Of
all the family I had become most attached to my aged grandma, whose life
was evidently drawing near the close. She liked to have me near her,
and, to her, no other reading was like mine; and the best which any one
else could do, fell far below my services in waiting upon her; and my
uncle and aunt often wondered what mother would do when the time came
that I must leave them. Considerate ones, spare yourselves these
forebodings, for, before I shall have left your family-circle, your aged
mother will have been called to enjoy that rest which remaineth to all
who live the life she has lived. It was thought by many to be somewhat
singular that a youth of my age should have been so happy and contented
in the quiet dwelling of my uncle, whose youngest occupants were
middle-aged, and they could not be supposed to have much sympathy with
the thoughts and feelings of youth. I had gone there in the first place
merely to obey the wishes of my mother, which had ever been as a law
unto me. I loved my uncle from the first, and, instead of feeling anger
at the distrust with which my aunt was inclined to regard me, I felt a
sort of pity for the lonely woman, and resolved, if possible, to teach
her by my conduct that I was not altogether so bad as she supposed; and
my kindness to her soon softened a heart which had become somewhat
unfeeling, from having so few natural ties, as well as for want of
intercourse with the world at large; and I learned that my attempts to
please her, especially when they involved self-sacrifice, made me all
the happier, so true it is that "it is more blessed to give than to
receive.
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