"Do not go out to-night, Amanda. The pavements are damp, and the airis loaded with vapour."
"Indeed, ma, I must go."
"Amanda, there is no necessity for your attending this party; andvery urgent reasons why you should stay at home. Your cough is stilltroublesome, and a little exposure might give it permanency. Youknow that from your father you inherit a predisposition to diseaseof the lungs."
"You only say that to alarm me."
"Not so, my child; I know your constitution, and know how fatallythe exposure of a night like this may affect you."
"But I'll wrap up warmly, and put on my India rubbers."
"A necessary precaution, if you will go out, Amanda. But I wish Icould persuade you to be guided by me. You know that the Bible says,the way of transgressors is hard."
"I don't know how you will apply that to me, ma. I am transgressingno law of divine appointment."
"Be not sure of that, Amanda."
"I do not understand you, ma."
"I will try and make my meaning clear. In our creation, as organizedbeings, we were so constituted as to bear a certain relation toevery thing around us, and our bodily health was made dependent uponthis relation. Here then, we have a law of health, which may becalled a divine law--for there is nothing good that does not flowfrom the Divine Creator. If we violate this law, we becometransgressors, and shall certainly prove the way we have chosen, inso doing, to be a hard one."
"Oh, is that all?" said the daughter, looking up with a smile, andbreathing more freely. "I'll risk the consequences of breaking thelaw you have announced."
"Amanda!"
"Don't be so serious, ma. I will wrap up close and have my feet wellprotected. There is not the least danger of my taking cold."
"Well, you must do as you please. Still I cannot approve of yourgoing, for I see that there is danger. But you are fully of age, andI will not seek to control you."
So strong was Amanda's desire to attend a large but select party,that she went, in company with a young man who called for her,notwithstanding the atmosphere was so humid and dense with fog, thatbreathing became oppressive.
The rooms were crowded, and the air in them so warm as to cause theperspiration to start from the fair brows of the merry dancers,among whom none was more fair or more lively than Amanda Beaufort.At eleven, after having passed an evening of much pleasure, shestarted for home with her companion. She was so well wrapped up,that she did not feel the cold, and her feet were protected from thedamp pavement by the impervious India rubber.
"I'm safe home, ma, after all!" she exclaimed with her merry ringinglaugh, as she bounded into the chamber where her ever-watchful andinterested mother sat awaiting her daughter's return.
"I am glad to see you back, Amanda," said Mrs. Beaufort kindly, "andhope that no ill consequences will follow what I must still call avery imprudent act."
"Oh I'm just as well as ever, and have not taken the least cold. Howcould I, wrapped up so warm?"
Still, on the next morning, unaccountable as it was to Amanda, shewas quite hoarse, and was much troubled by a cough occasioned by aslight but constant tickling in her throat. Accompanying thesesymptoms was a pale anxious face and a general feeling of lassitude.
"I feared all this, Amanda," said her mother, with manifest concern.
"It's only a slight cold, ma. And, anyhow, I don't believe it wasoccasioned by going out last night, I was wrapped up so warm. I musthave got the bed-clothes off of me in the night."
"What to one is a slight cold, my daughter, is a very serious affairto another; and you are one of those who can never take a slightcold without shocking the whole system. Your pale face and yourevident debility this morning show how much even this slight cold,as you call it, has affected you. That you have this cold is to meno subject of wonder. You were well wrapped up, it is true, and yourfeet protected. Still, your face was exposed, and every particle ofair you inhaled was teeming with moisture. From dancing in a warmroom, the pores of your skin were all opened, and the striking ofmoist chilly air upon your face could hardly fail of producing somedegree of cold. The most susceptible parts of your body are yourthroat and lungs, and to these any shock which is received by thesystem is directly conveyed. You cannot take cold in your hand orfoot or face, or any other part of your body, without your breastsympathizing;--that you are hoarse, and have a slight cough, then,is to me in no way surprising."
Amanda tried to make light of this, but every hour she felt worseand worse. Her hoarseness, instead of diminishing, increased, andher cough grew more and more troublesome. Finally, she was compelledto go to bed, and have the physician called in.--"Is there anydanger?" asked Mrs. Beaufort, with an anxious and troubledcountenance, as the physician, after prescribing among other thingsa stimulating application to the throat externally, was aboutleaving the house.
"Is your daughter subject to these fits of hoarseness, ma'am?" heasked.
"Yes, sir, whenever she takes cold."
"And does that frequent irritating cough always attend therecurrence of hoarseness?"
"Always."
"Then, madam, it is but right that you should know, that suchresults, following a slight cold, indicate a very great tendency topulmonary or bronchial affections. The predisposition existing, verygreat care should be taken to prevent all exciting causes. Withcare, your daughter may retain her health until she passes over themost critical portion in the life of every one with such aconstitution as hers--that is, from twenty years of age until thirtyor thirty-five. Without great care and prudence during that time,her constitution may be shattered so as to set all remedial effortsat defiance."
"But, doctor, how is she now?" was Mrs. Beaufort's anxious inquiry.
"Not dangerous, madam, but still in a condition requiring care andskill to prevent unfavourable consequences."
"Then do your best for her, doctor."
"You can rely on me for that, Mrs. Beaufort. Good morning."
With a heavy heart the mother returned to the sick chamber of herdaughter, and sat down by the bedside, thoughtfully, for a fewmoments, while she held Amanda's hand, that was hot with fever. Thenrecollecting herself, she left the room to prepare the stimulatingapplication which had been ordered.
It is remarkable how the whole system will sympathize with onediseased part. The cold which Amanda had taken concentrated itsactive effects upon her respiratory organs; but it was felt also inevery member, prostrating the whole body, and giving a sensation ofgeneral suffering. Her head ached violently, and a burning feverdiffused itself over the entire surface of her body.
How sadly was she proving the truth of her mother's warning, whenshe said to her, in the language of divine authority, "The way oftransgressors is hard."
She had violated a law of health, and in that violation, as in theviolation of every physical or moral law, the penalty oftransgression followed too surely.
It was a week before Amanda was able to go about again, and then herpale cheeks, and debilitated frame indicated but too plainly the sadconsequences of a single imprudent act.
A few weeks after she had become restored apparently to her usualhealth, as Amanda was dressing one morning to go out, her mothersaid--
"Your clothes are a great deal too tight, Amanda."
"Oh no, I am not tight at all, ma. Julia Mason laces as tight again.She gets her sister to draw her lacings for her, and she has to pullwith all her strength."
"That is wrong in Julia Mason, and yet half the pressure that shecan bear would seriously injure you."
"How can that be, ma? I am as healthy as she is."
"I will tell you, Amanda. She has a full round chest, giving freeplay to the lungs; while your chest is narrow and flat. Without anycompression, the action of your lungs is not so free and healthy ashers would be, laced as tightly as you say she laces. But when toyour natural conformation you add artificial pressure, the action ofyour lungs becomes not only enfeebled, but the unhealthy actioninduced tends to develop that peculiar form of disease, thepredisposition to which you inherit."
"That is only an idea of yours, ma. I am sure I have quite a fullbust," said Amanda, glancing down at her chest, and embracing itwith her hands.
"There you are mistaken. I have noticed this defect, with muchanxiety, ever since you were a child; and having had my attentioncalled to it, have frequently made comparisons, and have found thatyou are remarkably narrow and flat, and what is more, have atendency to stoop, which still lessens the size of the cavity inwhich the lungs play."
"Well, ma, my clothes are not tight. Just see here."
Mrs. Beaufort tried her clothes, and found them to be much tighterthan in her judgment was good for health.
"You are still unwilling, Amanda, to be governed by your mother,where her wishes come in opposition to your pride or inclinations. Iknow that you are compressing your chest too much, but you are notwilling to yield to my judgment. And yet I prescribe no arbitraryrules, but endeavor to guide you by a rational consideration of trueprinciples. These you will not see; and the consequences that mustfollow their violation will be the transgressor's reward."
"Indeed, indeed, ma, you are too serious. You are frightened at ashadow. No one of my friends enjoys better general health than Ido."
"And so might the graceful maple say of the sturdy oak in the firstyears of their existence. But long after the first had been humbledbeneath the hand of decay, the other would stand with its roots morefirmly imbedded in the earth, and its limbs battling the storms asvigorously as ever."
Amanda made no reply to this, for she was suddenly struck with itsforce. Still she only pretended to loosen her stays to satisfy hermother, while the lacings remained as tense as ever.
It is unnecessary to trace, step by step, the folly of AmandaBeaufort through a series of years--years that caused her mothermuch and painful anxiety--up to her twenty-sixth summer, when, as awife and mother, she was suffering the penalty of her indiscretion,proving too clearly the truth, that the way of transgressors ishard. In spite of all her mother's warnings and remonstrances, shehad continued to expose herself to the night air in damp weather--toattend balls thinly clad, and remain at them to a very late hour,and to lace herself so tightly as to seriously retard the healthyaction of the vital organs. At the age of twenty-three she married.A year after, the birth of a child gave her whole system, which hadindicated long before its feebleness, a powerful shock, from whichthe reaction was slow and unsteady. The colour never came back toher cheek, nor the elasticity to her frame. She had so longsubjected herself to the pressure of an artificial external support,that she could not leave off her stays without experiencing such asinking, sickening sensation, as she called it, that she wascompelled to continue, however reluctantly, the compression andsupport of tightly-laced corsets. And from frequently taking cold,through imprudence, the susceptibility had become so great, that theslightest dampness of the feet or the exposure to a light draught ofair was sure to bring on a cough of hoarseness. Her nervous system,too, was sadly shattered. Indeed, every indication presented,foreshadowed a rapid and premature decline--consequent, solely, uponher thoughtless imprudence in earlier years.
"Shall I never feel any better, ma?" asked Amanda, one day, as afaint sickness came over her, compelling her to resign her dearlittle babe into the arms of its nurse, looking up at the same timeso earnestly and appealingly into her mother's face, that Mrs.Beaufort's heart was touched with unwonted sorrow and tenderness.
"I hope so, Amanda," was replied, but in a tone that, though meantto encourage, conveyed little hope to the bosom of her child.
"Every time little Anna nurses, I feel so sick and faint, that,sometimes, it seems that I must give up. And yet the thought ofletting the dear little angel draw her food from another bosom thanmine, makes me fainter and sicker still. Can nothing be done to helpme, ma?"
"We must see the doctor and consult with him. Perhaps he can dosomething," Mrs. Beaufort replied, in an abstracted tone.
That day the family physician was called in, and a long consultationheld. The result was, a decision that Amanda must get a nurse forher child, and then try the effect upon her system of a change ofair and the use of medicinal waters. In a word, she must put awayher child and go to the Springs.
"Indeed, doctor, I cannot give up little Anna," said the invalidmother, while the tears started to her eyes. "I will be very carefulof myself, and teach her to take a little food early, so as torelieve me as much as possible. It seems as if it would kill me,were I forced to resign to a stranger a mother's dearest privilegeand holiest duty."
"I can but honour your devotion to your child, Amanda," the oldfamily physician said, with a tenderness unusual to one whose dailyintercourse was with suffering in its varied forms. "Still, I amsatisfied, that for every month you nurse that babe, a year is takenfrom your life."
There was in the tone and manner of the doctor a solemn emphasis,that instantly aroused the young husband's liveliest fears, and senta chill to the heart of Mrs. Beaufort.
For a moment or two, Amanda's thoughts were turned inward, and thenlooking up with a smile of strange meaning, while her eyes grewbrighter, and something like a glow kindled upon her thin, palecheek, she said, drawing her babe at the same time closer to herbosom--
"I will risk all, doctor. I cannot forego a mother's duty."
"A mother's duty, my dear young friend," the physician replied, withincreased tenderness, for his heart was touched, "is to prolong, byevery possible means, her own life, for the sake of her offspring.There are duties which none but a mother can perform. Reserveyourself for these, Amanda, and let others do for your babe all thatcan be done as well as you can perform it. Take my advice. Leavelittle Anna at home with your mother and a careful nurse; and then,with your husband and some female friend, upon whose judicious careyou can rely, go to the Springs and spend a few weeks."
The advice of the physician was taken, and the young mother, withclinging, though lacerated affections, resigned to the care of ahired nurse the babe over which her heart yearned with unutterabletenderness.
Three weeks were spent at one of the Virginia springs, but littleapparent benefit was the result. The young mother grieved for theloss of her babe so deeply and constantly, often giving way totears, that the renovating effects of changed air and medicinalwaters were counteracted, and she returned home, drooping in bodyand depressed in spirits. Her infant seemed but half restored toher, as she clasped it to a bosom in which the current of its younglife had been dried up. Sad, sad indeed was her realization of theimmutable truth, that the way of transgressors is hard!
Two years more of a painful and anxious existence were eked out, andAmanda again became a mother.
From this additional shock she partially recovered; but it soonbecame evident to all, that her shattered and enfeebled constitutionwas rapidly giving way. Her last babe was but four months old, whenthe pale messenger passed by, and gave his fearful summons.
It was toward the close of one of those calm days in September, whennature seems pausing to note the first few traces of decay whichautumn has thrown upon garden, field, and forest, that Mrs.Beaufort, and the husband of her daughter, with a few friends, weregathered in the chamber of their beloved one, to see her die. Howsad, how very sad is the death-bed of the young, sinking beneathpremature decay! In the passing away of one who has met the stormsof life, and battled with them through vigorous maturity, and sinksat last in the course of nature, there is little to pain thefeelings. But when the young and beautiful die, with all theirtenderest and earliest ties clinging to them--an event so unlookedfor, so out of the true order of nature--we can only turn away andweep. We can extract from such an affliction but few thoughts ofcomfort. All is dreary, and blank, and desolate.
"Bring me my children," the dying mother said, rousing up from astate of partial slumber, with an earnest emphasis, that broughtboth her mother and her husband to her bedside.
"What did you want, dear Amanda?" asked the husband, laying his handgently upon her white forehead, that was damp with the dews ofcoming dissolution.
"My dear babes," she replied in a changed tone, rising up with aneffort. "My Anna and Mary. Who will be a mother to them, when I amlaid at rest? Oh, that I could take them with me!"
Tears came to the relief of her overwrought feelings, and leaningher head upon the breast of her husband, she wept and sobbed aloud.The infant was brought in by her mother, and laid in her arms, whenshe had a little recovered herself.
"Oh, my baby! my sweet baby!" she said, with tender animation. "Mysweet, sweet baby! I cannot give you up!" And she clasped it to herbreast with an energy of affection, while the large drops rolledover her pale cheek. "And Anna, dear little girl! where is my Anna?"she asked.
Anna, a beautiful child, a few months past her second birth-day, wasbrought in and lifted upon the bed.
"Don't cry, ma," said the little thing, seeing the tears upon hermother's cheeks, "don't cry; I'll always be good."
"Heaven bless you and keep you, my child!" the mother sobbed,eagerly kissing the sweet lips that were turned up to hers; and thenclasped the child to her bosom in a strong embrace.
The children were, after a time, removed, but the thoughts of thedying mother were still upon them; and with these thoughts wereself-reproach, that made her pillow one of thorns.
"I now see and feel," said she, looking up into the face of hermother, after having lain with closed eyes for about ten minutes,"that all my sufferings, and this early death, which will soon beupon me, would have been avoided, if I had only permitted myself tobe guided by you. I do not wonder now that my constitution gave way.How could it have been otherwise, and I so strangely regardless ofall the laws of health? But, my dear mother, the past is beyondrecall; and now I leave to you the dear little ones from whom I mustsoon part for ever. I feel calmer than I have felt for some time.The bitterness of the last agony seems over. But I do not see you,nor you, dear husband! Give me your hands. Here, let my head rest onyour bosom. It is sweet to lie thus--Anna--dear child! Mary--sweet,sweet babe!"--
The lips of the young wife and mother moved feebly, and inarticulatewhispers fell faintly from her tongue for some moments, and then shesank to sleep--and it was a sleep from which none wake in the body.
Thus, at the age of twenty-six, abused and exhausted nature gave upthe struggle; and the mother, who had violated the laws of health,sank to the earth just at the moment when her tenderest and holiestduties called loudest for performance.
Who, in this brief and imperfect sketch, does not recognise familiarfeatures? Amanda Beaufort is but one of a class which has far toomany representatives. These are in every town and village, in everystreet and neighbourhood. Why do we see so many pale-faced mothers?Why are our young and lovely females so soon broken down under theirmaternal duties? The answer, in far too many cases, may be found intheir early and persevering transgression of the most palpablephysiological laws. The violation of these is ever followed, sooneror later, in a greater or less degree, by painful consequences.Sometimes life is spared to the young mother, and she is allowed tolinger on through years of suffering that the heart aches to thinkof. Often death terminates early her pains, and her babes are left alegacy to the cold charities of an unfeeling world. How sad, howpainful the picture! Alas! that it is a true one.
THE END.
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