have been, and what he was. He was as kind, and
amiable, and industrious, and prudent, as Samuel. His habits were as
good, too, for aught that I know, up to the time when he was so
thoughtless and foolish as to yield to the wishes of that coarse and
wicked boy. He had been as well brought up as Samuel. Good principles
had been as carefully sown in his mind. There was, then, there could
have been no general reason why he did not show himself more of a hero
when he met his old schoolmate.

How foolish it was for Frederick to taste that liquor. He did not love
gin. He disliked the taste of it. Moreover, he knew well enough that
it was wrong to taste it, and I presume he saw clearly enough, at the
time, that he was making a little dunce of himself. Why did he not run
away, if he could not resist temptation while he stayed there? Why,
when Samuel reminded him, so kindly, that it was time for them to go,
did he not go along about his business? How foolish it was for him to
stay and drink that dram, which tasted to him, I dare say, almost as
bad as a dose of salts? Oh, if he had only had more courage, more
principle! But there he failed--and his failure cost him dearly!

Samuel, you will recollect, tried to console him, after he had drank
the glass of gin, to please Peter, by telling him that he was sure he
would never do so again. But Samuel, it appeared afterwards, was too
hopeful, too charitable. Frederick did drink again. How long it was
after that holiday, before he did so, I don't know. Nor is it much
matter. It is sufficient to know, that when a like temptation was
placed before him again, he had less power to resist it than he had
before. He drank again, and it was not many months before he liked
dram-drinking as well as any of the boys in the factory.

However, Frederick had friends in the city; and when he was about
twenty-one years of age, some of these friends got him a good place as
a clerk in a wholesale grocery store. He seemed to "turn over a new
leaf," when he went to Boston to live. If he drank any--and I suppose
he did a little--his habit did not grow much stronger, and he was a
very faithful clerk.

After a year or two, he did so well, that his friends loaned him
money, and he went into business for himself. For a year or two he did
well, and was prosperous. His credit was good. His business increased.
There was no reason why he should not continue to prosper. None, did
I say? There was one. His love f