“But, when it became necessary for his higher and better interests that he should sustain reverses, he lost his prudence, and his mind was no longer far-seeing. Depend upon it. Mr. Townsend, the hand of Providence is in all this! I have seen Mr. Barker frequently since the great change that has taken place in his circumstances. He is not the man that he was. His whole character has softened.”
“He must be very miserable.”
“To me he seems quite as happy, as before.”
“Impossible!”
“No. The wind is tempered to the shorn lamb. He who sends reverses and afflictions for our good, gives strength and patience to bear them. I have seen many families reduced from affluence to poverty, Mr. Townsend, and in but few instances have I seen individuals made more wretched thereby.”
“That to me is inconceivable,” said the merchant. “I cannot credit it.”
“At first, there was great anguish of mind. The very life seemed about to be extinguished. But, when all the wild elements that had come into strife and confusion, had subsided, there came a great calm. The natural life was yet sustained. Its bread and its water were still sure. There was a feeling of confidence that all things necessary for health, comfort, and usefulness, would still be given, if sought for in a right spirit. Poverty, Mr. Townsend, is no curse, nor is wealth a blessing, abstractly considered. They bless or curse according to the effect they produce upon our minds. The happiest man I ever saw, was a poor man, so far as this world’s goods were concerned. He was a good man.”
There was something in the words of the minister that impressed itself upon the mind of Mr. Townsend, notwithstanding his efforts to put no value upon what he said. Frequently, afterwards, certain expressions and positions assumed, would arise in his thought and produce a feeling of uneasiness. His confidence in human prudence, though still strong, had been slightly impaired.
Mr. Carlton was the minister of a wealthy and fashionable congregation, to whom his talents made him acceptable. Not infrequently did he give offence by his plainness of speech and conscientious discharge of the duties of his office; but his talents kept him in his position. Mr. Townsend was a wealthy merchant, and a member, for appearance sake, of his church. As to religion, he did not possess a very large share. His god was Mammon.
The occasion of the conversation just given, was the failure of a substantial member of the church, for whose misfortunes Mr. Townsend, as might be inferred, felt little sympathy; and less, perhaps, from the fact that he was to be the loser of a few thousands of dollars by the disaster. The minister was on a visit to the house of Mr. Townsend, in the presence of whose family the conversation took place.