joying the domestic comforts of a peaceful home,--that place, the
dearest of all on earth, when sanctified by the affection of a united,
sober, and industrious family. Such was the home and household of Mr.
Charlston.

Mr. and Mrs. Charlston, their two sons and three daughters, were on that
night comfortably seated in their little sitting room after tea; the
mother and her daughters engaged at needlework; the father and his
eldest son, George, reading the newspapers, while Frederick, the
younger, was reclining upon a sofa. An infant of a year old was sleeping
in a cradle; a little kitten was nestling at its feet, and purring as if
trying to soothe the dreamy slumbers of its tender companion.

Mr. Charlston was about fifty-five years of age, in physical appearance
tall and nervous; with sharp, prominent features, and well-defined head,
denoting energy and perception. His wife was apparently about fifty
years; well proportioned in form and feature, her face expressive of
sensibility and affection. The little furrows around her dark eyes, and
the streaks of gray hairs, had already denoted the footmarks of elder
age; nevertheless, she was still possessed of a considerable share of
that beauty which in her younger years had distinguished her as the
"Belle of Elton," the village in which she had formerly resided. The
daughters in appearance somewhat resembled their mother, the eldest of
whom was then in her twenty-first year. George, the first-born of the
family, was possessed of a robust constitution, of the middle size, and
about twenty-six years of age. Frederick in appearance was the very
_facsimile_ of his father, with all the finer sensibilities of his
mother; yet, apparently possessed of a stern determination of will,
amounting to stubborness when actuated by the impulses of a nervous
temperament. Mr. Charlston was a hatter by trade; and at the time
referred to kept a hat factory of his own in Fleet Street. His industry
had placed him in favorable circumstances. Estimating the value of labor
and intellect, he had given his children a tolerably good education, and
at a proper age had apprenticed his sons to become tradesmen. George
followed the business of his father. Frederick was a cabinet-maker, and
at the time referred to had been two years employed as a journeyman.
Neither Mr. Charlston nor his sons were then addicted to intemperance.
Frederick was a strict teetotaller. Occasionally a bottle of ale was
partaken of