HISTORY OF JASON MACK.
Jason, my oldest brother, was a studious and manly boy. Before he had
attained his sixteenth year, he became what was then called a Seeker,
and believing that by prayer and faith the gifts of the gospel, which
were enjoyed by the ancient disciples of Christ, might be attained, he
labored almost incessantly to convert others to the same faith. He was
also of the opinion that God would, at some subsequent period, manifest
his power as he had anciently done--in signs and wonders.
At the age of twenty, he became a preacher of the gospel. And in a
short time after this, he formed an acquaintance with a young woman
of wealthy parentage.[A] She was the pride of the place in which she
resided, not so much on account of her splendid appearance, as the
soundness of her mind, and her stately deportment, joined with an
unaffected mildness of disposition, and a condescension of manners,
which were admirably suited to the taste and principles of my brother.
Jason became deeply in love with her, insomuch that his heart was
completely hers, and it would have been as easy to have convinced him
that he could exist without his head, as that he could live and enjoy
life, without being united with her in marriage. These feelings, I
believe, were mutual, and Jason and she entered into an engagement to
be married, but, as they were making arrangements for the solemnization
of their nuptials, my father received a letter from Liverpool,
containing information that a large amount of money was collected for
him, and that it was ready for his reception.
[Footnote A: The name of this young woman was Esther Bruce; she was from
the state of New Hampshire.]
On account of this intelligence, it was agreed that the marriage of
my brother, as my father desired that he should accompany him to
Liverpool, should be deferred until their return. Accordingly, my
brother left his affianced bride, with a heavy heart, and with this
promise, that he would write to her and his sister conjointly, at
least once in three months during his absence. In three months after
his departure, according to agreement, a letter arrived, which indeed
met with a very warm reception, but it was never followed by another
from him. A young man who kept the post office where she received her
letters, formed in his heart a determination to thwart my brother, if
possible, in his matrimonial prospects, in order to obtain the prize
himself. He commenced by using the most persuasive arguments against
her marrying my brother; but not succeeding in this, he next detained
his letters, and then reproached him for neglecting her. Being still
unsuccessful, he forged letters purporting to be from a friend of
Jason, which stated that he (Jason Mack) was dead, and his friends
might cease to expect him. He then urged his suit again, but she still
rejected him, and continued to do so until within four months of
Jason's return, when she concluded that she had wronged the young man,
and that he was really more worthy than she had expected. The time also
which Jason was to be absent having expired without his return, she
believed that the reports concerning his death must be true. So she
accepted the hand of this young man, and they were united in the bonds
of matrimony.
As soon as Jason arrived, he repaired immediately to her father's
house. When he arrived there, she was gone to her brother's funeral;
he went in, and seated himself in the same room where he had once paid
his addresses to her. In a short time, she came home; when she first
saw him she did not know him, but when she got a full view of his
countenance, she recognized him, and instantly fainted. From this time
forward, she never recovered her health, but, lingering for two years,
died the victim of disappointment.
Jason remained in the neighborhood a short time, and then went to sea,
but he did not follow the sea a great while. He soon left the main, and
commenced preaching again, which he continued until his death.