business would yield to the +influences by which he would find himself surrounded. And so it turned +out, for a few days. Mr. Draper was as happy as an affectionate husband +and father must naturally be, reunited to the objects of his tenderness. +He said that "he felt uncommonly well, had much less of the dyspepsy than +he had experienced for years," followed his little girls to their +favorite haunts, and seemed to realize the blessing of leisure. Howard, +with his family, passed the third day with them. Towards evening, they +all ascended the hill. Mr. Draper was struck with the extensive view, +and the beauty of his wife's domain, for he scrupulously called it her +own. "What a waste of water!" he exclaimed. "What a noble run for mills +and manufactories!" Poor Frances actually turned pale; but, collecting +her spirits, she said, "It is hardly right to call it a _waste_ of +water." + + "Liberal, not lavish, is kind Nature's hand." + +In the mean time, Mr. Draper had taken his pencil, and on the back of a +letter was making lines and dashes. "Look here," said he to Howard. "See +how perfectly this natural ledge of rocks may be converted into a dam: it +seems precisely made for it: then, by digging a canal to conduct the +water a little to the left, there is a fine site for a +cotton-manufactory, which, built of granite, would add much to the beauty +of the prospect. Just here, where that old tree is thrown across the +stream, a bridge may be built, in the form of an arch, which also must be +of stone. It will make the view altogether perfect." + +"I cannot think," said Howard, "the view would be improved; you would +have a great stone building, with its countless windows and abutments, +but you would lose the still, tranquil effect of the prospect, and take +much from the beauty of the stream." + +"Not as I shall manage it," said Mr. Draper. "I am sure Frances herself +will agree with me that it adds fifty per cent. to the beauty of the +prospect when she sees it completed." + +In vain Frances protested she was satisfied with it as it was; the month +that she had hoped was to be given to leisure was one of the busiest of +her husband's life. Contracts were made--an association formed. Mr. +Draper was continually driving to the city, and mechanics were passing to +and fro. Clyde Farm began to wear the appearance of a business place. A +manufacturing company was incorporated under the title of the Clyde +Mills. The stillness of the spot was exchanged for the strokes of the +pickaxe, the human voice urging on oxen and horses, the blasting of +rocks; the grass was trampled down, the trees were often wantonly +injured, and, where they obstructed the tracks of wheels, laid prostrate. +Frances no longer delighted to walk at noon day under the thick foliage +that threw its shadow on the grass as vividly as a painting. All was +changed! It is true she now saw her husband, but she had but little more +of his society; his mind and time were wholly engrossed; he came often, +and certainly did not, as formerly, confine his visits to the Sabbath. + +All went on with wonderful rapidity; story rose upon story, till it +seemed as if the new manufactory, with its windows and abutments, was +destined to become another Babel. When Charlotte came to Clyde, she +gazed with astonishment. "All this," said she to Howard, "is the project +of a speculator! Grown men now-a-days remind me of the story of the boy +who planted his bean at night, and went out in the morning to see how it +grew; he found it had nearly reached the chamber windows; he went out the +next morning, and it was up to the eaves of the house; on the third +morning, it had shot up to the clouds, and he descried a castle, or a +manufactory, I don't know which, on the top of it. Then it was high time +to scale it; so up, up, he went, and when he arrived at the building, he +put his foot into it, and then he perceived it was made of vapor; and +down came bean, castle, and boy, headlong, in _three seconds_, though it +had taken _three whole days_ to complete the work." + +"You must tell your story to my brother," said Howard. + +"No," replied Charlotte; "he would not profit by it; but I will tell it +to my children, and teach them to train their beans in the good +old-fashioned way, near the ground." + +Thus passed the autumn at Clyde; that period which every reflecting mind +enjoys as a season of contemplation; that period when our New England +woods assume every variety of color, and shine forth with a splendor that +indicates decay. Still the two families had much enjoyment together; the +health of Frances and little Charlotte had decidedly improved; but when +the leaves began to fall, and the wind to whistle through the branches, +they quitted Clyde and returned to the city. Their new house was not +ready for them, and they were obliged to take lodgings at one of the +hotels. + +Mr. Draper met Dr. B., their friend and physician, in his walks, and +begged him to call and see his wife. "I rejoice to say," said he, "that +her health does not require any medical advice; she is quite well." + +Probably Dr. B. thought otherwise, for he suggested the advantage that +both she and the little girl might derive from passing the winter in a +warm climate. Never was there a fairer opportunity; they had no home to +quit, and their residence at a hotel was one of necessity, not of choice. +But Mr. Draper said it was quite impossible. What! leave his counting- +room, State Street, India Wharf, the insurance offices! leave all in the +full tide of speculation, when he was near the El Dorado for which he had +so long been toiling! when Eastern lands and Western lands, rail-roads +and steam-boats, cotton, and manufactories, were in all their glory; when +his own Clyde Mills were just going into operation! It was impossible, +wholly impossible; and Frances would not go without him. The suggestion +was given up, and she remained in the city almost wholly confined to the +atmosphere of a small room with a coal fire. Unfortunately the measles +appeared among the children at the hotel, and Mrs. Draper's were taken +sick before she knew that the epidemic was there. They had the best +attendance, but nothing supersedes a mother's devotion. Frances passed +many a sleepless night in watching over them. With the eldest the +disorder proved slight, but it was otherwise with the youngest; and when +she began to grow better, the mother drooped. It was a dreary winter for +poor Mrs. Draper, but not so for her husband. Never had there been a +season of such profits, such glorious speculations! Some _croakers_ said +it could not last; and some of our gifted statesmen predicted that an +overwhelming blow must inevitably come. But all this was nothing to +speculators; it certainly would not arrive till after _they_ had made +their millions. + +Spring approached, with its uncertainty of climate; sometimes, the +streets were in rivers, and the next day frozen in masses; then came +volumes of east wind. Mrs. Draper's cough returned more frequently than +ever, and Charlotte looked too frail for earth. The physician informed +Mr. Draper that he considered it positively necessary to remove the +invalids to a milder climate, and mentioned Cuba. Mr. Draper, however, +decided that an inland journey would be best, and, inconvenient as it +was, determined to travel as far as some of the _cotton-growing_ states. +After the usual busy preparations, they set off, the wife fully realizing +that she was blighting in the bud her husband's projected speculations +for a few weeks to come, and feeling that he was making what he +considered great sacrifices. + +Almost all invalids who have travelled on our continent in pursuit of +uniformity of climate, have been disappointed. At New York they were +detained a week by a flight of snow and rain, shut up in dreary rooms; +then came a glimmering of sunshine, and Philadelphia looked bright and +serene; but at Baltimore the rain again descended. They were so near +Washington, Mr. Draper thought it best to hurry on, with every precaution +for the invalids. At Washington, they found the straw mattings had +superseded woollen carpets, and the fire-places were ornamented with +green branches. They continued their journey south till they at length +arrived at Charleston. Here they found a milder climate, and a few days +of sunshine. Mr. Draper was no longer restless; he had full employment +in shipping cargoes of cotton, and making bargains, not only for what was +in the market, but for a proportion of that which was yet to grow, as +confidently as if he had previously secured the rain and sunshine of +heaven. There is a constant change of weather on our coast--another +storm came on. The little invalid evidently lost rather than gained. +Discouraged and disheartened, Frances begged they might return. "One +week at Clyde, where they might have the comforts of home, would do more +for them," she said, "than all this fruitless search for a favorable +climate." When Mr. Draper had completed his bargains, he was equally +desirous to return to the city, and at the end of a tedious journey, over +bad roads in some parts of it, rail-roads in others, and a tremendous +blow round Point Judith, the travellers arrived at Boston on one of those +raw, piercing, misty days, that seemed to have been accumulating fogs for +their reception. The physician hastened their departure to Clyde, as it +was inland and sheltered from the sea. This removal was made, and then +they had nothing to do but to get well. Howard and Charlotte were +rejoiced at the reunion, and the feeble little invalid tried to resume +her former sports with her cousins. But all would not answer, and when +June came on, with its season of roses, she slept at the foot of the +mount. It was a retired spot that the mother selected for the remains, +and only a temporary one, for they were to be removed to Mount Auburn at +the close of autumn. + +It were well if we could receive the events of Providence in the sublime +simplicity with which they come, but the sensitive and tender-hearted +often add to their poignancy by useless self-reproach. Frances thought +the journey had, perhaps, been the cause of the child's untimely death, +and lamented that she had not opposed a measure which she had undertaken +solely for its benefit. The death of friends is a calamity that few have +not strength enough to bear, if they do not exaggerate their sufferings, +by imagining that something was done, or left undone, for which they were +responsible. To this nervous state of feeling Frances was peculiarly +liable, from her ill health; and it was many weeks before her excellent +powers of mind obtained full exercise. Yet they finally triumphed, and +she became first resigned, then cheerful. The sorrow of the father was +of a different character, and exhausted itself in proportion to its +violence. It was followed by new projects and new anticipations; the +manufactory had succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. A +discovery had been made that enabled them to afford their cloth a cent +per yard cheaper than any other manufacturing establishment. Bales of +cotton poured in upon him from the south, and ships arrived from various +parts of the world. How could he find time for grief! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The first visit Frances made to the lake after her return, discovered to +her, that it was sadly changed. It was no longer full to overflowing, +but swampy and low; the water was constantly drained off to supply the +manufactory and mills which were erected at a distance. Mr. Draper had +found out that the little stream could much more than earn its own +living, and it was made to work hard. One thing, however, was wanting to +complete his Clyde speculations, and that was a rail-road. This had now +become necessary. Every thing afforded the greatest facility for it. +Laborers could be procured from the village and farms in the vicinity. +Yet how could he reconcile his wife to it? The road must pass through +the hill, and near the house. He was aware that it would destroy the +rural beauty of the place; but what an increase of wealth it would be! +what a princely revenue! what a spirit of business and speculation it +would spread through the country! Every man would be able not only to +make the most of his capital, but to get credit to ten times its real +amount. He considered it a public benefit, and he was imperiously called +to accomplish it; and so he stated the matter to his wife with as much +tenderness towards her feelings as the case would admit. + +"I hoped," said she, "that the sum of your public benefits was completed +by our sacrifice in the city." + +"That is not spoken with your usual generous feeling, Frances," replied +he. "When are patriotic exertions to cease? Are we not called upon to +be constantly making them?" + +"Howard would say it is injuring the cause of the country to turn +agriculturists into speculators," said Frances. + +"Howard is an excellent man," replied Mr. Draper; "he is born to be a +farmer, and nothing else. I have no wish to change his vocation; he +dignifies it by uniting intelligence with manual labor; but there are +many who are toiling merely for money, and they can get much more by my +method than his." + +"Will their happiness be increased?" said Mrs. Draper. + +"Certainly, inasmuch as wealth procures the means of happiness." + +"Have _you_ found it so?" again asked Frances. + +"Not precisely. I am still toiling; my season for rest and enjoyment has +not arrived." + +"And yet," said Frances, "Howard is _rich enough_ for enjoyment. You +have already a great estate; let me ask, what advantage you derive from +it beyond your daily meals? You take care of this immense property; you +are continually increasing it, and all the compensation you get is a +_bare living_. Would any of the clerks you employ in your counting-room +labor for such low wages?" + +"My dear Frances," said Mr. Draper, affectionately, "I am always +contented to admire your ingenuity without combating your arguments. +Perhaps it might be better, if you had cultivated a little more of the +_rationale_ of life." + +"Well," replied she, languidly smiling, "I am going to prove to you, that +I have profited by your example, and am becoming a business wife. You +call this farm _mine_, and tell me you bought it for me?" + +"Certainly; all I have is yours." + +"I claim no title to any thing but this; but this I consider your gift, +and as such accept it." + +Mr. Draper certainly did not look delighted at this unexpected statement, +and began to tremble for his rail-road; but he remained silent. + +"You have undoubtedly greatly increased the actual value of Clyde Farm, +by mills and manufactories?" + +"Certainly I have; but all is in a manner useless without the rail-road +as a means of transportation: that will put every thing into complete +operation, and make the revenue princely." + +"Then," said Frances, "I can have no hesitation in making my offer. I +will sell this place to you for what you gave for it. Secure the sum to +me outright, and I renounce my title to Clyde Farm. Make it, if you +please, wholly a manufacturing place; do not consult me whether there +shall be rail-roads or mills." + +"Upon my word," said Mr. Draper, "with an estate like mine, I should be +mortified to make such a paltry purchase of my wife. It is for you and +our only child that I am accumulating a fortune. Have you ever found me +sordid or tenacious of money, that you wish a certain sum secured to +you?" + +"Never," said she with emotion; "all that money can purchase, you have +been most liberal in procuring me. Would that you were as generous to +yourself!" + +"We all have our own ideas of happiness," said Mr. Draper; "but since it +is your wish, Frances, I will close with your proposal, and secure to you +twenty thousand dollars, which is a little more than I paid for Clyde +Farm. Legal instruments shall be immediately drawn up; and to convince +you that I wish for no control over that sum, I will have it put in +trust." + +"Let the instrument be so worded," said Frances, "that it shall revert to +our child at my death." + +"As you please," said Mr. Draper, coldly; "it is all the same to me." + + + + +CHAPTER V.--CONCLUSION. + + +From this time, Clyde Farm became wholly a place of business. No regard +was now paid to the beauty of the place. Iron-manufactories, +nail-manufactories, and saw-mills, were projected, and all was hurry and +bustle. One more pang, however, remained for Frances. The sequestered +nook she had selected, where her little Charlotte's remains were +deposited,--that spot, so still, so tranquil, so shaded by trees, and so +sheltered by valleys, so removed apparently from the tumult of +business,--over that very spot, it was found necessary for the rail-road +to pass! Strange as it may seem, the worldly father appeared to feel +more deeply this innovation than the mother. + +Twice he repaired to the spot to give his directions for the removal of +the remains, and twice an impetuous burst of sorrow drove him from it. + +"It is only a temporary resting-place, even for the body," said Frances; +"the spirit is not there." She looked calmly on, and gave those +directions for which the father was unable. + +Another winter was now advancing, and the house in the city was ready for +occupancy. Mrs. Draper made her preparations to return, but they were +often interrupted by a pain in her side. The cough had entirely changed +its character; it was now deep and hollow. She certainly looked +remarkably well; her complexion seemed to have recovered the delicacy and +transparency of early youth, and her eyes their lustrous brightness. As +for the color of her cheek, her husband sometimes playfully accused her +of extracting rouge from her carnations. + +Charlotte spoke to him doubtingly of his wife's health, and Lucy said she +"was afraid she would not stand the frosty nights when they came on." But +Mr. Draper was sanguine that Clyde had been her restoration. + +When she arrived at the city, there were arrangements to be made, and new +furniture to be procured. Her husband gave her full permission to do +just as she pleased, only begged of her not to call upon him, for he had +not one moment to spare. + +Frances exerted all her strength, but it became evident that she drooped. +Her nights were restless; and though some thought it encouraging, that +she coughed so much _stronger_, it was exhausting to her frame. + +Mr. Draper at length perceived that she had rather lost than gained; he +went for her physician, and requested him to recommend quiet to her. "I +think," said he, "she has over-fatigued herself." + +Dr. B. came to see her, conversed with her, counted the throbbings of her +pulse, and made a minute examination of her case. The conference was +long; when he entered the parlor, he found Mr. Draper waiting. He +received him with a smile; but there was no responsive smile on the +doctor's face; it was solemn and thoughtful. + +Mr. Draper grew alarmed. "You do not think my wife very sick, I hope," +said he. "Her cough is troublesome; but you know she has long been +subject to it. Indeed, I think it is constitutional, like my own. You +recommended the white mixture to her last year: it did her good." + +"I recommended a voyage and a warm climate," said the physician. + +"Yes, I remember you did; but it was impossible for me to go away then. +In the spring we took that unlucky journey; however, it was of benefit to +her, and if you think it necessary, I will go the same route now." + +"I do not," replied Dr. B. + +"I am glad of it; it would be particularly inconvenient to me just now to +leave the city. Times are perplexing: bills come back protested--bad +news from England--sudden and unlooked-for failures--no one can tell +where it will end. We have been obliged to stop our works at Clyde Farm, +and there are from ninety to a hundred laborers thrown out of employment. +This is peculiarly vexatious to me, as they made out before to earn a +living in their own _humdrum_ way, and they now accuse me of having taken +the bread from their children's mouths, to promote my own speculations, +though, while I employed them, I gave them enormous wages. But this, +sir, is the gratitude of the world." + +The doctor still remained silent. It seemed as if Mr. Draper began to +tremble for something dearer than money, for he grasped the hand of the +physician. + +"You do not think my wife dangerously ill, I trust," said he. + +The doctor replied, in a low voice, "I fear she is." + +"Impossible!" exclaimed Mr. Draper; "she was remarkably well when we left +Clyde. But what do you prescribe? I will do any thing, every thing, say +but the word. I will take her to Europe--I will go to any part of the +world you recommend." + +The physician shook his head. + +"My dear doctor, you must go with us. I will indemnify you a thousand +times for all losses; you can save her life; you know her constitution. +When shall we go? and where? I will charter a vessel; we can be off in +three days;"--and he actually took his hat. + +Dr. B. said impressively, "Pray be seated, and prepare yourself to hear, +like a man, what you must inevitably learn. It will not answer any +useful purpose to go to a milder climate; it is now too late!" + +"You do not mean to say," said Mr. Draper, impetuously, "that if she had +gone last year she would have been restored?" + +"No, I do not mean to say that; but then, there would have been a chance; +now, there is none." + +"Why did you not tell me so, sir?" said Mr. Draper, angrily. + +"I said all that I was authorized to say. When I urged the step as +necessary, you replied that it was impossible." + +"It is too true!" exclaimed he, striking his forehead; "and yet she is +dearer to me than my own life;"--and, unable to suppress his feelings, he +burst into an agony of tears. Suddenly starting up, he said, "Doctor, I +have the highest respect for your skill; but you are fallible, like all +men. It is my opinion, that a sea voyage and change of climate will +restore my wife. If you will go with us, so much the better; if not, I +will seek some other physician to accompany her." + +"It is but right to inform you," said Dr. B., "that there is no chance of +restoration. I suggested to her, that there might be alleviation in a +warm climate; but she positively declines seeking it, and says her only +wish is to die quietly, at home. She fully estimates the strength of +your affection, and entreats of you to spare her all superfluous +agitation. 'Tell him,' said she, 'there is but one thing that can +unsettle the calmness of my mind; it is to see him wanting in Christian +resignation.'" + +It would be painful to dwell on the anguish that followed this +communication. Mr. Draper realized, for the first time, the tenderness +and watchfulness that a character and constitution like his wife's +required. In the common acceptation of the word, he was an excellent +husband; yet, in his eager pursuit of wealth, he had left her to struggle +alone with many of the harassing cares of life. He had, by thinking +himself unable to accompany her, denied her the necessary recreation of +travelling; he had deprived her of her favorite residence in the city, +and when she turned her affections to Clyde, even there they found no +resting-place. + +He recollected their unpropitious journey--the exposure to cold and +rain--that he had hurried on the invalids, till he had accomplished his +own purposes. One had already gone; the other was fast following. +Speculators have consciences and affections, and his were roused to +agony. + +Frances shrunk not from the hour of death, which rapidly approached. +Howard and Charlotte were constantly with her. There was nothing gloomy +in her views. She considered this life as a passage to another; and saw +through the vista immortality and happiness. To Charlotte, she +bequeathed her daughter, and this faithful friend promised to watch over +her with a mother's care. + +Many and long were her conversations with her husband--not on the subject +of her death, or arrangements after it should take place; but she was +earnest that her serenity, her high hopes, might be transferred to his +mind. She had often, in the overflowings of her heart, endeavored to +communicate to him her animated convictions of a future life. Those who +live constantly in the present think but little of the future. Mr. +Draper usually cut short the conversation, with the apparently devout +sentiment,--"I am quite satisfied on this subject; + + 'Whatever is, is right.'" + +Now, however, when he realized that the being he most tenderly loved was +fast retreating from his view, he felt that there was a vast difference +between the reasonings of philosophy and the revelations of Christianity; +and, in the agony of his soul, he would have given worlds for the +assurance of a reunion. On this subject Frances dwelt; and he now +listened patiently, without once looking at his watch, or being seized +with one of his paroxysms of coughing. Still, however, he doubted; for +how could he trust without _bonds_ and _contracts_? No one had come back +to tell him _individually_ the whole truth. + +"I acknowledge," said he, somewhat reproachfully, "that this conviction +is earnestly to be desired. If saves you from the agony that at this +moment rends my heart." + +"My dear friend," replied Frances, in a voice interrupted by deep and +solemn emotion, "religion is not given us for an opiate to be used at a +last extremity, merely to lull the sense of pain. The views I express +are not new to me; they have been for many years my daily food; they have +supported me through hours of bodily anguish; . . . the human frame does +not decay as gradually as mine without repeated warnings; . . . they will +conduct me through the dark valley of death, when I can no longer lean +upon your arm . . . Their efficacy does not merely consist in soothing +the bitterness of parting; they have a health giving energy that infuses +courage and fortitude amidst the disappointments and evils of life." + +"Henceforth," exclaimed Mr. Draper,--and at that moment he was +sincere,--"every thing of a worldly nature is indifferent to me!" + +"All men," continued Frances, without replying to his exclamation, "are +subject to the reverses of life, but particularly men of extensive +business connections. They are like the spider in his cobweb dwelling; +touch but one of the thousand filaments that compose it, and it vibrates +to the centre, and often the fabric is destroyed that has been so +skilfully woven. There is a divine teaching in religion, which at such +times restores equanimity to the mind, gives new aspirations, and proves +that all in this life is not lost, and nothing for that to come." + +New scenes were opening upon Mr. Draper. It became evident that a dark +cloud hung over the business atmosphere. Unexpected failures every day +took place. Some attributed the thick-coming evils to the removal of the +deposits, others to interrupted currency; some to overtrading, and some +to extravagance. Whatever was the cause, the distress was real. Mr. +Draper's cotton became a drug in the market; manufactories stopped, or +gave no dividends. Eastern lands lost even their nominal value, and +western towns became bankrupt. Ships stood in the harbor, with their +sails unbent and masts dismantled. Day laborers looked aghast, not +knowing where to earn food for their families. The whirlwind came; it +made no distinction of persons. "It smote the four corners of the +house," and the high-minded and honorable fell indiscriminately with the +rest. Well may it be asked, Whence came this desolation upon the +community? No pestilence visited our land; it was not the plague; it was +not the yellow fever, or cholera. Health was borne on every breeze; the +earth yielded her produce, and Peace still dwelt among us. + +Mr. Draper felt as if "his mountain stood strong," yet it began to +totter. Frances was ignorant of the state of public affairs. Who would +intrude the perplexities of the times into a dying chamber? Softly and +gently she sank to rest, her last look of affection beaming upon her +husband. + +The next morning, the bankruptcy of Mr. Draper was announced. No blame +was attached to him, though the sum for which he became insolvent was +immense, and swallowed up many a hard-earned fortune. Where was Howard's +little capital?--Gone with the rest--principal and _compound interest_! + +"I am a ruined man!" said Mr. Draper to Howard; "I have robbed you, and +beggared my child; but one resource remains to me;"--and he looked around +with the desperation of insanity. + +Howard grasped his hand. "My dear brother," said he, "your wife, with an +almost prophetic spirit, foresaw this hour. 'Comfort him,' said she, +'when it arrives, and lead his mind to higher objects.' Your child has +an ample provision, by the sum settled on her mother. I have lost +property which I did not use, and, with the blessing of God, may never +want. Come home with me; I have means for us both. You will have all +the indulgences you ever coveted. No one has led a harder life than you +have. You have labored like the galley-slave, without wages; come, and +learn that, beyond what we can use for our own or others' benefit, wealth +has only an imaginary value." + +Perhaps it was an additional mortification to Mr. Draper, to find that, a +few days after his failure, the banks concluded to issue no specie. Many +were kept along by this resolution; while others stopped, with the +conviction, that, had they been contented with moderate gains, they +might, in this day of trouble and perplexity, have been RICH ENOUGH. + +FINIS + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICH ENOUGH*** + + +******* This file should be named 23231.txt or 23231.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/2/3/23231 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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