“‘Vice, to be hated, needs but to be seen,’ &c.”

“Indeed, indeed, Ma, you are far too serious about this matter.”

“No, my son, I cannot be!”

“Well, perhaps not.  But, as I know the nature of my associations far better than you possibly can, you must pardon me for thinking that they involve no danger.  I have arrived to years of discretion, and certainly think that I am, or at least ought to be, able to judge for my self.”

There was that in the words and tone of the young man, that made the mother feel conscious that it would be no use for her to urge the matter further, at that time.  She merely replied—­

“For your mother’s sake, Alfred, guard yourself more carefully, in future.”

It is wonderful, sometimes, how rapidly a downward course is run.  The barrier, against which the waters have been driven for years, is rapidly washed away, so soon as even the smallest breach is made.  A breach had been made in Mr. Graham’s resolution to be only a sober drinker of intoxicating liquors; and the consequence was, that he had less power to resist the strong inclination to drink, that had become almost like a second nature to him.  A few weeks only elapsed, before he came home so drunk as to expose himself in the street, and before his children and servants, in a most disgusting and degrading manner.

Terrible indeed was the shock to his children—­especially to Mary, Ellen and Anna.  His sudden death could not have been a more fearful affliction.  Then, they would have sorrowed in filial respect and esteem, made sacred by an event that would embalm the memory of their father in the permanent regard of a whole community:  now, he stood degraded in their eyes; and they felt that he was degraded in the eyes of all.  In his presence they experienced restraint, and they looked for his coming with a shrinking fear.  It was, indeed, an awful affliction—­such as few can realize in imagination; and especially for them, as they occupied a conspicuous position in society, and were conscious that all eyes were upon them, and that all tongues would be busy with the story of their father’s degradation.

It is wonderful, we have said, how rapidly a downward course is sometimes run.  In the case of Mr. Graham, many circumstances combined to hasten his ruin.  It was nearly a year after he had given way to the regular indulgence of drink, so far as to be kept almost constantly in a state of half-intoxication through the business hours of almost every day, that he received news of the loss of a vessel richly laden with teas from China.  At the proper time he presented the requisite documents to his underwriters, and claimed the loss, amounting, on ship and cargo, to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.  On account of alleged improper conduct on the part of the captain, united with informality in the papers, the underwriters refused to pay the loss.  A suit at law was the consequence, in which the underwriters were sustained.