Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1851-04-17
al thousand dollars profit on his -four, while he
made nothing. The more he thought about it,
the more unhappy he felt; for, in complaining

al tnOuSanu doliars pront on his nOur, Wnlle m
made nothing. The more he thought about il
the more unhappy he felt; for, in complaining
against Providence, he permitted murmurinl
and complaining spirits to have access to hi
mind, which they filled with doubt, dissatisfac
lion and unhappiness. E''
He had been in this unpleasant state for near
ly half an hour, when drowsy feeling cam.
over him. He leaned his head back agains
the large chair in which he was sitting, an
closed his eyes. He had been sitting thus,
seemed to him, for only moment or two, whe
he heard the door open; on looking around, al
old man, whom he had never seen before, wa
standing in the room. His face had seren
and benevolent look. He approached Mr.. Will
lis, and taking chair that was near him, sal
in low voice, while he looked earnestly a
him God is good ..a..sr,
The words and tones of the old man thrille
through the heart of Mr. Willis. He tried &
speak, but his tongue refused to do its usua
office.
God is good, resumed the old man. sH
is good to all, and kind even to the compiainin,
and unthankful. His tender mercies are ove1
all his works. But man, poor, short-sigh,e,
man. is ever doubling his goodness; is eve
seeing his gifts dispensed with partial, in
stead of a wise and generous hand. Your com
plants have been heard. He who, because h,
knows what is in man knows what is best fo
him, has thus far in your life, so disposed al
events as to make them subserve the best AM
highest interest Of your immortal soul. H,
gave you all the good things of this life that i
was possible to give you, without doing youl
spiritual part an injury. But, because, H,
would not curse you with wealth, you mnrmur
ed against him, and called his Providence par
tial and unjust. Behold, you are given up il
the desires Of your heart. Money you can now
have in abundance
The old man, after saying this, arose slowly
from the place where he had sat down, ant
turning away, walked silently from the room
He had been gone only few moments, it seem
one of the clerks walked in, holding letter il
his hand, which he said had been sent to the
store after he left by merchant in whose pack
age it had come. The letter proved to be fron
the captain of the vessel, in which his flour hat
been shipped. 1t stated that he had refused I,
sell at the price he had agreed to take, as men
| toned in former letter, and had sailed for
neighboring Island, where he obtained yer,
handsome price for the whole cargo. Thi
made the profit of the voyage inst four thou
| sand dollars to Mr.. Willis, who was now a
much elated as he was before depressed. Tn,
singular visit of the old man was at once for
gotten, in the gladness of mind that followee
this unex pected intelligence.
From this period the life of Mr.. Willis seem
ed to be one whirl Of excitement. There ap
peared little or no intervening space between
the time of his reception Of this letter and the
morn nor between his parlor and the counting
room. He next found himself at his desk, bus,
with the schemes fo- making money. Anoih
er adventure was planned, and executed in grea
haste. 1t was even more successful than tht
first. Business increased at every point, ant
all his operations were profitable. None,
flowed in to him, rapidly, from every quarter
In his eagerness for gain, he scarcely allowed
himself sufficient time to eat and sleep. HI
took no pleasure in his family; the old evening
home circle was broken up. He had no TIM
to indulge in pleasures of this kind. The con.
sequence was, that his children, as they grew
up, felt but few attractions at home, and wan
dered away. r .'.'
Before these prosperous times come, Mr.
Willis used to 60 regularly with his family tt
church every Sabbath; but he had no inclina
tion to attend public worship now. 1t wa
irksome to him. He would much rather sta,
at home and think over his plans and busines
for the coming week.
Years went by with almost the speed of days
His children grew up, and passed from unde
his care. One son became dissipated, and au
other fell into dishonest practises, and his old
| est udukutCI WdS hdittCu W d uidH NnOSt ull
kindness and evil courses were breaking he
heart. These things began to disturb, serious
ly, the mind of Mr.. Willis. Eager as he wa
for more money, and successful as were all hi
efforts to attain it, he could not be Indifferent +
these sad consequences Of his neglect Of hi
children.
One day there was presented to Mr.. Will
the opportunity of making very large sum o
money, provided he would enter into schem
that must certainly result in serious loss ant
injury to others. The only thing that made hin
hesitate about entering into this scheme, wa
the fear that his reputation might suffer. HI
thought nothing Of what his neigllbors nigh
lose. nor Of the spiritual injury that he woul'
himself sustain. All day he pondered over tn.
golden opportunity that had presented itself
and in the evening, he still thought about it
while sitting alone. as he was now accustome,
to do, in the Parlor, musing on plans for get
ting more gain. Every argument, for an,
against the scheme, was carefully weighed, AM
at length it was deliberately settled in hi
mind, that he would enter into il, and risl
all danger Of suffering in the good opinion o
others. ~ -.l- .tit... ..--.,-..-..,.. ~
~ While contemplating. in pleasant mode
the rich return he would get from his new mod
Of acquiring wealth, he was disturbed by tn
entrance Of some one, and looking up, he saw
the venerable old man who had visited him