"The only son of his mother, and she was a widow,--" Arthur Bernard, as
he attained to manhood, seemed to realize, in person and character, all
a fond mother's fondest anticipations. His stately form, as he mingled
among his compeers, did not tower more above them, than did his lofty
mind, stored with sound principles, and embellished with varied
learning, seem to soar above their grovelling ideas, and to breathe a
higher and purer atmosphere. A glance at his countenance would have
sufficed for the most casual observer to have read, in every lineament,
the impress of a noble and chivalrous nature. Yes, gentle reader, start
not at the word =chivalrous=. It may be, from his previous conversation
on woman's foibles, that you have been, ready to form a very different
opinion,--but you are mistaken; and so will you often find yourself in
the journey of life, should you thus estimate character in general.
Deceit frequently lurks beneath the smile and honeyed words of the
flatterers, and he who believes that the avenues to woman's heart are
only accessible by such means, proves, beyond a doubt, that he has
associated with none but the frivolous, the vain and weak-minded of the
sex. Poor, indeed, is that compliment which man pays to woman, when he
expatiates on her sparkling eyes, her flowing tresses, and ruby lips, as
though she were only a beautifully fashioned creature of clay, while he
virtually ignores the existence of those higher and holier powers which
she shares in common with man, and which make her, in proportion to
their wise and careful development, akin to the angels.
Arthur Bernard was no flatterer, it is true, but chivalrous in every
sense of the word. A keen appreciator of all that is honorable and
high-minded, he could not stoop to those petty meanesses, which too
often characterize the conduct of those who flatter themselves with the
name of =gentleman=,--a title which Tennyson forcibly describes as
"Usurped by every charlatan,
And soiled with all ignoble use."
Courage to meet any emergency, firmness to resist temptation when
presented in its most alluring form, was blended with that genuine
kindness of manner, that deference towards the weak and defenceless,
which renders its fortunate possessor not only esteemed, but beloved.
Yet with so much that was admirable in mind and heart, of him it might
be said, as it was of one of old, "One thing thou lackest." Strange,
that the subject of the greatest importance should be, too often, the
one most seldom dwelt on, too frequently thrust aside, until, in the
season of affliction and the hour of death, its terrible magnitude is
first realized--realized, perhaps, forever too late. Regular in his
attendance on all the ordinances of worship, his heart had remained
unaffected; but this indifference was owing, it may be, in a measure, to
the discourses to which he was in the habit of listening from Sabbath to
Sabbath,--discourses which, while they portrayed in fairest colors the
beauty of a moral life, seemed to forget the natural depravity of the
human heart, and the necessity of the mind being fully renewed, in order
that it might carry those principles into effect.
Mrs. Bernard, though a devoted mother, and, in many respects, an
excellent woman, had never realized, for herself, "the blessedness of
things unseen." She had been contented to sail smoothly along the stream
of life, which for the most part had been ruffled by few storms, and she
almost forgot, as day after day and week after week glided past, they
were bearing her frail bark swiftly on to the ocean of eternity. There
was a time,--it seemed to her now like a dream as she looked back,--that
she had thought more of these things, for they were presented to her in
a living form, embracing, as it were, in the daily walk and
conversation of a relative, who had been for some time an inmate of her
dwelling. The lovely traits developed in the character of this lady, had
won the matron's heart, and especially had she appreciated the unbounded
care and tenderness which her friend exercised towards her children,
Ella and Arthur. But this messenger of peace passed away to a brighter
clime, and the impression made by her brief sojourn seemed to have
become erased from the memory; like the morning cloud and the early dew,
it soon passed away. Yet was she not altogether forgotten, nor had her
labors of love been entirely in vain. To her it was that Arthur had
alluded in his conversation with Miss Wiltshire, for childhood's heart
is tender and impressible, and from her instructions he had imbided many
of those lofty and noble sentiments which now characterized him; and
often, when the tide of worldliness rushed in to bear him away on its
fierce current, that gentle form would seem to stand before him, and he
would hear again, in fancy, the soft tones of that voice, beseeching him
to pause, and consider his doings.
Oh, woman, woman, how potent is thy influence, which thou exercisest, in
thy apparently limited sphere, over the human race. Thy tender hand
moulds the plastic mind of childhood; thy gentle rebuke checks the
wayward impulses of impetuous youth; thy loving sympathy and voice
counsel, cheer, and stimulate manhood; and to thee age and infirmity
look up with confidence and delight, assured that thy unwearied care
will not be wanting to smooth their passage to the tomb. Blessed office!
High and holy ministration! Well, indeed, for mankind, if woman were but
truly alive to the onerous duties and responsibilities that devolve upon
her; well for her, and those by whom she is surrounded, if instead of
being as, alas, she too often is, the encourager of man in evil, she
would ever prove the supporter and upholder of that which is good, and
by her example and persuasion,
"Allure to brighter worlds, and lead the way."
Arthur Bernard on leaving college had spent some years in travelling
through Europe, and had but just returned when our story commences. Left
in affluent circumstances at the death of his father, which had taken
place while he was yet a child, there was little necessity for exertion;
but of an active and energetic disposition, he could not remain
comparatively unemployed; and obtaining a situation in one of the
principal banks in the city, he devoted the income, acquired by it, to
aid in the diffusion of useful knowledge among his fellow-townsmen, and
for the alleviation of the wants of the helpless and distressed, for
never did the needy apply to him in vain. He looked not with a captious
eye upon their faults and follies,--did not harshly repel them because
sin had, in many instances, led to their distress, but first relieving
their bodily necessities, strove, by wise counsel, kindly administered,
to raise the fallen, cheer the hopeless, and assist the outcast and
degraded in retrieving their position, and again becoming useful members
of society.
Ella, his sister, a light-hearted girl of eighteen, over whose fair head
prosperity had hitherto scattered its richest blossoms, resembled her
brother in kindness of disposition; but her gay and volatile temper
formed a charming contrast to his grave and subdued manner. Five years
her elder, Arthur's brotherly affection was mingled with an air of
almost fatherly protection; and to him, next to her mother, she had been
in the habit of appealing, and never in vain, for advice and assistance
in any emergency; and while his gravity checked, in some measure, the
mirth which might have degenerated into frivolity, her
light-heartedness, in its turn, exercised a wholesome influence over
him, and, like the gentle breeze, scattered the clouds which sometimes
brooded darkly over his spirit.
But the declaration of Sacred Writ is, "One event happeneth to all."
None, as they beheld that united and happy family, the centre of a
numerous circle of friends, admired and beloved in the community,
imagined the change which was so soon to "come o'er the spirit of their
dream."
A few weeks only had elapsed, after the festive scene we have portrayed
in a former chapter, when one morning Ella, on entering her mother's
chamber, which adjoined her own, was surprised to find, for the hour was
unusually late, that she had not yet risen. With noiseless step she
approached the couch, and with gentle hand drew back the curtain,
thinking to wake her by a kiss, when, terrible spectacle to her
affectionate heart, she beheld her idolized mother, not sleeping as she
had expected, but every lineament transfixed and motionless in death! An
apoplectic fit,--so the physician affirmed,--must have seized her during
the watches of the night, and thus, suddenly and fearfully, had she been
called to her final account. We draw a veil over that mournful scene,
for "too sacred is it for a stranger's eye."
On her children its effect was deep and lasting. Ella especially seemed
sinking beneath the blow, and her brother, fearing for her reason, if
not her life, with gentle violence almost compelled her to bid adieu to
her native city, and, accompanied by him, seek, in change of scene, some
alleviation for the grief that preyed so deeply on her spirit.