The other auxiliary of knavery, was our friend’s impatience of temper. He could not endure delay, or any thing in the shape of procrastination. Whatever was to be done, was to be done quickly. He considered any thing like a process, as insupportable tediousness. There are many subtle spirits on the watch for individuals of such infirmities; and of such spirits, he was more than once the victim.
One other trial was bitterness itself, but as he himself has detailed it with no ordinary pathos, the circumstances need not here be revived. This also originated in a too easy disposition to believe every man honest who appeared so, and from his never exercising his mind to discover, beneath the veil of vivacity and good humour, the most nefarious intentions, and most abominable dishonesty.
This last event certainly preyed upon his mind, broke his spirits, impaired his health, and materially deteriorated his circumstances. Yet through this dark and oppressive gloom, rays of cheerfulness would often penetrate, enlivening himself and his connections with hopes of better days to come.
As life continued to wear itself away, he appears to have had his full share of those dark days, which, however, afflicting from their pressure, tend to render the prospect of the grave less formidable. As was before remarked, he abruptly withdrew himself from the ken of those, to whom his society had been familiar, and not undesireable.
Where or when, or under what circumstances, he ultimately paid the last awful tribute of nature, are not known with sufficient accuracy to admit of being introduced in our narrative. He does not, however, appear to have been altogether without consolation. Where a tree shoots out into many branches, some will be goodlier, more vigorous, and more productive than others. Some will bear fruit which is sweet and nutritious; some will bear none at all. In this respect he shared the common lot of humanity, but where he had cause he was, nevertheless, uncomplaining, except in the soft whispers of family confidence. He used, however, a bolder and a louder tone to one lofty personage, who volunteered to be the instrument of obtaining for him compensation for one of the greatest injuries and afflictions, which can either be encountered or sustained. Great, certain, and immediate loss, as to property, was not the sorest of the evils; this was exasperated by the sneers of the envious, the insinuations of the invidious, the taunts of the malignant,
The whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes.