a sprig of bays, which, after the body was deposited, was thrown over the coffin. But no words can describe my agonizing, my terrific sensations, when I reflected upon the charge which had devolved upon me. I remembered my father's words, on the evening preceding his exit, and I felt myself reduced to the necessity of assuming his place in the family; but how much was I to suffer by comparison with him, whose place I was appointed to fill: yet, had I wished to avoid entering upon my office, my mother, the friends of my father, would have borne testimony against me. They thronged around me, they entreated me immediately to take charge of the family, and to commence my arduous task by devout supplications to Almighty God. I complied with their united wishes; but no tongue can utter, no language can delineate the strong emotions of my soul; again I was convulsed, again I agonized; the whole family were inexpressibly affected. It was the most melancholy evening I had ever experienced; but my benighted spirit was suddenly refreshed, by a ray of consolation, emitted by the cheering hope, that my father's God would be my God, and that the fervent prayers he had offered up, in my behalf, would be answered in my favor. I was encouraged too by my mother, and by the friends of my father, who besought the Lord in my behalf, and who were daily reminding me of the interest, which my deceased parent unquestionably had with the prayer-hearing God. Yet, although soothed, and greatly stimulated, my new employment continued to distress and appal my spirit. The conviction of every day assured ine, that I was unequal to the arduous task I had undertaken. My mother was my ever-ready aid and counsellor; but my brothers and sisters always remembered, that I was not their father; and they were highly displeased, whenever I presumed to exercise over them paternal authority; yet this I believed to be my duty, and, that I might be in every thing like my father, I took up the rod of correction, seriously chastising my brother, for the purpose of restoring him to the narrow path, from which he had wandered. But, although I had learned of my father to use the rod, I never could make it answer the same purpose; in my hand, it only served to increase the evil, it became the signal of revolt; and, while my brother continued incorrigible, my other brothers, and my sisters, enlisted on his side. My mother, dear honored sufferer, was exceedingly distressed; she had in fact a difficult part to act; she was fearful, whichever side she might espouse, would, by creating new irritation, make bad, worse, and yet, upon an occasion so interesting, we would not allow her to be silent; she must positively attend to our appeals. But however arduous her task, she possessed discretion sufficient to meet it, and to produce an ultimatum completely satisfactory to all parties. She replied to our remonstrances, by a request to be allowed until the evening, succeeding our complaints, for serious deliberation. The interesting evening came. 'Come, my children, all equally dear to my soul: come, the doors are now shut; this is the time of evening service. There is the chair, which your pious, your affectionate father once filled. Can you remember the last time he addressed you froin that seat. Let me, my dear children, let me repeat, as well as my memory will permit, what he said to us the last time he addressed us from that chair. 'Come,' said he, 'come near me, my children,' when, folding his arms around your elder brother, and pressing him to his bosom, while shedding over him abundance of tears, and pouring out his soul in supplication for him, he most affectingly said: "I am, my dear child, hastening to that heaven, for which I have so long waited. For you, ever since you were born, I have wept and prayed; graciously hath my God inclined his ear to the voice of my supplication. He hath blessed me, by giving me to see you, before I die, prepared, by divine favor, to take my place; I leave you, my dear son, to act a father's part, when I shall be here no more; let your mother, your brothers, and your sisters, receive from you that attention, and care, they can no more obtain froin me; but, although I shall be no more with you, your God, your father's God, will never leave nor forsake you. Nay, my own beatified spirit may obtain increasing felicity, by being sometimes permitted to behold the order and harmony of my beloved family, while collected before the throne of grace, with the love of God and love of each other glowing with divine ecstacy in every bosom.' It was then, my precious children, that your devout father clasped you separately to his bosom; you remember how he then spake to you: I go, my beloved children; you will no more hear my voice from this chair; I shall no more be able to pray with you, to advise, or to direct you. But, my children, I leave with you a brother, who will perform to you the part of a father; I leave him in my place; it is my command, that he tread in my steps, as far as I have proceeded in the path of justice; and, my dear children, I conjure you to attend to his directions. The eldest son was, of old, the priest in the family of his father; and if you love me, if you love your mother, if you would prove your love to God, or even to yourselves, contribute all in your power to strengthen the hands of your brother.' You remember he then embraced each of you, and wept over you; and I pray you to remember, that you then solemnly promised, to perform all which your dying father directed you to perform. Perhaps the saint may be at this moment beholding us, in this very spot, in which, a few days previous to his departure out of time, he so affectingly, so tenderly admonished us- My mother paused, as influenced by sacred awe of the presence she had supposed. We audibly wept; we rushed into each others arms, we embraced each other, and so long as we continued together, our affection, our piety, and our devotion were uninterrupted. CHAPTER II. Record continued, until the Author's Departure from Ireland. Launch'd from the shore, on life's rough ocean tost, To my swoll'n eye my star of guidance lost; While waves, succeeding waves, my prospects whelm. By the malpractices of the second husband of my maternal grandmother, a large share of my mother's patrimony passed into other hands. I accidentally obtained intelligence of some fraudulent proceedings of the great personage, by whom it was then holden. We did not possess ability to support a prosecution for the recovery of our rights. Some time after the demise of my father, the person, who resided upon the estate, was sued for rent; to this person I communicated, in confidence, what I knew to be fact. I assured him, the great man who retained the estate had no legal claim to it; and I advised him not to pay the rent. He followed my advice, and the business came before a court of judicature. The gentleman, who sued the tenant, summoned me, as a witness, to prove that the tenant had occupied the house the specified number of years; thus I was unexpectedly present at the trial, and the inteference of Providence produced a result, far beyond our most sanguine expectations. The tenant denied the right of the landlord to demand the rent, alleging, that if he paid it to him, he might hereafter be compelled to pay it to another. "To whom?' interrogated the court. To Mrs. Murray and her children, to whom the estate in question properly belongs.' I was called upon for an explanation, and 1 boldly pledged myself to prove the truth of the testimony delivered by the tenant; adding that I could make such a statement, as would render the affair abundantly clear to their Honors. I was immediately silenced, by the lawyers upon the opposite side, who produced a deed of the contested property, signed, sealed, and delivered. I then requested the indulgence of the honorable court, while I observed, that, as I was not sufficiently opulent to procure council, I presumed to solicit permission to plead my own cause. Full consent was unhesitatingly granted; when I proved, to the satisfaction of the court, and jury, that this deed was signed, after the death of the husband of my grandmother; and further, that had the man been living, the right of disposal was not vested in him. I consumed a full hour and a half, in unfolding a scene of wickedness, not to be defended; and I closed, by grateful acknowledgemnts to their honors, for the patience they had exercised. The jury retired, and speedily returned with a verdict in favor of the tenant. I immediately entered my claim, and a trial commenced, which terminat ed in my favor; and I not only obtained the house in question, but two others, in like circumstances, to the no small satisfaction of the public, and the mortification of the great man and his lawyers. We immediately took possession of the house; and our utmost gratitude to that God, who had interposed for us, was most powerfully excited. Here I had a very large, and, in no long time, a very well-improved garden; abounding with everything useful, and beautiful; herbs, fruits, and flowers, in great abundance; and my situation was fully adequate to my wishes. Harmony presided in our family; but, alas! gradually, as by common consent, we grew more careless of our domestic duties, and more attentive to public affairs; deriving a kind of amusement from what was passing abroad, which we could not obtain at home. We had many visitors, and consequently we frequently visited; yet no individuals were so dear to us, as were Mr. Little, and his amiable family. I have repeatedly observed, that both Mr. Little and his lady, had, from the death of their sons, regarded me even with parental affection: I was only not an inmate in their dwelling; and but for the charge, which the demise of my father had devolved upon me, they would not so long have delayed proposals, which, in a most serious manner, they ultimately made to my mother. Mr. Little was rather advanced in years; he commenced his career without property, but he was prudent and industrious; his lady was equally so she brought her husband no more than one hundred pounds sterling, but she was a portion in herself. Although uncommonly economical, and careful, her charities were yet very extensive; she could assist, she observed, the children of penury, without loss; for her resource was her own augmented industry. When this amiable couple became known to us, they possessed immense wealth; and they had now but two surviving children-daughters. We were passing a pleasant evening in their hospitable dwelling, throwing the eye of retrospection over past scenes, until our hearts were greatly softened. The departed sons, the deceased husband, and father, passed in review; and were alternately the subjects of conversation and regret. At length Mr. Little thus addressed us: 'I have lost my sons, and I have long viewed you, my young friend, in the stead of my buried children: it is true, I have many nephews, and I am urgently solicited to receive one of them under my roof; but I do not feel a freedom so to do, although I must absolutely have some one to assist me in the arrangement of my affairs: and I now tender to you, my dear young man, to you, who have so long been beloved by every individual of my family-I offer to you, the place of a son in my house, in my heart. And if you, madam, will consent; and your son, thus sanctioned, will accept my proposal, he shall immediately take possession of the apartment of his deceased friend (my lamented son,) and I shall bless God for thus making up my loss.' Mrs. Little, who sat by bathed in tears, most cordially united her solicitations. The offer was too great to be rejected, we accepted it with becoming gratitude, and, what rendered a proposal so liberal abundantly more pleasing, was an appearance, on the part of our benefactors, of having received instead of conferred an obligation. I attended my mother home, with mingled sensations of pain and pleasure; pain, from the consideration, that I was leaving a family, which I had been accustomed to view as, in a very tender sense, my own; and with which I should never perhaps in like manuer again associate; pleasure, from the reflection, that I was entering upon a new scene of life, from which I had a prospect, not only of independence, but affluence. It is true, upon my departure, which took place upon the succeeding morning, I wept bitterly; so did my widowed mother, and her children; and my tears again flowed, upon entering the apartments of my dear young, friend, with whom I had passed so many pleasing hours. But, I was received by my new parents, and sisters, as the dearest of sons, and as the brother of their affection. Joy, soon exhilarated my spirits, and brightened upon my countenance: I had the warm congratulations of all my friends, for it was noised abroad, that this very opulent gentleman had adopted me as his son, and they went so far as to add, his son and heir. All this was very pleasing to me, but the kindred of Mr. Little were of course highly irritated, and I became so much the object of their envy and their hatred, that, whenever they visited their uncle, without deigning to speak to me, they studiously sought opportunities of insulting me. This gave me pain, but it did me no real injury; for, upon every instance of invidious conduct toward me, my parental friends, and their family, especially their daughters, studiously augmented their testimonies of esteem and affection. After I had passed some months with Mr. Little, he was visited by a young preacher, just entering the sacerdotal character, to whom I was much attached, and our friendship was mutual; I was prevailed upon by this preacher to accompany him upon a little journey; I departed with the sanction of my patron. I had, in the societies with which I had been connected, occasionally exhorted; and I had been frequently urged by several of their preachers to aid them in their labors. Upon this journey I was, if I may so express myself, absolutely ensnared; accompanying my friend to the assembled congregation, with an expectation of hearing him, he put his arm under mine, and helping me to ascend the temporary pulpit, erected for the occasion, he suddenly quitted me, and I was in a manner constrained to speak to the multitude. Thus, for the first time, I preached to a large concourse of serious and attentive hearers, in public; and, although at the appointed time I returned to my much-loved home, I continued, as opportunity offered, from that time forward, preaching wherever I journeyed, and even at home, when necessitated by the absence of the preacher. This made some noise in our little world; but, as it was not displeasing to my honored friends, I was not dissatisfied. My inveterate enemies, however, being the nearest relations of the family in which |
