This man had been uselessly insulted, at the very moment when he was
anxious to perform a kind and benevolent action; when, like a true
Englishman, his heart was softened by witnessing the sufferings of a
young, delicate female and her infant family. Deeply affronted by
the captain's foolish conduct, he now took a malignant pleasure in
watching his arrogant neighbour's progress to ruin.
The year after the sale of his commission, Captain N - - found
himself considerably in debt, "Never mind, Ella," he said to his
anxious wife; "the crops will pay all."
The crops were a failure that year. Creditors pressed hard; the
captain had no money to pay his workmen, and he would not work
himself. Disgusted with his location, but unable to change it for
a better; without friends in his own class (for he was the only
gentleman then resident in the new township), to relieve the
monotony of his existence with their society, or to afford him
advice or assistance in his difficulties, the fatal whiskey-bottle
became his refuge from gloomy thoughts.
His wife, an amiable and devoted creature, well-born, well-educated,
and deserving of a better lot, did all in her power to wean him from
the growing vice. But, alas! the pleadings of an angel, in such
circumstances, would have had little effect upon the mind of such a
man. He loved her as well as he could love anything, and he fancied
that he loved his children, while he was daily reducing them, by his
favourite vice, to beggary.
For awhile, he confined his excesses to his own fireside, but this
was only for as long a period as the sale of his stock and land
would supply him with the means of criminal indulgence. After a
time, all these resources failed, and his large grant of eight
hundred acres of land had been converted into whiskey, except the
one hundred acres on which his house and barn stood, embracing the
small clearing from which the family derived their scanty supply of
wheat and potatoes. For the sake of peace, his wife gave up all her
ornaments and household plate, and the best articles of a once
handsome and ample wardrobe, in the hope of hiding her sorrows
from the world, and keeping her husband at home.
The pride, that had rendered him so obnoxious to his humbler
neighbours, yielded at length to the inordinate craving for drink;
the man who had held himself so high above his honest and
industrious fellow-settlers, could now unblushingly enter their
cabins and beg for a drop of whiskey. The feeling of shame once
subdued, there was no end to his audacious mendacity. His whole
time was spent in wandering about the country, calling upon every
new settler, in the hope of being asked to partake of the coveted
poison. He was even known to enter by the window of an emigrant's
cabin, during the absence of the owner, and remain drinking in the
house while a drop of spirits could be found in the cupboard. When
driven forth by the angry owner of the hut, he wandered on to the
distant town of P - -, and lived there in a low tavern, while his
wife and children were starving at home.
"He is the filthiest beast in the township," said the
afore-mentioned neighbour to me; "it would be a good thing for his
wife and children if his worthless neck were broken in one of his
drunken sprees."
This might be the melancholy fact, but it was not the less dreadful
on that account. The husband of an affectionate wife - the father of
a lovely family - and his death to be a matter of rejoicing! - a
blessing, instead of being an affliction! - an agony not to be
thought upon without the deepest sorrow.
It was at this melancholy period of her sad history that Mrs. N - -
found, in Jenny Buchanan, a help in her hour of need. The heart of
the faithful creature bled for the misery which involved the wife
of her degraded master, and the children she so dearly loved. Their
want and destitution called all the sympathies of her ardent nature
into active operation; they were long indebted to her labour for
every morsel of food which they consumed. For them, she sowed, she
planted, she reaped. Every block of wood which shed a cheering
warmth around their desolate home was cut from the forest by her
own hands, and brought up a steep hill to the house upon her back.
For them, she coaxed the neighbours, with whom she was a general
favourite, out of many a mess of eggs for their especial benefit;
while with her cheerful songs, and hearty, hopeful disposition,
she dispelled much of the cramping despair which chilled the heart
of the unhappy mother in her deserted home.
For several years did this great, poor woman keep the wolf from the
door of her beloved mistress, toiling for her with the strength and
energy of a man. When was man ever so devoted, so devoid of all
selfishness, so attached to employers, yet poorer than herself,
as this uneducated Irishwoman?
A period was at length put to her unrequited services. In a fit of
intoxication her master beat her severely with the iron ramrod of
his gun, and turned her, with abusive language, from his doors. Oh,
hard return for all her unpaid labours of love! She forgave this
outrage for the sake of the helpless beings who depended upon her
care. He repeated the injury, and the poor creature returned almost
heart-broken to her former home.
Thinking that his spite would subside in a few days, Jenny made a
third effort to enter his house in her usual capacity; but Mrs. N - -
told her, with many tears, that her presence would only enrage her
husband, who had threatened herself with the most cruel treatment
if she allowed the faithful servant again to enter the house.
