My
mother was now much composed, and invited the minister to go to the
parlour. It was a silent procession. My eldest brother carried me in
his arms; and my father led his wife in one hand, while he bore their
younger babe on his other arm. On reaching the parlour, we found tea
prepared by the careful hands of Grace Grant; but, before sitting down
to partake of that comforting refreshment, the minister proposed to
offer up a prayer of resignation to the will of God, and of hope and
trust in his providence.

"Then kneeling down to Heaven's eternal King,
The saint, the father, and the husband prays:
Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing,'
That thus they all shall meet in future days;
There, ever bask in uncreated rays,
No more to sigh or shed the bitter tear;
Together hymning their Creator's praise--
In such society yet still more dear,
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere."

These devout aspirations being ended, an air of calm composure reigned
around my "Father's Fireside." He seated himself in his arm-chair, while
my mother busied herself in preparing tea, and each little one took his
appointed place around the oval wainscot table. The turf fire burned
cheerily on the hearth. The tea-kettle gave out its hissing sounds,
indicative of comfort; and the solitary candle diffused light on the
fair young faces which brightened as the oat-cake and the "buttered
pieces" began to disappear. But the minister's wonted playfulness was
gone; and the decent silence of a Sabbath afternoon was observed even by
the younger boys.

The visits of their friends were a solace in the first hour of their
unlooked-for adversity. But, after their retirement the vague,
undefined, and gloomy shadows which rose to the contemplation of my
parents, with respect to their future prospects, yielded only a troubled
and unutterable anxiety. Repining and supineness, however, were not
suited to my father's character; for, with mildness, he united decision
and even boldness of spirit. He had, for several years previous to this
explosion of lordly despotism in the patron of his chapel, corresponded
with some of his college friends in the new Republic of America; and
had been encouraged by them, and through them, by one of the most
distinguished of the American patriots, to leave his meagre benefice and
cross the Atlantic. These invitations he had declined; being warmly
attached to