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Article THURLOGH, THE MILESIAN. ← Page 11 of 17 →
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Thurlogh, The Milesian.
Nothing , then , could exhibit a more lamentable picture of human wretchedness , than the situation of the family after this dilapidation of their little finances . The very idea of it as I write , strikes me with horror . Their wants , their privations , their noble struggle between poverty and pride , whilst it commanded your reverence , would enlist also your softer sympathies . But it was too much—misfortunes generallsucceed one
y another . The mother died beneath the load . The tear of mourning had not well been dried , when a lingering disease attacked the father . His spirits , also , gradually declined , Jill by the united influence of sickness and distress , he too gave way , bequeathing his helpless and unprotected family to the care of their Almighty Creator alone . I would here fain pause to pay my tribute of respect over the grave of a
man with whom I associated in early life . I would fain recount those amiabilities of his nature which shed a lustre over his name , and embalm his memoiy within my bosom's fondness—but I fear I should be encroaching too far on what must be already well nigh exhausted—the reader ' s indulgence , and must therefore content myself with stating a single anecdote as a specimen of the whole , and which will also have the recommendation of
being not irrelevant to our subject , tending , as it did , in a great measure , to direct the subsequent course of our hero in a certain amiable and interesting point of aspect . It is the following -. — After the ruin of the father's fortune , and when his health became
sensibly deteriorated , his general affliction was not a little heightened by the contemplation of what would befall his progeny in the event of his death . He had no legacy to leave them , no kind friend to whose custody to consign them , and who would supply the place , if not of a parent , at least of a guardian and protector . The eldest of his sons was but very young ; not over sixteen years of age . Thurlogh , as stated , was but the third , and consequently could not at this period , scarcely have arrived at the boundary of
fourteen . His mind , however , was more matured , his port more manly , and his education more advanced , beyond any comparison , than that of any of his brothers . From these considerations and the favourable opinion he had entertained oi his disposition , combined with his belief that the " Holy Ghost had a hand , " as he would quaintly express it , " in his darling boy , " the father resolved to constitute him " governor" over the rest , and inducted
him accordingly into the office with all the solemnity of a primitive patriarch . It was by his . death-bed that the appointment took place . Having called in Thurlogh , he addressed him to the following effect : — " My child , we all owe the debt of nature , and must sooner or later discharge it . Tbe young may be called upon , but the old can expect no respite . For myself . I feel about me so many symptoms of decay—my
strength is failing , my voice so faint , and my spirits so relaxed—that I can no longer close my eyes to tbe irresistible decree which announces my approach to the end of my journey . " It were vain for me to say that I do not feel regret at those tidings : I do , the most exquisite and poignant regret . But does it proceed from a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thurlogh, The Milesian.
Nothing , then , could exhibit a more lamentable picture of human wretchedness , than the situation of the family after this dilapidation of their little finances . The very idea of it as I write , strikes me with horror . Their wants , their privations , their noble struggle between poverty and pride , whilst it commanded your reverence , would enlist also your softer sympathies . But it was too much—misfortunes generallsucceed one
y another . The mother died beneath the load . The tear of mourning had not well been dried , when a lingering disease attacked the father . His spirits , also , gradually declined , Jill by the united influence of sickness and distress , he too gave way , bequeathing his helpless and unprotected family to the care of their Almighty Creator alone . I would here fain pause to pay my tribute of respect over the grave of a
man with whom I associated in early life . I would fain recount those amiabilities of his nature which shed a lustre over his name , and embalm his memoiy within my bosom's fondness—but I fear I should be encroaching too far on what must be already well nigh exhausted—the reader ' s indulgence , and must therefore content myself with stating a single anecdote as a specimen of the whole , and which will also have the recommendation of
being not irrelevant to our subject , tending , as it did , in a great measure , to direct the subsequent course of our hero in a certain amiable and interesting point of aspect . It is the following -. — After the ruin of the father's fortune , and when his health became
sensibly deteriorated , his general affliction was not a little heightened by the contemplation of what would befall his progeny in the event of his death . He had no legacy to leave them , no kind friend to whose custody to consign them , and who would supply the place , if not of a parent , at least of a guardian and protector . The eldest of his sons was but very young ; not over sixteen years of age . Thurlogh , as stated , was but the third , and consequently could not at this period , scarcely have arrived at the boundary of
fourteen . His mind , however , was more matured , his port more manly , and his education more advanced , beyond any comparison , than that of any of his brothers . From these considerations and the favourable opinion he had entertained oi his disposition , combined with his belief that the " Holy Ghost had a hand , " as he would quaintly express it , " in his darling boy , " the father resolved to constitute him " governor" over the rest , and inducted
him accordingly into the office with all the solemnity of a primitive patriarch . It was by his . death-bed that the appointment took place . Having called in Thurlogh , he addressed him to the following effect : — " My child , we all owe the debt of nature , and must sooner or later discharge it . Tbe young may be called upon , but the old can expect no respite . For myself . I feel about me so many symptoms of decay—my
strength is failing , my voice so faint , and my spirits so relaxed—that I can no longer close my eyes to tbe irresistible decree which announces my approach to the end of my journey . " It were vain for me to say that I do not feel regret at those tidings : I do , the most exquisite and poignant regret . But does it proceed from a