Spartan stoicism, severs every tie enjoined by his great Creator, bids
adieu to all of joy that earth can give, and becomes a devotee at the
shrine of some canonized son of earth, as full of imperfections as
himself. Neither did she hold the lighter and equally dangerous creed
of the latitudinarian. Her views were of a happy medium; liberal, yet
perfectly orthodox.

Ellen married early in life, and many were the trials which rose up
to test her fortitude, and even her reliance on almighty God. Of six
beautiful children that blessed her union, four went down to an early
tomb. Though bowed to the earth by the weight of her affliction, she
murmured not against the hand that chastened her; but as one by one
was snatched from her warm embrace, she poured out the depth of a
mother's love on the remaining two.

One stroke of fortune reduced her, in a day, from affluence to
comparative penury; and leaving his luxurious home, Mr. Carlton
resolved to seek his fortune in the Western World. Hither she
had accompanied him, encountering, without a murmur, the numerous
hardships, which those who have not endured can never fully realize.
They had preceded Mr. Hamilton but a few months, and joyfully welcomed
him as an agreeable acquisition to their little circle.

Mrs. Carlton found in Mary a real friend; one who sympathized with,
and assisted her in her many benevolent plans for ameliorating the
condition of the destitute Mexicans around them.

With Florence, the former had little affinity, and, consequently,
little intercourse. Their tastes were directly opposite, and though
they often met, there was no interchange of the deep and holier