is character in the commercial world was gone. He was considered,'
he added, lowering his voice, 'on 'Change as a swindler.'

"I felt at that moment the first maternal pang. Aware of the evils my
sex have to struggle with, I still wished, for my own consolation, to be
the mother of a daughter; and I could not bear to think, that the _sins_
of her father's entailed disgrace, should be added to the ills to which
woman is heir.

"So completely was I deceived by these shows of friendship (nay, I
believe, according to his interpretation, Mr. S---- really was my
friend) that I began to consult him respecting the best mode of
retrieving my husband's character: it is the good name of a woman only
that sets to rise no more. I knew not that he had been drawn into a
whirlpool, out of which he had not the energy to attempt to escape. He
seemed indeed destitute of the power of employing his faculties in any
regular pursuit. His principles of action were so loose, and his mind so
uncultivated, that every thing like order appeared to him in the shape
of restraint; and, like men in the savage state, he required the strong
stimulus of hope or fear, produced by wild speculations, in which the
interests of others went for nothing, to keep his spirits awake. He one
time professed patriotism, but he knew not what it was to feel honest
indignation; and pretended to be an advocate for liberty, when, with as
little affection for the human race as for individuals, he thought of
nothing but his own gratification. He was just such a citizen, as a
father. The sums he adroitly obtained by a violation of the laws of
his country, as well as those of humanity, he would allow a mistress to
squander; though she was, with the same _sang_ _froid_, consigned, as
were his children, to poverty, when another proved more attractive.

"On various pretences, his friend continued to visit me; and, observing
my want of money, he tried to induce me to accept of pecuniary aid; but
this offer I absolutely rejected, though it was made with such delicacy,
I could not be displeased.

"One day he came, as I thought accidentally, to dinner. My husband was
very much engaged in business, and quitted the room soon after the cloth
was removed. We conversed as usual, till confidential advice led again
to love. I was extremely mortified. I had a sincere regard for him, and
hoped that he had an equal friendship for me. I therefore began
mildly to expostulate with him. This ge