to business for himself
as soon as he attained his majority. This idea Mr. Howland sought to
discourage in his son; but Edward never gave it up. Soon after he
was twenty-one, an offer to go into a business, that promised a
large return was made, provided a few thousand dollars capital could
be furnished. Not a moment did Edward rest until he had prevailed
upon his father, ever too ready to yield a weak compliance to the
wishes of this son, to place in his hands the amount of money
required. To do this, was, at the time, no easy matter for Mr.
Howland, whose own business was far from being as good as usual and
whose pecuniary affairs were not in the most easy condition. Six
thousand dollars was the amount of capital he was obliged to raise,
and it was not accomplished without considerable sacrifice.

Edward and his partner were what are usually called "enterprising
young men," and they drove ahead in the business they had undertaken
at a kind of railroad speed, calculating their profits at an
exceedingly high range. It is not surprising that, by the end of the
first year, they required a little more capital to help them through
with their engagements, the furnishing of which fell upon Mr.
Howland; who, in this emergency, passed his notes to the new firm
for several thousand dollars.

It is not our purpose to trace, step by step, the progress of this
young man in the work of ruining his father and disgracing himself
by dishonest practices in business. Enough, that in the course of
three years, the "enterprising young men," who made from the
beginning such rapid strides toward fortune, found their course
suddenly checked, and themselves involved in hopeless bankruptcy.
But, with themselves rested not the evil consequences of failure;
others were included in the disaster, and among them Mr. Howland,
who was so badly crippled as to be obliged to call his creditors
together, and solicit a reduction and extension of the claims they
had against him. To Mr. Howland, this was a crushing blow. He was
not only a man who strictly regarded honesty in his dealings, but he
was proud of his honesty, and in his pride, had often been harsh in
his judgment of others when in circumstances similar to those in
which he was now placed. To be forced to ask of his creditors both a
reduction and an extension, humiliated him to a degree, that for a
time, almost deprived him of the power of doing business. From that
time, there was a perceptible