The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-01-04


again. and were anNious 10 show the love
that was iu their hearts liut all these great
blessings, freely given hy good Providence
Mr. Nillit did MT thrn irrl tp hf blessings,
hrrausr hr bad boon disappointed iu the ad-
venture be- had made with q cargu Ui -four
liJ the time thc t''1-bcll ruHg, the cold and
silent manner Of Mr Willis had rausod all Df
his children tnshriuk from him, Two 0f fhrm
had tdlcu their books and were rcadipg. and
tle two youngest bad stolen quietly awnyand
seated themselves 90 IS distance No cheer
hl conversation passed around the table ~
U tlnc. tUf 81 WiiH hat Uutbiur ~ sHy
and single glance at bic face Wit enough a.
check iu addition, all desire IA speak,
Alcr tra, Mr. Willis retired alone, into the
p1rlor. and sat down there 20 brood over hi
disappointment, and complain against 'ruW-
drnrc for permitting Mr. Jones 20 make sew
cul thousnnd dollar profit on NE llnlr, whilg
hr made nothing, The more he thought ~
bout H. the NOW unhappy he felt, iOr,in com,
plnIuing against Providence, ho permitted
mumuring aud complaining spirits 60 have
asses o. hiH mind, which fhey hllrd with
duuhl, dissatisfaction aud nnhappiHpss. lie
Ind boon in this unpleasant state i9r nearly
half an hour when q droway feeling came
over him, llc leaned his head back against
the large chair iu which hr was sitting and
closed his ewes, He bad been sitting thus,
'IfFtlWT1 NJ RIM, r1r11T1 = TrrT-rrrrt t-''.
w1rr, 1r rrf.i fl,.. sl.-.r apDn on lookiHg -
round, au old man. whom hc had never seen
before, WIS standing Ia the room, III, face
had q serene and Benevolent look, llr ap-
preached Nlr Willis, and taking q chair that
was near him said, In low voice. while be-
looked earnestly ~ hlm--"God is good"
The words and tones of Fhr old man thrill
- through -tAr heart of Nh Willis, lie tried
10 peak, but biz tongue refused TO do usu-
al office.
"Gol f. good, resumed tho oli man, "IIc
is good lp pll and Kind even a. the complain
inp and uulhaukml, ils tender mcrcirs are
over all hs works Bat man, poor, short
sighted man, B. ever douhuug |i. goviucss
Do over seeing his plNs Dispensed with par
ii'Ii, iiIztraa ai q .'FTFr #Hd #"H"r"#s h1p'l -
Your complaint, have hccu hclrl, lie Who
because hc KNOW. what Is in man, knows
what is best for him, hls, thu, far m your
lilr, 90 di,poscd all events ~ to make them
.uhfvryc the best and highest interest Of your
immortal soul, he gave Nou an the good
things Gf this life that II vns possible to give
yuu without doing your spiritual part an IN
jury liut because lie would not curse YOU
with wealth, ynu murmurrd against hiW, aud
called hi. Providence partial and Unjust
Nvhu'd, yuu are giycu up tn the desires Of
iu abundance"
The old man, after saying this. arose slow
IS from the place whore hc had set doWuhnd
turned AWAY -wulicrri vilrutly from thv room,
llc had been gone only a trw moments, IL
seemed to Mr. Willis, when the door opened
AMI one of his clerks walked iu,. holding o
lcttcr in his haud, which be- ,1id had been
sent to tho store after hc len by a merchant
IN whose package II had come The letter
proved tn hc from the captain of the yc,scL
IN which his flour had hvcn shipped. lt,tat-
ed that he had refused to .a,l at fhr price hc
had agreed to take, n- mentioned Ia former
letter. aud had sailed f,t' II nrirhl-prirg ~
land, where he Obtained very handsome
price for the whole cargo. THIS made the
profit uf tho voyage Just four thousand dollars
10 Mr. Milhs. who was now much clatcd as
he was, before, depressed, The singular y.-
it tthc old man was ~ once forgotten, ia the
ll...a 44.lz
ed intelligence.
From this period, the life Of Mr. Willis
seemed to be- one of whirl aud rNritcmuut-
There appeared little or no noiutcr,cning space
l.Lss..-i4 -uIliG NJ -Ai--r.s iia4-ai- ili4Gt-
ter and the mornings nor hctwccu his parlnr
and hs countiug-room. lie next found him
self AZ his dusk busy with schemes for max
ingmoucy Another adventure was planned,
and executed in great haste. It was even
more successful than the first. Business in
creased NJ every point aud all his operations
were profitable. Money flowed into him rap
idly, from almost every quarter In his ca
gcrncss for his gaiu,ho scarcely allowed him
self sufficient Time TO eat aud sleep. lie took
/ no pleasure in his family the old evening
homc-circlc was broken up lie had no time
to indulge in pleasures ofths kind. The con-
sequence was that his children, as-rhcy grow
q Ia l..,t
dcrcd away.
Before these prosperous times camc, Mr.
Willis uscd'to go regularly with his family to
church, every Sabbath; but he had no in
clnation to attend public worship now. It
was irL some ta- -AiH4-lln-xnlIla u,l.! rather
stav at home and think over his plans and
business for the coming,wcck
Years went by witl the almost speed Of
DAYS. His children grew up aud passed from
! ulnlcr hia r1Eea- One sun hlcAIne- -lissiuAted.
another fell into dishonest practices, and his
oldest daughter was married to a man whose
.tuukindursa and evil courses were breaking
her heart FgIlcsc things began to disturb,
seriously, the mind of Mr. Willis. Eager as
hc was for more money, and successful as
were all his efforts TO attain it, lit, could not
be Indifferent to these sad consequences of
his neglect of his children.
One day there was presented 10 Mr. Willis
the opportunity of making "A very large sum
of money provided he would enter into n
scheme that must certainly result in serious
loss and injury 10 othors. The only thing
that made him hesitate about entering into
this scheme, was the fear that his reputation
might suffer. lie thought nothing of what
his ncighbors might lose, nor of the spiritual
injury that he would himself sustain. All
day he pondcred over the golden opportunity
that had presented itself and, in the evening,
he khll thought about it, while sitting alone,
os fac was now accustomed to do, in the par
lor, musing on plans for getting more gain
Every argument, foriand against the scheme,
was carefully weighed, and at lcngh it was
deliberately settled in his mind that he would
cntor into il, and risk all danger ofsuilerng
in the good opinion of others.
While contemplating, in pleasant mood,
the rich return he would get from this new
mode of acquiring wealth, he was disturbed
by the entrance of some one, aud looking up,
he saw the venerable old man who had visit