At home there was ever some
scene of dispute, or unkindness, to call forth the stern look, or the
harsh command of their parents--abroad, the mingled remains of vexation
and self-reproach, caused by their own conduct or that of others, made
them hard to be pleased--and so the cloud thickened about them, and with
all outward means for being happy, loving and beloved, they were a
wretched family. James, the eldest, was impetuous and self-willed, but
affectionate, generous, and very fond of reading and study, and with
gentle and judicious management, would have been the joy and pride of
his family, with the domestic and literary tastes so invaluable to every
youth, in our day, when temptations of every kind are so rife in our
cities and larger towns, that scarcely is the most moral of our young
men safe, except in the sanctuary of God, or the equally divinely
appointed sanctuary of home. But under the influences we have sketched,
he had already begun to spend all his leisure time at the stores, the
railroad depots, wharves, engine-houses, and other places of resort for
loiterers, where he saw much to encourage the reckless and disobedient
spirit, which characterized his soliloquy above quoted. Little did his
parents realize the effects of their own doings. Full of the busy cares
of this hurrying life, they fancied all was going on well, nor were
they aroused to his danger, until some time after the scene of the
broken vase, above alluded to, when his more frequent and prolonged
absence from home, at meal times, and until a late hour in the evening,
caused a severe reprimand from his father.
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