Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-04-28

| SceUeM rght unto q man, nut thc chu lholeol
, are the ways of death
CHATTER XVIII
Most observers would have said that MIR.
Harry Ames had led an irrepruachable life
up to the time of his financial fall. That he
should then have signed the roll of infamy
was attributed by some to sudden and over
wheming temptation, and by Others to con-
fusion of mind produced by his misfortunes.
The truth was that his reputation had
never corrcsponded with the real state of his
principles that he had long been a bad man,
though nobody knew it. This would not
have been the case il he had known il him
self for nothing is more certain 10 be re-
cognized 10y the community than substantial
qualities of character. 4 thorough knave
may conceal his vllainies, but he cannot
conceal himself and only he who has de-
ceivcd his own heart can succeed IN deceiv
ing others. II was because Harry Anes was
not conscious of his own degradation that
others did not perceive it until, by some I'M
expected overt act, he had fallen below the
standard of the worlds morality.
There were two crises in the life of this
respectable merchant upon which hinged
all that makes life worth living for. That
moment of hesitation when his conscience
pleaded for manly confession, twenty-five
years ago when he, the son Of pious pa
rents, stood before Simon Byttcs, the son of
nobody. and the scapcgrace Of the village,
refusing to confess a falschood aud to accept
| Divine aud human forgiveness HAT was the
| tufuing.poiut of his whole life His sub
sequent career took color from the indeci-
sion and the wrong decision of that moment,
and though ne was not to outward appear
| ance a wicked man, he continued from that
time to range himself on the side of evasion, |
! al 1,aatt fl,fna n ly "a
of unconscious instinct, as misleading to
himself as 10 others.
7 While a clerk, he fell into the habit of
| gambling by nsensible gradations, silcncng
his less and less eXacting conscience 10y
specious pleas of entertainments good
| fellowship" ga little excitement" and at
last iustifyiug himself 10y the necessity of
recovering what he had lost. 1T robs no
one" thought he, for me to get back my
| losmgs from Captain Jones'" A little sue
cess, cunnmgly permitted 10y his dishonest
opponent, mrcd him on until he staked
large amount. most Of it borrowed money,
and lost it. His only chance of maintaining
his respectahlity was to conceal his loss
from the public, as he had hitherto concealed
his habit of petty gambling.
Old Mr. Ames was greatly shocked when
his son was obliged to confess his guilt.
" How can it be that you, my son, have de-
graded yourself so
The thought Of the bad association with
Jones, the ex-iumseller was more to the old
man than the knowledge Of dishonest prac-
tees. Timidity before the bar of public
opinion was a trait which had descended
from father TO son, aud the senior FASTENED
to pay the borrowed sum, and to bind Harry
by all sorts of promises aud inducements not
to incur such a risk again. lie talked long
and earnestly about the folly of gambling,
and the dreadfulness of exposure and ended
his series of dissuasive talks by proposing to
set up the young man in business for him
self if he would sign an agreement not to
touch another card,
With what useless salve do men try to
heal the outbreaks Of sin The moral wrong
of lIarry's course was hardly mentioned 10y
his Gliding parent. And the establishment
of the youth in business under such pledge
only gilded the corruption which was max
ing steady progress in his heart. 1t was
natural that this hidden sore should break
out in some other direction, and the scrapes"
alluded to by Mr.. Byttes were simply the ev-
idence of it. He was relieved from one of
his greatest embarrassments by the sin
. guar beqnest Of jones' and for short time
thereafter he confined his attention to lcgiti-
mate business. But when the crafty tapper
once entangles victim, he does not let him
> free himself easily. Increased outward re-
spectability won confidence, and Mr. Ames
was placed in several positions of trust. The
treasury of the orphan asylum was placed in
his keeping. His gentlemanly manner had
contributed not little 10 this and similar
tokens of general esteem. His aunt's lesson
in boyhood, Cross-grained as higgins, had
not been lost upon him
, Wealthy Mr.. Dngs had made Mr.. Ames
sole executor of his last will and testament,
; by which document he hequeathed the resi-
due" of his estate about ten thousand
e dollars, be the same more or less after
certain legacies left to his family, to the
3 trustees Of the orphan asylum. The execu-
} tor who had up to this time employed Law
yer Byttes whenever he needed legal counsel,
S now employed man of less rcpute, and by
a his advice and assistance, was able so TO ma
nipuate said residue as IN make it appear
y much Z" less than ten thousand dollars. 10
| an honest person not versed in the subteties
e Of the law, this was downright robbery to
= one indiiferently honest, yet having q sense
- of worldly honor it was downright mean
; ness but to the disabled conscience of Mr..
t Ames, fortified by the legal bubbles of his
+ confederate, it was simply making use of a
r fair business transaction" to benefit himself.
| Real estate was sold at an unfayorable sea-
son, and " bought in cheap by agents of
y this couniying couple. Some bonds of an
t extinct corporation, which were, therefore
= worth no more than brown paper as the
lawyer represented were, nevertheless care
/ fully passed over to private hands, and after
S wards disposed of in a manner which proved
remuneratiye to all concerned but the
d actual owners OF the property.
] Yet all these strokes of luck and vii
| lainy could not save the merchants fortune
c from the couodiug power of speculation
Money accumulated without effort is spent
/ without Judgment and Mr.. Ames found
V himself on the brink of failure Just as he
5 had hoped, by marrying Miss Ellen barley, to
strengthen both his credit aud his cash cap
e ital When her almost promise was re
versed, he saw no chance of safety but by
i the dangerous and conscious crime OF sign
0 ing another mans name. This proved the
e second great crisis of his career
y Up to this time he had deceived, aud, in a
certain measure, respected himself The
1 DEVILS forte is to make plausible excuses
+ and his most skillful agents in this world
are those who impose on Others by first i'm
/ posing on themselves From the time the
4 boy deliberately rejected the pleadings OF
u conscience, the entreates of his friend, and
o the warnings of the Spirit and Word of God
;" he lost his keen perceptions of duty, adopted
:, the fatal standard Of worldly honor-a bro
| ken reed-and pursued the way of dishonol
y without knowing it. lie did, indeed, know
+ well enough that many of his practices were
a wrong but he persuaded himself that they
were not cery wrong. The end seemed al
j ways to Justify the means. He needed rec
Y reation, and so played cards for pastime 4; he
/, had been cheated of his money, and there
t fore played on to get it back he used SHARP
e practice in the matter of the asylum, but
e then, that was fair in business and if he
n failed in his mercenary suit of Ellen barley
he certainly was not the man to accept sucl
IS rejection as a rebuke to his selfish and NEAR
Il spirit All these and many other acts OF
e dishonesty and fraud, had seemed right to hi,
s. perverted moral sense but the end thereof
!, He now saw plainly, for the first time since
:. boyhood that he was on the road to spiritua
d death. The two hours spent ON board the
d night-train to New York, the day previou,
c to the conversation related in the last chap
e ter, were seeming years of torture and strug