THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 THE ONLY SON 
 
 BY 
 MISS MARY ANNA FOX. 
 
 toftj) Elegant 
 
 FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUBLISHED BY CHARLES FOX.
 
 Entered according tn Act of Congress, in the year 1846, 
 
 BY CHARLES FOX, 
 I the Clerk'* Office of the District Court
 
 PS 
 
 GEORGE ALLEN. 
 
 '1"HERE is not, perhaps, in the world, certainly 
 rot in New England, more lovely scenery than 
 ran be found in the valley of the Connecticut 
 
 Nature seems to have expended her store of 
 lovohness to grace the whole course of this no- 
 bU 1 river ; and let any one, who thinks he must 
 cross the Atlantic to find views worthy of being 
 immortalized by his pen or pencil, go to the spot 
 where the Connecticut takes its rise, and follow 
 its windings, as it flows majestically toward the 
 ocean, until its clear waters mingle with the dark 
 waves of Long Island Sound, and I will venture 
 to say, he will return home willing to admit that 
 sublimity or beauty of scenery may be found
 
 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 in our own dear land, in at least equal perfection 
 with the far famed vales of Greece or Italy. 
 If a traveller in the western part of Massachu- 
 
 se'ts should pass through the village of S , 
 
 one of the many little towns which seem to the 
 delighted eye to realize all that has been said 
 or sung of the groves and vales of Arcadia, he 
 could not fail of being attracted by the pictu 
 resque situation of a farm-house on the east bank 
 of the river. It stands on a swell of land, over 
 looking the Connecticut, as it sweeps round a 
 projecting headland, curling its sparkling surface 
 into snowy waves, as though indignant at being 
 forced to turn out of its way to wind round the 
 base of the dark gray rocks which look down 
 upon it so frowningly. 
 
 This dwelling is one of those hospitable, gen- 
 erous-looking houses, which give one a favorable 
 idea of the owner, from the comfort and culti 
 vation which surround it. The front of the 
 nouse is almost covered with a luxuriant food- 
 bine, that has climbed to the top of one of the 
 ample, old-fashioned chimneys, and even wound 
 its tendrils round the overhanging boughs of a ven 
 erable elm, which stands near the door, with the 
 ends of its long graceful branches actually touch-
 
 THE ONLY SON. 5 
 
 g the ground, and thus forming a perfect arch, 
 or natural portico, under which you must pass to 
 enter the front door. 
 
 The long range of barns and storehouses, 
 which arc seen in the background, speak to the 
 passing observer the richness and high cultiva 
 tion of the farm, and seem to indicate the abode 
 of peace and happiness. But how little can we 
 judge of man by his outward circumstances ! 
 The meanest laborer on that farm may well be 
 an object of envy, could such a feeling enter his 
 breast, to the man who calls all these fair fields 
 and abundant crops his own ; for the most abject 
 poverty is not so hard to bear as the bitter re 
 proaches of a self-accusing conscience. Twenty 
 years ago this man thought himself the happiest 
 of human beings : his farm was productive, his 
 health good, and his heart was bound up in the 
 happiness of his wife and child his bright-eyed 
 fearless boy, whom he saw in imagination taking 
 charge of the farm, and cheering his old age, 
 with his respectful, affectionate attention to his 
 comfort and that of his indulgent mother. 
 
 At this happy period of his life, the light-heart 
 ed farmer might be seen, one clear, cold day in 
 January, harnessing one of his well-fed, high- 
 1*
 
 6 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 spirited horses, into a bright-red sleigh, which 
 was highly ornamented, and had a border of 
 roses painted on it to please the fancy of the lit 
 tle idolized boy, who, with his coat and fur cap 
 on, stood at the sitting-room window, watching 
 his father's motions, with eyes beaming with de 
 light, at the thought of a visit to his grandfather, 
 who lived on the opposite side of the river. 
 
 " Come, George, the sleigh is ready," said the 
 smiling young man, as he tied the impatient 
 horse to the great elm, and turned to meet the 
 beautiful child who sprang from his mother's side 
 into the arms of his father, who placed him in 
 the sleigh, and after assisting his " bonny wife " 
 to seat herself, and carefully wrapping the buf 
 falo skins round them, took his station, and, giving 
 the reins to his horse, turned toward the river, 
 which was now a smooth sheet of ice, and so 
 thick that, as the sleigh flew rapidly over it, the 
 horse's feet sounded as though he trod on a solid 
 rock. 
 
 To the happy little party every thing looked 
 gay, and the bright, cloudless sky had never 
 seemed so clear, or the sparkling fringes of 
 icicles, which hung on every tree and bush, so 
 dazzling. This was their boy's fifth birthday ,
 
 THE ONLV SON. 7 
 
 and God in his mercy had preserved him in 
 health and loveliness, while every day gave the 
 fond parents some new proof of his intelligence 
 and utlectionate disposition. In their opinion, their 
 child was absolutely perfect, though a less inter 
 ested person might have said the boy was too 
 daring, too much disposed to gratify the desire 
 of the present moment, without looking forward 
 to the consequences, and not sufficiently atten 
 tive to his parents' advice, and sometimes their 
 commands. But then he was so fond of his pa 
 rents, and so grieved when he had offended, that 
 these little defects were overlooked by them. 
 
 Their horse flew over the ground so swiftly 
 that, in little more than an hour, they had reached 
 " the old place" as they called it, which was ten 
 miles from their residence, and were warmly 
 welcomed by the kind old grandfather and grand 
 mother. After they had taken off their coats 
 and cloaks, the old gentleman called for the 
 TODDY STICK, and mixed a large tumblerful of 
 ARDENT SPIRIT and water, well sweetened with 
 maple sugar, and seasoned with nutmeg. Of 
 this all present partook, and little George 
 ran from one to another, tasting, as each 
 in turn received the tumbler ; and lest he should
 
 8 GEORGli ALLEN, 
 
 not have enough, his grandmother made somt* 
 TODDY for Aim, in a little silver mug, rather 
 sweeter and not quite so strong. ' Thus was 
 this child of many hopes, and fond anticipations, 
 early accustomed to associate pleasant recollec 
 tions with the fatal cup, that was to be to him 
 more deadly than is the blasting poison of the 
 Upas-tree, to the ill-fated ones who are doomed 
 to drink of it. 
 
 At a short distance from the house was a rapid 
 river which flowed into the Connecticut, where 
 were assembled a number of boys, eagerly try 
 ing their skill in skating. Their appearance was 
 so attractive, as they chased each other over the 
 sparkling ice, now gliding in difficult figures, 
 now darting along in a line, and wheeling at the 
 word of command from their leader, and then 
 advancing in single file, that George, who had 
 been watching them from the window, and shout 
 ing and clapping his little hands, as some one of 
 the skaters less skilful than the rest stumbled, 
 or made an awkward motion, which exposed him 
 to the ridicule of the others, came to his father, 
 and looking up in his face, said entreatingly, 
 " Do, dear father, let me go out with the skaters : 
 cousin Charles and Sam are there, and they will
 
 THE ONLY SON. V 
 
 take care of me." His fond mother objected to 
 this, lest he should take cold, or get hurt by the 
 others ; but his father, who was always proud of 
 his boy's hardy constitution, and fearless dispo 
 sition, laughed at the fears of his wife, and say 
 ing, " George must learn to be a man," put on 
 his coat and cap, and took him to the boys, 
 who were delighted to receive him, and prom 
 ised to take care of the merry little fellow, and 
 learn him to skate. Believing that he was safe 
 with his cousinsi, his father left him and returned 
 to the house, where he found Friend Isaiah Rog 
 ers, a Quaker neighbor, seated by the fire. 
 
 Friend Rogers was, even in those days, a 
 strong advocate of temperance, and did all in 
 his power to convince people of their error in 
 supposing that a little ardent spirit did no harm. 
 
 On the present occasion, he was violently op 
 posed in the opinions he expressed, respecting 
 the beneficial effects produced by drinking ardent 
 spirits in cold weather. " I am sure," said old 
 Mr. Allen, " you must acknowledge any one 
 feels the cold less, if he takes a little hot toddy 
 before he goes out to work. I know when I am 
 cutting timber in my wood-lot, if I did not come 
 home once in a while and take some, I should
 
 10 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 freeze." " But if thee did not drink at all, thee 
 would not feel cold, John ; it is because the rum 
 weakens thy system, that thee must take it often 
 or the first feeling of strength it gives would be 
 gone, leaving thee in a much worse condition 
 than before ? I think there are not many men 
 in New England who can bear fatigue and cold 
 better than myself, and I never taste rum." 
 
 " I know it," said the old gentleman ; " but you 
 never have been accustomed to it, and do not 
 feel the need of it as I do." 
 
 " If thee cannot give it up thyself, thee can 
 refuse it to thy children," said the Quaker, tak 
 ing up the silver mug which had been filled for 
 the little boy. " Should thy child live to be a 
 drunkard, my young friend," turning as he spoke 
 to the happy father, who was seated at the win 
 dow, watching with parental fondness his little 
 son's fearless movements on the ice, as he fol 
 lowed the skaters, " should thy child live to be 
 a drunkard, and bring thee broken-hearted to the 
 grave, thee will bitterly repent teaching him to 
 love this poison." 
 
 " Do not be concerned, Friend Rogers ; my 
 boy will never be hurt by my teaching. He nev 
 er sees me intoxicated, and he knows I despise
 
 THE ONLY SON. 11 
 
 the vice. No, no, my good sir, a man is never 
 injured by moderate drinking; and I look on ar 
 dent spirit as one of the many good things God 
 has given us to refresh us in our labors ; and if 
 some will abuse the use of it, and ruin them 
 selves by it, is that any reason that I should give 
 it up entirely ? Some men eat so immoderately 
 that they bring on apoplexy ; shall I for that 
 reason live on bread and water ? " 
 
 " Certainly not ; because food, though it may 
 be improperly used, was intended for the sup 
 port of man; but thee cannot say the same of 
 rum : it is not a natural production, but a wicked 
 perversion of some of the gifts of Heaven. It 
 was not known till a few hundred years ago ; 
 and it was soon discovered that a small quantity 
 of it would kill an animal, thus proving, beyond 
 doubt, that it is a most fatal poison." 
 
 The good Quaker was here interrupted by a 
 wild scream, which rose from the boys on the 
 river, and some of them were seen running to 
 the house, while the others collected in a group, 
 and seemed to be making efforts to break the 
 ice. The young farmer darted out of the house, 
 followed by Friend Rogers. They had not pro 
 ceeded many steps, before they were met by the
 
 12 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 boys, screaming, " George has fallen into a hole 
 in the ice ! " " He is drowning ! " " O come 
 quick, or he will be dead ! " The frantic father 
 rushed to the spot where his child was struggling ; 
 and finding that he could not reach him, as the 
 current had already borne him some distance 
 under the ice, he dived under it, and was in a 
 few moments so benumbed with cold as to be 
 come insensible, and was drawn out by the 
 Quaker, who taking off his coat and putting it 
 round him, directed part of the boys to carry 
 him to the house ; and seizing a large pole which 
 lay on the bank, he ran down the river some 
 yards below the place where George had fallen 
 in. He used the pole with such strength and 
 skill that a hole was soon made of sufficient size 
 to admit him ; then, fastening a rope, which had 
 been brought by the boys at the first alarm, 
 round his waist, and telling them " to keep a 
 tight hold," he dived into the rapid current. As 
 the boy came by, whirled through the chilling 
 waters, which seemed madly hurrying him on 
 to destruction, the good man succeeded in ar 
 resting his progress, and was instantly drawn 
 out of the river by the boys, who gave vent to 
 their joy in loud shouts. But their rejoicing
 
 THE ONLY SON. 13 
 
 ceased when they saw that George lay in the 
 arms of the Quaker, apparently lifeless, with 
 closed eyes and drooping head. The icy cur- 
 rent had chilled his blood, and his pure spirit 
 seemed to have left its frail though beautiful 
 habitation and returned to the bosom of its 
 Creator. 
 
 A change came over the young faces of those 
 who were, a moment before, filling the air with 
 their merry laughter, as they crowded round, 
 with anxious eyes, to look on the hapless boy. 
 Slowly, and sadly, did they bear him to the 
 house, and fearfully did they anticipate the agony 
 of the fond parents, when they should learn that 
 death had taken their only child. 
 
 As they entered, they found the father just re 
 covering from his swoon ; for the rescue of the 
 boy had been accomplished in a much shorter 
 time than it has taken to relate it. When he saw 
 his son in the arms of the good man who had 
 risked his own life to save that of the child, he 
 groaned aloud, and in the most frantic manner re- 
 preached him for preventing his own attempt to 
 save him, and, in his anguish, exclaimed, " O God. 
 since thou hast taken my child, take me also ! I do 
 not wish to live. What had my boy done, th 
 2
 
 |4 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 he should meet so cruel a death ? Why was he 
 taken from me? I wish I had perished with 
 him." 
 
 "Be calm," said the Quaker, "and see if 
 thee cannot restore him to life. Perhaps he is 
 not dead ; but if he should be, submit to the will 
 of God, and not merit his displeasure by thy 
 angry murmurings against him who gave thy 
 child, and has, perchance, taken him from much 
 temptation and misery in this world, to heaven, 
 where sin and sorrow enter not." 
 
 As she heard these words, the young mother 
 eagerly sprang from her kneeling position by 
 the bed, on which George had been laid, and 
 where she had remained holding his little hand, 
 apparently stupefied by the intensity of her grief, 
 unheeding the wild despair of her husband, or 
 the silent tears of her aged parents ; and, coming 
 up to Isaiah Rogers, she looked eagerly in his 
 face, and said, in a voice scarcely audible, " Can 
 we do any thing for him ? O, if you can tell us 
 any way to bring his spirit back, do it, and God 
 will bless you for ever ! " 
 
 The good man, though he could not conceal 
 his own emotion, entreated her to restrain her 
 feelings, and he would use all the skill he pos
 
 THE ONLY SON. 15 
 
 sessea to restore her dear child to her again. 
 Friend Rogers was a man who had read much, 
 and made a practical use of his knowledge 
 whenever he could do good by it. He had often 
 heard of the means resorted to for the resusci 
 tation of those who have been a long time in 
 the water, and now thought that, as George had 
 been in the water but a few minutes, there was 
 much to hope for, and immediately commenced 
 nis exertions to restore animation, by stripping 
 and rubbing him, and using all the means pre 
 scribed by physicians in such cases. 
 
 Long and anxiously they watched his pallid 
 countenance, but no sign of life appeared. His 
 blue eyes were half closed, his white lips parted, 
 as if to speak, and his bright golden hair hung 
 its profusion of curls, wet with the fatal current 
 which had wrested his life from him, round his 
 beautiful forehead. O, could it be that one so 
 lovely, so innocent, and so cherished, was to 
 be thus rudely snatched away from his fond 
 parents ? 
 
 His mother kneeled by her first-born, with a 
 countenance so colorless and deathlike, that 
 had it not been for the eager expression of her 
 dark eyes, as they watched the movements of
 
 16 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 the Quaker, an observer of this painful scne> 
 would have thought she had shared the fate of 
 her boy. 
 
 For more than an hour did the benevolent 
 man exert his utmost skill, and make every ef 
 fort in his power for the restoration of the boy's 
 life ; but in vain. No returning breath heaved 
 his little bosom, no intelligence beamed from hi> 
 closed eyes, and he seemed more like some per 
 feet piece of workmanship, from the hand of the 
 sculptor, than a being who, a few hours before, 
 had been rejoicing in all the gayety of a young 
 and happy heart. 
 
 Mournfully the good Quaker turned away, 
 deeply grieved that his exertions should prove 
 ineffectual, when a scream from the mother ar 
 rested his attention. He turned, and with feel 
 ings which I will not attempt to describe, be 
 held the object of his anxiety heave a sigh so 
 deep and long drawn, that it seemed as it his 
 bosom would burst in the struggle ; and then a 
 shudder which ran over his whole frame, and 
 even shook the bed on which he lay, spoke to 
 the almost breathless spectators tfie fierceness 
 of the contest between the spirit of life, which 
 was striving to return to its habitation, and the
 
 THE ONLY SON. 17 
 
 dread being who seemed unwilling to relax his 
 stern grasp on his beautiful victim. But the king 
 of terrors was soon vanquished, and sullenly re 
 tired, leaving the conqueror to send breath 
 through the child's frame, and bid the current of 
 life resume its cou^e. 
 
 A deep glow covered his face, as the warm 
 blood came rushing from his beating heart ; his 
 blue eyes opened, and, obedient to the first im 
 pulse of his affection, he threw his little arms 
 round his mother's neck, and murmured that 
 word, the first the infant learns to lisp, that 
 word which, in after years, will throw a spell 
 over the sternest spirit, the sweet name of 
 
 MOTHER. 
 
 At the sound of this endearing word from the 
 lips of her boy, the feelings which had been 
 struggling in her bosom found relief in tears. 
 She clasped her recovered treasure in her arms, 
 and wept. 
 
 There is nothing in this wide world so pure, 
 so like heaven, as a mother's love. 
 
 The sweet minstrel of Britain thought thus 
 when she said, 
 2*
 
 18 GEORGE 
 
 " It is but pride, wherewith 
 To his fair son the father's eye doth turn, 
 Watching his growth. Ay. on the boy he looks 
 The bright, glad creature springing in his path, 
 But as the heir of his great name ; the young 
 And stately tree, whose rising strength ere long 
 Shall bear his trophies well. And this is love ! 
 This is man's love ! What marvel You ne'er made 
 Your breast the pillow of his infancy, 
 While to the fulness of your heart's glad heavinga 
 His fair cheek rose and fell, and his bright hair 
 Waved softly to your breath. You ne'er kept watch 
 Beside him till the last pale star had set, 
 And morn, all dazzling as in triumph, broke 
 On your dim, weary eye. Not yours the face 
 Which, early faded through fond care for him, 
 Hung o'er his sleep, and, duly as heaven's light, 
 Was there to greet his wakening. You ne'er smoothed 
 His couch ; ne'er sung him to his rosy rest ; 
 Caught his least whisper, when his voice from yours 
 Had learned soft utterance ; pressed your lip to his 
 When fever parched it; hushed his wayward cries 
 With patient, vigilant, never-wearied love. 
 No ! these are woman's tasks. In these her youth, 
 And bloom of cheek, and buoyancy of heart, 
 Steal from her, all unmarked." 
 
 George's mother turned from him to Isaiah 
 Rogers, whose glistening eye and trembling lip 
 showed that, though long accustomed to the com 
 mand of his feelings, and noted for his habitual
 
 THE ONLY SON. 19 
 
 calmness, the Quaker was not insensible to the 
 softening influence of woman's tears, and when 
 the grat< ful mother took his hand, and said, 
 " Though I canned find words to express my feel 
 ings, I will love you, and pray for you while I 
 have life, and teach rny boy to love you. O, 
 if it had not been for you, my child would now 
 be dead, and I should never hear his little voice 
 again. How can I thank you? What can I 
 say?" she covered her face and wept aloud. 
 The good man could no longer restrain his feel 
 ings, and, turning hastily away from her, he 
 went to the window to conceal his tears ; but 
 when he had nearly succeeded in calming this 
 unwonted burst of emotion, Mr. Allen, who had 
 been silently holding his son to his breast, as if 
 to assure himself that it was all reality, came to 
 him, and seizing both his hands, said, with a 
 trembling voice, and his whole countenance 
 beaming with gratitude, " God bless you ! God 
 bless you ! You have saved my son's life ; you 
 will have your reward in heaven for this ! " He 
 leaned his head upon the window, and, covering 
 his face, gave free vent to his feelings, which 
 were not the less overwhelming, that they had
 
 20 OEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 been so long pent up in his heart, struggling 
 with his stern habit of self-command. 
 
 As soon as he could speak, the Quaker said, 
 " Thee dost wrong in thanking" me so warmly 
 for the child's life, and not remembering that I 
 was only the instrument in God's hands ; that it 
 was He, and not I, who sent breath into the 
 lifeless body, even as when Elijah prayed for 
 the child of the widow. Let us thank him for 
 his goodness to us in blessing our efforts." 
 
 The good man then made a fervent prayer; 
 thanking God for his kindness to the now happy 
 circle, and entreating that the child who had 
 been again given to them might be preserved 
 from temptation and sin, when he became a man ; 
 that he need not have reason to wish he had 
 been left to find his grave in the river which had 
 so nearly deprived him of life. 
 
 The loved one in whose behalf this prayer 
 was offered, lay in his mother's arms, with his 
 earnest face turned toward the Quaker, his 
 blue eyes fixed on his countenance, listening at 
 tentively to this pious request for his welfare ; 
 and so deep was the impression made on his 
 young mind by the scene, that in after years, 
 when, surrounded by the gay and vicious, he
 
 THE ONLY SON. 21 
 
 was raising the sparkling wine-cup to his lips, or 
 with a loud voice and scoffing tone was profanely 
 ridiculing the holy Word of God, or taking his 
 sacred name on his lips, as he sat at the gaming 
 table, the recollection of the Quaker's prayer 
 would steal over his mind, and the wine was 
 put down untasted, and the oath remained uu- 
 uttered. 
 
 The next morning was bright and cloudless, 
 and the young farmer returned to his home, with 
 his wife and boy, rendered still dearer to them 
 by the perils to which he had recently been ex 
 posed. 
 
 Mr. Allen belonged to that class denominated 
 good moral people ; that is, they committed no 
 crimes, discouraged by their example all gross 
 vices, and attended meeting regularly every 
 Sabbath; but they took no heed of the concerns 
 of the soul, and one would have thought they 
 believed " death to be an eternal sleep," so en 
 tirely were they absorbed in the cares of this 
 world, so utterly did they disregard all thouulu 
 of a future existence. 
 
 Feeling and thinking thus, of course their 
 son, who continued to be the one in whom their 
 whole affection centred, as they had no other
 
 5M GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 Children, was educated with reference only to 
 the comfort and happiness to be obtained dur 
 ing the small part of his life which was to be 
 passed on earth, and no provision was made to 
 prepare him for a higher state of existence ; and 
 the consequence was, that as he grew up, with 
 an ardent temperament, an eager thirst for en 
 joyment, and a disposition which, though he 
 obstinately resisted all opposition to his will, 
 rendered him susceptible of being easily influ 
 enced by the artful and designing, who flatter 
 when they intend to destroy, he had no strength 
 to resist temptation. 
 
 His father, wishing him to become distin 
 guished as a literary man, and proud of his tal 
 ents, sent him to a distinguished classical school, 
 ut some distance from home, to prepare for col 
 lege. Here he soon became remarkable for 
 his scholarship, and rapidly rose to the highest 
 rank in the academy, was flattered and caressed 
 by his instructors, his company sought by all the 
 intellectual inhabitants of the town ; and, at the 
 age of eighteen, he returned to his parents with 
 a highly cultivated mind, a daring, speculating, 
 and rather atheistical habit of reasoning on all 
 subjects too high for human understanding, a
 
 THE ONLY SON. 23 
 
 most exalted opinion of his own brilliant talents, 
 and, what rendered him more liable to tempta 
 tion, a remarkably fine face and figure, joined 
 with graceful and polished manners. 
 
 After remaining at home a short time he was 
 sent to college, where he passed a strict exami 
 nation with great honor, and was admitted to 
 the Freshman class. 
 
 Thus was he sent forth to commence the 
 tempestuous voyage of life, with no chart to 
 point out the shoals and quicksands on which he 
 might be wrecked, no compass to direct his 
 course, no rudder to his bark, and no instruc 
 tions as to his destined haven, or even a thought 
 or care whether he should reach one at all. 
 
 What wonder then that he was wrecked, and 
 on the very rock which, in the estimation of his 
 father, lay farthest out of his course ? 
 
 Foolish man ! what could he tell of his son's 
 course, when he had given him no principle to 
 guide him, while the siren voice of pleasure was 
 sounding in his ears, pressing him to partake of 
 " the red wine-cup " ? In one word, George Al 
 len became intemperate. He was destroyed by 
 the love of ardent spirit, which had been fos 
 tered and encouraged in childhood by his mis-
 
 *** GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 taken parents, who thought they should save 
 their son from the whirlpool of intemperance, 
 most surely, by placing him within the outer 
 circle of its raging waters, that he might become 
 so accustomed to the danger, by being continu 
 ally under its influence, as to see more clearly 
 the destruction with which it threatened all who 
 approached it. 
 
 Alas! the motion was so imperceptible, that 
 he thought not of resisting or escaping, until he 
 found himself in the very centre of the whirling 
 waves, and about to be ingulfed forever in the 
 frightful abyss. 
 
 Warm-hearted, and fond of gay company, 
 and having plenty of money at his command, he 
 was a fit mark for the unprincipled and vicious, 
 who could bring art and sophistry to aid them in 
 their dark designs on the unsuspecting innocence 
 and confiding frankness of George. 
 
 There were in college, when George entered, 
 a number of dissipated young men, who were 
 deeply engaged in the detestable amusement, 
 if it can be so called, of gambling. No sooner 
 did they become acquainted with George Allen, 
 than they formed the design of enticing him to 
 become one of them ; and accordingly, with that
 
 THE ONLY SON. 25 
 
 cunning which seems to be taught such charac 
 ters by the prince of darkness, so successful is 
 it, and so well calculated to deceive the unwary, 
 they proceeded cautiously in their diabolical de 
 sign. 
 
 One beautiful evening, about a month after 
 George entered the college, where he was to 
 become the victim of sin, the most debasing in 
 its effects and ruinous in its consequences, as In 
 was sitting in his room, thinking of what might 
 be his future course of life, and full of bright 
 anticipations of future honors and happiness, a 
 member of the junior class, who had been very 
 polite to him, and had already won his friendship 
 by his kind attentions, knocked at his door, and 
 was instantly admitted. 
 
 " Good evening, my dear fellow," said he, 
 affectionately placing his hand on the shoulder 
 of the young stranger ; " we thought you would 
 be lonely here, and should be much pleased to 
 have you join a little circle of students in my 
 room. Will you come ? they will all be glad to 
 *ee you. I was very home-sick when I first 
 came here, and can sympathize with you if you 
 are low-spirited." 
 
 Could George have read the heart of him wn 
 3
 
 26 GEORGE ALLEN. 
 
 thus kindly addressed him, he would have seen 
 that under this appearance of friendship was 
 a deep determination to ruin him, if possible, 
 and he would have shunned him as he v/ould a 
 serpent. 
 
 But Theodore Weston had a countenance 
 which was calculated most completely to de 
 ceive all who were not previously acquainted 
 with his character. So manly and intelligent 
 was the expression, and his . bright blue eyes had 
 so much of open-hearted merriment in their 
 glance, that it seemed absolutely cruel to suspect 
 him of any thing wrong. 
 
 The evening was passed in conversation, 
 mirth, and song ; but nothing was said about 
 cards, for they were desirous to win the con 
 fidence of their unsuspecting victim by their 
 apparent desire for his happiness and improve 
 ment, and therefore confined their conversation 
 principally to such topics as would be most 
 likely to interest him, and talked over the more 
 intricate studies to which he was attending, 
 giving him all the assistance which their supe 
 rior knowledge enabled them to afford, and 
 flattering him by their attention to his opinions, 
 and a hearty laugh at his witticisms, so that
 
 THE ONLY SON. 27 
 
 when, at a late hour, he returned to his room, 
 after receiving an earnest invitation to repeat 
 his visit whenever it might be convenient, bath 
 parties were highly pleased at the result of the 
 invitation. George Allen was gratified by tiicir 
 kindness and politeness toward him, and they 
 in turn were rejoiced that they had so far suc 
 ceeded in their design. 
 
 The acquaintance thus formed soon ripened 
 into intimacy ; and before many weeks had 
 elapsed, the young Freshman had been initiated 
 by his new friends into all the mysteries of the 
 gaming-table ; yet so perfectly did they conceal 
 their real motives from him, that he saw no 
 deeper design in their fondness for his society, 
 and frequent invitations to a social party at cards, 
 than a good-natured wish to amuse him;' and, 
 flattered by the attentions and apparent friend 
 ship of one so distinguished in his class, and 
 admired frr his superior talents, he yielded to 
 the influence which Theodore Weston insensibly 
 exerted over him. And while he would have 
 indignantly repulsed a bolder temper, his prin 
 ciples, based as they were on nothing firmer 
 than vague ideas of virtue and morality, melted 
 away before the fascinatin and ingenious sophis-
 
 28 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 try of one whose mind had long been tainted 
 with infidelity, and who, with that unaccountable 
 eagerness to deprive others of their faith in all 
 which may preserve them from temptation and 
 vice, which is always manifested by unprinci 
 pled men, spared no pains to present his atheis 
 tical doctrines in their least revolting aspect, 
 and to clothe the most impious assertions in so 
 attractive a dress, that his victim, bewildered by 
 his eloquence, and delighted with the vivid color 
 ing his fancy threw over every subject which he 
 touched, was scarcely aware that all those opin 
 ions which he held sacred had been attacked 
 by the accomplished infidel ; and it was not 
 until called upon to decide a question of duty 
 that the effect became apparent, and he almost 
 wondered at his altered sentiments on a subject 
 he before regarded in so different a light. 
 
 It was now that the lurking taste for ardent 
 spirit, which had been created in childhood, and 
 fostered in his riper years, by those who should 
 have guarded him from temptation, and kept 
 his inclinations pure, and his mind fortified by 
 religion and principle, rose up in its hitherto 
 unheeded strength, to aid in the attempt, already 
 too successful, to ruin him. When once con-
 
 THE ONLY SON. 29 
 
 dnced by his friend Theodore, that man was 
 formed for pleasure, that no action could be 
 sinful wl'.ich did 'not injure another, and that, 
 m gratifying eve 17 desire, we were only obey- 
 mg the dictates of the feelings implanted within 
 us by God himself, to promote our happiness, 
 and make this world a scene of enjoyment, 
 while the gloomy doctrines taught in the Bible 
 were invented by a sect of stern misanthropes, 
 who, enraged at the sight of happiness they 
 would not partake, determined to poison the 
 sparkling cup of pleasure, by doubts, and re 
 strain mankind by rigid rules, and intimidate 
 them by threats of future punishment, in order 
 to make them miserable as themselves, he 
 indulged his love for the wine-cup without 
 hesitation, and frequently called forth a reproof 
 from his tutors, for his increasing habits of dis 
 sipation, his gradual distastes for his studies, 
 and his disregard for college rules. 
 
 More than a year had elapsed since George 
 Allen quitted his peaceful home, to face, untried 
 and unarmed, the formidable assault of col 
 lege dissipations, when, one evening, Theodore 
 Weston, who had now become his most frequent 
 nssociate, came to his room in high spirits, and 
 3*
 
 80 GEurftrJi ALhKN, 
 
 apparently much pleased with some idea which 
 had just suggested itself to him. 
 
 Coming up to George, he exclaimed, " I havi 
 a glorious plan in my head, and I want your 
 assistance to enable me to put it in practice." 
 
 " But I must know what it is before I promise." 
 
 " Well, then, listen, and you shall know ; 1 
 want to get up a supper frolic, and you and I 
 will go round among the students and see who 
 will join us." 
 
 " What sort of a supper frolic do you mean, 
 Weston ? " said George ; who, though he had 
 drank deeply of dissipation, had never yet been 
 engaged in any of the minor acts of insubordi 
 nation in which students take such delight. 
 
 "Why, the lest sort, to be sure," was the 
 reply of his tempter. " One of us will just step 
 over to farmer Dodge's hen-roost and get some 
 provisions, and we can all meet in my room just 
 after dark. We will have a splendid evening, 
 and if any of the tutors should happen to heai 
 of it we can stand by each other, you know, and 
 then there will be no witnesses against us. 
 Come, don't look so grave ; there is not the least 
 danger of being found out, for I know perfectly 
 well how to manage the affair; I hate done such 
 things many a time,"
 
 THE ONLY SON. 31 
 
 ' I would rather not join you," said George ; 
 I have had enough of dissipation, and mean tc 
 reform." 
 
 " Well done ! George, who would have ex 
 pected this from you ? A frolic is not dissipa 
 tion, my dear fellow. I hope you are not 
 relapsing into the stupid way of thinking, from 
 which we tried so hard to arouse you, just after 
 you came among us ; why, you have just learned 
 to act like a man, and it would be a great pity 
 to turn into a boy again." 
 
 " I would rather be a boy again, Theodore, 
 if I could be as happy as I was then " 
 
 " Why, Allen," said his pretended friend, 
 " what fiend, in the name of all that is merry, 
 has taken possession of you ? You look like 
 ' patience on a monument ' eating grindstones ; 
 have you been reading the Lamentations of 
 Jeremiah ; or has some old musty sermon 
 found its way into your room ? " 
 
 " Neither ; but I don't feel like a frolic." 
 
 " 0, well, we will wait till you do, for there 
 would be no fun without you ; only I hope you 
 have not become a disciple of Heraclitus, the 
 weeping philosopher, or, what is still more 
 absurd of that stupid book called the Holy
 
 32 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 Bible holy, indeed, it is, and a great deal too 
 much so to suit me ; the Koran, with all its 
 absurdities, would be a far more reasonable rule 
 of conduct ; and, to say the truth, I should like 
 Mahomet's heaven very well for a future resi 
 dence, if he did not make his houries of musk, 
 for I am not partial to that perfume." 
 
 Theodore had always found that ridicule had 
 a much more powerful effect upon the mind of 
 George, than argument or persuasion ; he there 
 fore exerted himself on this occasion to over 
 come, by means of these weapons, the feelings 
 of self-reproach, and half-formed resolutions of 
 amendment, which he had discovered in him 
 for several days past, and at length prevailed on 
 him to promise that he would be one of the 
 proposed party. 
 
 Having succeeded thus far hi his wishes, 
 Theodore Weston left the room of his young 
 fellow-student, exulting in his victory. 
 
 As soon as he was gone, George seated him 
 self by a window, which commanded a beautifu 
 prospect ; and, leaning his head on his hand 
 appeared to be lost in contemplation of the 
 lovely scene before him. But other and sadder 
 '.noughts mingled with his admiration, a. he
 
 THE ONLY SON. 33 
 
 looked on the sparkling river which wound its 
 way through the valley, reflecting the rays of 
 the setting sun, as he shed his golden light over 
 the bright autumnal landscape, imparting a 
 warm tint to the scarlet and brown foliage of 
 the maple and beach, and making the dark 
 green of the pine and hemlock look still darker 
 by the contrast. 
 
 The view of the dark- blue river brought to 
 his recollection an almost-forgotten scene of his 
 childhood ; and he recalled the sensations which 
 filled his breast, when, but a moment before 
 rescued from the arms of death, he lay on his 
 mother's bosom, and listened to the prayer of 
 the benevolent man who had risked his own 
 life to save him. 
 
 He distinctly remembered the expression of 
 the good Quaker's countenance, as he earnestly 
 entreated thai God, who had restored the child 
 to his parents, would never forsake him, but 
 would preserve him from temptation and sin in 
 his youth, and never suffer him to forget the 
 omnipotent Being who had so mercifully pro 
 tected him. 
 
 He felt that had any attempt been made by 
 his parents to strengthen the impression then
 
 34 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 made on his infant mind ; had they endeavored 
 to lead his thoughts to God, and teach him to 
 regulate his conduct by motives of duty ; to con 
 sult his conscience and his Bible, whenever a 
 doubt respecting the propriety of any action 
 arose, he might now have been a very different 
 character. 
 
 But with these feelings, which were sugges 
 tions of the faithful monitor, given to all, that 
 they may not sin ignorantly, were mingled others 
 of a far different stamp. 
 
 The poison of the infidel principles which had 
 been presented to his inquiring mind, to oppose 
 its eager, restless search after truth, now plainly 
 manifested the venom with which they were so 
 deeply imbued, and even his purest and best 
 affections could not overcome their influence. 
 
 Even the good old Quaker, after the first 
 glow of grateful emotion had subsided, appeared 
 to him, in the light which the baleful meteor of 
 philosophy and human reason shed over every 
 object, to have been either a hypocrite, or, what 
 his feelings more readily admitted, a good but 
 ignorant and deluded old man, who, in the sim 
 plicity of his heart, received as truth what the 
 more artful and designing taught the unedu 
 cated.
 
 THE ONLY SON. 35 
 
 He could not but think, however, that Friend 
 Rogers was far happier in his ignorance and 
 delusion than he was himself, with all his 
 superior knowledge ; and he was more than 
 half inclined to wish that he had never read 
 Voltaire, and that less refined though not less 
 dangerous infidel, Thomas Paine ; since his 
 exalted views of the greatness of human intel 
 lect and the noble powers of man's reason, 
 when unfettered by superstition, had been 
 dearly purchased in exchange for his peace 
 of mind. 
 
 1 do not think any one is ever suffered to 
 remain in such utter mental darkness as to 
 discern no difference between virtue and vice, 
 or rather holiness and sin ; therefore, though 
 George Allen had never received any religious 
 instruction, nor been taught to look to any 
 higher tribunal than an earthly one for appro 
 bation or censure, he was conscious that even 
 could his conduct during the past year bear the 
 strictest scrutiny, from all for whose good opinion 
 he felt anxious, still there would be a something 
 wanting, without which he could not be happy. 
 
 His pride would not suffer him to ask assist 
 ance and direction from Him who could say to
 
 36 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 the tempest, "Peace, be still," and all other 
 sources were insufficient to calm his troubled 
 soul. 
 
 Could parents only know to how much bitter 
 suffering and how many agonizing struggles 
 they expose the ardent, warm-hearted youth 
 who has just left the home of his childhood, 
 before his heart becomes chilled by skepticism, 
 and hardened by constant intercourse with vice, 
 they would not surely send him forth into this 
 world of crime and unbelief, without a knowl 
 edge of our holy, happy religion, to keep him 
 from too rude a collision with the stern, heaven- 
 daring leaders in rebellion to God, who are 
 almost sure to shatter, if not destroy, the out 
 works of moral principles, if not guarded by 
 stronger and more active sentinels than are 
 usually found upon them, and obtain an e;isy 
 victory over the good resolutions within the 
 citadel of man's heart. 
 
 George Allen was made very unhappy by 
 the train of thought which had presented itself 
 to him, and would have given any thing to be 
 set free from the fascinating influence which 
 Theodore Weston had acquired over him ; but 
 he had not sufficient moral courage to brave his
 
 THE ONLY SON. 3"" 
 
 ridicule by at once renouncing his society, and 
 determining to act for himself independently 
 and virtuously ; still the struggle in his mind was 
 long and severe, and might have terminated 
 favorably, had he not been suddenly aroused 
 from his reverie by the sound of music under 
 his front window. George was excessively fond 
 of music, and played on the flute with much 
 skill ; he could not therefore resist an invitation 
 from several of the students who were collected 
 in the college yard, with various wind-instru 
 ments, to come with his flute and join them. 
 
 Glad to escape from his own thoughts, he 
 complied, and was told they intended to serenade 
 a beautiful young lady, who lived near. George 
 went with the serenaders, and returned about 
 nine, as the moon was shining brightly, and 
 every thing seemed so lovely that his sad feel 
 ings had taken flight before he reached home ; 
 and he had agreed to meet with the supper 
 party, the next Tuesday evening. 
 
 It was a cold, rainy evening in November, 
 when these mischief-loving students met in 
 Theodore Weston's room, to enjoy " the feast 
 of turkey and the flow of wine." It was 
 deemed essential that, as the meeting was a 
 4
 
 38 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 stolen one, the poultry and other requisites 
 should be stolen likewise, or obtained in some 
 underhand manner. One of the boldest had, 
 therefore, the night before, contrived to jret 
 access to a neighboring farm-yard, and taken 
 imd slain a turkey and Iwo chickens ; the other 
 eatables were furnished by the different par 
 takers in this riotous proceeding. 
 
 The shutters were closed, the door locked ; and 
 the young countenances, sparkling with merri 
 ment, enjoyed with a keener appetite because it 
 was forbidden, formed a striking contrast to the 
 cheerless scene without ; while the dashing of 
 rain against the windows, the creaking of the old 
 elms, and the occasional gusts of wind, which 
 shook the building and roared down the chim 
 ney, all passed unnoticed and unheard, amid the 
 occasional bursts of laughter which attended 
 their awkward attempts at getting supper. An 
 immense fire was blazing in the chimney, before 
 which were the unfortunate fowls, whose lives 
 had been sacrificed for the celebration of this 
 feast of Bacchus, spitted on an old sword, which 
 was put across two chairs, while one of the stu 
 dents was officiating as cook, with a plate of 
 butter and a spoon, basting as he turned them
 
 1HE ONLY SON III) 
 
 round. His uneasy movements plainly indicated 
 his dislike to his station ; and, at length, his im 
 patience vented itself in an eloquent appeal to 
 his companions, which made the room ring with 
 a shout of laughter so loud, that it startled those 
 who caused it. " I say, boys, I wish one of 
 you would turn and grease these confounded 
 chickens ; I am almost roasted, and the wool is 
 all singed off my pantaloons. Dame Nature 
 never intended me' for a turnspit, I know." 
 " Yes, she did," said one of his merciless friends, 
 " only you never obeyed her dictates, and now 
 she is making you suffer for it." 
 
 " You must earn your supper before you eat 
 it," said another. " I'll be hanged, if you soo 
 any thing left of me by the time it is done, for 
 my brains are all scorched up now," responded 
 the despairing cook. " Well, you do. look a little, 
 icarm in the face," said Theodore Weston ; " I 
 will see to the fowls a while, and if you want to 
 cool yourself, you may go down to the yard and 
 bring me the top rail of the fence, I loosened it 
 to-day, for fear we should want it, for Dick 
 Wilson rolled my last log down stairs last night, 
 *fter poor little Freshman Tom." 
 
 "Yes," said Dick; "and I wish you could
 
 40 GKORGE ALLEN, 
 
 have seen the coward run, and heard him bawl 
 when he heard it thundering down, he made 
 such a racket, that one of the tutors came out of 
 his room to see what ailed him ; and when he 
 saw the poor boy standing and trembling beside 
 he log, he couldn't help laughing." 
 
 The young gentleman who had such an aver 
 sion to being cooked, now took his cap and de 
 parted in search of fuel, and soon returned with 
 a rail about eight feet in length. 
 
 " There," said he, throwing it down ; " the 
 next time you catch me stealing rails, you may 
 tar and feather me." 
 
 " Why, what has happened ? " said half a 
 dozen voices. 
 
 " Happened ! nothing ; but something almost 
 did. As I was coining up stairs, I heard one of 
 the doors in the entry above, open, and who 
 should come along but our old Latin tutor; 1 
 knew him by his creaking shoes. I felt as though 
 I should go through the wall ; but, as good luck 
 would have it, he did not bring a light with him, 
 and you see I am not as large as Fal staff, so I 
 shouldered my rail, stood up close to the wall, 
 ind held my breath till he got by. If he had put 
 nut his hand, he would have found me out and 
 then I should have cut a pretty figure."
 
 THE ONLY SON. 41 
 
 'O well, don't be frightened, now it's all 
 over ; but I should like to have seen you ; such 
 a long fellow as you are, shrinking into your 
 coat, with this hugged up in your arms, you 
 must have looked like that great, tall corporal, 
 that trains with his wife's clothes-pole." 
 
 "Here, Allen," said Theodore, "just take 
 this hatchet, and split up this said rail, for my 
 fire is going down." 
 
 After various difficulties, and no little vexa 
 tion, the supper was pronounced cooked ; the 
 fowls, nicely browned, were put upon a tin pan, 
 for want of a dish; the potatoes and onions (for 
 this affair was conducted in style) were duly 
 arranged on the table, and Theodore Weston, 
 going to the closet, brought out six bottles, say 
 ing, " I thought we must have something to wash 
 down the victuals, so I got Sam Brown, the tav 
 ern keeper's son, to bring me half-a-dozen bot 
 tles of real, sparkling champagne see how 
 bright it is," he added, pouring out a glass. 
 " Huzza ! " exclaimed the merry students, as 
 they drew their chairs round the table, when 
 suddenly a heavy footstep was heard approach 
 ing. 
 
 *' The old Harry ! " said one, " here comes old 
 4*
 
 42 CF.fHIGK ALMCN, 
 
 D - , to see what we are doing. I suppose lie 
 found some of the rooms empty, and the suspi 
 cious old fool has come hunting round, to find 
 out what we are about." 
 
 " What shall we do ? " said another. 
 
 " Do ! " said Weston ; " why, hide the things as 
 fast as we can, instead of standing like a parcel 
 of frightened geese ; and when he gets here, \ve 
 shall be as grave as deacons." 
 
 " Here, Jackson, take this turkey and clap it 
 into the closet quick! shut the door; put the 
 vegetables into that box ; they will be none the 
 worse for it." 
 
 His directions were obeyed in less time than 
 it had taken to give them, and all the materials 
 for the feast were put out of the way just as the 
 tutor reached the door. 
 
 " Deuce take him," said Mr. Brooks, one of 
 the students, who was noted for his love of good 
 eating ; " the supper will be cold before he will 
 
 go-" 
 
 The loud knock was answered by George Al 
 len, who went to the door^ while Theodore Wes 
 ton hastily caught up a pile of books, and throw 
 ing them on the table, seated himself gravely by 
 i. "Good evening, young gentlemen," said
 
 THE ONLY SON. 4i 
 
 Mr. D. politely ; " I thought I heard a great noise 
 up here ; did you notice it, any of you ? " 
 
 " I heard some cats in the garret, sir ; and we 
 have been laughing at a discussion between Mr. 
 Brooks and myself respecting the comparative 
 merits of animal and vegetable diet. He asserts 
 that the mind is more vigorous when the appetite 
 is not indulged to excess, but merely satisfied, 
 and that a vegetable diet is very beneficial." 
 
 Poor Mr. Brooks looked rather disconcerted 
 at this unexpected assertion of Theodore, which 
 was well known by all the students to be far 
 from the truth ; and his confusion increased 
 when the old gentleman, who never suspected 
 any one of what students term " quizzing," turned 
 to him, and very gravely said, he wished all young 
 gentlemen would agree with him ; and he pre 
 sumed Mr. Brooks's superior scholarship might be 
 attributed in a great measure to his abstemious 
 ness. 
 
 How long the laughter-loving students might 
 have been able to preserve their gravity, cannot 
 be decided ; for a crash in the closet, like that 
 of breaking glass, attracted their attention, and 
 consternation was depicted on many counte 
 nances, when they saw a stream of their valued
 
 44 GEORGE ALLEN 
 
 champagne issue from the crack at the 
 of the closet-door, and make its way across th 
 floor in front of Mr. D., who, looking at it rather 
 suspiciously, asked Theodore what he had in 
 his closet. 
 
 Without appearing at all disturbed, Weston 
 went to the closet, and produced the fragments 
 of a bottle, saying, " It is a bottle of vinegar that 
 was hanging up , I suppose the string was worn 
 out or rotten." The old tutor looked round as 
 though he did not clearly understand the expres 
 sion of their faces , but being, as was remarked, 
 very slow to comprehend any thing a little mys 
 terious, his untiring vigilance and strict discipline 
 were of little avail, for the wary students gener 
 ally succeeded in eluding his watchfulness. 
 
 On the present occasion, seeing nothing that 
 would justify the reproof he had intended to ad 
 minister, he took his leave, after expressing his 
 conviction, that " young gentlemen generally 
 studied to greater advantage when alone." 
 
 As soon as the door was closed behind him 
 and the sound of his retreating footsteps dietf. 
 away, the revellers again betook themselves to 
 fan and frolic. 
 
 "Huzza for Weston!" said one ; "he is the
 
 THE ONLY SON. 45 
 
 fellow to get out of a scrape handsomely ; why, 
 
 the , how could you look so unmoved 
 
 when that confounded champagne jumped off the 
 shelf, and came raving out under the closet door, 
 like a spirit of mischief ? I felt as though the 
 very supper had turned state's evidence, and ex 
 pected to see the turkey make its appearance 
 next, on its drum-sticks, crying out for revenge ; 
 and old D. looked as suspicious as the Old 
 Harry." 
 
 This speech was received with a loud laugh 
 by all but Brooks, who said, " Come, come, Ed 
 wards, what an everlasting talker you are ; the 
 supper will be as cold as a frozen whale, before 
 you have finished your oration ; do let us go 
 about it, or we shall have no time for fun." 
 
 " Well done, Brooks ; you are in a great hurry 
 to get rid of the new character I gave you ; I 
 should think you might wear it a little while for 
 variety's sake." 
 
 " However, we may as well re-set our supper- 
 table and despatch the provisions, for fear of 
 more interruptions." 
 
 Away went Brooks to the closet in search of 
 the turkey ; and as soon as he had found it, for 
 it had been thrust in without a previous inspec-
 
 46 GEORGE ALLEIST, 
 
 tion of the premises, he vociferated, " What 
 stupid fool put away this turkey ? " 
 
 " Why, what ails you, Epicurus ? you look 
 as if you had received orders to fast seven 
 weeks," said Theodore. 
 
 " Ails me ! nothing ; but something ails the 
 urkey." 
 
 " What is it, what is it ? " said they all ; " bring 
 A here." A general rush was made to the 
 closet, where Mr. Brooks stood contemplating the 
 unfortunate fowl, and it was brought forth to the 
 light. 
 
 As soon as they saw the condition of their 
 stolen prey, a burst of laughter arose from the 
 whole company ; even poor Mr. Brooks could 
 not resist the influence of their merriment. 
 
 " What in the name of common sense is the 
 matter with it ? " said one. 
 
 " Poor thing," said another ; " I should think 
 it had the black plague." 
 
 " I can solve the mystery," said Theodore 
 Weston, who had been to the closet to examine- 
 the turkey's hiding-place ; " while I was taking 
 care of the wine, I told Jackson to put the fowls 
 into that other closet, and he, like a scatter 
 brained dunce as he is, stuck the dish into my tin
 
 THE ONLY S( N. 47 
 
 pan of charcoal ; the poultry took the liberty 
 of slipping out of the dish into the coal ; so you 
 see, gentlemen, your supper is ready seasoned 
 for you." 
 
 " Never mind," said George Allen, who could 
 scarcely speak for laughing, " scrape off the out 
 side ; the rest is as good as ever." 
 
 " Ay, so we can, Allen," said Theodore, and 
 set himself to work to repair the damage, while 
 his assistant cooks busied themselves in bringing 
 the other articles of food, and the supper was 
 announced. 
 
 " Now, gentlemen," said their host, " let us 
 eat, drink, and be merry ; we have Scripture 
 warrant for that. Your health, Mr. Brooks. The 
 champagne is not seasoned with carbon, if the 
 turkey is." 
 
 The clock struck ten, and still they were a.t 
 the table ; and, as glass aftei glass was drained, 
 the fascinating poison began to take effect, and 
 songs were sung and profane jests went round, 
 and the loudest laugh and deepest oath were ut 
 tered by George Allen; for he had drank and 
 laughed until all serious feelings had fled ; and 
 though a few days before he had seen the wick 
 edness of his own heart, and almost resolved to
 
 48 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 renounce his dissipated life and study the Word 
 of God for himself, to see if he could answer 
 the sophistry of Weston, with the merriment of 
 this evening passed away all that was good or 
 holy from his young mind, and ever after he went 
 on in his mad career without one warning from 
 his conscience ; the emotions once awakened in 
 his breast had been chilled, and slept forever. 
 Conscience once slighted, and penitent feelings 
 repressed, may be stilled until the day of final 
 retribution, when will be heard the voice of the 
 Omnipotent, saying to the trembling, self-convict 
 ed sinner these terrible words : " Ye knew your 
 duty, but ye did it not." 
 
 From that evening George Allen resigned 
 himself without resistance to the influence of his 
 dissolute companions, and seemed to yield his 
 last spark of moral rectitude to the withering 
 grasp of the fiend intemperance, who wrested 
 it from him without his making one struggle in 
 its defence. As his habits of dissipation increas 
 ed, he of course lost his love of study, and was 
 frequently warned by the officers of the college 
 that expulsion must inevitably follow such total 
 disregard of all rules, or even respect for com 
 mon morality.
 
 THE ONLY SON 4'J 
 
 At first, a fear of public disgrace restrained 
 nim, for he was veiy ambitious, and had long 
 looked forward to the hope of attaining to emi 
 nence in a profession ; and visions of future 
 honor and public preferment had flitted before 
 his mind's eye, until he had resolved that nothing 
 less than the highest summit of distinction should 
 satisfy his aspiring mind. 
 
 He had fancied himself pleading at the bar 
 with the fascinating eloquence of Wirt, and the 
 overpowering, resistless force of the gifted Web 
 ster. But, alas ! love of duty, and high, noble, 
 manly resolutions, vanish like morning mists be 
 fore the fierce noonday heat of intemperance. 
 
 All hope of distinction or fear of dishonor fled 
 from the imagination of the unprincipled infidel, 
 tor such was George Allen, after a few months 
 of indulgence in unbridled sensuality. 
 
 So rapid was his progress in vice, and so shame 
 less were his violations of good order and mor 
 ality, that, in less than six months after the stu 
 dents' frolic, he was, after repeated expostula 
 tions from his tutors, expelled from that college 
 where he had formerly distinguished himself by 
 his talents, and excited the expectation, destined 
 5
 
 50 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 never to be realized, that he would one day be 
 its brightest ornament. 
 
 Long and fruitlessly had those interested in 
 him endeavored to convince him of the folly 
 and wickedness of his course. Vain effort ! He 
 well knew the certain ruin of character, consti 
 tution, and every thing valuable, to which his 
 conduct must tend ; he did not sin in ignorance ; 
 the fault was not in his head, but in his heart, 
 which was utterly polluted and vile. Cherished 
 sin had made him reckless, and he cared not for 
 the consequences, so long as he might indulge 
 his evil passions unchecked. 
 
 The evening after his sentence had been pro 
 nounced, George was walking in a grove near 
 the college, when he overheard a conversation 
 between him who had sought so eagerly to ruin 
 his unsuspecting young friend, and Jackson ; a 
 warm feeling though dissipated young man. 
 
 " I am really sorry for Allen," said he to The 
 odore ; " it is a pity a fellow of such fine talents 
 should be so utterly ruined." 
 
 "I do not think he deserves pity," was the 
 reply ; " if he had only had sense enough to be 
 moderate in his pleasures, and had not given
 
 THE ONLY SON. 51 
 
 nimself up so entirely and openly, he would 
 have escaped this disgrace." 
 
 " If he had not been so tempted," said Jack 
 son, warmly, " he might have left us as honorable 
 and upright in morals, as intellectual, and as 
 ardently devoted to study, as he was when he 
 came among us." 
 
 " You are quite a Don Quixote," said Weston, 
 contemptuously, " and would be quite as ready, 
 I doubt not, to fight windmills ; but 1 doubt 
 whether your disinterestedness would ever be 
 brought into practice sufficiently to benefit any 
 one. You are very good in theory, Jack, but 
 you don't act any more righteously than I 
 do." 
 
 " I never tried so hard to rum an inex 
 perienced, confiding boy, like George Allen ; 
 my wickedness hurts no one but myself; but 
 you, Weston," continued he, indignantly, " used 
 all your influence to overturn every good feel 
 ing in his heart. I never understood you, till 
 that night we had such a frolic ; I always 
 thought you really liked him, but I suspected 
 you when you tried so hard to get him intoxi 
 cated, and then suffered him to beat you at the 
 first game of whist, to induce him to play again ;
 
 52 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 I tell you, Weston," said he, while his dark 
 eyes flashed, " you have acted more like a 
 fiend than a man ; and I call Heaven to witness 
 that I renounce from this moment all friendship 
 with you." 
 
 George stood in a little arbor, formed by a 
 luxuriant wild grap^-vine, which the students 
 had trained over the lower branches of an oak, 
 and the two students had approached him, and 
 as Jackson uttered the last sentence, they stopped 
 so near, that the expression of their faces was 
 easily discernible. 
 
 He was startled by the sudden change which 
 passed over Theodore Weston's countenance, 
 as he listened to the accusation of his com 
 panion. 
 
 His bright, blue eyes grew dark with rage and 
 scorn ; his brow became black with unutterable 
 thoughts; and his cheek was pale as death, 
 while, with a curling lip, he answered, 
 
 " To T/OM, Jackson, I am not responsible for 
 my conduct. I am not to blame for Allen's 
 want of firmness ; he was at liberty to do as he 
 chose ; and as he has shown himself entirely 
 devoid of resolution or common sense, and 
 \inablc to do any thing like a man, he must bear
 
 THE ONLY SON 5? 
 
 the consequences I have no interest in the 
 fellow." 
 
 " No interest in him ! O, Theodore, I could 
 not have believed you had so little feeling. I 
 tell you, and you will not silence rne by frown 
 ing, that you have been the ruin of Allen, and 
 at the day of judgment you will receive your 
 recompense ; and I am determined," he con 
 tinued, proudly, " to listen to your fascinating 
 infidelity no longer ; I have yielded to the 
 charmed spell with which your wit and elo 
 quence have bound me, until my soul is nearly 
 ruined, and now I will act for myself, and atone 
 to God, if I can, for my past wickedness." 
 
 " Really, parson," said the cold-hearted in 
 fidel, " I wonder where you learned so much 
 holiness ; you would make a fine Methodist 
 ranter; pray, how long since you met with a 
 change ? " he added, sneeringly. 
 
 " I have a pious mother, Weston ; and before 
 I came here I never dared to scoff at sacred 
 things ; it would break her heart to hear of my 
 daring, blasphemous conduct for the past year. 
 She gave me a Bible when I left home, and I 
 promised to read it, and kept my promise, till I
 
 54 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 became acquainted with the set of which you are 
 the leader." 
 
 As his companion uttered this sentence, 
 Theodore's color came and went, and his lip 
 trembled as if with strong emotion ; for he, too, 
 once had a pious mother, who died when he 
 was about eight years old; and his imagination 
 recalled the scene of her death-bed ; he remem 
 bered her last kiss ; and the sound of her soft 
 voice, as she implored the protection of God for 
 her child, still echoed in his ear. Poor Theo 
 dore, unfortunately, had an unprincipled father, 
 whose example overcame the good impressions 
 which his mother had given. But he had not 
 always been happy ; there were many moments 
 when memory and conscience strove to recall 
 his wandering steps ; and he had invariably 
 silenced their murmurs by plunging madly into 
 company, and lately they had ceased to trouble 
 him ; but now, as he looked on jthe young man 
 who had so fearlessly acknowledged his love for 
 his mother, and faith in his God, he would have 
 given worlds to exchange his proud philosophy 
 for a happier belief. 
 
 It was but a momentary feeling ; he struggled 
 against it with all his might ; the image of his
 
 THE ONLY SON. 55 
 
 dying mother faded from his imagination, and 
 he was again the proud, unfeeling infidel. Turn 
 ing calmly to Jackson, he said, with an insulting 
 smile, as every trace of softer emotion dis 
 appeared from his features, " Heaven is very 
 much interested in your thoughts and feelings, 
 I dare say ; much more so than I am ; and now, 
 if you have expended your chivalric indignation, 
 and called me all the hard names you intend to, 
 we will, if you please, return to our rooms ; and 
 I advise you to let George Allen fight his own 
 duels in future; you will get no thanks for 
 interfering." 
 
 His young companion turned indignantly from 
 him, and saying, " We are friends no longer," 
 returned hastily to the college. 
 
 Theodore Weston looked after him and mut 
 tered, " A fine fellow that, and worth a dozen 
 Aliens. But ne is so fettered by superstition" 
 he added, and then hastened to a large party, 
 where he soon lost all thoughts of his last con 
 versation in mirth and dancing. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe the feelings 
 of George as he listened to this conversation of 
 the collegians. Anger, astonishment, and detes 
 tation, were the most powerful emotions.
 
 56 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 The veil was rent which had until now hid 
 the base intentions of his perfidious friend from 
 his eyes, and he saw how completely he had 
 been made the dupe of a heartless, designing 
 villain. 
 
 Mortified and enraged, he returned to his 
 lodgings, and the next day bid farewell to the 
 scene of his disgrace, but not to return home ; 
 no, he was too proud for that. He could not 
 meet his father's reproaches, or his gentle moth 
 er's tears of bitter anguish. Besides, he felt a 
 consciousness that had his education been more 
 carefully conducted, had his parents taught him 
 good principles, and learned him to love and 
 fear his Creator ; had his mother been like Jack 
 son's, he might have escaped these temptations ; 
 and he felt a kind of sullen recklessness as to 
 his future fate, and a savage exultation in the 
 thought that the deeper his degradation, the 
 keener would be his parents' anguish ; he wished 
 them to feel the effects of their carelessness re 
 specting his soul. He had always known thai 
 there was as much of pride as affection in his 
 father's feelings toward him, and he now de 
 termined that he should not be gratified by seeing 
 his son distinguished for his learning and talents.
 
 THE ONLY SON. 67 
 
 Strange ! that a year of dissipation and intem 
 perance should have chilled his best feelings, 
 destroyed all high and honorable ambition, and 
 rendered him so entirely a slave to the most 
 debasing passions 
 
 But daily observation convinces that this is not 
 an exaggerated picture ; vice is sufficiently over 
 whelming to sweep away all the better part of 
 our nature ; ever more ready to yield to the 
 suggestions of evil than good. 
 
 The only desire this unfortunate young man 
 now had, was to go as far as possible from all 
 who had ever known him. He therefore went 
 to New York, intending to apply for a situation 
 as clerk in some commercial establishment, but 
 meeting there with a young lawyer with whom 
 he had formerly been acquainted, who was 
 about to sail for New Orleans, George was per 
 suaded to accompany him to that polluted city. 
 
 During their voyage, which was remarkably 
 pleasant, Mr. Lyman, which was the name of 
 the young lawyer, described the state of society 
 in New Orleans, and the many temptations 
 which would assail him there ; adding, that, 
 firmly established as his own principles were, 
 by an excellent education, and the constant care
 
 58 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 of pious parents, he should not have dared to 
 expose his untried virtue to the fiery ordeal, but 
 for the promised protection and advice of an 
 uncle residing there, an elderly man with a 
 large family, who had removed from Boston 
 about five years before. 
 
 Mr. Lyman had only known George Allen 
 when at the Academy, before he had breathed 
 the tainted atmosphere of dissipation, and was 
 not aware of the entire change in his character. 
 
 Separated from those whose example had 
 been so injurious, and in a situation so novel to 
 him, with one who detested every thing vicious 
 and disgraceful, surrounded by no temptations, 
 breathing the pure air of the ocean, 
 
 All around him one deep sea, 
 All above him one blue sky, 
 
 he trod the deck of the swift-sailing vessel with 
 renewed life ; and those who had only seen him 
 after one of his college revels, would hardly 
 have recognized in the being who, with buoyant 
 step and blooming countenance, walked rapidly 
 from one end to the other of the rolling ship as 
 she bounded over the foaming waves, the pale, 
 languid student, listlessly poring over his books
 
 THE ONLY SON. 59 
 
 with an aching head, wearied with excess, and 
 yet unable to refrain from what he termed 
 pleasure. 
 
 But this seeming reformation was only the 
 natural flow of youthful vivacity, attendant on 
 perfect health, not the enduring and thorough 
 reformation of the mind, which would insure 
 future good conduct. 
 
 The most dangerous frailty in George Allen's 
 disposition was a want of firmness. His char 
 acter, chameleon-like, took the hue of that which 
 it came in contact with ; always, however, like 
 all who have not felt the purifying influence of 
 religion, more readily assuming the dark tint of 
 unlawful indulgence than the bright coloring of 
 virtue. 
 
 When arrived in New Orleans, Mr. Lyman 
 went immediately to his uncle's, and George 
 accompanied him. They found Mr. Reynolds 
 had lost none of his Yankee warmth of heart ; 
 for New England's sons and daughters do love 
 their friends ardently, and what is still better, 
 sincerely, and do not deserve the high eulogium 
 bestowed on them by a modern traveller, who 
 said, in the height of his politeness, " Nature has 
 furnished the Yankee with double brains and
 
 60 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 but half a heart." Mr. Lyman was to board 
 with his uncle, but he very kindly conducted 
 George to a boai'ding-house, where he found 
 several young gentlemen who had recently left 
 tho Northern States some for their health, to 
 spend the approaching winter out of the reach 
 of our piercing winds, and some, the greater 
 part, actuated by that spirit of enterprise so com 
 mon among us 
 
 The next morning the new friends walked out 
 with Mr. Reynolds to view the city, and see if 
 a situation could be got for George, who had 
 won the good opinion of his acquaintances by 
 his intelligence and agreeable manners. 
 
 Northern intelligence and integrity are duly 
 appreciated by our Southern brethren, and young 
 men of education can always obtain a generous 
 compensation for their services. George, there 
 fore, found no difficulty in establishing himself 
 as clerk in one of the principal banks, with a 
 salary far beyond his expectations. 
 
 ^hus advantageously situated, out of the reach 
 of all his former associates, his late bad conduct 
 unknown, introduced by Lyman to all the besl 
 society in the extensive circle of his uncle's 
 acquaintance, George Allen seemed for a time
 
 THE ONLY SON 01 
 
 to have relinquished his dissolute pleasures, and 
 his good habits acquired additional strength from 
 a new motive, as though Heaven would in mercy 
 hold out every possible inducement to win him 
 back to the path of moral rectitude. 
 
 One of the families to whi< h his young friend 
 introduced him was that of a physician, a native 
 of Vermont, who had resided in New Orleans 
 for several years. This gentleman was a man 
 of superior talents, and was highly pleased with 
 the young strangers, especially Allen, whose fine 
 mind was not yet dimmed by vice, but seldom 
 failed to prepossess in his favor all who knew 
 the worth of intellect. 
 
 It was in this family circle that George found 
 his highest pleasures. There were several chil 
 dren, all distinguished for amiable dispositions 
 and affection for each other. The eldest was a 
 very accomplished and pious young lady of 
 eighteen, whose modest and gentle appearance 
 interested George at his first acquaintance with 
 her ; and when, as he became more intimate, he 
 found that she was as intellectual as she was 
 amiable, he thought her superior to any othel 
 female he had ever seen, as he could conversf 
 with her on subjects which interested him with 
 6
 
 62 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 out feeling obliged, as is too often the case, to 
 lay aside all intellectual conversation, and talk 
 in that trifling manner generally supposed by 
 gentlemen to be most intelligible and interesting 
 to ladies. 
 
 Respect and esteem for one so lovely, cher 
 ished by a mind so ardent in all its emotions, 
 soon gave birth to warmer feelings, and young 
 Allen became deeply attached to one who evi 
 dently knew how to appreciate his attainments. 
 
 As his character stood fair in the estimation 
 of all who knew him, and his morals were not 
 suspected, the young lady's parents were much 
 pleased with his frank avowal of affection for 
 their daughter. 
 
 George well knew that, if she even suspected 
 his infidel, dissolute principles, her heart would 
 be no longer his ; and, as he really loved her, he 
 thought an entire abandonment of his former 
 pleasures would be more than repaid by the pos 
 session of such a prize. For some months, 
 therefore, he refrained from all dissipation, and 
 was far happier than he had been since he left 
 home. But actuated by no higher motive than 
 the attainment of earthly good, his principles 
 unchanged, when he was no longer in doubt that
 
 THE ONLY SON. 63 
 
 Adelaide loved him, and the first excitement of 
 a new and absorbing passion had softened into a 
 more rational and subdued feeling, the restraint 
 became irksome. 
 
 He felt a restless and insatiable desire to re 
 sume his forsaken pursuits, and readily yielded 
 to the solicitations of a young planter of polished 
 manners, but abandoned character, with whom 
 he was slightly acquainted, to accompany him 
 to flie theatre, to admire the grace and beauty of 
 a French opera dancer, who was to make her 
 debut that evening. 
 
 George had never before been to a theatre ; 
 for since he came to New Orleans he had not 
 associated with any who approved of this fasci 
 nating but dangerous place of amusement. 
 
 Those who have frequented this fashionable 
 place of resort, may imagine the wonder and 
 admiration of so susceptible and excitable a 
 mind as George Allen's. He was excessively 
 fond oC music, and the orchestra was very good ; 
 and when the full burst of melody in a splendid 
 overture arose from every instrument, and filled 
 the house with the thrilling strains, then died 
 away in tones softer than an ^Eolian harp, now 
 swelling into a rich, animating strain, then again
 
 64 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 fading into low, mellow noies, while from the 
 midst of the gently murmuring sounds broke 
 forth a silvery tone, seeming to come nearer 
 and nearer the entranced listener, and float 
 around him, sweet as the voice of the fabled 
 siren, and too much resembling her soul-en 
 snaring song, when George listened in breath- 
 iess silence to this exquisite music, he thought 
 he had never heard any thing so delightful, and 
 he determined to partake of this amusement as 
 often as possible. 
 
 He thought no objection could be made to its 
 morality, as the theatre was patronized by many 
 oersons whose virtue was unquestioned by the 
 most rigid ; not considering that the indirect in 
 fluence upon the imagination was far more lum- 
 ous than the most shameless profligacy, as i* 
 corrupted the taste, and familiarized the hearl 
 with mimic vice and splendid villany, only to 
 make ready the soil for the debasing reality. 
 
 No one who has ever witnessed so disgusting 
 an exhibition as the highly-applauded feats of a 
 female opera-dancer, need be told of their indel 
 icacy. The very profession, in itself, assures 
 every mind possessing the least moral principle), 
 that no female of modesty, nay, no woman,
 
 THE ONLY SON. (35 
 
 (shame, that woman's name should be so de 
 graded!) who was not utterly depraved, would 
 place herself in such a situation. 
 
 No wonder that the most admired, because 
 most shameless, of this class have been im 
 ported from France that nursery- garden where 
 the rank weeds of infidelity and vice have been 
 so assiduously cultivated, nourished with blood, 
 and warmed by fire, under the fostering care of 
 men who deserve to be prime ministers in Pan 
 demonium, to reward their success in ruining 
 souls. 
 
 Those who personated the Goddess of Lib 
 erty, and danced round the Liberty Tree of 
 Robespierre, were no doubt efficient teachers in 
 this sublime art. 
 
 From the theatre, the transition was easy to a 
 gambling-house or hell, as these establishments 
 are expressively termed in Europe giving 
 the name of the citadel to one of its principal 
 gates. 
 
 Wine was, of course, an attendant at these 
 places, and, the Circean cup once tasted, George 
 found the spell stronger than ever ; and on he 
 went, half-bewildered by the variety and novelty 
 of the forms in which temptation assailed him in 
 6*
 
 f>6 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 this profligate city, so much more alluring than 
 the common dissipations in which he had in 
 dulged in college ; and he quaffed long, deep 
 draughts of sensuality, in every form which 
 may be found in large cities, exulting in the 
 ihought that here he might sin without fear of 
 detection from Aose whose good opinion he was 
 einxious to preserve. 
 
 But affection is ever jealous, and the watchful 
 eye of Adelaide was not slow to detect a change 
 in her lover. She saw that, although he ex 
 pressed much affection for her, he was not so 
 often with her, and seemed uneasy in her com 
 pany, especially if any remark was made on the 
 low tone of morality among the young in the 
 city. 
 
 She dreaded lest George had been led into 
 bad company, and firmly resolved, if she found 
 it to be the truth, she would immediately re 
 nounce him, though she felt the struggle betweer 
 duty and affection would be severe. 
 
 George Allen did not intend, when he went 
 to the theatre, to go any further; but his mind 
 was enervated by the music, and still more by 
 the dancing of the very beautiful, bewitching 
 actress, who had attracted so many ; and when
 
 THE ONLY SON. 
 
 e was solicited to accompany his companion 
 still further in the broad way, lie had not firmness 
 enough to resist him. But even now he intend 
 ed to reform when he should be married; he 
 thought he could stop when he pleased. 
 
 One beautiful day, his new acquaintance, the 
 planter, invited him to visit his estate, which was 
 a few miles out of the city. He readily con 
 sented, and obtained leave of his employers to 
 take the excursion. 
 
 It was charming weather, and the negroes 
 were busily at work ; it being the sugar season, 
 when all the slaves are worked as far as their 
 strength will allow, and sometimes beyond their 
 powers, because the extra work he can extort is 
 of more value to the owner, at this season, than 
 the future health or even life of a slave ; and if 
 he loses a few, in consequence of overwork, as 
 he is thereby enabled to get his produce into 
 the market sooner than others, he is amply repaid 
 for their loss. ' 
 
 As the two young men wandered over the 
 plantation, which was a remarkably productive 
 one, George could not help contrasting the scene 
 with the fine farms in New England, where all 
 before him gives the passing traveller an idea of
 
 69 GEORGE ALLEX, 
 
 the substantial comfort and plenty which reigT) 
 within the homely but hospitable farm-house 
 Here no object relieved the sameness of thi 
 wide plantations but a few wretched-looking 
 huts, too miserable in appearance to afford shel 
 ter to cattle ; and instead of the well-fed, con 
 tented-looking horses and oxen of our happy 
 farmers, the oppressed, mourning, hopeless Afri 
 cans the human cattle of the south were 
 every where bending over their work, degraded 
 and debased in soul and body, condemned to a 
 weary life of slavery, unpitied and despised 
 while on earth, and with no knowledge of future 
 happiness, to brighten with the radiance of hope 
 their dying hour. 
 
 Nor is the degradation of the hapless negro 
 his only sorrow, though sufficient of itself to take 
 away all real happiness. 
 
 In one of the fields George and his friend 
 passed through was a group of women and chil 
 dren at work, under the care of an overseer, a 
 fierce and brutal-looking man, who seemed to 
 delight in the exercise of the large whip he held 
 in his hand, applying it to the half-naked bodies 
 of the trembling blacks whenever their motions 
 were not quick enough to please him.
 
 THK ONL* SON. 69 
 
 As the gentlemen passed, he spoke to his em 
 ployer, saying, " The negroes behave like fury 
 to-day, sir; they are all as lazy as bears. 1 
 nave whipped more than a dozen this morning." 
 
 " Poor creatures ! " said George ; " it is so hot, 
 no wonder ' they are tired ; I am sure I could not 
 work under such a sun." At this remark the 
 overseer stared at the young man with astonish 
 ment ; the slaves looked up from their work 
 for an instant, with an expression of stupid 
 , wonder on their dark faces, as if doubting 
 whether he who uttered a sentiment so strangely 
 humane could be a white man. 
 
 The young planter laughed rather contemptu 
 ously, and, taking his companion by the arm, led 
 aim away from the spot, saying, " Come, Allen, 
 your Yankee notions will never do here. I never 
 let my negroes hear such speeches as you made 
 just now ; we should have an insurrection in a 
 week." 
 
 " Why, it surely would not make them discon 
 tented to know that they were pitied for their 
 hard fate ; it seems to me rather a strange prin 
 ciple, that the more kindness you show a mun 
 the more ungrateful he will be." 
 
 " My dear fellow, a negro is a very differen
 
 70 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 all'air ; there is no such feeling as gratituJe in 
 his heart. The more you do for him the more 
 he expects ; and if you once let him suspect that 
 he might be, or ought to be, any thing but a 
 slave, it would be impossible to keep him in 
 order." 
 
 George made no reply, for he did not know 
 out his companion spoke truth ; and they went 
 to the house. 
 
 After thev left the overseer, his quick eye 
 observed a. boy about twelve years of age, who 
 was sitting on the ground, looking after the gen 
 tlemen as long as he could see them. 
 
 " What are you doing, you lazy dog ? " said 
 his taskmaster, kicking his naked side. " Get up 
 and go to work, this instant." 
 
 " O massa, John no lazy," said the child, 
 looking up imploringly ; " him head ache so bad" 
 
 " Nonsense ! Go to work, or you shall have a 
 flogging." 
 
 "John so bad he can't work, massa." 
 
 The anger of the overseer was aroused ; and, 
 seizing the sobbing child by the arm, he whippc 1 
 him most cruelly, exclaiming, 
 
 " I'll teach you to have the headache, vou 
 little villain."
 
 THE ONiVY bOlM. 71 
 
 The mother of the boy, who had stood looking 
 on in agony, when she saw the blood streaming 
 from her child's back, could bear it no longer, 
 but, falling on her knees before the cruel man, 
 with clasped hands, begged him to spare her son. 
 
 " 0, massa, do forgive him ! He will work. 
 Pray, no kill my boy ; me got nobody else to love 
 me." 
 
 The only answer was a blow from the whip, 
 and a fresh application of the lash to his victim. 
 Before night the boy was raving in a brain fever ; 
 and in two days he died. 
 
 George Allen succeeded for a time in conceal 
 ing his rapidly progressing habits of vice,; but 
 the suspicions of his friends were awakened and 
 soon received full confirmation. 
 
 Mr. Benson, Adelaide's father, had occasion to 
 go one afternoon to a part of the city not very 
 familiar to him, to attend an auction, and stopped 
 at a coffee-house for some refreshment, as he 
 returned. As he was waiting for the servant, 
 his attention was drawn by the boisterous con 
 duct of a number of fashionable young men in 
 another part of the room, and his surprise was 
 great when he saw George Allen in the midst of 
 them, talking and laughing, while his flushed
 
 72 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 cheek and wandering eye too plainly indicated 
 the state he was in, and Mr. Benson could not 
 avoid seeing that he was intoxicated. 
 
 He was much shocked at this discovery, and 
 still more so when he heard him make use of the 
 most profane and blasphemous language, such 
 as could only proceed from a mind long famil 
 iarized with vice. 
 
 He had for some time suspected that his young 
 friend was becoming dissipated, but had no idea 
 of what fearful progress he had already made. 
 
 George Allen's affection for the lovely Ade 
 laide was sincere, and he really intended when 
 he found himself beloved in return to reform, 
 and thought he never would yield to temptation 
 again. But even this motive was too weak to 
 bring back to virtue one whose heart was un 
 changed. No inducement can ever be sufficient 
 to reclaim the vicious, that does not at first lead 
 to repentance and point to heaven as the reward. 
 
 Mr. Benson saw that George was not in a fit 
 state to be reasoned with, and therefore went 
 home without being seen by him. 
 
 The affectionate father dreaded the consequen 
 ces of the disclosure of her lover's unworthiness 
 which must be made to his daughter, and could
 
 THE ONLY SON. 73 
 
 not resolve to tell her what he had seen, until he 
 vvas forced to it by a circumstance which took 
 place a few days after. 
 
 Adelaide and a young female friend were re 
 turning from a visit, just in the commencement of 
 the evening. 
 
 They had been accidently detained much 
 later than they intended, and were hurrying along 
 the street, when they were rudely accosted by 
 two young men dressed fashionably , but evident 
 ly in such a state of intoxication as deprived 
 them of any claim to the name of gentlemen. 
 
 The young ladies were much terrified ; but an 
 elderly gentleman, who was passing, came to 
 their protection, and the young men fled ; but 
 not until Adelaide had recognized in one of them 
 George Allen. 
 
 The surprise had such an effect on her that 
 she fainted ; but as neither the young lady who 
 was with her nor their unknown protector was 
 aware of the connection between them, they at 
 tributed her swoon to terror, and, having procured 
 a hack, accompanied her home. 
 
 Those only who have experienced the heart 
 breaking feeling which follows the sudden con 
 sciousness of the utter unworthiness of a long-
 
 74 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 cherished object of the deepest attachment, can 
 sympathize with Adelaide. 
 
 For a time she felt as though life was no long 
 er desirable ; but when she saw her mother's 
 tender expression of concern, and her dear fath 
 er's anxious countenance, she felt deeply her 
 own selfishness, in wishing to leave them forever 
 because she had not been made happy by the 
 fulfilment of all her own wishes. 
 
 Her disposition was too frank to admit of con 
 cealment, and when her father asked the cause 
 of her illness, she related the circumstance to 
 him, adding that she had long feared some such 
 discovery, and was now resolved to break every 
 tie which bound her to one who had shown him 
 self so destitute of principle, though she was 
 confident he did not know the person whom he 
 had insulted. 
 
 When George Allen awoke next morning 
 he found a letter on his table from Mr. Benson, 
 stating as briefly as possible the recent knowl 
 edge he had acquired of his true character, and 
 that his daughter wished him for the future to 
 consider himself released from his engagement 
 with her, adding that henceforth he must never 
 expect to see her again.
 
 THE ONLY SON. 75 
 
 The feelings of the wretched young man can 
 oe more easily imagined than described, for he 
 had really loved Adelaide with the strong affec 
 tion of a young and ardent mind. He had not 
 stopped to reflect since he commenced his career 
 of dissipation ; he had banished all virtuous 
 thoughts ; and the possibility of his profligate con 
 duct being known to her, and producing such an 
 effect, had never once occurred to him. 
 
 Now, when he saw the cup of happiness 
 dashed from his lips at the very moment he was 
 tasting the delicious draught, and by his own 
 hand too, he was almost maddened by the dis 
 appointment. 
 
 His first impulse was to go to Adelaide, not 
 withstanding the prohibition in the letter ; but 
 when his vehement ring at the door was answered 
 by the black servant, who held the door in his 
 hand, while he said, his mistress " could not see 
 Mr. Allen," George was almost frantic. 
 
 Returning to his lodging, he locked himself 
 into his room and wept passionately, as he thought 
 of his own folly in venturing certain happiness 
 against a few months of wild, unbridled pleas- 
 ure. What he had lost could never be his own
 
 70 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 what he had gained had only made him 
 miserable. 
 
 " If she would only see me," said he, " if she 
 would only hear how I have been tempted, I 
 know she would forgive me. I should reform 
 if I might win her. How could I be so perfect 
 ly idiotic as to go into that coffee-house with 
 those fellows ? I might have known that my 
 evil genius would send some one there that, knew 
 me." 
 
 He paced the room in a state approaching to 
 frenzy, exclaiming, " How can I give her up ? 
 Never see her again ! O ! I cannot endure the 
 thought." 
 
 He stopped ; and, striking his forehead, mut 
 tered through his teeth, " A bullet would end the 
 affair, and then Adelaide would bitterly repent 
 her rashness in renouncing me without giving 
 me time to tell her of the peculiar difficulties 1 
 have met in my attempt to become virtuous 
 But could I dare to die ? Why not ? death is bu 
 an ' eternal sleep,' an endless repose frorv 
 trouble and care. But to plunge myself into un 
 certainty What if the old Quaker should b 
 right, after all ? but then we always find piety.
 
 THE ONLY SON. 77 
 
 is it is termed, among the ignorant ; very few 
 enlightened minds are fettered by such a tissue 
 of absurdity as the Bible. Strange that it should 
 have remained so long in existence. There was 
 Weston, who rejected it entirely, and he was a 
 villain. Jackson believed it, and was as fine a 
 fellow as I ever saw ; but that was affection for his 
 mother, more than any other motive. Strange, 
 though, that all who But there's no good in 
 thinking about it; only, if the Bible is true 
 O, how Weston looked when Jackson spoke of 
 a final judgment ! even he turned pale." And 
 George shuddered when he thought of it, and 
 for a moment an expression of fear and doubt 
 shadowed his face ; but starting suddenly from 
 his musing posture, he snatched his hat and left 
 the room, muttering, " No matter ! the die is 
 cast. If it is so, I have gone too far to expect for 
 giveness, and may as well go on as not. I 
 shall do wisely iti taking all that the world will 
 give of pleasure. But Adelaide ! O, I could 
 have been happy and virtuous both with her! 
 I must try to forget her." And he went to the 
 bank, to drive away serious reflections by appli 
 cation to business. 
 7*
 
 78 . liKOKGE ALLEN, 
 
 At night, he went to a billiard-room and won * 
 hundred dollars, and the next night he lost two 
 hundred. 
 
 The last link which bound him to virtue was 
 broken ; and, like a fiery courser loosened from 
 the rein, he rushed madly on to destruction. 
 
 The goal was soon reached ; his money was 
 all gone. He had been allowed a quarter's sala 
 ry in advance ; that he lost at one game. What 
 could he do ? Love of gaming had become a pas 
 sion. He was already fearfully intemperate ; and, 
 in a fit of despair, he forged a draft on one of 
 the principal commercial houses in the city, in 
 the name of his employer. It is certainly true 
 that his hand trembled when he presented it ; but 
 it was just dark, and no one saw the paleness of his 
 cheek as he received the money. " I shall win 
 enough to replace it," said he to himself, " long 
 before it becomes due." 
 
 In this he was mistaken. Constant ill-luck at 
 tended him, until one night the planter who had 
 invited him to the theatre, and was now one of 
 his most constant companions, brought to the 
 billiard-room, a boy of about sixteen, a delicate* 
 looking, fashionably-dressed lad, whose manners 
 and conversation evinced a refined education
 
 THE ONLY SON. 79 
 
 and gentle disposition. He seemed desirous to 
 play, but half-afraid to venture. 
 
 His fears were soon overcome by the planter, 
 who said, laughing, " Why, Henry, you surely 
 are not afraid to play ! You always win when you 
 play for amusement only ; why should you be 
 less successful when there is a prize at stake ? " 
 
 " I am not afraid, certainly," said he, blushing, 
 and went up to the table, where he was intro 
 duced to Allen ; and, while he was counting the 
 money, his false friend took George aside, and 
 whispered, " Now, my dear fellow, you have a 
 rare chance of recovering your cash. This boy 
 is a perfect novice at billiards. He never played 
 with any one but me, and as I had nothing at 
 stake, I played as badly as I could, and now he 
 thinks himself a famous hand at it. 
 
 " You need not be at all anxious concerning 
 his ability to pay, for his father is one of the 
 richest men in the city," he added, observing a 
 saddened expression steal over the face of his 
 hearer. Until now, George had never sought 
 to ruin the innocent ; he had associated in his 
 revels only with those who were more abandoned 
 than himself, and he had not yet learned to 
 feel perfectly indifferent toward such as the one
 
 ?0 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 who was now lo try his ekili with him. But he 
 thought of the forged note and the inevitable dis 
 grace which would ensue were he unable to take 
 it up when it became due, and his remorseful 
 feelings gave place to anxiety for his own success. 
 
 As the result of the game became more doubt 
 ful, the combatants watched each other's strokes 
 with intense anxiety. 
 
 The planter watched their movements with a 
 practised eye ; and George, looking up accident 
 ally, saw his eye fixed on Henry with such a 
 glance of scorn and hatred, that his blood curd 
 led at its expression, and a strange fear came 
 over him. It seemed like the exultation of a 
 fiend over his victim. 
 
 It was but an instant, and his attention was 
 again absorbed by the game. It was soon decid 
 ed ; George had won. 
 
 The boy's distress was so great that, had it not 
 been for the recollection of the note, he would 
 have returned the money. He was deeply 
 touched, as he looked on the young gambler, who 
 was very beautiful, with dark blue eyes, shadowed 
 by Ions, dark lashes, with an almost feminine 
 expression of confiding tenderness, which sel 
 dom failed to win the love of all who saw him.
 
 THE ONLY SON. 81 
 
 The heartless planter appeared to sympathize 
 in his loss, and wondered how it could have hap 
 pened, for Allen was generally the most unlucky 
 djg in the world. 
 
 " I do not care so much for the money," said 
 Henry, " but my dear father will be so distressed 
 when he hears where I have lost it. O ! it would 
 break my mother's heart, and I am an only child 
 now." 
 
 After the violence of his grief had subsided, 
 the planter hinted that, if he would play again, 
 he would most probably win, as he never knew 
 Allen win two games in succession. 
 
 " But I have no more money." 
 
 " Ah ! that is unlucky. I would lend you 
 some, if I had any ; you know my poverty was 
 what prevented me from playing with you ; but," 
 said he, " you have a gold watch worth double 
 the sum you have lost." 
 
 Henry started, turned pale, and looked at his 
 false friend distrustfully ; then said in a low, trem 
 ulous voice, " You know I cannot part with that, 
 it was the last gift of my dear sister ; if she 
 could look down from heaven and see me risk 
 her last token of love at a gaming-table " 
 
 "-Zjf," interrupted the planter ; " but I some-
 
 82 GEOKGE ALLEN, 
 
 what doubt that. However, there can be no un 
 happiness in heaven, you know, even' if she 
 could see you, especially as you do it to save 
 your parent from misery." 
 
 This false reasoning had the desired effect 
 upon the boy. After a moment's hesitation, he 
 laid down the watch with a trembling hand, say 
 ing, " If I should lose it, I should die of grief." 
 " Poh ! you will not," was the laughing reply of 
 his tempter. 
 
 With a beating heart Henry watched the 
 game ; as he saw George likely- to win, and 
 when the result was evident, his agitation be 
 came overpowering. George won ; the poor 
 boy must part with his watch. 
 
 The hot tears poured from his eyes like rain. 
 He kissed the forfeited treasure ; and in the midst 
 of his grief he looked up at his supposed friend 
 and caught his eye fixed en him with such an 
 expression of concentrated malignity, while his 
 lip was curled with a fiendish sneer at this exhi 
 bition of unrestrained, boyish sorrow, that Henry 
 was no longer in doubt respecting the motive 
 which had influenced his late conduct. 
 
 Suddenly drying his tears and drawing up 
 his slender form to its full height, while his
 
 THE ONLY SON. 83 
 
 bright eyes flashed with anger, he poured form 
 such a torrent of bitter reproaches that the base 
 planter, who had not dreamed of such a spirit in 
 the gentle boy, trembled and turned pale at this 
 exposure of his villany. 
 
 He stood like one spell-bound, before the in 
 dignant boy, as, with the burning eloquence of 
 the south, he reproved the heartless villain who 
 had so eagerly sought to ruin him ; then vehe 
 mently declaring that nothing should ever induce 
 him to seek pleasure again at the gaming-table, 
 he turned to George and besought him, with the 
 most fervent entreaties, to allow him to redeem 
 the watch which he had promised his sister on 
 her deathbed never to part with. " I know," 
 said he, " I deserve to lose it, for breaking my 
 plighted word so basely; but I would rather part 
 with every thing I own in the world than never 
 be ailowed to call it mine again. I intend to go 
 directly to my father and tell him all ; he will 
 forgive me, I know ; and if you will leave it to 
 morrow at M. Serrier's, I will redeem it and 
 leave the money with him, or, if you prefer, 
 I will call at your lodgings myself." 
 
 George, who had been much affected by 
 Henry's distress, readily agreed to this proposal
 
 84 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 but, afraid of his love of gambling being known, 
 he gave his address, making him promise se 
 crecy ; and the boy left the fatal place, after one 
 glance at the highly-prized watch, his bright 
 face beaming with hope, and a smile on his lips, 
 though his cheek was still wet with the bitter 
 tears of remorse. 
 
 His hopes were not disappointed. Early the 
 next morning he called upon George to claim 
 his treasure according to promise. They went 
 together to a jeweller's and ascertained its value. 
 Henry paid the sum required and received his 
 treasure with delight. 
 
 " This shall be a lesson to me forever," said 
 he, " never to call any one friend who tempts 
 me to do wrong. O ! you cannot imagine ni} 
 mother's grief when she heard of my wicked 
 conduct. I never, never will give her occa 
 sion for sorrow again." " Have you a mother, 
 Allen ? " continued the ardent boy, seizing 
 George's hand. " How would she feel, if she 
 knew what you are doing here ? Pray leave 
 off gaming, and become an honorable man. Let 
 me introduce you to my father and mother, who 
 would love you, I know." 
 
 George thanked his youthful adviser, and
 
 TKfi OiNLY SOX. 85 
 
 bidding him good morning, walked quietly away 
 to free himself from unwelcome reflections, which 
 intruded themselves, unbidden, as he looked 
 on the warm-hearted boy, full of high hopes 
 and virtuous resolves, so unsuspicious and so 
 ardent. 
 
 George Allen was enabled, by the sum last 
 won, to redeem his note the day before it be 
 came due. 
 
 One step taken in vice, unless retraced, in 
 evitably leads to another and another, until the 
 sinner's downward progress becomes so fearfully 
 accelerated that nothing can arrest it, even when 
 the gulf which yavms to receive him is in full 
 view. 
 
 In less than a week George found he must 
 obtain a new supply of money ; and, emboldened 
 by his success in his first attempt, he forged 
 another note for a thousand dollars, which he 
 presented at a bank in the name of a merchant 
 well known in the city. 
 
 His evenings were now not confined to gam 
 bling-houses. Constant associations with the 
 most unprincipled and dissolute men, who feared 
 neither God nor man, could not fail of polluting 
 his mind and utterly destroying all his remaining 
 8
 
 88 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 love of virtue, or ambition to regain his earh 
 rank in society. All thought, all desire, was 
 limited to present pleasures, and those too ot 
 the most sensual kind. 
 
 His business was neglected, his love of dissi 
 pation and intemperance was no longer dis 
 guised, and his employer had repeatedly warned 
 him that he could no longer be retained in his 
 present situation unless he altered his course. 
 
 Remonstrance was useless : George could 
 not, ay, could not, abstain from indulgence in 
 vice, the lowest and most degrading. His very 
 existence seemed bound up in sensuality. 
 
 At length the note became due : he could 
 not meet the demand. Of this he had been 
 aware for some time, and had resolved on 
 making his escape from the city to avoid the 
 penalty attached to his crime. 
 
 But whither could he go without money ? 
 This question puzzled him ; and, at length, he 
 resolved to hazard a most daring attempt. 
 
 This was, to gain access to the bank where 
 he was employed, in the night, and steal a large 
 amount of bills and cash, then leave the city in 
 one of the early stages. 
 
 Having procured the necessary tools, he re-
 
 THE ONLY SON. 87 
 
 paired to the place on Saturday night, as he 
 should be more likely to escape before the 
 robbery should be discovered. 
 
 At midnight, with a dark lantern in his pocKet, 
 George arrived at the bank ; and, having care 
 fully reconnoitred the building, and ascertained 
 that all was quiet, he began his operations. 
 
 With the exertion of his utmost strength he 
 succeeded in forcing the massive locks, and 
 came at length to the iron-bound door which 
 separated him from the money-vault. 
 
 This resisted his utmost efforts for a while, 
 but at length it yielded. He was in the place 
 where his wants might be provided for ; and, as 
 he forced one of the iron chests and saw the 
 treasures within his grasp, his heart beat fast 
 with joy, wild, tumultuous joy, and he seized 
 upon it with the avidity of a miser. His in 
 tention, when he planned this desperate enter 
 prise, was to possess himself of only a thousand 
 dollars, which might suffice until he could reach 
 some place where he was unknown, and devise 
 some other means of living ; but, when he saw 
 the quantity of wealth by which he was sur 
 rounded, he could not resist the desire of taking 
 more reasoning, very correctly, that the sin of
 
 88 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 stealing did not depend on the value of the thing 
 taken. 
 
 He had turned from the money, and was about 
 leaving the vault, when a slight noise awakened 
 his fears. He listened ; it was a footstep rapidly 
 approaching the place where he stood ; he turned 
 pale with apprehension. 
 
 Had he succeeded thus far only to be de 
 tected when almost sure of escaping ! The 
 thought was agony. He looked round des 
 pairingly on the stone walls, as if hoping they 
 would open and afford him a place of conceal 
 ment. 
 
 Vain thought ! he stood there alone and de 
 fenceless. The step came nearer, it echoed 
 through the long passages, and stopped at the 
 door of the vault. Tt was a watchman. "Ha, 
 villain, I have you ! " he shouted, as he sprang 
 upon George. 
 
 He was a tall, powerful man ; but despair gave 
 George almost supernatural strength, and he 
 made such desperate resistance, that the watch 
 man had no time to spring his rattle or give any 
 alarm. 
 
 The struggle was long and fierce ; but George 
 felt his strength fast giving way before the pow-
 
 THE ONLY SON. 89 
 
 erful arm of his antagonist. He gasped for breath. 
 Thoughts of disgrace, and, stili more dreadful, 
 long years of solitary confinement, hopeless, 
 endless imprisonment, darted through his mind. 
 
 He was unarmed ; but his eye at that instant 
 caught sight of an iron bar, one of the fastenings 
 of the door. It seemed as though a fiend whis 
 pered in his ear. With a sudden exertion of 
 strength, he swung his opponent round, till the 
 weapon was within his reach. Quick as light 
 ning he seized it, and struck the watchman on 
 the head. The blow fell on his temple ; and, with 
 out a groan, his grasp relaxed ; he fell to the 
 ground. George turned pale when he saw the 
 effect of his blow. The faithful guardian of the 
 night had fallen a sacrifice to his own vigilance. 
 George knew by the fixed expression of his 
 features that he was dead. Bitter was his re 
 morse, but it was unavailing ; he had come here 
 to commit a robbery he must go away a 
 murderer ! 
 
 Horrid thought ! he would have given all he 
 
 had just taken to have restored his victim to 
 
 life. He had not intended to kill him. He 
 
 scarcely knew what he did ; but murdf r, certainly, 
 
 8*
 
 90 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 was not in his heart. He only struck to save 
 himself. 
 
 Alas ! how little can any know where they 
 shall stop, when they commence a career of vice 
 and crime ! 
 
 George Allen had begun by gaming ; that led 
 to forgery, robbery, and finally murder, though 
 not premeditated. 
 
 How fearfully that dead face glared on him, 
 with its glassy eyes, and the stillness of death 
 setting on the stem features! 
 
 A stream of blood issued from his temple and 
 flowed over the pale cheek the dark crimson 
 acquiring a still more appalling hue from the 
 contrast 
 
 George glanced at the dark recesses in the 
 walls and up at the arched roof, and fancied, as 
 the dim light of his lantern cast its quivering 
 rays over the face, " the dead man frowned." 
 It was but fancy ; the quick throbbings of that 
 heart so lately warm with life were stilled 
 forever, and his murderer was alone with the 
 dead.* 
 
 It was but a moment that he stood gazing on 
 ihe prostrate form before him, so powerless in 
 flie iron grasp of death.
 
 THE ONLY SON 91 
 
 Anxiety for his own safety soon aroused him 
 from his reverie ; and, hastily taking up his lan 
 tern, he fled through the long, dark passages ; 
 and, as the wind rushed through them, it seemed 
 to his excited imagination that he could hear 
 voices, and wild, unearthly laughter, as of fiends 
 exulting over their prey and claiming the mur 
 derer for their own. 
 
 It was not until he reached the open air that 
 he breathed freely ; then, extinguishing his lan 
 tern, he threw it from him and hastily sought a 
 stage-office. 
 
 A stage for Baltimore was just starting ; and, 
 paying the fare, he sprang into it, wrapped him 
 self in his cloak, and was whirled rapidly through 
 the silent streets. 
 
 It was not known in New Orleans until Mon 
 day morning, that a bank robbery had been com 
 mitted ; and great was the indignation of the 
 citizens when the body of the murdered watch 
 man was found. 
 
 A large reward was immediately offered by 
 the mayor for the apprehension of the villain , 
 out who he was was not suspected for some 
 dme. 
 
 The driver of the Baltimore stage, on return-
 
 92 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 ing to the city, mentioned that, on the night tho 
 murder was committed, a young man came up 
 to the stage panting for breath as though he had 
 been running, and demanded a seat; that he 
 noticed by the light of the stage lamps, that his 
 face was very pale, and he seemed much 
 agitated. 
 
 When George Allen's absence was discovered, 
 and his love of gaming became known, his hav 
 ing presented a forged note, for the payment 
 of which his employer was called upon, these 
 circumstances led to a suspicion that he was the 
 perpetrator of the horrid deed, though his pre 
 vious good character since he had been in the 
 city made his friends unwilling to harbor so 
 dreadful a thought. 
 
 In the mean time, ihe object of these sus 
 picions had, as soon as he arrived in Baltimore, 
 called at several banks ai<d exchanged his bills 
 of New Orleans for gold and silver, and United 
 States bank-notes, that the circumstance of his 
 having so much money of one bank might not 
 lead to his detection. 
 
 This being done, he determined to leave the 
 country as soon as possible, thinking he should
 
 THE ONLY SON. 93 
 
 no. feel himself secure any where withjn reach 
 of New Orleans newspapers. 
 
 He soon found a vessel ready to sail for South 
 America, and, taking passage in her, was beyond 
 reach before the news of the robbery reached 
 Baltimore. There we will leave him and return 
 to his wretched parents. 
 
 It was a beautiful morning in September. The 
 bright rays of the sun were reflected in the clear 
 depths of Connecticut River, and the trees were 
 loaded with fruit. Heaps of bright, red apples 
 were lying on the grass, ready to be transported 
 to the storehouse or cider-mill ; and every living 
 thing seemed to be in motion. The cows were 
 going from the milking-yard to the pasture ; 
 horses were standing in the farm-yard, in com 
 pany with the patient, gentle-looking oxen, wait 
 ing to be employed in carrying home the fruit ; 
 and the merry, rosy children were busy, with all 
 the tireless activity of happy childhood, in calling 
 the fowls to receive their breakfast, feeding the 
 pigs, bringing in the milk-pails, and any thing 
 else their little busy hands could find to do; 
 while, from all animate and inanimate nature, 
 arose that indescribable but harmonious sound
 
 94 trEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 which none but those who have enjoyed an au 
 tumnal morning in the country can realize. It 
 is the mingling of all the joyous but inarticulate 
 voices of bird and beast, tree and flower, rejoi 
 cing in their happiness. 
 
 Mr. Allen had never heard of his son since 
 his expulsion from college, and his wife was 
 almost broken-hearted in consequence of this 
 disappointment of her fond anticipations ; for 
 she had hoped and expected to see her son dis 
 tinguished for talents and acquirements. Still, 
 with the fervor of a mother's love, she would not 
 believe him utterly lost to all hope, but cherished 
 in secret a firm expectation of his returning to 
 redeem his character. 
 
 The grief of Mr. Allen was not deeper, per 
 haps, but partook more of the inconsolable na 
 ture of despair. It made him unsocial ; and, 
 under the garb of indifference, he suffered it to 
 prey upon his heart, until his health was im 
 paired and all the gentle affections of his breast 
 seemed extinguished. 
 
 At the farm of Isaiah Rogers all was peace 
 and contentment. His eldest sons were pious, 
 industrious men ; one of them was a preacher 
 of their own sect, and the other was his father's 
 assistant in carrying on the farm.
 
 THli ONLY SON. 95 
 
 This beautiful morning seemed to conquer the 
 habit of sobriety in the Quakers ; and a loud 
 laugh from the children, as they were attending 
 to the morning duties of feeding the " creatures," 
 as they are called in farmer phraseology, when 
 their mirth was excited by the greediness of 
 some selfish pig, or the unseemly contentions of 
 some refractory chickens, as they received their 
 breakfast, was too much for the gravity of 
 Isaiah. 
 
 Presently a rosy-cheeked little girl came dan 
 cing out of the house, and gradually sobering 
 down her pace to a demure walk, as she ap 
 proached her father, said, " Will thee come in 
 to breakfast, all of ye ? " " Ay, that we will," 
 said her older brother ; " we have worked hard 
 enough, all of us, to get an appetite." 
 
 When all were gathered round the table, the 
 old man raised his clasped hands, and silently 
 implored a blessing on the abundance which was 
 before them. 
 
 This heartfelt thanksgiving offered up, they 
 all sat down to their plentiful repast, which con 
 sisted of hot meat and potatoes, the necessary 
 ngredients in a New England country break-
 
 96 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 fast, bread of Indian meal, fresh butter, eggs, 
 honey, and new milk. 
 
 All who partook of this simple meal were 
 happy in the consciousness of doing to all their 
 fellow-creatures as they would be done by. 
 What they possessed was acquired by constant, 
 unremitting toil and strict energy. 
 
 Breakfast over, the family were soon all dis 
 persed to their various employments the fathei 
 to the apple-orchard, to carry a load of apples 
 to the cider-mill. The youngest boy was per 
 mitted to go with him, and mounted the cart in 
 high glee, with the long whip in his little sun 
 burnt hand, ready to make a grand flourish over 
 Dobbin's back when they should start. 
 
 Far different were the feelings of Mr. Allen 
 and his wife. To them the fresh beauty of the 
 morning brought no happiness ; and, when they 
 sat down to their plentiful breakfast, no humble 
 thanksgiving sent up its grateful incense to the 
 Giver of all blessings. 
 
 As they were at breakfast the horn of the 
 stageman was heard, and Mr. Allen went out to 
 get the newspaper. 
 
 As soon as he obtained it he returned, and,
 
 THE ONLY SON. 7 
 
 agam seating himself at the table, commenced 
 reading aloud. 
 
 Almost the first article which met his eye was 
 neaded, " Bank Robbery in New Orleans," and 
 describing in glowing colors the atrocious mur 
 der, and robbery to the amount of twenty-five 
 thousand dollars; with a reward ofiered for the 
 apprehension of thu villain ; and concluded by 
 stating that a young man who called himself 
 George Allen, and had been employed as a 
 clerk in this bank for about a year, was sus 
 pected, as he was known to have become deeply 
 involved in gaming, and to have forged a note for 
 a thousand dollars a few days previous, which 
 was probably his motive for committing so atro 
 cious a deed. 
 
 The farmer was not a great proficient in the 
 u art of reading," and always read straight on, 
 without looking to see what was coming next. 
 He was, therefore, unaware of the purport of 
 this astounding information until he had read his 
 son's name. 
 
 Then indeed he was sensible of the dreadful 
 
 nature of the news. The paper dropped from 
 
 his hands, and he sat apparently stupefied by 
 
 what he had read, unconscious of the agony of 
 
 9
 
 98 GEOR&E ALLEN, 
 
 his wife, who uttered a piercing shriek and ex 
 claimed, " He is not guilty, I know he is not 
 guilty ! " then fainted, and was carried to her 
 chamber by the frightened domestics, who tried 
 in vain to rouse Mr. Allen to a consciousness of 
 what was going on around him. Finding it im 
 possible to make him notice any thing, 'one of the 
 men ran for the doctor, and meeting by the way 
 Isaiah Rogers and his little son, going to the 
 cider-mill with his load of apples, he told the 
 news to him, adding that he believed Mr. Allen 
 had lost his reason, for he could not be made to 
 speak or take any notice of any body, though lie 
 did not know but the news had killed his wife. 
 
 The good Quaker did not wait to hear more 
 than half of the man's story,,before he dismounted 
 from his cart, and, tying the horse to a tree, told 
 his little boy to " run home and tell his brother 
 Joshua to tackle one of the horses and bring his 
 mother right over to Mr. Allen's ; " then, with 
 the characteristic promptness of his benevolent 
 mind, he ran to the house of this afflicted neigh 
 bor, and found him still in the seat he occupied 
 when the dreadful words first met his eye. 
 
 There he sat, his eyes fixed on vacancy, the 
 large veins on his forehead swelled almost to
 
 THE ONtT SON. . 99 
 
 bursting, his mouth compressed, and his hands 
 clenched, looking as though sudden grief had 
 turned him to stone. He returned no answer to 
 the consolation Isaiah Rogers attempted to offer, 
 and the good Quaker became alarmed. " May 
 God have mercy on him," he exclaimed. Just 
 at that moment, the doctor entered, who said, he 
 must be bled immediately, or apoplexy might 
 ensue such violent emotion. 
 
 His muscular arm was bared by the sympa 
 thizing Quaker, and after a moment the blood 
 began to flow freely. 
 
 This produced the desired effect. The unfor 
 tunate man heaved a deep sigh, and looked 
 wildly round ; then, looking' at the bandage on his 
 arm, the color mounted to his brow, and faded 
 as quickly, as his eye caught the fatal paper ; and 
 shutting his eyes, he groaned deeply as he mut 
 tered, " Wretched boy, a murderer ! O, if he 
 had died in the river, in his innocence, I might 
 have been spared this disgrace and misery, to 
 bring down my gray hairs to the grave. Un 
 grateful child ! how could he forget all my warn 
 ings and advice to keep from bad company ? 
 Would to God he had died in his cradle ! " 
 
 To this passionate lamentation, Isaiah Rogers
 
 100 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 did not attempt to make any reply, for he would 
 not inflict a deeper wound on the heart of the 
 distressed father, by* suggesting that, had he con 
 ducted the education of his son on different 
 principles, he would not now be mourning over 
 his rum. 
 
 The wife of the good Quaker, who was as 
 ready to exert herself to relieve distress as her 
 benevolent husband, had instantly complied with 
 the request made by her little boy, and come to 
 Mr. Allen's house as soon as a horse could be 
 harnessed ; and her tender and judicious treat 
 ment had recovered the unfortunate mother 
 from her deathlike swoon, before the physician 
 succeeded in restoring Mr. Allen to conscious 
 ness ; and, when he went to her chamber, he found 
 his assistance was not needed. So, recommending 
 rest and care, he departed, leaving her in the 
 care of her sympathizing nurse. 
 
 It was a far easier task to console and comfort 
 her than to alleviate the anguish of her husband. 
 He would listen to no palliation of his boy's 
 guilt, and no suggestion that he might have been 
 unjustly suspected ; that there was no proof of 
 his having committed so deadly a crime, and it 
 was not probable he had, in so short a time, be-
 
 THE ONLY SON. 101 
 
 come so utterly abandoned, as to be both a mur 
 derer and a robber. To all the suppositions of 
 the good Quaker, he paid no attention, and said, 
 he did not doubt the accusation was well-founded ; 
 and he should live to know that his only child, 
 the object of all his hopes and wishes, had died 
 upon the gallows. 
 
 In vain did Isaiah Rogers attempt to lead his 
 thoughts to God, and entreat him to look for 
 comfort in prayer, and trust in Him who has 
 said he came to heal the broken-hearted. There 
 was no chord in his heart that would respond to 
 such a sentiment; and, like Cain, he felt his 
 grief was too great for him to bear, but still 
 proudly refused consolation. 
 
 Not so his wife. Woman's heart will fondly 
 refuse to believe any wrong of those enshrined 
 within it, even wfeen no one else can doubt of 
 their guilt. God, in mercy to so gentle and 
 helpless a being, gave Hope to be a guardian 
 angel, to shield her in sorrow, and preserve her 
 from despair. She is formed to confide her 
 griefs and joys in some one, to seek a protector 
 to whom she may look up for support and sym 
 pathy. 0, 1 do not envy men their firmness, as 
 they term it; the cold, stern philosophy, which 
 9*
 
 102 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 teaches them to restrain feelings which might 
 find relief in indulgence ; to scorn pity, proudly 
 reject sympathy, and suffer in silence. Their 
 hearts, cased in the steel breast-plate of self- 
 control, may break, but will not bend. Such 
 stern apathy may be more exalted, more noble, 
 than woman's weakness ; but I pity them, unless 
 they have yielded to the softening influence of 
 the religion of the meek and lowly Jesus ; and 
 surely the pride of the haughtiest philosopher 
 need not be wounded by submission to the will 
 of his God. 
 
 Mrs. Allen never would, even for a moment, 
 admit the possibility of George's guilt ; he was 
 always so affectionate, so light-hearted, and so 
 kind to every one. 
 
 With these recollections of her son's early 
 character did this devoted mother fortify her 
 mind against the dark suspicion which would 
 sometimes intrude itself upon her, a fear that 
 she should hear his guilt confirmed. 
 
 Her health rapidly declined. Anxiety preyed 
 upon her vitals ; but still she fondly cherished a 
 hope which she would not reveal, lest it should 
 be taken from her, that her beloved child would 
 vet come home to vindicate himself from the
 
 THE OJNLY SON. 103 
 
 charge against him. But she felt the truth, so 
 beautifully expressed by the sacred writer, that 
 " hope deferred maketh the heart sick." Hers 
 was indeed sick, sick unto death ; and she had 
 no one to sympathize with her, or to whom she 
 could confide her feelings, as her husband for 
 bade any allusion to his wretched son, and she 
 dared not incur his displeasure by disobeying 
 his command. 
 
 In his heart, wounded pride and disappointed 
 ambition seemed to predominate over ail the 
 more tender feelings ; at least, love for his son, 
 and grief, a father's grief, were not the strongest 
 emotions in his breast. 
 
 He had relied too much on his son's acknowl 
 edged talents, and expected too much from him, 
 to bear disappointment with resignation. 
 
 While he had been uncertain of George's 
 fate, and doubtful whether he had not fallen a 
 victim to a southern climate, he felt disposed to 
 think he had been unjustly expelled from college, 
 and to call his misconduct by no harsher name 
 than youthful folly ; but now that his name had 
 been connected with crime, and he could no 
 longer doubt that he was utterly unprincipled, 
 his feelings were changed, and seemed to par-
 
 104 
 
 take of the nature of resentment toward his 
 child, for having so disgraced himself 
 
 The winter passed away, and another spring 
 and summer smiled upon the farmers ; another 
 plentiful harvest had filled their bams and store 
 houses with plenty ; but still the parents of George 
 knew nothing concerning him, and with aching 
 hearts contrasted their situation with that of their 
 neighbors, especially the happy family of the 
 Quaker, who was now enjoying the result of the 
 good principles he had taught his children. 
 
 The merry months of harvesting were over, 
 and whiter, with its chilling breath and icy 
 fingers, had stripped the trees of their verdure, 
 and covered the earth with a mantle of snow. 
 
 It was on a cold evening in January, when 
 Mr. Allen and his wife were sitting by their 
 warm fire. The maple logs were piled high in 
 the large fireplace, and sent up a bright blaze, 
 diffusing a generous warmth throughout the 
 whole room, while the crackling of the flames 
 and snapping of the wood, seeming to promise 
 so much comfort, were contrasted with the dis 
 mal sound of the north-east wind, as it howled 
 through the trees. 
 
 A violent storm was gathering ; black clouds
 
 THE ONLY SON. 105 
 
 were flying in rapid succession before the wind 
 the forest-trees groaned, and their branches 
 creaked and swung in the blast. 
 
 The deep waters of the Connecticut went hur 
 rying on, with a sullen, rushing sound, and their 
 hue was dark as night, except the tops of the 
 waves, as they were lashed into foam by the 
 tempest. 
 
 The air was soon filled with snow, whirling 
 about in every direction ; and, as the fury of the 
 storm increased, it was almost impossible to 
 breathe in the open air ; and any one would not 
 have been able to see the distance of a yard be 
 fore him, the snow fell so fast and thick. 
 
 In the midst of this war of elements, a man 
 was struggling through the snow up the road to 
 ward Mr. Allen's farm. He was meanly and 
 thinly clad, and his strength seemed to be nearly 
 exhausted ; still he kept on, stopping eveiy mo 
 ment to turn his back to the driving sleet, and 
 take breath. He proceeded but slowly, and soon 
 felt that his strength was fast failing. It was 
 with difficulty that he could keep his footing ; and 
 as his feet, benumbed with cold, and wearied 
 with the fatigue of travelling all day, slipped in 
 the drifting snow, he despaired of reach : ng any
 
 100 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 house, before his exhausted frame should sink in 
 tne accumulating heaps of snow, which he feared 
 would be his grave. 
 
 Suddenly as the road turned, he saw a light, 
 which appeared to come from a dwelling-house. 
 Its trembling rays seemed to infuse new life into 
 the tired stranger. For a few moments he pressed 
 on with renewed vigor ; but when he had strug 
 gled up the hill, and was very near the house, 
 he suddenly lost sight of 'his beacon-light; and, 
 after plunging through the snow-drifts a few mo 
 ments, his wearied limbs could no longer support 
 him. Despairing and chilled, he sunk on the 
 ground, and resigned himself to death. 
 
 He shouted with all his strength again and 
 again, but his voice was lost in the tumult of the 
 storm. ' 
 
 If he had known how near he was to a place 
 of safety and comfort, he might have reached it , 
 but he had wandered out of the road, and, cross 
 ing a meadow, had come behind the house in 
 such a direction that the barns hid it entirely 
 from his sight, when, believing that the light had 
 been only a fancy, or that deceptive appearance 
 which is so often seen near swamps and low 
 places, he felt all effort to be vain, and was now
 
 THE ONLY SON. 107 
 
 lying almost insensible within a hundred yards 
 of a shelter from the piercing cold. 
 
 At the same time Mr. Allen and his wife 
 were sitting before their glowing fire, lonely and 
 mournful. They had just recollected that this 
 was their son's birthday, when he was, if living, 
 twenty-two years of age. They could not but 
 remember, that seventeen years before, they had 
 sat by this same fireside, rejoicing over his res 
 cue from the dark waters of Lie Connecticut ; 
 and, as they now listened to its sullen murmur 
 ing, they recalled all the hopes and fears which 
 agitated their breasts while Isaiah Rogers ex 
 erted his utmost skill to restore life to the uncon 
 scious child. 
 
 Neither spoke ; but as the mother thought 
 how she had sat, at evening, in this very room, 
 at their return, and held her sleeping boy cra 
 dled on her bosom, and watched, with all a 
 mother's feelings, his infant features reposing in 
 their silent beauty, as his dimpled cheek was 
 curled by a smile when bright dreams were 
 flitting through his innocent mind, her heart 
 swelled almost to bursting with its bitter emo 
 tions. 
 
 " Where," she thought, " is that head reposing
 
 108 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 now ? Perhaps in the depths of the ocean 
 preyed upon by the frightful monsters that fill 
 its dark abyss ; perhaps he is dying in some for 
 eign dungeon ; or he may be perishing in the 
 snow at this moment, without a shelter for his 
 frozen limbs." 
 
 As this last thought crossed her mind she 
 rose, and going to the window, looked out 
 through the storm. Nothing was visible but the 
 masses of whirling, drifting snow, which were 
 piled up before the door; and she turned shud 
 dering away and resumed her seat by the fire. 
 
 A few moments after one of the men came 
 in, and, with an expression of fright on his rude 
 features, exclaimed, " Do, pray, Mr. Allen, come 
 out ; John and I have found a man, frozen to 
 death, or most to death, behind the barn. I and 
 he went out to see to the creturs before we 
 went to bed, and be sure they was comfortable 
 such an awful cold night ; and, while we was a 
 pitting horse blankets on to them, we heard a 
 kind of a groaning close to us. We went out 
 and hunted all round in the snow ; and there 
 was a man in one of the great snow-drifts, so 
 I come back to get you to help us to bring him 
 in."
 
 THE ONLY SON. 109 
 
 A.11 the time the fellow had been telling his 
 wory, Mr. Allen was putting on his great coat 
 and fur cap ; for he had started at the first sen 
 tence as if an adder had bitten him, and his 
 wife uttered a scream at the occurrence, so much 
 in accordance with her own thoughts. Perhaps 
 the same thought had presented itself to her hus 
 band, for his countenance seemed agitated with 
 some strong emotion, as he prepared himself to 
 go out. In a moment he was equipped to brave 
 the cold, and accompanied the man to the re 
 lief of the sufferer with some blankets to wrap 
 him in. 
 
 It required their utmost strength to carry the 
 unconscious being even that short distance. 
 Twice they were obliged to stop before they 
 could reach the house. 
 
 Mr. Allen directed them to carry the man into 
 the room where his wife was, and they laid him 
 on a sofa before the fire. 
 
 It was soon ascertained that he was not dead, 
 for his heart still beat, though very faintly. 
 
 Exertions were instantly made to recover him ; 
 
 and, as Mrs. Allen anxiously watched their effect, 
 
 the image of her son returned again and again 
 
 to her imagination. The thought rushed into 
 
 10
 
 110 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 her mind, as she looked on the unfortunate being 
 before her, perhaps this wanderer was her child ; 
 but, as she looked at him again, she could not for 
 a moment cherish it. 
 
 The stranger appeared to be a young man, 
 but very different from her idolized boy ; his 
 face was extremely emaciated, as though he had 
 suffered much from disease or want ; his com 
 plexion was dark, and George's was very fair, 
 O it could not be that he had altered so much in 
 so short a time ! She recalled his image as she 
 last saw him : his step was light and firm ; his 
 cheek flushed with the rich color of youth, and 
 his bright blue eyes beamed with health and 
 happiness. She wished the stranger would open 
 his eyes, for George's eyes were very peculiar 
 a clear, dark blue, with long dark lashes, which 
 gave them an expression singularly fascinating. 
 
 The warmth of the room and the means used 
 for his restoration soon revived him ; and, as the 
 chilled blood flowed more freely through his 
 veins, he commenced talking in an indistinct 
 manner. The tones of his voice brought tears 
 to the mother's eyes, they were so hollow, and 
 told so plainly of recent suffering. At first his 
 voice was so low, and his words so inarticulate.
 
 THE ONLY SON. Ill 
 
 they could not be understood ; but, as his con 
 sciousness returned, they could hear a few broken 
 sentences. 
 
 The first articulate words were murmured 
 without opening his eyes ; slowly and with diffi 
 culty the anxious listeners comprehended him. 
 " It was not a light it was a spirit," he mut 
 tered ; then with a shudder he whispered, " 1 
 knew him it was his lantern there was 
 blood on his forehead he was lighting my way 
 to death." A shuddering so violent that it shook 
 the couch on which he lay, was succeeded by a 
 few moments of rest so still that his preservers 
 doubted if he breathed. 
 
 The next words sent a thrill to the hearts of 
 his listeners. " Dying," he murmured with 
 closed eyes, "dying and so near home! 
 There was the old elm tree ; I saw the long 
 branches. Dying, after having come so far ! I 
 am almost there. The light, did it come from 
 home ? O, my mother ! " And with the last words 
 a deep, long-drawn sigh burst from him, and he 
 opened his eyes with a wild stare, full upon 
 Mrs. Allen, who was gazing at him with an ex 
 pression of intense anxiety. The moment their 
 glance met hers she screamed, " It is he ! it is 
 my child ! I know those blue eyes ; nothing
 
 112 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 can change them, or make me forget them. Ana 
 this is his hair too," said she, passing her hand 
 through the heavy, dark curls that clustered round 
 his pale forehead. " O, why did I not know him 
 before ? " 
 
 "It cannot be he," said her husband, who 
 was not less agitated than herself; "he does not 
 look like George." 
 
 " I tell you it is he ; who should know so 
 well as a mother ? I am sure it is he. Poor 
 boy ! how he has suffered, to alter him so 
 dreadfully ! " 
 
 It was but a short time before the traveller 
 was sufficiently recovered to sit up and look 
 round him ; at first with a vacant stare, but as 
 his eye rested on one familiar object after another, 
 an expression of recollection gradually brightened 
 his face, until his eye sought Mrs. Allen, who 
 stood, with parted lips and pallid countenance, 
 watching his movements. 
 
 The change that came over his face was in 
 stantaneous. His eyes flashed, and the color 
 mounted to his brow, as, springing towards her. 
 he exclaimed, " My mother ! " 
 
 T'he sound of that word, so long unheard, en 
 tirely overpowered her, and she sunk into her 
 son's arms insensible.
 
 THE ONLY SON. 113 
 
 The certainty that the poor wanderer was his 
 long-lost son almost deprived the father of con 
 sciousness. He leaned over him as he sunk on 
 the sofa, exhausted by his violent emotion, and 
 kissed his brow, and wasted, pallid cheek, with 
 more than a father's fondness, and sobbed aloud, 
 in the excess of mingled joy and sorrow. 
 
 The men who stood looking on showed almost 
 as much feeling as their master, and for some 
 time their sunburnt faces were wet with tears. 
 
 His guilt was all forgotten by his fond pa 
 rents, and they rejoiced as though he had never 
 sinned. 
 
 The next morning it was soon known all 
 over the village, that George Allen had returned 
 to his home ; and many, who had pitied his sor 
 rowing parents in their loneliness, hastened to 
 congratulate them. 
 
 Among the first were the Quaker and his 
 wife ; and the tears stood in the good old man's 
 eyes, and his voice was choked, as he looked on 
 the young man who had but a few years before 
 rejoiced in the fullness of health and happiness. 
 
 He was indeed fearfully altered. Vice and 
 profligacy had destroyed his constitution, and 
 brought him to a premature old age. His 
 10*
 
 114 GEORGE ALLEN. 
 
 form was bent, his face was perfectly colorless, 
 except a hectic spot on his cheeks, that glowed 
 with a feverish heat ; and his eyes those beau 
 tiful eyes were deep-sunk, and sparkled with 
 all the brilliancy of disease. 
 
 It was evident that consumption, that merciless 
 destroyer, had set its seal upon him, and that he 
 had returned to the home of his childhood only 
 to die. 
 
 He came forward to meet Isaiah Rogers with 
 a wildness of look and manner that startled the 
 old man, and he murmured as he gave him his 
 burning hand, "O, if I had recollected your 
 prayer, if I had not forced myself to forget it, 1 
 might now be happy ! But it is too late it is 
 too late." 
 
 In a conversation, a few days after, with 
 Friend Rogers, George gave him such a de 
 scription of his life after he left New Orleans, 
 as made the good man's blood curdle with 
 horror. 
 
 He had been an actor in scenes of vice and 
 crime the foremost in all. His mind had be 
 come inured to the most daring impiety, and 
 the most shameless profligacy, until every trace 
 of virtuous feeling seemed entirely obliterated. 
 
 When the good Quaker urged him, with the
 
 THE ONLY SON. 115 
 
 earnestness of a true Christian, to repent and 
 seek for pardon through the death of his Re 
 deemer, he answered with bitterness, "I cannot; 
 I feel remorse, deep, bitter remorse, for my past 
 conduct, but no desire for pardon. I have de 
 nied the Son of God, I have ridiculed the Bible, 
 and I dare not even think of him." 
 
 In vain did the pious man remind him of the 
 thief on the cross, who was pardoned at his ex 
 ecution, and of the promise of our Savior, 
 " Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise 
 cast out." To all his arguments the wretched 
 young man replied, " For himself there was no 
 hope ; he had sinned against his own conscience ; 
 he had gone forward resolutely and determinedly 
 in the path to destruction ; he had stifled the 
 first murmurs of warning and self-reproach ; and 
 now he must take the consequences." 
 
 Every day beheld him weaker and weaker, 
 and it was evident to all who saw him that 
 death would not be cheated of his prey. 
 
 Such was the sympathy felt for the distressed 
 family, and so plain was it to all who saw 
 George Allen that a few months at most must 
 consign him to the silent grave, that abhorrence 
 of his crime was lost in pity for his fate ; and 
 HO one who had known him when all was bright
 
 116 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 to his young mind, was hard-hearted enough to 
 wish to add bitterness to the overflowing cup of 
 sorrow and suffering which the youthful sinner 
 must drain to the very dregs, by exposing him 
 to justice. 
 
 Even avarice, which would have tempted 
 some to have given information against him for 
 the sake of reward, was not able to resist the 
 silent sorrow of the parents and the emaciated 
 form of the sufferer, his pale face glowing with 
 the unearthly beauty of disease, and it was si 
 lenced by the voice of compassion pleading in 
 their hearts, and the probability that he would 
 not live until a letter could reach New Orleans. 
 
 It would be cruel, they said, not to allow the 
 wretched young man to die in peace, after he 
 had been a homeless wanderer so long. 
 
 The kind feeling towards him, and his having 
 travelled to his home under a feigned name, 
 with the retired habits of the good people of 
 
 S , prevented George Allen's return from 
 
 being known to any without the village ; and the 
 afflicted parents were spared the agony of see 
 ing their dying child taken from them, to endure 
 the ignominy of a public trial and the horrors 
 of a prison. 
 
 As the spring, that season so welcome to
 
 THE ONLY SON. 117 
 
 youth and health, approached with its soft winds, 
 his strength failed rapidly, and he felt that he 
 should not see another summer. 
 
 His mind did not partake of his body's weak 
 ness, but retained its vigor and brilliancy un 
 impaired ; and the future was a theme on which 
 he brooded constantly his fervid imagination 
 giving a dark and fearful coloring to all his 
 thoughts. 
 
 Mercy and pardon he would not think of. 
 His whole soul was occupied with the fearful 
 certainty, which he could not escape, of a judg 
 ment day, and the doom which awaited him. 
 But even now, his emotions towards God partook 
 more of hatred and sullen resistance than of 
 repentance or fear. 
 
 His mother watched over him with agonizing 
 tenderness, and still, with the fond incredulity of 
 deep affection, refused to give up the hope, that 
 " when spring came he would be better ; as 
 soon as he could go out in the fresh air, and 
 visit all his favorite walks through the meadow, 
 and down to the old elm tree by the river, and 
 up to the maple wood, she knew he would 
 recover his strength." 
 
 Alas, for woman's love ! it will trust and 
 hope, until the object of affection is snatched
 
 I 18 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 from her retaining grasp by death, and the 
 strong ties of love, which were entwined round 
 her heart so firmly, are so rudely broken, that 
 she yields up her own life in the struggle. 
 
 His father, with better judgment, refused to 
 cherish so delusive a hope, and watched, in silent 
 agony, the rapid progress of his son's disease, 
 and saw all effort to restore him to health prove 
 abortive. 
 
 One beautiful evening in May, George de 
 sired to be carried to the window, that he might 
 see the last rays of the setting sun. 
 
 For some days previous he had been much 
 worse, and at times delirious, but this afternoon 
 he had been calmer, and even expressed a hope 
 that he might recover ; for it is well known that 
 a groundless expectation of recovery, long after 
 the most t sanguine have given up all hope, is 
 one of the most affecting features of consump 
 tion. 
 
 George was, at his earnest request, placed in 
 an easy chair in front of the window, that he 
 might gaze once more at the scenes of his 
 childhood. 
 
 Isaiah Rogers came in and seated himself by 
 the dying man, and the group would have been 
 t- *.ne subject for a painter.
 
 THE ONLY SON. 119 
 
 The young man was gazing, with a swelling 
 heart, on the loved objects which presented them 
 selves to his view. 
 
 Death had set his seal on him too plainly for 
 any to mistake it. 
 
 His dark blue eyes were fearfully bright, and 
 there was a startling expression of hopeless 
 anguish in their quick glances ; his thick hair 
 clustered in heavy curls around his hollow tem 
 ples, making, in their neglected beauty, a strik 
 ing contrast with his pale forehead and emacia 
 ted face. 
 
 His cheeks were burning with fever, and his 
 mouth O, how plainly it told of suffering ! the 
 parted lips, parched with disease, and the teeth 
 so dazzling in their whiteness, the unnatural 
 whiteness which attends this appalling complaint. 
 
 Beside him stood his mother, supporting his 
 head ; she looked weary and anxious, but not 
 hopeless. She had attended him night and day, 
 and her countenance showed the effect of much 
 watching and sorrow. 
 
 The unhappy father stood opposite, and there 
 could not be found a more striking contrast than 
 there was between him and Friend Rogers. 
 
 Though the Quaker was several years older, 
 he looked much younger. His brow had not been
 
 120 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 furrowed by care or anxiety, and his honest, rud 
 dy countenance spoke, in unequivocal language, 
 of the peace and happiness which filled his 
 breast, while Mr. Allen's face was thin and pale, 
 and looked like that of an old man ; his hair had 
 within the last three years changed from a bright 
 brown to a dull gray, and his whole air and 
 manner were those of one absorbed with some 
 corroding care. 
 
 George's restless glance wandered over the 
 bright scene before him, with an expression of 
 tenderness and a wish to remain among those 
 haunts of his boyhood, which he well knew was 
 not to be realized. 
 
 A fairer scene man that, man never looked up 
 on. The majestic river, swollen by the snows 
 of winter, rushed by, its blue waters sparkling 
 in the sunbeams, and reflecting in its clear depths 
 the warm, soft tints of the evening sky in blend 
 ed hues of pink, purple, and that rich golden ra 
 diance which is so indescribable and so beauti 
 ful ; and the trees in their fresh verdure, the 
 lords of the forest, with bright green foliage, 
 contrasted with the gayer apple-trees, covered 
 with blossoms. 
 
 The grass had that soft fresh color so peculiar 
 to spring, and the favorite old elm under which
 
 THE ONLY SON. 121 
 
 George had so often played, waved in the gentle 
 breeze, as though rejoicing in its own strength. 
 
 Over all this beauty the sick man cast a long 
 ing, wishful glance ; then, turning from the win 
 dow, his eyes met those of the Quaker, resting 
 on him with an expression of pity and sympathy 
 which went to his heart. 
 
 He closed his eyes, and the hot tears forced 
 their way from between the tightly-closed lids 
 and wet his cheek. His fancy had recalled that 
 scene of his childhood which had ever been pres 
 ent to his mind in moments of reflection. The ex 
 pression on the good old man's face was the same 
 which met his eyes when he first awoke from 
 the unconsciousness which had seemed so like 
 death, after his rescue from the river. 
 
 The Quaker's prayer came back to his mem 
 ory in all its fervent, humble piety, and he mur 
 mured, " Would to God that day had been my 
 last, and I had died in my innocence ! " 
 
 These words, faintly as they were uttered, 
 reached the ears of his silent attendants, and 
 sent a bitter pang to the father's heart. He 
 recollected the words of Isaiah Rogers when he 
 prayed that the child might be preserved from 
 temptation and sin ; and he felt that he had not 
 11
 
 ' 2 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 j, fen his boy any sufficient motive to restrain 
 him from sin, or any principles to guard him 
 from temptation. 
 
 The Quaker read his thoughts, and ventured to 
 seize the opportunity of pressing upon George 
 the necessity of repentance and preparation for 
 death. 
 
 He had never spoken on the subject before 
 Mr. Allen, because he thought it wrong to excite 
 George in the weak state of his nerves, willing 
 rather to risk his eternal happiness than endan 
 ger his present comfort ; fcut now he would not 
 refrain, especially as he feared, from the young 
 man's appearance, he should never see him again 
 alive. 
 
 At the mention of this painful subject, George 
 started, and the color fled from his cheek. 
 
 " It is useless to speak to me," said he, bitter 
 ly. " As to repentance, I do not, cannot feel it. I 
 rejected and despised the Savior when I might 
 have been pardoned, and now I tell you he will 
 not accept of my submission, should I offer it." 
 
 To this the pious man answered by many 
 quotations from Scripture, to prove the willing 
 ness of our Father in heaven to receive and par 
 don repentant sinners ; but he labored in vain to 
 convince George that there was still hope for
 
 THE ONLY SON. 123 
 
 him , and when he had talked long and earnestly, 
 the unhappy young man exclaimed, fiercely, 
 
 " I tell you it is in vain to argue with me ; 
 cannot and I will not pray for forgiveness. Ho\ 
 can you expect a heart which was never tuugh 
 love or obedience to God to feel it now, after t 
 life of sin and impiety ? I repeat to you," said 
 he, with glowing cheeks and flashing eyes, " I 
 have lived an infidel, and an inlidel I shall die. 
 Not that I do not believe in the existence of a 
 Supreme Being ; I know that but too well, but I 
 cannot feel it. And even if God would pardon 
 me now, and receive me into heaven at death, it 
 would be no heaven to me. I should take no 
 pleasure in the company of pure and holy be 
 ings. How could I, who have all my life de 
 spised and ridiculed religion, spend an eternity in 
 worshipping God ? It would be torment to me." 
 
 To this Friend Rogers could return no an 
 swer, and the wretched father groaned aloud. 
 
 His son turned to him and said, " Father and 
 mother, I would not unnecessarily wound your 
 feelings ; but I must say that had you, when I 
 was a child, taught me to look to the Bible for 
 my principles of action, had you taught rne to 
 control myself, and, more than all, haa you 
 never encouraged me to warm in my bosom the
 
 Iii4 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 viper intemperance, which led me into bad com 
 pany, I might now be happy. 
 
 " My taste for ardent spirits, which was created 
 in my childhood, led me into temptation ; it de 
 stroyed my love for study, and made me an easy 
 prey to those who sought my ruin ; it degrad 
 ed me to a mere slave of sensual pleasure. 
 
 " At the very moment } ou were rejoicing in my 
 rescue from the river, you were teaching me to 
 love the poison which has corroded my very 
 soul. 
 
 " I well remember the sweet mixture that was 
 given me to restore warmth to my chilled limbs ; 
 far better if they had been chilled forever than 
 warmed by that destroying fire ! " 
 
 He sunk back exhausted by his emotion, and 
 was a few moments after assisted to his bed, 
 where he soon found a temporary relief in sleep. 
 
 About midnight he awoke in a high fever, 
 and raved incoherently for some time about a 
 crime he said he had committed ; but his parents 
 could not comprehend much of what he said, he 
 spoke so rapidly and so indistinctly. 
 
 After a short interval of rest, as his agitated 
 parents stood by his bedside, anxiously watching 
 his deathlike countenance, he suddenly opened 
 his eyes, and looking earnestly at his father,
 
 THE ONLY SON. 125 
 
 asked, " Did you say there was no God ? that it 
 was merely the ' nature and fitness of things' 
 the affinity of particles to each other that pro 
 duced tho universe ? But," said he, after a mo 
 ment's silence, " the soul ! the soul ! who made 
 that 1 Ay, who made that 1 Is it possible it is 
 only a higher instinct ? Memory, memory ! " 
 he exclaimed, with a vehemence that made his 
 hearers start, " will that too be annihilated ? O, 
 eternity ! " he murmured, closing his eyes con 
 vulsively, as though to shut out some frightful 
 image ; and he continued talking to himself in a 
 low, whispering tone. 
 
 " It is blood, and I cannot wash it off; my soul 
 is dyed with it; it came from his forehead 
 O, how his eyes glare at me ! he is lying in 
 that dark vault I know you, spirits ; you are 
 come for me ; but I tell you there is no God." 
 
 Conscience was awake, memory was bringing 
 before the dying man all the aggravated guilt of 
 his past life ; and the unhappy votary of a cheer 
 less skepticism was vainly endeavoring to drive 
 away his fears by a continual recurrence to that 
 ingenious sophistry which had once appeared so 
 conclusive. 
 
 It has been most truly said that man ma*/ live 
 11*
 
 120 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 an infidel but cannot die one. The deathbed 
 of the elegant Hume and the ingenious Voltaire, 
 those giants in infidelity, would sufficiently prove 
 it. Death, in all his horrid reality, was rapidly 
 approaching his victim. His excitement became 
 fearful, and he shouted, " I tell you there is no 
 God ! it is mere superstition. You never saw him ; 
 how, then, do you know he exists? O! that 
 dead man, how he looks at me ! I did not in 
 tend to kill him ! O, Adelaide !" he murmured, 
 in a softer tone, covering his face with his 
 hands, " do not look so mournfully at me. I do 
 love you, indeed I do ! But what have I to do 
 with her ? She will be in heaven, and I could 
 J go there ? No, no ; they would see the blood 
 on my soul ; they would see the hatred in my 
 heart; the Savior would turn and look at me, 
 and I could not lear that look! No, I have 
 no place in heaven. How I should hate those 
 holy angels ! I would teach them to rebel 
 against their tyrant But there is no God ! " 
 
 Exhausted by his own violence, the unhappy 
 sufferer lay perfectly still for a long time, breath 
 ing with great difficulty. When he spoke again 
 it was still on eternity. 
 
 " Ha ! " said he, " are you there ? have you 
 come to accuse me ? It is false '. I did not intend
 
 THE ONLY SON. 127 
 
 to kill you it was accident, not design. Why 
 do you all look at me ? O, I cannot hide my 
 heart ; _ God is looking at it. How fearfully he 
 frowns upon me ! " 
 
 A shudder passed over his frame ; it was the 
 touch of the destroying angel. 
 
 I am cold," he said ; " the snow is drifting 
 over me. Must I perish here, so near my home, 
 my own home ? I see the elm ; there is the 
 swing on its branches. Must I freeze to death ? 
 The light is gone ! No, there it comes ; he is 
 carrying it. O, now it is dark ! " 
 
 He hid his face in his hands and lay a mo 
 ment in a convulsive fit of shuddering which 
 shook the bed; then, suddenly looking up, 
 
 Why will you suffocate me ? " he gasped. 
 Open the windows, open them ; the air is as hot 
 as fire ; it is fire ; shall I breathe it forever ? " His 
 father stepped to the window to unclose it ; but 
 before he had opened it the immortal spirit was 
 in eternity, and the last word he uttered was 
 " Eternity ! there is none ! " 
 
 The window was unclosed, the fresh morning 
 air came laden with perfume into that chamber 
 of death, and the bright rays of the rising sun 
 shone full on the convulsed features of the ghast- 
 ly corpse.
 
 128 
 
 GEORGE ALLEN, 
 
 Alas, for that soul! Intellect, education, had 
 not fitted him for heaven. Science had poured 
 her light upon his mind ; literature had spread 
 her varied stores before him ; and his noble mind 
 had enriched itself with all the treasures which 
 human intellect can grasp. All, all was vain, 
 and worse than vain, as it made his responsibility 
 greater and rendered him more acutely sen 
 sible to mental suffering. Without faith in the 
 divine Redeemer, it availed nothing. That 
 glorious soul, with all its exalted qualities, had 
 passed the dark "valley of the shadow of 
 death " with no faith to sustain it in that dread 
 ful moment, no hope of a better world, but 
 a dark uncertainty before it, a fearful expecta 
 tion of retributive justice. 
 
 Isaiah Rogers and his kind-hearted wife cami 
 to comfort the bereaved parents ; but what com 
 fort could they give ? They knew there was 
 no hope for the departed soul. The wretched 
 father said, in the accents of despair, " He is to 
 be eternally miserable, and I must meet him in 
 another world and hear his reproaches for my 
 neglect. O, it is I who have killed his soul ! 
 I am worse than a murderer, for I have killed 
 his soul." 
 
 " Do not speak so, my friend ; give thy heart
 
 THE ONLY SON. 129 
 
 to thy God," said the Quaker. " He will com 
 fort thee, though I cannot." 
 
 " God will not listen to me, if I should ask 
 for pardon ; my sin is too great for pardon. He 
 entrusted to my care an immortal soul, and how 
 have I fulfilled my trust? No, there is no hope 
 for me ! " 
 
 The good Quaker was affected even to tears, 
 by the anguish of the unhappy man ; especially 
 as he could not deny the truth of his assertions. 
 All he could do was to pray with him and for 
 him, and entreat him to seek consolation where 
 alone it could be found. 
 
 Vainly did Mr. Allen mourn over the memory 
 of his son, and bitterly regret his own unfaith 
 fulness. 
 
 His wife seemed broken-hearted, but hei sor 
 row was of a gentler nature than the despair of 
 her husband. She listened readily "to the wife 
 of the good Quaker, as she led her thoughts to 
 the mercy of God, who is ever ready to listen to 
 the penitent sinner, and who has said, " Come, 
 all ye that are weary and are heavy laden, and 
 I vflll give you rest." 
 
 Her spirit, wounded and broken with sorrow, 
 needed support, and she eagerly listened to the 
 promises contained in the gospel. Submission
 
 130 GEORGE ALLEU, 
 
 and repentance were not at variance with hex 
 gentle heart, and though she never ceased 
 mourning for her lost son, she became a true 
 Christian, and looked forward to another world 
 for the happiness she did not expect in this. 
 
 Her health had been too much impaired by 
 watching and anxiety to be again restored, and 
 she grew weaker every day. Her husband 
 watched over her with an agony which knew no 
 bounds. He was too much absorbed with sor 
 row to listen to any other subject, and his wife 
 had the misery of thinking she must not hope 
 to meet either husband or son in another 
 world. 
 
 God pitied her in her affliction ; and one 
 morning in August she asked to be placed in 
 the same chair George had sat in the evening 
 before he died, and seated at the window. She 
 looked out on the same scene he looked on last ; 
 but the fruit-trees were now laden with fruit 
 instead of blossoms, the fields were covered 
 with the waving grain, ripe for the sickle, and 
 the Connecticut now flowed calmly by, much 
 narrower than in the spring, when the tonients 
 from the hills had been pouring their annual 
 tribute into its bosom. 
 
 Tne wife of Isaian Rogers was with her sick
 
 THE ONLY SON. 131 
 
 friend, and her husband sat by her side, holdhrr 
 her thin pale hand in his. 
 
 The change from sadness to joy on her pallid 
 countenance was noticed by her attentive hus 
 band, as she mentally thanked God for his mercy 
 to her ; and turning to the kind woman who had 
 watched her declining health with so much 
 tenderness, she thanked her fervently for all her 
 kindness. 
 
 For a -moment her utterance seemed obstruct 
 ed, and her husband sprang to her side, for he 
 had been walking the room with an expression 
 of bitter feeling on his manly face. 
 
 The pain was but for a moment ; she looked 
 calmly in her husband's face, and said with a 
 sweet smile, " Farewell, my dearest friend ! I 
 hope to meet you in a better world, where there 
 shall be neither sickness nor sorrow. Farewell ! " 
 
 She closed her eyes, a slight convulsion flit 
 ted across her mild features, and her peaceful 
 spirit went to meet its Creator. She had died 
 without a struggle, and her husband was left 
 indeed alone. 
 
 After the death of his wife, Mr. Allen seemed 
 to take no interest in any thing ; the business of 
 the farm he has resigned entirely to the faithful 
 Thomas, who has lived with him from childhood.
 
 132 GEORGE ALLEN. 
 
 The heart-broken man will see no one, but 
 employs himself in visiting George's favorite 
 haunts, the old elm, the meadow, and the maple 
 wood, and still refuses any consolation. 
 
 He seldom talks to any one, and his form is 
 bent with premature old age, for he is not 
 yet fifty. 
 
 The sad fate of his idolized boy the over 
 throw of all his bright hopes and fond expect 
 ations is the subject which engrosses his whole 
 mind, and leaves no room for higher, holier 
 thoughts. 
 
 He thinks his sin in neglecting the soul of his 
 child, and educating him without the fear of 
 God or love of the Bible, has forever excluded 
 him from all hope of pardon or mercy ; and he 
 spends his whole time in vain thoughts, bitter 
 feelings of remorse and regret. 
 
 It is . evident to all who see him, that his 
 health is so enfeebled by sorrow and anxiety, 
 he will soon be where the wicked cease from 
 troubling and the weary are at rest. He is a 
 lonely and broken-hearted man.
 
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