Page:The Poor Rich Man, and the Rich Poor Man.djvu/175

Rh the death-bed! who defer to a few suffering hours the work for which life is given!

"Who would have thought, Lottie," said Susan, as the sisters sat together, watching Paulina's troubled sleep, "that you would have lived to nurse her on her death-bed! It is teaching to look at you and then at her."

And, as Susan said, it was "teaching." It taught that, if the laws of nature, which are the laws of God, are obeyed, the frailest, most delicate constitution may be preserved; and that the most vigorous health must be destroyed by a violation of those laws. Charlotte, by strict temperance, by regular exercise, by prudence and thoughtfulness, had preserved the little remnant of health left by the cruel accident she had endured in her childhood. But, what was far better, by the religious performance of her duties—by contentment, both with the gifts and the denials of Providence—by forgetting herself, and remembering everybody else—by loving, and (a most sure consequence) being loved in turn—she had preserved that sweet serenity of spirit that shone through her pale face, and all those faculties in active operation, that, slender and fragile as she was, made her the comfort of her family; the dear Aunt Lottie of the home she blessed.

Fifteen years before Paulina was the picture of health, and in possession of the virtues (or rather accidents) which are usually found with a sound and vigorous constitution. She was good-humoured, bright, courageous, and kind-hearted. But, alas! she was brought up by an ignorant mother, in ignorance and me excessive love of