With him
misfortune is a crime; and I am made to suffer under his taunts
about the disappearance of my brother, the poverty of my parents.
"You are well aware of the verdict of the jury, and the affirmation
of the Court of Appeal, upon those dear children. The decree orders
them to be sold in the market, for the benefit of my uncle's
creditors: this is the day, the fatal day, the sale takes place. Let
me beseech of you, as you have it in your power, to induce the
deacon to purchase them. O, save them from the fate that awaits
them! You know my uncle's errors; you know also his goodness of
heart; you can sympathise with him in his sudden downfall. Then the
affection he has for Annette is unbounded. No father could be more
dotingly fond of his legitimate child. But you know what our laws
are-what they force us to do against our better inclinations.
Annette's mother, poor wretch, has fled, and M'Carstrow charges me
with being accessory to her escape: I cannot, nor will I, deny it,
while my most ardent prayer invokes her future happiness. That she
has saved herself from a life of shame I cannot doubt; and if I have
failed to carry out a promise I made her before her departure-that
of rescuing her child-the satisfaction of knowing that she at least
is enjoying the reward of freedom partially repays my feelings. Let
me entreat you to repair to the city, and, at least, rescue Annette
from that life of shame and disgrace now pending over her-a shame
and disgrace no less black in the sight of heaven because society
tolerates it as among the common things of social life.
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