new-york

d. appleton & co. 200 broadway.

a gentleman of marseilles, named remonsat, shortly before his death, desired that his numerous family might be assembled about his bed. as he was now an old man, he had children who had been long married and who now had children of their own. there were sons and daughters who were married, and who had two daughters, and one son about nine years old, who was so much of a cripple as to be obliged to walk with a crutch. the old gentleman acknowledged the delight which his children had afforded him by their affection and attachment, and especially for the tender love which they bore to one another. “but,” continued he, “i have a secret to disclose, which will remove one of you from this circle. so long as i had any hopes of living i kept it from you, but i dare not violate your rights in the division of the property which i leave you. one of you is only an adopted child—the child of the nurse at whose breast my own child died. shall i name that[44] child?” “no, no,” said they with one accord, “let us all continue to be brothers and sisters.”

what a noble and beautiful example of disinterestedness! how often do we sigh for opportunities of doing good, whilst we neglect the openings of providence in little things, which would frequently lead to the accomplishment of most important usefulness! dr. johnson used to say, “he who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do any.” how many of my readers do you think would have acted towards their brothers and sisters in the same way?

it is related by st. jerome, that “the blessed apostle john, living at ephesus to extreme old age, was with difficulty carried to church in the arms of his disciples, and being unable to make a long discourse, every time they assembled, was wont to say nothing but this: ‘little children, love one another.’ at length, the disciples and brethren who attended, tired of hearing so often the same thing, said, ‘sir, why do you always say this?’ who then made this answer, worthy of himself: ‘because it is the lord’s command; and if that alone be done, it is sufficient.’”