THE WATCHMAN
"Watchman, tell us of the night." By J. A. M.
NEW-YORK:
H. LONG & BROTHER.
121 NASSAU STREET.
ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-five, by H. LONG & BROTHER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. TAWS, RUSSELL & CO., PRINTERS.
PREFACE.
"AND LET US NOT BE WEARY IN WELL DOING, FOR IN DUE SEASON WE SHALL REAP IF WE FAINT NOT."
THE following story is one of humble life. The principal personages introduced to the reader were born in poverty, and were literally inheritors of the curse pronounced upon the father of mankind, as a punishment for his trangressions. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." They passed through many trials, and met with many obstacles in the path of life, and the success and happiness which eventually befel them, was the reward of a life of patient industry and unwearied endeavor to do well. This reward of success is also promised by the lips of Him who pronounced the curse—if indeed a life of honest labor be a curse, and not rather man's greatest blessing.
The author has sedulously endeavored to avoid writing a single line which can minister to morbid excitement. The aim throughout has been to inculcate a love of truth and of benevolence, and to make fiction, founded upon incidents of real life, a vehicle through which lessons of virtue and religious trust can be conveyed, and instruction blended with amusement.
The Watchman, the humble hero of the story, was years gone by, well known in New York. He has long since passed away to that bourne from which no traveller returns: but there are those still page: iv-v (Table of Contents) [View Page iv-v (Table of Contents) ] living who knew his honest worth, and admired his many virtues. Joseph Carter, the humble guardian of the night—the hard-working, industrious man—lingers in the memory of many, who, but for his sterling merit, would have long ago forgotten him. Several of the other characters are literally pictured from living men and women, though the names are of course fictitious.
The author believes that every book should bear to its reader the conviction that its intent was good; that it was the offspring of an earnest and gracious wish. If it does, it will leave blessings where it goes, in proportion to the strength of that conviction. Fiction is a powerful vehicle for good and for evil. The world will read fiction; then it is surely the author's province to endeavor, while wandering in the realms of fancy, or while embellishing in lively colors the every-day occurrences of life, to watch carefully that not a thought shall pass from the brain, and be jotted down by the pen, that can have a tendency to lead the mind of the reader from the path of duty. Nay, this is not enough. The constant aim of the author should be to picture virtue as the source of the only true happiness, even upon earth, and to make vice in all its forms, abhorrent. Then, however faulty the book may be, whether it meet with success or fail, at least the honest satisfaction will remain that the intention was good. With the hope that this conviction may fasten itself upon the mind of the reader, and with the earnest hope that the scriptural motto which the author has chosen as expressive of the aim of the work, will be adopted as the motto of the reader through life, the book is given to the public.
J. A. M.
CONTENTS.
- I. THE WATCHMAN'S FAMILY, 9
- II. THE LITTLE VAGRANT, 14
- III. JOSEPH CARTER RESOLVES TO KEEP THE CHILD, 30
- IV. THE FIVE POINTS, 39
- V. THE PAWNBROKER'S SHOP—AN ENDURING FRIENDSHIP—SO PRONE ARE THOSE IN MISFORTUNE TO FLOCK TOGETHER, AND CLING TO EACH OTHER, 48
- VI. THE PARENTS OF THE DESERTED CHILD—THE DEATHS ON BOARD THE EMIGRANT SHIP—THE KIDNAPPER, 62
- VII. CHARLES EDWARDS AND GEORGE HARTLEY AT LENGTH FIND EMPLOYMENT, 67
- VIII. HENRY SELBY'S DEPARTURE FROM MR. BLUNT'S HOUSE, 76
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- IX. NO MAN IS INDEPENDENT, HOWEVER WEALTHY, WHOSE EXPENSES EXCEED HIS INCOME,
- X. HENRY SELBY ENTERS A SECOND TIME INTO THE WORLD'S STRIFE ON HIS OWN ACCOUNT,
- XI. A DARK CLOUD IS GATHERING OVER THE PROSPECTS OF THE WATCHMAN, 112
- XII. WHICH TELLS OF GEORGE HARTLEY'S SUCCESS, 135
- XIII. THE WRECK AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 144
- XIV. BAD NEWS FROM ABROAD, 158
- XV. A LAPSE OF YEARS, 164
- XVI. THE TIME OF TRIAL AND TROUBLE, 171
- XVII. HENRY SELBY'S ARRIVAL IN INDIA, AND WHAT BEFEL HIM THERE,
- XVIII. CHARLES EDWARDS' PROGRESS TOWARDS REFORMATION, AND SUBSEQUENT RELAPSE,
- XIX. THE MARRIAGE OF ARTHUR DONALDSON AND MISS MURRAY—WHAT BEFALS HENRY SELBY, 199
- XX. STILL THE DARK CLOUD HOVERS OVER HEAD, 212
- XXI. THE FORGER, 219
- XXII. HENRY SELBY'S SUCCESS IN INDIA, 226
- XXIII. THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING, 233
- XXIV. THE DARK HOUR AND THE DAWN, 239
- XXV. REVERSES AND SUCCESSES, 246
- XXVI. A RETROSPECT, 253
- XXVII. MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES, 259
- XXVIII. STRANGE DEVELOPMENTS—THE DEATH OF JUDGE MURRAY—THE DEPARTURE FOR NEW YORK, 263
- XXIX. MUTUAL RECOGNITIONS, 270
- XXX. THE PASSAGE HOME—A GALE OF WIND—A MAN LOST OVERBOARD,
- XXXI. NEWS UPON CHANGE,
- XXXII. THE ARRIVAL—THE DOCUMENTS FOUND—A STRANGE DISCOVERY,
- XXXIII. THE REPENTANT—A DEATH BED SCENE,
- XXXIV. THE MARRIAGE OF HENRY AND ELLEN,
- XXXV. CONCLUSION,
