he saw me he seemed to feel both mortification and embarrassment at my presence but there was an air of modesty and in this young man which prevented him from exhibiting impatience for what a man more with society might have been disposed to consider an intrusion on the privacy of sorrow i believe sir i said this book which i have just found under the trees is yours i followed you with the intention of presenting it but seeing you under the influence of strong feeling i to do so until i thought you were calm not to be startled by the interruption you are very obliging sir he said to take such trouble the book is mine and i thank you not less for kindness than for your delicacy he then bowing wished me a good evening and in a hurried manner walked from the church yard by a path from that which led him to it when he was gone i went to the monument over which he had poured his sorrows for i felt i must confess an curiosity to know who it wa s that he had so ly i read on the the following simple inscription y this tomb the remains of who died on the of may aged years also of her mother elizabeth who followed her on the th of august � aged alas i thought i as i ran my eye over the inscription here be perhaps all that life contained for him of that the sweetest and most delightful of the heart cut off as he is by the conditions of his office from the cultivation and exercise of the affections deprived o all that fills the parent s eye with joy and his soul with gratitude � shut out by the force of an from the sweetest sympathies of life � from the pure emotions and privileged of humanity � from the paradise of domestic life v hich the sacred characters of father mother wife and child are permitted to enter � is it any wonder that he concentrated as his affections must be by the nature of his situation over the grave of a mother and a sister and weep with the violence of a strong man s grief how clearly can i fancy that sister perhaps his only one � the beloved companion of his childhood and his youth equal of bis joys and sorrows away day by day and hour by hour until the s of her foot the her smile or the melody of her voice is heard or seen no more when the final pang is over and she lies stretched out in the stillness of picture of departed beauty never again to turn the eye of tenderness upon a brother or a parent � never to wipe away with her own feeble hand the hope s less tears from her parents cheeks � never again affect the mirth of innocence in the languor of � father if ease that she might calm the of those who feared to lose her for oh never again to soothe them with the strong which rich in faith she could and did give of meetings beyond the grave where there is neither sorrow nor separation � never again to give them the full assurance that she for herself those promises of the gospel that are yea and amen in christ nor by the serene influence of her word and example to brighter worlds and lead the way when i contemplate her still warm with the traces of departed life silent to the wild cry of her mother s upon her name � that brother perhaps an only one raises to his lips the tender hand that was so dear to him and sees it foil down in utter by her when i fancy the father s approach to make his morning inquiry after her who in the emphasis of affection was always called aw � when i see him bring the black to have the long gray locks which descended his shoulders tied as usual by her hands and when he hears that his flower is cut down collecting all the christian within him and kneeling before the eternal throne praying to be supported � when i see him struggle his grief his lip quiver his voice become indistinct and his whole frame shake until at length remembering that she was his only and his dearest the tide of grief bursts forth with a violence which nothing can oh when i bring this before me do i not know that the sword of his soul then when i measure the short period that between may and august i can fancy the mother s disease to that of a broken she would not be comforted her complaint was that of � she gave way to and weeping because her child was after having over such melancholy images for some time i turned towards home as it was now near twilight but in order to the pleasure of the walk and the landscape i took a more path on my return i had not however advanced far until i perceived him again a little before me for he walked very slowly he was in conversation with a peasant but on noticing my approach he left him and walked on more quickly the peasant proved to be one of my own � a very good humoured man named tom whom noticed once or twice for the neat and clean manner in which he kept himself clothed a fine night your honour said tom touching his hat � a fine night tom you re on your way home i suppose � on way your honour a hard day s work sir � well tom u work for your bread and earn it honestly � and it s always the sweetest bread that s most honestly earned � why it is sir 