He barely escaped the sheriff at night-time, and fled beyond the seas,
leaving his showy family to poverty and the ill-concealed derision of
those who worshipped them while they were supposed to be rich.

Such as these made life very uncomfortable for me, and at the end of
my year, I left in disgust; never again to resume the profession in
which I had spent so many years of my somewhat checkered existence.
My life seemed a failure; I reflected long upon the question of the
Psalmist, "What is man?" and here are the answers which I culled from
many thoughtful poets, whose names are appended to their several
replies.

In this grand wheel, the world, we're spokes made all;--
(_Brome_.)

He who climbs high, endangers many a fall;--(_Chaucer_.)

A passing gleam called life is o'er us thrown,--(_Story_.)

It glimmers, like a meteor, and is gone.--(_Rogers_.)

To-morrow's sun to thee may never rise--(_Congreve_.)

The flower that smiles to-day, to-morrow dies--(_Shelly_.)

And what do we, by all our bustle gain?--(_Pomfret_.)

A drop of pleasure in a sea of pain.--(_Tupper_.)

Tired of beliefs, we dread to live without;--(_Holmes_.)