nd scarcely a church, for whom ceremony,
courtesy and all the attentions which every man usually pays to his
neighbour are extinct; this wretched creature, for whom, in public
walks and vernal nature, there shoots and blossoms nothing but
contempt, often turns his dry eye to heaven and the stars above him,
and sees there even nothing but vacancy and doubts; but in such an hour
as that which unexpectedly bestows on him a more liberal boon, and
enables him to return to his gloomy hovel, to cheer his pining family
with more than momentary comfort, faith in God, in his father, again
rises in his heart, he becomes once more a man, he feels again the
neighbourhood of a brother, and can again love him and himself. Happy
the rich man, who can promote this faith, who can bestow with the
visible the invisible gift; and woe to the prodigal, who through his
criminal thoughtlessness deprives himself of those means of being a man
among men; for most severely will his feelings punish him, for having
poured out in streams in the wilderness, like a heartless barbarian,
the refreshing draught, of which a single drop might have cheered his
brother, who lay drooping under the load of his wearisome existence."
He could not utter the last words without a tear; he covered his face,
and did not observe that the strangers and Erich had taken leave of
their host. Sophia too wept; but she roused herself and recovered her
composure as her father returned.

After his feelings had subsided in the course of a conversation on
other topics, Edward drew the paper out of his pocket, and laid before
the counsellor the doubtful case, and how much he was afraid that he
was still his debtor in a considerable sum, which he purposed to pay
him by means of a loan which he would endeavour to procure upon his
house.

The old gentleman looked alternately at him and the yellow paper with
widely-opened eyes; at last he grasped the hand of the youth, and said
with a tremulous voice: "My young friend, you are a great deal better
than I and the world supposed you; your fine feeling delights me, and
though you ought not to have spoken so vehemently to Mr. Von
Eisenschlicht, I was nevertheless moved; for, to say the truth, I think
with you upon that point. As to this paper, I can scarcely give you a
decisive answer, whether it is valid or not. It originates from an
early period, when I had various and at times intricate money-dealings
with your worthy father: we assist