It was not to be considered for a moment, and the wisdom of this conclusion was shortly made apparent in its effects. One gentleman is known to have recovered entirely from a nervous hypochondriacism, so severe, that his cheek blanched at the sight of his bill-book, and his rotund proportions shrank to the circumference of an eel, from the self-denial consequent upon poverty—or, what is more probable, the chagrin of disappointed ambition. But we are told that “the just shall inherit the earth,” and so it was in this instance; it having been affirmed, in vindication of this rule, that his reduced diameter, and assimilation to the animal aforesaid, enabled him to slide the easier between the sheriff and his conscience; and while his neighbors, one after another, were tumbling over the precipice of ruin, he was saved from being knocked down in their fall, by quietly reposing beneath the shade of the Morrison.
But I am growing too elaborate of description, and must bring this part of my story to a close. The subjects and material of the picture I am contemplating, are so numerous, and fruitful of thought, that it is difficult to decide which to choose, or where to stop; but the colors are too gross, and weary the eye and the mind. Besides, I hate to individualise, and must request my readers to bear in mind, that in the characters here described, nobody whatever is meant; and should they remember ever to have seen such a character as either of them, I must beg them to bury the memory of their follies beneath their more private and superior virtues, should they be found to have any; and if they are penitent, to throw the mantle of charity over the past, and screen them from the rude gaze of scrutiny.
CRISIS APPROACHING—NICK RETIRES.
The time was now fast approaching when the boluses administered by the Kennel physicians, could no longer support the weakened constitution of Pennsylvania’s great pet; and what was of more importance, in the opinion of the Kennel directors, his credit was no longer sufficient to support them.
Nicholas the first had retired from his charge, to fatten upon his laurels; Alas! that they should have faded so soon, and left him nothing but dry leaves whereon to feed his morbid appetite.
Mr. Done-up had succeeded to his place as chief physician; his patient had already suffered a relapse, and the symptoms were by no means favorable. His physicians recommended a more generous diet, but both shores of the Atlantic had already been dredged for dainties to satisfy his hungry maw. Yet still he grew more rabid, and would swallow at a gulp, what cost the labor of a year to procure.
SKULKING.
In this dilemma, the curs of the Morrison, perceiving that although they had paid the debt to Nicholas, contracted under the old direction, they had, in another shape, just doubled it under the new—that each of them had served his own purpose, and that not one of them owned a dollar in the Morrison or the U. S. B. they all resigned their seats, and scampered away to their dens; where, it is to be hoped, that, for the benefit of the coming generation, they will live and die in a good old age. And may God them assoil, the stockholders and creditors of the Morrison never will.
As I approach the conclusion of this chapter, my tale grows sadder, and still more sad. All created beings and things, which have beginning, must also have an end. Death lays his unpitying hand alike on man, and every monument of his greatness.
A TOUCH OF THE PATHETIC.