CHAPTER V.

"Oh! man may bear with suffering: his heart
Is a strong thing, and godlike in the grasp
Of pain that wrings mortality; but tear
One cord affection clings to, part one tie
That binds him to a woman's delicate love,
And his great spirit yieldeth like a reed."

ONE month after the scene described in the foregoing chapter, the evils there anticipated, were realized to a fearful extent by the Cecil family. Having already exhausted every possible channel for relief, the unhappy, and now awakened author of all this ruin, saw in what a fatal position he stood.

There remained but one quarter where he had not sought assistance. It was the last to be applied to, and that application cost the proud heart of the still highminded Cecil more than any other. It was to his rich and powerful sister he at length addressed himself, for the innocent victims to his blind extravagance. For their sakes, he humbled himself to supplication; but as we have before related, was spurned with bitter reproaches and denial. Nothing then remained for him but to leave England, with as much expedition and secrecy as possible, otherwise his arrest would have inev itably occurred, to have heaped still further misery, on the heads of his unhappy wife and family. They would joyfully have accompanied him in his flight, but there were two obstacles to this;-the illness of the youngest child; and the fragile strength of Mrs. Cecil, whose trials, added to her expectation of adding in a few months, another to the number of the little helpless be

ings who surrounded her, rendered her health too precarious for even the undertaking of a few hours' journey.

Sad was the parting between the heart-stricken husband and his adored wife. Her fainting spirit sank within her, at the desolate prospect of his absence, at a time, when his cheering voice, that had whispered solace to her sufferings-his kiss of affection to the mother and new-born babe, seemed her only earthly support-a support now more than ever to be desired: and he-what pen can describe the anguish that bent him to the earth, as he turned from that abode which, like a rich casket, contained all his precious treasures, to seek a shelter in a distant land!

It were a vain and painful task to follow Captain Ce'cil through all the trying scenes, preceding and connected with his hurried departure. The parting injunctions to his noble Herbert; the prayer to his gentle Evelyn that she would struggle with misfortunes for his sake; the tears shed over the affrighted children, who, comprehending nothing of the distress around them, still wept piteously at his leaving them; and then the death-struggle it was to tear himself from his half-expiring wife; and heart-broken with affliction, to have to mingle with the crowd-to act and think on affairs, unconnected with the dear ones he had left!

"Oh! when the heart is full-when bitter thoughts
Come crowding thickly up for utterance,

And the poor common words of courtesy

Are such a very mockery-how much

The bursting heart may pour itself in prayer!

He pray'd-and his voice went up

Strongly and fervently. He pray'd for those

Whose love had been his shield-and his deep tones
Grew tremulous."

Thus it was with the unfortunate Captain Cecil. Even amidst the wretchedness and disgrace of a lonely flight, he found solace and strength in the prayers he addressed to Heaven; and though thick sobs choked his utterance, as he supplicated the protection of the

Almighty, for the wife of his bosom, and his beloved children, the first night that found him so widely separated from them, still he was soothed by his devotions, and relieved by the tears the act called forth.

Captain Cecil was so universally beloved, that everything had been conducted with as much delicacy as possible, in the distressing circumstances in which he found himself; and possessing in his lawyer a warm friend, besides an intelligent professional adviser, much of the exposure had been spared him, which usually attends such ruin as his own. All he possessed had been given up without reservation to his creditors. The pittance necessary for his own sustenance, and that of his unhappy family, was derived from his mother, who cheerfully shared with her beloved, though misguided, son all that was left of her slender income, which had been previously reduced by the assistance she had before afforded him.

Mrs. Cecil and her children only remained in the house in the Regent's Park, until a humble and cheap lodging could be procured for them; into which the heart-broken wife was with difficulty removed, so great was the prostration of strength her sorrows had occasioned. They were accompanied by one female servant, who, with the devotion which is sometimes to be met with in that sphere of life, at once determined to follow the fortunes of a family who were dearer to her heart, than any other earthly object. She was the nurse who had been with them from their earliest infancy, and who cherished them with an affection, the warmth of which could scarcely be equalled by that of their mother. In prosperity, she had been a good and valuable servant; and her kindness and fidelity in adversity, was like a ray of sunshine, in the dark prospects of the Cecils. For her beloved mistress, and the dear children reared by her careful attention, she was ready to sacrifice everything; personal fatigue, certain inconvenience, weighed not a mo

ment, against her sense of the duty she owed them. No selfish considerations impeded the flow of her kindness, or checked her prompt performance of this labor of love; and when we consider the importance which wealth and station, usually hold in the eyes of those in a servile capacity, who arrogate to themselves the distinction of the masters they serve, and in the same degree feel degraded with them, it is an enhancement of the character of " poor human nature," to know that such examples of self sacrifice are by no means unfrequent. Poor Rachael, the nurse, had indeed her trials; and although they affected none of the deeper feelings of the heart, still the mere reverse of situation she had to sustain, striking as it did at the very prejudices of her station, was of itself a stumbling-block, that would have turned attachment less faithful than her own.

Much to the credit of the female sex, they are known to sustain, with praise-worthy fortitude, those reverses of fortune which have overwhelmed the minds of men' with despair; and it is no unusual circumstance, to see the spirit of a woman rise as it were with the strokes of misfortune, and assume an elevation of character, approaching to perfect excellence. It was thus with our gentle heroine, Evelyn Cecil; and it was an affecting and beautiful spectacle to behold the young and lovely girl, who had hitherto been cherished in the very lap of luxury, changing, as by a magic touch, all the helpless habits, such fostering engenders, to be the comfort and support of those around her; and by active means doing her utmost to lighten the cloud which hung over all in the small and retired house in Kensington, which was now the humble asylum of the unfortunate Cecils.

Leaving the care of amusing and soothing her mother's mind, to the idolized son-the good and affectionate Herbert,-Evelyn's chief scene of action was the apartment called the nursery. But, oh! how different from the rooms which had before been appropriated to that purpose in the time of their prosperity. Where

were the pretty cots, looking more like little beds to be occupied by fairy-queens than human babies? Where, too, the rich litter occasioned by the expensive toys, which used formerly to scatter the floor, and amuse the happy hours of the little Cecils ?

The active nursery maids-no longer to be seen bustling about, all waiting upon the important-looking Rachael, who, seated upon her low nursery-chair, her chair of state, lulled on her knee the baby of the family, with its laced cap and embroidered robe, while at the same time she directed with her looks and smiles the lovely little group playing around her; and, with the love and pride these beauteous little beings called forth, fancied they owed half their beauty, and all their health to her fostering care. All was now changed. The present apartment, with its uncarpetted floor, and shabby-looking beds, offered a sad contrast to the nursery they had just left; Evelyn was now the usual occupant of the low nursing-chair, Rachael's present duties being more of a household nature. Poor Evelyn! it was a sad charge which had now devolved on her; and in the fragile health and increasing weakness of the poor baby, who was scarcely ever out of her arms, she found cause for sorrowful and anxious apprehension. Often when nursing the poor little Rose, who had numbered little more than two years, she felt the tears rise to her eyes, as they rested on its pale and suffering countenance; when fearful of alarming the other children, (who, with affectionate instinct, were playing in silence by her side,) she would tell them to leave her.

Edwin, a beautiful boy of nine, who, with his clustering curls of fair hair, his bright complexion and sunny blue eyes, most resembled his sister Evelyn, ever left her with regret; it was only when requested to take charge of the two little girls, in the narrow court before the house, which aspired to the name of garden, that he quitted his much-loved Evelyn cheerfully. The idea of being of service, even in his young heart, some

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