And now that this
sudden and unexpected reverse had befallen Marston, he could do
nothing for their relief. Involved, perplexed, and distrusted-with
ever-slaying suspicion staring him in the face-he was a victim
pursued by one who never failed to lay low his object. That man
moved with unerring method, could look around him upon the
destitution made by his avarice, without evincing a shadow of
sympathy. Yes! he was in the grasp of a living Shylock, whose soul,
worn out in the love of gold, had forgotten that there existed a
distinction between right and wrong.
Surrounded by all these dark forebodings, Marston begins to reflect
on his past life. He sees that mercy which overlooks the sins of man
when repentance is pure; but his life is full of moral blemishes; he
has sinned against the innocent, against the God of forgiveness. The
inert of his nature is unfolding itself,--he has lived according to
the tolerated vices of society-he has done no more than the law gave
him a right to do! And yet, that very society, overlooking its own
wrongs, would now strip him of its associations. He lives in a State
where it is difficult to tell what society will approve or
reprobate; where a rich man may do with impunity what would consign
a poor man to the gallows.
If we examine the many rencontres that take place in the south,
especially those proving fatal, we will find that the perpetrator,
if he be a rich man, invariably receives an "honourable acquittal.
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