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THE YOUNG LORD, AND Other Tales.

BY MRS. CROSLAND,

TO WHICH IS ADDED,

VICTORINE DUROCHER.

BY MRS. SHERWOOD.

LONDON: DARTON AND CO., HOLBORN HILL. 1849-50.

LONDON: GEORGE WOODFALL AND SON, ANGEL COURT, SKINNER STREET.

THE YOUNG LORD; AND THE TRIAL OF ADVERSITY.

BY MRS. NEWTON CROSLAND,

THE YOUNG LORD.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."--ST. MATT. vi. 19, 20, 21.

"How can we reward the little boy who has so honestly brought me the bracelet I lost at church yesterday?" said Mrs. Sidney to her only son Charles, who was now passing the Midsummer vacation with his widowed mother, at a pretty cottage in Devonshire, which had been the home of his early years.

"I do not think people should be rewarded for common honesty," said Charles; "and the clasp contained such an excellent likeness of papa, whom every one in the village knew, that it would have been unsafe as well as dishonest for him not to have delivered it up."

Now it happened that the honest little boy, who was named Thomas Bennett, had stood in the hall the whole time, and thus overheard the conversation. I am sure that you cannot wonder that he remembered it, with feelings far removed from love or gratitude to Charles Sidney.

Any one who observed Charles Sidney, while his mamma examined his wardrobe to find what clothes she might choose to spare, would have been shocked at perceiving the selfish expression of his countenance.

It seemed absolute pain for him to part even with articles which, he having quite outgrown them, were utterly useless to him, and which very likely the moths would soon have destroyed: for to accumulate and keep made the rule of his life. You may imagine what a serious trouble this unhappy disposition of her son was to Mrs. Sidney, who felt perhaps the more from contrasting his character with that of an elder brother, who had died from a lingering illness about two years previously, and who had been equally distinguished for a generous nature, which had sometimes led him to the opposite extreme of improvidence.

Indeed, poor Frank had been known to debar himself of necessary comforts for the sake of assisting others. His pocket money was given away within an hour of its being received; his books were often torn or lost, from being indiscriminately lent; and the cold he caught, which led to his fatal illness, had been occasioned by his leaving a warm upper coat, which he had been accustomed to wear, to add to the bed covering of a poor sick child, whom he had gone out one cold winter's day to visit. Now, though it was impossible for any one to help dearly loving so amiable and generous a character as Frank, his parents had found it necessary gently to reprove his exceeding and indiscriminate generosity, by pointing out to him that it was even wrong when it tended to injure his own health, or to encroach on the rights of others. On such occasions Mr. and Mrs. Sidney had explained to him that their income was limited, so that their acts of benevolence must consist less in absolute gifts of money , than in the bestowal of time and advice on the poor, and a degree of judgment in the distribution of what they had to give, which would make that little of its greatest service.

Charles had often been present at these conversations, and the allusions Mrs. Sidney made to his fault of wresting phrases from their real meaning, had reference to the evil manner in which he applied these warnings to himself--so unnecessary for one of his character: warnings which nothing but the indiscriminate profusion of Frank could have tempted Mr. and Mrs. Sidney to utter. I mention these circumstances because I am afraid we are all too much inclined to find excuses for our faults; to do which, we generally apply maxims suitable only to the opposite extreme of our own failings. And this was precisely the case with the little selfish miser. The death of Mr. Sidney, which had occurred suddenly, had followed quickly upon that of Frank; but, amid all the widow's affliction, she never forgot the sorrow that Charles's selfish disposition occasioned her. There was no longer even the shadow of an excuse for parsimony, as the inheritance which would have been divided between the two brothers would now devolve on the only son. Charles knew this: he knew that he was provided with a sufficient fortune to finish his education admirably, to send him to college, and start him in a profession. But this made no difference in his disposition; he continued to hoard money and books, and everything that came in his way, as if each individual article were the last he ever could expect to have.

It so happened that Charles had several cousins, the children of a younger brother of Mr. Sidney, and whose characters formed a strong contrast to his own. Their father had been a clergyman, and though they had been bereaved of him when very young, they had never forgotten the lessons of piety he had bequeathed to them.

The two Mrs. Sidneys were also sisters, and having married two brothers, the families seemed as it were doubly cemented.

Now Mr. William Sidney, the younger brother, having five children, between whom his fortune was divided, these cousins had each just one- fifth of Charles's expectations, and, of course, Mrs. William Sidney was obliged to limit many of their present indulgences in due proportion to her income.

And yet I need scarcely tell you that William, the eldest son, who was about the same age as Charles, and his younger brothers and sisters, were a thousand times happier than their cousin; and, even with their limited means, did more good to others in a month than Charles did in a year.

In the first place, they were kind and generous to each other. A book, a toy, any source of gratification that was opened to one, was always made the property of the whole family; so that a present or kindness to one of these children, was like bestowing it on five. Then the little girls, Fanny and Lucy, were so clever and industrious, that they would make clothes for the poor, either by purchasing coarse but warm materials with their own money, or from cast off frocks of their own, which their mamma gave them permission so to employ. Like all those who think more of other persons than themselves, and who are constantly enjoying the pleasure of doing good, they were light-hearted and happy; while their cousin Charles, who thought of nothing but his own selfish interests, was three days out of the four in bad spirits and bad temper.

"How I should like to rummage out that closet," said William one day to his cousin, when he had chanced to have a peep into his receptacle for what he had hoarded.

"Would you, indeed," replied Charles, "I can tell you there is nothing there which would be of the least use to you."

"That is good," returned William, with a hearty laugh; "not that I want anything you have stowed away, but if it could be of no use to me, what use is it to you? answer me that, Charles!"

"I tell you there is nothing there but old childish toys and baby books, things that I have not looked at for years."

"Then why don't you turn them out, and give them to some children, or let the little creatures have a scramble for them? It would be capital fun, that it would. Suppose you were to give them to the young Bennetts; I told them the other day I would beg some of your old toys for them. It would be such a pleasure, I am sure, to make them a present. Poor children, you know, have seldom anything of the kind."

"How you talk!"

"How I talk!" continued William, "to be sure; besides, I hate waste, and it is just as much waste to shut things up which might be of use, as it would be to burn them; more, I think, for if they make firewood, that is proving of some use. Now don't be such a miser, Charles, do turn them out."

"I shall do no such thing!" exclaimed Charles, in an angry tone, "and as for your extravagance, it is quite shocking; I wonder what you think is to become of you when you are a man."

"I tell you what I expect," replied William, throwing some apples from his pocket out of window to a poor child who was passing; "what I expect is, to have to work very hard for my living, and, as I am the eldest, I look upon it that I ought to do something for mamma, and the girls into the bargain. But for all that I hope I shall never turn a miserly screw. Why, when God gives us health, food, clothing, and lodging, don't you think that hoarding and hoarding, instead of dispensing the blessings, and performing such acts of kindness as may be in our power to bestow, is like doubting God's goodness and mercy for the future?"

"One would think you were preaching," said Charles, with a sneer.

"Besides," continued William, after a slight pause, "it seems to me that nature is constantly repeating the lesson which Scripture teaches us. See how, year after year, the blades of wheat spring up, and the fruits of the earth ripen, as if to warn us that we should distribute the good things God provides us with, and wholly trust that he will continue to send us all things that are needful."

"Pray did you find that in the sermon, also?" asked Charles.

"Perhaps I did."

"Did it say anything about the ten talents--where we are told that unto every one that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath?" replied Charles, with an air of triumph.

"Do you understand the text you have quoted?" asked William, mildly.

"I suppose so, I should think it rather taught people to increase their stores than anything else."

"Then let me tell you that you are quite wrong, for that was a text I used to hear papa explain very often, that it should never be applied to worldly possessions. But those who pray for, and seek by every means to acquire, heavenly grace will surely find it bestowed on them; while those who neglect to cultivate the spirit of religion will as surely find any feelings of piety they may once have experienced in like manner depart from them. Every human being has the power, more or less, of doing good: and his means and opportunities are also among the 'talents' with which he is intrusted, and for which he must account at last."

"Have you done preaching?" yawned the little miser.

"Yes, for I am afraid you are beyond my teaching." And so the cousins parted.

Charles sat musing for a little while. "How happy Williamn as its habitat, the condition is not one which comes often under the observation of physicians.

It is hardly necessary to describe here the structure or contents of the hydatid cyst which forms the home of the parasite, nor its etiology, since these topics belong to general pathology, and the cyst is the same in whatever organ it may be seated. When it affects the kidney, it is usually the left--more frequently that of a man between thirty and forty years of age.

A hydatid cyst may be situated upon any part of the kidney. If small, it may never make its presence known. A larger one may give rise to those vague pains in the back found with so many diseases of the kidney and characteristic of none of them. A cyst may open in any direction, but is more likely to empty into the pelvis of the kidney. When this happens, the smaller cysts or pieces of the larger ones often enter the ureter and give rise to renal colic, and possibly, later, to a pyelitis. Other points of discharge are the intestines, the lungs, or the abdominal walls.

After a hydatid cyst has reached a certain size its presence may be recognized by palpation, but the diagnosis between it and other tumors of the kidney must be very difficult unless characteristic fragments make their appearance in the urine at the same time that the tumor diminishes in size, or unless they can be obtained by puncture. The hydatid thrill, if it can be obtained, will be an important factor in diagnosis.

The TREATMENT of this affection in the kidney presents no special points of difference from that of similar cysts in the liver; with this important exception, that besides punctures with large and small trocars, incisions, electrolysis, etc., the resource of complete extirpation still remains. Cures have been obtained by repeated punctures and subsequent suppuration, and by partial removal through the abdominal walls and subsequent drainage.

Among the parasites of the kidney it is customary to mention the Strongylus gigas, which is a worm somewhat resembling the ascaris and inhabiting the pelvis. It is not very infrequent among the Carnivora, but since only seven cases have been described in the human subject since the seventeenth century, and only a part of these are admitted as genuine by certain authors, its diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment must depend more upon theory than upon experience. The diagnosis is to be made, if at all, on the basis of a pyelitis and the discovery of the eggs of the parasite in the urine.

The Distoma haematobium is a parasite found chiefly in the blood-vessels, and especially those of the portal system. It is occasionally, however, met with in the veins of the kidney and also in the urinary passages. Its eggs pass into the pelvis and ureters, and there begin their development, which, however, is soon arrested, as they rapidly perish in the urine.

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